[Gretin]

Ok, it's been a while, but here it is at last, chapter 7. I'll try and get a chapter up every week from now on.

Chapter 7: Explanations

It wasn't long after that the two mudokons came back into the circular room. "You have two days," the mudokon who had been sitting in the circle earlier was saying, "after that you must return here, things will be in motion by that time that will need your help." "I will be back by then," replied Scorp, "I will leave right now, with your permission." "You have it," said the mudokon, and with that, Scorp left.

"Now, it's your turn, Marn. Come with me." Marn followed him through the doorway into a small plain room, empty, except for two wooden chairs. "Have a seat," the mudokon offered. Marn sat down and immediately asked, "How do you know my name?" "You're not ready for the answer yet, Marn, I will give you the answer when you are." Marn was a bit surprised by this reply, but then asked, "Who are you?" "Very few mudokons know my name," the mudokon replied, "but you may call me the chief, or just Chief, as most of the others around here do. Now, enough of your questions, I have questions to ask you!" "Well, what do you want to ask me?" asked Marn. "To start with, I know a great deal about you, where you are from, what position you held there, who helped you to escape, but there are still some things that are not clear. So, first of all, what gave you the idea of escaping? I'm sure it wasn't just Sefon helping that did that." "Sefon? Who's he?" "He is the mudokon who helped you! Now, answer the question!" "Oh, right!" Marn then described his dream, and told him about how he had awakened in his cell and stayed there until the mudokon, Sefon, helped him out.
"Hmmm.... that is interesting. This sort of thing hasn't happened to any of the others so far... " said Chief, looking thoughtful. "Others?" asked Marn. "You are not the only one who needed to escape, Marn," replied Chief, rising from his chair "you probably don't realize this, but those aircraft have the potential to become truly devastating machines, they could end everything free mudokons hold dear! EVERYTHING!"
He sat down again, silent, and Marn could see he was struggling with himself to stay calm.

"I'll describe the situation to you, Marn, so you'd better listen carefully. You have seen the sort of things that are happening in this village, the mudokons are organized, they are working, and they are learning to move efficiently and gracefully, without the clumsiness often attributed to the mudokon race. It has taken us very many years to acheive this, and now there are six other villages that are accomplishing the same, only at different levels. This is what the mudokon race should be doing, not slaving under greedy industrials!"

"The seven villages, including this one, are all hidden away in places that are extremely unlikely to have industrial interest. But, with the invention of these crafts, the industrials will now have the power to explore everywhere that mudokons have colonized! Just think, if every industrial facility has a fleet of those crafts like what you saw, imagine how much area would be covered by them."

"Our mudokon village now has quite a powerful army, but against what you saw in your dream, there is no chance of winning. Our only hope is to get rid of these craft before they are mass produced. To do that, we need mudokons from the refinery where the crafts are being built. Each of the seven villages picked two workers from the refinery, only three of those picked have not escaped yet. That is where the mudokon you saw before, Scorp, has gone, he's going to help them get out, and he's going to bring Sefon back from the refinery, too."

"Once they return, which should be within two days, we will be setting out for a meeting place with all six of the other villages. After that, we head for the Rector Refinery. I'll tell you your part to play when it is time for you to do it, but for today you may explore the village. There are a great many surprises for ones like you who have been enslaved for most of your lives. You are free to go wherever you please in the village, but you should return to this building by nightfall so you can be shown where you will spend the night."

"Now, I must go, there is much work to be done! Goodbye, for now."

He left, and Marn just sat there for a while, letting everything he'd been told sink in. Finally, he got up and went out of the room.

End of Chapter 7