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"You have no idea how good it is to see everyone," Marcus declared. "Even if the circumstances are far from pleasant."
"We need to see how much has changed, my friend, and sooner rather than later," Tralore said and aimed a bony hand towards the podium.
"No. Not this time. Now it calls for another," Marcus responded.
All eyes immediately turned towards Tom, and he felt like an escaping convict caught in a guard's spotlight, his life hanging by a thread and resting on his next few words.
"I'm up for the task, guys," he declared with feigned enthusiasm and stepped towards the podium.
He connected with ease, opening the star charts he'd employed previously, and then breathed a sigh of relief as he saw they remained unchanged with no new …show more content…

"The Hub was dormant when they arrived. A dead grey sphere in space. But a local space fairing race brought the newcomers here to explore, and one of the English-speaking explorers had limited control of The Hub. He was seen as the new Messiah. The use of the language spread rapidly from that point on," Marcus said, his mind numbed from the whole experience.
"What of the Kentali? Are they descended from the early settlers?" Tom asked.
"No. Not at all," Tralore answered. "They consider themselves a master race. Above everyone else. They and the Kree are two of the original inhabitants of this galaxy."
Tom wanted to know all about the Kree, but The Hub seemed reluctant to expand on his thoughts, and he looked instead towards the Kentali threat that had his father and Tralore so worried.
"Why don't the Kentali just take this place and use if for themselves?"
Tralore looked towards Marcus, but his tired expression prompted Tralore to continue.
"They cannot. The Kentali are not compatible with The Hub. Their fear is to blame for it being dormant for so long."
"And yet they haven't sought to destroy it? Or even blockade it."
"Oh, they have tried. But they have been thwarted at every attempt, sometimes with grave ends, and in recent years an attack has been frowned upon. It seems their complex system of rule has become our greatest ally."
The mass of information became tiring and Tom's thoughts wandered to the rift technology. Suddenly, the screen

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