Test of Magnitude (The Torian Reclamation) Read Online Free PDF Page B

field. Mip7 looked back to it. He felt strange, and a little embarrassed.
    “That’s odd. Yes, Governor, I must admit I became irritated at your last move.” He shook his head.  “There’s no rationale for that, especially since I don’t have any idea what I’m doing. I certainly don’t care if I win. I wouldn’t even understand why I won, even if I managed to. I apologize, sir.”
    “No need. There’s something about the game that does this. The chancellor and I found ourselves almost exchanging heated words with each other during our third game, and we were not discussing any important issues today. We caught ourselves and realized the game was making us edgy. It’s your move.”
    “I’m almost afraid to play now,” Mip7 said, but he saw a place where he suddenly felt very strongly one of his pieces belonged. He placed it there. It slid into position effortlessly.
    The governor picked up a new piece and spoke while he studied the position in the game field.
    “During my first two games with the chancellor, I was thinking the proper move was to fit my piece where the least resistance was. I lost the second game, however. So, in our third game, I experimented by placing some pieces where there was considerable resistance, and I won that game.”
    He placed his piece next to the one from his first move of the game.
    Mip7 felt threatened by the last move. He sensed a pattern forming with the governor’s two adjacent pieces and wanted to block it.
    “How do we know when someone wins?” he asked as he placed a piece over the governor’s developing pattern.
    “You’ll see.” The governor placed a new piece off in the corner of the field by itself.
    As the game continued, the pace slowed down. More pieces filled the field, and resistance became so strong in some areas that Mip7 discovered he simply could not place a piece there even if he wanted to.
    Finally, he found he couldn’t place a piece in the game field at all. There may have been spots left which still accepted a piece, but Mip7 could not bring himself to even pick one up and make an attempt. He just sat there staring at the patterns. A terrible feeling of dejection came over him. He looked up at the governor, who now had both hands behind his head and wore a smile which betrayed great joy and satisfaction.
    “That’s how it ends,” the governor said. “I won.”
    Mip7 had never experienced anything quite like this. He was in a state of near-depression. He no longer felt like taking a shuttle to Amulen, or doing anything for that matter. What just happened to him?
    “These feelings go away shortly,” the governor said. “At least, they did for the chancellor and me—but, I have something here that may help with the process.” He pulled a box out of his desk and opened it, to reveal a bottle of Redflower-20 and two tubes. The governor opened the bottle, filled the tubes, and handed one to Mip7.
    Mip7 accepted, and they both swallowed their drinks. The governor was right. He did feel better.
    “Go again?” The governor asked. He stuck his hand in the game field and it turned off, causing all the pieces to fall on to his desktop.
    “Yes!” Mip7 said.
    They proceeded to play four more games. Mip7 managed to win two of them. The elation which accompanied the completion of a winning pattern was every bit as extreme as the dejection one felt upon losing a game. While they were playing, the governor’s assistants twice contacted him on the intercom for important-sounding communications—which the governor brushed aside both times and had messages taken for. They were about to begin a fifth game when one of the governor’s assistants came in to the office to inform him of an appointment waiting in the lobby. The governor looked at his lightpad and abruptly stood up.
    “We’ve been at this too long,” he said. “You missed the shuttle as well. I’ll have my personal shuttle take you to C2 Amulen now. Let me get this cursed thing back in