I really liked the way you used the first-person narration to explore the psychic brainwashing the narrator has undergone at the Cult's hands. It gave the whole tale a nicely creepy undercurrent throughout. I think the story could have better explored the theme - the two main characters, the narrator and Torma, have one exchange about the Cult early on, and don't get further into the subject. You have plenty of wordcount to play with, so my suggestion would be to have the narrator meet Torma as he is escaping, and have a brief confrontation to really sell the contrast between the two characters' perspectives on who, really, is the bad guy here. Overall I liked your engagement with the very human realities of a Cult of psychic aliens, and the damage they could and would do not only to planets, but to the individuals who live on them. Let me second Hobby Fuzion's encouragement that there's a longer story in here if you want to tell it!