Indian Hill (17 page)
“How go the games, Krulak?”
“They go well, my Supreme Commander, the hu-mans are even more cruel and savage than we had originally thought. But for a few rare cases they have no regard for other human lives.”
“It is amazing that this species has survived to this juncture in their evolution. Apparently we will only be speeding up their demise by a decade or two.”
“I agree, Commander, and the entertainment is just what the populace needed after the last buckle we completed.”
“Yes that was a particularly difficult space traversal, are the Genogerians behaving themselves?”
“Yes oh Great One, but all the killing has made them a little more unstable than usual. A couple of fights have broken out among the crew but only two deaths and five serious injuries.”
“Maybe, my dear Krulak, we should have done on our planet what these Earthlings did on theirs.”
“Sir, by wiping out Cro-magnon these hu-mans rid themselves of a valuable asset. Now they have to do their own dirty work.”
“You are right my dear Krulak. If we had destroyed the Genogerians we would have succumbed long ago to the Fregtew. I still have a hard time believing that we have any commonality to the beasts though.”
“Sir, we have as much in common with them as a piece of steel does to a sword. We are of similar material but we have been worked and honed to be a thing of beauty and power.”
“I agree. As always Krulak, your faith has never wavered, old friend. Please let me know when Round Two has been completed. You may go.”
“By your leave, sir.”
I thought I had died. Apparently I had just passed out. I knew this to be true because I had some sort of strange wrappings around my wounds. I’m pretty sure Heaven wouldn’t need any type of gauze to keep me from bleeding out. Unless God of course had a strange sense of humor, which by the way he probably does. If you need proof of that just look at the predicament I’m in at this moment. But I’m alive. For good or bad, I’m alive to fight another day. Man, how hollow had those words sounded a lifetime ago, now they ring as true as the Liberty Bell. I stood up from my bed and flexed my bad side. I felt remarkably well, the aliens must have some super-Neosporin, either that or I’ve been out for a long, long time. Curiosity won over morbidity; I crossed the room to turn on the ‘Kill-O-Vision’ as I had affectionately begun to call it. No battles were being waged at this time so all that appeared was a static list of the remaining contestants and their respective rankings. At first I thought it was a misprint. I had beaten Sterns, ranked at 310, and my rating by comparison had
dropped.
I was listed at No. 812. That meant that either the competition was that difficult or Sterns’ injuries had severely hampered my chance at a better rating and an easier challenger next round. I stared at the screen in horror and dismay. I had hoped that I would have a relatively easy opponent next round, but the aliens had seen it differently. I had faced a man who had been close to death and I had almost joined him. How in the hell was I going to beat this next person? I was shaken out of my stupor when a countdown clock appeared to announce that Round Three was about to get under way. I had five hours to prep myself for another battle, how long was I out for? Well, I had five hours to fully recuperate, and depression had settled in deeply. I was thinking it was time for a nap. Backing up towards my bed, I put an arm out to guide myself down and touched something warm. At first I thought I was still dreaming, so I moved my hand back and forth a little without turning around. I was afraid to see what was there; I slowly turned, half-expecting to be face to face with Mace Head. The thought of him coming at me, brain matter still oozing out of his gaping maw, almost made me double over in fear. It was then that a high shriek brought me back to reality or at least a semblance thereof. The woman in my bed, upon opening her eyes and seeing me, recoiled in terror. She pulled the blankets around her and got into one of the tightest fetal positions I had ever witnessed. After the initial shock and surprise of finding another warm-blooded creature sharing my abode, I wondered what caused
that
reaction. I may not be Tom Cruise but I’m not the Hunchback of Notre Dame either, what gives? The whole situation might already have been somewhat humorous if I hadn’t been as startled as her and fell backwards, lightly brushing my head against the table, but more ridiculous than that was the sound of my pride making a solid thunking sound as my ass hit the floor. I could do nothing more than laugh. Her eyes shifted from terror to bewilderment. As my laughing increased her eyes became even softer. I think that for a moment through my tears of mirth I even witnessed the beginning of a smile. Still trying to wipe the tears from my eyes and holding my stomach from splitting I continued to laugh and to my amazement my new roommate joined in. After a few more moments the merriment of the situation came to a drawn out finale. The wariness began to creep back into her eyes. So I spoke to try and calm whatever her fears were.
“Please,” I whispered, “don’t be scared. I don’t know who you are or why you’re here but I’ve done nothing to you so far, and I don’t plan on starting now.”
She looked me over carefully and must have decided that I was telling the truth, as she loosened her death grip on the blanket and actually stretched out her legs a little bit to relax
her
fetal position.
“Who are you?” I queried. “And what exactly are you doing here?”
“You mean you really don’t know?” she uttered skeptically.
“I don’t know much of anything right now other than the fact that I’m being held captive in an alien ship and so far I’ve killed two other human beings, and more than likely my time left alive on this ship is measured in hours as opposed to days, plus that was the first good laugh I’ve had in what seems like decades.” She winced when I mentioned the part about my death, but I didn’t know her from Eve so I don’t think that my passing would greatly affect her.
“I’m a spoil.” She seemed to have almost gagged upon that word.
‘A spoil?’ I thought to myself, all I could think of was milk. Why the hell would she be comparing herself to old milk? Ohh, now I get it, I must have hit my head a little harder than I thought.
“You’re my spoil, as in spoils of war?”
“That’s it.”
“But that's crazy!” I said.
“This whole thing is a little crazy, wouldn’t you agree?”
We both almost started the whole laughing bit again, but the pain in my side abbreviated that.
She continued. “We, meaning the remaining women, are made to watch all the matches as they are waged. We are awarded to the winner and he may do with us as he sees fit.”
“You mean you have to clean this place if I tell you to?” I said jokingly. But then it struck me, if this girl was somebody’s girlfriend that meant that Beth could possibly be with another man right now. My heart almost derailed, it hammered inside my chest as if it were trying to get out. She must have seen the concern in my eyes.
“What’s the matter?” she asked with true empathy.
“Someone that I care about is out there,” as I swept my arm across the expanse of the ship.
“I’m so sorry, I know how it feels.”
“How could you possibly know how it feels?” I shot back angrily.
“I also went to the concert with a loved one, and then I got to watch him die a horrible death in the first round. At least your girlfriend may still be alive.”
“I am so sorry, I’m such an idiot. I’ve been alone for so long in this room I don’t even know how to act around people anymore. I am truly sorry for your loss. It wasn’t me was it?”
“What? No, it wasn’t you, but it doesn’t matter now anyway.”
“Sure it does, how could I possibly face you if I had killed your boyfriend?”
“Fiancé.”
I shut up, she truly did have me bested. My girlfriend was at least on the ship, but her fiancé had departed for a better place, or at least I had to believe that.
After a few moments of a drawn out and awkward silence she extended the hand of friendship.
“What’s her name, or better yet what does she look like? I might know her. They let us stay together in one huge communal room.”
I began to give her a description of my Beth and the more descriptive I became the more I noticed the light of recognition on her face. Hope surged. I was almost afraid to get any news because my mom always used to say ‘no news is good news’ and thus far in my life I had no reason to dispute that. Well, I thought to myself, now is not the time for the faint of heart. I said her first name… and my new friend said her last.
“You know her?” I asked incredulously “You truly know her?” Here was a person that had been in contact with my love, most likely just yesterday.
“Not really, but I know
of
her.”
I don’t understand what you mean.” I was now grasping for straws, I just wanted to hear anything about Beth.
“She is the Goddess of the Arena.”
“What the hell is that!?” All the goddesses I had ever read about were always sacrificed for some stupid reason or other. This twist couldn’t be good.
She cringed at my outburst but continued anyway. “She was chosen to be the most desirable among all the women here.” She huffed as if to say ‘what am I, chopped liver?’ Which, my dear reader, I can tell you right now she was not. “And it was decided by our glorious hosts that she will be given to the winner of the entire tournament.”
The image of that animal Durgan with my girlfriend did nothing to ease my nerves. The questions I had for her came out in rapid fashion.
“Please, I will answer all your questions as best I can, but please give me some time.”
“That’s the problem,” I noted as I pointed to the screen where the 3
rd
round had just begun. “I don’t have much time.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’m sorry. By the way, my name is Debbie, Debbie
Carody
.”
“I’m pleased to meet you Debbie.” And under any other circumstances I would have been truly happy to meet her. She was around 5’3” with long b
londe
hair, green eyes and a complexion that belied her hair and eye color, she was actually a little darker than I was and considering I had some Italian mixed in with my English heritage that made her look all the more exotic. She looked a lot like Michelle Pfeifer with a great tan and she had the body to match the face.
“Do you know why I’m still alive? I’m not a doctor but the blood I saw pouring out of me was a deep crimson, it was an arterial strike and by the way I was bleeding out I should have only had a few moments left.”
“Well, from what I gather the aliens were more than a little peeved when in the first round an additional fifty-two victorious combatants died from injuries sustained in their bouts. They decided to step in from Round Two on and save the victors with their advanced medical techniques.” Oh, I thought to myself as I absently touched the alien pack on my side. That explains that.
“Deb… do you mind if I call you that?” I asked.
“No, most of my friends call me that anyway.”
“Why were you so terrified when I woke you, I know that this whole situation is crazy but I’m one of the good guys, at least I think I am.”