Survivor Planet Series 2-Book Box Set (7 page)

“What? What do you mean?”

“Some people on Earth are actually from Calixtus. They make their living seeking out recruits, young females and sometimes males, to be used in tournaments, selling them off to the highest bidder. I had nothing to do with you being chosen.” He sounded defensive.

“Are you saying my aunt and uncle were from Calixtus?”
No frigging way.

“Your aunt, yes, your uncle, no. He had no idea. They rarely do. The Trackers—as they are called—are masters at infiltration and manipulation. Your parents were disposed of when you were young.” It wasn't a question, but a fact. “She would have been responsible for that.”

My legs felt shaky all of a sudden and I moved off the trail to sit down on a moss-covered rock. Ayres came and stood by me, his eyes shifting about the area, always on guard. If he saw from my expression he'd revealed too much information, he didn't let it stop him from continuing.

“You had been set in place for another.”

I stared at him as if he'd grown another head. What did he mean? Another alien?

He nodded his head at my unvoiced question. “Another meant to take you, but I intercepted. There was a battle and...”

“And my uncle was killed in the crossfire?”

“Yes. It was unfortunate and I didn't mean for it to happen that way. It was not me who killed him. It was she.”

“Aunt Erin killed my Uncle Mick?”

“Yes. And she would have killed you too, but I didn't allow it. She would have rather seen you dead then to have me mark you for my own.” He looked away.

“Who was I meant for?” Did it really matter? Whether I'd been marked for Ayres or some other alien I was still nothing more than a plaything to be used. All for a stupid game.

Ayres didn't answer and when I glared at him he finally faced me. “My brother.”

“Your brother?”

“But when he got into trouble you were put back onto the block and the highest bidder was the one who had the right to claim you.”

So I was bartered and bid on, all without my knowledge. It took me a moment to control my fury. Ayres didn't seem to notice the inner battle that raged within me.

“My brother owed a great deal of money. He figured he could enter into the tournament with you, win, and then be granted a boon of forgiveness of the debt. But you were too young and he'd run out of time. He decided to clear his debt in another way and unfortunately got himself into more trouble. He was incarcerated on Drone—Calixtus' fourth moon—and will soon face death.”

“So you intercepted me and decided to play for his life?”

“Yes. It cost me a great deal of money to secure you. But the Tracker—your ‘aunt', had a personal vendetta against Kenix, my brother. She was furious when I told her my plans. That is why she wanted you dead.”

“Is this the part when I'm supposed to thank you for my life?” I stood up and began to pace. “According to you, Calixtus has used Earth since the beginning of time. Not just our planet but our people as well. We're nothing more to you than game pieces. Never mind that we have lives of our own.”

He shrugged. “It is the way things have always been. We need to keep moving.” He gestured for me to come with him. I had no choice but to follow.

I watched his back for a while along the pathway. The weird birds continued to shrill, oblivious to our presence. “You know I've seen you since I was sixteen.”

“I know.”

“Weren't you concerned that your future partner was crazy? You know I was put in an asylum after the hell I went through at the cottage.”

“You're not crazy. A little disturbed after what happened, perhaps, which is only natural for a frail woman.”

“Wow, all this flattery is gonna go to my head. And I am crazy. I saw you a lot, had realistic episodes of a life we had together and everything.” I wasn't about to tell him about the wild sex or how he'd gone postal.

“It's not your fault. It is the device in your head.”

I stopped walking. It took him a moment to notice before he stopped as well and turned around. “What device?”

“An implant. So I could keep track of you. Sometimes it messes with the mind. It's all right. The device was turned off once I took you.”

“You put an alien implant in me that made me nuts?”
What a fucking asshole.

“Yes. I had to make sure I could find you when the time came.”

“This just keeps getting better and better.”

It seemed my whole life was a lie. I'd been nothing but a hostage, really, to the whims of Calixtus. Every major event had been controlled and manipulated by an alien race waiting to claim me. Though it hadn't been Ayres at first, he'd been the one to take his brother's place, and he'd even implanted me—made me think I was insane. Images of Aunt Erin flashed in my mind. I'd always wondered why I'd catch her watching me sometimes with a strange look in her eye, a look I now figured was calculation.

“Why did my aunt—or whoever she was—have it out for your brother?” I asked. Ayres slowed so that I could keep pace with him. “Didn't she find me and spend years pretending to be something she wasn't, all for him? Or was it about the money?”

“She did what she did, not just for the money Kenix gave her, but because she loved him. He cared for her, but he did not share her infatuation. When he went to prison she was furious. I saw him on Drone and he told me about you and what he'd planned to do originally. He wasn't sure how Vara—the Tracker—would handle things. I discovered that she had put you on the block after Kenix was imprisoned. I was able to purchase you from that warrior.” When he saw he had my undivided attention, he continued.

“When I went to let Vara know you were now meant for me, and how I planned to use you to help me free Kenix, she grew irrational. She wanted revenge on Kenix. She'd given up years of her life for him, she said, and all for nothing. That he would foolishly risk everything, and wind up on Drone anyway, told her that she meant nothing to him. So at the cabin she tried to kill me.”

“Why don't I remember any of this?”

“Vara stunned you and your uncle just before I arrived. She thought it was the other warrior coming to claim you. We battled, and she and your uncle were killed. I was wounded and I had to return to Calixtus. Before I left I implanted you.”

“It took me three days to wake up. They found me surrounded by body parts.”
Thank God I didn't remember seeing that.

“As it was you were still too young for the tournament. I had to wait until you were twenty Earth years—part of the rules. A good thing the judicial system on Drone takes so long to carry out a sentence.”

In some twisted way I could relate to Ayres' logic. He was driven by the need to save his brother. Although it didn't excuse what had happened to me, nor what his people did to mine.

Night was falling and everything around us took on a shadowy, sinister tinge. What had seemed beautiful and calm in the daylight hours now became creepy and dangerous. Our day of trudging had been uneventful, and except for the couple we'd seen earlier, no one had crossed our path.

When Ayres showed no signs of slowing down I glared at his back. “How much further?”

“One hundred of your Earth miles.”

I halted in my tracks. “Say what?” He couldn't possibly be serious. He stopped and turned around. With a great sigh I continued walking.

“From start to finish, we will travel one hundred miles,” he clarified.

“In one week?” He nodded. “How much further do we have to walk
today
?”

“Do you grow tired?”

More like exhausted. It didn't help that the fruit he'd been feeding me had cramped up my belly and I'd had to dive into the bushes every hour or so. He'd complained about the delay, which was no doubt why he drove us on relentlessly. “Yes, I'm tired.”

Without losing pace, he swung me up into his arms, carrying me like a baby. “Rest,” he said.

The heat of his body against the cool night air, and the lull of his swaggering steps soon had me resting my head on his chest. The real-life him was so different from my Episodes. His scent was more masculine and his muscles more firm. Seeing the brightest moon reflect off the deadly blade of his scythe I felt protected. I didn't fool myself into thinking Ayres felt anything for me other than the necessity to keep me alive so he could win the game. Despite him being in my life the past four years, it had been one-sided. He may have popped in once in a while, but he'd explained to me that images of him were programmed into the implant, so when the time came for him to come for me, I would know him. And he'd been right. When he'd reached out his hand to me at the cottage, I'd clung to him like a rope in quicksand.

I dreamt. Swirling images of spaceships, slashing scythes, moons—and Uncle Mick lying in a pool of blood at my feet. Whenever sadness and restlessness overcame me, a voice reached out to me in the darkness. “Shhh, you're all right,” it soothed, allowing me to drift away to dream of comforting caresses and kisses. I awoke suddenly when my ass hit the ground with a thump. Brain fog and the dark night sky distorted my vision.

“I have already lost,” yelled a voice. “But I will make sure you do not succeed.”

Bolts of colored laser light zoomed back and forth between two giant male forms yielding their weapons. I recognized one of the men as Ayres. The lights flew wild, hitting branches and making sickening cracking noises. A crash sounded close to my right making me leap to my feet in fear. I saw the snarling face of one of the alien warriors turn to me and grin sadistically.

“Fear not, girl. I will make it quick,” he said.

In a brief instant Ayres' gaze locked with mine. I froze. “Run!” he yelled. Needing no further encouragement, I scrambled into the brush and ducked down out of sight. Letting loose a battle cry that made my hair stand on end, Ayres charged forward. Swinging his scythe in a deadly arc, he engaged his opponent who raised his own weapon in defense.

The man Ayres fought was not Oro, which brought me some comfort. That meant Lissa may still be alive—for now. What would happen, I wondered, if we came face to face with them? Would I have to stand by and watch Ayres kill my friend? Or would Lissa have to watch Oro kill me? Maybe then she'd figure out this was for real.

The battle raged for some time. Both of the men were of a similar size and strength, so it would boil down to skill. Though Ayres had not originally planned to compete in the tournament, he'd had four years to prepare himself. But would it be enough?

Loud shrieks suddenly came from every direction. The jungle appeared to come alive as dark shapes writhed and whirled through the night. Masses of them—whatever they were—grouped together forming a large circle round the two battling men. Deeper into the bushes I scurried, peeking out through the thick tangled vines at the scene less than forty feet away.

The two warriors ceased their fight, and with an exchanged glance, the mortal enemies turned back to back to greet their foe. Those twisted, painted bodies, bearing crude weapons, and snarls on their faces, must be the Varlings. Their sheer number gave them an advantage. One on one against an alien warrior they would not have stood a chance. Even from my vantage point I could see the gaunt faces and protruding ribs curved around indented bellies.

Ayres took a few steps and held up his scythe in warning. The other warrior brandishing a deadly looking broad sword did the same. “Flee or die where you stand,” Ayres threatened.

“Bloody cannibals,” the other warrior growled.

Cannibals?

One of the Varlings—I assume the leader—wearing more paint than the others, yelled something I couldn't understand. When he waved his right arm over his head, half the group charged the warriors. Weapons cut and sliced in a blur of speed, and bolts of lasers whirled. Screams mixed with battle cries amid a mass of tangled limbs. The carnage continued until I could take no more. Like a coward I closed my eyes and put my hands up over my ears. When it finally grew silent, except for the moans of the dying, I dared to look. Ayres and the other warrior remained standing. Both were covered in blood, be it their own or their attackers' I didn't know.

Ayres repeated his threat. “Flee...or die!” I for one would have run for the hills.

Eyes locked upon one another—invading aliens, and defending natives. The leader of the Varlings finally dropped his gaze. After muttering a few commands, he and his remaining tribe backed away. They'd suffered enough loss for one day.

Sudden sadness enveloped me as I watched them go, shoulders slumped in defeat. They were no match for the aliens or their weapons. They hadn't stood a chance. Primitive Earthlings probably faced the same fate when invaders from Calixtus had arrived to play their precious games. The future of Teleon could very well be slated for the same fate as Earth. Aliens would be stranded, left behind for generations, thereby forming a new race of inhabitants—people who would grow and adapt and increase in numbers, progressing until Taleon no longer served its purpose. Calixtus would then set out for greener pastures, moving throughout the galaxy leaving behind misbegotten legacies in their wake.

The two warriors turned to face each other. Both appeared exhausted. Now that their mutual enemy had retreated, they were once again on opposite sides.

“Have done with your fight,” Ayres said.

The other man raised up his sword. “I will not be left behind. I would rather die a warrior than be forced into a life of scavenging amongst a bunch of heathens.”

“Others are here. Our kind. Find them and make a new life,” Ayres suggested. He spoke kindly but still held his weapon ready.

Tension crackled in the air. I held my breath as the two men continued to size each other up. Slowly, the other warrior lowered his sword. Ayres did likewise, but kept his eyes upon him. “Keep your woman close,” the man threatened. “If I see you again, I will kill you both.” Backing away, he got to the edge of the thick brush and then disappeared. Ayres remained still for some time and then gestured for me to come to him.