Survivor Planet Series 2-Book Box Set (9 page)

The woman got up and hugged herself with her arms. Her head hung low and I could see she still shook with sobs. Ayres strode around the perimeter. Several minutes later he finally gave me the signal to come out. I approached the pair guardedly. I could see by the grim look on Ayres' face he wasn't pleased by our new circumstance. The woman's presence didn't thrill me either. She actually presented quite a dilemma. Ayres had stated one of the rules of the game to be no switching of partners. If your teammate was killed, you were stuck. So I didn't worry she would try and take my place. Ayres couldn't win without me. But what were we to do with her?

The woman looked at me pathetically, and I couldn't help but pity her. What if our roles were reversed? She was just a little thing, no bigger than me. Her blonde hair hung loose to her waist, a few inches longer than mine. I preferred to tame my unruly dark brown locks with a tight braid—much easier to manage. She wore the same outfit as me, her colour being dark gray, though. She filled out the top half of her shirt better than I did. Her bottom was rounder and larger as well. I recalled her alien warrior had been a giant of a man with long dark hair and massive muscles. I wondered if they'd done it?

“I'm Amanda. What's your name?” I asked her.

“Jane.”

Ayres glared at her. “Where were you attacked?”

Jane pointed in the direction she'd come from. “Further on down the trail. We'd just fallen asleep...” Judging from her blush I surmised they
had
done it.

“We were attacked too,” I told her. “But there was another warrior, and he and Ayres...”

“Enough!” Ayres grilled me with a warning glare. I guess I'd revealed too much information. He walked up the trail and signaled for me to follow him. He stopped when we were able to talk privately.

“What are you going to do?” I asked. “We can't just leave her here.”

“Why not? She will have to learn to fend for herself soon enough. She will never leave this place.” His face wore that cold, inhumane mask I'd seen so many times before.

My first instinct was anger. What right did these aliens have to pluck us from Earth, use us in a game, and then strand us on some wild planet? Jane, Lissa, and I were human beings, and so was that poor woman who was choked in the beginning just for rebelling. Not to mention the other women on the ship. Part of me wanted to thump Ayres in the chest or kick him in the shin. For just five minutes I wish we could change places and he could experience the helplessness I felt. Looking into his eyes I could see he wouldn't understand my indignation and fury. He'd been born into a life that encouraged subjugation of the weak. If I wanted him to see things my way I had to use the right tactic. Hoping to stir his emotions, I got closer to him and put my hand on his chest. “Can't we keep her for a while? Just until we find someplace safe to leave her?”

“She will slow us down,” he rationalized.

I moved my hand up toward the neckline of his shirt, slipping my fingers beneath while making my body flush with his. “Please? She won't be any trouble.”

“No.”

“Pretty please?” I stroked his chest.

Knowing well what I was doing, he smirked at me. “Do you think that is going to make me see things your way?” His hand came up and covered mine.

I shrugged and smiled up at him. “A girl can try.”

Ayres looked over at Jane and then back at me again. “She can remain with us until we find somewhere
safe
to leave her.”

That was easier than I thought. Stretching up on my tiptoes I kissed him on the lips. “Thank you.”

His face grew stern again. “But if she slows us down or causes any trouble, she will be gone.”

What he meant by
gone
I wasn't sure. I kissed him again and then sauntered back over to Jane, Ayres right behind me. “You can stay with us. Just till we find a safe place to leave you,” I told her. Though I could tell she wasn't overly thrilled with my announcement, she thanked us anyway.

The three of us continued on with Ayres leading the way and Jane and I walking side by side behind him. Jane fiddled with her hair, and brushed at the dirt stains on her clothes. I remembered her from the fight ring on the ship. Her hair had been in a long braid then. She'd sucker punched a brunette and tripped a girl with short, light brown hair. I guess she'd done the best she could under the circumstances. I noticed her eyes kept fixating on Ayres back.

“Don't worry about Ayres,” I told her. “He's grouchy like that all the time.”

“So was Foron,” she said. “All of them seemed to have a bitch on.”

I smiled. “So, what part of Earth are you from?”

“New York. Not the big city, but a little town named Cherry Creek.”

“I was taken from a small town as well. I guess that's how they plan it,” I said.

“My stepfather wouldn't allow me to leave our property. I could go outside—we have a dozen acres—but no further than that. He was really strict and wouldn't let me date or have any friends. I even had to be home schooled. Life really sucked. I think he was worried about what people would say about me. My head's been really messed up the past few years. I think he thought I was going crazy.”

“Your head was messed up because you were implanted with a tracking device. And your loving stepfather was most likely an alien.”

Jane didn't appear surprised. “Foron told me a bunch of stuff. He mentioned the Trackers from Calixtus and the implant. I guess your Ayres told you as well.”

My Ayres
. I kind of liked the sound of that. “Yeah, he did. I suppose there's no need to hide stuff from us anymore.”

“Doesn't it piss you off? All of this? I mean who the hell do they think they are? That woman, the one who spoke up at the start of the game—she had it right. I should have supported her.”

“So should I. And now she's dead.”

Jane looked at me. “No, she's not. Foron told me she was just knocked out. That alien—I don't remember his name—had a reputation for doing that.”

“What a relief. I wonder what's gonna happen to her, and all the other girls. It doesn't seem likely they'd let them go. Not after all that time invested in keeping them virgins.”

“Foron said most of them are returned to Earth after the game's over, unless their alien decides to keep them. It's really up to the men. Some of the warriors can't help themselves and wind up having sex with their captive. If that happens she can no longer be used in the game. So, she's either sent home or kept.”

“That doesn't seem fair. What about what she wants? Doesn't she get a choice?”

“No. When have we ever been given a choice about any of this?” Jane said bitterly.

“The ones that are left virgins and returned to Earth, what happens to them? Are they put back in place only to be taken again for next year's tournament?”

“Possibly, if the warrior's entry is accepted again. If not, she waits until he can use her, or he may sell her to someone else. If she gets too old, or something happens and she's no longer suitable for the tournament, then they deactivate her tracker and she can go on with her life.”

“Such that it is,” I said sarcastically. I thought about those poor girls that were sent back to Earth, virgins or not, telling tales about being abducted by aliens, and never to be taken seriously. Even worse would be the fate of the women who were kept against their will and taken to Calixtus. God only knew what would become of them. I stared at Ayres and wondered what my fate would be. As Jane said, it was all up to the warrior and what he wanted.

Foron had shared a lot of information with Jane. Fat lot of good it would do her here, rotting on Taleon for the rest of her days. Looking at her, I wondered if she'd come to terms with her fate? After a harrowing experience with attacking Varlings and losing her alien, she didn't seem too upset. Not now anyway.

“How do you know that Foron didn't make it?” I asked her.

She appeared startled at my question. “No one could have survived that. Those things were everywhere at once. I'm lucky to have made it out alive.”

“Yeah, lucky,” I agreed. Even so, I wasn't as sure as Jane was about Foron being dead. I wouldn't count him out too soon, and I was pretty sure Ayres felt the same way. Foron's weapon had been a long battle-axe that appeared to be made entirely of steel sporting a giant blade. It probably shot off laser beams as well. A formidable weapon against underfed, poorly armed natives, even if there were droves of them.

Ayres called a halt awhile later and gave us fruit to eat. “There is a stream,” he pointed, “down there. You can drink the water. Do not wander too far.” He directed this last bit at Jane. I already knew the rules.

Ayres walked over and sat down, leaning against the trunk of a tree, and began eating some purple looking thing. Jane and I had each been handed something pink with fuzzy skin shaped like a banana. “Want to get a drink?” I asked her.

“Sure.” We wandered down to the stream and sat at the water's edge. We chatted for a bit while we ate and then I went off to relieve myself in the bushes, first making a quick check for any of those spy bubbles. When I returned, Jane was gone. I walked back up the slight hill to find her sitting with Ayres. He was smiling at something she was saying. Her hands were making big gesturing motions as though she were telling a story.

“What's so amusing?” They both stared at me making me feel like an intruder.

“Jane was telling me about when Foron took her from Earth.”

“Oh.” I remembered my capture and nothing about it had been the least bit entertaining.

Ayres got to his feet and brushed flecks of purple off his pants. “Let's go. We'll be out of the jungle soon and the terrain will be difficult to travel.”

The jungle hadn't been much of a trial. The path had been easy to follow, though it seemed to be ever-changing. Earlier, I'd asked Ayres how he knew where we were going. He'd said the competing warriors had spent several days on board the ship reviewing visual maps so they knew what route to follow. They'd also been shown more challenging, but quicker alternative routes. This time as we walked, Jane did her best to keep up with Ayres. She asked him several questions, which I knew would annoy him, but he appeared to be practicing restraint. Perhaps he simply preferred blondes? I hung back and watched the two of them strolling along. I grudgingly admitted they made an attractive couple.

We reached the edge of the jungle in what I'd estimated to be hours later, and I stared in amazement at the landscape beyond. Where the jungle had been green mountains and massive trees with dangling vines, the sight before us was completely alien, and like nothing I'd ever seen, or even imagined before. Slightly similar to the red-sand desert landscape we'd encountered upon first arrival, stretching before us was a sandy barren landscape. The sand however was multicolor with flecks of it glinting like diamonds in the waning sunshine. Gentle hills with bright green, red, and yellow tufts of pointy grass pointed up towards the sky.

Jane walked beside me now, Ayres having given her the cold shoulder some time ago. She seemed as awe struck as me over the scenery. “Wow, how unusual. Can't mistake not being on Earth now,” she said.

I nodded in agreement, still feeling slightly annoyed with how she'd tried cozying up to Ayres. Her flirty behavior made me wonder if she had some plan in mind. What was to stop Ayres from winning the game with me, but asking for Jane as a boon? Of course, he had to ask for his brother's freedom, but suppose he also got to choose who left the planet with him? What would happen to me then? Hopefully we'd find a safe place to leave Jane soon—if Ayres was still willing.

“Careful where you step,” Ayres said, slowing his pace so that we all walked together. “Those plants,” he pointed, “are poisonous to the touch. And just because something might look similar to what you've eaten before, don't assume it is safe. Ask me first before you touch.”

Jane and I both nodded in understanding.

“I want to travel for a while longer before we rest for the night. We will need to find some shelter—it is not safe out in the open.” He didn't elaborate.

“You're not going to leave me here, are you?” Jane asked, her lips pouty and her chest thrust out.

Spare me.

Ayres gazed at her with no emotion in his expression. “Not here, not yet. But soon.”

Jane didn't appear happy with that announcement. She was sullen and silent as we continued trudging on. When the three moons rose high up in the sky shining brightly, and the sky turned dark, Ayres finally settled on a place to stop. A bunch of trees with tangled limbs formed a crude circle, their branches turned in to form an overhead covering. All three of us laid down on the sand, Ayres and I side by side, and Jane a few feet away. It took me a while to fall asleep, but sometime during the night I awoke to find Ayres' arm wrapped around me. He'd pulled me closer to him and the back of me was nestled against his front. The heat coming from his body warmed me and sent a shiver down my spine as well. With a contented sigh I drifted off.

When I awoke it was to the tinkle of Jane's laughter. I sat up and rubbed at my eyes before getting to my feet. I climbed out from the protection of the trees and casually strolled over to where my companions stood. Jane had her back to me, but I could see she was once again regaling Ayres with her silly stories—ones that had her reaching out to pat his chest in mock outrage.

“You rogue warriors think you can just take any pretty girl you wish,” she gushed, not sounding the least bit irritated.

Ayres met my gaze as I came up before them. “Good. You are ready?” he asked.

“Actually, I need to...ah...”

Jane's eyes flashed with amusement as she turned to stare at me. “Well, get going then. Don't dawdle.”