The Prize: Book One

by Rob Buckman

  “It's not.” Ellis never realized until then that she cocked her head that way.

  “What do you want?”

  “You know.”

  “Yes I do. You want to love this man with all your heart and soul, to have his children, to live, love, laugh, and grow old with him.”

  “Yes.” She nodded.

  “And what price are you willing to pay to have all those things?”

  “I don't know…” what price would any woman pay to have all those things? “ Anything I guess.” In truth, she didn't know what price she was willing to pay to be with Penn.

  “Even knowing what he is, and what he's capable of?” Ellis smiled hearing that.

  Penn was many things, starting with cold-blooded psychopathic killer at the head of the list. The inventory of what Penn was went on forever, right down to the most infuriating man she had ever met, but it didn't matter. They were just labels, and none of them said anything about the man. Like they say, the map isn’t the territory and said nothing about his capacity for love of life, his understanding, compassion and so much more. She 'knew' who Penn was and didn't care. He was her man, and that was all that mattered.

  “Would you be willing to die for him?”

  “Yes, if necessary,” she answered immediately.

  “To kill for him?”

  “Yes!”

  “To betray him?” It felt as if the other Ellis had punched her in the stomach and she sucked in her breath, nodded, almost to herself.

  “That is my fear, isn't it? That sometime in the future I might have to betray him, like someone did before.”

  “Yes.”

  “And that is what I have to face isn't it.”

  “There may come a time when you might have to choose between the life of your children, and that of Penn, or maybe all the rest of humanities children.” Ellis sucked in a shuddering breath, feeling a tear run down her cheek. It was the one silent promise she'd made to herself that she might not be able to keep.

  “Yes, if that were the situation…” Ellis let out a shuddering breath, “I would betray him,” she said at last, looking over her shoulder at Penn.

  He sat there, looking at her with his bright golden eyes, a slight smile on his pain-wracked face. Taking a deep breath, Ellis walked over to him.

  “Penn… my love… there may come a time when I might have to betray you…” she shook her head and looked away from his searching eyes, “to save our children, or many children…”

  “I understand,” he whispered.

  “You do?”

  “Yes.” He smiled at her. “If that is your fear, be at peace. I know now that there are no absolutes. Why my first love betrayed me I don't know, but it doesn't matter now. Like here, there may come where your choices are limited. You would never betray me out of greed, or even pain of death. The rest I can accept.” Unable to stand, he reached out, pulling her toward him, and kissed her forehead. Ellis felt a profound sense of relief, and kneeling down she wrapping her arms around him and crying into his chest, her hands gripping his shoulders.

  “I love you.”

  “And I love you.” He gently pushed her back. ”Go. Go face your fear… what the hell!” Ellis turned and looked toward the barrier but it was gone, along with the other Ellis.

  “Well I'll be dammed,” Penn exclaimed, his laugh coming out more like croak.

  “What the hell is going on…?” Ellis stammered. “You have to fight to the death and I get to walk through…?” Penn laughed out loud, wincing in pain.

  “Oh lord that hurts.” Laughed despite the stabbing pain.

  “I don't get it.”

  “I told you way back when that there is more to this place than meets the eye. Now go, go find out what this damn prize is all about.”

  “What?” Ellis did a double take, looking at the open tunnel, and then back at Penn. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I'm done. Go claim this prize, or whatever the hell it is. I'll just stay here and rest.” He sat back against the base of the alien statue, feeling bone tired. He’d got her to the end, and that was enough. Beside the throbbing agony in his leg, his accumulated cut, scrape and bruises had taken their toll. He doubted there was any part of his body that didn’t hurt to one degree or another, so he was content to just stay where he was and rest.

  “Penn, that stupid!” She snapped, “we go together to claim it.”

  “I don't want the bloody thing. Never did. Go switch off the gravity effect. At least I can get some medical attention as soon as that asshole Tandy gets his sorry ass down here.”

  “Like hell! We go together, and Tandy can go screw himself.” Saying that, Ellis stomped off back down the tunnel to retrieved Penn's pack. She fished around inside until she found the med kit, she ripped it open and sorted through the available drugs.

  “Don't think you'll find much in there to heal this,” Penn sighed, looking down at his leg.

  “No, but it will help.” Penn hissed in pain as she jabbed painkiller and broad-spectrum antibiotics into him. She waited a few seconds for the drugs to take effect before grabbing him under the arms.

  “On your feet soldier. You have a mission to accomplish.”

  “I do?”

  “Yes, as you said, it’s your job to get my cute tush to the freaking prize, and we ain't there yet, mister, so move your sorry, good-for-nothing, lazy ass.”

  “Jeeze! Now I know why everyone said you were a hard ass bitch.”

  “Yeah, but I'm your bitch.” She laughed. ”Oh shit! Did I say that out loud?”

  “Oh Yes, Sub Major Ellis, you surely did.” Penn’s laugh sounded more like a crock.

  Even with the drugs, it was almost impossible to stand on his bad leg, and with Ellis's shoulder under him arm they shuffled down the tunnel, half expecting the barrier to spring back into existents at any moment. It didn't, and they walked passed without a problem. Within a short distance, the light in the tunnel strengthened and they saw a doorway in the distance. That led them to a large circular room with a raised dais. In the center stood a four-foot high bronze colored pillar, topped with a glowing reddish sphere floating in the air just above it. There were no controls, no readout, in fact nothing to show what purpose this room served. If it was the control room for the gravitation device, they were screwed.

  "Is this it?” Ellis asked, as she looked around.

  "Guess so.” Helping Penn over to the raised dais, she sat him on the edge and stood back to survey the room.

  “You suppose this is the prize.”

  “Haven't a clue. It could be an alien coffee making for all I know.” Penn murmured, looking around. “I fact I wish it was, I could use a cup about now.”

  "It's not very impressive, is it?” Ellis walked around the dais, puzzled. Her brain felt fussy and unfocused. She'd never felt so tired in her life, and she wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep.

  "The question is, what, do we do now we are here. I don't see anywhere else to go.” Ellis looked around, but there were no other doorways, not that meant much in this place, but apparently, they had reached the end of the road.

  “I don't see a big red button labeled 'OFF' either.” Was Penn’s contribution.

  CHAPTER - THIRTY EIGHT: Journeys End

  "At this point I don't give a damn. All I want to do is lie down and sleep for about 18 hours.” Dropping her pack, she leaned back against the wall, and slipped to the floor.

  “It has been a long time.” A resonant voice issuing out of thin air startled them. “I am gratified to see the descendents of my creators have come home again.”

  "What?” Startled, they both looked for the source of the voice.

  "If I am reading your thoughts correctly, I am what you call the 'prize'.” The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. With few inflections, it was impossible to tell if the voice was male or female.

  "Are you the one controlling all this?” Penn asked.

  "Yes, in a way.
I monitor the system.”

  "So how come it was so frigging difficult to get here?” Ellis snapped. She felt a little let down.

  "Difficult?"

  "Yes, you know all those death traps and things, the pits and the killer plants.”

  "I believe Mr. Penn already knows the answer to that question.”

  "Penn?” Somewhat surprised, she looked over at him. Penn shrugged.

  “I told you in the beginning, this place wasn't what those dickheads at Imperial headquarters though it was. I suspect there is no Prize as such. This is nothing more than a challenge, a mental and physical challenge for something.”

  “You are correct Mr. Penn. There is no grand prize as you suspected.”

  “Then what's the point?” Ellis asked, seeing Pen shake his head.

  "Maybe it's a test of some sort.” Penn shrugged, at a loss of how to explain it to her. “It's like a giant sandbox for us to prove ourselves in.”

  "Correct, Mr. Penn this is indeed a playground for both adults and children.”

  “Are you crazy?” Ellis growled. ”What kind of parents let their children play in a homicidal madhouse like this? That's insane!"

  “There are no monsters here, Sub-Major.”

  “Come again?”

  “The monsters here, are those I create from your own minds. Children do not have the mental capacity to create real monsters. Terrifying yes, physically harmful no, adults are the ones who create real monsters.”

  “So what’s this place all about?”

  "This place was built to test and select adult being who wish to occupy positions of authority in the government, as you understand it.”

  “All this to test prospective leaders? A bit extreme, don't you think?” Ellis looked stunned, unable to reconcile the supposed prize to this, nothing more than a testing center.

  “Ellis, think about all the crooked politicians, dictator, kings, and Emperors that run things now.” Penn smiled slightly. “This way, anyone who wants to be a leader must come here and pass the test.” Penn saw the light of understanding dawn on Ellis's face.

  "He would have to face all his fears, even the ones he didn't even know he had.”

  "You've got it. Avarice, power, pettiness and even fear itself.”

  "That is one hell of a job interview! But why did we have to go through all that,” Ellis waved her hand at the doorway. ”We're not looking to run anything.”

  “From the moment you landed, I determined that all of you were expecting to be challenged. You and Mr. Penn especially.”

  “Oh right! I wanted to get eaten by a freaking giant worm, or have the life sucked out of me by a gigantic spider.” Ellis snorted.

  “You and Mr. Penn wanted to be challenged, physically and mentally. Everyone of the…” The entity paused for a moment, as if searching for a word, “obstacles I took from your own minds Sub-Major Ellis.”

  “That's insane! I never wanted to get fried inside a damn volcano, or frozen to death on an ice field.”

  “Is that what you thought was happening?”

  “Ellis, it's the age-old conundrum. Is it better for one man to rule a society, or a group of elected officials?” It occurred to him, that humans weren't the sole society to face this dilemma. Ellis still had that dubious look on her face.

  “Any advanced society has some form of government,” Penn continued. ”Apparently, the race that built this place decided there was a better way to select their leaders. I guess he's… 'It's right. We did want to be challenged, both of us.”

  “In a pig's eye I did.”

  “Come on Ellis, you are I are alike. We love a challenge. What did you do when someone told you, you couldn't do something, or be something?” Ellis's face pulled into a grimace.

  “I went out and proved them wrong, or did what they said I couldn't do.”

  “There you go.”

  “From that point of view, I can see where these 'tests' would weed out the crooks, and such. There are always a few who want the job just for the power.”

  “True, and if the 'tests' or challenges were taken from their own mind, instead of some arbitrary set of values, either they overcame them or failed.”

  “I guess you are right, but damn it, we could have been killed!” Penn nodded, looking pensive.

  “Yet the question remains. Is one man qualified to lead a society rather than a group of elected officials? Over time, a society will go through many changes so the leader they choose must reflect the needs of all the people.”

  “I guess they were seeking the ultimate form of government.”

  “I suspect so, but in truth all governments are flawed, and eventually doomed to failure.” Penn observed.

  “Only partially true. Once perfected, my creator’s society had great leaders for many of your lifetimes.”

  “How long did it last before the whole thing collapsed?” Ellis asked cynically.

  “Before the change, the last was in office for ten thousand of your years, Major Ellis.”

  “Well! Shut the front door.”

  “You said 'the change'? What do you mean?” Penn asked.

  “My creators reached a point in their evolution where they transformed into beings of pure energy, and as such had no need for any form of government.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, Major, really.” There was a definite undertone of humor in the entity’s voice when it answered.

  "I can see where this might work. In here, anyone who wanted the job would ultimately have to face themselves.” She looking at Penn, remembering his struggle with the tunnel she'd led him through.

  "The ultimate monster. Here he could have anything his heart desires. Wealth, power, you name it. He could sate his darkest fantasies, or indulge in any perversion without fear of punishment or retribution.”

  “True, but he'd be trapped here until he died I suspect.”

  "And if he reached the prize everyone would know he could be trusted.” Ellis nodded in understanding.

  "That is correct. There are many levels to the test Sub Major Ellis. Many, unlike you and Penn, do not pass the simplest.”

  "Just like Zinary.” She looked at Penn.” I doubt I could have passed all those traps and tests without his help.” She added, smiling at him.

  "And what about you, Mr. Penn.”

  “Me! I wouldn't have come near the place without her being here.”

  "You came for me?” Her voice choked up, tears running down her dirty face.

  "Without you, I had no reason to come here. With anyone else, I would slip away the first chance I got and said to hell with it.” He hobbled over and knelt down, wiping away the tears running down her cheek, and kissed her. ”You are the only reason I came here, and survived.” He slipped down the wall and sat beside her.

  "Penn.” She muttered softly, and buried her face in his neck, drawing in his cinnamon scent. He put his arms around her and looked over his shoulder at the glowing sphere.

  “So, what's your story?” Penn asked.

  “I have existed for many millennia, created for the sole purpose of running and maintaining this construct, and the one above us.”

  “Above us?”

  “Yes, the artificial star of this system.” The sphere's tone was so monotonous that for a moment the comment didn't register on either of them.

  “Wait. Did you say that the star of this system is a construct?” Ellis asked.

  “Yes, Sub-Major Ellis, it is. It merely looks and acts like a star.” It suddenly dawned on Ellis why this planet had liquid water and life. A normal planet this distance from its parent star would be too cold for life.

  “Good God! Just how powerful were your creators?” Penn asked.

  “My builders were the first sentinel race in the cosmos.”

  “You mean the first in this part of the galaxy?”

  “No, Mr. Penn in all the cosmos.”

  “But… but…”

  “You have to understand, Mr. Penn. When my cr
eators reach maturity, the cosmos was much smaller. Once they had the means, they searched for other sentinel life, but alas found none.”

  “How long did they search?”

  “Several billon years.”