Gladiator

by Barry Solway

  “Come with me,” he rasped. Gorgeous shifted but none of them moved. The zombie gazed blankly at the wall for a moment, a look of confusion on his face. Speech was obviously getting harder for the man. “Come or… drag you.”

  Mel noticed Gorgeous, a look of very human hopelessness on her face that matched what the translators said. Mel reached out a hand. “We’ll go together.” She wanted to reassure Gorgeous, and herself, that everything would be okay. But Mel didn’t believe it herself.

  They reluctantly followed the zombie. Jon stared at Mel, dumbfounded. “You’re just going to do what he says? He’s just going to do to us what they did to Riley.”

  “We can’t stop them. Maybe… maybe this is different.” She knew she sounded pathetic, but couldn’t think of anything else to say. Jon was right, but so was she.

  Jon shook his head. Finally, he gave up and stood. “I’m not going down without a fight. I’m not going to be part of some medical experiments.” Mel didn’t have any response. She felt the same, but didn’t know what else to do. Maybe they could learn something about the ship, some way to escape. It was the only hope she had.

  The zombie man moved out the door, dragging one leg behind him that barely seemed to work. Mel, Jon and Gorgeous followed behind, and the insect robot took up the rear, the spiked tail pointing at them. They walked through the maze of hallways until they reached a door. As the door faded open, the zombie motioned them to step through. Neither the other humans or the robot followed them.

  The room was a half circle with curving walls to each side of the door and a long flat wall across from where they entered. About half the size of a basketball court, the room stood empty. This didn’t seem like what Riley had described, but she didn’t have time to ask questions. An odd-looking android wheeled towards them from the far wall. Balanced on a single wheel, like a unicycle, the android had four arms on a triangular torso, with the point of the triangle facing down. The hands each had eight fingers but no thumbs that Mel could see. There were no legs, just a bar that connected the bottom of the torso with the wheel. The head was another upside-down triangle with a band along the top where human eyes would be. The robot carried four sticks, one in each hand. It wheeled over and gave one stick to each of the three, holding the last one in its top right hand.

  “Begin,” it said.

  They had no idea what they were supposed to do. Jon looked back at Mel in confusion. “What the hell is this?”

  The blow landed a moment later, completely blindsiding Jon. First hitting his shoulder, the strike bounced up to his head, sending Jon into Mel and Gorgeous with a grunt. Gorgeous screamed in alarm and dropped her stick, as Mel struggled to catch Jon without falling over.

  The robot darted forward, slamming its stick into Jon as he lay on the floor. Jon kicked out with no effect. Two more blows landed before the others reacted. Then the robot spun and struck at Gorgeous. She scrambled backwards, suffering a grazing blow across her arm. Backpedaling, she ran to the other side of the room. Without hesitation, the robot swung the stick back towards Mel. She tried to dodge sideways but the blow landed in mid-stride, striking her across the head and sending her sprawling to the ground. Unable to think, all she could register was the taste of blood pooling in her mouth. She crawled away, realizing she still held the stick in her hand and had no idea how to use it.

  The robot moved towards her for another strike, when Jon got to his feet and yelled. Bending low, Jon tried to tackle the robot. It had uncanny balance on the one wheel and instead of falling over, the robot spun, sending Jon flying into the center of the room. Completing its spin, the robot aimed more blows at Mel. The first one slammed into her leg, the next across her back. Groaning in pain, she scrambled to all fours but more blows landed before she could get away.

  The nightmare continued, blow after blow. To her legs, her arms and her back, leaving Mel dazed and moaning in pain. She stopped trying to move, left with nothing more than to curl into a ball. An eternity passed before Jon and Gorgeous moved in to help her. After several seconds of not getting hit, Mel forced herself to uncover her head. Jon swung his stick like a baseball bat. Most of his strikes missed but even the ones that landed seemed to have no effect. Gorgeous ran in and grabbed her stick off the ground but clearly had no idea what to do with it. She raised it over her head and swung down, hitting one of the robot’s arms. The blow had no real power and the shock of the strike caused Gorgeous to drop the stick with a yelp.

  The robot quickly responded, though, dodging one of Jon’s wild swings, then attacking Gorgeous. She gracefully dodged out of range just as Jon landed a powerful blow to the back of the robot’s head. The head tilted forward for a moment, then the robot pivoted and hit Jon in the head, sending him sprawling. Mel could see blood pooling on the ground as Jon attempted to get up. Gorgeous started to jump towards the robot but changed her mind mid-stride, clearly not having any idea how to fight or damage it. The hesitation cost her as the robot completed its pivot and caught her in the rib cage.

  Jon crouched on all fours, groaning loudly, clearly disoriented. Mel tried to stand, barely making it to her hands and knees before collapsing. Everything hurt and she wondered if she had any broken bones. It felt like everything was broken. Both Jon and Gorgeous were on the ground and the robot was pivoting between them, striking first one, then the other. Jon lay prone now, covering his head with his arms, like Mel had. Gorgeous lay on her back trying to protect herself with her arms and legs. With every blow, Gorgeous screamed, an awful, high-pitched cry.

  Mel finally staggered to her feet, a death grip on the stick in her hand. Never in her life had she been in a fight and she doubted she could damage this robot even if she had. Searching for any way to stop the madness, she noticed the creature’s wheel had several thick spokes coming from a center hub. Lurching forward, she thrust her stick between the spokes, preventing the robot from moving forward or backwards. The robot stopped beating Gorgeous for a moment, as it tried futilely to turn. It couldn’t bend over and its bottom arm was just a bit too short to reach the stick and remove it. Unable to pivot back to hit Jon, the robot raised its stick and hammered blows at Gorgeous. Mel yelled in surprise, not expecting this. Throwing herself into the robot, she tried to knock it over, but the robot’s balance was too good even with the wheel stuck. The robot pushed her and she tripped over Gorgeous, falling to the floor. She saw Jon moving behind the robot, starting to sit up as the robot raised the stick to strike Gorgeous.

  Mel threw herself over the alien girl, trying to protect her. Blow after blow rained down, hitting Mel instead. No longer able to scream, each strike resulted in a low grunt and a building wave of pain. The last thing she saw was Jon crawling backwards, away from the robot. Shaking his head, his face white and eyes wide. Another blow and her right arm went numb. The next hit the middle of her spine, sending a wave of intense pain throughout her body. As the wave receded, consciousness went with it and she slipped into blackness.

  Chapter 7

  Occasionally, Mel would have a lucid thought. I’m in a room. Lying down. Someone is helping me. But the thoughts were immediately engulfed by intense pain, covering her whole being. Breathing was hard and shallow. On occasion, she thought she might drown from the wetness inside her mouth. Perhaps even worse, she realized she probably wouldn’t.

  Moaning slightly, she felt into her body. The pain was still there, but it had dropped considerably, allowing her to think. The beating. The merest flash of a thought of that robot striking Gorgeous sent her stomach roiling with fear. And Jon… something about Jon she couldn’t remember, didn’t want to remember. She pushed it from her mind.

  “It’s okay. You’re safe. Take your time. No sudden movements,” the voice said. She heard Anna’s voice but didn’t know who was talking. It must be Beast or Gorgeous. But then she realized she hadn’t heard Beast’s distinctive rumbling or Gorgeous’s sing-song voice under Anna’s voice. Who else could it be? The alien Mirage. She had forgotten about h
er. What kind of sound had Mirage made when she talked? Mel realized she didn’t know. So Mirage was there, taking care of her. It made sense; Gorgeous had been beaten mercilessly. Mel wondered if Gorgeous had died, wondered how she herself hadn’t. But either way, there was no way the alien girl was up to helping Mel.

  Mel’s fingers brushed over a blanket covering her legs and torso, made of the same material as her clothes by the feel of it. Her brain felt foggy, like she’d been drugged. Painkillers, hopefully. The light seemed brighter than normal, even through closed eyes. Mel mumbled, trying to ask a question.

  “Take your time. I can’t hear you, but there’s no rush. You’re safe.”

  Mel shook her head. Anna’s voice echoing in her head. But no, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t in her head. Perplexed, Mel forced an eye to crack open. Her vision seemed blurred, the light mixed with some strange side effect of whatever drug she was on, causing the room to shine with an unnaturally white glow. Smiling, Anna looked down, her blonde hair hanging loosely over one shoulder.

  “Hey, ninja-girl. How are you feeling?”

  “You’re alive,” Mel said, the words barely escaping her lips. She swallowed, her throat still raw.

  Anna averted her eyes. “More or less. You are too.”

  Mel closed her eyes. “Wish I wasn’t.”

  “I know,” Anna said softly. “I watched what happened. It was horrible.”

  “Gorgeous?” Mel asked.

  Anna looked shocked. “Gorgeous? No, not at all. It was revolting. Watching you helpless, just being beaten.” Anna’s face brightened for a second. “What you did, for the alien girl. The way you protected her? That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  Mel looked at Anna blankly, then realized the other girl’s confusion. She managed a weak smile. “Gorgeous is the alien girl. Nick named her.”

  Anna laughed. “Oh, that makes more sense! She’s okay. Sleeping right now. She got it bad, but not as bad as you.”

  “Is anything broken?”

  “No. The robot was programmed to not cause permanent damage. It was just supposed to test you.”

  Mel winced. “Test us? Why?” Why was any of this nightmare happening?

  “Test your limits, your reactions. What you would do under stress. And how well you could fight.”

  “Anna, what the hell is going on? Where have you been? Did he torture you like he did Riley?”

  Anna’s eyes scrunched as if she were going to cry, but no tears came out. She shook her head. “Not like Riley. It didn’t really hurt, not like what you went through. I don’t want to talk about it right now, though. I really don’t know exactly what’s going on, I just do what Kathor tells me to. I begged him to let me help you and he agreed. I know this is all horrible, but he’s not trying to kill you. He wants you, all of you, for something he has planned. That’s all I really know.”

  Mel sighed and tried to relax. For reasons that she didn’t understand, having Anna there was confusing. She couldn’t figure out why she was unsettled by it, beyond the obvious reason that the whole situation was bizarre. Mel reached out a hand and held Anna’s.

  “I’m glad you’re okay and you weren’t beat nearly to death by a killer robot with sticks,” Mel said.

  Anna giggled, something that both annoyed Mel and strangely reassured her. “I’ll try to protect you and the others as best I can. Try to rest for a bit. Jeff wants to see you. Should I get him?”

  Mel nodded, feeling unsure about talking to anyone. Anna walked to the door and it faded open. She called to Jeff and he walked in a moment later. Beast stuck his head into the room from behind Jeff.

  Mel caught his eye as Beast’s gaze looked Mel up and down. She caught surprise and a glimmer that the translator said was something between horror and sadness. She wondered what that meant, but Beast shook his head and withdrew back into the main room.

  “How you feeling?” Jeff said, drawing her attention back.

  “Broken. I’ve never been in this much pain before. And this is like a tenth of what I felt earlier,” Mel replied.

  Anna chimed in. “I convinced Kathor to let me give you the painkillers. He wanted to see what your pain tolerance was, but I told him it was zero.”

  Mel frowned. Her pain tolerance wasn’t zero. Something was odd about Anna, but she knew she should be grateful. “Thanks, Anna. It really is way better.”

  Anna beamed at Mel, but Jeff coughed quietly. “Can we have a few minutes?”

  Anna looked confused. “What do you mean?”

  “You know, Mel and I. Can we talk alone?”

  Anna frowned. “Okay, I guess. Don’t let her sit up or do anything rash. Try not to get her too excited, either. She didn’t break anything, but she has a lot… well, some internal bleeding. Maybe other damage. Anyway, she shouldn’t move around, not yet.”

  Jeff nodded as Anna hesitated. Finally, she walked out and the door faded close behind her.

  Mel wasn’t sure what Jeff wanted to talk about, and she avoided his gaze. Sighing, she held her hand up, really looking at it for the first time. The back of her hand was bluish black from the base of the fingers to the wrist, with an ugly yellowish green circle in the middle. Her pinky and ring finger were so swollen that she couldn’t bend them. The bruises continued down her forearm and up the bottom part of her bicep and triceps before disappearing under the gray shirt she wore. Half a dozen ugly yellow-green splotches were surrounded by a near continuous sea of blue-black.

  “Jesus,” she said, almost in a state of awe at the amount of damage she had sustained. Did her whole body look like this? She looked at her left arm and hand. The hand looked normal but the forearm was possibly worse, not only a myriad of colors but clearly swollen. She struggled for a moment to sit up, to see the rest of the damage, but Jeff pushed her down.

  “It’s all the same. Seeing won’t help.”

  Mel panicked for a moment, then forced herself to lie back and take a few deep breaths. She wiggled her toes and tried to flex her legs. Everything moved, albeit with a whole lot of pain. At least she wasn’t paralyzed. Her mind raced. How had she survived this?

  “How are you doing?”

  Mel shrugged. “About as well as I look, I guess. I hurt. Everywhere. I haven’t tried standing, but—”

  Jeff stopped her. “That’s not really what I meant.”

  Tears welled in Mel’s eyes. Drawing a ragged breath, she turned away from Jeff. Feebly she raised a hand to wipe the tears away, but more came to replace them. She hated looking so weak in front of him.

  “It was horrible. I’m sorry, I’m crying… it’s these drugs and the pain, it just doesn’t stop. I don’t know how to fight and I couldn’t protect myself. I tried to help Jon and Gorgeous, but nothing I did meant anything. The robot just beat me over and over and he wouldn’t stop. I felt so… so powerless, like I was nothing.” She sniffed and a memory surfaced. “I was dreaming, before I woke up. Like half awake. And I was wishing the robot had killed me. We’re going to die here anyway, from these experiments or just for some sick amusement of that alien. I’m so afraid. I’ve never been so afraid in my life.”

  Tears flowed freely now and Mel knew she must look a mess, but she didn’t care. Jeff didn’t say anything. She realized she was gripping his arm, although she didn’t remember doing that. Mumbling an apology, she let go.

  “The alien girl, Gorgeous, she talked to us,” Jeff said. “What kind of name is that, anyway? Never mind, it doesn’t matter right now. She told us what you did, that’s all.”

  “Nick named her that by accident. How is she?”

  Jeff smiled. “Better than you.”

  Mel nodded, then she felt her face flush. “Jon. How is Jon?”

  Jeff scowled. “Much better than you. He’s basically fine. And lucky I didn’t kill him myself.”

  Mel thought for a second. Was she angry? The scene played out in her mind again. Mel trying to protect Gorgeous and seeing Jon back away, fear in his eyes. But what could
he have done? Was there any reason for two of them to be beaten nearly to death? She shook her head, causing a wave of pain to arc through her head.

  Mel had thrown herself over an alien she had known for all of an hour but Jon had frozen. She didn’t hate him and wasn’t even sure if she should be angry with him. But it would be hard to trust him in the future.

  “No. It’s okay. There was nothing he could do,” she finally replied. Jeff opened his mouth, as if to argue with her, but Mel held up a hand to stop him. “Look, I’m really exhausted. Can we talk more later? I’d like to sleep.”

  Jeff shut his mouth and nodded briefly, then turned to leave the room.

  “I’ll tell the others you need to rest. I hope you feel better soon.”

  Mel turned her head away from the door as Jeff left. Closing her eyes, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

  Chapter 8

  Mel woke some time later to see Anna sitting next to her on the bed. For a few minutes, she watched her without moving. Anna sat straight as a rod, looking blankly at the far wall. She breathed evenly, but otherwise didn’t move.

  “Hey,” Mel finally said.

  Anna turned slowly to face Mel. Mel’s brow furrowed at the strange way Anna reacted, but then Anna smiled widely and Mel forgot her apprehension as Anna reached down to gently hug her.

  “Are you feeling better?” Anna asked.

  “Yeah,” Mel responded. Then she felt down into her body and realized it was true. “Actually, I do feel way better. It doesn’t hurt as much.”

  “Mmmm. Kathor made some medicine to help you heal faster. It will still take a while before you are back to full strength, but nowhere as long as before.”

  Mel gazed at Anna curiously. “How are you doing, Anna? What did Kathor do to you?”

  Anna blinked, staring past Mel. “There was a procedure. He took… something.” Anna brushed a finger against the side of her head, then continued on as if nothing happened. “But mostly he asked me a lot of questions. If I didn’t answer fast enough, or when he thought I was lying, he would hurt me. Sometimes for no reason. Or not any reason I could figure out. I’m not like you, Mel, I really don’t like being beaten up.”