Lenora’s heart sank. The same reasoning had occurred to her, but now it was much more dire. Vivian’s life was going to be ruined now also. This was Lenora’s fault. Elentinus had just made it clear the troublemakers were going to be the first ones given to husbands. If Vivian had just behaved she might have had a few more years in the colony. Lenora’s influence had placed her on the fast track to Hell.
“It’ll probably be okay,” Vivian said, as though her thoughts had continued during the brief silence. “We can win, right?”
Lenora became stoic. “They don’t play fair.”
“Well at least we’re out of that fucking colony. God, what a pain in the ass that place was. Dugan was such a fucking dickhead.”
Lenora sighed. At least if they both won Lenora could look after her. They had much better survival odds if they started out in warm weather. They could dry fish and suck on crabapples. Maybe they could even save up acorns. There was some hope.
If they lost she felt there was none. Vivian would end up like those poor ex-wives who’d ended up at the colony. Shock collars…rape…though even when it wasn’t rape the women warned her that female human bodies were incompatible with Dak-Hiliah men. One Russian woman named Inga put it in the least delicate terms: They are built like horses and can’t control their appetites. When they’re aroused they must ejaculate or they get sick. They’re too desperate to be careful with you. Lenora shuddered. She may profess a dozen other reasons for needing to run, but wasn’t that the most pressing one? Wasn’t that the issue that caused her to risk getting shocked just to get away?
The shuttle landed in front of one of the largest of the white domes they’d seen through the windows. Its scope couldn’t be fathomed until they stood dwarfed in front of it. The building had a honeycomb shape with each cell as tall as some of the smaller domes. As they went through the decorated entrance Lenora struggled to read a holographic sign pulsing with more colors than what was visible to humans. The main language was unreadable, but a Dak-Hiliah translation appeared in smaller characters below it.
“Downtown Canopania Arena.”
“You can read that?” Vivian said, while gaping at the boxy letters and pictograms.
“They put a bunch of languages in my head when I was in that deprogramming prison. I guess it’s finally become useful.”
“They better language me up too if they want me to marry one of them.”
Lenora eyed her sharply. “What are you talking about?”
Vivian shrugged. “Just saying.”
Lenora ground her teeth. You’ve already lost, haven’t you? She understood the appeal of giving in. This would be a breeze if winning were inconsequential. All the stress would be gone.
Vivian refused to see what losing really meant. Lenora clenched her teeth and grabbed her.
“Listen. You have to play like your life depends on it.” She shook her. “Do you understand me?”
Vivian’s face blanched.
One of the six robots surrounding their group rolled near her. Lenora let go. The girl’s face finally reflected the gravity of their situation. Lenora could hear her swallow.
The entryway of the arena led into a lavish mall and food court. It was crowded with the six-limbed aliens. Lenora stared at them as vehemently as they did her. Their shape reminded her of llamas, but with an extra small set of limbs to provide them arms. They were different shades of green or brown, hairless, with long oval faces, nostril holes, small lip-less mouths, and huge bulbous black eyes. Their clothes struck her as very human, at least pre-Instajant human. There were vibrant colors to the four legged pants, skirts, dresses, and tunics. Most hung on their bodies loosely with shimmering fabric. She saw family units composed of two adults (presumably male and female though she couldn’t tell them apart) and multiple children, some in strollers. They were shorter than even Vivian. The adults averaged only four feet.
“What the fuck are these things?” a blonde Russian woman in their group said.
“Dornovonians,” Lenora said. (She’d chosen not to speak to her competitors prior to this so they couldn’t gauge her for weaknesses.) “This is one of the Dak-Hiliah’s slave worlds.”
Vivian gawked at them. “They don’t look like slaves.”
“Hmm.” True. This wasn’t what she’d imagined when Elentinus said ‘slave world.’
They were guided up to a mezzanine that was not infiltrated by the mall customers. After a quarter mile walk they went down another set of stairs and then entered a large athletic changing room. There were sets of clothes neatly arranged on a long white bench going down the middle. One wall was pockmarked with circular cubby holes. Across it was an open shower area with sleek showerheads hanging from the white molded ceiling and no visible controls. The wall in front of them was lined with squatting toilets with unusually large basins (designed for the Dornovonians, she presumed).
“Change into these Bride Game uniforms,” one of the robots said in its deeply muffled electronic voice.
The women waited. Lenora wasn’t sure if the other four girls were from their colony (though she vaguely recognized one) but the robots stayed out of their quarters. She was unused to dressing in front of them. For a moment she thought they should at least turn around. Then her foolishness struck her. The Dak-Hiliah robots had no backs, just two fronts. Both of their sides were identical. They never had to turn around whether they moved forwards or backwards.
One girl began undressing and the rest followed. Lenora managed to find a set of clothes near her size. The black and red long-sleeve shirt was snug with silky free-moving fabric. The black pants were loose enough to resemble a long-hemmed dress.
“Lenora Winquist.”
She started at the sound of her own name. One of the robots rolled forward.
“You’re the first contestant. Follow me. The rest of you will wait here.”
Vivian shot her a panicked look. “I thought we all got to go together.”
Lenora realized she’d assumed this also. She’d also expected some time to decompress from the trip before the actual games. Her muscles had grown taut from sitting so long.
“Don’t get discouraged. Half of this is mental—remember that. And the first game is always the easiest. That’s just how these things go.” Maybe.
Vivian chewed her lower lip. “Okay. Good luck. Kick ass, alright?” The younger woman began biting her cuticle.
Two robots led her to a wide corridor that opened through a brightly lit dome at the end. She exited the corridor into a massive arena. The polished floor stretched out a quarter mile in all directions. Surrounding it were thousands of vacant tiered seats climbing high toward the rounded ceiling. The silence in the huge space was harrowing to Lenora. Why the massive venue when there was no audience?
The robots led her to an area to the side that was cordoned off with silver crushed velvet curtains. They stopped next to it. Lenora looked at the cylinder head beside her.
“Proceed into the curtain,” the robot said.
Lenora took a deep breath, thrust the curtains open, and strode through.
Now there was an audience, but only three hundred or so Dak-Hiliah noblemen and servants were scattered over hundreds of seats. She quickly lost interest in them and looked at the behemoth structure before her. A multi-tiered pyramid, like an Aztec temple except it was composed of smooth white material, stretched upwards to come against the curve of the domed ceiling. Lenora scanned each tier with wide darting eyes.
A door opened from behind the highest tier and a Dak-Hiliah man emerged. He wore a the typical tight woven costume of his race, but had a long draping black cape attached to armor exaggerating his shoulder horns. His auburn hair was covered by a net of jewels.
“Welcome, welcome!” The Dak-Hiliah greeting boomed through molded speakers on either side of him. “I am Danfet, organizer of the very first Bride Games. How wonderful it is that so many of my noble brothers have turned out to witness this thrilling event. Turn your eyes to
the human Lenora Winquist. She shall have the honor of competing in the first session of this game for she is the betrothed to the viceroy of this great world, Lord Lysanter.”
The audience members clapped by thudding decorated scepters against the floor.
Lenora clenched her jaw. The Hell with this. The tiers looked to be a little less than twice her height each. She ran towards the side where the audience barrier came against the bottom tier, hoisted herself onto that, and then scrambled to the second level.
Danfet looked down at her aghast. “Wait now, my dear! You don’t know what the objective is. You don’t even know what you’re trying to outrun!”
As if on cue, an alarm sounded three chirps and then a door opened on the back wall of the bottom tier. A robot with extendable pinchers zoomed out. The cylinder on its head was blinking red.
Lenora looked around for a means to keep climbing. There was what looked like a white couch cushion. When she tried to lift it she realized it was a stone that weighed close to her own body weight. She dropped onto her buttocks and used her legs to push the stone up onto its side. The alarm sounded again. Lenora rose and took several steps back and then leapt onto the block. She managed to claw her fingers onto the level above and then swing up her other elbow. The robot whizzed out of a door hidden beside the boulders. An extendable arm reached for her ankle and missed. She could feel the gush of air it made as it lunged for her.
The members of the audience rose to their feet. Lenora heard a few shocked hollers, but blocked them out. On this tier there didn’t seem to be anything she could use to boost her up.
“Well!” Danfet said while dabbing his brow. “I suppose I better get on with the rules before she gets up here.”
There was a smattering of laughter around her. She noticed that the robots on the lower tiers had retreated back into their doors. The chirping alarm for her current tier went off.
“This game is simple enough. In fact I think you’ve figured it out already! First you must reach the top before the robots catch you.”
A robot rolled out of a hidden sliding door several feet from her. She dropped back down to the level below her and stood balanced on the rim of the boulder. A few in the crowd made stunned noises at her unusual tactic.
“Lenora. Look up here, my dear,” Danfet said.
She scowled but looked up once the robot rolled out of the way. Two Dornovonians were rolling out a life-sized black metal statue of a female Dak-Hiliah. Danfet caressed its cheek.
“To win you must touch the statue of Tian-Za, our ruling goddess through the personage of the druid in the holiest—“
Lenora stopped listening. The robot was rolling back and forth over a short span above her. Movement caught her eye on the far end of the tier. A chain with links large enough to be footholds had just been tossed over. Lenora wet her lips. Now she knew how she could get up to the third tier, but she still had to get past the damned robot. The boulders beneath her were too heavy to turn into a weapon. She looked at the audience on either side of her. Their seating areas were too far to leap to. Then the robots feet caught her eye.
The model hunting her didn’t look much different from her clunky guards. They all rolled on eight ball casters that could move them in any direction. Lenora fixed on the mirrored silver ball in the corner.
“I should mention that these games are timed, my dear,” Danfet said.
His voice jarred her. “Shut up!” she said in the Dak-Hiliah language.
“Good gods! Looks like Lord Lysanter will have his hands full with this one!”
The audience laughed.
“I shall leave you to it, my dear. May the odds be…really good for you…and so fourth.”
She heard his exiting footfalls.
Lenora took off her shirt and whipped it up around the robot’s caster. She hopped up to catch the hem and then clenched both ends in her fists and yanked.
The robot didn’t budge. Her hope of tipping it over was dashed, but then she realized it was no longer pacing. She could see its casters trembling as it struggled to roll.
He’s stuck!
Lenora climbed down from the boulder. She used her legs to push it to the end of the tier closest to the chain and out of the robot’s reach. Her leg muscles ached, and sweat dripped down the middle of her back to soak her bra. The boulder tipped over before she got it in place. She forced herself to stand it back up without taking a break. Her calf cramped when she climbed up. It took two tries to get back onto the third tier. She heard a loud snap and suddenly the robot was moving for her again. She scaled the wall before her, taking the footholds two at a time. The robot extended its pinchers for her only a half-second too late.
Once on the fourth tier she felt like collapsing. She could hear cheering and the thudding of scepters. Some of her enemies were rooting for her? It’s a distraction. Stay focused! The alarm started its rhythmic chirps again.
There wasn’t anything for her to climb on this tier either, but she spotted a post on the edge of the tier above her. This was in line with the chain she’d climbed. She dragged it up and flung it toward the post. It whipped around it but didn’t catch. A door slid open twenty feet from her and the robot popped out. She threw the chain again. It was no use. She would need to get one of the footholds to fall right over the post in order to secure it.
The robot was extending its arms for her. Lenora swung the chain at its cylinder head. It smashed in an explosion of blue vapor and glass. The robot didn’t stop rolling but as it moved it tipped forward and crashed its boxy chest to the floor. She could hear that its casters were still whirring. The rest of the thing looked dead.
Lenora climbed onto its back while carrying the chain. By standing on the tip of her toes she was able to hook the post with a link of the chain. It became taut and secure for her to climb it.
She let her butt connect with the body of the robot. Her chest was heaving and sweat had dripped into her eyes.
“Tut, tut, my dear,” Danfet’s voice came out of the speakers. “Remember that you’re timed. You’ve only a few minutes left.”
Go to Hell.
The robot alarm would go off moments after she actually set foot on the tier. She climbed two thirds of the way up the chain and scanned the perimeter from there. Someone in the audience called her brilliant.
This was the last level she had to get past before she’d climb up to the statue. There was a two-foot-high white cube next to the outline of the doorway where the robot would come out. If she was about a foot taller she could have used the block to scramble up. The thing was useless to her. Not even adrenaline could make her jump as high as she needed. Her arms already felt like they were going to fall out of their sockets, and then she had to escape the robot, too. She could get its caster stuck again using her pants, but what was the point if she didn’t see a way up? It would eventually break the fabric and catch her.
The door slid open on the top level. Lenora expected Danfet to stride into view, but this was a different Dak-Hiliah. He wore the same armored costume that Elentinus always wore. Lenora met his auburn eyes. He must be a nobleman, like Elentinus.
Maybe he was her nobleman.
This thought put a lump in her throat. She swallowed while keeping her eyes locked with his.
The man went to the edge of the tier, crouched down, and lowered his arm. Lenora balked. If she took his hand she could make it.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
It had to be a trick. She looked around desperately for another answer. Maybe drag up one of the blocks from the second tier? No. It’s too heavy and there’s not enough time.
The chirping alarm started to go off.
Damn it!
Lenora climbed up, hopped onto the block, and snatched the man’s wrist. He held hers in return and easily pulled her up.
“Lenora, I’m Lord Ly—“
She punched his nose with all the strength left in her trembling arm. While he reeled back in shock she ran to the
statue and put her hand on its face.
“Lenora wins!” Danfet’s voice boomed out of the speakers.
Everyone in the audience rose and thudded their scepters.
“The first session of round one goes to the brides! Congratulations my dear!”
She turned around slowly to look at the Dak-Hiliah man. His hand was on his nose where she’d struck him. She was ready to do more if she had to. Then she saw the disappointment in his eyes and felt a pang of guilt.
She hugged her arms around her. What did you expect?
He took a step toward her. She edged backwards. Lysanter lifted both palms of his hands.
“I don’t mean you any harm, Lenora.”
She glowered at him.
“You’re done for today. I’d like to replace your tunic, provide you something to eat, and bring you to a comfortable place to recuperate.”
“I can recuperate in that locker room.”
He half smiled. “There’s no food there.”
“Why does it have to be you?” She kept her voice sharp. “Why can’t a robot take care of me?”
His voice remained patient. “I’m Lord Lysanter, the one you’ll be marrying if you lose the games.”
“I know.”
The audience began murmuring. Lenora looked down. Vivian had just wandered onto the floor in front of the pyramid.
“Welcome, welcome!” Danfet said through the speakers. “Our second contestant is Vivian Thurski, bride to be of our own high council member, Lord Nayjoor.” Danfet switched to English. “You’ve some time before you must begin, my dear. Allow me to explain the rules.”
“Vivian!”
She darted wide eyes up towards her. “Lenora? Oh, thank God!”
“You have to make it up here and touch this statue! Don’t wait! Go climb on that barrier to get up the first tier. A robot is going to come out and chase you on every level!”
“Holy shit!”
Bride Games: (Alien's Bride) Page 3