Candidate (Selected Book 4)

by Robin Roseau

  I squirmed, and I struggled. I tried to kick, but my legs were stuck. The web swayed, but it didn't break, and it certainly didn't release me.

  I was firmly stuck, but that didn't stop me from trying to get free.

  I should have conserved my strength.

  Bay let me struggle for a while before triggering the next part of his trap. I should have seen it coming. I should have known, the little shit.

  Where there's a spider web, there's a spider.

  Or in this case, a lot of spiders.

  I heard noise, skittering.

  "No. Bay, no."

  There was more skittering, and when I turned my head, I saw spiders crawling from the bushes onto the web.

  "Bay! Don't do it!"

  There were a lot of spiders. Some were small. Small is a relative term. They were the size of spiders you might see in Minnesota. Well, big versions of spiders you might see in Minnesota, but still, not anywhere near as large as spiders one might find in other places.

  Others, of course, were larger.

  All were of a size I was fairly certain could be found on Earth. I'd see photos of camel spiders. Those things were huge.

  I knew they weren't real spiders. I knew they were some of Bay's robots. That didn't matter. They looked like real spiders. They moved like real spiders. And they chittered like movie spiders.

  "Please don't, Bay! Please don't."

  The spiders moved closer, now coming from around me, and I began to scream. "Please don't! Please don't!"

  They began crawling on me, and I entirely lost it. They began wrapping me in more of the silk. I thrashed and thrashed, but they clung to me and wrapped me in the silk from my hands to my neck, and more across my head and into my hair, and if I were stuck before, now I was completely, utterly stuck.

  I didn't have enough brain power left to decide this was how Charo would find me.

  I did wonder when they would bite, and I wondered when the big spider was going to show up.

  They wrapped me, not quite entirely. My face was clear, and I didn't think that was kindness on Bay's part. I think that was so the cameras could catch me screaming.

  And then, without biting, they withdrew, skittering away, leaving me there, spun tightly in the web.

  I don't know how long I screamed, but finally it faded away. I don't know how long I struggled, but finally I lay limply, surrendering to whatever was happening next. The thought the big spider was coming was not pleasant.

  But maybe the spiders left me here for Charo, and right about then, I would have agreed to almost anything if she could cut me down.

  But then the web began to sag, lowering me to the ground, and then, as soon as I was safe on terra firma, it dissolved, leaving me free.

  I jumped to my feet and began brushing at myself, brushing through my hair, shaking, dislodging any remaining spiders. There weren't any, but I did have forest detritus here and there.

  "Perhaps," said Jasmine gently, "you should take more care, Andromeda. That was not the worst trap."

  I didn't say a word, not one word. But if Charo appeared then, I'd have surrendered to her.

  "I know what you're thinking, Andromeda. There are creatures in these woods hunting you. They are not the sort to lie in wait, and they do not move quickly, but if you do not keep moving, they will find you. If you do not look like you are playing to win, they will find you. And they will find you before Charo does. Play to win, and they won't find you."

  "I hate you."

  "I know."

  "But I really, really hate Bay."

  "I know. It's safe out to the trail. Your visor has the path. Pull yourself together and get moving."

  "She had to have heard me," I said.

  "She did, but we misdirected her. The traps are punishments for you, not a means of her to find you. If you move slowly, you'll detect them, but I think he's going to catch you once or twice more. They're not all this bad. Some are actually just funny, although you may not be in the mood to appreciate them."

  "This is supposed to be fun, Jasmine. Did you forget that part?"

  "Charo is having fun."

  "She enjoys hearing me scream? I imagine you do."

  "Actually, neither of us does. Bay does. He's a sick little bastard, isn't he?"

  "Jasmine..."

  "I admit I enjoyed watching you get caught. That was funny. Even you're going to think it's funny when you calm down. But if that were all we did, how hard would you work to avoid the traps? You're the one who wanted a challenge, Andromeda, and you had to know it would be this sort of handicap. You aren't going to get caught by them if you move slowly and pay attention."

  She let me think about that, then she said, "You were distracted. You'd been so careful, but you walked right into it, Andromeda. What were you thinking about?"

  "Nothing in particular."

  "Tell me truthfully, and maybe I'll help you avoid a trap or two."

  I considered. "Fine. I was thinking that I was being stalked around the jungle by a Kitsune princess, and I was wondering whether she'd pay such intense attention to me once she got me home. And I was wondering when she'd grow bored of me."

  Jasmine was quiet for a few seconds. "She wouldn't grow bored, Andromeda. We can talk about the rest some other time. Thank you for answering. The traps will be a little easier to detect. Not a lot, but a little. It is clear to the path, but no promises after that."

  I nodded, let the visor guide me, and moved quickly straight to the path. And then I returned to creeping through the jungle, far more focused.

  * * * *

  There were two more traps on the way to my first token and a fairly significant number immediately around it. It took me ten minutes to travel forty yards, but then I had the token.

  "I would suppose I could trigger them safely?" I asked. "Instead of taking another ten minutes to get out of this field."

  "You could risk it," said Jasmine. "Without knowing if it's safe or not, but knowing Bay, do you think it's safe?"

  "No, but I was hoping you might be more informative."

  "Of course. Charoite is closer than two hundred yards distant."

  "Oh shit."

  "She is moving silently, and when a Kitsune is being stealthy, she is being exceedingly stealthy. Are you going to let her catch you, Andromeda?"

  "That might be better than one of Bay's traps."

  "I wonder how she'll catch you. She's going to see you in this field soon. She's going to see all the traps. All she has to do is throw something, and she's not the one who gets caught, Andromeda."

  "Shit."

  "I will say this. If you are caught because you miscalculate a shortcut, Bay is going to be especially mean."

  "Shit."

  Then I turned north, moving slowly. I made it from the field.

  * * * *

  The Kitsune didn't catch me there. I made it to the edge of the next clearing. I stopped, looked, listened. I didn't hear any buzzing. I didn't see any traps. I parted the vegetation, stepped out, and my foot landed in a depression. I didn't even see it, but I pitched forward.

  I heard the buzzing, but it was far too late. I fell right into it.

  "No!" I yelled. "I tripped."

  And it was another of those damned spider webs.

  I was screaming even before I was being dragged, and then lifted until I slammed into the web, strung between several sturdy trees. This time I landed face first, my hands out to ward it off, and I became even more stuck than I did the first time. Even my face was stuck, tipped sideways a little, the webs stuck to my nose and one half of my face.

  "I tripped. I tripped. I was being careful, but I tripped! Please Bay, show a little mercy."

  I'm not sure he knew the word.

  I squirmed in the web, but even my face was stuck. He didn't send little spiders though.

  Instead, he sent Momma. I heard her before I saw her, and I was pleading with Bay. I heard her, and I felt her on the web. She circled all the way around
me before coming to a stop in my field of view.

  I screamed.

  She was huge. Her body was two feet across, and I don't know what her leg span was. She had those eyes, those creepy spider eyes, and she looked at me.

  Something was dripping from four-inch fangs, or whatever it is spiders have.

  She looked at me for a minute or two, then she moved towards me, and I began screaming again.

  She moved closer, and then she stepped over me, straddling me. I could see her legs, and I could feel as she began wrapping me tighter and tighter in the web, holding me with her legs as she encased me. She covered my entire back; I could feel that. And she tightened my face against the net.

  I didn't stop screaming.

  Then she moved away. I felt her moving away, and I thought Bay was about to let me go. No such luck. He wasn't done.

  She didn't move away. She moved to the other side, the under side of the web, and then she moved back across it. She stopped, her fangs in front of my face as I gibbered in my fear.

  Then she moved down lower, her head over my stomach. She reared back, and then she struck! Her fangs buried themselves in my stomach. And if I hadn't been screaming before, I was screaming then.

  And then she sucked. I could see her sucking, and I thought I was about to die right there, eaten by a huge alien spider.

  Then... she was gone. From one moment to the next, she was gone.

  And I realized -- it hadn't hurt. Of course it hurt. It hadn't hurt.

  Illusion delivered by the visor.

  Then, gently, the web lowered me to the ground and dispersed. I curled into a ball and tried very hard not to cry.

  "I'm not having fun," I muttered. "I'm not doing this again."

  "Yes, you are," Jasmine said.

  "Only if you want a really big fight."

  "We'll see."

  "How close is she?"

  "The animals stalking you are closer."

  I sighed and rolled onto hands and knees then slowly climbed to my feet. "I presume this field is trapped as heavily as the last."

  "I recommend you move slowly.

  "So the animals can catch me."

  "Andromeda, as long as you're working towards your goal, they won't catch you, even if you're moving very slowly."

  This had stopped being about avoiding Charo and entirely about avoiding traps and the animals. At this point, I would have welcomed the Kitsune. I hoped she rescued me from this soon.

  I wondered if that attitude was the entire idea, as far as Jasmine was concerned.

  I stood and began moving slowly, even more slowly than I had been.

  I avoided most of the traps, but as I was leaving the field with my second token, I triggered another one. I'd been moving slowly, but there were two close together, and I didn't realize it. I avoided one and triggered the other.

  "No!" I screamed as soon as I realized what I had done.

  "Stand still or you'll fall into a worse trap," Jasmine said. "Trust me Andromeda."

  This trap wasn't bad. I listened to what she said and froze. And then from the trees, a line of birds appeared, heading for me.

  "Bow your head and protect your face, but if you try to protect more, this will be worse."

  I looked down and covered my face in my arms. And so I heard and felt what happened rather than saw it. The birds dive-bombed me.

  Everyone has seen what pigeons do to statues. Well, I was the statue. They weren't pigeons, though. I don't know what they were, but whatever they were dropping landed in my hair. Plop, plop, plop. Ten or twelve in all before they flew away.

  Then it was still.

  "Was that round one?" I asked.

  "That was it," Jasmine said. "I don't recommend touching your hair."

  "Oh god. Is it that robot food?"

  "It might be. Or it might be eating your hair. Or coloring it. Or maybe it's just gross and disgusting and so sticky if you touch it, your hand will get stuck. I admit a certain amount of humor from that thought, but I think you'd get angry."

  I sighed and worked my way from the field.

  I successfully avoided all but one more trap, and that one wasn't my fault. I worked my way around several more as I moved towards the third marker. I didn't see the Kitsune. I didn't see anything chasing me at all.

  Then I came to one more trap. It was another of the damned spider webs. "You're repeating yourself, Bay."

  I took two steps to the side to move away from it, and then there was motion from the side of my eye. A thick stick flew past me, landing dead center of the trap trigger.

  Triggering it.

  "No!" I screamed, trying to dive away. But another web appeared, and I fell right into it.

  And then I was lifted into the air and tossed a short distance into another of the god damned webs. It swayed and bounced, catching me, and of course, I was firmly stuck, face down again.

  "No! I didn't trigger that one. Bay!"

  Then I heard Kitsune squeaking, and Charo appeared underneath me, looking up at me. "I caught you."

  "No," I said. "Bay caught me. Oh god. What's he going to do to me this time?"

  "No, I caught you. I've been five yards behind you for at least ten minutes, waiting for you to get close to just the right one. I win."

  "You won. Just get me down before the spiders come. Please, Charo."

  "No spiders," she said. "Just one Kitsune. Mine?"

  "Yours," I said.

  "Good."

  And the web lowered me, but it didn't release me until Charo bound my arms behind me. Then the web disintegrated, and she helped me sit up.

  "I'd hug you, but you're a mess."

  I looked down. "Please get me out of here," I said quietly. "You can do whatever you want to me, but please get me out of here."

  "Of course, my prisoner."

  * * * *

  I was very subdued as the Kitsune led me to an open field. A jumper was waiting, but she brought me to a stop and said, "Wait here."

  "Please don't leave me."

  "It's safe, and I'll only be a moment."

  "Please don't go."

  She went, but she really was serious. She was only a minute, and when she returned, she had a spray bottle and a towel. "This is a solvent for the stuff in your hair. Kneel for me."

  I knelt slowly, then waited patiently while she cleaned my hair, spraying it with the solvent then using the towel to clean it out. And I wouldn't say it got clean, but I thought she got most of the stuff out, including a good number of sticks, leaves, and who knows what else.

  "There," she said. "Better." Then she hugged me. I pressed against her.

  "Thank you for saving me," I whispered. "We're not doing this again."

  "We are, but I won't let them do it this way again. Will you trust me, Andromeda?"

  For now, I decided not to argue with her. "Just get me out of here, Charo. Please."

  And so she did.

  She took me to her apartment, freed my hands, and stripped my clothes from me. Two moments later, we were both in the tub.

  We spent a long time bathing each other. Then we cuddled in the tub, kissing a little, touching a great deal, but no more than that. I remained subdued.

  "Dinner will be here soon," she said. "I'm leaving tonight, Andromeda. I will collect my winnings from you win I get back."

  "You're leaving?" I clutched at her. "Do you have to?"

  "I'll be gone a few weeks, two or three. I have to go to NASA and talk to the engineers there. But I'm coming back." She kiss-licked me deeply as I clutched at her.

  "Please don't leave me, Charo," I whispered when next I could talk. "Please don't leave me here."

  "I'm sorry," she said. "While I am here, you are exclusively mine, but Jasmine Brighteyes demanded an agreement. She has others she wants you to meet."

  "I don't want to meet them."

  "Yes, you do," she said. "I know some of them. They are good women. You're going to like them. You're going to give them fair opportunity
. I am not convinced I want you, and you are not convinced you want to go away with me. You are human and need choices."

  "I'd go tonight."

  "I know, but could you really, really commit? We've only known each other a few days, and I know you have questions. We'll talk about some of them over a meal, but then I must go. I'm sorry, Andromeda. I would rather stay here with you." She paused. "Did you hate the event? Jasmine let me hear what you said to her."

  "About a Kitsune princess?"

  She squeaked and her ears twitched. "Yes."

  "That part was pretty damned sexy," I said. "Wondering if you could catch me. Wondering how you would catch me. Wondering what you would do afterwards."

  "And I must disappoint you for a time," she said.

  "Anticipation, then."

  "Yes. Come on. Let's dry off. I have clothing for you. It is exceedingly revealing, and you would never agree to wear it in public, but you will wear it for me."

  She was right, the clothes were revealing. They were in the household colors and diaphanous. Even though places were covered, they were still visible. And there was a great deal of exposed skin besides.

  "You look very sexy, Andromeda. Are you upset I have this for you?"

  "No, Charo."

  We ate, and I was starving. So was she. But she spent the entire time touching me, and by the end of the meal, I was so hungry for her, even though I knew she was leaving.

  "I might be falling in love," I said.

  "You must be careful, Andromeda. I like you a great deal, and I could also fall in love. But I haven't yet. I want you, but you're not quite ready. And you must leave room for others. You must give them a proper chance."

  "Won't you be jealous?"

  "Of course, but I am being careful with my emotions. Maybe that is why I am not yet in love."

  I lowered my eyes. "All right."

  "Jasmine told me the questions you were considering. They are good questions. Of course, our lives wouldn't be like this. Oh, for a while, I imagine we would be very intense. That is the nature of both our species, to fall insanely in love and be joined together constantly, unable to stop touching each other. But then it settles down and becomes a good, deep love. We can bear to be apart for a time. We can actually go out in public and not maul each other the entire time. But this is my nature. When something is worth my attention, I am always very intense about it. You will always be worth my attention, and so it will be intense. When we are together, you will have no doubt of it. Even my parents, who only come together occasionally, are exceedingly intense when they are together."