by K. D. Jones
“Correct. You will be trying out for the sixth spot.” He circled around her as he asked her more questions. “Who are the substitute fighters?”
“Substitute fighters?” Rachel looked confused.
“In any violent physical sport, there are going to be casualties. To keep the show going till the last Region where the Championship Finale happens, there have to be substitutes that can step in when a fighter, for whatever reason, cannot continue. You should know this already, it was included in your information packet.” He looked frustrated with her.
“Sorry, must have missed that part.”
He shook his head. “The GCFA will pick three male fighters and two female fighters that will remain on standby. Can you tell me what the prize is for the Championship title?”
“Why is that important? I’m not planning to win, and even if I did, I couldn’t keep the money. I’m bound by my duty to the IDJ.”
Lesak snorted, “A human win the Championships? That is laughable.”
Rachel was getting pissed. “So what’s the prize for winning the Championships?”
“One million credits.”
Wow. Credits were the intergalactically recognized monetary source. She knew that each fighter got paid about 5000 credits for each match, but she’d had no idea there was that kind of money involved. She couldn’t speak.
“All right, we’ll start your training now.”
The next few hours Lesak put her body through the wringer. He said he was testing her endurance. She thought he was testing her resistance to pain, because every exercise he made her endure hurt like hell. He seemed to enjoy it, too. The more pain he caused her, the more the asshole smiled.
“Come on, human. I haven’t even fought you while in a strong halfsie form yet.” He stood facing her in his normal Rasilian form. His eyes shimmered and glowed, and then his body folded and unfolded. He stood as a Slurchan, complete with the spongy body and ooze coming out of every pore.
“I think I’m going to throw up.” Rachel shivered with her disgust.
“Let’s see how you get hold of an opponent that can slither out of almost anything.”
“Let’s say we did and call it a day?”
Lesak didn’t respond to her snarky attitude. He lunged for her, wrapping his gooey arms around her. “Get loose!”
They spent the rest of the day working on getting out of the different holds the Slurchan form placed her in. It was only after Lesak could no longer transform into the Slurchan form that he called it a day. She had not been able to get a grip on the soft form long enough for a countdown.
She was relieved to take a shower and wash off all the goo off her body. It was the most disgusting thing she had ever felt. The smell was awful, too. She didn’t want to know how he managed to replicate the smell.
She found her partner Trig waiting for her outside the locker rooms. “How was training?”
“Fine.” She limped her way over to him. “Wait!” She grabbed his arms and pulled him close to stare into his eyes. She then released him.
“What was that about?” He asked her curiously.
“You don’t want to know.”
“I came by to see if you wanted to go to the Galactic Pub and get a few shots?”
She nodded her head. She could use a way to unwind. This might be the last chance she had to just let loose before she went on her mission. Getting her mind off of it for a few hours couldn’t hurt.
Rachel soon sat beside Trig at the bar. She had five empty shot glasses sitting in front of her. Her partner had twice as many. The TV monitor above the bar was replaying some GCFA matches, trying to spark up interest for the upcoming circuit.
“You ready for this?” Trig asked her.
“Not really, but I will be.”
Chapter 3
Two weeks later at the GCFA open tryouts
“Get the blood cleaned up and bring in the next victim … I mean, the next candidate,” the muscular female fighter called out. She had black hair and deep blue eyes. She sat beside another female fighter who, at first glance, appeared to have a bald head. As Rachel got closer, though, she realized it was covered in scales. On the other side of the brunette sat a male fighter with long, wavy blond hair that had golden streaks all throughout. He had the face of a male model, but his body was all muscle.
Lesak came up behind Rachel and slapped her on the ass. “It’s show time, Rachel Starr.” She really hated the made up last name. It made her sound like a stripper at one of those sleazy galactic bars her male co-workers sometimes went to. She took a deep breath and stepped out onto the training mat.
She watched as the three fighters in charge of tryouts looked up at her. They sniffed the air. The brunette growled, then stood up. Wow! The woman was freakishly tall, and she didn’t look happy to see Rachel.
“You have got to be shitting me, Lesak. She is a pure human!”
Lesak stepped up in front of Rachel. He held up his hands as a sign to calm the tall woman down. She looked ready to beat the shit out of someone. “Easy, Zara, I know she is pure human, but that will be her attraction. Imagine the droves of fans that will come to see a pure human fighting halfsies and full-on species.”
The male with the golden hair turned his head to the side to get a better look at Rachel. “She is hot. I’d want to see her get physical any time.”
The black-haired woman named Zara was still standing. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Zen. She needs to have more than a hot body and a pretty face. She will need to be able to last at least three rounds to make it worthwhile for the audience paying to see the match.”
Normally, GCFA matches lasted three rounds, each round no longer than five minutes, with a one-minute rest period between rounds. Championship fights lasted for a maximum of five rounds.
Three rounds? She had only managed two rounds with Lesak. At the time, she thought he had been too hard on her, but after witnessing the tryouts, she suspected the he had been taking it easy. How was she supposed to last three rounds without getting herself killed?
“No problem, Zara. Just give her a chance. Besides, if she doesn’t pass your test, there’s no harm done, except to the pure human,” Lesak joked making the three fighters laugh.
Rachel glared daggers at Lesak’s back. She was going to kick his chameleon ass all over the galaxy when she completed her assignment. But first, she had to survive the damn tryouts. She rolled her shoulders, trying to remember all the tips that Lesak gave her over the last two weeks.
“Do you want me to tessst her out?” the scaly woman asked.
“No, Sersan, I’ll test her myself,” Zara answered with an evil glint in her eye. Lesak had mentioned several times that Zara would be the hardest to impress. She, especially, had an aversion to pure humans.
The scaly woman, Sersan, looked at Rachel with pity in her eyes. “Good luck, pure human.”
Lesak moved off of the mat. He winked at Rachel and bared his teeth when he grinned. She wondered if he was setting her up to fail. If he was, then she would take great pleasure in knocking all of those shiny white teeth right out of his no-good mouth.
Rachel watched the tall female fighter warily. Zara the Amazon was her fighting name. She was 6’ 2” tall, slim built, but well-muscled. Her build was softened by a nice-sized bust. Not that Rachel paid any attention to other women’s bust sizes, but there was definitely no confusing this woman with a man despite her height or her muscles. Rachel admired her fighting skills. She had to admit to being a fan of the Amazon. Zara was a halfsie: part human, part Sorian, and part Bestial, three alien species that combined to make up one lean, mean fighting machine.
“Don’t worry, pure human, you only have to last two rounds with me. Two rounds is enough to qualify,” Zara told her as she stretched out her long arms. The other two fighters leaned forward in their seats, excited to watch the spectacle that was about to take place. Rachel felt like a tiny child standing close to the tall Amazon. Rachel was only 5’ 6” tall
, nowhere near the size of the other woman.
Two rounds, all she had to do was last for two rounds. She could do this. Focus, Rachel … focus. She circled around the mat. She gave Lesak one last look, promising retribution. She needed to concentrate on her opponent. What did she know about Sorians?
Sorians were … She got punched in the face and didn’t even see it coming. Sorians were fast. Rachel rubbed her face where she had been hit. She thought she could feel a loose tooth. She kept her eyes on Zara. She had studied her in videos of various matches. She noted that Zara often squinted before she made her move. She would need to keep her eyes on that. It was easier said than done. Rachel did a backflip, twirling out of the way just before Zara hit her again.
“She’s flexible.” The male fighter, Zen, said as he rubbed his chin with his finger.
“But can she hit?” asked the scaly woman, Sersan.
Rachel sprang forward, trying to grab hold of the taller woman. Zara spun free and kicked back. Rachel hit the mat, knocking the wind out of her. She had to wait a few seconds before she was able to get back to her feet. That pause was all it took for the other two fighters to call the end of round one.
In round two, Zara quickly put Rachel back down on the mat by sweeping Rachel’s legs out from under her. When Rachel tried to get back to her feet, Zara lifted her foot to kick at her. Rachel caught her foot and pushed up, making the other woman fall backwards. The Amazon hadn’t expected Rachel to fight back. Rachel wasted no time. She leapt onto Zara’s chest and pummeled her with everything she had. Zara turned to spit blood out of the corner of her mouth.
“She can hit,” Zen commented excitedly, standing up and moving closer.
The other DNA mixed in Zara was Bestial. All Rachel knew about the Bestial species was that they hit hard. While Rachel was still straddling Zara, the other woman reached back and delivered one huge punch to Rachel’s face. She flew backwards, hitting the mat again.
She knew she was still alive because she could feel the pain vibrating throughout her entire body. She managed to push up to a sitting position. Zen and Sersan called the end of round two.
Zara walked over to where Rachel lay prone on the mat. “You’re still moving after two rounds with me. You get the job. Have Lesak fill out the necessary legal forms. We leave for the circuit tour tomorrow morning at 6AM sharp. If you’re late, we leave without you.” Zara walked off, what injuries Rachel had managed to inflict already healing thanks to her alien DNA. Sersan gave Rachel a shy smile before she trailed after Zara.
The male fighter came to stand over her. “I’m Zen. You did a great job lasting two rounds. I like your flexibility. Maybe we can work together while on the circuit to see just how … flexible you can get.” He winked at her before he turned to leave.
Great, she was bleeding to death and the man was trying to hit on her. She moaned as she tried to sit up. She knew her healing implants would be making repairs to her internal injuries, but they were doing nothing for the pain.
Lesak squatted down beside her. “Take it easy, the healers have been called. They’ll give you something for the pain and fix your exterior up. You look a mess.”
“Thanks for calling the healers,” she croaked out.
“Zara ordered the healers. She says you wouldn’t be any good if your pretty face wasn’t pretty anymore.” He poked at her injuries, causing her to moan some more.
“Jerk.”
“I know, I try. Look, I can’t stay with you on board the GCFA circuit ship. I’m not on the roster as a trainer for this circuit. You’ll be completely on your own. Keep your guard up at all times.”
“What does the IDJ have on you to that made you agree to help?”
Lesak shook his head. “They have nothing on me, pure human.”
“Then why help with this investigation?” She looked at him out of the one eye that could still open.
“The last woman that was taken, Lindy, she meant everything to Talon. Talon was my best pupil. I practically raised him. Ever since the girl went missing, he has been in a downward spiral of self-destruction. I want the girl found for his sake.” He stood up and waited by her side until the healers arrived. She watched him walk away, leaving her completely on her own.
Pain killers were a thing of beauty. She didn’t feel anything as repairs were made to her broken jaw. There had been swelling in 90% of her body, but now the bruises were instantly vanishing from her soft skin. She realized that if she hadn’t had the healing implants, she would have bled to death. She hated to admit Lesak was right about anything, but he was about this. Damn him!
She reported in one last time to Chief Officer Marks. She would have very limited communications with him while on circuit. She would contact them and they her only when necessary and in code.
She wasn’t worried about working alone. She had been on her own since she was thirteen. Her parents had been killed in a bombing. Her Uncle Ted took her in, but he was in the Galactic Police Department so he was gone a lot, leaving Rachel had to fend for herself most of the time. She cooked for herself, kept their little apartment clean, paid the bills, saw herself to school.
The only thing she gave her uncle credit for was teaching her how to fight. One day she had come home from school with a black eye and bruised ribs during one of the few occasions he was home. When he found out that the kids from school had been picking on her and beaten the crap out of her, he took it upon himself to see to her training. He also had some of his buddies from the force help. She had really appreciated it.
He died a few years after she was accepted into the academy for law enforcement. When she had gone to see him at the hospital that last time, he had told her that he was proud of her. Then he was gone. Out of her life forever, out of this plane of existence and into the next. She was left alone again.
She reported in at 5:30AM the next morning with the GCFA coordinators. They assigned her to a suite on board the GCFA circuit ship, bunking with another woman fighter. Her roommate was a halfsie, part human and part Reptan.
The GCFA had rented use of a large spacecraft to take them from Region to Region on their circuit. The ship was big enough to accommodate up to eighteen fighters on board. There were currently seven male fighters and six female fighters signed for the circuit. The ship had a large open training facility that included three floor mats and their own training cage, as well as a dining facility with enough tables to seat the fighters and the crewmembers.
“I am Ssssersssan,” her roommate introduced herself. Rachel recognized Sersan as being the other female fighter at the tryouts. Her face looked humanoid, but the top of her head was slightly pointed and covered in scales. She had no hair anywhere on her body. She reached out to shake hands.
“Nice to meet you Sersan. I’m Rachel … Starr,” she responded trying not to cringe when she felt the scales on the outside of other woman’s hand. She couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to be the human that mated a full Reptan. It gave her the shivers just thinking about it.
“Isss thisss your firssst cccircuit?” Sersan asked.
“Yeah. How about you?”
“Thisss isss my sssecond with GCFA. I toured with preliminary cccircuitsss for two yearsss.” She rubbed her hairless, scaly head as she continued, “You ssshould eat breakfassst. Meal times are at 06:30, 12:30, and 18:30. We train three times a day at 09:30, 15:30, and 21:30.”
“Okay. Are you coming to eat too?” Rachel asked.
“Yesss. I am ssstarving.”
Chapter 4
Rachel noticed right away that none of the male fighters were at breakfast. One of the female fighters complained to her that the males each had a private suite with room service, but the female fighters had to share suites. Well, all the female fighters except Zara, who also had her own private suite. The only other exception was the married couple, Tipin and Resa, both Rasilian. Sersan told Rachel that Zara would meet them after breakfast and introduced her to some of the other female fighters.
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There were many different mixed species on the circuit. Lesak had explained that the GCFA required most of the fighters have some amount of human DNA since the physical traits were more appealing to the majority of the fan base.
Resa was a 5’5” beautiful brown-haired Rasilian, able to shape shift like Lesak. Alana, as an Arian, was smaller in bone structure and height, reaching only 5’3”, with spiky blond hair, dark brown eyes, and very pale skin. Gana was with a human and Priman mix. She was as tall as Zara, reaching 6’. She had gorgeous mixed red and brown hair and green eyes. And then of course Zara, missing from the dining hall, was a mix of human, Sorian, and Bestial.
Rachel was the only pure human fighter there. She felt so ordinary compared these exotic beauties. She had let her hair grow to just past her shoulders. Her bright blue eyes were her best feature, at least in her opinion.
She definitely felt out of place. Everyone stared at her with a mixture of curiosity and mistrust. Why did they seem to hate humans so much? Everyone in the room had human DNA. It was like they hated that part of themselves, too. The only ones friendly enough to talk to her were Sersan and Alana.
After they finished their buffet style breakfast, Sersan took her on a short tour of the ship. Then they went back to their suite to change into their sparring clothes. Rachel wore her usual stretch pants and sports bra with a baggy t-shirt over it. She pulled her shoulder length blond hair back into a ponytail. Lesak suggested she shave her head, but she had refused. Her hair was the one thing that made her feel feminine.
She needed to earn these fighters’ trust to get the answers she needed to solve this investigation. The only way to do that was to pay her dues and to prove to them that she could fight. Lesak told her to stare her opponents down and never let them sense her fear. She looked at her appearance one last time in the mirror to get herself into her persona. Her sky blue eyes shone sharp. “I am Rachel Starr, new Galactic Cage Fighter for the GCFA.”