Gladiator (Gauntlet Prime Book 1)

by Barry Solway

  While holding on to Jeff, Sharon jumped at anything that moved, including Beast, Mel and the zombies. Mel entered just behind Beast and one of the zombie men turned and saw her for the first time. He stared at her, confused and unable to figure out what to do next.

  “I’ll just sit against the wall and watch. I’ll stay out of the way, I promise,” she said. Given that the room was half round, there wasn’t really a corner to hide in. Instead, she gingerly sat next to the door with her legs bent up to her chest, leaning back against the wall.

  The zombie man shuffled around for a bit, but then decided that her staying there was as good as anywhere else. The door faded shut as he left.

  Mel had to call to Sharon several times before the girl heard her. “Sharon. Sharon! Whatever comes out, don’t try to fight it. Just run away. Don’t stop and curl up into a ball, either. Stay on your feet and keep dodging it. Keep as much distance as possible. That goes for you too, Jeff.”

  “What about him?” Jeff said, tersely.

  “Beast can take care of himself,” Mel said. I hope, she added silently.

  Beast looked at her with an expression of curiosity and surprise. “I beg to differ.”

  “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” Sharon repeated, breathing in quick, short breaths. Mel couldn’t think of anything to do to help Sharon. At the moment, Mel wondered if the robots would try to attack her or if they would consider her just an observer. She couldn’t do anything about that either.

  Another door opened on the other side of the ring and two robots came out, the same kind as last time. Mel quickly looked and saw that the spokes on the wheels had been covered. So much for repeating that trick.

  Even though the robots were twenty yards away, Sharon shrieked and ran to hide behind Beast. One of the robots wheeled forward and extended a stick to Jeff, who snatched it from the robot and quickly backpedaled. The robot wheeled towards Sharon, but she kept ducking behind Beast. Mel almost had to laugh at the robot’s attempt to give Sharon a weapon she didn’t want and clearly didn’t know how to use. After several seconds, the robot gave up and backed away, still holding the stick. It didn’t try to give one to Beast.

  The second robot wheeled forward. Each robot held up a stick in one hand, while the first one kept Sharon’s stick down in another hand. One robot darted in towards Jeff, while the other attacked Beast.

  Even knowing what the others had been through and keeping his distance, Jeff barely got out of the way of the first swing. He fell backwards and scrambled on all fours before he got back to his feet and ran the other way. Turning once he reached the far wall, he swung his stick in short arcs as the robot stalked him.

  The second robot darted in on Beast and Mel held her breath. Beast didn’t back away, but stood looking down at the robot as its stick arced through the air. The stick hit his forearm and Beast flinched slightly, but didn’t appear hurt. Beast moved to dodge a second blow, but it hit him anyway and tried to swat the stick away.

  “Ow. Stop that,” Beast growled. The far door faded open and two more robots entered to join the first two.

  Jeff barely fended off the first robot, ducking blows and blocking with his stick, running at every opportunity. He wasn’t doing half-bad, Mel realized, but his strategy was going to run into a problem soon. As he ran from his robot, he was circling the room and pretty soon he was going to run into Sharon, who was pressed against the wall not far from Mel. For that matter, after he passed Sharon he was going to run into Mel and she would find out if the robots would ignore her.

  The robot facing Beast kept trying to strike him. Beast pushed it, sending it skidding. One of the new ones joined it to attack Beast from two sides. Beast moved his arms to block the blows, but Mel realized he wasn’t attacking back.

  “Beast! Stop waving your hands around! You need to attack them,” Mel yelled.

  Beast looked at her with an odd expression. “I don’t want to hurt them.”

  Was he serious? “They’re robots, Beast. You can’t hurt them. Do something before Jeff and Sharon get hurt.”

  Mel lost track of Beast as the fourth robot went around him, heading directly for Sharon. Sharon screeched and ran towards Mel, trying to keep Beast between her and the robot. Mel sat up straighter, causing her back to spasm with pain. There was no way she could move in time if the robot attacked her. She would have no choice but to curl up into a ball again. In retrospect, Sharon’s tactic of panicking didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

  The fourth robot closed in fast on Sharon. Jeff’s robot had increased the speed of its attack, and Jeff was close to being pinned between the first robot and the one attacking Sharon. Sharon ran by Mel, and Mel shrank back against the wall as the robot chasing her closed in. Mel held her breath as the robot kept going, swinging its stick and nearly grazing Sharon’s back. Jeff was in trouble now, either slowing down from fatigue or injury. More blows were getting in and Mel could see welts on his arms. None of the blows that Jeff managed to land seemed to do any good.

  Things happened very quickly. Jeff was just steps away from Mel and obviously in trouble. Sharon ran around the edge of the arena, her robot right behind her, almost close enough to hit her. Jeff stumbled past Mel, the robot attacking him almost directly in front of her. She stared at the thing morbidly, her mind racing. She had to stay out of it or they might attack her. But she couldn’t just sit by and watch it beat the crap out of Jeff.

  Just as the robot wheeled in front of her, she lashed out with a leg, trying to kick the base of the wheel out from under the robot. It almost worked. The robot tilted halfway towards the floor and almost fell on her. The wheel skidded about two feet out from under the robot, but somehow it didn’t fall. Instead, it sped up and quickly righted itself. Then it turned in a tight arc and headed straight for Mel.

  What happened next was more than a bit strange. This robot was the one that had the second stick, which it hadn’t been using at all. Stopping in front of Mel, it offered her the stick. She wondered if not taking it meant the robot would change its mind and leave her alone, but that hadn’t worked for Sharon. Since she had joined the fray she had no choice but to fight. Well, that had been pretty stupid.

  Reluctantly, she took the stick. “Thanks”, she said, immediately regretting it. The moment the robot released the stick, she pushed herself back against the wall to get some space and held the stick out in front of her.

  Mel quickly surveyed the room. The distraction with her had given Jeff time to gather himself. Beast battled with two of the robots, but it mostly seemed like he was dancing around them, shrugging off blows but not doing much more. Sharon had finally completed her circuit of the room and was running towards the robot in front of Mel, the fourth robot right behind her.

  “Beast!” Mel yelled. “We need help!”

  Sharon hadn’t noticed that Jeff’s robot was standing in front of Mel until she was nearly on it. Skidding, she tried to run behind it just as the robot raised its stick to attack Mel. It swiveled at the last minute and swung its stick to the right, pivoting to catch Sharon as she ran by. The stick caught Sharon right in the face, her feet flew into the air and she landed with a thud on her back. Mel didn’t know if it was the original blow or if the impact of hitting the ground did it, but Sharon was out cold.

  Jeff gathered his wits enough to try and engage the first robot. He swung wildly, aiming for the robot’s arm. While Jeff distracted the robot, Mel leaned forward and used the point of her stick to bang at the metal plate that covered the wheel spokes.

  But the fourth robot that had followed Sharon was on them and there was no time. Several hits to the plate didn’t have any effect and Mel abandoned her attack to protect herself from the other robot. The first robot struck at Jeff, including a blow across his face that sent him sprawling. Then both robots focused on Mel.

  “Uh. Help. Anyone.”

  She had nowhere to go and knew this was going to be bad. Bracing for the attack, she almost didn’t react in time as a
n object crashed into both robots from behind. Beast had hurled one of the other robots into them. Mel leaned to the side just enough to avoid a robot falling on her. The other one smashed into the wall and then slid down to land on her. Two of the arms were bent but the thing still seemed operational. It used its other two arms to try and push itself back up. Pushing the pain out of her mind, Mel wrapped her arms around its head and her legs around its middle, trying to squeeze one of its arms to its side so it couldn’t use it to stand.

  “Jeff, help me!”

  Jeff jumped on top of the robot she was clinging to. “Watch your arms,” he said grimly.

  Mel tried to shift her arms out of the way as Jeff aimed blow after blow at the robot’s head. Fending Jeff off with one arm made it impossible for it to get up. Mel couldn’t tell if Jeff was doing any actual damage, but at the very least the robot wasn’t able to attack them. On the other hand, maybe it just needed to wait. Jeff's blows were already coming slower and with less power. A glassy look filled his eyes and Mel could see a huge lump on his forehead.

  Suddenly the robot went completely limp. Jeff kept swinging his stick down, yelling with every strike.

  “Jeff! Jeff! Enough. It’s done,” she yelled. He hesitantly raised his stick again. “It’s over, the thing’s gone limp. Get off it, I’m being crushed.”

  Jeff slid off and leaned back against the wall. Mel struggled to get the robot off her when Beast lumbered up and grabbed it by the head, pulling it off with a backwards flick of his wrist. Mel collapsed on the floor, completely spent.

  “I thought you were just going to watch,” Beast said.

  “Yeah, that didn’t work out so well.” She wasn’t able to sit up yet, but turned to face Jeff. “Jeff, how you doing?”

  Jeff touched the lump on his forehead and looked confused by her question. “I feel sick.”

  “No kidding,” Mel muttered. She pulled herself up with a grimace, looking around at the wreckage of robots. And Sharon, lying unmoving just a few feet away. Mel crawled over to Sharon, relief flooding through her when she confirmed that Sharon was still alive. Her nose was clearly broken and it was amazing she hadn’t drowned in her own blood. Mel tilted her head to the side so the blood would drain away, but was afraid to do anything else.

  Mel gazed up at Beast. “Mind telling me what that was all about? You seriously didn’t want to hurt the robots?”

  Beast shrugged. “The Manesh generally don’t like violence, you know.”

  “No, I didn’t,” Mel said, more sarcastically then she intended. “I’m glad you could overcome your squeamishness long enough to keep us from getting killed.”

  “It was all a bit distressing. But I realized how much I like you. I thought you’d suffered enough for one day.”

  Mel laughed, then clutched her ribs. “I’ve suffered enough for an entire lifetime, thank you very much.” She shook her head. It figured that the biggest, strongest and toughest ally she had was a pacifist. “And I like you, too.”

  Beast gently patted her back. The door faded open and four zombies entered, pushing a board before them that hovered three feet off the ground. Mel pushed away from Sharon as the board drifted down and the zombies loaded Sharon onto it.

  “Beast, could you help Jeff? I think I can walk,” Mel said.

  Jeff tried to stand but almost immediately fell over, clearly disoriented and only semi-conscious. Beast lifted the boy and carried him, waiting a moment for Mel to stand. She shuffled along behind them, holding on to Beast’s leg to steady herself.

  Chapter 10

  Thoughts raced through her mind, outpacing her ability to keep them organized. Anna had come with another round of drugs for Mel. Saying she was upset that Mel had tagged along with Jeff and Sharon was an understatement. Pursing her lips in a tight line of displeasure, she inserted a needle into Mel’s arm. Mel wondered if the drugs were what was causing her mind to race. Not that there weren’t plenty of other obvious reasons.

  It was clear that if they stayed on the ship, that someone would die. Or perhaps even worse, they would have to suffer this living hell of being beaten periodically with no way out.

  They had never seen more than three of the insect robots at one time, although there could always be more. And she didn’t know if the training robots would also act as guards. They’d seen at least four of the zombie people. But she had only seen one recently and the zombies were walking medical disasters. Assuming they could handle the zombies, the first thing they needed was a plan to neutralize the robots.

  Which she had no idea how to do. And the problem just seemed to get more complicated from there. What if they could disable the robots? That left them having to deal with Kathor, on a ship they didn’t know how to fly, somewhere in space and far from their home, with no map to get back.

  Beast and Gorgeous had indicated what Kathor was doing was illegal. Could they overpower Kathor and call for help? Would they just become pets for someone besides Kathor? Perhaps no one would want to bother with the effort of taking them back to Earth. Mel also wondered if anyone else in this alien culture knew about Earth or if that was Kathor’s secret. If no one else knew, then what might they do when they found out? Could Mel’s attempts to get home cause an alien invasion?

  She snorted at the thought, although Anna didn’t seem to notice. One of the best potential ideas for getting free was calling for help, but she may have to discard it because it could endanger Earth. At this rate, it just seemed more and more hopeless.

  But if Kathor represented the morality of this alien culture, it was a real concern. She didn’t want to be the cause of other people on Earth being harmed. Calling for help was an idea, but maybe it shouldn’t be the first one. Better to try to get home themselves without any more aliens getting involved.

  An icy chill moved down her arm as the drugs seeped into her veins. She forced her mind to slow down. It didn’t help to make up stories about things that might happen, things she had no control over. Right now, they were in a bad situation where her friends were being hurt every day. She had to do something to stop it, to make the situation better. They could deal with what came next once they got there.

  She reviewed her options and resources. Beast and Gorgeous would help, she was sure. Well, Mirage too, but Mirage was enigmatic at best and Mel hadn’t really talked to her. Beast knew as much about spaceships as Mel knew about airplanes. Basically, that you got in one and someone else told it where to go. Mel thought that Gorgeous knew even less, if that was possible. The alien girl’s take on technology made Mel think she considered it all to be magic.

  But there was a third resource. Maybe. Mel didn’t know how far she could trust Anna. It would be tricky, but Mel would have to see if she could weasel some useful information out of her. Hopefully without tipping her off that she was planning to escape. Anna didn’t seem afraid, exactly; but what if Kathor had her under some kind of control, too scared to really fight back? Or what about that condition that prisoners got, where they became attracted to their captors? Stockholm syndrome. Maybe Anna had that.

  But if Anna could be persuaded to help them, then they had a chance. Anna could get access to the helm or flight deck or whatever it was called. Could she get maps or figure out a route back home? Mel assumed the ship was run by computers, so maybe Anna would have some experience with accessing them. The fact that she thought Anna was going to be their tech savior was enough to make Mel laugh out loud.

  “Good to see you in a good mood. What’s so funny?” Anna asked.

  Mel looked at Anna for a moment, pondering what to say. “I was just thinking of you.”

  Anna arched an eyebrow, concentrating on the syringe in her hand. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

  Mel smiled. “I was thinking of the afternoon at the pool, when you almost drowned that poor kid. I think you were drunk.”

  Anna’s had that faraway look again. When she got like this, Mel had the feeling she was remembering something that h
ad happened a long time ago and she had to really think about it to remember. It had been strange at first, but Mel started to think she was becoming the same way. Memories of life before the spaceship seemed almost unreal.

  Anna finally smiled. “Actually, I think I was high. Jon and I scored some off that cute guy at the bar. What made you think of that?”

  “I don’t know. You landed on that kid when you fell in and then thought he was drowning, so you freaked out even more. One of those things where something happens and everything you do to fix it just seems to make it worse. But it was funny anyway.”

  “In retrospect, I guess. I didn’t think it was very funny at the time.”

  “Yeah, I guess not,” Mel said. “Can I ask you a question?”

  Anna pressed something on the device in her hand and removed the needle from Mel’s arm. “Of course.”

  “Do you have any idea where we are? Like, I don’t know… what galaxy are we in?”

  Anna suppressed a smile. “What galaxy, hmm? If I told you, would it even mean anything?”

  Mel smiled. “Probably not. I know that Earth is in the Milky Way galaxy, right? Weird that it was named after a candy bar. And then there’s another galaxy, Alpha Major Century or something.”

  Anna got the faraway look, then seemed puzzled. “Alpha Centauri. But that’s not a galaxy, it’s a solar system. The nearest one to Earth.”

  Mel squinted at Anna. “Aren’t you the science nerd.”

  Anna looked away sheepishly. “I think you’re thinking of Andromeda. That’s another galaxy close to the Milky Way.”

  “Is that where we are?”

  Anna shook her head. “I honestly don’t know. Kathor made an offhand comment about twenty million light years at one point. He was complaining about how long it had taken him to get to Earth and capture us.” She sighed and momentarily looked like a lost little girl. “I think… I think I apologized.”