"In the house!" I shouted orders for everyone to join me in the only real cover that we had. With a wide-open front entrance, it was only so good. When Delilah worriedly jumped down from the swing, I grabbed her by the arm. "Not you!"
It was the first time that I saw the dark queen-like woman's face so expressive. Shock. Fear. "What? Joah, don't leave me out here alone."
I looked to the sky. We probably had at least twenty seconds before whatever that was touched down. It was discernably larger than one of the spider balls, and didn't make the same whistle noise. I was fairly certain that it was another shuttle.
"What is on that ship, Delilah?" I asked, not releasing her skinny little arm.
"I don't know," she replied without even trying to pull away.
"You do know," I told her. "This is all scripted, right? That shuttle was planned before you even came down here."
"Things have changed, Joah. I don't know!"
I watched as the ship's descent slowed. We had more time before it landed on the flat section of rocks where we arrived. The shuttle appeared to be identical to the one that we came in. Perhaps it was the exact same one.
"Give me your best guess," I encouraged her. The other three women were already inside the house. "If you want my protection, you'll tell me something helpful."
I had expected her to turn back toward the approaching vessel before answering me. Instead, Delilah stared into my eyes. I was still holding her arm tightly. I began to suspect that she was trying to do something to me, like she did Lin. An orgasm seemed unlikely given the circumstances. She did mention that some of her people could cause pain or confusion. I let go of her arm and focused on whether or not there were any changes in my body.
"Teammates," she finally said.
"Teammates? Why would we be getting more teammates?" I asked, totally confused by her suggestion. There were no other teams to compete against. But we did find evidence on the two nearby islands that more could be planned. It was a legitimate possibility, especially if new teams would have more than four players.
"I can explain later," Delilah said with urgency. "If I'm wrong, we might need to take cover."
The shuttle landed softly on the rocks. I glanced around to see if there were any other threats while we were distracted. I did not see anything out of the ordinary. Pushing the alien woman gently on the back, I told her to go inside. Nodding to Lin told her to take over guarding her.
Instead of taking cover myself, I stood there watching, my bulky pulse rifle ready. The sounds of the landing apparatus, then air exchange was familiar. The same sequence and time gaps as the shuttle that we arrived in, as close as I could remember. The door on the side slid open allowing the occupants a view of the stunning sunset in the west. There was barely enough light to see by, so I focused on that door.
A minute went by. Nothing happened.
"What's going on?" Nancy inquired from her secure location inside the house. I was confident that I could rely on her to stay put. All the women demonstrated their ability to follow orders in a tactical scenario. Better than I would have expected from civilians anyway.
"Nothing yet," I answered her. Everyone was obediently quiet for the next minute as I continued to wait. Still nothing. "I'm going to approach," I said over my shoulder.
"I should come with you," Lin told me. I could tell that it was more of a question than a statement.
"No," I replied sharply. "Guard Delilah. If she has something scripted to do, now would be the time for it. Don't take any chances."
"I'm not going to do anything," I heard the black skinned female say softly. She was telling Lin, not me.
There was nothing unusual about the ship. It was identical to the one that we arrived in maybe a week ago. It could hold four or more people from what I remembered of the interior configuration. If they went through the same escape process as us, they might be armed. They may or may not know who we are. Drexel and the others saw videos of the show before joining us. I wasn't going to take chances, though. I shouldn't even be assuming that there are teammates on that shuttle. But, then again, why else would it land here? Unless it held another team, ready to attack.
It took me another patient minute to slowly approach the open door on the craft, keeping my rifle aimed the whole time. I did not know how many shots I could get off before it would need to be recharged. It was only exposed to the sunlight for a few hours. I was reconsidering Lin’s offer to accompany me.
I accidentally kicked a small stone across the flat surface and under the shuttle. I was usually much more careful. Stopping abruptly, I waited to see if it would signal the occupants of the shuttle to charge out.
"Is there someone out there?" I heard a woman call out. She sounded panicked.
"Yes," I replied just loud enough for her to hear me. "And I'm armed."
"Well, I'm not!" she yelled back. "Please help me!"
"What's wrong?" I asked as I continued moving forward. The rear half of the vessel was empty. So were the second row of seats. I continued cautiously.
"I'm tied up! And there is a bomb or something, I think! Please help me!"
I quickened my pace. Sure enough, a lone woman sat in the pilot's chair with black cord binding her wrists and ankles to the chair. There was enough interior lighting to see that she was a young black woman, slender and toned like Lin, but taller. She had on orange and black shorts and t-shirt similar to the ones that our team wore on the simulated island with the arena competitions. Her hair was braided and long. A teammate, just like Delilah suggested.
"Where is the bomb?"
"I don't know," she replied as she got her first look at me. She seemed relieved. Perhaps she already knew who I was.
"Then why do you think there is a bomb?" I asked.
"There is a timer on the console. I can't read the alien numbers, but there were ten digits when I first noticed them. Now there are only six. Wait, no, only five now."
"When did the timer start?" I asked as I moved toward her. I was hesitant to set my rifle aside, but I needed to test the bindings to see if they were legitimately confining her. I had gone through some training missions where people claimed to be hostages but turned out to be the terrorists instead.
"When I landed, I think. That was what?" she asked. "Maybe two or three minutes ago? Does that mean that I'm going to blow up in two minutes if you can't get me loose?"
"I don't know, but I can't get you free without a knife. The bindings are clamped together with metal rings. I'll be right back."
"No! Don't leave me!" she screamed convincingly. My concern over her being a threat diminished.
I ignored her plea and took off running toward the house. All four women were already out front by the fire pit, unable to control their curiosity once they saw me enter the shuttle door.
"We need four knives!" I yelled at them. "Someone is tied up. We have to free her quickly!"
"Her?" Nancy asked, already possibly jealous over another woman, one that she hasn't even seen yet. Or, maybe she was hoping for another man. No, she was committed to me now. But an additional male did make more sense to balance out our team.
"What is the hurry?" Lin asked as she continued to guard Delilah without making contact. Nancy and Shira had already retreated into the building for the knives and were coming back out.
"There is a timer on the console. She thinks that it is a bomb."
I ran back to the shuttle with a knife in one hand, my rifle in the other. Nancy and Shira were on my heels running fast as well. I hoped that they did not fall with those knives in their hands. I considered calling back to them like they were my children running with scissors, then decided against it. My concern was whether I had enough time to question Delilah regarding the console timer. I decided that I did not.
I started on the far side ankle with the knife when I reentered the shuttle. The cord was dense, but the knife was very sharp. I managed to cut through as the two women started on the near side bonds. I went for
the ankle first so the girl wouldn't have her hand free while I was bent over working on freeing her leg. It put me in better control of the situation.
Our apparent new teammate urged us to hurry as she notified us each time a digit dropped off the timer. There were only two left when Shira finished freeing the girl's left ankle. We scurried out of the shuttle and across the rocky ground toward the house. When we heard a noise from behind us, we dove for the sandy grass. The new girl was right with us as we did. I had every reason to believe that she thought there was a bomb. But there wasn't.
Instead of the explosion that we were expecting, the shuttle simply closed its door and powered up its engine. Seconds later, the jets fired up and the craft launched quickly into the air. The timer was a launch countdown, evidently. If we had remained onboard, would it have returned us to the starship?
"Oh, no!" the new girl said, surprise on her face.
"Yeah," Nancy said as she stood up and began brushing the sand from her sexy legs. "It wasn't a bomb, was it?"
"No, I guess not," she replied as she rolled over to sit up on the ground. It was the first time that I got a good look at her face. She appeared to genuine. Additionally, she was damn pretty. A perfectly symmetrical round face, full lips, great cheekbones.
"I'm Joah," I told her as I held my hand out to help her up.
"Thank you," she replied as she accepted the offer. Once standing she said, "I'm Jayla, and I already know who you all are."
"They've been showing you episodes of the show?" Nancy asked.
"Yes, they have," Jayla answered. Then she noticed Lin over by the house with Delilah. "Wow. You guys managed to catch one of them. How did that happen?"
"She kind of fell into our lap," Nancy replied.
"Well," Jayla said. "Be careful with her then. She might be the bomb."
"Yeah, she's the bomb alright," said Nancy sarcastically, yielding a full laugh from our new addition. That brought a smile to my wife's face until she looked over Jayla's sexy athletic body. "So, what year are you from?"
"I don't get it," Jayla answered, thinking that Nancy was hitting her with another joke.
The four of us stood there continuing our conversation instead of returning to the house. I could see concern on Lin's face, but I didn't see any need to rush this. Plus, maybe we could get valuable information from this new arrival without Delilah hearing it. Then, I could better gauge the truthfulness of the alien's story.
"We were all taken from different years," I told her. "Then put into a long sleep aboard their ship. How long ago did you wake up?"
"I'm sorry, Joah," Jayla replied. "I wasn't put into one of those things that you guys came out of. They took me directly from my town."
"It may seem like that," Shira told her. I remembered when she had trouble believing that years had passed while she was sleeping. "The whole thing is pretty disorientating."
I could tell by Jayla's expression that she more than doubted Shira’s statement. Her confidence indicated that she firmly believed otherwise. The fact that she was already familiar with the appearance of the aliens that kept us captive confirmed that her situation was different at least in some regards.
"How do you know about these aliens?" I asked as I gestured toward Delilah. "Did they reveal themselves to you while you were being prepped for the show?"
"What? No," she answered as she shook her head. She was clearly seeing things differently than us. That was actually a very, very good thing. Unless, of course, she turned out to be delusional. "Oh, I get it. No, I didn't come from Earth like you guys."
"Huh?" Nancy asked first, though all of us were in shock from that last statement. Everyone came from Earth, right? We just got snatched up or put in one of those capsules at different times. Or, did humans populate other planets before our final demise? No, that couldn’t be possible, could it? Besides, she was claiming that she was never put into the deep sleep.
"No, I lived my whole life on another planet that we call Vromia. I was taught about Earth from my parents, though. We have videos from there as well. Recreational stuff. Motion pictures I believe you call them. And, I've heard a lot of your conversations from scenes of what you call 'the show.'
"How is this possible?" I asked. This was not the information that I was expecting. Lin called out to me from her position by the house as her and Delilah began walking toward us. I gestured for her to wait. I needed more time with Jayla before Delilah could hear what she had to say. "I thought that the only humans left were aboard that ship."
"Well, there are conflicting stories about that, you see." Jayla was rubbing the rope marks on her wrists. "Should we maybe go inside and sit down?”
"Not just yet," I told her. I could see from her reaction that she was not comfortable with me giving her orders. She was not one of us. Even if she had become familiar with our personalities it didn't mean that she was prepared to slide right into the position of being my follower. "Sorry, Jayla, but I'd like to ask a couple more questions before we allow Delilah to hear your story. If you don't mind."
"Yeah, I get that," she replied. "Okay, well, my people have lived on Vromia for only about thirty years. I'm nineteen, by the way. Most believe that we were placed there as a colony. The majority say by these aliens, others say by humans. I don't know for sure."
"You said that we managed to catch one of them," I attempted to lead her back to the most important details that we could gain from her. A history lesson of her colony could come later.
"Yes, I did. The Thesphilians come to my town a few times a year. Sometimes they give us stuff or make repairs. Other times, they kidnap people. They took me just three days ago. I didn't go through the same things that you guys went through. In fact, I didn't know that you all even existed until they started showing me the show. Are you telling me that everything on that show was real?"
"We're still trying to figure that out."
"I see," Jayla said. "Well, let me make one thing clear. Delilah over there is one of the bad guys. Though I came from someplace else, I am in the same boat as you now. I'm a prisoner, apparently to provide these aliens with more entertainment."
"Did they tell you in advance that you would be joining us?"
"No, they didn't. They just put me in a room on their ship, I presume, and showed me videos of you all. It was kind of like the barracks on your first island with a kitchen and a bathroom, but I couldn't leave it. Not until this morning. I was taken from my bed by two robots and placed in that shuttle. A bright blue version of your Delilah told me that I was going to die soon. The door to the ship closed and I arrived here not long after. You know the rest."
"That is very interesting," I told her as I thought about my next line of questions.
"Can I get something to drink now?" Jayla asked. "And use your toilet? I almost pissed myself on the shuttle when I thought that I was going to explode."
"Lin almost pissed herself, too," Nancy said. "Maybe on that same shuttle."
"I know," Jayla replied with a smile. "I saw that episode yesterday. You all are so funny. I can see why the Thesphilians love you so much."
"I'm not feeling much love from them," Nancy replied as she began walking toward the house. I gestured for Jayla to go ahead and follow her.
"Jayla, please don't reveal anything else until after I question Delilah. We are still trying to sift through her lies."
"Good luck with that," she said. "These colored alien twig people are much better at deception than anybody I've ever known."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
"Do you recognize this woman?" I asked Delilah, referring to Jayla. We were all seated around the table in the center of our home except for Shira. She offered to make patrol rounds as I questioned both of our visitors. She took the pistol with her despite her preference not to use it and left the rifle to lean against my seat easily within my reach.
"No, Joah, I do not know her," Delilah replied calmly. Jayla was avoiding even looking at the ebony alien during the inte
rrogation. I figured that she didn't want to give anything away to her enemy, but it was still a possibility that was me and not Delilah. The two of them working together seemed far-fetched at best, but I couldn't completely rule it out despite Jayla’s apparent distaste for the other in question.
"You were expecting us to receive a new teammate," I told Delilah. "But not Jayla specifically. Is that correct?"
"No, Joah, I guessed that new teammates would be on board the shuttle when you pressed me for an answer. I did not know. I am not privy to any new developments in the show over the last couple days. New recruits were never my department anyway."
"What exactly was your department, then?"
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