by Mark Wandrey
“Don’t kill the little bitch,” she heard someone snarl. Minu couldn’t move her head to see who it was, but she’d heard the voice enough to commit it to memory.
“Ivan, you son of a bitch,” she gurgled.
“Not so tough now, are you?” he laughed at her. The man holding Minu grunted dumbly. She kicked viciously with both legs but couldn’t loosen his grip as he pulled her backwards over his hip. Her backpack was still in place, and it dug painfully into her kidneys. She could still hear the fighting nearby. “Your friends aren’t much help now, are they? You should have been more alert.”
The man loosened his grip a bit, and she spoke between gasps of air. “We—we’re not supposed t-to attack each other, you ass-asshole!”
Ivan laughed, and she gasped as he kicked her in the ribs. “You can’t be that stupid, can you? It’s survival of the fittest out here. The Concordia don’t want weaklings, and they sure don’t want girls.”
“W-why would they care if we’re girls?” Minu asked, trying hard to breathe. She saw sparks behind her eyelids. “The Tog don’t have genders!”
“You think you’re so fucking smart? Have you ever met an alien before?”
“Dozens of times, Rich B-brat.”
“I almost forgot, you’re the privileged Daughter of the First.”
“And you’re a privileged s-son of a rich asshole.”
“Don’t you dare speak about my father that way!” He kicker her again, harder this time. Minu felt something pop and cried out.
The fight was winding down. Ivan laughed, and Minu felt fear overtaking her. What would this group of hooligans do to her? Surely, they wouldn’t…
The sound of a man screaming in pain and a body hitting the ground interrupted her thoughts. “Come on you Rusk pig,” Minu heard Cherise snarl like a mad animal, “I’m warmed up now.”
“Do you honestly think you can beat me?”
“I’ve kicked your two little boys’ asses, now it’s your turn.”
Minu heard Ivan jump down from the rock and tried to turn to see what was happening. The arm around her neck tensed, and she saw stars. “Where do you think you’re going, girl?” the boy spoke for the first time.
“I c-can’t b-breath,” Minu wheezed, “p-please?” Minu was scared and desperate, though not quite as desperate as she let on. It made her sick to her stomach to beg the bastard strangling her.
“Don’t worry, I want to make you feel good.” She felt his hand come around and grasp her left breast, squeezing the nipple harshly between two fingers. She gritted her teeth against the pain, and the boy laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I mean.” The hand squeezed again then began to move down her bare belly.
He means to rape me, Minu thought. Don’t panic; there’s always a way out.
He couldn’t quite reach past her belt, so he had to bend her forward a bit. The backpack got in his way. He quickly yanked it off, tossed it aside, and began fumbling with her belt.
“Free my hand, and I’ll help,” she said, the words like fire on her tongue. “I’ll give it to you, if you don’t hurt me.” She heard Cherise yell, and the fighting resumed. A low grunt and a curse from Ivan told her Cherise still had plenty of fight left in her.
Minu’s captor released her left arm, and she unbuckled her belt with shaking fingers. It wasn’t easy one handed. “Hurry up,” he grunted in her ear. When it finally came undone, he pulled her to her feet and spun her around. With a hand on her throat, he roughly ripped her jumpsuit down to her ankles. Minu put her left hand over her pubic area, but he slapped it aside.
“W-what do you want?” she whimpered.
“What do you think?” he asked. With his free hand, he dropped his pants, exposing his erection.
Quick as a flash, he let go of her neck, spun her around again, and bent her over the rock. “No!” she cried out and tried to crawl away. He grabbed her hips with both hands, and she felt his hardness probe her backside. She cried and tried to wiggle away, but a moment later he found her opening and plunged deep into her.
“N-no!” she cried out again, hurting from the harsh penetration. He grunted and thrust over and over. She struggled to get away, but he grabbed her hair with one hand and pushed down on her back with the other, pinning her against the rock.
Through the pain and violation, she remembered her backpack. Slowly, carefully, she glanced to the left and saw that it was just a short distance away. With her left hand, she reached through the flap and found her knife.
“God, you’re tight,” the man grunted. He pulled out of her vagina and tried to penetrate her anus. Minu screamed and clenched as he tried several times before gasping and splattering hot wetness over her buttocks. Minu cried as he laughed. “Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“N-no,” she cried through clenched teeth, tears streaming down her face.
“Good, then turn around and lick it all nice and clean, you filthy little Plateau bitch.”
With her thumb, she released the sheath’s lock and slid the blade free. It was the extra knife she’d hidden in her backpack.
“You bastard,” she snarled as she rolled and slashed. The blade bit deep into his abdomen, tearing skin and muscle.
For the first time, she saw his face in the dim light. He was young, and his eyes grew as big as dinner plates when the knife cut him. His face was not that of a rapist or a monster. He grunted, more in surprise than pain, as blood gushed from his wound and down, over his groin. He grabbed for Minu’s throat, and she stabbed him in the chest with all her strength.
“You…you…fu—” he tried to say then fell limply backwards. The blade slid from his chest with the wet, grinding sound of metal on bone. In the moonlight, Minu looked down at the dying boy, blood pumping darkly from his chest and stomach wounds. White curls of intestines dangled from the gaping stomach wound.
Minu shuddered and thought she might vomit. She bent over and pulled up her pants, trying not to notice the wetness on her backside. She turned and looked at the fight between Ivan and Cherise just in time to see Ivan cut her friend’s arm badly.
She didn’t have time to wonder where he’d gotten a knife; her friend was in trouble. Minu jumped down from the rocks and raced toward them, her knife in her left hand, her right arm tucked against her side.
Cherise almost dropped her knife when Ivan cut her arm, and she backed away. The cut was deep and inky, dark blood flowing freely from it. Cherise switched the knife to her left hand and feinted at Ivan’s stomach as he moved in. Minu approached quickly from behind, no thoughts of mercy on her mind. Ivan’s group had attacked her and her friends with vile intentions. She couldn’t undo the violation she’d just suffered, but she could stop the bastard from killing her friend.
Ivan and Cherise dodged and struck at each other twice more before Minu reached them. Cherise’s last blow scored a minor cut on Ivan’s left hand, making him turn slightly. He saw Minu coming, her blade aimed at his lower back, and he was able to slide snake-like to the side and continue his spin. Minu’s knife bit flesh, but only grazed his side instead of impaling his back.
She tried to pull free and spin, as Cherise had showed her, but Ivan was far too fast. His left hand caught her right arm, sending an explosion of pain through the tortured limb. She was only centimeters from Ivan’s leering face when he stabbed her in the stomach, pushing the blade in to the hilt.
Minu wondered if the boy she’d stabbed had felt the same burst of clarity she did. A warm blanket of light lowered over her perceptions. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so dark and she felt no pain. She thought she heard a high-pitched whine somewhere.
“Fine day, Daughter of the First,” Ivan laughed. With all the force she could muster, Minu brought her left knee up, right into his balls.
Ivan’s eyes bugged. The blow knocked the wind out of him in a strangled gasp, and his legs buckled. He began to pull his knife from Minu’s stomach when a bloody blade appeared through the front of his neck, as if by magic. Cherise rammed it
home with a primal scream of rage and victory.
Hot blood sprayed Minu’s face as Ivan fell, and Cherise wrenched the knife free. His grip slackened, and his blade stayed in her stomach as she toppled away from him. The last thing she heard as she fell was Cherise screaming in terror.
* * * * *
Chapter 14
September 10th, 514 AE
Chosen Headquarters, Steven’s Pass
Minu’s existence was fractured for a time. She was dimly aware of snapshot-like images and sound-bites of conversations. She remembered lying on the rear seat of a Broomstick, and someone screaming, “We’re gonna lose her!” She had visions of red-clad medical technicians, a sterile, white operating room, and a woman crying as she examined her. She remembered being inside a Concordian-manufactured medical scanner, its delicate sensor arms moving along her body. And there were fleeting moments of agonizing pain in her right arm, followed by the strange sensation her arm was drifting off into space, and she couldn’t catch it. Finally, she fell into a long, restful sleep.
When she fully regained consciousness, she was confused and depressed. The sleepy place was nice and peaceful. Why were they making her wake up? Suddenly, she remembered the rape, and shortly after, her evacuation and failure at the Trials. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks even before she opened her eyes.
“She’s conscious,” she heard a nearby female voice say.
“I can’t move,” she said, panic tearing at her heart. Was she paralyzed? “I can’t open my eyes!”
“We have you over a stunfield,” a new voice, that of a strong-sounding older man, said. He spoke with authority, and she instantly calmed. “Your injuries were severe. My name is Dr. Tasker, and I am the Chief Medical Officer of the Chosen.”
“What about my people?”
“Your people?”
“The candidates from my group in the Trials. There were four others with me when we were attacked; I want to know what happened to them.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know anything about an attack, aside from the animal that mauled your arm.”
Minu felt her calm evaporate into anger. “Listen to me. Four other candidates were with me. We worked through the Trials together. We were a team, damn it. I want to know what happened to them!”
“Her heart rate and blood pressure are elevated,” the woman announced over an intercom. Minu guessed she was probably at some remote monitoring station.
“Calm yourself, young lady,” Dr. Tasker ordered.
“You calm yourself; I want to know what happened to my team.”
“Now, now, there’s no need to upset—”
“Fuck you!” Minu yelled at the faceless voice. “Let me look at you, damn it!”
There was a long moment of silence punctuated only by a quietly sounding alarm. Judging by the blood pounding in her ears, Minu thought the alarm was probably informing a nurse that her patient was about to start spurting blood from her eyes. The door opened, and she heard a rich-sounding voice that she’d heard before. “Compose yourself, candidate.” It was Jacob, Second among the Chosen.
“I-I’m sorry, sir.”
“You should be, but under the circumstances, we’ll forgive you. Your team is fine, except for one. One of the boys is dead.”
“W-what?! Who is it?”
“His name was Alexis Krum. During the incident at the river, he seems to have impaled himself on a knife.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Minu Alma, what do you remember?” She thought for a moment, trying to concentrate through the receding fog of drugs they’d given her. It wasn’t easy. “Don’t over-exert yourself. The good doctor informs me your condition is still delicate. Let me start from the beginning, or almost the beginning.” She heard him move a chair next to her bed and sit down.
“After you successfully navigated to the river crossing and trekked to the desert, you reached the bridge, realized it was a trap, and climbed down into the canyon. We intended for most groups to attempt scaling the other side, and most did, with varying levels of success. You improvised and proceeded down river, which was a unique and successful approach, as it provided continued sources of food and water. The desert was a dead end, and most didn’t realize it until it was too late.
“The Kloth was an unintended bonus challenge. It fell into the canyon quite close to the mountains and eventually overtook your party, as well as several others. The others tried to swim away, and we had to rescue most of them. You displayed excellent leadership by sending the only member of your team experienced with Kloth to evaluate the danger and attempt to neutralize it.”
“He made that decision, not me.”
“You were smart to let him go. Now, be quiet while I’m talking.” Minu clamped down on her next retort and waited. “At the time of the attack, another group’s life or death situation distracted the Chosen monitoring your progress. We didn’t have another chance to check on you until you’d already defeated the Kloth and drifted down the river. We failed to note the severity of your injuries, which was an unfortunate error. Had we noted them, we could have…well, regardless, the rest is pure conjecture. It appears you tried to assist another group a bit later, but you encountered a series of rapids. Your raft flipped, nearly drowning several members of your party. There were several minor injuries and a couple of nearly fatal ones. We arrived just in time to save your life and several others, but we were too late to save one. Any questions?”
Minu’s mind whirled. They had it so wrong. How could they know so much about what had happened, yet have no idea that Ivan and his band had attacked her group? Didn’t they know he’d tried to kill Cherise? What about someone raping her? “You said one was impaled? How?”
“We don’t know, exactly. It seems he impaled himself on one of the hunting knives you found in the hut during the first leg of the physical Trials. It was most generous of you to share, but very sad that one of those knives caused an accidental death.” Minu’s heart raced, this time in fear. She’d killed that boy! Deep in her heart, she’d known he was dead. To have a ready-made alibi presented to her was horrible. She was a murderer, and they were going to let her get away with it!
“Oh no, what did I do?” she sobbed. Someone adjusted the stunfield, allowing her to open her eyes. Jacob came into view; the look on his face was one of concern and interest.
“You did the best you could,” he said and placed a hand on her leg. It felt like it was asleep. “You did what any leader would do in this sort of situation. You rose to the occasion with determination, self-sacrifice, and strength of character.
She fought with her conscience for a moment then opened her mouth to speak. Before she could say anything, he cut her off. “Not now, no more talking. You need your rest. There will be plenty of time to talk at the post-Trial briefing.” He turned to leave.
“Chosen Jacob?”
“Yes, Miss Alma?”
“You said a lot was pure conjecture.” He nodded. “Then how do you know as much as you do?”
“Ivan Malovich woke first. He told us quite a bit of the story, including how he saved your life after the raft flipped. He’s quite a brave boy. A branch stabbed him through the neck, and he nearly died himself. The others have substantiated his account, with only a few minor variations. It’s completely natural, considering the traumatic situation.” He looked her in the eye and cocked his head slightly. “That is what happened, isn’t it?”
Minu swallowed and nodded ever so slightly saying, “Yes.” She marveled at how easy it was and wondered who’d spoken. It couldn’t have been her. Minu Alma didn’t lie!
He smiled and turned again to leave. “Get some sleep, we’ll talk again soon.” The door closed, and she was alone with a mind full of raging thoughts and fears. Confusion and shame battled for supremacy, until someone flipped a switch and sedatives sent her back to sleep.
* * *
She ate and slept several times before Dr. Tasker visited again. Despite her protests, the
y refused to lower the stunfield, and she remained immobilized from the neck down. When the doctor came in, her room was aglow with soft, natural lighting. He asked her how she felt.
“I’m tired of being restrained,” was Minu’s terse reply.
“I can understand that.”
“Good, then you’re here to let me up?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.” Minu felt her first bit of genuine excitement in quite some time. A couple of nurses and another doctor entered her room.
“Who’s he?” she asked.
“This is Dr. Bane; he’s a specialist.” Dr. Bane nodded at her, and she wondered what his specialty might be. “All right, we’re going to deactivate the field slowly from your head down. We have to be careful your body doesn’t go into shock.”
“I understand,” she told him, and Dr. Tasker smiled and nodded to one of the nurses, who picked up a handheld computer and entered a couple of commands. Minu felt sensation beginning to return, starting at her collarbone and slowly moving toward her feet.
“Tell me if you feel any discomfort.” Minu nodded as the field progressed downward. As it passed her shoulders, she looked down and saw a sheet covering her.
She tested each freed set of muscles. They were stiff and a little sore. As feeling returned to her arms, she sensed something was wrong with the right one. She looked toward the covered limb, and Dr. Bane noted her movement.
“What’s wrong with my arm?” she asked him.
Dr. Bane glanced at Dr. Tasker before turning back to her. “You have to understand the severity of the injuries inflicted by the Kloth, and then the river.”
“Will I be able to use it again?” she whispered, a dark force grasping her heart.
“We couldn’t salvage the limb,” Dr. Bane said, as if telling her she had a hangnail. The field continued downward, and she shifted slightly. She felt the blanket move across the skin of her right arm. How? She’d heard stories about people with phantom limbs, but she felt something, she was sure of it!