Survivor Planet Series 2-Book Box Set (19 page)

"Glad to see you have such faith in me," Ariston's voice was sarcastic.

"Like I said, you're the best. If anyone can find him and others and bring them home, it's you."

"I'll do my best."

"See that you do. Without Baynar, we face complete anarchy."

By now I figured out Ariston was talking into a communicator. Sweeping my gaze around during the conversation had convinced me we were the only ones onboard. Unfortunately, from the sound of his exchange with whoever he'd been speaking to, I had a terrible feeling that my companion was not who I thought he was. It seems I'd swapped one set of aliens for another. Whoever Ariston was, it was plain to me now that he wasn't from Earth.

Though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I made myself take the final steps to bring me closer to Ariston. He flicked a couple of switches on the control panel and then turned to stare at me. It was like looking at a complete stranger. Granted, we'd only just met really, but still...

"I take it you heard all that?"

It was a rhetorical question, but I nodded anyway. "Doesn't sound good. So, are you like a specialist or something?"
And an alien too?

His smile was forced. "Something like that."

"Well, that guy on the other line made it sound pretty urgent. I wouldn't want to hold you up or anything."

He narrowed his eyes. "So you think I'll just set you back down and be on my merry way?"

I smirked. "I seem to have that affect on guys after sex." It was my attempt to lighten the mood, but he wasn't buying it.

"You're not going anywhere." Before I could react, he reached out and pulled me forward. I squirmed as he pushed me into the seat next to him and strapped me in. Then he fastened his own seat belt and began fiddling around with the control panel. All the gadgets lit up and the saucer—lightwing—began to hum. Seconds later, the view outside the window in front of me changed from dark forest below, to starry night sky all around. We were in space—in the blink of an eye.

"What the hell! You can't just steal me like this."

He refused to look at me. "I can and I just did."

"But...but....you need to be somewhere. You have to rescue someone," I stammered, so sure I could make him see reason. Sure, he was pissed at me, but he couldn't mean to bring me with him on an important mission?

"You've given me an idea actually. The place we're going may find my presence suspicious, but with you along, I think we may fit right in."

"What are you talking about? Where are you taking me?"

"A planet named Taleon. It's where people from my planet, Calixtus, play a game of survival."

"I don't play games."

"This is deadly serious. The fate of my planet rests with that man."

"Baynar? Who is he?" I asked.

He appeared to think a moment before he spoke. "Consider him to be like your president, or prime minister—but of the entire planet, not just one country."

"So someone hijacked his ship and beamed him and his men down to Taleon? To play the game?" I reasoned.

"Something like that. Although the worst possible thing to do to Baynar and those men is to strand them on Taleon."

Ariston's grip was tight on the control arm steering the ship. The view was amazing. Asteroids and glowing orbs I assumed were comets surrounded us and zoomed by at record speed. Ariston guided the lightwing around them like a pro. "That guy you were talking to said some of his men are already dead. Something about pissed off past contestants?"

"The losers of the game are left behind on Taleon. They're the ones we have to watch out for. Not to mention other obstacles—weather conditions, native inhabitants, wild creatures, just to name a few."

I didn't like the sound of that at all. "You said I gave you an idea? That us being there together may be a better cover?"

"The game is played with couples. Five couples race to the finish line, trying to avoid getting killed or maimed by each other, or the other obstacles I mentioned. The winner is granted a boon of his choosing."

"His choosing? What about her choosing?"
Sexist prig.

He smirked. "The male contestants are from Calixtus, the female contestants from Earth. The woman who crosses the finish line is granted her life and may leave with her partner if he so chooses. It is up to the man what happens to her after that. The main idea of the game, besides finishing first, is that the man must keep his female partner alive."

I had to bite down a scathing reply. "So how do they get these Earth women contestants? I'm assuming they're not given a choice in the matter."

He shook his head. "No. Many of them are chosen early on in their life by Trackers—a sort of contestant broker. Trackers may sell their females off to the highest bidder. The females are kept under strict control, making sure they remain virgins—a rule of the game."

This was all too much. "So it's bad enough we have Akkadians stealing us, now we have to worry about Trackers from Calixtus recruiting our virgins." At least I didn't have to worry about
that
.

"The reason I was on Earth was because of the Akkadians. They have no right to be there. Earth is meant to supply Calixtus with our needs, not the Akkadians'. Hopefully they got the message I sent loud and clear."

My mouth hung open for a moment or two. "You make it sound like our entire existence is to serve Calixtus."

He shrugged. "Where do you think the games were originally played?" He nodded when I gave him a stunned look. "That's right, on Earth. That's how your Olympics originated. You can thank us for that. In fact, you can thank us for that brain in your head as well. Without our genetic engineering, you'd all still be living in caves trying to figure out how to make fire."

"I...don't believe this."

He stared at me grimly. "Well, believe it. It's the truth. The only reason the event is no longer held on Earth is because of humans' over-industrialization, and there are just too damn many of you. We had no idea you'd breed like rabbits."

"Holy shit." Like it or not I was along for this ride. I tried to console myself with the fact that Ariston was considered the best in his field. All we needed to do was get to Taleon, extract Baynar and what was left of his men, and get the hell out. What Ariston had planned for me after that happened, I had no idea. Judging by his cold, calculating demeanor, I would be lucky if he didn't leave me behind to rot on that planet like the rest of the losers.

We spent the next few hours—I estimated—in silence. Even though the scenery was phenomenal, I felt my belly twist with every planet and solar system we zoomed past. Farther and farther I was from Earth. As much as I despised the majority of my own kind, I couldn't help but feel that we as a planet had been betrayed and used by people of Calixtus. Where did they get off thinking we were nothing more than pawns for their stupid games? Worst of all was the thought of how I'd so callously and wantonly given my body to the jerk-off beside me. So what if he had a rockin' body and a huge cock? So what if he'd given the best orgasm I'd had in my life? He was scum. I comforted myself with the thought that once this stupid mission was over, I'd return to my humble existence on Earth. Hopefully Ariston was right and he'd scared off the Akkadians for good. No longer would I have to give up anyone else to them—a thought which was suddenly abhorrent to me. I didn't want to consider that I was just as bad as those Trackers, selling off virgins to the highest bidder. Maybe I was worse 'cause I sold out my own kind?

I must have nodded off to sleep, because the next thing I knew, Ariston was pushing on my shoulder, telling me to wake up.

"Are we there?" I said, licking my dry lips and rubbing the dried drool off my cheek.

"Yep. That's Taleon," he replied.

Before us I could see the planet looming closer and closer. Soon we'd arrive and our adventure would begin. I wondered what other Earth women had thought of their first glimpse of Taleon, knowing they were being forced to play a game not of their choosing, and that they may never leave this planet again.

We didn't land and search for the men on foot. Ariston covered more ground by coming in low and zooming around the surface of the planet. Using his eyes and his high-tech instruments, he scanned the area from the safety of the lightwing. The ground below changed vastly from desert, to jungle, to snowy mountains all in a matter of scant miles. Much of what I saw reminded me of Earth, especially the thick forests and wide, crystal blue streams.

"This is so amazing," I gushed to my companion, whose disinterested grunt reminded me we had an important task to attend. But even Ariston's glower couldn't diminish my awe. I was on
another planet
! Who else could boast as much? Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a world so beautiful. Taleon was pure and untamed, untouched by rushing crowds of people, pollution, garbage, cement, and steel—the way Earth probably appeared in the beginning when it was fresh and new, before Calixtus set its corrupted sights upon us.

It must have been an hour or so later, just as the sun was beginning to set and three giant moons began to rise, that we saw something. Two men appeared to be running for their lives from a swarm of painted savages.

Ariston steered the ship in that direction, grim determination set in his features. "Got 'em," he said.

"What the hell is that? Those...are people?" As the lightwing came in lower to the ground and slowed practically right over the swarm's heads, they tilted up their faces in awe and fear. Most of them continued to run, though now instead of pursuing their prey, they scattered, scrambling for safety. Others stopped, appearing frozen in fear. Their skin was sun baked brown and covered with an array of paints. Wild black hair ran down from their heads in ratted knots. They wore short tunics fashioned of hide, or fur, on their bodies. Though appearing human-like, they more resembled pictures or statues I'd seen in museums depicting primitive man.

"Those are Varlings," Ariston informed me. "Natives of Taleon."

Once the coast was clear, he set the ship down by the edge of a rocky incline close to where the two men had taken cover. Peeking out from behind a cluster of large boulders, the men emerged and came toward us. Ariston undid his seatbelt and hurried toward the center of the ship while I fumbled to release myself. I got free and joined him as he waved his hand over a small panel beside a hatch I'd failed to notice. The door swished up and Ariston jumped the couple of feet to the ground. He looked up at me and frowned as I came to stand in the doorway.

"Stay," he commanded.

Not that I had any intention of leaving the ship. From my position I could see the two men hurrying toward us. Ariston waited until they were close enough to identify. Their clothes practically hung shredded from their bodies, their hair stood on end, and they were covered with mud and what appeared to be patches of blood.

"Ariston?" one of the men called, disbelief sounding in his voice as though it were too good to be true.

"Camden?" Ariston said, stepping closer to the much shorter man. Ariston reached out and took the man's hand. "By Tanit, it is you!"

The man's companion also reached out to touch Ariston, as though to convince himself he was real. "Thank the gods!"

"Are there only two of you?" Ariston asked. "What happened to the others?"

"Six of us came down," Camden said, then stared off into space.

Ariston turned to the other man. "Juan, where are Baynar and the others? I was told only two of you were lost."

Juan seemed more on the ball than Camden. His face became all business-like.

"Camden and I were out scavenging for food when we were set upon. Baynar and Edwins are alive. They're in a cave over that way." He pointed off into the distance.

"How far?" Ariston asked.

"Not very," Camden shook his head and answered. "We can walk." His fearful gaze swept the area, assuring himself the danger had passed.

Ariston shot me another intense look. "Stay," he repeated.

I nodded once in understanding. Darkness was falling and I could sense the urgency in the situation. Ariston and the two men headed out while I watched them from the safety of the ship.

The sun had completely disappeared by the time they returned. The land wasn't too dark though, thanks to three full moons glowing in the sky. I sat cross-legged in the door, but jumped to my feet as I saw Ariston's hulking form come into view followed by four other men. One of the men held himself very erect, and as he got closer I could see his uniform was slightly different from the others. Each of the three wore a one-piece jumpsuit, the bottom half was black and the tops were green. The other man wore two pieces, black pants, and a red shirt longer in length with black shoulders. All of them noted my presence standing in the doorway of the ship, but none of them acknowledged me.

"The lightwing," Ariston said to the man I presumed was Baynar, gesturing to the ship "It will take us up to another ship, which I'm hoping has arrived by now. I'll contact base and see if it's here."

Baynar nodded and Ariston approached the doorway. I moved aside while he jumped onboard and strode toward the control panel at the front end. Tailing him, I watched as he took a seat and attempted to contact someone. A voice sounded on the speaker, but was difficult to hear through all the static.

"Say again." Ariston repeated the words three more times. After several moments, he became frustrated with the poor transmission. "Dammit!" he smashed a fisted hand down on the arm of his seat. "I've lost contact."

I was going to suggest running a scan or looking at a radar grid to see if he could detect a large ship circling the atmosphere, but I figured he'd have already done that. Almost as if he read my mind, he said, "I can make out a visual on something up there, but without confirmation it's one of ours I'd be going in blind. Thanks to the recent clashes with the Akkadians, I'd be a fool to not consider it may be one of theirs. Their smaller crafts are no threat to us, but the larger ones would annihilate the lightwing. It may be our ship, but until I get up there and rendezvous I can't be one hundred percent certain.