Page 89 of Alien Jeopardy

Poppy: I think our next challenge is starting. Be safe. Check in tonight.

The ground rumbles, and Rex grips my arm to keep me from falling, his tail still anchoring my leg.

“We better get up there,” I tell him.

“You are upset. Which of them upset you?” He narrows his eyes at me.

“We can talk about it later. The earthquake shit is freaking me out. Can we go upstairs?”

“I do not understand what earthquakeshit is.”

I don’t bother answering—I’m throwing on my boots which, blessedly, weren’t stolen with the rest of the comfortable hiking clothes.

I might be in my damned pajamas, but I’m not barefoot.

Thank Ken No Privates for small miracles, I guess.

I clutch the tablet to my chest, and Rex grabs the rest of our belongings and helps me hustle up the narrow stone stairs.

“I should have fed you before now,” he growls, his wings twitching in irritation.

“You need food too,” I tell him.

He sprints for the insta-pantry, and it dings as his fingers fly across the screen. Whatever he programmed into it didn’t need a whole lot of time to make.

I have a feeling it’s not going to be alien lasagna.

Dust fills the air, and I cough as the little hut continues to shake. My feet are braced a bit wider than my hips, and I have one arm outstretched just so I don’t lose my balance and eat dirt. The formerly polished surface of the alien hut’s now covered in clods of dirt, and I pull the neckline of the pajama shirt over my face to avoid inhaling space station dust.

I’m quite sure I don’t want that in my lungs, thank you very much.

Thankfully, the insta-pantry chimes nearly right away, and Ka-Rexsh scoops whatever he ordered out and drags me outside.

Not a minute too soon, too, seeing as how the hut starts to cave in on itself right away.

Ken appears a second later, and I shriek at the hologram’s sudden appearance.

“I don’t think that’s a normal good morning, Miss Price, even for a human.” Ken glares at me, like my shriek of utter terror ruined whatever greeting he had planned.

“I trust you slept well, contestants?” he finally asks.

Rex hands me half of what looks like a protein bar, and I shove it in my mouth instead of answering. Calories are important.

Especially considering I have no idea when we’ll get to eat again.

“Since you two have successfully completed two challenges I’ve put before you, and because you placed first in the childish performance the, ah, former producers arranged for you, I’ve decided that you two have made it to the fast track.”

Does that math add up? I’m not sure.

“Fast track?” I try to repeat. My teeth are stuck together thanks to the protein bar. It tastes like bananas and pineapple and, strangely, peanut butter.

I’m doing my best not to think about what it tastes like at all, actually.

“Yes. You two are the only mated pair, and for whatever reason, the audience reaction isn’t nearly as good as it is for our remaining unmated couples. I suppose the tension is gone. You two work well together.”

Ken announces this with the air of someone who has been fully deprived of seeing us suffer.

I decide that Ken isn’t my favorite non-person person.