Page 9 of Alien Jeopardy

“How is this possible?” I ask everyone and no one all at once.

The memory of a blue light in my window flashes through my mind.

The flickering TV screen.

Poppy tapping into her phone.

“Poppy,” I grit out.

“At least you don’t have to go to work today,” she says in a faux bright voice. “You hated that job. Right? We’re all living the dream!”

“Poppy,” Lu and Lily say together.

“You signed the paperwork. It’s not my fault if you didn’t read the whole contract through.” She sniffs, red blotches of color climbing from her huge boobs up her throat and to her face.

“You knew,” I gasp. “You knew that they would get us right away, and you wore lingerie for it.” I point at her.

Our friends also gasp, which would be more satisfying if it weren’t for the fact that we’ve definitely been abducted by aliens.

To star on analienreality TV show.

Poppy tosses her perfectly waved auburn hair behind her shoulder and juts out her chin. “You all have been fucking miserable for ages. I just chose to do something about it.”

The four of us all seem to inhale as one, but the computerized voice coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once starts back up.

“You will each be paired with a partner of your choosing to complete the course with. The object is to survive together as you make it to a series of waypoints. At each waypoint, there will be a challenge to complete for a reward that will make your path easier. Each pair will be dropped at a different location onHylorr, one of the uninhabited moons in the outer rim of the Suevan system. You will be filmed at all times by drones, so as not to disrupt the reality element of the show. Of course, if you get into trouble, you can always quit, but that means that neither you nor your partner will receive the reward.”

My eyes widen slightly, because damn it, I’m nothing if not competitive.

And damn me if I don’t love a reward. I’ve been a trophy hound since I was little, when I did gymnastics competitively, always hoping to make it to the Olympics. Of course, they don’t hold that contest anymore, and my dreams of gymnastic superstardom went up in flames along with most of the world after the Roth invaded.

Now I’m lucky if I have time or motivation to even work out.

The other four seem just as spellbound by the voice as I am, and I wonder if we’ll be allowed to pair up with each other.

No way am I picking Miss Fur Heels and Negligee, though.

Ugh.

“Suevan system,” Lucy finally says, glaring openly at Poppy. “It all makes sense now.”

Lily groans and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Poppy, I am officially pissed off at you.”

Poppy goes rigid, staring straight at the opaque glass in front of all of us.

I wrap my arms around my chest, annoyed at the fact that not only did she not tell us what we were signing up for, but she didn’t think we would agree to it without being wasted.

“You needed a push,” Poppy mutters.

My eyebrows skyrocket.

We all turn on our sassy, unapologetic friend at once, but whatever we’re going to yell at her stops as the computerized voice starts again.

“The reward is spectacular,” the voice booms out, whatever computer is handling this speech attempting to sound even more excited. “Each couple to complete the course successfully will be rewarded with a mansion and a parcel of land on Sueva, as well as one million galactic credits.”

“Credits?” Lu whispers, her eyebrows drawn. “That could be like one dollar.”

Lily’s already raising her hand, and in spite of the situation, I snort a laugh.