Page 184 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

184

Not Feeling Well

A ’Dar

She says nothing. Perhaps this is a female thing. I just rescued her from certain death, and the first thing she does is grab one of my weapons and point it at me.

I guess it shouldn’t surprise me when she eases back into the closet and I hear her trying to turn the chuntrum on. My superior hearing allows me to hear her increasingly frantic attempts to activate it.

She keeps repeating one word over and over, each time more vehemently. It must be a curse. I wish I could see her face while she does that. Anger would have to look better on her than the terror I spied when she was facing those Frains.

“Why don’t you come out now?” I coax. There’s a battle coming. We need to learn to communicate and trust each other before our enemies batter down this door.

She spits out a sentence at me. Perhaps not being able to understand her words allows me to better hear her emotions. It’s bravado laced with fear.

“I won’t hurt you,” I keep my tone level, trying to reassure her.

She says two words this time. One is the curse word she kept repeating. I have to remind myself these Earthers are primitive. Perhaps their language isn’t advanced.

“My translator isn’t downloaded with your language. I can’t understand you,” I tell her. “I won’t hurt you. I rescued you.”

She’s silent for a long time. The quiet gives me time to pay attention to my own state. I’ve read about machta. It was part of our school curriculum as we learned about the old days, the days when females walked Xenon in numbers equal to males.

Although painful, machta sounded magical, the highest thing a male could aspire to. I never dreamed it would hit me like this.

If it keeps progressing at this rate, I won’t be able to protect her. I need to explain this, and soon. But until she’s ready to hear me, I’ll be wasting energy I don’t have.

I’ve been on my haunches, not wanting her to see how weak I am, wanting to give the illusion of power so she knows I can protect her. I can’t maintain even this position, so I slide lower until my ass hits the floor, then sprawl my legs in front of me.

Using one hand, I remove my shoulder spaulders, then unfasten my greaves and kick them to the side. I keep my arm gauntlet on. When I gather my strength, I’ll put my gauntlet laser on the wall to recharge, although it’s useless due to the electric pulse. Hopefully, we can get everything back in working order soon so we can stop this sadistic televised game.

I should have thought of the pirates’ devastating pulse before I tried to cut down the Frain females with a laser. By tomorrow, with Mel’Kan’s mechanical expertise, all the ship’s weapons should be fully operational, unless the power surge irreparably damaged them all.

My vision is tinged red, one of the signs of advanced machta . Leaning my head against the cool metal door, I close my eyes and pant.

Pain is swirling in my extremities, and my energy is so low I’m not sure I can rise from the floor. Now I see how machta , when left unfulfilled, can kill.

Maya

If he wanted to harm me, he could have done so the second he closed the door to this room instead of laying me on the bed and backing off. For that matter, he could have stomped into this closet and squeezed the life out of me with one hand. Especially when I had the audacity to point the bazooka at him.

I peek around the doorframe and see him lounging against the door. Shockingly, his head is tipped back and his eyes are closed. I guess that’s because he finds me no threat at all. He’s right.

Leaving the closet, I slink to the far corner, so we’re at opposite ends of the room with the bed between us. He’s watching me, head tipped back, eyes slit.

“I’m A’Dar. You have a translator?”

“Yes.”

“My tech will try to learn your language. The more you talk, the faster I will pick up some of your words and understand you.”

I nod, only afterward do I realize how contrary it is in answer to his request for me to talk more.

“Your name?”

“Maya.”

“My two comrades and I saved you and your friends.”

“Thanks,” I say, then purse my lips to make my insincerity obvious.

“On my planet, females are important, not just for breeding. They’re sacred. Do you understand?”

I nod, then scoff, then roll my eyes to ensure he knows how skeptical I am.

“You don’t believe me? If I wanted to harm you, would I not have done so?”

I nod again, having to agree.

He turns on a video screen, which lights up the entire wall next to him. It shows Jahzara Zedd explaining The Game.

When it’s finished, he says, “You are in peril from the other females.”

“Right.”

“We will both be in peril from the pirates she’s threatened to release from cryo-sleep.”

I lift an eyebrow. It was obvious all the males on this ship would be dangerous to me , but when he says “we” in reference to being in peril from the pirates, it sends a shaft of fear up my spine.

“I will try to protect you, but I’m ill.”

I want to challenge his statement. He must be scamming me. He’s built like Schwarzenegger on steroids. But when I look at him, his slitted eyes, his body sagged against the door, I have to admit something’s wrong with him.

“I’m entering something called machta . It steals my energy and can eventually kill me.”