Page 201 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

201

Planning

M aya

I lick him back, stifling my pride at how any sophistication I might have possessed has flown out the window to reveal my true primitive nature. Because I can’t control myself, I take a deep sniff for good measure.

“All the contestants are making their way to the bridge, right?” I ask, now that my brain, filled with his pheromones, is allowing me to think straight.

“Yes,” A’Dar says.

“Why should Mel’Kan wait? The odds are good that he and Anna won’t run into anyone on their way down to the mech room on Deck Two aft when everyone else is moving to Deck Five fore. They can get a head start.”

Everyone likes that idea.

“Besides, Emily and Ran and A’Dar and I have something else on our agenda.”

All three males lift their browridges in question.

“Go ahead, Anna,” I say. “Want to fill them in?”

She pauses a moment, gives an unhappy eye roll, then says, “Mel and I discovered that fucking gives us some respite from our… urges.”

“Fah-king?” A’Dar asks. It’s so cute. If circumstances weren’t so dire, I would ask him to repeat it a dozen more times.

“ Angeer da blass ,” Mel explains to my new mate.

“See the angels?” I ask naively as I repeat what the translator told me.

All three males give me a patient leer.

“Ohhh. Got it.”

Now that the air is thick with six horny people’s pheromones, the rest of our planning takes place at hyper-speed. Mel and Anna will add a few more weapons to their arsenals and take the back stairs down to the engine room. The rest of us will get busy, then be on our way.

Right before the other two couples get ready to make a run back to their cabins, A’Dar turns up the vid as Jahzara Zedd’s face fills the screen.

“I hope those of you who paid for the upgraded Havoc Package are well satisfied with your purchase. I must admit,” she pauses, giving a coy look with a tip of her head, “as Executive Producer, I took a gamble on the all-female action. It may be Universal Year 414,255, but in some circles, females are still considered the weaker sex. Personally, I believe the show thus far is exceeding expectations.”

Without warning, the screen splits into four different streams as TGN bombards us with kill shot after kill shot. I’m about to run to the toilet even before there’s a picture of first me and then Emily practically slicing the shaggy blue female’s head from her neck.

“Nice kill,” Ran praises sincerely.

I don’t know if it was the pictures themselves, or Ran’s blatant appreciation, but I have to slap my hand over my mouth to keep my vomit from befouling the room as I race for the toilet.

After I’ve completed my business and rinsed my mouth a dozen times, I leave the bathroom to hear Ran saying, “I still don’t understand what I did wrong.”

“You’re cool, Ran,” I say. “We’re from different cultures.”

“Yes,” he replies. “On Xenon, if an enemy tries to kill you, there is no hesitation or remorse to take their life.”

“Which is as it should be,” I say, knowing that in a few minutes I’ll be roaming the halls, looking for enemies to kill. I shouldn’t regret this. If I don’t succeed at the mission, I’ll just be another dead body on Zedd’s scrolling vids.

Anna, Emily, and I get in a tight huddle before they leave the room. What starts as a friendly hug ends with an almost-urgent desperation. We all know we could be dead within the hour.

“We lucked out, ladies,” I say. “Without our new mates…” I pause here, still flabbergasted at my new normal. “Without our new mates, we’d already be dead. We will meet on the bridge, victorious, and then be off to new lives.”

All three of us pale at that—the thought of leaving Earth without so much as a fare thee well is bone-chilling. I did not see that coming when I was on my way to bed last night.