Page 225 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

225

The Next Phase

M aya

While Zedd is pausing for effect, I take in the tableau in the comms room. I’m still amazed at how I managed to find A’Dar. All these changes to my body have boggled my mind. Some I can ignore, like my height or the golden color of my eyes. Others, like my fangs or my newly acquired taste for blood, are harder to overlook. But that I just located A’Dar on a ship that can hold thousands of people? Part of it was by scent, part by some kind of echolocation of the heart. I’ll have to ponder on that later. If there is a later.

Emily’s standing, looking so angry it’s a wonder fire doesn’t shoot from her eyeballs. Ran’Kin looks like he needs a trip to the E.R.

“He’ll be fine. Our technology can easily fix this,” A’Dar says as he tucks me next to him. Into my ear, he adds, “I told you to stay where you were. Safe.” When he pulls away, I see his browridge furrowed, making his disapproval clear.

I’m about to argue that I had a gun, but Zedd continues speaking over a rolling video feed of pictures of Xenons in their stasis pods.

“For those of you who signed up for Havoc Packages, I wanted you to feel you got your credit’s worth. This season of The Game has flown by too fast, hasn’t it?” She pauses again and, over a soundtrack of enthusiastic applause, her face reappears and she scans back and forth as if she can see every member of the audience.

“For your viewing pleasure, we’ve decided to wake up the entire crew of this ship. We believe there are 1,918 viable males in stasis.”

There is more wild applause as the three Xenons look at each other, worry etched on their faces.

“ Machta ,” Mel’Kan breathes, “and only three females.”

“I’m nothing if not tenacious,” Zedd announces with a smile. “I’ve done my homework. Did you know Xenons go into something called machta when they meet their life mate? What is machta , you ask. Well, it puts the males and females into a desperate frenzy of lust. Not only sexual lust, but bloodlust ,” she adds with a salacious smile.

Anna bursts into our room at a run, eyes wide in fright, until her gaze falls on her mate. She hurries to his side, tucks against him, and lustily breathes in his pheromones.

“All we need is one look at these three human females,” the vid feed pans to the six of us in the comms room, “to see that machta can occur between Xenon males and human females.”

“Motherfucker,” Emily seethes.

“You can see how powerful it is.”

The feed shows before and after pictures of the three of us, using technology to show how much taller we are as well as closeups of the change in our eye color and pictures of our fangs that they must have caught when we were talking.

“Now that all the other females have been eliminated, I thought, what would be more fun than watching these three Earthers destroy each other to be the last female standing? What if we bring in…”

She pauses, drawing things out as she taps her perfectly manicured fingernail against her lips.

“What if we wake up all these males and bring in one thousand Earth females? What if we see this machta in action? I’ve been staying up all night doing my research, and it suggests there could be fights to the death for these women. Although personally, I don’t see the allure of the bland little creatures.” She curls her lip in disgust.

Tucked against A’Dar’s huge body, I feel every one of his muscles tighten. If that wasn’t revealing enough, the look on Mel and Ran’s faces tells me all I need to know about how dire this situation will be.

And what about these one thousand women? I’m coming to terms with my situation, but what will it be like for them? Transported to that white, tented waiting area and then forced into a ship where males will be fighting over them? It will be traumatic.

“So, what are we waiting for? Here are some real-time shots for your viewing appreciation.”

The shots of the males in their cryo pods she showed a few minutes ago must have been shot earlier, because the males are now moving in their pods, taking drinks, fisting their hands, and getting ready to emerge.

The screen shifts to one thousand females who have already been transported to the holding area. Dear God, did the three of us look that terrified? Yes. Probably worse, considering we were in a room filled with hundreds of horrifying aliens.

“What are we going to do?” I ask, my voice a terrified whisper.

“I don’t know,” A’Dar answers. “This shouldn’t have been possible. Only the captain and first mate can initiate the reanimation sequence for the cryo pods. Computer who authorized the cryo pods to reanimate?”

“Malfunctioned. I require re-coding,” the AI answers.

This is more alarming than anything that’s happened since this started. A’Dar has been my rock. He’s always known what our next move would be. That he has no idea what to do makes my stomach knot and fills me with dread.