Page 227 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

227

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

M aya

After leaving our four friends, A’Dar and I are on the bridge watching everything on screens. I’ve seen enough Sci-Fi movies that I thought there would be a huge window at the front of the ship. Instead, there’s a flat black panel.

“How do you see where you’re going?” I ask as we take seats facing the panel.

“When the ship powers up, this will be a giant vid screen. I’ll be able to show you the stars, my heart.”

Funny how his sweet statements make my tummy feel as if I just shot up way too fast in an elevator. He’s a good male.

Emily and Ran are still in the comms room. By the time we left, he was barely bruised. I asked her privately if that asshole pirate had succeeded in his assault. “No, but he had every intention. A’Dar made it just in time. I’m glad that asshole is dead,” she’d replied.

Anna and Mel are working in the mech room. Mel’Kan knows the lives and safety of everyone on board depend on him.

I’m mourning the part I’m going to play in these new women’s lives. I’m sure none of them want to be ripped away from their families, jobs, and possibly even their children. But there’s no going back. Zedd put all of this in motion. We can only do our best to pick up the pieces.

The screens show the males are all out of their pods, bending and stretching. Most have made their way to their closets and are putting on their armor and weapons like the soldiers they are.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome,” Zedd’s smiling face fills the screen on the bridge, and, I assume, every other screen on the ship and in the tented holding area. “Let’s get everyone up to speed, shall we?”

“You Xenon males have been in stasis for 1,873 years. Your ship has crashed on a little planet called Earth. You probably remember it. You were here to take women to keep your race alive. Sorry,” she says with a smile and a shrug. “You see how that worked out. And you women, I guess I should apologize for pulling you out of your useless, mundane lives, giving you translator chips, introducing you to the reality that there are other species in the universe, and bringing you here to what you call Antarctica to play The Game.”

I have hated this bitch from the get-go, but damn, right this moment I hate her more than ever. My mind flies to a picture of slowly choking the life out of her perfect face. If it weren’t for her, 237 people wouldn’t have died on this ship in the past few days.

“You’re being broadcast throughout the galaxy. In just one moment, I’m going to release all these males from where I’ve locked them in their cabins. Then we’re going to herd you females into their ship behind the white sheeted plas-film of your holding facility. There’s a two-to-one ratio of males to females, and these bloodthirsty males are going to fight to the death to have you.”

The camera had been rolling shots of the males and females as they listened to her gleeful recitation of the rules. Now it pans in to show her face, emerald eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Let me explain exactly what the words ‘have you’ mean. These males,” the camera shows a closeup of a Xenon in all his tusked glory, “are going to want to have sex with you and … drink your blood. Frankly, I’m not certain how this game is going to end. I think the fun will be in the chase. We’ll figure out how to pick the winners after the field… narrows.”

The cameras pan in to get closeups of the women. Some are in disbelief, for some it’s shock, and I think the worst are those who are so dazed they’re barely tracking.

“Let me remind my viewers that our gaming is still underway. You may roll your bets over to your new favorite player or double down to increase your odds of winning. Also, we are going to be blurring the more… salacious aspects of The Game to protect young eyes. Those exciting bits will only be available for those with our newly updated Havoc/Pleasure Packages, which we will now call the Mayhem Package. It’s only a small upcharge from the cost of your original Havoc Packages.

“Stay tuned, dear audience. This is about to get good.”

Every muscle in my body tightens, and I watch helplessly as a thousand women are herded through that thick basalt door into the cargo hold. The expressions on their faces are sheer terror. The three Xenons I’ve met would never hurt or force a female, but a two-to-one ratio in the face of machta ? Even A’Dar can’t predict if his males will be able to overcome their biological urges.