Page 51 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)
51
Pairing Ceremony
S adie
Finally, after weeks of being cooped up with all these females in a tiny room, I’m going to find out exactly how to win this game. I may not have a lot going for me, but I’m competitive as hell. If there’s a way for me to win this, to earn that parcel of land and my freedom, I’m all-in.
″The rules are simple. Tomorrow we’ll be landing on an undisclosed planet. Our participants will have to travel from point A to point B. There will be challenges along the way. To make it more fun, we’ll have the contestants pair into male and female teams tonight.”
She pauses, and audio of enthusiastic clapping breaks the silence in the room. Of course, none of the participants are clapping. The noise is similar to an old-fashioned laugh track, I guess.
″We’re going to allow our competitors to mingle while you watch. For only one credit each, you can vote for your favorite male. At the end of the hour, the male with the highest number of votes will be first to choose his female. The male with the least votes will pick last.
″Once they’re in couples, we’ll let you watch them get acquainted. We’ll be compiling all the interesting clips for you and you can watch how your favorite pairs get along during the evening. Don’t worry. We won’t let you down. Our cams are everywhere, including their cabins. You’ll be able to watch everything you want.”
What?
″Don’t stay up too late watching that action,” she kittenishly waggles her finger, “because The Game starts bright and early tomorrow morning. That’s when the competition will begin in earnest. Let’s start, shall we? While you’re watching their interactions, my staff will be showing you some background information and I’ll be interviewing some of our best candidates.”
Miss Zedd walks to a dais that has two chairs and begins interviewing various entrants. I can’t hear what she’s saying. It must be for the home viewers. Frankly, I don’t care.
They’re pairing us up? We’re sleeping in the same cabin? Cameras will be recording our every move? Is this even legal?
Legal or not, this is definitely happening. I need to check out the males. Maybe I can make friends with one in the next hour and somehow ensure I wind up with a partner who doesn’t want to rape me.
The first thing I do is back into a corner to observe. I’ve had a couple of weeks to get used to looking at many aliens of the female variety. Looking at a room full of alien males? Let’s just say it’s freaking me out.
There’s shark-guy. Yikes, he looks scarier than his female counterpart. I imagine he’ll pair up with the gray, ear-to-ear-toothy-smile female. Equally hideous is a bunch of orc-looking guys, complete with tusks. There’s a monkey-ish guy with obscenely sharp teeth, and a male whose face looks like someone melted a gray candle over his head and let it dribble down his face and body. That one gives me the skeeves, although I’m not sure why I find him more disgusting than the other 49 males in the room.
Not only are they all enough to give me nightmares, but they’re looking at the women like we’re a buffet.
I’ve only been in space for a month, but I’m a quick study. It’s not a kind and happy place up here. Just because these people have interstellar space flight does not mean they’ve developed intellectual or emotional maturity. I haven’t met anyone who seems to have above a lukewarm IQ, nor have I observed even one bit of compassion.
If I’m going to be crammed into a cabin with one of these males tonight, I’m not sure I’m going to emerge unscathed.
Get down to business, Sadie, I scold myself. Find someone who looks like he doesn’t want to rape and then kill you. If you can’t do that, at least find someone who might be a serious competitor.
I want to win a parcel of land and my freedom. I’m a hard worker. If I can win, I’ll be able to fend for myself for the rest of my life. Even if it is up in space.
The reptilian males I see across the room? Just thinking about them gives me the shivers, although one of them is giving me the eye. Oh gross! Did he just flick his forked tongue at me in a gesture as obscene in space as it is on Earth? Fucker.
There’s a guy with an exoskeleton. No. I’m not going to be paired with a male who looks like a walking cockroach. I… I can’t even contemplate that.
There’s a decent-looking male with red skin, perhaps the same species as Ms. Zedd. He doesn’t repel me, but he’s moving in on a female of his own species, and by the look of it, she’s quite receptive.
My prospects are looking slimmer by the minute when I notice Anubis. Well, obviously not the Anubis, the Egyptian god that’s a combination of a man and a… dog? Wolf? No, jackal. Are jackals carrion eaters?
Stop, Sadie. Stay on point. He’s not gross looking. That’s a plus.
He’s large, one of the biggest, most muscular males in the room, and that’s saying something. He’s not talking, not stalking any of the females. In fact, he’s got his back to the corner just like me. He’s crossed his arms over his chest and is scoping everyone out.
Wait for it. He’s scanning the room and is about to look at me. Maybe I can catch his eye and we can talk. It wouldn’t hurt to have a partner who could do their fair share of the work. Not that I have any idea what we’ll be doing, but if we have to travel from point A to point B, it certainly looks like he can go the distance.
He’s got the build of Schwarzenegger in his prime. The knee-length leather kilt he’s rocking leaves little to the imagination. Rock-hard abs, runners’ legs, body-builder arms. He’s put together well.
The male is fascinatingly beautiful. There are blue patches under some of his midnight-black fur. Is it glowing? I want to run my fingers through it to see if it’s as soft as it looks.
His ears are high on his head and on alert. There’s some writing on his right ear, but I can’t read it. His ice-blue eyes match the blue patches under his fur and seem to glow from within. His tail is twitching irritably. As jackal-like as he may be—he has a regal, intense, deadly air about him—he’s handsome.
He’s just about ready to lay eyes on me when his gaze sweeps past me as if I’m not even here. I look around and assess the other women in a way I haven’t since we were all crammed into the room together.
They’re of many species, but they all have one thing in common—they’re all taller than me. And every single one looks stronger.
I have to be honest, if I were a male looking for a partner to win this thing, my gaze would pass me over as well.
Oh well, that doesn’t mean I can’t make a play for someone. I take another minute to assess every male in the room, but there are very few I can imagine sharing a cabin with. And of that small number, not one of them is built for overcoming obstacles like Anubis.
What was he the god of? I wish I could remember.
1213
″Time’s up!” Zedd says, making sure to expose her stark white teeth with her fake smile. “Let me remind you viewers to vote during the upcoming break from our sponsors. I’ve got the running tally on my pad right here.” She uses her perfectly manicured blue nail that matches her dress to point to the small computer built into her clear desk. “When we return, you’ll see how the pairings go. Have you already picked your favorites?”
The lights in the room dim and the discussions get louder. I have four females picked, although I probably don’t need to have picked that many. Surely I’ll be in the top three viewer favorites.
In addition to sizing up the females in the room, I’ve assessed the males. Aside from one or two gladiators, and a huge, green male who looks fresh off the farm where he picked up full-grown anlaks with his bare hands, I’m the most obvious choice to win. Unless they all have hidden abilities like I do, winning this competition is going to be easy.
″Welcome back,” Zedd announces. “Let’s begin the pairings, shall we?”
She announces farm-boy, who ascends the dais and points to a pale-yellow humanoid. She has green spots and short-cropped hair. The male’s not stupid. The female he picked also looks as if she could lift an anlak. They’ll be stiff competition.
After one of the gladiators is called, I’m certain my name will be next. But time after time, I’m skipped over. I watch as far less-deserving males than I climb the steps of the dais. I don’t know where they found their contestants, but some of these people, male and female, look like they’ve come straight off a prison planet.
Thirty males have been called and I’m still waiting. My top female choices were picked long ago, so I’m reassessing possible partners as the pairings continue.
A few minutes later, we’re down to the bottom five and I still haven’t been called. The female pickings are slim: a spindly amphibian who requires the use of an artificial air bubbler, a reptilian with no legs who, despite her limitations seems to get around the room quickly enough, a tiny humanoid who looks so fragile a strong wind would force her to the ground, a tree-like being who can barely move, and a female with two connected heads that look so heavy she can hardly keep them upright on her neck. I guess that would be the order of my choice—if I wind up with any choice at all.
As it turns out, the males chosen before me thought the tree-female and the two-headed female were better choices than the tiny one. Since I was picked dead last, I’m now paired with that one.
″That was exciting, wasn’t it? Our contestants can’t win as singletons. They must reach the finish line as a couple, so these pairings were very important.”
Am I mistaken, or did she smirk when she made that statement?
″When The Game begins in earnest tomorrow morning, you’ll be able to participate in many ways. Get your credits ready, because you’ll be able to send helpful gifts to your favorite team. Don’t forget, the winners will receive a parcel of land they can homestead. They’ll need help starting their lives from scratch. Your generous donations will be invaluable.
″Our cameras will follow these couples into their bedrooms.” She winks at the camera. “To ensure no young eyes have access to these private moments, we charge a nominal fee to watch that footage. I hope you don’t stay up too late tonight enjoying their shenanigans.” She waggles her finger again as the camera pans to the two red Halckons who look ready to go at it on the ballroom floor if Zedd blathers on for much longer.
″See you tomorrow.” Then she says dramatically, “Remember, in The Game , it all comes Down. To. Two.”