Page 69 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

69

A New Challenge

S adie

I guess this old hotel isn’t equipped with klaxons, because I’m awakened by what sounds like a cacophony of those air horns that assholes use at football games.

I’m only half surprised to notice I’m fully dressed. I vaguely recall Anubis waking me in the middle of the night and helping me put on my clothes. Using the tattered blue halter I made out of the ballroom gown as a pattern, he whipped up a copy out of our top sheet.

“Report to the front door. Report to the front door,” a male AI announces on endless repeat.

We’re fifth to arrive. Some of the other couples must have realized The Game would start bright and early this morning.

“Guards, give each couple a computer pad,” Zedd’s voice intrudes from behind us. Her hologram hovers on every wall in the lobby, the room we ate in last night.

Just as I’m wondering if I could hate her any more than I already do, she smirks and says, “Normally we don’t let the contestants watch their footage, but this was so amusing I thought I’d share it with you all.”

Every screen in the room cuts to a shot of a couple doing something sexual under the covers. It’s clearly Anubis and me. I see the soles of his feet hanging out from the bottom of the sheet.

“The network has deep pockets and many innovations at its disposal,” she smirks. “Did you think we’d let you cheat our generous viewers?”

A faint yellow light glows in the hotel room, and by the magic of some indecent technology, the sheet becomes transparent.

My hand finds Anubis’s and our fingers lace together as we watch them turn what was an intimate moment between two people who have feelings for each other into a pornographic display.

What we were doing felt beautiful and affectionate and was a loving exchange between friends. What we’re watching is lewd, especially because the sounds of our sex are amplified and the camera pans in at the most depraved angles.

“Close your eyes,” Anubis thunders. “Everyone in the room close your eyes.” He looks around, his face a mask of menace, ensuring every one of the contestants has followed his command. “Every person in the galaxy might be paying to watch what happened between my partner and me, but I won’t allow the people we ate with last night to be privy to our private moments.”

“Aye,” the strong, green farm boy agrees. “It’s not for us to see.”

I’m so proud of everyone in the room for this. They all stand facing the vid screens, watching none of it. We all know it’s going to come down to just two of us. We should be enemies. Our opponents could be fucking with our heads right now. But they’re not.

“Solidarity,” I whisper, my voice filled with grateful surprise. “Thank you.”

Zedd must not be watching us closely, because she smirks as she says, “You can’t escape The Galaxy Network. If any of you are still alive tonight, don’t even try. We’re making a small fortune on those Passion Packages.”

She waits until the sounds of my orgasm finish echoing around the empty lobby before she turns off the pornographic images and the camera focuses back on her.

“You’ll notice a map on your pads, complete with one red and one blue dot. You are at the red dot. You’ll have two days. You must make it to the clearly marked flagpole, which is the blue dot on the map, by the time the suns set on the second day at…” She pauses and consults a screen built into her desk. “7:58. Oh, to make it even more clear, one hand of each half of the couple must touch the pole to finish that leg of the race.”

She pauses and appears to stare directly at Anubis and me when she says, “No shenanigans. 7:58 means 7:58 and not one second more.”

For the swiftest moment, I consider protesting, reminding her we arrived on time last night. Anubis must sense how close I am to mouthing off, because he squeezes my hand, which is still clutched in his warm one. He’s right. What would be the point in arguing with the female who holds all the power?

“Starting… now.” Her throaty laugh follows us out the front door.

After we cross the threshold, we pull to the side on the crumbling wraparound porch and consult our pad.

Right after I got my driver’s license, I went through a brief fascination with the hobby of geocaching. It seemed a good way to get to know the area, as well as a great excuse to put a lot of miles on my car. I learned how to read a topographical map pretty well before I decided searching all day to find hidden treasure in the form of a plastic army man or a ten-cent key chain wasn’t worth the time, effort, or gas.

“No giant lizards,” Anubis says as he surveys the canyon.

“Yeah. That either means they’ve migrated on their own, or TGN shooed them away in the hopes they’d get a better shot of the dinosaurs eating us when we’re partway to the flag.”

We glance at each other, and by the expression on his face, I’m pretty sure we’re both thinking that somehow TGN is responsible for our suddenly clear path.

I take a moment to think for the first time since the air horns woke me from a sound sleep. Anubis and I shared something amazing last night. Fuck everyone in the galaxy who watched it as porn. From my vantage point, it was affectionate and nothing short of magical.

He’s a big guy, a soldier, but I’ve met the softer side of him. I imagine he could use a smidgeon of reassurance right now.

“I know we need to plan our route,” I say as I pull the pad to my side and step between his feet, “but I was just thinking last night was wonderful.” I look into his blue eyes and spear him with my serious-as-a-heart-attack look.

He tucks me close and enfolds me in an embrace just one psi short of pain. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Sadie. These may be the worst circumstances imaginable, but what’s happening between us is…” He shakes his head, at a loss for words. “Something I never allowed myself to imagine.”

I reach up and plant one perfect kiss on his canine lips. My heart feels a pang of pain when I realize one or both of us could be dead within the hour.

So not fair.

I turn my attention to the pad so we can plan the best route. Most of the other couples have already dashed toward the finish line.

Anubis

I’ve been sent into combat in similar situations. I had a pack on my back and a pad with a map. I study it with years of training under my belt. I assume Sadie might be baffled by the squiggly lines on the screen.

“The way I see it…” She pulls me down so she can whisper in my ear. “TGN wants to trick us. See here? It’s almost like they laid breadcrumbs and paved the way with golden bricks. They want us to take the easy route and skirt the edge of this canyon.”

I’m so engrossed in watching her delicate finger trace a pattern on the screen I forget to consider what she’s saying.

“Look here,” she points out a much longer, much more difficult route. Instead of following a flat path, she suggests traversing maybe three times as many miles, much of it looking rocky and dangerous.

“It’s going to be harder this way, Sadie.”

“Exactly. I have a feeling everyone will take the easy route. You were the one who accused me of being optimistic. I’m over that. You know what I’m going to call the people who take the easy route? Losers.”

She’s right. I can’t recall a single time when she’s been wrong. I don’t know what she meant by breadcrumbs, but it seems TGN is silently encouraging us to take the direct route through flat grassland. I don’t think the obvious route is going to be safe.