Page 3 of Prison Moon
“Me either.”
“To prove we’re not heartless, we’re giving you two choices.” The Big Head’s voice boomed in the stillness. He pointed to the barren landscape to their left. “You can take your chances in the Wastes or,” he paused and pointed back to the jungle, “try to survive in there.”
The other Big Heads standing nearby made that weird chortling sound Sara came to recognize as laughter. Whatever the joke was, it was apparently on them.
“The Wastes are uninhabited but there’s very little food and even less water.” He shifted and pointed to the jungle. “In there, you’ll find fresh water, fresh meat if you’re lucky enough to catch and kill it, and an abundance of wild berries and fruits. It will be up to you to figure out which are poisonous and which are not.”
Someone in the front of the group snorted and said, “I’ll pick door number two.”
Sara couldn’t agree more. The jungle held shelter and food. Only an idiot would stay in the Wastes.
The Big Heads fishy mouth split and it looked as if he was trying to smile. He glanced at the other aliens and they seemed to share in his amusement. “Here’s where the other shoe drops,” Sara whispered.
Marcy raised her hand and chewed her thumb nail. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“The jungle holds a few dangers. There are animals who will find you a tempting treat and will most likely kill you, so I suggest if you see one, you don’t linger to see if it’s friendly or not.” A few gasps from the girls cause the Big Heads to laugh again. “There are also high cliffs and sheer drop offs that you’ll need to be careful of, and—“
“Here it comes.”
He raised his huge head an inch higher. “There are the prisoners.”
Someone up front said, “Prisoners?”
Sara couldn’t see who said it, but it made little difference. Everyone had to be thinking the same thing.
“This is a prison moon,” Big Head continued. “A penal colony for the most dangerous beings in the galaxy. Death sentences are exchanged for banishment and as for the others, when no one else can control them, they are left here. And forgotten.”
“I guess it does mean the same thing, Marcy.”
“Aren’t we the lucky humans?”
The Big Head drew her attention by doing some weird thing with his mouth again that she assumed was a smile. “Aside from being home to the vilest creatures in the galaxy, Prison Moon One has a dual purpose. You would think life would never get boring in the vast reaches of space, but it does, so everything that happens on this little moon is live streamed to the far reaches of the solar system, and for a price, anyone can watch.” He paced to the far side of the doorway and pointed to the sky. “Those are the eyes and ears of this place. They see everything, and they’ll be watching you, constantly.”
Someone near the front of the group yelled, “For what?”
The Big Heads laughed again. “For our entertainment, of course.”
Sara turned to look at the monitors. They were huge, prism shaped, flying structures and as she watched, one piece broke off from the rest and flew over the jungle, another close behind the first. They were drones of some kind but far more sophisticated than anything she’d seen back on Earth. “Reality TV,” she whispered.
“What did you say?” Marcy asked.
“I said, it’s reality TV.” She shook her head. “It’s like those, lost in the wilderness, shows, where the camera follows people around and watches them try to survive.” She pointed to another set of the prism shaped drones as it broke off from the rest and headed their way. “Only this time, we’re the stars of the show. Us and those criminals they drop off and forget about.”
The Big Head’s voice rose, and Sara turned back to face him.
“Four times a year supplies are dropped off for the inmates,” he said. “Food, clothing, medicine. Nothing is rationed. It is every man for themselves here and everyone knows their place, but … the inmates get restless after being confined for long periods of time with nothing to do but fight to survive.”
Marcy took a step closer. “I have a very bad feeling.”
She did, too.
“Every six months we drop a special sort of supply.” His mouth pursed. “The species of aliens kept here vary but they all have one similarity—the desire to mate. That would be where you come in.”
Her heart slammed against her ribcage. “And there it is.”
“As this moon is home to mostly males, female companionship is a prize worth fighting over—so we let them. Some of them are sexually compatible with your kind, some are not, but they won’t care. They’ll mate with you anyway, regardless of the outcome.
“Some of you will be selected and extracted for The Arena Games. Those inmates not fast enough, or are unwilling to chase you, are allowed to battle to the death in order to claim you. Those of you not selected for the games will have to survive on your own and not get caught.” He nodded to the monitors hovering in the sky. “And the entire galaxy gets to watch as you try. So, you only have two choices. Let them catch you—orrun.”