Desmond inhaled deeply. He’d been hiding his anxiety to reassure Infinity that he was worthy of her sacrifice. What if he wasn’t worthy? What if he couldn’t come up with anything to say to the lemurs that would make any difference? He rubbed his scalp, thinking furiously. Several possibilities came to him, but what if he chose one that made things worse? There was simply no way to know without trying. He had to do something.
Desmond waved his arm at the lemurs in the room to get their attention. “I need to talk to someone in charge. Now!”
The lemurs listened to his translator’s interpretation, and then one of them approached him but remained out of his reach. The creature spoke briefly. “If you will speak words that are true, I will listen.”
Desmond looked the creature over. Although not as imposing as Peanut, this lemur, a female, wore almost as many colored bands on her ankles. And she was larger than any of the other lemurs in the room. She’d have to do.
“I understand what you want,” Desmond said. “You want more humans like us—more of our species. You want enough to start breeding us. Well, what I can give you is something much better than that.”
The lemur listened to the translation and then said, “Continue speaking your words. I will listen.”
“First I need to know that if I give you what you want, you will stop the hunt and let me and my friends live. In fact, we’d like to live comfortably. We’d like a place to stay and some of your wealth.”
“What are you doing, man?” Vic asked as Desmond’s words were being translated.
Desmond held up a hand to silence him. “Just trust me.”
The lemur spoke. “Yes, if you tell us where to get more of your species, we will not hunt you. We will make you wealthy and comfortable.”
Good enough. Desmond had no idea how long it was supposed to be before Peanut began hunting Infinity, but he wanted to stop the hunt before it could even get started. He spoke to the lemur again. “We bridged to this world from another universe. There are an infinite number of universes. I don't know if your species is aware of this, but it's true. There is a different universe for every possible arrangement of quantum particles. That means there are other versions of this world—infinite versions. Many of those versions have others of our species, humans. Many other versions have different intelligent species. Different intelligent species for you to hunt and kill for honor and fun. More species than you could ever imagine.” He paused to allow the translator to catch up.
“Hey, man,” said Vic, “I thought we agreed—”
Desmond held up his hand again. “Be careful what you say—our translators might be picking up more than we think they are. Please just trust me, okay?”
Vic frowned, but then he nodded. Terry, still leaning against the wall, was now watching Desmond intently.
“Your words are interesting,” the lemur said. “Continue speaking.”
Desmond went on. “All of these infinite universes exist. All of these different intelligent species exist. But your species will never be able to bridge back and forth between universes. Because you don’t have the technology—the device—that would allow you to bridge. My species has this technology.” Again he paused until the translation finished.
The lemur stared at him with her perpetually-round eyes, apparently waiting for more.
Desmond said, “This bridging technology was given to my species, and we can give it to you. But only if you stop this hunt now and let us all live.”
After the translation ended, the female lemur spoke briefly to the other lemurs in the room. She then turned back to Desmond. “You must prove that you have such an ability.”
Desmond cursed silently. He had hoped that he could buy Infinity some time by convincing the lemurs he could provide something he couldn’t actually provide. But these creatures were apparently familiar with the concept of lying. “I obviously can’t prove it to you at this moment,” he said to the lemur. “It will take time. Stop the hunt so that we can begin the process.”
The creature listened to the translation and then answered without hesitating. “Your words are no longer interesting.”
Seconds later, the vast window became a viewing screen once again. Desmond turned and stared. The screen showed Peanut in brilliant detail standing among a few of the clumps of trees in the arena, engaged in some kind of warm-up ritual. Announcer-style lemur vocalizations came over the video feed, no doubt serving to build anticipation among the viewing audience. Peanut spun around, kicked, and rolled on the ground. The movements were almost like a dance, and Desmond guessed it was the lemur’s way of showing off, perhaps another way to build the audience’s excitement.
Desmond’s gut started to knot up. He tapped the video camera embedded in his forehead and spoke aloud. “Kitty, if you’re still watching, please listen to me. Surely by now you’ve seen enough to make your judgement about us. It’s time to stop this, before every last one of us is dead. Please bridge all of us back now!”
Nothing.
The screen in front of him cut to a different view, a now-familiar room with brown walls. Two lemurs entered the frame, dragging Infinity’s bound body. They stopped near the center of the room. One of them cut away a few strands of the goo and placed the cutting tool in Infinity’s hand. Then they both promptly backed out of view.
It was time for the hunt.
15
Arena
April 11 - 8:07 PM
Infinity ran her fingers over the tool in her hand—it was smooth and triangular, and one of its edges was sharpened near the narrowest point. She turned it around and dug at the binding substance with the tip until it was under at least one of the strands. She then sawed back and forth, and the strands broke almost immediately. This gave her more freedom to maneuver, and she began severing more strands. The yellow, hardened goo, which was seemingly impossible to break by pulling, turned out to be ridiculously easy to cut. Soon her entire right arm was free, and she started working on her left arm. Less than a minute later, she had freed her entire body.
She got to her feet, still gripping the cutting tool. Suddenly she felt the tool begin to change in her hand, becoming softer. By the time she held it up to stare at it, the tool was drooping, like a slice of brown, melting cheese. No wonder Terry had left his behind. She tossed the now-worthless blob aside and waited for the door to the arena to appear, tensing her muscles and clearing her mind. She knew Desmond and the others were watching, but she was determined not to allow that to affect her decisions once the hunt began.
Finally, one of the room’s walls disappeared, exposing her to the arena beyond. The arena was larger than it had looked on the screen. The brown ceiling above stretched so far into the distance that she couldn’t see the far walls. Good—the more space she had, the easier it would be for her to stall and give Desmond the time he would need.
Infinity didn’t wait for the room around her to begin shrinking. She started running.
Once in the arena, she cut to her left, remembering that Terry’s hunter had approached from the right. The brushy mounds and clusters of trees were too small to hide in, which was probably by design. After all, a hunt that dragged on for hours wouldn’t make good entertainment. Based on what she’d seen so far, the audience expected immediate engagement. Well, this time they’d be disappointed.
Assuming Peanut was already positioned near the room where she’d been released, Infinity made sure to stay positioned so that several obstacles were blocking her line of sight back in that general direction at all times.
After she had run several hundred yards, she stopped and pushed her way into a cluster of trees. The cluster was no more than ten feet in diameter, and only two of the trees stood taller than her head. None were large enough to climb. Up close she could see that the trees and shrubs weren’t even real. The leaves were stiff, perhaps made of some kind of plastic. The trunks were smooth, with patterns of bark and ridges printed on them. Just enough to look real on a video screen.
Infinity crouched in the fake vegetation and scanned her surroundings. The other tree clusters were similar to this one, perhaps even identical. The brushy mounds, on the other hand, were of various heights, but she couldn't see any that would offer much concealment. Her best bet was to keep as much distance between herself and Peanut as possible.
A movement caught her eye, something black. There it was again, something shuffling between two mounds. Suddenly Peanut came into view, about halfway back to her point of release. He was moving directly toward her.
How was this possible? Infinity could think of only two explanations—either Peanut had a bloodhound’s nose, or he was getting some kind of assistance.
“They’re cheating,” she said aloud, knowing Desmond and the Marines could hear every word. Infinity hadn’t seen any cameras but knew several would be focused on her at all times. “Maybe you can shame them into making this a fair fight.”
She ducked out of the cluster and started running, keeping low.
She made it about two hundred yards and then ducked behind a mound, trying to stay quiet as she sucked in lungfuls of warm, humid air. Peering out, she saw no sign of Peanut pursuing her, but she was certain the bastard was coming. She needed to keep moving. She readied herself to run again but then hesitated, closing her eyes briefly. She cursed silently and then struggled out of her now-damp organic shirt. She kicked off her shoes, removed her trousers, and then put the shoes back on. Much better. The air against her skin was cooling, and she’d be able to move more easily.
She scanned the area and spotted the lemur moving steadily toward her. His casual, upright stride made it clear that he was not tracking her by scent.
Infinity tossed her clothes into the brush covering the mound. She took off running again, naked except for the shoes on her feet and feeling more agile and confident.
After running for no more than ten seconds, she stopped. Less than a hundred yards ahead was a brown wall, extending to the ceiling high above. She couldn’t possibly have run all the way to the far end of the arena. The place was at least a mile long. She looked to the left. There was a wall there too, this one even closer, and another to the right.
“The bastards are boxing me in,” she said, although at this point she was pretty sure Desmond wasn’t going to have much luck convincing the lemurs to allow a fair fight.
The wall to her right was more distant than the others so she headed toward it at a sprint. Suddenly, in half the time it should’ve taken, she found herself directly in front of the wall. She skidded to a stop and pounded it with her fist. It was definitely solid—not an illusion. Apparently the lemurs wanted to watch a fight, not a chase. But how could they possibly have moved a wall this size without making a sound?
Infinity turned and scanned the arena. The other walls were definitely moving closer. No sign of Peanut yet, but he couldn’t be far. She moved to the nearest cluster of fake trees. The smaller stalks gave way as she pushed past them and climbed to the cluster’s center. She yanked on a stalk that was about two inches thick, but she couldn’t detach it from the floor. She tried a smaller one. This one came loose immediately. Three grass-like leaves were protruding from the end of the stalk, but she was able to tear them off like tissue paper. The tip turned out to be pointed—a pleasant surprise. The point wasn’t super sharp, but sharp enough. Just as important, the stalk was reasonably straight and had some heft. What the hell? The lemurs didn’t want her to use the little cutting tool, but they provide a sharpened, three-foot stick?
As Infinity kneeled down in the center of the cluster to wait, it occurred to her that the longer weapon would be more visible to the audience, making for a more entertaining conflict. Also, giving the victims a chance to acquire weapons would give the hunters a chance to earn ankle bands with blue markings. Infinity tightened her grip on the weapon and allowed her disgust to fan the flames of her hatred for the city dwellers. If Peanut wanted to earn a band tonight, he’d have to work for it.
She spotted him through the trees, still moving steadily toward her.
Infinity backed out of the cluster of plants and made herself as small as she could. The plants were sparse, and she’d be better concealed with the entire cluster between her and Peanut.
The lemur kept coming. He was carrying no weapons that Infinity could see, but she knew better than to underestimate his skill. At about fifty yards out and still walking toward her, he began looking warily from side to side, as if he didn’t know where she was. Infinity suspected this was bullshit. He had followed almost exactly in her footsteps for at least a quarter mile without straying. He knew exactly where she was. He stopped walking at about fifteen yards out. He continued glancing from side to side, but the range of glances became narrower, until finally he was staring in her direction.
Infinity ran dozens of battle scenarios through her mind, both offensive and defensive, but it was still too early to choose one. Her move would depend on what Peanut did next.
The lemur slowly lowered his head and upper body until the fingers of his left hand were resting on the floor. He raised his right arm, elbow out, and clenched his fist beside his cheek. His tail fluttered a few times above his back.
Infinity had already suspected this fight stance was pure bravado, and now she was sure of it. The asshole was posturing for his audience.
Infinity spoke aloud to Desmond. “I can’t drag this out any longer. I hope you’re making progress up there.”
Peanut was close enough to have easily heard her voice, but at this point it didn’t matter. The lemur remained still, as if he expected her to come charging out and attack him. But Infinity had no intention of playing his game, a game he had obviously mastered.
Suddenly, she had an idea. She rose to her full height and pushed her way back to the center of the cluster of fake vegetation, where she was again surrounded by rigid stalks on all sides. She looked out at Peanut and said, “Come get me.” Her translator, which had been silent since she had entered the arena, emitted a brief sequence of whistles.
The lemur stared back at her and blinked his massive eyes once. He spoke, and her translator interpreted. “You have said that you are a fighter. Perhaps you spoke words that were not true.”
Infinity was tempted to taunt the bastard, but she knew that would only piss him off and speed things up rather than buy Desmond more time. She remained silent.
Peanut waited a few more seconds and then rose to his feet. He approached her slowly and walked around the plant cluster’s perimeter. Infinity turned her body to continue facing him. She tried to keep her weapon hidden at her side.
Suddenly, Peanut’s posture shifted, indicating he was about to attack.
Infinity tensed her muscles but didn’t raise her weapon.
The lemur plunged into the cluster of stalks, knocking them aside ferociously with his elbows.
A few seconds later, he was within reach. Infinity raised her weapon and thrust it into his throat in one fluid motion. She looked at the weapon. She thought she'd felt the shaft sink several inches into his throat. But now she saw that the stick’s tip was drooping loosely. She pulled it back, and it swung like a soggy noodle.
The weapon was rigged. But it was too late to change her strategy—the lemur was upon her. Fake plant stalks whipped about and clacked against each other as Peanut ducked low and struggled to throw his arms around her waist. But his right arm was entangled in the stalks. Infinity swung her weapon like a club, striking his back with all her strength. This time the entire stalk softened upon impact, but the momentum was still substantial enough that the weapon made a loud whack.
Infinity dropped the weapon and threw a hard right down upon the lemur’s head. Peanut finally yanked his right arm free of the stalks and thrust it around her waist. He started reaching around with his other hand, but Infinity spun to her right and pulled free before he could lock his fingers together. He stumbled and went down onto all fours. She immediately slammed an elbow onto the ba
ck of his head. The hit was solid, sending a wave of pain through her shoulder.
Infinity stumbled out of the tree cluster and started running. She estimated she had five seconds before Peanut recovered and came after her. She glanced over her shoulder. She had been wrong—he was already on his feet chasing her.
She knew she couldn’t outrun him, so she changed course and threw herself into another cluster of plants. She needed to avoid engaging Peanut on the open floor, where he was most comfortable.
He plunged into the plants after her, thrashing his arms and legs to get past the stalks. Infinity turned around and landed a fist in the center of his face. He screeched in pain. She threw another jab and caught him in the mouth, turning the screech into a garbled grunt. She swung again, and again, gaining confidence with each punch.
The lemur freed his arms from the tangle and caught her right arm by the wrist. He yanked her fist to his mouth and bit down.
Infinity felt his teeth sink into her skin, and then heard her bones crack. The pain was overwhelming, but thanks to years of training and fighting she was able to overcome it and throw her left fist at the lemur’s eye, landing a decent hit.
Peanut screeched again and released her fist.
She threw herself backward and tumbled out of the clump of plants. She hit the floor hard and skidded several feet on her butt. Instinctively, she rolled to her right and tried to push herself to her feet with her right hand. She collapsed immediately from the pain.
Plant stalks clattered as Peanut emerged from the cluster after her. Infinity rolled to her left, pushed herself to her feet, and took off running. The closest plant cluster was at least thirty yards away.
At twenty yards out, Infinity felt Peanut’s hands grab her ankles, and she went down. Her right hand hit the floor so hard that the pain actually blinded her for a moment. By the time she could see again, the lemur was on top of her with his knees on either side of her neck and his feet locked together. He immediately applied crushing pressure. His legs were unbelievably strong. She tried kicking upward to clamp her legs around his neck, but he had already immobilized her legs with his arms.
The Trial of Extinction Page 17
