Survivor Planet III

by Juliet Cardin

  So my gut had been correct. We were at the centre of this spectacle. I had a funny feeling that most of us weren’t expected to make it out alive.

  Chapter 3

  I swallowed hard, thanks to the lump in my throat. The bellow of the crowds intensified and reverberated through my entire body. Beneath my feet the very ground pulsed and pounded with the spectators’ blood lust. Nothing less would satisfy them. I’d seen in books, movies, and television shows what took place in coliseums. Gladiators, wild animals, weapons, blood, guts, and gore. I’d also heard of female gladiators, warriors just as fierce and bloody as the men.

  But we were no warriors.

  The women alongside me were small and frightened. We wore no armor, held no weapons. We were strangers here, in this place, this world. The man who addressed the crowd rambled on, inciting anticipation, promising the crowd a grand show. Many raised up their fists, pumping them with eagerness. Something about that man made my belly lurch and my fists clench as though in anger. And recognition. But how could that be? My heart began to thump, my breath felt shallow in my lungs. I couldn’t get enough air. My vision dimmed and my limbs began to shake. I felt myself go weak and limp, and before I could gain control I crumpled to the ground.

  The feel of a hand on my face made me struggle to open my eyes. I’m not sure how long I was out of it, but I no longer felt hard packed dirt beneath me. My vision was blurry. Before me in the dim light I could make out large shadows moving about and the low murmur of voices. Dizziness enveloped me, making me squeeze my eyes tight again.

  “Hello?” My voice sounded strange, raspy and foreign.

  Hands were on me now, at my shoulder and against my back helping me to sit up. I fought the dizziness and with effort kept myself erect.

  “It’s all right.” I heard someone say. A man I think.

  “It’ll take a moment or two to regroup,” he said.

  A sharp pain sat right in the middle of my skull. I gulped in deep breaths of air and felt a cup pressed against my lips. I sipped slowly and kept my eyes shut as the pain slowly ebbed to a dull throb.

  From behind my closed lids several scenes played out—the arena, the creature in the cell, the two moons, and the guards. Then other images emerged. Things that confused me. A room, primitive stone walls, but filled with modern, high-tech equipment. Someone that I didn’t recognize—a man, so big and terrifying, like the ones I’d glimpsed at the coliseum.

  When at last I opened my eyes, I cried out in fear and cringed. Right before my face stood the man that I’d seen in my head. His eyes bore into mine as though looking right into my soul.

  “What is taking her so long?” he demanded. His gaze now riveted on someone behind me, the person with his hand on my back.

  “Give her a moment. She’ll be all right.” The man’s voice didn’t sound convinced. The giant glaring at him didn’t seem to buy it either.

  I looked past the huge man and studied the room I was in. I’d never seen this place before…or had I? I felt so confused. What was real and what wasn’t? Hadn’t I just been in the coliseum hearing the roar of a bloodthirsty crowd? Was I not a prisoner? I looked down at my hands and saw there was no rope tying them together. Nor was there any sign that they’d ever been tied. A metal table was beneath me, hard and cold, one that I recalled from those flashes of memory. Maybe they’d carried me off, not back to my cell, but perhaps to a medical area? My gaze flicked around frantically.

  “Come back to me,” the giant said. His words were spoken softly and tinged with what sounded like a touch of panic.

  Despite my fear of him I felt something stir in my breast. I reached out and placed my hand against his rough cheek. His head was dark and shorn almost to the scalp. He wore leather pants and a vest displaying his enormous chest and arms. I felt my heart begin to pound, though no longer in trepidation, but in recollection.

  “Ayres?” My voice was no more than a whisper but gained a wide smile from the man.

  I felt the hand slip away from my back and another man stepped into my view. With some effort he pushed the giant aside and shone a bright light into my eyes.

  “Can you tell me your name?” he asked.

  I squinted against the glare and when the man directed the light away I tried to focus on his face. For some reason he seemed familiar to me as well.

  “Lourde?” I asked, faintly sure that was his name.

  He nodded his head in obvious relief and excitement lit up his face. “And your name. Can you remember?”

  The giant came up close again and stared at me. The look in his eyes was intense and I could feel little butterflies in my belly begin to stir. “She knows us both. That is good?”

  “Yes,” the other man agreed. “She’s returning to us.”

  But was I? Just who was I? They obviously knew me, and I felt that I knew them, but why couldn’t I remember? Two distinct personalities battled for supremacy inside of me. It was obvious I was no longer in the coliseum. But had I ever been there, or was it something I’d imagined?

  “I…I can’t…” I said, fear beginning to overwhelm me.

  The man with the flashlight stared at me expectantly. “Yes, you can. Don’t force it, just let it come…”

  And come it did. Full speed, the flashes whipping by so quickly, barely allowing me a glimpse. All I could do was close my eyes and watch. I felt a hand reach out and take mine, squeezing it in comfort.

  “Make it stop,” I begged.

  “Do something,” the giant demanded.

  I felt a prick against my arm. My eyes flew open. The man who’d held the light was injecting something into me. Hands were on my back again, lowering me gently to the table. I rolled on my side fighting nausea and lightheadedness. The images in my brain began to slow until I felt as though I was watching a slow-motion picture. Strange at first, I soon began to make sense of who and what I saw.

  A dove. A forest, a white room, and a bright beam of light. All of them were parts of my life. Then slowly, oh so slowly, I began to remember. Brick by brick the wall began to disappear.

  I wasn’t Lara. The woman on that strange planet in the coliseum.

  I was on Taleon.

  And my name was Amanda.

  Chapter 4

  “The connection was strong,” I said with conviction. “I was her. Lara. And I had no concept of being anyone other than her.” My companions stared at me with hope and uncertainly.

  “It took a long time for you to come around,” Ayres said. He still eyed me gravely as though I could lapse into limbo at any moment. Granted, it had taken me much longer than anticipated to break the bond.

  “It’s only our first real attempt,” Lourde reminded him. “The others were only trial runs. And you came out swiftly,” he nodded at Ayres, “just as I’d predicted.”

  “But I was linked to Amanda, not Lara. I found it no different from when I first infiltrated her mind,” Ayres said.

  “Yeah, when you made me think I was crackers.” My memories of those encounters weren’t too fondly remembered.

  “Your bond is strong. If it weren’t we would not even attempt this,” Lourde said. He ran a hand over his face.

  We sat outside on logs before a fire. The sun was almost completely down and the three moons had risen to dominate the sky. The fire lit up the lines etched into Lourde’s features. I’d swear we’d all aged a decade in the past four weeks.

  “Why don’t you get some rest?” I suggested. “It’s been a long day.”

  Ayres stared at his old friend and nodded. “Amanda’s right. Get some rest and we’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

  Lourde got to his feet and stretched his arms up over his head. “Okay, you both win. I’m beat. We’ll talk tomorrow, but don’t make any hasty decisions tonight.” He stared at me a moment. “You’re sure you’re all right?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah. I’m fine,” I assured him. In the back of my mind I could hear a faint voice, one I’d grown quite used to over the past f
ew days, but I wasn’t about to share this information. The project was too important. To all of us.

  I reached for Ayres hand and squeezed. He put his arm around me and pulled me even closer. “I admit, I was pretty freaked out when I was coming out of it. I could feel Lara fighting to stay together. It was as though I had to break myself in two to get free. It wasn’t at all like the other times, the bond was so strong this time.” The grim look on Ayres face worried me. He hadn’t wanted to risk the project in the first place. Only when Lourde assured him it could be safely done did we make the attempt. “How’d it feel for you, controlling my—Lara’s—arms and legs? Was it difficult to take command?” It hadn’t been dumb luck that I’d connected to the same girl each time I went under. Lourde had explained that once a link was initially forged that my tracker would automatically seek out the same path until the link was severed—either by Lara’s tracker being turned off, or her death.

  “No. I had only to take control of you. You allowed me in so it was not difficult. The real battle taking place was for you to overpower Lara.” He stared at me intently for a moment. “Who is this girl?”

  “Well, you already know her name. She’s twenty years old and was captured from Earth. She’d been held in the cell for five days before they took us—her—to the coliseum. There were twenty women brought in altogether.”

  Ayres nodded.

  “What was happening to them? I saw Baynarius—Baynar, although I didn’t know him at the time because Lara didn’t know him. He was standing there addressing the spectators, promising them a grand show. Lara became overwhelmed. I’m not sure if it was just from being in the arena, or because of our connection, or both. She fainted, that’s how I got control and broke free.”

  “She fainted because I made Lourde bring you out.”

  I stared at him with disbelief. “What? Why? I was there! Baynar was there. This could have been over.”

  “That wasn’t the plan. Not this soon. Too many things could have gone wrong. You know that. Lourde said we must first establish the connections, make sure they’re strong.”

  “I was willing to take the chance!” I insisted.

  Ayres squeezed my hand tight. “I wasn’t. You don’t know what could have happened. What if you couldn’t break free? What would happen if Lara was killed and you couldn’t get out in time? There is risk, no matter what Lourde said. I saw what was happening to you…”

  I pulled my hand free of his grip. “It’s not just you who wants revenge, you know. We all do.”

  “I am aware. But I don’t want it at a risk to your life. You are everything to me. I’d rather live on Taseeus forever than lose you.”

  The look on his face convinced me he spoke the truth. He was afraid. Big and mighty he may be, but his love for me had weakened him, let it get in the way of the bigger picture. “Tell me what was happening in the arena.”

  He stared into the fire for several moments and I sensed he didn’t want me to know. “Fighting in the arena is huge on Calixtus. Men fight each other, but they also fight creatures captured from all over the universe, not just from Earth.”

  “I saw them there—the men—in cells. Dressed like Gladiators.”

  “If they were in cells they were not likely Roamyns from Calixtus. They were probably from Earth and from other planets. They would also battle in the arena.”

  “There was a strange creature there, it had three eyes.” I shivered with the memory.

  Ayres nodded. “Yes, there are many strange creatures.”

  “So why bring the women out there? We had no weapons so it couldn’t be to fight. And we were all small and I believe from Earth.”

  Ayres sighed. “I’ll tell you but you won’t like it.”

  “Okay.” I mentally prepared myself for what he would reveal. Though I’d been linked to Lara for a couple of hours this time, it’d felt much longer. The times before had only really been me popping in, establishing the link, while Ayres fiddled with control of her arms and legs through my connection. But after this last time we’d formed a bond she and I, and I was afraid to think of what may have happened to her after I left.

  “There were twenty of them?”

  “Yes.”

  “They would have been divided into four groups after being addressed by Baynar. The first group of five would be set to run around to rile the beasts.”

  “What do you mean?”

  His blue eyes bore into mine. “I mean to stir their blood lust.”

  “So the beasts would hunt them?” I felt my belly lurch and I feared I might be sick. What the hell kind of freak show planet did he come from?

  “Yes. They’d be torn to pieces to the delight of the crowd.”

  “Oh, shit.” I digested that bit of information for a moment. “And the next group?” I finally dared to ask.

  “The next two groups would be brought out and allowed weapons. Although, they’d be set out in the middle of the arena and the women would have to race to secure one. There wouldn’t be enough for everyone. Then they would have to fight each other.”

  I remembered having to fight onboard the Lariton. “To first blood?”

  “No. To the death.”

  “Oh.”

  “The three left standing would be taken back to their cells and used in future events.”

  I swallowed hard. “And the last group?”

  “The last group would probably survive. They’d most likely be the prettiest women, and would be given as prizes to the winners.”

  “Lucky them,” I said drolly. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if Lara may be in that group. If I went under again and formed a connection, it was more than likely I’d link up with the same person. If Lara were gone—dead—then my connection would snag onto the closest and most compatible tracker. Thinking about my strong bond with Lara and how hard it’d been to break free, I wondered if it just might be a better thing if I linked with someone else. Even though that’d probably mean the worst possible outcome for Lara.

  But I wasn’t here to make friends.

  I was here to exact revenge.

  Chapter 5

  My entire body felt tense. Wrestling with ethical factors in this mission was going to be my biggest hurdle. Though I’d rationalized that Lara was doomed anyhow it didn’t make this task any easier on me. In order to push past my inner demons I’d adopted a cold and calculating demeanor, focusing on Baynar and all the hate I had for him. With him out of our way perhaps things would settle down over time and we’d no longer be major targets. As it stood, from what we’d heard from other settlers or passersby of Taseeus, our little group was still top of Baynar’s hit list. With him alive we’d forever be looking over our shoulders and unwelcome anywhere else but the farthest reaches of the universe.

  “Want to walk?” Ayres asked. Without waiting for a reply he got to his feet and reached for my hand. He pulled me up slowly against his battle hard body and reached around to grab hold of my ass. Wrapping my arms tight around him I could feel him harden against me. I tossed back my head allowing my thoughts to turn to more pleasurable things.

  “Sure you just want to walk?”

  His hands came up around my shoulders and just when I thought he’d kiss me, he instead turned me around. “March.”

  Obediently I began to stride forward. “Aren’t you worried we’ll run into a Daeodon?” As soon as I tossed the question over my shoulder at him I regretted it. His battle with the giant boar-like beast in the midst of the tournament last time we’d been here had caused a huge rift between us. Chancing a glance back at him I saw to my relief he wasn’t remembering that terrible fight. He was watching my ass.

  For his benefit I adopted a rhythmic sway. “How far you wanna walk?”

  We reached the edge of the clearing. Before me the huge trees of a vast forest spread out. The land appeared much darker in the thick woods, and cooler too, causing me to tremble a little.

  Ayres came up beside me and took my hand. “I’ll lead.
”

  He guided me along the faint, meandering path until we were several yards into the thick of the forest. A downed tree broken off about six feet up lay hung on an angle touching the ground. Ayres leaned against the thick trunk and pulled me into his arms. His hot mouth came down on mine with a searing kiss. My hands braced against his chest feeling the steady pounding of his heart.

  His tongue teased mine for a moment then he began kissing his way down my neck. I leaned back a little so his hand could come up to rest on my breast. Through the fabric of my shirt he pinched my nipple.

  “Ouch!” When I tried to pull away he pulled me tighter. The tension soon seeped from my body and I let myself relax. I lost myself in his kiss, hardly aware of the feel of his hands pulling off my shirt and tugging down my pants.

  “What if Lara’s gone?” The sudden image of her popped into my head.

  “Then we’ll find another,” he assured me. I moved back from him while he yanked his shirt off over his head and tossed it behind him onto the tree trunk beside mine.

  His callous dismissal of Lara’s fate annoyed me. “So I guess it doesn’t matter then, what happens to her?”

  The moons gave off just enough light to allow me to see Ayres’ annoyed expression. “I warned you going in what would happen. Her fate is sealed regardless.” He pulled down his pants and soon stood naked before me. He had a raging hard on. I swallowed hard, wanting him despite his callous words.

  On Taseeus our lovemaking had been mostly fast and frantic, snatched liaisons when the moment allowed. Everything about that terrible planet hinged on constant survival. Food and water were sparse, as were accommodations for the horde of outcast stragglers arriving almost daily. We’d become pros at getting it on in the most unlikely places. Ayres, never big on sharing emotions, had always maintained an authoritative outlook, adapting to our surroundings with his usual calm, cool, reserve. Everyone there looked up to him and Aris. Danni and I, being their mates, had come to mirror their demeanor. Things had to be done. We were the ones to see that they were. And now, ever since Lourde’s arrival and the idea that freedom may at last be within our grasp, our focus had been singularly set. Hopes and dreams rested on this mission. Not just mine and Ayres’, but everyone else on that planet who longed to return home.