Fighting Kat

by PJ Schnyder

  Friend enough? She’d never actually shared her story with a friend. Dev had been there and so had Boggle. The only other iterations of her story had been in impersonal debriefs. Rygard had found out from the data Boggle had shared.

  “We’ve seen many from your solar system brought through these caverns. Many have been infected by a virus to make them better warriors. If it does not kill them, it makes them physically stronger but not better. They might survive longer, provide more sport, but they are still meat walking.”

  How long had they been here?

  Kaitlyn glanced again to the smaller felid alien. How long had it taken for that one to lose it?

  Would she need to worry about it within her group?

  “We have learned some things about this virus.” The felid offered his hand again. “Share your story of how you came to such a complete melding of aspects and we will add to your research.”

  How much of his species’ culture involved body language? She watched him more carefully, his ears and nose, his posture. Stupid of her to allow the conversation to progress as if he was just another human.

  “You’re not mutants. How much can you know about it?” Rygard folded his arms across his chest.

  The smaller alien’s ears swiveled back, but the larger’s remained forward. His nostrils flared and she thought she caught a twitch of his upper lip. Yeah, Rygard’s stance was aggressive enough to push buttons.

  “Bioengineering and cellular manipulation are developed sciences within our culture. Genetic alteration would not be ethical but we recognize the application.” The felid gestured to the smaller. “My companion was a scientist.”

  And would never be again. Even if they continued to survive, nothing about the smaller male’s behavior indicated he’d be doing any critical thinking anytime soon.

  “You’ve taken samples or done analysis? I think not.” Perhaps she should have left the doubt to Rygard, but she’d never been great at tag team interrogation. Simpler to ask her own questions.

  “The prisoners talk of when the injection was done. There is a specific sponsor.”

  Kaitlyn perked up with the new information. All of their intel had come from Bharguest and Rygard’s men had been injected prior to shipment to the Colosseum but they’d never heard about who’d given the order.

  “Incubation time for the virus has been fairly short, only a day or two.” She offered a bit of her findings, fishing.

  The felid nodded. “Many prisoners are injected on arrival. After a day, they begin to sweat and within two they are writhing, screaming. Some do not survive. Those that do are changed. The guards here watch, provide water, but otherwise do not make the transition any easier. If the prisoners can nurse each other, some do. Others are overcome by the new animal aspect.”

  Grim silence fell.

  It wasn’t hard to imagine what might happen to a person, driven by an unfamiliar animal instinct. Kaitlyn remembered the fear, the urge to attack and win her way free. She hadn’t been thinking the first time she’d taken a life. “What do you mean?” Rygard didn’t know that about her, about the cost of the shifting from human to animal to human again.

  “He’s talking about the hunger.” She didn’t take her eyes of the felid, watched one ear twitch and took note of the slow blink of his eyes. He’d been fishing for information too. “Every shift and shape change takes energy. Metabolic rate increases and the calories burned need to be replaced.”

  Because the Bio Dome on Triton Moon Base had plenty of harmless small game and fish seeded in the terraformed lakes, she’d been able to satisfy the intense hunger that followed the initial changes to her body in those first days.

  “You’ve never had an issue.” The alarm was mostly kept out of his voice, but Rygard’s concern was still palpable.

  “We’ve always been awarded a victory meal after our battles. No danger for us and my control has gotten very good over the years. Besides, I came into this in good condition, well fed and with plenty of supplements. The captives here might not have been in the best of condition when they arrived. Add that to the hardship of the infection and the trauma to their bodies, and the need to heal would burn up any reserves they might have. They’d be voracious and confined with only the other beings in their cavern.”

  She’d watched Bharguest all the same. Victory meal or no, the preference for live prey might override his already questionable loyalties to teammates. He’d eat a man if it would mess with another man’s mind. It was becoming clear his loyalty only went as far as his use for a person for entertainment purposes.

  “How were the injections given?” Had the mode changed from the way the original sponsors used it to the method used on her years ago?

  “Hypo-injection in the meaty portion of the arm or leg. Sometimes whatever large muscle group is accessible if the victim was conscious and struggling.” The smaller alien approached while the big one gave the answer. There might still be someone home behind the vacant mask after all. “The injection site is obvious, a large circular mark.”

  Ah, well, her captors must have decided to stylize the hypo-injection tools after stealing the technology after all. Most of those types liked to put a personal twist on the intellectual property to make it their own. Besides, hadn’t Bharguest told her a single injection site was all it took? The branding had been a cosmetic change in mode of delivery.

  “Your mark, it is the cat on your thigh.” It might have been a question, but it lacked the proper inflection.

  She treated it as a question anyway. “The original was a black panther, like a brand of what they intended to make me. The claw marks across it are my doing.”

  She’d attempted to stop the spread of the virus, bleed it out at the point of injection before the changes took hold. It hadn’t worked but the gouges scarred. Since the full change, she tended to heal clean and scar free. Those might be the last she’d ever have.

  ’’Course, several opponents had tried to give her new ones in this place. There might be a chance to test the theory yet.

  “Many races hold the faith that the mind can guide the body.” The big felid’s words had turned thoughtful and she wasn’t sure he was talking directly to her anymore. “Many of those who don’t survive are weak, driven mad by the change and they fail to comprehend what has happened to them. You, and your large companion, remained stable. The mental fortitude is admirable.”

  “Apparently, I’ve still a lot to learn.” She twisted her mouth in a wry grin. No harm in admitting what Bharguest had been nagging her about was beginning to make sense, at least to her. “Comprehending what I am and accepting are two different things. In order to make the most of anything, there’s a distinct need to quit swimming against the current of reality.”

  “Denial ain’t just a river. Smart girl.” Bharguest’s voice sounded rusty. He must be in a partial shift. “I can’t wait to see how you do in the coming free-for-all.”

  She wasn’t sure which was creepier, the idea of his commentary making sense to her, or that both of them knew the ancient pun.

  “We will be entered in the event as well.”

  “Gather ’round boys and girls.” Dev’s voice whispered in Kaitlyn’s ear.

  Whatever else she’d wanted to say, it was no longer the time. Motioning to Rygard to follow, she moved to Tracer’s side.

  Rygard leaned in close to her and Tracer threw his arm around Max’s shoulders. They all got comfortable and waited for Dev’s next communication.

  The next few minutes dragged out in a strained silence.

  “Hopefully, you’ve all had sufficient time to assemble.”

  Maybe Kaitlyn would talk to Skuld about creating an acknowledgement signal. Not any sort of audible to give away a two-way conversation, but at least a button to reply. The old one for “yes” and two for “no” concept could
prove an elegant solution.

  “There’s an extraction plan in place.”

  Well good. Perhaps there’d be no need to go through the free for all.

  “Our esteemed friend, Petrico-Calin the Fourth, devised it.”

  They were all doomed.

  “Now Kat, before you go thinking along the lines of gloom and doom, his plan has potential.” Dev hesitated and she heard his tell-tale finger tap against the communication unit. “It’s going to require a lot of work on your part to survive, but you’ve always shown a strong knack for it. I’ll tell you his plan first, and then what I want you all to do. If we’re lucky, we’ll still get all of you out.”

  Even when her captain proved his genius, it was a good idea to keep an eye out for miracles.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The chain hung down Rygard’s hips, the heavy iron band fitted around his waist loose enough to sit low but too tight to shove down over his hip bones and off. It was annoying, at the very minimum. At least it didn’t impede his range of motion for either arms or legs. Still, if the weight of the chain bothered him, he wondered how much it’d hinder Kaitlyn, similarly chained at the waist and connected to the rest of them by a heavy center hub.

  “You okay with this?” He kept his voice low as they walked down the corridor. “The guards seem to want me in humanoid form.”

  Rygard raised an eyebrow. Sounded too passive for her. “They couldn’t make you change, not without causing physical damage. Why not go in there on your own terms?”

  He did prefer fighting at her side when she was in human form. He was getting better at reading her intent during a fight, coordinating with her. In panther form, he couldn’t anticipate her next moves.

  But then, neither could their opponents.

  “They’d have pushed Dev to put a collar on me so they could chain me to the hub the way Max is. Dev got away without it when we first came in, but the way they want the teams connected for this party? No way.”

  Rygard eyed the handler and Kx9. The big dog walked behind them as easily as if the chain hanging from his collar had been a leash. No big deal, apparently, but from what he knew of Kaitlyn, a very serious issue for her. Having listened to the debriefs Boggle had made available to him, he still didn’t think he could understand the true extent of what she’d suffered. Her captain might, having been there with her for part of it, but what Rygard could understand on an intellectual level wasn’t enough. Someday his girl would tell him about the time she’d spent in captivity. Otherwise, he couldn’t help her face her demons.

  “Chained to one partner would have been enough of a challenge.” Kaitlyn eyed the links between them. “It’s the freaking five way hub that makes this a clusterfuck.”

  Yeah.

  The overseer hadn’t been kidding when he’d told Dev he would be entering them as a single unit. Each of them was chained at the waist, Max at the collar, to a central point. They’d taken a few moments coming out of their cavern simply to figure out how much distance each of them needed to walk comfortably without the links or hub dragging on the ground. Rygard had been subtly moving to and fro as they walked, getting used to Kaitlyn on his right and Tracer following behind him. What truly worried him was Bharguest on the other side of Kaitlyn.

  “Clusterfuck? Nah. This’ll be fun.” Bharguest stalked along behind Kaitlyn. “You have me at your back, after all.”

  She didn’t glance over her shoulder at him as she continued along down the corridor at an easy walk. “Last I checked, you don’t play well with others. And you tend to kill your playmates.”

  “Aw, I have played a little rough at times.” Bharguest chuckled. “None of them could hold their own. You, at least, have a chance in what’s to come.”

  “So you say.” Rygard couldn’t keep from biting off the words, even if he knew it only amused the other man. “You’ve had all sorts of hints for her, but I don’t hear any constructive commentary.”

  “She’s a sharp girl. I don’t need to spell too much out for her. Where would the fun be?”

  How Bharguest could find this hell hole fun was beyond Rygard, but then, the truth of it was that the man had come back, willing and eager too. Partially because Kaitlyn was interesting to him and mainly because this place was his playground.

  “They put some thought into the bindings.” Tracer’s voice floated over Rygard’s shoulder. “The thing around Kaitlyn’s waist is tight enough, I don’t think she’d slip out of it whether she made a full shift to panther form or not.”

  “It’s a snug fit.” Kaitlyn shrugged. She still wore his shirt. The rules allowed for combatants to fight naked but she preferred not. She’d also found some extra strips of fabric to bind her breasts.

  It’s damned annoying, she’d said. I’d knock myself out with these flying free.

  Rygard hadn’t been able to hide his grin despite her snarl.

  “Human, panther, so far you’ve only been one or the other.” The humor had gone out of Bharguest’s voice ad it sounded creepier toneless. “Get more creative. We talked about it earlier.”

  “It’s not like she can change into some other animal.” Rygard couldn’t stop himself from snapping at the other man.

  Bharguest chuckled, probably amused to get a rise out of him. “With her control at the cellular level, she could do so much more than just be one or the other. She already does it all the time. All that’s left is application in a deadly kind of way.”

  “Trying to make another serial-killer?”

  “Looking to see something amusing become a thing of violent beauty.”

  A shiver ran down Rygard’s spine at the reverent tone. Tracer cleared his throat, looking every bit as weirded out. Kaitlyn just kept on walking.

  “You all have been a pleasant surprise.” The chain jerked at Rygard’s waist and he darted a look back at Bharguest. The man had his chain wrapped around one fist.

  “You going along with the game plan then?” Kaitlyn sounded bored, but Rygard was pretty sure they all wanted to know the answer.

  There was a pause and Rygard figured they wouldn’t get one.

  A dull roar began to echo through the corridors and light brightened the far end. They were getting close. The noise of the crowd, cheering and screaming, rose with every step.

  Rygard almost missed Bharguest’s answer.

  “Sure. Until the time to play nice comes to an end.”

  * * *

  “We see you.”

  Normally, that’d indicate a serious failure on her part, however Kaitlyn wasn’t scouting or playing hide and seek.

  From the moment she and the others emerged from the tunnel, the cheering had escalated until she couldn’t sort the voices, or process anything but the deafening roar.

  Anticipation rose in a wave and rushed through her. Her heart beat quickened.

  Skuld’s tech matched the challenge of the crowds and Dev’s voice still came through clearly at her ear.

  Unfortunately only she and Max could hear him as they all stood spread out on the sands as far as their chains would allow them. The dog might be sharp but how much would he act on based on what he heard?

  “Spotted two humanoid groups. One is about 50 yards to your left, Kaitlyn. Eight survivors.” Dev delivered the information in a quick, terse undertone. Then his voice picked up to normal speaking volume. He must not be standing in a secure location. “Interesting group over there, way on the other end of the arena from mine. Badger, what’re the odds on that group of boys? Close to a dozen of them, and they look not too worn out. Think they have a chance?”

  She drew in deep breaths. Anger, desperation and the metallic tang of fear filled the air directly around them. Closing her eyes and parting her lips, she tasted sand and sweat on the air.

  It was humid on the floor of the h
uge stadium. The sand beneath her feet shifted. It was deep, more than a mere inch or so of covering. She could dig in, gain traction on it. An unwary opponent could twist and lose his footing on it.

  Good.

  “Well now, it’ll be interesting to see how the human based mutations do out there.” Dev was continuing his conversation with Badger, and her. “I do like the underdogs. Mine surprised everyone. But those other teams, their trainers act like they dropped their men in there as fodder. I’d be interested to see how they hold up as units. Some of ’em look to be trained to at least move in formations, especially the one nearer my group. Not sure how effective they’ll be though. They’re looking pretty ragged.”

  Kaitlyn nodded. Opening her eyes, she scanned the area around her. A strange calm settled over her. Combat was coming and she savored the anticipation.

  First, she needed to identify allies and enemies. Her captain was relying on her.

  “To our left.” She didn’t gesture but Rygard’s head turned. “Do you recognize any of them?”

  He straightened, hands clenched. “Barely.”

  But they’d found them.

  “Well then, the question is whether they’ll recognize you.” She stood her ground when he would have moved toward them. “Not until the signal to start goes off. We’re going to have to hope their training holds and they follow your lead in the middle of everything.”

  Bharguest clicked his tongue. “No need to give away the game just yet. Got to kill a few first. Then see if you all survive.”

  Kaitlyn suppressed a shudder. And then she set her jaw. It hadn’t been a shudder of revulsion. Bharguest’s anticipation had resonated.

  Flex fingers. Keep claws retracted, for now. But be ready. Watch for the soft spots, points of vulnerability.

  She swallowed hard. Quick kills, for all of them. She wouldn’t be the kind of monster who enjoyed cruelty.

  The announcements had started. Hard to comprehend over the ongoing shouts of the crowd. All of the poor souls standing on the sands waited for the bells, the signal to start. Anything else meant less than nothing.