by Lily Thomas
“Like hell you will.” He leaned in. “You’ll sit at your pad unable to push the play button.” He let go of her. “But if you really want, I will let you walk out of here.”
Evelyn huffed, but knew he was right. All she had to do was stick it out, at least there were no innocent women down there. There were a couple women, but they were aliens who were kicking ass. All of these fighters looked like they could handle themselves, unlike her poor sister.
The Vrak’rir kept drawing her eye. He looked like he was in his element in the arena, having no trouble at all with any of his opponents. He wielded his sword easily with those enormous muscles of his. It was impressive, even if he was turning the pristine dirt of the arena into a blood-soaked pool.
She grimaced as his sword sailed through the air, knocking a head off an alien who hadn’t been paying attention to what was going on behind him. The head flew through the air landing many feet away and rolling slightly.
The Vrak’rir turned to the crowd and bowed deeply his arm sweeping under his waist. The crowd went nuts, their hands flying into the air. Then he sent a few winks to the women in the crowd and some of them swooned.
Evelyn rolled her eyes. He was not that attractive, just another brutish Vrak’rir flaunting his excellence with primitive weapons.
“If I were a woman, I think I might act like the women around us.” Connor remarked.
She snorted. “I hope you’re kidding.”
“I’m not.” He turned and looked down at her. “I’m betting the Vrak’rir will be the winner of today’s match.”
“When does a Vrak’rir not win a sport that only requires brute strength and no thought?”
Connor didn’t hear her, and instead he kept making sure the camera had a good view of the arena below them because bouncing people kept getting in the way of its view. The camera was small and unnoticeable to the human eye so that the Frirens wouldn’t know what they were up to in the stands.
“You think it’d be hard for them to keep this blood sport so well hidden. Unless you know what you’re searching for you’d be hard pressed to find any mention of it in the news.”
“The Frirens are good at making sure what they do stays well hidden. I’m sure they have a lot of people and resources invested in keeping the arena a pleasant little secret.”
“I have to wonder how many innocent people get dragged in there each year.”
“More than you’d want to know about I’m sure.”
He was right. She should stop thinking about it, because she was sure it would just bother her to think of all the dead that had no hope of surviving such a brutal sport.
The Vrak’rir and a couple others still stood, and thankfully the man who’d been speared had finally bled to death. She’d never wished death on someone, except for that poor man, because she knew he wasn’t going to be taken to see a doctor so his only respite would be the cold arms of death.
The Vrak’rir circled the last opponents who had decided to team up against him. Evelyn wasn’t sure he would have the ability to kill them both. One of them was a hulking alien that she hadn’t seen before and the other was a Lieridon.
The Lieridon’s red eyes followed every move the Vrak’rir made while the hulking alien attempted to get behind him. The Lieridon leapt into action, drawing the Vrak’rir’s attention.
The Vrak’rir was skilled though, and danced around the Lieridon, surprisingly nimble for such a heavily muscled man. He managed to duck under the Lieridon’s arm and popped up behind the man, sliding an arm around the man’s neck and slitting his throat in one fluid motion.
Evelyn averted her eyes, knowing very well this whole day was going to give her nightmares with what she’d already seen. She turned her gaze up to the Friren in his box, high above the arena. He was the announcer of this horrible game, and he seemed unable to take his eyes off the fight below them.
When the crowd gave a bellow of a cheer, her eyes returned to the battlefield below them. The Vrak’rir pranced around the arena with the head of the hulking alien in one hand and his sword raised high in the air with the other hand.
She gagged and raised a hand to her mouth.
The Vrak’rir’s onyx eyes connected with hers and a sizzle seared through her entire body, but then his onyx eyes moved on to skim the crowd.
Her stomach fluttered with the force of a million butterflies, before calming down. Glancing around she made sure no one had seen her reaction to such a beast of a man. There was nothing attractive about him.
“I think we have what we need. We can get out of here and get started on writing that article of yours. I would suggest making it a series, leave them wanting more and it would give you more time in Janet’s good graces.”
“I’m not intending to write this as a gossip series. I want people to take this seriously.” Evelyn stated as they made their way through the throng of people. She couldn’t wait to get out of here. This was the worst place in the universe.
“You should get it in their minds and make it stay there, which means you should give it to them in doses. Also, this will please Janet beyond measure, and help you keep your job. I really think it would be better as a series. Instead of people seeing it one time, they will see it multiple times and it will keep it in their minds for longer.” Connor reasoned.
That was true. She might be doing this for her sister, but she was still alive and she needed to get paid so she could pay her rent and feed herself. It would take time to bring down the Frirens anyways and if she kept reminding the public of it, it would have a better effect.
After leaving the arena they made their way to the shuttle pad, found their tourist shuttle, boarded and then waited patiently as the shuttle took them back to the space ship orbiting the planet which served as their hotel.
“Meet you for dinner when you’re done writing the first segment of your new series?”
“Definitely.” He turned to leave and she stopped him with a hand on his arm. “If I don’t get to say this later, I want you to know that I’m thankful to you for convincing me to come here. I’ve needed to give a meaning to my sister’s death and I think bringing light to the arena will do just that.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” He smiled at her. “Just make mention of me at some point in your series.”
“Of course!” Evelyn laughed. “See you later then.” She turned and entered her room.
She breathed a sigh of relief the moment the door closed behind her. Walking towards the large window in her room she glanced over the planet she had just been on. That had only been one arena. There were too many to count on too many different planets. It hurt her to think of all the innocent people that might be being killed right under her nose.
She had to get writing. The sooner she had the first segment written the sooner she’d be able to publish with Janet’s approval and the sooner people would be able to read it.
Turning around she found her pad and sat down at her table. Time to get writing.
A few hours passed until the bell to her door chimed.
“Come in!”
The door slid open to reveal Connor leaning against the door frame. “Ready for dinner?”
“Is it already time for dinner?” Evelyn glanced down at the time on her pad and sighed.
“Time got away from you?” Connor wandered into her room and came to stand beside her.
“Yeah. You mind if I get a rain check on dinner? I really want to get this finished and sent off to Janet before tonight is over.”
“Of course!” Connor laughed. “I’ll even have something sent up to your room, if you’d like.”
“That would be great. Thank you.” She tossed him a warm smile.
“Then I’ll see you later and happy writing. Just let me know what else I can do to help you.”
“Sounds good.”
Then he left. She felt bad asking for a raincheck, but she’d been taking her time with the piece making sure it was everything it needed to be t
o please Janet and touch a cord with her readers.
After a couple more hours and plowing through the meal that was sent up to her room she finally finished. The draft was rough to say the least, but it definitely had promise and she was sure Janet would be eager to edit the piece and send it out right away.
This was the piece Janet had been waiting to sink her teeth into. So, Evelyn hit the send button and hoped for the best. Maybe it would even be published tonight, since Janet was on a different planet and currently at work.
“Sir. You might want to see this latest piece of… work concerning the arena.” A Friren swiveled around in his seat, his loose silver hair following the sudden movement.
“Send it to my console.” Mazio directed his man.
Data popped up on his screen and slowly his silver eyes read through the piece of work. A frown formed on his face as he continued to read the piece. It did not put the arena in the type of light his superiors would enjoy. “We need to stop this. Immediately.” Before it made its way to his superiors and he lost his job.
“It came from a human journal on a planet we have no jurisdiction on.”
Mazio tapped a slender finger against his chair arm. “They must have an inside man. There is no way they could have such a good idea of the arena unless they’ve been here.”
“How should we find them?” The man asked.
“Look at the name of the writer and find out if she is here now. If she’s still in our space it will be easy enough to get rid of her. She likes to write about our arena, so let’s give her a good close up look about her material.”
Chapter 3
“Glad to see you finally made it to dinner with me.” Connor’s eyes danced with amusement.
Evelyn sat down at the table and glanced around the dining hall. “They really didn’t spare any money in creating these cruise line space ships, did they?” The chandeliers were almost blinding with their array of glittering crystals.
“Doesn’t appear that way.” Connor took a sip from a wine glass.
Evelyn shook her head. “I would enjoy this a lot more if the Friren arenas weren’t below us on the planet.”
“Try not to think of that right now. Right now, we are up here, and we are trying to do something for the people below.”
She nodded. This was why she’d avoided facing her sister’s death. Once she started thinking about it, it just bothered her beyond reason. She just kept thinking of what her sister might have gone through.
“How did the story go over with Janet? I assume you sent it to her already.” Connor flipped over the menu.
Evelyn nodded. “I sent it last night and Janet was more pleased than words can describe. I thought she might burst when she gave me a call over video chat.”
“Good enough to warrant a video chat call?” Connor’s eyebrows rose with his surprise.
“Yeah.”
“That’s something to celebrate!” He grabbed a hold of his wine glass and raised it in the air, and she did the same before they each took a sip.
She glanced over the menu, found what she wanted and placed it back down on the table. The fancy dining hall bothered her to no end. It was probably afforded by all those arenas the Frirens had all over the universe. She’d never be able to enjoy anything the Frirens made anymore.
“Thanks again for pointing me in this direction. I think I might have my career made with this.”
He smiled at her over the table.
“It’s been getting a lot of views and reactions, which is great and it pleases Janet.” She was going to nail two birds with one stone. She would bring meaning to her sister’s death and she would expose the arena to people who would find it just as appalling, as she did.
“Bet you didn’t think about this, but you might find there are other people like you out there.”
“What do you mean?” She asked as she straightened the fork on the table.
“There might be other families waiting out there in silence, just waiting for the moment to speak and you might be presenting them with their real first chance. It could become a rallying point for people who’ve lost loved ones to the arena.”
“I never thought about that.” She smiled to herself. She was going to bring the Frirens down! She already had another article written and ready to be published. The Frirens better prepare themselves, because she was going to bring the whole universe crashing down around them in an epic shit storm.
Jolting up in bed, Evelyn glanced around the dark room. There’d been a strange sound at her door. She continued to hear some sort of shuffling noise at her cabin door. Maybe someone had gotten drunk and thought her cabin was theirs. They’d realize it soon enough and move on to try another door when hers didn’t open.
When silence finally reigned over the room, she rolled back over in her bed. She cuddled the blankets up to her chin.
An explosion shook her right out of bed and over the edge. She plopped onto the ground tangled up in her blankets. Popping up she peered over the mattress of her bed to see men striding into her cabin.
Shit!
Rising to her feet she dashed to her closet before the dust settled and she could be spotted.
Closing the door gently she prayed to the stars that the men had the wrong room and she would be perfectly fine, but she doubted it. Maybe the ship was being raided by space pirates?
Then again, the moment her story hit trillions upon trillions of readers and now she had people knocking down her cabin door? It couldn’t be a coincidence. It just couldn’t be.
They were here for her. They couldn’t be just random space pirates. The Frirens were good about making sure their section of space was free from pirates. They were well known for that.
Evelyn could hear them rummaging around in her room, and then the door to her closet was yanked open and she craned her head up to stare into the silver eyes of a Friren who was standing over her.
They were definitely here for her.
The Friren smiled. “Found you.”
He reached down and grabbed her arm roughly while yanking her up to her feet. Leaning down she bit his hand. She didn’t know what it might gain her, but she had to try something. He growled and backhanded her with his free hand.
She let out a pained grunt as she ran a tongue over her teeth and tasted blood in her mouth. Her head rang.
He yanked her out of the closet and through her room to the hallway while she was too stunned to fight back. But the moment her head stopped ringing she began to squirm in his grasp.
“Let me go! My boss will know what’s happened to me!” She had to say something, even though Janet would have no idea what had happened to her. Janet might not even care. She’d probably just try to get a good story out of it.
“Evelyn!”
Glancing over her shoulder she saw Connor being hauled down the hallway by a couple Frirens. “Connor!”
Connor fought against the Frirens holding him, and he broke free for a second, but they were on him before he could get to her. They dragged him down the hall and then her Frirens dragged her down the hall after them.
Every once in a while, a guest would open their door and peer out at them because of all the commotion they were making.
“Help me!” She hollered, hoping if she made eye contact with some of them one might come to her rescue, but none of them did. Even if they wanted to help her they would be outnumbered by the Frirens.
She struggled in their grasp. They might over power her, but she was going to at least make it difficult for them. She still held out the hope that someone would come to her aide.
Her foot got free and she kicked it up and into the air, and she managed to clip a Friren on the bottom of his chin.
“Cease your struggling!” He roared down at her.
“Then let me go!” She hollered back at him. She tried to rip her arms out of their grasps, but it was in vain, they had a death grip on her. “I’m a journalist and am protected by free speech!”
; “That won’t do you any good while in Friren space.”
They pulled her through a hatch and onto another ship. They were going to take her away and she feared what they might be up to. Maybe they would just try to scare her into not publishing any more negative reviews of their arena or make a retraction.
“Where are you taking me?”
They ignored her.
“Why are you taking me?” They hadn’t confirmed her theory yet. “Where’s Connor?” She twisted around trying to see where he might be but wasn’t able to see over the Frirens who were dragging her through their tiny ship.
“He’ll be taken care of as well.”
Evelyn was going to bet that Connor was regretting having her mention his name in her article. She was regretting it. If she hadn’t made mention of him, then they may not have grabbed him and he could have alerted the human authorities to her abduction.
Sucking in a deep breath she let out a high-pitched scream. The Frirens dropped her and she flopped to the ground as they covered their ears. Racing to get her feet under her she looked up to see the hilt of a gun coming straight for her. Pain blasted through her skull and her world went black.
“Where the hell am I?” Evelyn rose on a cot and her vision swam before her. “Woah!”
Pausing she let her head get used to sitting up and then took a look around when her vision stopped swimming.
It was a small room with four walls and no door that she could see. She looked at the cot that was under her. It was basic as well, nothing fantastic, something a soldier might sleep on.
Maybe she was dreaming, but her head hurt a lot for being a dream. She reached a hand back there and probed the tender area. Yeah, it was no dream.
“Connor?” She might be alone in the room, but he could be on the other side of one of these walls and they might be thin walls.
No answer.
Her heart rate picked up a little. “Anyone?”
There was no telling if she was on a space ship or on a planet. There were no windows on any of the walls. She tilted her head back to take a look at the ceiling but there was nothing up there of interest.
