Gladiator (Gauntlet Prime Book 1) Page 4

  Mel laughed. The expression was a scowl, but she immediately understood that the girl was laughing. All of her expressions seemed to be backwards.

  “I guess I can’t call you Angrycat then, can I?” Mel laughed, both amused and frustrated. “I don’t even know how to give you a name. Am I supposed to call you Susan or Tigress or what? Oh my god, this is such a silly thing to be worrying about right now.”

  Evan mumbled something that Mel couldn’t hear and she had to ask him to repeat it. “How about a cat-like name? You know, like Kathy or something?”

  “Does she look like a Kathy to you?” Nick asked. “She’s a freaking alien! She should have an alien name, like Shanti Darth Luna Moonrock.”

  “Darth Luna Moonrock? Are you literally insane?” Mel said.

  “Well, we aren’t naming her Kathy,” Nick protested. “Come on, people! We are the first humans to meet aliens. Let’s have some creativity here. Let’s see…” Nick held both hands out, placing his fingers in a square and staring at the cat girl through the makeshift lens. “Athletic. Weird alien eyes. Definitely photogenic…”

  Mel shook her head. It almost felt good to joke about naming the alien girl, to not have to think about Riley and Anna being taken. But it wasn’t helping them figure out what to do next. Or how to escape.

  “I can’t deal with this. Let’s worry about it later,” Mel said.

  “I’m digging the sexy fur thing,” Nick said.

  “Really?” Mel threw up her hands in exasperation. “That’s where you’re going to go?”

  “What?” Nick replied with a grin. “She’s gorgeous, that’s all I’m saying. But I’m not really getting any solid vibes here. Maybe we should just go with Kathy after all.”

  “That’s it!” the alien girl exclaimed.

  Mel and Nick both jumped. “Whoa,” Nick said. “You want to be called Kathy?”

  “No, that doesn’t translate. Before that, you said my name.”

  “Uh… what did I say?” Nick looked confused. “Vibes? Solid?”

  “Before that,” the girl said.

  “Gorgeous,” the ape-alien replied.

  “What?” Mel said.

  “Her name is Gorgeous,” he replied. “The boy intended that word to be her name, so the translator used it.” He shrugged at the look on their faces. “Like I said, names are confusing.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Mel said, glaring at Nick. “You just named her Gorgeous. What the hell kind of name is that?”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose!” Nick said. “How was I supposed to know the stupid translators would make that her name?”

  “That’s interesting,” Evan said. “I wonder if it’s because you said ‘She is gorgeous.’”

  “It’s not a bad word, is it?” Gorgeous asked.

  “No, no,” Mel assured her. “It’s actually a great name and it definitely suits you. It’s just not normally used as a name in our language. I don’t understand why the translator just picked that word out randomly from Nick’s word salad. We’ll see if we can change it later, but it’s not important right now.”

  “Does it mean something in your language?” Gorgeous asked.

  Mel shook her head. “It’s fine. It means you’re an amazing person, that’s all. Really, don’t worry about it.”

  “And what courteous, respectful and completely random name have you given me?” the ape creature asked.

  “I was thinking Plato,” Evan said. “You seem really smart.”

  “That’s true, although not as much as I am charming,” the ape creature replied.

  Nick threw both his hands out and intoned in a deep voice. “He is Beast!”

  “Nick! Stop it!” Mel yelled, turning to shove Nick away. Nick fell over laughing.

  “I was just kidding!”

  “Ah,” Beast replied. “I did hear my name then. I hope you didn’t go off and call me something silly.”

  Nick sat up. “Damn, it worked.”

  Mel hid her face in one of her hands. “Nick. Just… just stop talking. Please.”

  “I didn’t think that would work,” Nick said. “Honest.”

  “I wonder if it’s the phrase he’s using or some kind of intention behind it?” Evan said.

  “No idea,” Nick replied. “Be careful naming aliens in the future. With great power comes great responsibility.”

  “We’ll figure out how to change it,” Mel said.

  Sounds of Sharon crying tore Mel away from the conversation. She excused herself and helped Jeff take Sharon to her room so she could sleep. Mel sat with her on the bed, Sharon gripping her hand.

  “How can you guys laugh when they just took Riley?” Sharon said. “That thing is going to kill us all, isn’t he?”

  “I don’t know Sharon. If he just wanted us dead, we’d all be dead already. We’ll figure something out.”

  Sharon sniffed. “Do you think… Do you think my parents were kidnapped too? And Anna’s parents, they were there. Do you think they’re dead?”

  Mel took a deep breath. The question had already gone through her mind, but she refused to give in to despair. “You’re parents were back at the hotel, not on the beach, just like mine. I’m sure they’re fine.”

  Sharon nodded and wiped away a tear. “Don’t leave me alone. Please?”

  “We won’t. Is it okay if Jeff or Nick stays with you? I want to talk to the aliens and see what they know about the ship.”

  Sharon shuddered. “How can you stand to talk to them? Every time they talk I hear… I hear her voice. It’s horrible, I can’t stand it.”

  Mel nodded and kissed Sharon’s forehead. “I know. I feel the same way. Maybe we can get the bad alien to change it. I’ll ask…” Mel had to resist rolling her eyes. “Beast. I’ll ask Beast. Just try to get some sleep.”

  “Okay. Not Nick. Can Jeff stay?”

  Mel glanced at Jeff. “Can you keep an eye on her? Maybe leave the door open.”

  Sharon shook her head. “No. Close the door. I don’t want to hear the aliens talking.”

  Jeff shrugged. “No worries, Mel. I’ll hang out with her. Maybe take a nap, too.”

  Mel hugged Jeff and then went back into the main room. Nick was trying to talk to Beast, while Evan and the shape-shifting alien were nowhere to be seen.

  Nick looked up as Mel approached. “Evan named the other alien. Ends up she’s a she and her name is now Mirage.”

  Mel sighed, although she decided it didn’t really matter. In the end, what difference did it make what the aliens were called?

  Nick shrugged. “Personally, I think that’s a pretty cool name. Better than what I came up with.”

  Beast looked up as Mel approached. “Mirage was overwhelmed. People are always fascinated by a Sathir. Anyway, she’s hiding in one of the rooms.”

  Jon laughed but Mel notice how haggard and on edge he looked. “I think Evan was upset his alien girlfriend left him. He went sulking back to his room, too.”

  Nick smirked but Mel just gave them both a disapproving look. “Don’t make fun of him. He’s just trying to get to know them.”

  Jon scowled. “I don’t remember making you the boss, so I guess I’ll make fun of him if I want. He’s a dweeb, anyway.”

  “Sorry Mel,” Nick said. “I was just laughing because it was funny. It wasn’t anything personal against Evan.”

  “It’s funny when it’s someone else. You won’t be laughing when they start making fun of you,” Mel said.

  “I was counting on you to protect me. And why do you have to assume they’ll make fun of me, huh? That’s kind of harsh,” Nick said.

  “Harsh, but true. Put the joking aside for a second and listen to me. We need to stick together.”

  Nick sighed. “Sure, Mel. Take all my fun away. At least we’ll die all stuck together. It could be worse.”

  “We’re not going to die. We’ll escape, somehow.”

  Nick’s eyes drifted away for a moment, then looked hesitantly back at Mel. “You have m
ore faith than I do.” Not waiting for a response, Nick shrugged and walked back to his room.

  Mel sat down next to Beast and Gorgeous. Looking Beast over, she wondered how to start. There were so many questions, but they were allies now. And she needed to know who her allies were.

  “Why are you here? How did you get on this ship?” she asked.

  Beast moved his head in a circle, which Mel now knew was the same as a human nodding their head for ‘yes’ or ‘okay’. “I was hiking during a break in my classes in a remote area of Manesh when Kathor kidnapped me. I think he must have poisoned me when I was sleeping, although I can’t imagine how he got me out of there without raising a fuss.”

  “Classes? Like a school? And Kathor is the alien guy with the permanent scowl?” Mel asked. Mel wondered what a Manesh was.

  Beast nodded his head and rumbled a laugh; a moment later Mel understood that a human nod meant no. More confusion, although the translators were doing a good job of reminding her.

  “Yes, I am enrolled in a university. We had a several week break between semesters. Kathor is the one who runs this ship, yes; but that’s not a scowl. An Asadharan’s face is made of bone that starts soft and solidifies as they get older. It’s just his bone structure, not an expression.”

  “Wait,” Mel interrupted. “What’s an Asadharan?”

  “The race of Kathor’s people. They are from the planet Asadhara, of course,” Beast replied. Mel wondered where the translator got that word from. That probably meant Manesh was where Beast was from.

  Gorgeous broke into the conversation. “They found me on Nipun. In Sha Shahar,” she said, with a look of embarrassment. Mel waited to see what the translators said the real emotion was. Interestingly, the feeling Mel had a moment later confirmed it really was embarrassment. So some emotional expressions were the same, while others were different.

  Beast made a clucking sound that the translators said was a gasp. He quickly reached up and scratched his chin as if trying to hide it. Mel wondered what this Sha Shahar was about. And, again, how the translator came up with that name.

  “I know, I shouldn’t have been there,” Gorgeous said. “But for someone like me, it’s the only place I could earn a living. It was fun, but people don’t care what happens to you. I was careless. It was easy for him to take me. I’ll be honest, this isn’t much worse. Especially if they feed us.”

  So Beast and Gorgeous had been kidnapped. Just like all the humans on the ship.

  “What does he want with us? Why kidnap a bunch of human kids?” Mel said.

  “Crazy people don’t need much reason. That’s why they’re crazy,” Beast said. “And it’s not just children. Or humans. I saw into a room when I came in. Bodies of humans. Forty, maybe fifty. You are the ones that have survived. And some others, like Gorgeous and Kathor. But I think they were dead.”

  Mel could barely process that. Kathor had captured forty or fifty humans and there were only eight of them left. Assuming Anna and Riley were still alive. “Do you know what they are doing to Anna and Riley?”

  Beast nodded his head slightly, meaning no. “Experiments of some sort, clearly. Those other creatures, the ones like you who follow Kathor, they smell disgusting. Much different from you and your friends. I would guess they are sick and on the verge of dying. His experiments would seem to be a failure so far.” Mel was grateful to know she didn’t smell disgusting to Beast.

  “Yes, they are sick. So the same thing will happen to Anna and Riley?”

  Beast shrugged. “Maybe the next experiments will succeed.”

  Mel had a macabre thought. What if the zombies were exactly what Kathor was trying to do? What if this was success? She decided to change the subject. “We have Anna’s voice in our heads. In the translator.”

  Beast circled his head. “Interesting. Basic translators are that way. Ones you hold in your hand or wear on your ear. Better ones have a different voice for different people so they don’t all sound the same. The best models have the non-verbal translations built in as well, but they obviously need a camera. It seems odd that Kathor’s translators are good enough to translate body language but only have one voice. I wonder if he’s using your Anna to train the translators?”

  Mel’s first thought was that her alien translator was being powered by a stoner who spent most of her time figuring out how to sleep with different boys. She immediately regretted thinking that, even if it was both funny and true. Anna may be shallow, but she was still Mel’s friend.

  “You think Kathor wants the same with Riley?”

  “No idea. You’ll have to wait and see. I’m sorry.”

  Mel’s mind swam, trying to understand it all. She wanted to strangle Beast for not having more answers. “Any ideas on how to get out of here? We need to escape.”

  Gorgeous shook her head, her expression a scowl that Mel knew was amusement. But the translator indicated there was something else to it. It wasn’t a happy laugh; this scowl was more like a derisive, are-you-an-idiot kind of laugh. “We are on a ship in space. There are guards and robots. I’ve never seen anything like them before, even on Sha Shahar. Kathor is a criminal. That I have seen before. He will dump us all into the void or throw our bodies into the sun without a second thought. There are more he can get if he wants. No one will come looking,” Gorgeous looked away from Mel. “I don’t know what his plans are, but I don’t see how we can escape.”

  Rubbing her eyes made Mel realize that she couldn’t remember the last time she had slept. It had been maybe two days since Anna had been taken, but what sleep she had was fitful, with strange dreams.

  “I need to rest. I guess there’s extra rooms for you two.”

  “I’m not tired right now,” Gorgeous replied. “I think I shall look at the stars for a bit.”

  “And I shall join you,” Beast said. “You can tell me shocking stories of Sha Shahar while I see if I can figure out where we are from star patterns.”

  Gorgeous scowl-laughed at Beast. “Have you memorized star patterns across the galaxy, then? Showoff.”

  Beast rumbled a laugh and Mel smiled at the casual teasing between the two. A bitter smile, knowing where they were and how bleak their future looked. No, she couldn’t think that way. There had to be a way out. To get them all out alive. Stumbling to her room, she crawled onto the bed, her mind tired and racing at the same time. Something Gorgeous said tugged at her. Kathor was a criminal. That might be the hole they needed to get out. This wasn’t a plot by an alien race to take over the universe. It was one madman— mad-alien— doing something illegal. If the proper authorities were informed, maybe they could put a stop to it. Maybe they could find the help they needed to get home.

  Wild dreams of aliens lounging on a tropical beach and a monkey with squid tentacles sipping on a fruity drink raced through Mel’s brain as she slept. She woke feeling groggy and alarmed at the same time. Something was wrong;, she needed to get up and… do something. She sat up on the bed, trying to think straight. What had woken her up?

  Then she heard it again. Riley.

  Chapter 6

  She stumbled out of her room, catching a glimpse of the blue-green planet just rising from the floor. And Riley, curled in a ball next to Jeff and Beast, moaning gently.

  Mel rushed over. “My god, is he okay? Riley?”

  Riley opened his eyes and peered at Mel. Dark circles lined his eyes and his normally dark skin was a slight shade of gray. She noticed his hands trembling. “You didn’t come visit me in the hospital,” he said. A racking cough seized his body, one that took a minute to subside.

  “Sorry, I was upset you went off to party without inviting the rest of us,” she joked weakly.

  “Trust me, it was a crappy party. You didn’t miss a thing.” He coughed again then lay back. “I hurt all over.”

  “What did they do to you?” Mel asked, afraid to hear the answer.

  “Dunno. It was boring at first. I was strapped into this machine. The alien dude took some bloo
d, but all I could do was lie there. Then he had this huge needle. He put it into my bones. That hurt so much, I couldn’t stop screaming. He left for a few hours, but when he came back he did some kind of injection. That was a while ago. I started feeling really sick and then he brought me back here. I don’t… I don’t know what he did to me, Mel.”

  Mel looked at Beast, his expression a mix of pity and disgust. “Hey Riley. This is Beast. Nick named him, don’t blame me. But don’t let it fool you, he’s cool.”

  Riley reached out a hand. “Pleasure’s all mine.”

  Beast sniffed at Riley’s hand, then gripped the hand between two large fingers, picking it up and dropping it to land limply back at Riley’s side.

  Riley chuckled. “I guess he doesn’t shake hands.”

  Mel frowned and turned to Beast. “What do you think they did to him?”

  “The smell. Like the other humans. Quite unpleasant.”

  “Yeah,” Riley whispered.

  Mel closed her eyes, Beast’s words confirming her own worst fears. Riley was going to turn into one of the zombie people. Tears betrayed the smile she forced herself to wear. “We’ll figure something out,” she said. She couldn’t quite hide the sound of hopelessness in her voice. “Let’s get him into bed so he can rest.”

  As Beast bent down to pick Riley up, Mirage passed by. She stopped next to Riley and the main blob of her octopus form pulsed in and out. She wrapped two tentacles around Riley and pulled him in close, stroking his head. Without a word, she let go and zoomed back to her room.

  Beast seemed to find all this completely normal, but Riley and Mel both stared at each other and tried not to laugh.

  “I guess she’s a hugger,” Riley said. Beast carried him into his room. Despite both sweating and shivering, he fell asleep quickly. They didn’t have any blankets to cover him with. She felt helpless, but there wasn’t anything they could do.

  She returned to the main room and sat next to Gorgeous, watching the planet rise from the floor to fill the room. They sat in silence for an hour or so, when the door opened and several zombies and a robot entered. The robot zeroed in on Beast immediately, keeping him covered while one of the zombies stumbled over to Jon. The zombie pointed at him and nodded to the door. Jon stared at it with a blank expression. The zombie pointed to Mel and Gorgeous, too.