Chapter 7 Venom
Venom
I glared at my captors. They grinned and leered back at me.
According to Briarra, I should be grateful to her that I was still alive.
But I knew it wasn't out of the goodness of her heart.
She was waiting for orders from her uncle, the Prime Game Maker.
He may have been a relative, but she didn't dare do anything without his permission.
From what I'd gathered by listening to the guards' gossip, he was still being treated by medics.
My plan had been more effective that I could have hoped for.
His injuries were much worse than expected.
But even though I was still alive, I was also surrounded by armed goons who would like nothing more than to kill me on the spot.
Finding a spy among their own hadn't gone down well.
I bet some of them saw it as a personal failure to not have suspected me all along.
It wasn't their fault. For one, most hadn't been chosen for their intelligence.
They were tools, hired muscle, chosen for their lack of empathy and the size of their guns.
Only a few had actual skills, like my colleagues in the control room.
Bawwa had come by a while ago, stared at me without a word, then left.
A small part of me would miss them. I'd spent such a long time on this station that I'd got used to the people here.
None were my friends, obviously, but I'd had a few interesting conversations with some.
And I had learned much by watching, observing, listening.
I had built my disguise to match the station's inhabitants: a fucked-up past, a lack of perspective, no hope whatsoever, a hate of anyone remotely successful, and – most importantly – an intrinsic joy of seeing others suffer.
It was sad, really, how similar everyone here was.
It's how Kalumbu kept operating, rotation after rotation, built on the suffering of its contestants and the hate of its staff.
I ignored the guards and focused inwards, on that implanted communications system.
My distress signal was still transmitting.
There had been no reply. Not even an acknowledgement that someone, anyone, had heard me.
I was on my own. And worst of all, I had no idea where my mate was.
Had she followed the guiding lights to the portal?
Or had they caught her before she got there?
I was pretty sure that Briarra and her followers would let me know the moment they laid hands on my mate.
They wouldn't ignore an opportunity to gloat.
But... wait. Did they know that she was connected to me?
When they'd caught me unawares, I'd had Jarra's apartment on my screen along with a floor plan to unlock all doors and portals in the vicinity.
But unless they'd managed to hack into my personal files yet – very unlikely – they didn't know that I'd been watching my female.
If I played my cards right, they might think that all I did was attack Jarra, and even that was hard to prove.
It would take them days to unlock the necessary data.
There was a reason why I was called anytime there was an issue with the security systems. They didn't have the brains.
Silence was my best friend. As long as I didn't admit to anything, didn't offer any information whatsoever, I might stay alive for a little while longer. And that would give me a chance to escape. There had to be a way out. This couldn't be the end.
"Jarra's dead," Briarra snapped. "And you will be, soon. Very soon. We're sending you to the Trials."
I wasn't surprised. A quick, easy execution on the space station was a waste for the game makers. Better to make me part of their show and let me die publicly.
"When?" I asked, keeping my expression neutral. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
"You're being announced to the viewers as we speak. There's never been a naga in the Trials. Want to give our audience some time to start betting. Think you'll last past sunset?"
I simply stared into her dark, cold eyes.
If she was sad over her uncle's passing, she didn't show it.
I wasn't sure if this made her the next Prime Game Maker, or if they would be selected from the other game makers.
I didn't care. Kalumbu was a horrible place, a death trap that ate contestants alive, but I had some advantages over the poor sods thrust into the Trials.
I'd been behind the scenes. I knew how it all worked.
They'd make it especially hard for me, of course, but my knowledge gave me hope.
I knew the geography of the planet. I knew the comparatively safe zones.
And I knew the audience. If I managed to get them on my side, make them passionate about my survival, they'd bet on me.
Money was power. The game makers wouldn't kill me off right away if I made them money.
Briarra was clearly disappointed in my lack of reaction. "We found the female," she said with a smirk. "I don't know if she was your accomplice or whatever, but we know you helped her escape from Jarra's room. She's on Kalumbu. And right now, she's running from a very angry prondu."
It took all my self-control not to show my emotions. A prondu. Fuck. My mate was as good as dead.
I wanted to demand that Briarra show me what was happening on Kalumbu, show me my mate, but that would give away just how much the female meant to me. Instead, I forced myself to smile at the Irridonian.
"I will miss you, Briarra. It's been a pleasure."
And I will destroy your life, I said in silence.
Once my superiors acted on the data I sent them, this place would be shut down.
It wasn't as much evidence as I would have liked, but hopefully it would be enough.
Wait a click. I was going to be in the Trials.
An employee of the Intergalactic Authority – even though Briarra and her goons weren't aware of that – forced to participate in the deadliest games of the universe.
.. It was the last piece of evidence. With many of the other contestants, it wasn't easy to prove that they hadn't volunteered to take part.
Nobody ever got the chance to interview them before they were sent to Kalumbu. But with me, it was different.
I smiled at Briarra once more before retreating to the back of my cell. I curled my coils into tight circles and closed my eyes as if resting, then used my communications implant to send a new message.
I did not agree to take part in the Trials of Kalumbu. I was forced against my will. I did not give consent for them to film me, make me a contestant, transport me to the planet's surface. I am not volunteering. I am being forced.
The sound of my cell door opening made me open my eyes. Six goons with blasters trained at me as if they expected me to resist. I knew it was pointless. Besides, they were taking me to the place I wanted to be. Kalumbu, where my mate was waiting for me. Even if she didn't know it yet.
They didn't bother tranquillising me like they did to most of the other contestants.
I hadn't been given a weapon. Not that I needed one.
My fangs held enough venom to kill some of the biggest monsters on the planet – if I could get close enough to bite.
What worried me the most were the temperature changes on the planet's surface.
If they sent me to the polar zones, I would be as good as dead. I needed warmth to survive.
But that wouldn't be good entertainment, would it?
Watching a naga slowly freeze to death was no fun at all.
Viewers wanted blood and violence, not drawn-out deaths by starvation and the environment.
And the game makers loved introducing couples to the Trials, so there was a chance that I would be dropped close to mine.
Sometimes they were existing lovers, sometimes fated mates who were yet to get to know each other.
The game makers had stolen fancy tech from the Intergalactic Dating Agency that gave them the ability to test for compatibility among contestants.
For some of the most promising candidates they had even commissioned space pirates to procure mates. It was disgusting.
The platform was approaching the surface quickly, heading for dense jungle.
I was held in stasis, conscious but immobile, but I knew that would disappear as soon as we landed.
I also knew that cameras were already trained on me.
Viewers across the galaxy were watching me.
If I was lucky, someone I knew back at the Authority would recognise me and send an alert to my superiors.
Then they would check their communications systems to figure out why I was suddenly part of the Trials and then. ..
So many variables. For now, I was on my own. It fell to me to find and protect my female.
I'm coming, mate. I'm coming.