Candidate (Selected Book 4) (11 page)

I watched for a minute, but then words appeared in the area. "You are watching the event. You need to watch us run the event."

"Sorry," I said quietly.

I turned to the screen that held the Catseye's controls. It didn't make any sense to me. I watched for a while, but it didn't seem like she was doing much, at least for the moment.

I moved back to stand behind Sal. Her cameras were following along behind the human. She looked over her shoulder, smiled briefly, and turned back to her screens. But it didn't look like she had to do very much, at least not right now. I started to move away, but she reached back and set a hand on my arm. "Sit."

I grabbed my chair again.

Sal gestured. "They all do this. This is the worst path she could take."

"Why is that?"

"Slide over there," she said, gesturing to the workstation beside her. I did, and then she slid with me. "This screen." She pointed, and I was looking at the view of one of the drones, and to the right, a map overlay showing the position of the people and at least some of the drones. "I'm going to let you drive the drone. Hit F3 on the keyboard."

I did, and a menu popped up in the middle of one of the other screens.

"Click on Assisted Flight: Mouse."

I scanned the available choices and then clicked the right one. The menu disappeared, and then there was a flashing pointer on the drone's image.

"Okay, you turn by dragging the mouse. Forward mouse to look down. Backward mouse to look up. Use your left hand over the ASDF keys. A and F slew sideways. S is forward, D is backward. Click the S once."

I did. I thought the drone would move forward and stop. Instead, it began slowly moving forward.

"Steer with the mouse. Gentle movements. Try to fly a circle around that big tree."

There was a tree directly in front of me. I moved the mouse slowly, and the image shifted. It was crude, and really slow, but I was able to travel a full circle.

"Good. Hit the D to slow down. You only hit S once, so D once will come to a stop."

I did that.

"Now, look around. You'll see the girl."

I turned the camera, and there was the girl, working her way along a path.

"See the path she's following? Move over it but make sure you don't get too close to the girl. Follow the path about a half-mile. You'll see."

I moved the drone slowly at first, and then a little faster. "Good. Don't go any faster until you've had a lot more practice."

We were moving through the jungle, but suddenly the drone was out in open air, surprising the crap out of me. "Oh shit," I said. "She could fall."

"There's a safety net below her. We'd catch her and lower her down. But she doesn't know that."

I used the drone to try to find the safety net.

"It's alien technology," said Sal. "You won't find it."

"Oh."

"Move that drone back up and be ready to watch the girl when she gets here."

"Got it."

I kept an eye on the woman, another eye on the map, and one final eye on the drone I was flying. But the drone really didn't require much attention. I let it fly slowly back and forth what felt about twenty feet out from the cliff, flying slowly sideways back and forth while keeping the camera pointed at the trail.

I looked over and Sal was just watching her screens.

"What am I doing wrong?"

She looked over. "Nothing."

"You're not having to touch yours."

"Mine are on autopilot."

"Oh."

According to the map, the Implac was still moving quickly, and if he kept his current path, he would encounter the mating candidate's back trail. I didn't know if he'd turn towards her or not.

The Wookies were setting up in the dead center of the arena.

I was sure the Implac would find her first.

Five minutes later, the woman reached the cliff. She stepped out onto the ledge then stopped and stared. And then I could read her expression, even while she wore the visor.

Her jaw dropped open, and she looked around slowly, smiling. Then she sat down, right there at the edge, and pulled her backpack off. A moment later she was drinking from a water bottle.

I realized it was a good place for a break.

"Andromeda," came Administrator Brighteyes' voice in my ears. "Do you want to help her?"

I turned and looked. The Catseye was in her stool, watching me. I nodded to her.

"I'll make a deal with you," she said. "I'll let you talk to her. You will tell her nothing about her opponents. But you may help guide her path."

"Is there a price to me?"

"Yes. You must convince her to jump."

"She won't get hurt?"

"No. But would you believe some stranger telling you that?"

"No. I can tell her anything I want?"

"Do not mention the Wookies and say nothing about the Implac. Otherwise you may say anything you like."

"I could guide her to win."

"You can try."

"What's her name?"

"Emma. Do we have an agreement?"

"Yes. I'll try."

"Excellent. I consider that choice binding. If she doesn't jump, you will find yourself being hunted."

"What?"

"By males."

I sighed. "I'll do my best, Administrator."

"I know you will. Connecting you now."

A moment later, the sound changed. I realized I could hear the sounds of the jungle. A light breeze, some birds. Countless insects. I wasn't sure what else.

"Emma," I said. "Can you hear me?"

I watched her cock her head. "Who is there?"

"Emma, my name is Andromeda, but you can call me Andie."

"You're one of
them
."

"I'm human," I said. "I'm from Minneapolis. I'm a mating candidate, like you."

"I don't believe you."

"Administrator Brighteyes is treating me differently than you. I don't know why. I'm in the control room watching you."

"Sure you are," she said. "What am I doing now?"

"Making a rude gesture into the jungle."

"You can see me?"

"Yes. The aliens watch you to make sure you don't get hurt."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"That's a beautiful spot, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I'm from Toledo. There's nothing like this in Toledo."

"The closest we have is probably along Lake Superior north of Duluth," I replied.

"I've never been there."

"The aliens said I could help you."

"Why would they do that?"

"They play games within games." She didn't reply to that. "You're not going to like this. If you do something very, very scary, they'll let me help you pick a path to the exit."

"How scary?"

"Are you close enough to see the cliff?"

I watched her lean over the edge. "It's high."

"You're not afraid? I don't think I could look over the edge like that."

"It's not so bad," she said. "What do I have to do?"

"You have to jump."

"What? You're trying to get me to get killed."

"No. They don't want you to get hurt. There's some sort of safety net. It'll catch you and lower you down. If you jump, then I get to help you. If you don't jump, then I don't, and they're going to punish me besides."

"I'm not jumping."

"You can't stay there," I said. "Unless you want to get caught."

"Do you know where
he
is?"

I glanced at the screen. "Yes, but I can't tell you. I don't know what they'll do to me if I tell you, but I don't want to find out. Emma, do you like him?"

"He's a stubborn jerk. He thinks he's right about
everything
."

"I want you to consider what can happen. If you jump, I can lead you away from him. I can't promise you'll win, but you'll have a better chance. What is going to happen if you stay there?"

"He'll find me." She stood up. "I could go this way." She turned, but she didn't start walking. "Is it safe?"

"I can't answer that sort of question unless you jump."

She peered over the edge. "I don't see a safety net."

"Neither do I, but they promised you won't get hurt. I believe them, but I don't know if you do."

She looked over the edge. "It's really far, Andie."

"I know."

"Are you
sure
?"

"They said it was safe."

"I'll do it," she said. "If you're
sure
." I watched as she backed up. I looked over my shoulder.

It wasn't just Jasmine watching me.

"Emma, wait!"

"What?"

"Emma, there are three aliens in this room with me and three humans." I looked around. "Every single one is watching me intently."

"I don't know what that means."

"They're watching me, Emma, not you. They want to see what I do, not what you do."

"I still don't know what that means."

I raised my voice. "Administrator, what happens if she jumps?"

"Convince her to jump and find out."

There was a pause, then Emma asked, "What did she say?"

"I don't think you should do it, Emma."

"You said they'd punish you. A bad punishment?"

"Yeah. But don't worry about that."

"I don't want to marry
him
," she said. "He's somewhere behind me, isn't he?"

"I can't answer that."

"But you can tell me to jump."

"Yes, I can tell you to jump, but I don't think you should."

"If I wait here, or if I go back and look for another path, I think he'll catch me. If he catches me, then I have to marry him. I don't want to marry him, Andie. No matter what happens, I think jumping is better than marrying him."

A lump formed in my throat.

"You said there's a safety net."

"I couldn't find one, Emma. They might have lied."

"They want you to convince me to jump."

"That's what they said, but they play games within games, Emma."

"I'm Catholic, Andie. Suicide is a mortal sin. If I commit suicide, I'll go to hell. But if there's a net, I won't die. If I believe there's a net, then even if I die, it's not suicide. It's an accident. I'd rather die than marry him, Andie. What do I do?"

I began crying. "Emma. Jump."

She didn't wait. She ran for the cliff and jumped into the air. We both began screaming, and I reached out a hand for the monitor.

Both of us screaming, she fell. And then as I watched in horror, she slowed, and slowed further, finally coming to a complete stop ten feet above the jungle floor. I saw most of that on one of the other screens, my drone still watching the top of the cliff.

We both stopped screaming, and then it was nearly silent. Then Emma said, "I jumped, Andie."

"You did. I don't think I could have."

"Did you scream? I thought I heard you scream."

"I screamed my head off," I said. "Oh god, Emma."

"I'm kinda stuck here." I watched her squirm around. "How do I get down?"

"I don't know," I said. I turned to look at the Catseye, but she folded her arms, still watching me. "Um. Just a minute." I turned to the drone controls. It took a minute, but I managed to fly it down, through the lower tree branches until it was hovering just a few feet above Emma. I used it to look around. Then I smiled. I lifted the drone five feet higher then moved it above a narrow branch. Then, working carefully, I pushed down on the branch, and down, and down.

"Emma, look up. Can you reach that branch?"

It took us two minutes, but finally she snagged it.

"Yes!" I said.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Well, no one is stopping me, so I hope this is okay. Pull on the branch."

And I watched as Emma began tugging, and slowly she moved up. Soon she reached a thicker part of the branch, and a thicker one, and then as easy as pie, she pulled herself down to the jungle floor.

"I made it! Now what?"

"I think I soiled myself, Emma."

"I might have, too."

"Let me look around." I consulted the map. Then I used the drone again, flying away. I found a trail. I followed it for a while. Then I turned around and flew back to Emma. "Emma, turn to your right. More. More. Okay, walk that way. You're going to find a trail. When you do, if you turn left, you'll be heading north. You can follow the trail for a while, but you're going to have to go through the jungle in a while."