Candidate (Selected Book 4) (79 page)

The entrance was a living room. It was small and wouldn't host more than four or five, but it was definitely a living room. In one direction was a bedroom. There was a closet and a bathroom. The bathroom had both a shower and a tub.

In the other direction was a kitchen with a small table, big enough for four to share an informal meal. The kitchen was equipped; Jasmine showed me the controls. "The visor can give you a full tutorial and also has cookbooks and can even give you lessons." There was a refrigerator. It was stocked with basics.

I turned to her. "It's amazing."

She led me back to the bedroom. All the different clothing I'd been wearing was there. And there were sheets, pillows, and blankets on the bed, although the sheets and blankets were transparent.

That caused me to look up, and the ceiling was also transparent.

"There is privacy when you are using the toilet," Jasmine said. "Otherwise all spaces here can be viewed from above. Directly above, they would need to lean over the railing, and you might be hard to see from some places. You will be watched more here, Andromeda, but I believe the extra facilities will be worth it to you."

"Thank you, Jasmine," I said. Again that day I was overwhelmed. I pulled her into a hug. "Thank you."

"You have the same rules you have always had," she said, "plus one more. You will not use anything I am giving you to hide. You will not wear any more clothing inside here than I have been giving you in your cell. You will not use any as makeshift blankets or to hide from anyone up on the veranda above. You may do what you have always been able to do: turn your back. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Jasmine. I won't abuse that rule."

"You may change for work in here, of course, but you will not linger in here dressed for work. If you will be here for a while, you may take everything off and sit in undies. And the robe for the hallways is not to be worn in here, either. You may wear the kimonos, however."

"I understand."

"If anyone wants to look, you will let them look."

"I got it. I got it."

She smiled at me.

* * * *

Our second challenge began much like our first, but the distance meter was accurate to ten meters instead of one meter. I decided to use the topology against them. As fast as I could, I ran from the starting point, went around the gorge, and then backtracked as close to it as I could, right at the bottom of the cliff. Then I sat down, had a bite to eat and a drink of water, and waited.

Fifteen minutes later and the aliens were running. From what I could tell, they had figured out where I was, but not exactly. The distance closed quickly until it stopped at forty meters. Then it varied from forty to sixty for a good twenty minutes.

I could envision them at the top of the cliff, trying to figure out where I was. Then, of course, they finally realized I was at the bottom. They began moving away, quickly. I decided they were circling around to the east, so I took off. They had a long path to go, so I hoped I could get far enough in time. I did my own circle, ending at the top of the cliff.

Again they searched for me, this time at the bottom. That didn't last as long before they began running again. But Harp's distance was increasing faster than Jaguar's.

"They split up!" And that only meant they were going opposite directions. Whichever way I ran, I'd run into them. I took off, heading south, back towards the starting point.

Their jumper was there, the ramp down. I eyed it for just a moment. Then I kept going, running south another half kilometer. Then I waited.

I couldn't tell exactly what was happening based on their numbers. Their distance shrank, then slowly converged to the same number, almost two kilometers away. Then the numbers began shrinking rapidly. When it reached a half kilometer I dashed into the woods a hundred meters then began running north again.

The numbers shrank, then grew, and I immediately cut towards the left. They were still a hundred meters behind me as I squirmed my way underneath the lander. I wondered how long before they would look for me.

The grasses were tall, after all, and hid me from a casual look. The edges of the lander were crushing the grass, but it was open in front and back, underneath the ramp.

I thought about hiding under the ramp itself, but in the end I wormed my way over to one edge. I touched the metal. It was cool. So I pressed up against it and lay still.

The numbers reached thirty meters, then varied from under ten meters to thirty meters as they split up, trying to find me.

They searched the inside of the lander. From the sound of it, they even climbed on top. They may have looked underneath, but if they did, it wasn't very thorough.

"That is a better hiding place than I imagined it would be," said Cedar into my ears. "They seem quite puzzled, but if they look like they're going to move the jumper, I have to stop them. You would get hurt there."

"It was kind of a tight fit," I whispered very quietly. "I'm not sure they can crawl under here."

Eventually they came to a stop. I thought they were standing on the ramp. And then I heard the ramp lifting. When I looked, Harp was lying flat on the ground looking directly at me. A moment later, Jaguar joined her. Harp tried to climb in after me, but it really was quite snug. Jaguar moved to the other end and made her own attempt. From both sides, they tried to reach far enough to grab me. Harp was able to just brush my foot, so I pulled it up tighter. Jaguar wasn't even close.

"You can start digging," I said with a grin.

"It would be dangerous to move the lander with you here," she replied. "You could come out."

"I don't think so. It was impressed upon me I should play to win."

A moment later, they both sat back. And nothing happened for a while.

I thought about trying to slip out. I wondered if they would notice. The urge to sneak out grew and grew. But I hunkered down and stayed where I was.

Then Jaguar moved away. She was gone perhaps five minutes, up to a hundred meters away before she grew closer again. I heard noises, but I couldn't tell what they were doing. Then both heads appeared at the front end of the ship, Harp across from me, Jaguar along the nearest edge.

And Jaguar had a long stick. She let me see it was sharpened.

"You wouldn't," I said.

She began poking at me with the stick. I shied away from it.

"Seriously? All your high tech, and you're going to poke me with a stick?"

"I could use a power staff if you want," she said.

"No way! You promised you wouldn't hurt me, and those things hurt. Besides, they are too short."

"My stick is not," she said. And she poked at me.

I caught it and tried to pull it away from her, but all that happened was she pulled me forward two feet before I let go again. She immediately poked at me, and I scrambled back further.

Then I felt something wrap around my ankle and draw tight. Harp was no longer at the front. I hadn't even heard her. She began tugging on me, and I struggled to stay where I was.

I rolled over onto my back, trying to squirm my ankle from her grip, but she wasn't holding me with a hand. She had looped my ankle with a rope.

"No way!" I said.

She tugged, and I slid. So I scrambled, one foot held tightly. I looked for things to hang onto, but all I could do was drag at the grass and dirt.

Slowly she pulled me out from underneath the jumper, dragging a fair mount of pulled up grasses with me. Once she could reach, she grabbed my ankle with her hand, and when I tried kicking at her, she got the other one. It was only a few seconds later before she firmly but slowly and carefully pulled me into the sunlight.

Jaguar was already waiting. She took one leg from Harp, and the two dragged me on my back a short distance from the lander. Then they began touching.

I'd won another gift by hiding under the jumper. They brought me back to their apartment and we showered together, the three of us, taking turns to wash each other. And then they said, "We wish to take you out to dinner."

The clothing they had for me was a leather outfit similar to theirs, but it was in black, red, and white. I absolutely loved it.

I was expecting shackles and even asked about it, but they said, "You would not walk away from us now, would you?"

"No."

* * * *

For the third challenge, the sensitivity was now a hundred meters. I ran them around for a while, but then once they were within two hundred meters, I dived into the woods and hid. They passed me and came to a stop. It took them a minute or two before they began searching the woods.

I expected it to take them time to find me. It was about three minutes.

They looked so pleased when they found me. I struggled with them, of course, but they pulled me back to the trail and began touching.

I didn't win a gift that day, but I didn't mind.

* * * *

We lay together in bed. They spent hours driving me crazy. I'd tried to encourage them to claim the rest. I really, really wanted them to finish what they had started, as I was insane with need. But they wouldn't let me touch back, and they seemed oblivious to my hints.

Finally I managed to wrest one hand from Harp. I grabbed Jaguar's hand and shoved it between my legs, pressing her where I wanted her.

They both stilled.

"No, Andromeda," Jaguar said. "Not yet."

"Yes, yet!" I said. "You're driving me crazy!"

Harp shifted forward, grabbed my hand, and pulled it back over my head. And then Jaguar withdrew her hand from where I'd put it.

I stared at her. I looked up at Harp.

"Let me go," I said. "I'm serious."

"Andromeda," she said gently.

"Let me go!" I screamed. "I mean it. Let me go."

She released me, and I sat up, moving to the edge of the bed, bowing my head. "I thought you wanted me."

They moved to sit beside me, but when they touched, I pushed them away. It was like pushing a mountain, but they stopped trying to touch.

"We cannot," Jaguar said.

"You cannot?"

"It is wrong."

I jumped to my feet. "It's what?"

"It is wrong."

"It's wrong? It's wrong?" My voice rose. "I suppose you're going to tell me it's
unnatural
. I suppose you're going to say women don't touch that way, or that you couldn't possibly touch a human that way."

I spun away, looking for my clothes. I began gathering them, but then they were both there, catching me, catching my hands.

"No!" I screamed. "I thought you wanted me. I thought that was part of it. But it's wrong? Let me go!"

"You do not understand."

"I understand you said you wanted me, but you don't."

"You do not understand," Jaguar repeated. "We do want you. We want you that way and every other way."

"But it's wrong."

"It's wrong
for now
," Harp said.

"Andromeda, a triangle is forming. Maybe you can't feel it yet. But we can feel it forming."

"If we touch that way, then the triangle that forms is only about that. We want it to be about
everything
. And so that comes later, after."

I let them pull me back to the bed. We sat, one on either side, holding my arms.

"Soon," Jaguar said. "If you want us. Soon."

"But not yet," Harp added. "The triangle will not be healthy."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"We know," Jaguar said. "You have to trust us.
We
know what we're talking about."

I sat quietly, not fighting them anymore. "How long?" I half-whispered.

"The triangle must form. It is forming. If we touch like that, if we taste like that, then it is to consummate the triangle."

"How long? Days? Weeks? Months?"

"Not months. A few weeks, perhaps, if we stay here the entire time. But Jasmine Brighteyes tells us you have one other suitor, and we must give her one final chance. You must have choice. We are not happy about this, but she left so we could meet you, and now we must let her remind you that you have choice."

"All right," I said quietly. "When are you leaving?"

"A few more days." Then Jaguar turned my face to her. "We want you to know. The triangle is forming. We are convinced it will form. That means our kind can form a triangle with humans."

"We weren't sure," Harp added. "You have given us such a gift for the future."

"I still don't understand."

"You will," they said together.

And I would, and sooner than we realized.

* * * *

We had to skip a night, as I had long events to run. I missed them terribly.

But then our next challenge had the distance indicators set to one kilometer. I didn't think they could possibly find me. I did the same trick at the bottom of the cliff, and at first they fell for it, but then, somehow, I was sure they were moving away, each going in opposite directions. I ran north. The distance to each grew to under one kilometer, and I was north of the east-west trail they would be on. I waited briefly then began running again. I thought they would head to the base of the cliff, or get awfully close to it, and I could then head far to the north. With such poor sensitivity, I didn't think they could possibly find me.