The Quillan Games (49 page)

“You had better be right!” she snapped as she turned and walked toward LaBerge.

Fourteen said, “I have never seen her so angry.”

“Stick around,” I said. “It's early.”

When she got to the center of the field, Veego motioned for Challenger Green and me to join her and LaBerge. The two of us strode to the center of the grassy playing field from opposite sides. I saw that, like me, Green had his wooden
pegs on. They were, of course, green. Duh. His eyes were locked on mine. He was doing his best to psyche me. I kept my face blank.

“I will explain the rules,” Veego said.

“Don't bother,” I said. “I know how to play.”

I saw Green stiffen slightly. Oops. Maybe I had been too cocky. I didn't want to tip my hand.

He snarled, “I know too. Let's go.”

“Very well,” Veego said. “Begin on the horn.”

Veego and LaBerge walked away, but as they left, LaBerge stopped and gave me a confused look. “How do you know this game?” he asked.

“Didn't you know? I'm an honorary Batu,” I said.

“You are?” LaBerge said with shock. He looked quickly to Veego for a reaction. She didn't give any. Obviously LaBerge didn't remember me from Veelox, and Veego didn't bother to remind him.

I focused on Challenger Green. The guy had no idea what he was in for. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. I had seen the Batu warriors of Zadaa play this game many times. I had watched Loor triumph. When she put me through training at the Mooraj camp, we played this game constantly. You know the rules. The idea is to use your wooden stave to knock the wooden pegs off your opponent. The first one to knock off all the pegs wins. Simple as that.

Green and I locked eyes. He said, “You shouldn't have come back.”

“Why?” I asked. “Are you afraid of losing?”

I saw his eyes widen. I had touched a nerve. This was going to be fun. I clutched my stave and bent my legs slightly. I felt totally comfortable. It was like riding a bike.

The horn sounded, and Green charged me so hard and fast that I didn't have time to react. He drilled his head into
my chest and knocked me flat on my back, hammering the air out of my lungs. Green tossed aside his stave and wrestled me to get at the pegs. I guess I could say that he wasn't playing fair, but I didn't think there was any such thing as fair in these games. If I didn't do something fast, this fight would be over before it even got started. He had already pulled off two pegs and was going for the third, when I drilled my elbow into his jaw. He wasn't expecting that and rolled off. I rolled the other way and scrambled to get back to my feet.

Green didn't give me time to recover. He charged again, without his stave. This guy wasn't about finesse. His plan was to use brute force to beat me. He was like an angry charging bull. I bent over as if trying to get my breath, but I was waiting for him. He screamed as he lunged. I drove my stave forward and caught him in the gut.

“Oooph,” he grunted in pain.

I pulled my stave back and expertly spun it left, then right, knocking off both his arm pegs. It was pretty clear how this fight would go. It was style versus strength. Green wisely backed away or it would have been over right there. He clutched at his gut and looked at me with fiery eyes.

“You use that weapon like you've been trained,” he said.

“You think?” I shot back.

Green scooped up his stave and came at me, more cautiously this time. He held the stave low, pointing one end at me like he was going to poke me with it. I almost laughed. The guy didn't have a clue. He jabbed at me a few times, but I flicked his attacks away easily. I was getting my breath back now. All I had to do was wait for him to make a mistake, which he did pretty quickly. He took a few steps back, then threw the stave at me like a spear. He followed right behind it, charging at me while screaming out a horrifying war cry. Yeah, right. Nice try.

I knocked the spear away easily. When he lunged at me, I faked a swing, which made him falter. I then jammed the end of the stave between his knees and pushed. Green's legs got tangled and he hit the grass hard. Before he had the chance to get up, I flicked away both pegs from his legs. All he had left was the peg on his head. He was about to roll and get up, when I jammed the end of the stave into his neck, pinning him to the ground.

“It's done,” I said. “Drop the last peg and I won't hurt you.”

It was like I had thrown acid on him. He let out an angry scream and pushed to get up. Too little, too late. I held the stave to his throat and kicked the final peg off his helmet.

A horn sounded. The match was over. Winner—Challenger Red!

I backed away from him, still holding the stave ready in case he tried coming after me. He lay there for a second, breathing hard. When he sat up, he gasped, “This will just make my victory even sweeter.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I said as I backed away. I didn't dare turn my back on him. I walked backward all the way until I got to Fourteen.

“That was very good,” he said with no emotion.

“You think he's mad?” I asked with a chuckle.

Fourteen said, “That was the first time Challenger Green has been defeated. Ever. I would say yes, he is angry.”

Green got up and stormed off the field toward his own dado. Round one went to me. I was happy that it was a fight I was familiar with, but the idea that it was brought there from Zadaa was disturbing.

Round two proved to be just as disturbing. We were brought in separate carts deep into the forest. When we finally broke out of the trees, I saw that we had come upon a giant round aboveground water tank. The thing was huge. It
had to be three stories high and fifty yards in diameter. I knew it was a water tank because the sides were clear.

“What's this?” I asked Fourteen. “A swimming race?'

“Not exactly,” he said. He led me to an open elevator that brought us up to the top. I was feeling nervous because, once again, Nevva hadn't told me about any games that had to do with a giant tank of water.

“Have you spoken to Nevva Winter?” I asked Fourteen.

“I am afraid not,” he answered. “I have been with you the whole time.”

Oh. Right. As we rose higher in the air, I looked around to see if I could catch sight of Nevva. She was supposed to be here in case the worst happened. I figured she was nearby, watching closely, ready to jump in if things went south.

The elevator reached the top, where a bridge led to a platform in the dead center of the tank. Waiting for me there were Veego, LaBerge, and Challenger Green.

“Find Miss Winter,” I said to Fourteen. “Now.”

I walked across the bridge to meet my opponent while Fourteen went back down in the elevator. The three watched me with sour expressions. We had only finished one event, and I was already proving to be a pain. I liked that.

“Kind of a SeaWorld thing you got going on here,” I said.

Nobody reacted. I wasn't surprised.

“This is a timed contest,” Veego explained to me, and probably to the rest of Quillan at the same time. “Whoever remains on top the longest is the winner.”

I figured this would be some kind of fight on the platform where we had to try to dunk our opponent.

It wasn't.

LaBerge produced two clear globes that were very familiar to me, unfortunately.

“Where did you get those?” I asked with surprise.

They didn't answer. They didn't have to. I knew the answer. They were air globes from Cloral. This was even more disturbing than the game from Zadaa. You guys know how these air globes work. The material is created from minerals on Cloral. When you put it over your head, it becomes soft and formfitting, with an airtight seal. The silver device attached to the top is a breathing apparatus that converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. With these air globes you can breathe and communicate underwater. Having them on Quillan meant that Veego and LaBerge weren't only bringing in ideas from other territories, they were introducing technology and material. These things shouldn't exist on Quillan.

It got worse.

Veego said, “Since he won the first game, Challenger Red will be given a ten-click time advantage.”

Yay me.

Challenger Green wanted to get going right away. He didn't like being behind. Without being instructed, he angrily grabbed one of the air globes and stuck his head through the hole. The globe melted and formed around him. My stomach turned. This was wrong. I couldn't imagine what might happen to a territory if alien minerals were introduced.

“What exactly are we supposed to do?” I asked.

“You don't know?” Veego said smugly. “You have to ride a spinney fish.”

I gritted my teeth in anger. Spinney fish were from Cloral too! They were bringing in creatures from other territories! I didn't want to think what would happen to the habitat of one territory if organisms were introduced from another. This could be an ecological catastrophe in the making.

As for the game, I knew it. Spader called it “Spinney-do.” Remember? The fish were long and thin, like skinny dolphins. You had to sneak up on one, grab the ridges that ran
across its back, throw your leg over, and ride the fish like a bucking bronco. The trick was that once you grabbed a spinney, they swelled up like big blow fish, making it that much harder to hang on. The worst part was, I was terrible at Spinney-do.

Challenger Green jumped in the water feet first. There was a big screen on the far side of the tank that allowed us to see him. I figured it was the same image that was being broadcast throughout Quillan. Above the screen was a digital clock showing two zeroes. I watched as Green dove down and swam strongly to the bottom of the tank. There were several spinney fish there, grazing on the bottom. They were big, slow creatures. It wasn't hard to grab one. The tough part came when they felt threatened.

Challenger Green maneuvered himself around, hovering just above one of the big fish. He got as close as he could without touching it, then quickly grabbed the ridge on its back and clamped his legs around it. The fish instantly blew up to three times its size and started bucking. Green gripped the ridge with both hands. He may not have been agile, but he was strong. As soon as the fish started to move, the clock did too. I didn't know how long a “click” was—it seemed to be around a second. Green held on with both hands as the clock moved to 5. Then 10. One of Green's hands flew off, but he held on with the other. He wouldn't last much longer. Finally, with a quick snap of its back, the fish threw Green off and scooted away. The final time: 22 clicks.

There was no way I could match that.

“What about the penalty?” I asked.

I looked at the clock to see the number 22 disappear. It was replaced by the number 10—my bonus for winning the first contest. Big deal. It didn't matter. Even with the extra 10 clicks there was no way I could hang on long enough to beat
Green's time. But it had been a long time since I'd played Spinney-do. I was a bigger, stronger guy. I had to hope I'd do better.

As Green climbed out of the water, LaBerge handed me an air globe. I put my head through the hole and felt the familiar sensation as the clear helmet molded to me. Challenger Green looked up at his time and punched his fist into the air shouting a jubilant, “Yes!”

I wanted this over as quickly as possible, so without another word I jumped into the water and swam toward the bottom.

Three spinney fish were waiting for me. Such odd creatures. You'd think they'd take off once they sensed someone coming. Maybe they were blind. Or just plain stupid. I didn't know. All that mattered was that I grab one and stay on for 13 clicks. I picked one that looked to be the smallest of the group and lowered myself toward it. The strange fish had no idea I was there. I took a breath, reached out with both hands, and grabbed the ridge.

It was almost over before it began. The fish moved so fast it nearly yanked itself out of my grip. My left hand flailed in the water. If I didn't grab on with both hands, fast, I wouldn't last for 3 clicks, let alone 13. I was able to bring my left hand down and hold on, just as the fish bloated. It threw my legs out wide, which made it even harder to hang on. It got so fat I had trouble gripping with my legs. I knew this ride wasn't going to last long. The spinney twisted and bucked, then swam upside down! I was head down, but I wouldn't let go. When I managed to hang on even though I was upside down, I had a faint glimmer of hope. I knew it wouldn't be a long trip, but maybe it would be long enough. I only had to hang on for 13 clicks.

The fish spun me upright, then quickly spun back in the
other direction. That did it. I had shifted all my weight one way to counter that first twist. As soon as it went the other way, I was gone. With a flap of its tail the fish squirted away from me and shot to the bottom. All that was left was for me to surface and check my time. I was confident. I felt there was a really good chance that I had hung on long enough.

When I surfaced, I saw that my time—including my head start of 10 clicks—was 20. Missed it by 3 clicks, however long that was. As I climbed onto the platform, I imagined the screens all over Quillan flashing:
WINNER—CHALLENGER GREEN!
What a depressing thought. When I pulled off my globe, I saw that Veego was smiling. She may have said she didn't care, but she did. She wanted me to lose.

“That's one event each,” she announced. “There is one more event before the rest period.”

After we took the elevator down and walked a fair distance through the parklike compound, we all stood on the edge of a dense forest of pine trees. There were so many trees, it looked unnatural. The branches began about ten feet off the ground, so I was looking at a sea of tree trunks. From where I stood, there only looked to be a few yards between each of them. The forest looked about a hundred yards wide. I couldn't tell how deep it was. I figured that was part of the game.