a decent chance of winning. He showed no sign of resenting her
for walking out on him and ignoring all his subsequent attempts at
communication. No doubt he did, but the man had formidable self-control, and he
realized they’d be better served to put off dealing with their personal
problems until they’d solved the legal issues. It made sense. She just wasn’t
quite as good at burying her feelings. If that was what it took to survive,
she’d attempt to match his control.
“All right. We’ll tackle the challenge together.”
Chapter Five
His smile nearly broke her heart. It reached into her gut
and tangled with all her nerves. She still wanted the man in her life. Wanted
him for sex and companionship and laughter and shared adventure. She couldn’t
imagine that she’d ever stop wanting him. How could she let him back in,
though, when she couldn’t trust him? She still wanted to believe that he truly
felt something for her and hadn’t just been using her.
“Do you think—”
Unfortunately her question was interrupted when the lawyers
rapped lightly on the door and entered. “You’ve decided?” Whetlock asked.
“We’re taking the challenge,” Devonne answered.
Both lawyers smiled. “A good choice. To make you feel
better, we’re negotiating to get some safeguards put in place for you.”
A group of Sangari entered right behind the lawyers,
indicating their time together was up. They separated the humans and escorted
them to their quarters. Devonne had no idea where they took Raje or the
lawyers. They brought her back to the bare room in the enormous, sterile,
blocky building she’d been in earlier.
She languished there for three long days, with no visitors,
no communications and no word from anyone. The only other living creatures she
saw aside from a few scurrying things on the sand outside her window were the
Sangari guards who delivered meals and jugs of water periodically. She asked
them for vids or books but they just gave her blank stares in return.
To keep from going insane, she went through her normal daily
exercise workout twice the first day and three times on the second. In her head
she plotted courses through asteroid fields and did the basic equations for
wormhole geometry the computer normally handled. She thought far too much about
Raje and what he might be doing.
Finally, early on the morning of the fourth day, a group of
three Sangari came for her. They loaded her into a transport and headed west to
the same city they’d taken her before. They didn’t go to any justice building,
however.
Even from a distance she could tell that the enormous, round
structure they headed toward was some sort of sports arena. Thousands of tall,
single-person transporters parked around it and Sangari of all shapes and sizes
streamed toward the many entrances to the circular coliseum.
She fought to keep her pulse steady and her stomach from
clenching as muscles tightened all through her body. It took an effort to stop
her breath from growing quicker and her hands from shaking as she wondered what
kind of contest they’d be pitched into.
Her escort hustled her out of the transport and into the
building through a door around the back, away from where the crowds streamed
in. They traversed several long, dingy stone corridors, before one of her
guards pushed open a door and led her into some kind of enormous locker room.
The room stretched on for some distance to the left, the
walls curving to follow the circular footprint of the building itself. She
turned that way when she heard voices in the room, so far down the speakers
were out of sight. The guards followed her but didn’t move to interfere.
She walked alongside racks of garments hanging from bars a
foot or so above her head. Those mostly seemed to be costumes, of every type,
style, color and fabric, in a range of sizes so wide some would be too small
for a human child while other garments were too big for a large Sangari. A
series of
for walking out on him and ignoring all his subsequent attempts at
communication. No doubt he did, but the man had formidable self-control, and he
realized they’d be better served to put off dealing with their personal
problems until they’d solved the legal issues. It made sense. She just wasn’t
quite as good at burying her feelings. If that was what it took to survive,
she’d attempt to match his control.
“All right. We’ll tackle the challenge together.”
Chapter Five
His smile nearly broke her heart. It reached into her gut
and tangled with all her nerves. She still wanted the man in her life. Wanted
him for sex and companionship and laughter and shared adventure. She couldn’t
imagine that she’d ever stop wanting him. How could she let him back in,
though, when she couldn’t trust him? She still wanted to believe that he truly
felt something for her and hadn’t just been using her.
“Do you think—”
Unfortunately her question was interrupted when the lawyers
rapped lightly on the door and entered. “You’ve decided?” Whetlock asked.
“We’re taking the challenge,” Devonne answered.
Both lawyers smiled. “A good choice. To make you feel
better, we’re negotiating to get some safeguards put in place for you.”
A group of Sangari entered right behind the lawyers,
indicating their time together was up. They separated the humans and escorted
them to their quarters. Devonne had no idea where they took Raje or the
lawyers. They brought her back to the bare room in the enormous, sterile,
blocky building she’d been in earlier.
She languished there for three long days, with no visitors,
no communications and no word from anyone. The only other living creatures she
saw aside from a few scurrying things on the sand outside her window were the
Sangari guards who delivered meals and jugs of water periodically. She asked
them for vids or books but they just gave her blank stares in return.
To keep from going insane, she went through her normal daily
exercise workout twice the first day and three times on the second. In her head
she plotted courses through asteroid fields and did the basic equations for
wormhole geometry the computer normally handled. She thought far too much about
Raje and what he might be doing.
Finally, early on the morning of the fourth day, a group of
three Sangari came for her. They loaded her into a transport and headed west to
the same city they’d taken her before. They didn’t go to any justice building,
however.
Even from a distance she could tell that the enormous, round
structure they headed toward was some sort of sports arena. Thousands of tall,
single-person transporters parked around it and Sangari of all shapes and sizes
streamed toward the many entrances to the circular coliseum.
She fought to keep her pulse steady and her stomach from
clenching as muscles tightened all through her body. It took an effort to stop
her breath from growing quicker and her hands from shaking as she wondered what
kind of contest they’d be pitched into.
Her escort hustled her out of the transport and into the
building through a door around the back, away from where the crowds streamed
in. They traversed several long, dingy stone corridors, before one of her
guards pushed open a door and led her into some kind of enormous locker room.
The room stretched on for some distance to the left, the
walls curving to follow the circular footprint of the building itself. She
turned that way when she heard voices in the room, so far down the speakers
were out of sight. The guards followed her but didn’t move to interfere.
She walked alongside racks of garments hanging from bars a
foot or so above her head. Those mostly seemed to be costumes, of every type,
style, color and fabric, in a range of sizes so wide some would be too small
for a human child while other garments were too big for a large Sangari. A
series of
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