“Bravo, Challenger Red!” came a familiar voice.
Yet another voice said harshly, “You nearly failed.”
The first voice scoffed and said, “I never doubted him!”
I took a deep breath and looked to see what I now had to deal with. I was in another large, narrow room, though much smaller than the last. It was brightly lit by daylight streaming in through overhead windows. Yellow and purple flags lined the walls near the high ceiling. On the ground was a long wooden table surrounded by high-backed wooden chairs. It was a medieval-looking banquet hall, complete with huge tapestries on the walls that depicted competitors playing various games. The table was loaded with silver platters full of food and tall silver tankards with drink.
Seated on either end of the long table, kicking back and casually sipping drinks, were Veego and LaBerge.
Veego looked at me coolly and said, “You took much longer than others with fewer qualifications.”
LaBerge was quick to say, “Don’t listen to her! You were stupendous! Let me be the first to say that you are now officially a challenger.” He held up a silver goblet as a toast.
“And what if I’d failed your test?” I asked.
LaBerge looked down at his plate. Veego smiled and said, “You’d be dead of course. Now please, join us. I’m sure you’ve built up a healthy appetite.”
She was wrong. Whatever appetite I’d had was long gone.
(CONTINUED)
QUILLAN
I was ticked. I think that nearly getting crunched would make anybody a little testy. I jumped to my feet and strode for LaBerge. I would have gone for Veego, but she gave me the creeps. The guy saw me coming and his eyes grew wide. He plunked down his goblet, splashing green liquid across the table, and pushed himself back into his chair.
“Don’t be foolish!” he said nervously. “The test is over! You passed!”
I grabbed the guy by the front of his robe and pulled him up to me. I don’t normally do stuff like that. It’s way too bold for me. But after having just barely escaped being turned into paste by those cylinders, I had had enough. If I had any hope of controlling my own future here, I needed to show some backbone. Besides, I knew this wheezy LaBerge guy wouldn’t fight back.
“Look,” I seethed. “I am not a challenger, and I will not play your sadistic games.” I stared him right in the eye to show how serious I was. The guy kept glancing away and licking his lips. Wimp.
“I understand your f-feelings, dear boy,” he stuttered. “But I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.”
As if on cue, two dados appeared from behind his chair. They loomed over me, staring me down with those dead eyes. I had officially been out-intimidated. LaBerge gave me a smug smile. I let him go and backed away. No way I was messing with those robo dudes. Even if I wasn’t exhausted, two-on-one wasn’t fair. I’m not so sure one-on-one was fair either.
“What do you mean I don’t have a choice?” I asked, trying to sound like I was still being aggressive, which I wasn’t.
Veego stood and walked toward the dados. “Leave,” she commanded.
They obeyed instantly. The two robots took a few stiff steps backward, but stayed within striking distance.
“I said leave!” Veego said more forcefully. “This is our guest. There won’t be any more trouble.”
The dados backed away and left through a doorway, though I was pretty sure they were standing right outside, waiting to see if there really was going to be any more trouble or not. Sneaky robots. Note to self: No more macho stuff in front of the dados.
Veego stood by LaBerge, but didn’t look at him as she spat out with disdain, “Get hold of yourself, ninny.”
I got the feeling that Veego didn’t think much of LaBerge either. They looked about the same age, but she treated the guy like an annoying little son. Though my mom never talked to me like that. Then again, I wasn’t annoying. Usually. LaBerge straightened his robe and took a drink of the green stuff that was left in his goblet, trying to calm his nerves. Veego, on the other hand, was all sorts of calm. I had the feeling that if I had gone after her instead of LaBerge, she would have stayed just as cool. Veego worried me.
“I’m getting too old for this,” LaBerge grumbled.
“You can go home anytime you wish,” Veego shot back.
Interesting. These guys may have been partners, but they didn’t exactly get along. I had to remember that. I figured it might come in useful.
Veego smiled at me, though it looked like it might make her face crack. “You must forgive us,” she said. “We know you are not from the city of Rune, or you would know of us and our enterprise.”
“That’s just silly,” LaBerge chirped in. “Everyone knows who we are, no matter where they’re from.”
“I don’t,” I said flatly.
LaBerge snapped a look at me. I didn’t know if it was disbelief, or if he was hurt that I didn’t know who he was. “Where are you from?” he asked.
Uh-oh. Not a good time to start telling the truth. But I didn’t know enough about Quillan to make something up. “You kidnapped me, stuck me in a room full of creepy clown dolls, then threw me into some game that nearly got me killed. I think it’s my turn to ask some questions.”
LaBerge shot a questioning look to Veego. She didn’t flinch. He looked back to me and said, “You are very, very wrong. Challenger Red. Those dolls aren’t creepy at all!”
“Oh, be quiet!” Veego snapped at him. “If he doesn’t understand why he’s here, then it will benefit us all to explain.” She gestured to the long banquet table and said, “Please, join us. We will answer all your questions.”
I was torn. I needed to know who these two were and what their connection to Saint Dane was, but on the other hand, they had a hand in killing the Traveler from Quillan. Part of me wanted to grab them and throw them both into the monstrous piston wouldn’t get me any closer to Saint Dane. I needed to suck it up and play it their way.
“All right,” I said. “Where should I sit?”
“In the place of honor of course!” LaBerge said happily, as if we were suddenly buddies. “It’s where all the new challengers sit when they first arrive!” He gestured to a high-backed chair that was at the center of the table. I walked over to the chair, glared at LaBerge, then sat in another chair that was closer to the end. I don’t know why I did that. Probably just to annoy the guy. He stood there for a second, sniffed, then walked quickly back to his chair at one end of the table.
“Suit yourself!” he said in a huff.
As soon as I sat down, a servant appeared as if from nowhere. It was the same small bald guy in white with the two-tone tie who had shown me to my room. He placed a silver plate and some utensils down in front of me.
“Thanks, Fourteen,” I said.
LaBerge chuckled and said, “That’s Thirteen.”
I looked at the bald servant. He looked exactly like Fourteen. Either he was a twin or…
“Is he a dado?” I asked Veego.
Veego took her place at the other end of the table.
“They are quite useful, don’t you think?” Veego answered. “They always do what they are told and-“
“And they don’t ask questions,” LaBerge said with a smug smirk.
I decided to let it go. I still hadn’t gotten my mind around the fact that Quillan was loaded with lifelike robots. From what I had seen so far, they were used as servants and policemen. And spiders. Don’t forget the spiders.
“Are any of the challengers dados?” I asked.
LaBerge burst out laughing. Even Veego chuckled. I was glad I was amusing them.
“Of course not!” LaBerge said. “Where would our reputations be if we pitted programmable dados against each other? There’s no challenge in that, or drama.”
“So you two stage the Tato matches?” I asked.
“Among others,” Veego said. “Tato is one of our more popular contests. But there are so many unique games. The most popular on Quillan, if I may be so boastful. No others put on games that are as entertaining, and successful, as ours. You’ll see.”