Nine

Kayana scanned the foyer, surprised when she spotted the floating yellow holovid drone. She’d grown so used to the high-pitched whine of its hover motors that the sound had faded into the background of her subconscious. Then again, she supposed Octiron had designed them that way. The corporation wanted contestants to forget about the cameras so they’d act natural. At least she hadn’t had to worry about the camera last night, because she’d gotten far more natural than she’d intended. Her inspection of the room paused on the broad expanse of Ax’s shoulders. His exo-suit left little to the imagination; tight fabric clung to Ax’s muscles and stretched to highlight the subtle strength of him.

Heh. That was probably the only subtle part of him.

She smiled to herself. The last time may have been delicious, but she definitely needed another taste to get him out of her system.

Only one door led out of the foyer where they found themselves, so where to go next didn’t seem to be much of a question. She wished the same could be said about the tension that coiled between her and Ax like a patient Anderian tiger, looking for the perfect moment to strike. How did humans talk about their expectations and desires? The minimal experience she’d had with them before had shown them to be prudish and conventional. Would he be embarrassed if she brought it up at all? Then again, he’d been the one to give her the toe-curling orgasm, not the other way around. Maybe she had it all wrong.

Kayana threaded her fingers with his and lifted his hand to her lips for a quick kiss before meeting his eyes.

“There’s not much choice, is there,” he said. Despite the humdrum statement, she’d seen his eyes spark at her kiss.

“You’re creative.” She smiled and nuzzled his knuckles, enjoying the smell of soap on his skin. “More importantly, there’s clearly some technology tucked into the building. I don’t think we can trust anything to be what it seems.”

He nodded and squeezed her hand. They passed through the door from the foyer into the next room, and a moment later a low electrical hum sounded. She’d been around enough energy fields to recognize when one was activated.

“That’s no good.”

“What?” He looked back at the doorway they’d just used.

She gathered some dust from the floor into her hand, and blew it through the open door. Blue-white sparks erupted, as the debris hit the deadly barrier that had dropped behind them.

Ax winced. “So much for the primitive appearance.”

The new room was smaller than the foyer, with doors centered in the left and right walls. “I think it’s safe to assume that at least one direction here is dangerous,” she said.

Ax chuckled. “So, which way do we think leads to certain death? And how do we pick?”

Kayana released his hand and stepped away to examine the doors. The one on the right had a doorframe carved with small insects. She couldn’t recognize what type from the carving, but it was just as likely they were native to the planet and she wouldn’t know them anyway. “Check the carvings on the other door.”

He nodded and stepped across the small space. “You know, they say the secret to solving a maze is to just take the right-hand choice every time.” He ran his fingers along the doorframe and then called back to her, “I’ve got...I think it’s a hawk, maybe?”

What had the old woman said? Creatures of the air were first in all things? Something like that. Regardless, it sounded like left might be the wiser choice, given the clue. She looked at Ax. “Why would right be more significant than left?”

“I don’t know,” he responded. “I suspect it doesn’t matter which you choose, as long as you pick the same one each time.”

She nodded her understanding. “Good, because I suspect we want to go left. Birds, not bugs.”

“Yeah, but the kids said predators chase their prey. Birds eat bugs. So maybe the bird is the wrong choice.”

Kayana picked up a chunk of rock that had fallen from the ceiling and tossed it through the insect door. An enormous, scything blade swept across the entryway. Someone walking through the door would lose a leg at the very least.

Ax jumped back with a shriek of surprise. “Guess it’s not bugs then.”

“Apparently not.” Kayana looked for another rock to throw through the bird door. “Or they trapped both doors as a means of eliminating basic options.”

Before she could test it, he leaped through into the dark beyond. His bloodcurdling scream echoed back, and her heart caught in her throat. What the hell had he been thinking? Idiot! Sudden panic crushed down on her.

He poked his head out of the darkness a heartbeat later, his smile broad. “No, seriously. I was just fucking with you.”

She punched him in the jaw as she joined him the next room.

The new room had a single door off to the right. Ax moved to stand next to her, rubbing his cheek. “Totally worth it. Knew you cared.”

“Certainly, I cared about losing my partner and getting disqualified. You owe me a ship.”

“I owe you a later.” The emphasis on the word made it clear exactly what he meant and sent a delicious tingle of anticipation racing along her spine. Heat pooled low in her belly, like warm honey.

“Then the sooner we get this done the better.” She took his hand and nearly dragged him through the door into the next room. Once they’d crossed over the threshold, a great stone block fell behind them to seal the room.

The chamber was scattered with broken pieces of tile and mosaic that had fallen from the walls. Small holes gaped in the intersection of the flooring panels, but there were no other doors. She squeezed Ax’s hand in hers. “I don’t understand. There was only the one door. How could it lead to a dead end?”

“Why’d you have to say it like that?” A heartbeat later water welled up through the holes in the tiles. At first the speed made it bubble and sputter, but far too soon there was too much water in the room, and the level began to rise silently as well as quickly.

Kayana fought to control the panic rising in her chest at the same pace as the icy water. “Let’s be reasonable. There’s got to be a way out. We just have to figure out what it is.”

“Before we drown,” Ax added, though it hardly seemed necessary. The water was over their ankles now, and getting deeper by the moment.

She gave his hand another squeeze before letting go. “Then let’s get to it. I’d look terrible dead.”

#

OKAY, DROWNING WAS definitely not on the list of ways I wanted to die. Ax fought against the urge to take a deep breath. He’d always hoped to have his heart give out in the arms of a beautiful woman. Ideally, several of them.

He glanced over at Kayana, who was studying the wall looking for an exit. Or maybe just one.

Ax splashed through the water, which had risen over the tops of his boots, until he reached her side. The holovid drone drifted toward the top corner of the chamber and positioned itself for the best possible view. Its presence made Ax want a way out just to deny that corpse-chaser Berniss any ratings-winning footage of their death. “What about carvings? Anything we can use as a hint?”

Kayana traced her fingers across the stone in an effort to find a seam, while he shot a last, baleful glance at the camera and headed toward the front of the room. Loose stones rolled under his feet, and Ax had to catch himself to keep from pitching into the water completely.

A thought seized him. “What about plugging the holes with the loose stones?” He knelt to feel around on the floor, the cold water splashing over his hips as he got lower. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kayana doing the same. Before he could get distracted by the thought of her in a wet exo-suit, he started to plug the rocks down into the first hole he could find. Some fit, others got stuck, but didn’t actually block the flow of water through the nozzle.

“It’s not working!” Kayana sounded frustrated, but now he could hear the edge of concern in her voice. As well there should be. The water had risen another few inches just since he’d knelt down. “I’m sorry I called it a dead end.”

“Maybe it’s weight based. Once it fills with enough water, it will open up?”

She shot him a skeptical look.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so either. Try the bigger rocks. Maybe they lock on to the holes or something.” He didn’t buy it, but anything had to be better than doing nothing and accepting their fate. He lifted a fist-sized piece of mosaic out of the water, which was decorated with an ornate icon of a bird. Unlike the bits of rubble he’d been using, the edges of this piece were smooth. As if they’d been tooled.

Bird!

He splashed across to Kayana, “Hey! I found this. What do you think?”

“That it’s a flat rock,” she said as she took it from him. As she turned it over, she gave a little squeal of excitement. “Birds lead in all things! This must be the key!”

“Yeah, but where’s the lock?”

She stood and forced her way to the wall opposite where they’d come in. “How about these?”

He came to join her, unable to distract himself from the way her wet outfit clung to her and highlighted every curve. He’d never been jealous of an article of clothing before, but he had every intent to get just as close. Later. They had to get out first.

Four identical divots had been cut into the stone of the wall, and Kayana held the bird tile next to them to confirm that it matched the holes in size. “Looks promising.”

“Indeed,” he agreed. “But which hole does it go in? Is there more than one tile?” He took the bird mosaic piece from her and held it in front of each hole, but they were all identical. No clue as to the size, shape, or order. “I suppose there’s only one way to find out,” he muttered, and placed the tile in the first divot.

It sank in until it was flush with the surrounding stone, then settled in place with a resonant clunk. A heartbeat later, the water began pouring into the room at an even greater speed.

“What did you do?” Kayana yelled.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time. There must be other stones. Quick!” The water had risen to waist high, even when he was standing, and it was easier to swim than fight against it. When he lifted his head, Kayana had disappeared.

Ax scanned the water’s surface looking for a ripple, but the water was flowing in so fast that the entire surface was a mess of splashes. After too long, she broke the surface with another mosaic tile in her hand. “This one is a fish of some kind.”

Something glinted beneath him, and Ax dove to retrieve another tile. When he returned to the surface, he saw that it had been worked with the image of a wolf. Or maybe a big cat. The style was a bit tricky on the details. “Wolf here. That means there should be one more.”

She handed him the tile with the fish on it—on closer look it turned out to be a shark—and swam for a rubble pile near where they had come in. “There’s two.”

“What?” That didn’t make sense. And the water was almost to his chest.

“Two tiles over here. Another fish and one with a bug on it.” She held up one in each hand. “It’s the same bug from the first room.”

“Ditch it. It’s a decoy.” At least he hoped it was. He studied the two tiles he had and tried to make sense of the riddle.

She swam up next to him. The cold water made her nipples stand out against the wet fabric of her exo-suit, and he forced himself to concentrate. What order did they go in? Water sluiced over his shoulders, triggering a wave of icy panic in his gut. “Bird Shark Wolf Fish. It doesn’t make sense.”

“The birds lead in all things. So, I think you’re right on that one.” Kayana studied the wall. “What are the other clues?”

“Your guy said predators track their prey. That means they follow it. Predators are second.” He looked at the tiles in his hand.

She stared down at the tiles. “The question is which?”

“Sea creatures never lead.” He shook his head. “Is it that easy?”

“Never lead. You’re sure of that?”

“Yeah. Positive. I make a point to remember super-creepy things kids say.”

She huffed out a breath that might have been a laugh in less-dire circumstances. Even that small victory gave him enough warmth to fight away the chill for a moment. If he could keep her entertained, even when they were going to die... “And if it your guy said predators, plural, that means the prey animals all go first. And then the predators to track them.” He blurted out the realization as soon as it hit him.

“Exactly.” She slotted the fish tile into the second divot. “Now the predators, first the one that hunts the bird.”

“Huh. Thought it was a wolf. “He studied the tile before handing it off. “I suppose it could be a cat.”

He handed her the tile, and she slotted it into place. He had to dive completely under the water to place the last piece, then resurfaced. “And the shark hunts the fish.”

She looked at him, and this time there wasn’t any hiding the panic in her eyes. “Nothing happened.”

“Maybe it needs a min—” A series of loud thunks cut him off, and the water rapidly receded through scuppers in the side walls. In no time at all they were both standing, cold and soaked, in the room. Another moment and a section of wall to the right of the tiles slid down, revealing another door. In the room beyond an aquamarine gleamed at the top of a short pedestal.

She threaded her arms around his waist, and he leaned back into her warmth, thankful that she ran a few degrees hotter. After taking the time to nip the edge of his earlobe, she whispered, “I knew we’d figure it out.”

“Me too,” he lied. He gestured into the far room. “You do the honors?”

She strode into the final room, and he followed, pausing only to fix the holovid drone with his best smile and extend his middle finger.