The Galactic Bride

Aki laid in between Lani and Hana, sandwiched in-between their arms all night. They were both beautiful, sensual, soft, smelled good, and sweet. If he had still been a boy his lower body might of had problems staying calm. But with all that surrounding him, he couldn't sleep. In the morning he would have to kill someone. In the morning he might be killed. Nothing could take his mind off that.

The door opened before the two had awaken, and it was a solum face General Anura. She was wearing in a dress-uniform, as today apparently was a special occasion even for the military. But if her outfit signalized the importances of the day, the General's face read as blank, like she was dead inside.

"Come on. It's doesn't matter what you wear." The General spoke in a low voice.

Aki wasn't sure if she was just steeling herself for having to watch him die later or if she didn't want to wake up Lani and Hana. But whether she intended to or not, the two did wake up from the sound of her voice. Lani looked dazed at the door for a few moments, and as Aki was getting up, she seemed to realize what was going on. She shot to her feet immediately and stood at attention.

"At ease." The General looked at Lani with no amusement on her face. Her eyes went to Hana who was still sitting in the bed, covering herself. "Does she understand what's going on?"

That was the first time she had shown interest in anything since she entered the room. Aki was finished up tying his boots when he answered. "More or less. Lani is going to look after her while I'm away."

The General nodded, her eyes still looking dead. "Major. I have something for the concubine. I've been meaning to give it to her, but time has gotten away from me. When it's convenient, would you go into my cabin and retrieve it. It's on my work desk. You'll know what it is."

"What is it?" Aki asked as he finished dressing and stood up.

"Nothing important." The General looked away. "You should say your goodbyes now. I'll be in the hall."

Aki watched her leave. He turned to Lani, and he could see she also noticed the General's behavior. When she caught him looking she shook her hand, then smiled a worried smile at him. "Please… be careful. You have two women who would very much like you to live."

"Yeah I know." Aki felt awkward.

Lani walked over to him and hugged him gently, then kissed him on the cheek. She pulled away, her eyes watering, then looked down at Hana. "Don't worry about her. I'll love her like she's my own concubine."

He wasn't sure of that's what Hana would want, but that's the best he could do. "Thanks. I better-"

"Yeah." Lani pushed him slightly towards the bed.

Aki sat down, and looked at the barely awake Hana. Even though this was all spoken in the common tongue, she knew what was going on, more or less. "I got to go."

"I know."

"I heard that these bastards televise the Contest." Aki recalled from somewhere. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know from where. "I don't want to tell you what to do, but I'd prefer it if you don't watch me di- watch me kill someone."

Hana looked down at her blankets, hiding a tear rolling down her cheek. "Damn it, I promised I wouldn't cry."

Aki lean forward and hugged her. She embraced him, clinging for him as if letting him go would mean he'd fall to this death. In a way that was sort of what was happening. But she had to let him go at some point. When she did she wiped her face and looked at him with the most intense gaze she ever gave him.

"I love you."

Aki's heart fluttered. He knew she liked him, but love was another story. Still, in this moment, she did love him, and he loved her too. So he told her. She gave a sad smile, then watched him leave the kal'mar bed chambers. When the door shut behind him, he could hear the two women bursting into tears.

General Anura was standing nearby, clearly having heard everything. She still had that sick dead look on her face. "Let's get this over with."

The two walked down a series of corridors he had only been down once before. They were heading for the transport docking bay. For a while they were walking in silence. Then Aki realized that General Anura was personally escorting him to the transport, yet wasn't doing so with the other contestants on board. Again, there was special treatment. Before he died he wanted to know why.

"General…"

"I had heard you had taken the kal'mar with Major Lani. I didn't realize you where that close." The General interrupted. "Or is it just a ploy to keep the girl safe?"

Aki gritted his teeth slightly at that. The General was back to being her rude self again. "I'm not using Lani…"

"Hmm." The General hummed an unbelieving hum.

"Look, why do you care? In fact, why are you personally escorting me to the transport in full dress uniform?"

The General snorted. "To make sure you don't run away."

It was a lie. But she was in an antagonizing mood it seemed. She wanted to get under his skin. Since she wanted it, Aki decided he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. So he kept silent and only answered any of her questions with noncommittal grunts or direct 'yes' or 'no's. This was his death march afterall, He didn't need to be her entertainment. However, he did note that the rage she had given him had seemingly brought him to life.

When they reached the docking bay, there was a new transport among the ones he had seen the night of his arrival. It was of a different design than the Nimbonian military, and he rightly guessed this was the ship that would take him down to Musa Minor's surface. There was a young Wahconese woman standing at the entrance, dressed in a silly uniform acting as a flight attendant. The whole idea was ridiculous. He glared at her, but she didn't seem to mind.

He boarded the transport, and at once realized it was bigger inside than the one that had kidnapped him. He could stand up fully in here. Inside there where two other Nimbonian, both looking ashen face like he was. They looked at him and just from the look in their eyes he knew who they were. They were the other contestants on the ship. As typical for pure Nimbonian one of the them had pale skin and blonde hair. But the other was a hidden-seeds like him, so she had multiple features.

General Anura climbed on board after him, and his annoyance grew. So she was going down as well. No doubt she was acting as one of the officials. The other contestants looked at her, and their eyes grew. It was clear from their expression this was one of the few times they seen her in person. No doubt the last time they saw her, she was kidnapped them from their home planets.

The Wahco climbed in after the general and pointed for to the seats for them to sit in. Aki and the General sat down next to each other near to the other contestants. After some time the transport lifted off, and from the window embarked into space.

"Hello, My name is Hatha, and I'm one of the referees for this years contest." The Wahco explained. So she wasn't a flight attendant. "As we're heading down to Musa Minor, I'm to explain a few things to you. But first, if you would be so kind as to look under your seats and pull out your coliseum uniforms."

They all did. Aki got a bag that said "Loffi" on it. He asked around, found her and gave her the correct bag. Someone else handed him his. Hatha didn't need to tell them what to do next, it was clear they had to change clothes. Without a word everyone did as they were told… including General Anura.

Aki stopped untying his shoe and gazed at her. Now the dead look made sense. She not going down with him as a referee. She was a contestant. Everyone else in the transport looked surprised at this as well. Even the Wahconese official. As for the General, she undressed as if she didn't have a care in the world. Slowly everyone else followed suit.

"You're competing?" Aki couldn't let it go. He threw the one-piece jumpsuit at Hatha's feet without any regard to being polite. "Just when were you going to tell me this?"

"I only found out this morning." The General spoke softly. There was an unintentional vulnerable side that came out. He knew she wasn't lying.

"B-But why?" Aki stripped off his underwear and ripped open his uniform bag. "Aren't you some important General in the Nimbonian Kingdom? Why would they send you down there? And why wouldn't they tell you that you were competing?"

"The Chancellor contacted me this morning and said that House Lima had finally come to a decision on me, and that even though there is a disadvantage of placing me in the contest, the officials agreed to it. When I questioned further, she informed me that the reason I'm involved is because of … ratings."

"Ratings?"

The General nodded. She looked bitter for a moment, then returned to the dead look she had before. "Hurry up and get dressed."

Aki couldn't believe it. If he didn't hate her, he'd feel sorry for her. Then he looked down at the uniform provided, but it wasn't much of one. It basically looked like sports swimsuit bottoms with a sports swimsuit top. What was the deal with this? They also provided shoes, but they were more or less surfer shoes that went up the ankle. Looking at it, he realized they would be someplace with a lot of beaches, probably somewhere tropical.

"I bet these outfits are for ratings too." Aki glanced at the Wahconese Referee.

She didn't reply, but he had hit the nail on the head. Like the others he got dressed. He sat down next to the General, now his opponent. She looked different in the two-piece swimsuit. Much like how she did in the hospital, where she didn't look as imposing anymore, on how she looked like a girl. She looked like it now, even though she probably was the oldest one in the room. And like the others, even though she was masking it better, she was scared.

The disadvantage of her joining the contest was two-fold, Aki realized. If the majority of the contestants were around his age, as he guessed they were when looking at the other contestants in the room, then the General would be the oldest in the coliseum. She was a strong imposing woman, but her age would mean her stamina might not be as strong. But on the flip side, she was a General in the Nimbonian Military. Her experience would more than make up for anything lacking. Worst yet, Aki's chances of winning just went out the window. The very person who trained him was sitting next to him.

"Now that everyone's dressed, I think we'll continue with the lecture." Hatha cut into this thoughts. "This year's coliseum is taking place on a small volcano island. Which means they'll be a variety of environments for you to play in. The beaches, the jungles, and the mountains. There are two fresh water sources on the island, but that's up to you to find. The island is relatively small, but the mountains make up for it."

"Beaches and Volcanos." General Anura interrupted. "All advantages for the Wahconese and the Tyrian."

"I would like to remind the General that the location was chosen at random."

The General rolled her eyes. Aki understood that she knew that wasn't the case. Apparently both the Wahco and the Tyro had paid the right people off to get an advantage in the contest.

"When we land on the surface," Hatha continued. "You are to form up around a table holding a series of bags. Before the actual contest begins, each contestant is allowed to take one bag with them and leave the area. At the sound of the horn the contest will actually begin. Understand?"

"Well at least it won't be too much of a blood bath in the opening seconds." Loffi said. No one else agreed. Even if they had a chance to grab their things and get out of there, there was still the chance that people leaving early would just stick around, have their weapon ready and just pick off everyone.

Aki looked up at General Anura, wondering what to do. It was Anura herself that told Aki what to do the opening seconds of the the contest. Which meant if she followed the same plan, they would be alone together and Aki would be easy pickings for the General. But what else could he do? Going for the mountain, like in the plan, and go for a fresh water source was the only logical choice he could think of. Anywhere else would be looking for a fight.

The transport started to break through Musa Minor's atmosphere and lowered itself. Aki could see nothing but an ocean once they broke through the clouds, at first, but as they lowered he could start to see the little speck of an island. And as they got closer it grew and grew. Hatha had been right, it wasn't that big. It was just big enough for people to keep running into each other so they'd have to kill. He wondered if it was even possible to hide, unless it was the ocean or in the volcano.

When the transport landed, the group inside waited for the engines to die. Then the door opened, and Hatha was the first to emerge. Aki and General Anura let the other contests on board leave first. As he started to follow them, the General held him back.

"No second thoughts. Go through with your original plan." She leaned into his ear and whispered.

"Like I can trust you now…" Aki quickly whispered by.

"It's either that or take your chances with everyone else. You decide."

Aki watched her shove her way passed him, then exit. He stood alone in the transport, looking at all the changed out of clothing on the floor. What was he going to do? Hatha peeked her head back in, looking at him.

Still undecided he made his way out the exit and found the group forming a circle around the table with bags. There had to of been 18 contestants, all wearing the same type of swimsuit, and all of them looking young, just as he expected. There weren't any more Nimbonians, he realized. Just the ones on his transport. The majority of the players were Wahconese and Tyrian. The General was right, the contest was rigged.