Page 26 of Mutant Mine

They do not go down easily, but take punch after punch before they break. I am even forced to bow my head as one man runs towards me, and smash my horns into his skull — a maneuver I find distasteful and try to avoid.

It is effective, though.

Like all sincere fights, it is fast and ugly. Within two minutes, the men all lie shattered on the floor around me. Some are dead. Others will live, but will never be the same again. The makeshift blade is buried in someone’s gut.

My breathing and heart rate are accelerated, and my thoughts are racing. It was not effortless for me to defeat them.This should not have happened.

I climb up onto the platform of tables in the center of the room, aware that I am still panting and splashed with blood. The Colosseum in ancient Rome, where the gladiators fought to the death against criminals and wild beasts, was first andforemost a theater.

For a moment, I stand and survey the room, rolling my shoulders to loosen the muscles. My anger is real, and the thunder in my voice comes easily:

“Who else here wants to fight?” I snarl. “Anyone who wishes to challenge me, speaknow.”

There is taut silence. The room is holding its breath, so desperate are they all not to draw attention to themselves.

During the brawl, the men who did not wish to choose a side backed away, forming a circle around us. Now all eyes are fixed on me — lest I make any sudden movements. To make sure that I have won their loyalty, and not just their fear, my next words are crucial.

“We are heading towards the Caster-391 solar system,” I say. “It is a large system. There are two inhabited planets there, and others habitable but not yet colonized, as well as space and lunar stations. That is plenty of space for us all to get lost in.”

The crowd is listening intently now, and sharing glances amongst themselves.

It was an error not to share this information earlier. Naturally the prisoners are afraid of what the future may hold. They were condemned to die on Chronus. Now, they have been offered something that every single man who has taken this journey before us must have wished for: a second chance. Anescape.

How desperate must they be to make sure that this precious opportunity to alter their fate is seized? And desperation makes people dangerous.

“The journey will take twenty-two days,” I say. The lie feels smoother the second time I tell it. Now that I have deceived Finch, lying to these men is easy. “If you can be patient for that long, then you will all go free.”

I pause, then decide to add a word of warning. It might not be wise to show my hand in this way, but I must say it, just once:

“The guard is insignificant. None of you are to speak of him again.”

16

Rory

I WAKEup in the dark, disorientated. I stretch out one hand to push against the wall — the cold stone wall that my twin bed rests against, in my bedroom on the estate. I touch the cool surface in the night sometimes, when the air is too warm, or my dreams have been too strange and I need to feel something solid.

My hand lurches out into nothingness. There is no wall — just empty space.

After a moment of jarring confusion, it all comes back to me: where I am. Who I’m with.

“Computer,” I whisper. “What time is it?”

“GOOD MORNING! IT IS 10:37 AM,” replies the automated voice perkily.

Even though I know it isn’t sentient, and was simply programmed to sound that way, the upbeat tone still makes me scowl.Traitor.If it had just kept its mouth shut yesterday, I would never have gotten caught.

But wait — it’s almost 11? Half of the day is gone already! In the crew bunks, the sunrise alarm wakes us every morning at six o’clock sharp. Someone must have turned off the alarm in here.

…Roth.

Is he with me now? Close by, in the dark, listening?

“Computer, turn on the lights,” I say quickly.

The sudden brightness makes me wince — but the room is empty. The only signs that Roth was ever here are his blanket and pillows, neatly folded onto the back of the couch.

He must have woken up first, probably hours ago, and managed to leave the room without disturbing me. He even left the lights off.

---