Page 57 of Xefe
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. The fall was unsurvivable. “We can—”Oomph.A solid weight slammed into me. A snake-chick had landed on my back. I reached behind me, but I couldn’t get a hand on her slippery body. “Help!”
Querida let out a banshee cry, grabbed onto the alien’s dark hair, and slammed her fist into the snake-chick’s face until she was knocked unconscious and dropped off my back.
“Thanks.” I wobbled and regained my balance.
“I can make this jump.” Nheenya heaved her uni-boob and crouched low on her strong legs.
“What?Then why didn’t you go before?” I shouted and watched as most of the half-dead miners walked off the stones, not even attempting to jump. Their bodies littered the floors, looking like small splats of green and red from this distance.
“I wouldn’t leave you.” Nheenya grasped Nieve’s hand, and Nieve actually smiled in response.
Eww, I wasn’t used to her emoting any kind of sweetness.
“Do you think you can carry someone on your back?” I asked Nheenya.
She lunged forward, grasped Nieve’s forearms, and twisted her onto her shoulders. In seconds. “Yes.” She beamed a smile at us. “Or I will die trying.”
“Dios!You’re crazy strong.” Nieve wobbled and wrapped her arms around Nheenya’s neck. “I would be really sad if I died, so I’d appreciate you not killing us, okay?”
I’m a genius.“Thank God I was smart enough to choose you, Nheenya. You’re welcome, everybody. Team Hera.” I glanced behind me again. Greenie lumbered onto the first stone. She favored her right arm, but with her weird backwards legs, it would be minutes before she landed on our platform.
“That isnotour team name.” Nieve glared at me.
“Whatever you say.” I smiled, all the while knowing it wasdefinitelyour team name.
“Hurry up!” The three aliens from the green team urged Greenie on in unison. “You must crush the weak earthers.”
If I heard the words “weak” and “earther” in the same sentence… I was going to scream.
“Don’t make us push that bitch off the edge.Again.” Nieve cackled and started flipping off the green team.
They roared and flexed their impressive muscles, clearly pissed.
Nheenya and Nieve made it across in a lopsided jump, luckily, nowhere near the bad guys. The ugly aliens were focused on Greenie. I’m sure they’d try to kill us after she made it across the finish line. If she failed, they were doomed.
“Hurry,” Nieve screamed. “She’s coming back fast.”
The other competitors had caught on to our piggybacking scheme and piled up on the floating stone below us. We had log-jammed the last platform, but soon they’d overpower us with sheer numbers.
I looked at Querida. “Trust me?”
“Hell no!” She flailed her arms to keep her balance as she stepped back, but there was nowhere to go. “I do NOT—”
“Too bad.” I grabbed her hands and spun her around, praying she landed where I needed her to go. I twirled her in a wide circle until I built enough momentum to get her across. At the last minute, I bent my knees and propelled her with all my might. “Catch her!” I screamed at Nieve and Nheenya as I tossed Querida into the air.
“Heraaaaa!” Querida yelled louder than I’d ever heard her speak.Impressive.“I said n—” Her words were snatched by the greedy winds. Within seconds, she landed in a messy pile of aliens waiting at the finish line—a giant floating stage above the arena.
But she was safe.
Three of the four of us had made it across—everyone except me. And I’d run out of ideas. I looked over my shoulder and saw Greenie land on the stone below me. She elbowed and kicked all the other competitors off, her impressive size dwarfing the snake-chicks and miners trying to fight for their lives.
“I am going to kill you, stupid, filthy, weak earther!” She clutched her mangled arm, clearly trying to buy time because she was winded. I recognized the technique because I’d employed it hundreds of times on Earth with my bad shoulder.
The Aavvee exploded in squawks and cheers in the stands. I understood some of what they said; familiar words stood out.Kill. Maim. Die.Seemed crowds the universe over shared the same bloodthirsty goals. All they ever wanted to see was my destruction, and the weight of it crushed me for a split second. Until I realized… They’d reacted to Greenie’s words. Which meant they’d heard her threaten me.Heardher call me weak.
I knew this place was monitored.
I could use this to my advantage. Greenie had given me a priceless gift, another tool in my arsenal. I’d been competing my whole life, and I would adapt to this alien planet, kill Freckles, and get home to my sister.
