Narf!
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Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âHowâs your headâŚ?â Jan asked, softly.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Aura opened one eye and gave him a look, then winced and shut it again. One of the guards had gone through to the back of the tank to check on the two prisoners, and had been getting rather too friendly for Auraâs liking, so she bit him on the wrist, hard enough to draw blood. Heâd given a yell of annoyance and smacked her sharply over the head with his rifle. âHurts,â she managed, thickly.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âHereâŚâ he held out the sparse blanket heâd been given; theyâd both been given one, as it was night outside, and getting chilly inside, but his was marginally better quality, as heâd been more co-operative with their captors.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*She managed a wan smile. âThanks for the offer, but you better keep it. Donâ want you freezinâ to near-death, as youâll never let me forget it⌠âSides, it wonâ do much for this little lump; Iâll need ice if I want to take the pain down⌠Which I doubt Iâll get, anâ I better shut up before I make the headache worse,â she winced and curled up by the wall, pressing as much of her wounded skull against the cool metal as she could.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*By the time their captors brought some food through, someone had thoughtfully put the heating on, as the steel walls of the tank were warm â only they were only lukewarm, but it was better than the icy coolness they had been. Aura had finally managed to get to sleep, as well; there was an ugly bruise flowering on her skin, but she was breathing regularly, so Jan guessed she wasnât concussed or anythingâŚ
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*He leaned back against the wall and watched, warily, blanket round his shoulders, as the tall, dour-faced guard traipsed in with a small canteen of water and⌠well, a packet of some kind of survival rations, it looked like. The Alpha stood in the doorway, similarly watching, arms folded across his chest.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âDoncher trust us no more, BossâŚ?â the guard asked, annoyedly, putting the canteen down on the floor near Janâs feet.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âNot since yer whacked the lady over the head, no,â Lar replied, curtly. âOne more slip up anâ the Boss gets tâhear about it.â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âMiserable old git.â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âIf I was beinâ persnicketty, Krin, thatâd count as a slip-up,â Lar threatened.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Krin wrinkled up his face in disgust, and muttered under his breath. He literally dropped the food â dry, cardboardy travel-biscuits â into Janâs lap, spun on one foot and mooched out, pushing rudely past Lar. The elder slig crimped his snout in annoyance, turned to follow his subordinate and presumably have âwordsâ with himâŚ
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âUh, âscuse meâŚ?â Jan called after him, tentatively.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Lar paused, looked back over his shoulder. âWhat?â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âUhmâŚâ Jan bit his lip, fiddled with the cellophane wrapper on the food. âI just wondered⌠Where are we going?â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Lar sighed and folded his arms, leaned back against the doorframe. âThe Arena,â he replied, gruffly, but there was no apparent malice or annoyance in the voice.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âUh, the ArenaâŚ?â Jan queried, softly so as not to wake Aura, chewing a bit of biscuit. âWhatâs thatâŚ?â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âAn âentertainmentâ complex. Mosâly gladiatorial-type things⌠we get a lot of high-rankinâ officials there, so itâs a pretty well funded placeâŚâ
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âWhy do they want usâŚ? To fight?â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Lar nodded, solemnly. âWell, you, yes, maybe. Donâ know what theyâll want tâdo wiâ yer lady friend⌠Yer lucky, we got a couple of pretty good mud gladiators there at moment, theyâll likely teach yer the ropes if the Boss wants yer to fightâŚâ
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Jan swallowed, thickly. âAre they very goodâŚ? I⌠I mean, most of the fightersâŚ?â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Lar wrinkled his nose, scratched idly at the back of his neck. âMost of âem donâ last very long,â seeing the look on the young mudokonâs face he was quick to clarify, âBut then we donâ have a lot of mud gladiators â you lot mosâly get plucked out of cells for the âpeopleâ side â sellinâ tickets, cleaninâ, that sort of thing. Itâs usually sligs what get persuaded to scrap it out in the ringâŚâ
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Jan picked at the dry biscuit, suddenly not feeling very hungry. His stomach felt like it had shrunk. âSo⌠AuraâŚ? Whatâs going to happen to herâŚ?â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âDoubt sheâll have to fight. Ladies are rare enough that the Bosses donâ want to let âem get killed⌠They have, uh⌠âotherâ things what they get tolâ to doâŚâ
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* I know what that means⌠Jan felt slightly nauseous, put the remains of the biscuit down and hunched his shoulders, pulled the blanket closer.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Lar rubbed his nose, thoughtfully. âListen, Iâll⌠maybe try put a word in for yer wiâ my Boss, when we get there,â he said, softly, presumably so the rest of the crew couldnât hear. âAfter all, yer pretty young⌠heâs not a bad sort, neither. Mebbe heâll make arrangements tâget yer outâŚâ
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Jan chewed his lip, wondering if he ought to trust the Industrial. Heâd been told enough stories about the wily tactics Cartel employees were wont to use; although he guessed a lot were simply rumours, a lot were also likely true⌠Lar had taken Janâs silence as his not wanting to say anything more and was halfway out. âUh, just one more thingâŚ?â Jan called.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Lar sighed, but turned back to him, and said, good-humouredly, âFire away.â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âWhy⌠why are you helping usâŚ?â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âI wouldnâ exactly say I was helpinâ yers, butâŚâ he shrugged. âIâd probâly be livinâ out wiâ the rest of the deserters or somethinâ if they hadnâ caught me durinâ that little Uprisinâ a year or two back.â
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âYou still could,â Jas gave him a look.
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*âNot no more, kid,â Lar smiled, wryly. âThey watch us too close, these days, the ones what were known as troublemakers. I only got this job âcause my Boss is a bit of a rebel himself⌠I guess he was a closet sympathier wiâ the cause, from some oâ the things he says. I likely wouldnâ get much closerân the front gate before someone shot me,â He sighed, sadly, and checked his chronometer on his wrist-computer. âYou best get some shut-eye, kid. Be a day or two before we get there, but when the rest of the lads get up yer sure as hell wonâ be gettinâ the chance to kip.â His voice descended into a mutter as he turned away from the door and went back to the main cabin. âRowdy bloody pains-in-the-assâŚâ
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Jan slumped down by the wall, hugged his blanket closer, and shivered in spite of the warmth.
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