THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 2309 words) [4/15] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 07 2016	Views/Reads: 1855/1353	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 2 - CH 4

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


A group who'd been watching him cheered and applauded as he rolled about
on the floor beating wildly at his head. None of them moved to help 
him. 

As they moved slowly up the hall they passed some of those freaks from
the planet Nefor. They were always in demand, being able to amuse by 
changing the colour of their hair and skin at will. 

Just as they were passing them, a silver arrow thudded into one of the
freaks and the ones around him changed colour so fast it was difficult 
to follow them – light blues, bright reds, deep purples, dark browns 
all took the place of their normal pink skin. One of them had more 
colours than a rainbow on his skin at the same time, his eyes bright 
green, his hair shining yellow. Thick black blood poured out from the 
freak on the floor and the others moved away so they didn't step in it. 


Above the music, the shouting and the laughter, they heard water
splashing and as the crowd ahead parted they saw a large circular pool. 
The water was a shimmering light blue and there was a fountain in the 
centre which sprayed upwards for twenty feet. 

Several naked women cavorted in the pool, laughing and giggling when
fully clothed partiers were thrown in beside them. The usual body with 
the silver arrow protruding from its back floated about but nobody paid 
it any attention, occasionally shoving it away when it drifted too 
close. 

“Wow!!” exclaimed Blaze, eyes widening when he saw the women. He
vanished from Corthan's side and appeared hovering over the pool, his 
head darting from side to side as he tried to see all the women at 
once. 

He disappeared and materialized briefly beside one of them then darted
over to another then another, vanishing when he'd inspected what was on 
display. 

This was a novelty to the partiers around the pool and they laughed and
cheered each time he disappeared then reappeared and Blaze, encouraged 
by them, started showing off, trying to attract and impress the women. 
He appeared on the ledges of the fountain until he materialized at the 
top, grinning wildly from his upside-down position. 

Then he appeared next to one dusky naked beauty in the pool and was just
reaching out to touch her when Corthan yelled at him to get back beside 
him. Blaze muttered something and thought about staying but didn't want 
to disobey so he materialized beside Corthan again. Miller sniggered 
and put his arm round him as Talis shook her head. 

As they strolled on they passed several large pipes which gushed
different coloured liquids into deep barrels – amber, light green, 
light blue and dark red liquid flowed out and they could smell the 
powerful aroma of alcohol. This was where the partiers helped 
themselves to the endless supply of booze which Kol provided for them. 

Their attention was diverted by more screaming up ahead. They moved past
the pool and as the crowd made way for them they saw a large steel- 
barred cage with two gigantic bear-like animals inside it. The cage was 
tall but had no top. The screams came from the three people sitting on 
a wooden swing above them, the swing suspended from the hall roof by 
the slenderest of ropes. Arrow after arrow flashed towards the ropes, 
some missing, some slicing at them. 

As the crowd watched, the swing's ropes were finally sliced through, it
flipped over and the screaming victims were tipped into the cage. The 
bear-like animals pounced on them, ripping them apart in a feeding 
frenzy. Blood spurted out of the cage drenching the nearest onlookers 
but they didn't move. The animals tore the shrieking victims to shreds, 
gulping down huge chunks of raw bleeding flesh, ripping off arms and 
legs and splitting their bodies apart. 

A bloodied arm bounced out of the cage and fell amongst the crowd.
Someone picked it up and started waving it about, screaming with 
laughter. Seconds later he fell gurgling to the floor as a silver arrow 
pierced his throat. 

Talis sagged against Kane and he could feel her trembling as they moved
on. Her face was white and he put an arm round her. 

“If you want,” Corthan whispered to him, “I could irradiate half the
hall and we could make a run for it.” 

Kane shook his head. “Too many Guards,” he hissed back, “and the mad
bowman would drop a couple of us before we made the door.” 

The crowd was beginning to thin out a bit now and they came to the rear
of the hall where several ornamental tables were piled high with 
Dreamtabs, Janad tobacco and tablets and capsules of all shapes and 
sizes. 

Miller grinned when he saw the Dreamtabs and he managed to
surreptitiously grab a handful as they passed. 

There were several couches behind the tables and lots of partiers were
sprawled on them, clouds of the aromatic Janad tobacco they'd been 
smoking hanging in the air. 

Miller glanced at them. “Lucky bastards!” he muttered. 

Ahead of them, two Guards stood at the entrance to a long arched
corridor and they moved aside to let the group through. On the other 
side of the corridor was a large room which had an artificial moat 
around it. 

The room was richly furnished with leather couches, computer stations,
large wall screens and tables piled with Janad tobacco, expensive wines 
and chocolates. 

Kane and the others strolled forwards to the moat. Looking across they
could see the elegant youngish man who'd appeared on the Observation 
Screen on the Falcon. 

When he caught sight of them he rose from his couch and strolled over.
He signalled to a Guard and a drawbridge was lowered over the moat. 
They made their way over and he came forward to greet them. 

“Permit me to introduce myself, Captain Kane,” he said, smiling and
extending his hand. “I'm Kol Davros. Welcome to my planet, Modas.” 

Kol was elegantly dressed in a three-piece, dark blue velvet suit,
complete with a white shirt and a dark bowtie. He had long, bushy, dark 
brown hair and was clean shaven. 

Kane introduced the others one by one and Kol shook hands with them then
returned to his couch. Blaze couldn't keep his eyes off the half-naked 
women who lounged beside him. 

“He's cute!” one of them said, pointing at him then beckoning. 

Grinning, Blaze started walking over to her. 

“Blaze!” Corthan called to him. 

He turned. The look on Corthan's face was enough and reluctantly he
re-joined the others. 

As Kane was talking to Kol, Miller fingered the Dreamtabs in his pocket.
‘Must be at least half a dozen here,' he thought. 

He casually brought one out and slipped it into his mouth, pretending he
was coughing. 

“If you swallow that,” Corthan whispered to him, “I'll frazzle you on
the spot.” 

Miller nearly swallowed the Dreamtab in his panic to remove it but he
managed to spit it out and it bounced away into the moat. 

“Not really in the mood anyway, Corthan,” he said, grinning weakly. 

Corthan smiled back at him. 

Kol finished talking to Kane and turned to the rest of them. “While I
was waiting for your arrival,” he said, smiling round at them all, “I 
was considering what kind of sport we could have with you. I'm tired of 
these games here,” he said, waving his hand at the hall. “They bore me. 
I'm in the mood for something different.” 

“So am I,” said the woman who had beckoned Blaze, looking meaningfully
over at him. 

Blaze winked back at her. 

“The Maze!” Kol announced, ignoring her. He waved over a Guard. “Tell
Sark to join us,” he ordered and the Guard slipped away. “We're going 
to have a contest in the Maze with a prize for the winner,” Kol told 
them. “I'll choose my champion – Sark. I've already chosen yours – 
him,” he said, pointing to Sinto. “Mr Tattoo Face!” 

“Fuck you and your games!” spat Sinto, his lightning bolt tattoos
creasing. 

“And the prize?” Kane asked. 

“If Sark wins, I kill you all. If Sark loses, you go free!” Kol said,
laughing. “And he's never been beaten yet!” 

Sinto sneered at him. “There's always a first time!” he spat. 

Kol waved over some Guards. “Get the Maze ready,” he instructed them.
“Tell the partiers about it and clear the hall. Spread the word in the 
district and arrange transport. We start in two hours.” 

“Here comes the mad bowman,” Talis whispered to Kane. 

He turned and saw Sark coming across the drawbridge. He still had the
bow and wore a quiver which was half-full of silver arrows. He was a 
couple of years older than Blaze but was a bit taller and more 
muscular. His head was completely shaved except for a thick line of 
black hair which ran from his forehead back to his neck. He was bare 
chested and wore leather trousers and leather boots. 

“I have an opponent for you in the Maze,” Kol said, as he strolled over
to him. 

“Who?” Sark asked, tossing his bow and quiver on to a couch. 

“Me!” Sinto barked at him. 

Sark sneered at him and brushed his hand across his line of hair. 

“The usual prize,” Kol told him. 

“I'd rather play against him,” Sark said, wandering over and stopping in
front of Blaze. He looked him up and down then without warning, lunged 
at him. Blaze simply vanished and reappeared next to Miller and Sark 
found himself clawing empty air before losing his balance and falling 
into the moat. 

Kol and his women shrieked with laughter as he thrashed around in the
water. He hauled himself out and stood dripping by the edge, his line 
of black hair plastered to his shaved head. He glared murderously at 
Blaze who waved at him. Sinto and Miller sniggered and applauded as 
Sark stormed off across the drawbridge. 

“Two hours!” Kol shouted to him. 

He turned to Blaze. “That's a very interesting gift you have, young
Blaze. We'll look into it later.” he said. “Good job it's not you in 
the race or you'd be at the finish line before Sark had even started!” 

Blaze grinned at him. 

Kol turned to the group. “Right, I'll give you an hour to rest and
refresh yourselves then Mr Tattoo Face can have an hour learning how to 
use a MindBike.” He smiled at them. “After that the game begins!” 


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