The blue guy, Vaelor, was quiet. But he was good at directions and since his home world was similar to this one, she was lucky to be partnered with him. If anyone could help her survive this cold, but beautiful place, it was the Crytharian.
As they entered the encampment, the sun was just starting to set. The air became even chillier than before. If she didn’t have the special survival biosuit designed and set for her specific anatomy, she probably would have frozen almost immediately upon leaving the dome.
Ten silver tents were set up around a large bonfire. The other players were sitting on stones in front of the fire. All except the two players who went in the wrong direction—the Rasilian and Slurchan.
“Look who made it!” a jovial male voice called out. She looked around, all eyes were on them. The voice belonged to the human guy. He had a huge smile on his face.
“Go sit by the fire, I’ll set up the tents,” Vaelor told her.
She was on the verge of arguing that she could set up her own tent, but the warmth of the fire reached her, and she couldn’t help but shiver.
“Let me know if you need me to help.”
He grunted and moved to an area that wasn’t on the end of the row of tents but not in the center. Her father would say that he was guarding the perimeter while keeping a clear path to the shadows.
Again, it made her realize how lucky she was to be partnered with Vaelor.
“Have a seat, warm yourself.” The human said.
She sat next to him and placed her hands out, appreciating the warmth. “Thanks.”
He smiled at her, then reached out a hand. “Blaine Cummings from New California.”
Shaking his hand, she introduced herself. “Mara Sinclair, Old San Francisco.”
“You’re a long way from home, Mara.”
“So are you.”
“True.”
A camera drone appeared and began flashing lights at her.
“What is going on?”
“It’s the games, letting the audience know who made it to camp and who didn’t. Just wave and smile, it will be done soon and fly off to recharge.”
Mara forced a smile, waved at the drone. It took more images with its flashing lights, then flew away. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Blaine pointed to the others gathered around the campfire. “This is my partner, Dugan. He’s a Cyborg.”
The half man half machine didn’t look at them but just stared straight ahead at the fire. “We are not partners.”
“Sure, we are. At least, for this half of the games.”
“Over there are the Beast and Gomora. The two hot ones over there are Famia and Arisa. The one with a constant frown on his face is Vor and the unlucky one partnered with him is Esto. The Rasilian and Slurchan haven’t made it in yet.”
The other players just nodded in her direction, but most didn’t look. They didn’t want to invest too much in getting to know her.
“We saw those two head off in the wrong direction.”
“Who’s your partner?” Blaine asked, nodding his head in the direction where two shiny new tents were being set up.
“That’s Vaelor.”
“Hey there my man, Vaelor! How’s it going?”
No response. Vaelor ignored Blaine on purpose.
