Free Candidate (Selected Book 4) by Robin Roseau Page A

alien. His information made little sense as well. But then I watched as two guards led Apple into the arena. She ascended a podium and then answered a number of questions. When the questions ended, the video faded.
    I watched Apple's remaining videos, one after another. I watched Apple as she was led onto the arena floor. This time there were pillars rising from the sand. I counted, and there were sixteen of them arranged in a circle. Apple was led to one. Her hands were pressed to the top, and the stone swallowed them, just like the table and chairs had been holding me. Other women were led to the other pillars.
    Then Administrator Brighteyes talked to the women. She gave them one last chance to change their minds and select from a species that prefer a willing mate. A moment later, four other aliens stepped onto the sands and came to talk to the women. One of the women accepted the offer given to her, and she left with one of the aliens.
    Then the administrator offered one last set of directions before striding from the grounds. A moment later, the women were freed. I expected the competition to begin, but instead, some of the women hurried to the racks of weapons. Others moved to the perimeter and wandered from alien to alien, sometimes talking, sometimes just moving along.
    Apple moved to the nearest rack, tested the various weapons, and finally selected a long stick. She gave it a good spin, and she looked pretty good. She did some stretching, spun the staff a few more times, then returned to the center.
    A few minutes later, all the women had gathered back at the center. Then there was a chime, and the competition began.
    Apple and another woman, also with a staff, began running for one of the exits. Two of the aliens moved to intercept them, and two more waited nearer the entrance. Apple and the other woman tried to dodge around the two waiting aliens, but the aliens were faster and interposed themselves. Twice more the women tried to make it around, and each time, the two aliens were faster.
    Apple and the two women looked at each other, nodded, and took off in the opposite direction. Both aliens chased them. Apple looked over her shoulder, saw the aliens were catching quickly, and yelled, "Spin, now!"
    Both women spun around, their staffs spinning even faster. The other woman's alien was able to stop outside of range of her staff, but Apple connected hard on her alien's ribs. There was a loud crack! And he drew backwards. Apple didn't give him a chance to recover. She went after him, attacking hard, spinning the staff quickly, and she hit him twice more, both times in the same place.
    The alien stepped out of range.
    The other woman called out. She wasn't doing very well, and she had entered into a game of tug of war with her staff. Her alien was winning. Apple spun, took five steps, and brought her staff down hard on the second alien's arm.
    There was another crack, and I gave out a loud cheer.
    "You go, Apple!" I yelled.
    That alien howled, releasing the other woman's staff, and turned on Apple. The two women harried him, and they were doing a good job driving him out of their path. Apple's first alien had appeared to retreat completely.
    But then a new alien arrived.
    "Not fair!" I cried. "She beat hers."
    Apple didn't even see him coming. He arrived from behind her. She reached back with the staff, and he grabbed it from her, wrenching it away.
    "Cheater!"
    Then he grabbed her, pulled her to her chest, and backed away from the battle.
    Moments later, he set a screaming Apple into the cage. She seemed as offended by the turn of events as I was.
    Apple and the other woman were the last to be captured, having given the competition a better run than the other women. Without Apple's help, it only took a little longer for her alien to yank her staff away and toss it to the side. She turned to run, but he chased after her, catching her one handed, then dragged her to one of the cages and tossed her in. He wasn't as nice