Free Alien Bounty by William C. Dietz Page A

one side of the room, while an equal number of green rocks had been piled on the other. The rocks were highly polished and of uniform size and shape.
    "Here is your opponent now. Eena, this is the human called McCade."
    McCade turned to find himself looking down into the serious face of a young Il Ronnian female. As far as he could tell the only difference between male Il Ronnians and female Il Ronnians were the colorful sashes the females wore over their loose robes. Apparently the Il Ronnians could tell the difference however, since there were plenty of them.
    "I hope you will not be offended by the fact that Eena is not an adult, but given Encirclement's popularity, it was difficult to locate a suitable opponent. However, Eena is the best player in her hatching and I think she will offer you a sufficient challenge."
    Although Eena was no more than ten cycles old, and came no higher than his waist, McCade saw her eyes glitter with anticipation. She planned to clean his clock.
    McCade bowed his respect. "Greetings, Eena. May you grow and hatch many eggs."
    Eena bowed in return. She spoke Il Ronnian, but the translator pinned to her robe turned it into flawless Standard. "Greetings, human. May you eat feces and die an agonizing death."
    McCade looked at Teeb with a raised eyebrow. "What's the problem? Have I got bad breath or something?"
    The warrior-priest grinned his amusement. "Eena means no disrespect. She is using psychological warfare. She hopes to unnerve you. Such ploys are an accepted part of Encirclement."
    McCade nodded his understanding. "Fair enough. If you'll explain the rules, Shorty and I will get this game off the ground."
    Eena winced at the term "shorty," and McCade grinned. This could be fun.
    Teeb cleared his throat importantly. "Here is how the game of Encirclement is played. You will notice that the floor has been divided into a grid. There are nineteen vertical and nineteen horizontal lines. As a result there are three hundred sixty-one intersections or positions where you can place the stones that are either red or green. Please choose a color."
    McCade looked at the piles of red and green stones and then at Eena. He noticed that her face was carefully neutral. She wanted one color over the other. He took a guess. "I'll take the red stones."
    Eena's mouth turned down into a scowl. Her red sash had given her away.
    "Good," Teeb acknowledged, his tail signaling approval. "The two of you will take turns placing stones, also called warriors, on the intersections where the vertical and horizontal lines meet. Each of you will attempt to encircle as many vacant intersections as possible. When both of you are satisfied that all the potential territory has been taken, you will count the vacant points encircled by your warriors, and subtract the number lost through capture. The individual with the most points wins."
    "Capture?" McCade asked. "How does that work?"
    "A good question," Teeb answered approvingly. "When two or more of your opponent's warriors occupy adjacent positions on a vertical or horizontal line, they are considered a sept and can be captured when encircled by your stones. As long as one of its members adjoins a vacant intersection the sept is free, but when the sept is completely surrounded, it is taken hostage and removed from the board. Understood?"
    "Understood," McCade answered.
    "Excellent," Teeb said approvingly. "In that case I'll leave you to it. Have a good match." Teeb's tail waved good-bye as he headed for the door.
    Neem sidled up to McCade as Eena went over to inspect her stones. Speaking softly he said, "Don't forget to cheat."
    "What?"
    Neem looked around nervously and said it again. "I said, don't forget to cheat. I'm an expert on human culture remember?"
    "Yeah, so?"
    "So many humans disapprove of cheating. We don't. We don't talk about it, but everyone cheats if they can get away with it. So unless you keep an eye on Eena, she'll steal the match out from under you."
    McCade