Free Alien Bounty by William C. Dietz Page B

nodded thoughtfully. "Thanks, Neem. I'll keep it in mind."
    Neem left as a swarm of vid cameras entered and took up positions in various parts of the room.
    As one came to hover over his head McCade wondered how many Il Ronnians were watching and whether they were for or against him. According to Neem, McCade had quite a following, liberals mostly, but a scattering of independents as well. Of course, none of them were really rooting for him, they were opposed to war and wanted him to succeed for that reason.
    "Make your move, human scum."
    McCade turned to find Eena scowling up at him. Her attempts to intimidate him were kind of cute. And even though she'd eventually grow up to look like the devil himself, there was something appealing about her pinched little face and big determined eyes.
    He patted her shoulder. "Thank you, Eena. You're pretty cute for a short person. I'll grab a rock and be right back."
    He headed across the room without waiting for a response and picked up a red rock. For some reason he'd imagined the stones were artificial and therefore lighter than they looked. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
    The stones were real and weighed about twenty-five pounds apiece. Later he'd learn that this particular court had been designed for male grand masters. Most courts were a good deal less fancy, and many Il Ronnians preferred to play on miniature boards or computer terminals. But this was a full-blown traditional court complete with real rocks.
    McCade carried his stone to the middle of the grid, picked an intersection, and plopped it down.
    He saw a look of enormous satisfaction come over Eena's face. The human had placed his first warrior in the middle of the desert! At this rate the ugly alien would beat himself.
    Eena selected one of her own stones, struggled to pick it up, and staggered over to the far corner of the grid where she carefully lowered it into place.
    The stones were way too heavy for her and McCade was tempted to help. But should he give up an advantage? Perhaps the weight of the stones had been factored into the match as part of her handicap. And what if he had to win in order to pass this test? By helping her he might call down a nightmare of destruction on his own kind.
    With those thoughts in mind McCade decided to let Eena fend for herself. Meanwhile he'd do his best to win the match.
    Having analyzed Eena's last move, McCade realized that the corners of the grid were easier to defend than the middle. Like her he would start in the corners and work his way out.
    He selected another stone, placed it in close proximity to Eena's, and stepped back to watch her reaction.
    What he got was a look of resignation, as though she'd realized that his stupidity couldn't last forever, and been forced to accept it.
    Well, he thought it was a look of resignation, but how could he be sure? He'd picked up on some Il Ronnian facial expressions from Neem, but still couldn't tell if Eena was resigned, or just suffering from indigestion. He decided to assume the former and placed another stone near hers.
    And so it went stone after stone, intersection after intersection, until McCade was almost completely surrounded. Eena had also captured small contingents of his warriors so now he was outnumbered as well as poorly positioned. He was going to lose, that much was certain.
    Nonetheless, McCade was determined to make the best showing he could. So there was only one thing left to do. Follow Neem's advice and cheat.
    By now the weight of the stones had started to take their toll on Eena. McCade estimated that each of them had around two hundred stones at their disposal, and at twenty-five pounds apiece, that came to more than two tons of rock.
    So each time Eena went for another stone her movements were a little slower, her steps a little more uncertain, and her eyes a little more out of focus.
    McCade's heart went out to her, but he steeled himself with visions of what might happen to Molly if he