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It's time to play "Truly Mine," the game show where you prove your love or lose your life! Tonight, guest-starring our Darin guest and her Trengese lover; talk about a forbidden romance! What thrills await our couple here? Let's find out in this time zone's episode of "Truly Mine!" (Applause)
I blinked and rose slowly with a groan, my muscles protesting every movement. The light around me dimmed and revealed that I was sitting on the floor of a glass case on a stage surrounded by an audience of beings of every kind. I lifted my hand to my aching head noting the thick black band wrapped around my wrist. I looked around again as a knock sounded to my right.
Where in the universe was I?
A tall, inky black figure in a shiny silver suit grinned at me, two of his appendages held behind his back as he gestured with the other two. He looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't tell exactly where I'd seen him before.
"So, let's meet our contestants! Say hello Yrmenisé!"
I looked around at the eager faces of the audience. What was going on here?
"Aw, she must be shy. Let's wake her lover, shall we?"
I looked over at the case on the other side of the stage and saw Tilo there, passed out. His protective visor looked broken - had that happened in the warp over here? One moment we'd been on a transient shuttle hunting for treasure and the next, we were here.
One moment we had been raiding a ship for treasure and the next we were here. And what was this about being lovers? A screen popped up in front to me helpfully explaining the rules of the game. Survival meant that we got to... keep our lives!? What did that mean?
A small charge ran through the cage zapping Tilo who finally stirred. Beyond him lay another figure I didn't recognise. She stirred as well. Getting a sinking feeling, I turned back to look at the other side of my cage and audibly cursed. Aris the Triven. My awful, awful (I can't stress this enough) awful ex, bastard spawn of a Kiellerian Slug. What was he doing here?
"Beside Yrmenisé is her former lover and co-contestant, Aris!"
He woke groggily, seeing me with a look of confusion and then dread on his face.
"What did you do Aris, because I know that this is your fault somehow?" He gulped and began stuttering his response.
"I... I swear I didn't know Yrmi, it was a ju... just a joke. I swear!" How in the world had I ever thought this... this... worm was even remotely attractive? Ugh!
"Let's see our first challenge picked completely at random by our challenge generator!" The commentator announced.
Exciting music played as a screen came up in my cage. A similar one came up in Tilo's cage and he dazedly stared at it before looking around in confusion.
"Trial 1: The challenge is... Poison Death!"
I watched, helpless, as two steel tentacles with needle spikes rose from the ground in Tilo's cage. Just as it struck him and his captive companion in the neck, the floor of the cage suddenly opened and we fell through it onto a damp tunnel. What had happened to him? What was this?
"Welcome to the first stage of the Poison Death Track. Your goal is to reach the poison antidote that can only be given orally from mouth to mouth - they don't call Glimeria's Rose Poison the Lover's poison for nothing, am I right folks? Find the antidote and get yourself out of the dangerous caverns, make sure you avoid the mealworms. Contestants, on your marks. Oops, it looks like the first symptoms have just started to set in! Your lovers are currently in a bad way and only the kiss of true love's antidote can free them. Better hurry! Good luck to you!"
I growled at Aris and examined the space we were in. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim light. There were two doors on either side of the room.
Now what?
A screen came up in front of me.
Game of Chance: Based on your lover's writing - are they left or right-handed?
I had... no idea. I had never seen him write. I had seen him fight before and he did favour his right side, but he definitely ate with his left. Which was it? A whoosh sounded from somewhere overhead and a moment later, the muddy ground grew wet and then started to flood. This was not good. I had to think...
"I can't write worth a damn with my right hand... but it's so much better at fighting, don't you think Yri?"
Left! I pressed the button for the door just as the cavern began to flood. Aris headed for the opposite door. So, we were to compete separately. At least I didn't have to see his stupid face any more.
I hurried down the dark tunnel, the light sources getting more and more scarce. Finally, I got to a dead end. The screen came up again revealing a solid door in front of me.
The Mealworm Maze: Find your way to the centre, watch your back as you enter. Mealworms writhe with hungered glee, find your way and you shall be free. You have ten minutes.
A timer started as the door slid away to reveal an entire maze. I had only a moment to look around before, the door closed behind me and pushed me onto a ramp sliding all the way to the maze entrance. I caught a glance of Aris on the other end of the maze in a similar predicament.
I got to my feet and ran through the entrance. I knew part of the way from my glance at the landscape. First left, second right, third left, first right... it seemed like a pattern. Maybe I could...
Something slimy shifted behind me. I didn't have to turn around to realise that I was being hunted by a Zedekine mealworm. I am terrible at fighting, but I'm pretty good at running and hiding. The second was not a clever option so the first was my safest bet. I hurried along keeping careful count as I went. The movement sounded as if it was coming closer.
This was going to be fun...
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
I scrambled up the last bit of earth and pressed the button releasing me from the final level of the Poison Death with only moments to spare before the fire lake caught up with me. I came out into the room I had woken in before, the audience all cheering for me.
I limped over to the stage area and waved my band over the lock. It clicked open and I hobbled over to Tilo whose usually lustrous golden skin was now a pallid yellow. I opened the small bottle I had salvaged from the Mealworm maze storing the semi-sweet contents in my mouth.
At any other time, this would embarrass me but he was in danger. I couldn't think about anything else. So, I pressed my lips to his, allowing the liquid to pour into his mouth. A moment passed, and then another. I was beginning to fear I had been too late when he coughed then gasped and his eyes flew open, the colour returning almost immediately to his face.
My relief was palpable.
"And it looks like we have a winner! Well done Yrmenisé!" The crowd cheered my win just as the commentator began speaking again. "I'm sorry Aris, you were too late for the timer and so, too late to save your girlfriend Lystere."
A bit later, Aris dragged himself to the stage looking worriedly at the form beside us. I didn't like him in the least but this was a life we were talking about. Tilo didn't hesitate and, realising the problem, set the unconscious woman on her side, arranging her tentacles in various strange angles. He tapped her stomach a bit and then, having found whatever he was looking for, Tilo set her back on her back, tipped her chin upwards and then pressed down hard on her stomach.
Her tentacles flailed and then, a moment later, she coughed a bit of green liquid out of her mouth. She struggled for breath as Tilo rubbed her back in slow careful circles but the colour seemed to be returning to her face. She rasped a grateful "thank you."
"Oh, dear! Very well done for the knowledge of ancient Ymid healing arts, but that is expressly against the rules! Tilo the Trengese hero, you are disqualified!"
The crowd made a displeased sound and metal arms rose from the stage. Lystere and I watched helplessly as Tilo was carried out of the cage and onto a platform rising to the ceiling beyond the dome that protected the audience. A smaller cage came up to surround Tilo, effectively trapping him.
"In one minute, the noonday sun on our planet will reach its zenith. For all of you watching at home, Hizidis sunlight is highly radioactive and will sear the flesh right off the bones of a Lerdon Whale!" he remarked cheerfully. "This will be over... in a flash." He punctuated this last with flashy movements and the crowd cheered.
"Exchange!" cried Lystere, her voice still a little hoarse.
"Ooh! Viewers, Lystere has called for The Exchange!"
I looked at her confused. She began to rattle off instructions - something about a final test to get to Tilo before it was too late. In exchange for his life, I would have to do one more round.
"Let's see the challenge!"
The same exciting music from before played and the screen came up in our cage.
"And the challenge is - quickfire! Aris and Lystere will be escorted off the planet by our friendly guards. Enjoy the rest of your lives you two. Don't come back." continued the commentator cheerily. That was a relief at least.
"Now for a set of super embarrassing questions about you and your lover that you have to answer correctly. Every right answer brings the platform lower, and every wrong one raises the platform. To make the game fair, we'll start from the middle of the way. Now, for the first question. Yrmenisé, when was the first time you kissed?"
The crowd went "Oooh," punctuated with a few heckling whistles.
"A... a few days ago."
"That is... incorrect! The right answer is seventy-three years from now, in the lab while you slept. No, that was not a dream." The platform rose by a few feet and my blue skin flushed a shade darker. Ignoring the time leap... that hadn't been a dream? I glared up at Tilo who looked at me sheepishly and mouthed an apology. Oh, he would be getting it for that one.
"Question Two: Which of these three is Tilo's most recent absolute favourite? Is it a) His mentor, b) His sword or c) you?"
The crowd went "Aaaw."
They were not kidding about this being embarrassing... I wasn't even sure what we were... how could I know this? I glanced up at him and he gave me a lopsided grin with a shrug.
"Um... c?"
"That is correct!" My skin flushed a darker shade of blue. Damn my complexion and the obviousness of my blush. The platform lowered.
"Question three! What is the breed and name of the first pet Tilo had?"
That was an easy one. Ridis hadn't shut up about their childhood since I'd joined them. He'd made fun of his brother too for his choice of wardrobe and nearly pulled up the images for me to see. He'd sent them to me later covertly though.
"A Trll Hound named Gret."
"That is correct!" The platform lowered again. A siren sounded and the commentator looked up then at the audience.
"Uh-oh!" said the announcer, comically holding a hand up to his mouth. The crowd laughed. "We all know what that means. This game show is about to be raided by the Galactic Regiment! So, for the all or nothing round because we now need to run for our lives, Yrmenisé, would you marry Tilo if you could?"
I looked up at him. He gave me a curious look as well. Boy, this was hard. I barely knew him after all but I had to admit, it didn't sound like too bad an idea. Still, marriage?
"I wo..."
All at once, the lights went out and everything was still. The ground beneath me changed. The cold glass of the cage was replaced with hard metal and the familiar sound of beeping and electrical equipment. We'd made it back somehow! Beside me, Tilo stirred and groaned. We weren't out of danger yet. Tilo's protective visor was still broken. Warping back out of here would be dangerous for him especially.
We were back on the ship we'd been beamed out of... and it was moments away from being destroyed by a mechanism the ship's original owner, known as The Chronologer, had set to destroy both his body and the treasure we had come to find.
I looked around frantically. The lab was empty as it had been before. I headed for the other room where I had seen random furniture. Nothing useful there. There was a suit in one of the crew lockers. It was the only one, but it was very old. Who knew how long it would last out there?
We didn't have a choice. My mind raced trying to figure out which calculations I needed to make on the time device. We couldn't be in the same place at the exact same time. That particular time law was repeated over and over in the time traveller's journal I had... borrowed.
So much had happened since then - I almost couldn't believe it.
I turned the dials on the small device as precisely as I could while Tilo changed into the suit. A strange creeping rot appeared around the door disintegrating it to nothing completely (This must have been the component the Chronologer described in the journal; it was very thorough). The rest of the corridor was consumed by it too. We were out of time. I grabbed the treasure, took Tilo's hand and pressed the button.
All at once, we were sucked out of the hull of the ship into the darkness of space. A moment later, Tilo's ship Ulri blinked back into view. We had made it!
Rejoicing, we embraced, remaining there for a few moments.
The distant sun shone on us providing us with a soft light. In the nothingness, here we were, alive, safe and with the treasure in our grasp. We were home free. Our gazes locked. Something had definitely changed between us... something very subtle and oh-so-sweet...
"Yri..."
"Tilo..."
We laughed. There was a lot to say.
"I'll go first," I said, "before we're interrupted. I just wanted to say..."
But Tilo started fading from reality. His eyes grew wide as he did and then a moment later, he was gone.
Oh, come on!
My comms crackled with static and then a message came through.
"Tilo Hyelaas, Captain of the Pirate Ship Wanderer, criminal code 546-YM7R has been apprehended by the Crisis Corps of the Intergalactic Federation. Transfer to Central Galactic Penal Facility shall commence. You have served your Galaxy well Officer Yr..."
"Wait, Yrmenisé? Yrma, is that you?" A familiar voice interrupted the standard Federation apprehension notice.
"Dad?"
"Oh thank the Great Ones, you're safe! We've been worried sick about you!"
"Dad, what... what's going on?"
"You're coming home, love."
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