Contest

The attack came from Parker's left. From the bookshelves.

The creature sprang forward, leaping at the counter of the Information Desk with frightening speed. It hit the counter hard, grabbing the edge with two vicious-looking foreclaws, baring twin rows of long, razor-sharp teeth, squealing a loud reptilian squeal.

Parker reeled back in horror, staring in shocked disbelief at the creature before her.

It was the size of a large dog, about four feet tall, with hard scaly skin that was gunmetal black in colour. It had four bony-but-muscular limbs and a long, black scaled tail that slithered madly behind its body.

Stunned, Parker just stared at the creature as it struggled to climb over the counter.

Supported by a thin black neck, its head was totally bizarre. Two lifeless black eyes sat on either side of a round black skull, whose sole purpose it seemed was to accommodate the creature's enormous jaws.

The creature lashed out at Parker, clamping its pointed teeth down in front of her.

Parker pulled back from the counter, away from the creature, raised her gun--

--and then in a strange, flashing instant she saw the creature's limbs on the counter.

It was not struggling to climb over the counter anymore -- it was already there.

It lashed out at her again. Missed again.

Parker was momentarily startled.

It wasn't even trying to get her. It was as if this creature were merely trying to keep her attention...

It was then that a second creature hit her from the side. Knocking the wind out of her, jolting the pistol from her hand.

Parker stumbled from the impact, catching a split-second glimpse of what had hit her -- another creature, identical to the first.

A third creature charged her from behind, pitching her forward, face-first onto the ground. Parker rolled quickly onto her back and suddenly felt a heavy weight slam down onto her chest.

A loud reptilian squeal pierced her ears as two rows of long jagged teeth opened wide in front of her eyes.

It was standing on top of her!

Parker screamed as the creature slashed its long fore-claw across her stomach and ducked its head.

And as she lay on the floor, helpless to resist the slicing of the creatures' sharp teeth as ail four of them began to feed on her belly, Officer Christine Parker suddenly remembered -- quite irrationally -- what the words 'Salve moriturum es' meant.

They were Latin words -- words similar to those spoken by Roman gladiators when they were presented to the cheering crowd before combat -- 'We who are about to die, salute you'.

However, as Parker sank to the floor, her strength fading, and the weight of the four creatures now pressing down heavily on her body, she realised that Bellos had changed the words slightly, changing the meaning.

^'Salve moriturum es' meant: 'I salute you, you who are about to die.'

----ooo0ooo------

'I am not sure this is such a good idea,' Selexin said as he followed Swain and Holly through the fire door into the stairwell.

Swain peered down into the shaft, ignoring Selexin. Holly, however, turned to face the little man.

'If you're from another planet,' she said, 'how come you speak English so well?'

Selexin said, 'My native tongue is based on an alphabet comprised of seven hundred and sixty-two distinct symbols. With only twenty-six base letters to choose from, your language is exceedingly simple to learn apart from the dreadful idioms.'

'Oh.'

Swain continued to stare down the shaft.

'I was saying,' Selexin repeated for him, 'that I am not sure this is a very good idea. The chances of sequencing increase as more contestants enter the labyrinth.'

Swain was silent for a long moment.

'You're probably right,' he said, looking down into the dark shaft. Then he turned to face Selexin. 'But then again, if I'm going to be running for my life in this place, I don't want to be doing it in rooms and corridors that I don't know. At least if we look around, we might get to know where we can and can't run if we are followed. I sure as hell don't want to run into a dead end with some half-cocked killer behind me. And besides,' he shrugged, 'we might even find somewhere to hole up if we have to.'

'Hole up?'

'Yes, hole up. Hide,' Swain said. 'You know, escape. Maybe even just stay in the one place until everybody else has killed each other.'

'That is improbable,' Selexin said.

'Why is it improbable? Surely it must be the best way to survive this whole damn thing. We just hide away somewhere, let the others do the fighting and maybe they'll...'

Selexin wasn't listening. He was just standing there, staring at Swain, waiting for him to stop talking.

Swain said, 'What? What is it?'

Selexin cocked his head to one side. 'If you remember what I told you before, you will understand.'

'What? What did you tell me before?'

'As I have said from the beginning, only one contestant leaves the labyrinth. And if not one, none.'

Swain nodded. 'I remember. But how can that happen? If only one contestant is left in the maze, he's safe to find the exit and leave, because there's nothing left to kill him...'

Selexin did not answer.

Swain sighed, '... unless there's something else in here.'

Selexin nodded. 'That is right,' he said. 'The third element of the Presidian.'

'The third element?'

Selexin stepped back into the study hall and sat down at one of the L-shaped desks. Swain and Holly followed.

'Yes, an outside agent. A variable. Something that is capable of altering the conditions of combat instantly. Something that can turn victory into defeat, life into death. In the Presidian, the third element is a beast, a beast known throughout the galaxy as the Karanadon.'

Swain was silent.

'It is a most powerful beast, like no other,' Selexin said. 'As tall as the ceiling, as broad as three men, and as strong as twenty -- and its considerable strength is only matched by its unbridled aggression--'

'Okay, okay,' Swain said, 'I think I get the picture. This thing, it's in here too, right? Trapped inside, like the rest of us?'

'Yes.'

'So what does it do? Does it just wander around killing whoever it pleases?'

Selexin said, 'Well, for one thing, it does not just wander around...'

Swain let out a breath in relief.

'... all of the time.'

Swain groaned.

'But if you will just look at your wristband for a moment,' Selexin said, 'I will explain everything.'

Swain looked down at the heavy grey band on his wrist. The display still read:

INCOMPLETE--4

'You will remember,' Selexin said, 'that when I gave you your wristband, I told you it would be of vital importance to you, yes? Well, it is more than that. Without it, you will not survive the Presidian.

'Your wristband serves many purposes, one of which is to identify you as a contestant in the Presidian. For example, you cannot win the Presidian unless you are wearing your wristband -- you will simply be denied entry into the exit-teleport when it is opened. In the same way, other contestants will know that you are competing in the Presidian because they will see your wristband. This will protect you in the time before the Presidian commences --