Contest

'And what about her guide?'

'Excuse me?' Selexin frowned.

'Her guide,' Bellos said smugly. 'Surely you cannot believe that if I let Reese live, I would also allow her guide to do so.'

'You killed Reese's guide before you attacked Reese?'

Bellos smiled. 'All's fair in love and war.'

'Clever,' Selexin said. 'But what about the hoods? How did you plan to get the hoods out of the labyrinth. Surely you were not just going to leave them here.'

'Trust me, the hoodaya will be long gone from the labyrinth by the time I step through the final teleport,' Bellos said.

Selexin frowned. 'But how? How can you remove them from the labyrinth?'

'I will simply use the same method I used to bring them here.'

'But that would require a teleporter...' Selexin said, 'and the co-ordinates of the labyrinth. And no-one but the organisers of the Presidian knows the location of the labyrinth.'

'On the contrary,' Bellos looked down at Selexin, 'guides like you know the co- ordinates of the labyrinth. You have to, because you are teleported with each contestant into the labyrinth.'

Selexin thought about that.

The process of teleportation involved a guide being sent to the contestant's home planet. There, the guide and the contestant would enter a teleporter, alone. Once inside, the guide would enter the co-ordinates of the labyrinth and the two of them would be teleported.

Selexin's case had, of course, been different, since humans knew nothing of teleporters and teleportation. He and Swain had been teleported separately.

'But you would still need a teleporter to get the hoods out of here,' Selexin said. 'And there are no teleports to be found on Earth.'

Bellos offered an indifferent shrug, conceding the point. 'I suppose not.'

Selexin was angry now. 'You forget that this is all based on the assumption that you will be the last contestant remaining in the labyrinth. And that is yet to be determined.'

'That is the risk I take.'

'Your great-grandfather won the Fifth Presidian with no need for treachery,' Selexin said spitefully. 'Imagine what he would think of you now.'

Bellos waved a dismissive hand. 'You do not realise, do you? My people expect me to win this contest, just as they expected my great-grandfather to do so, too.'

'But you are not the huntsman your great-grandfather was, are you, Bellos?' Selexin said harshly.

Bellos' eyes narrowed. 'My, my. How boldly we speak when we are about to meet our maker, tiny man. My great-grandfather did what he had to do to win the Presidian. So will I. Different methods, for sure, but tiny man, you must realise that the end does justify the means.'

'But--'

'I think I have had enough of your talk,' Bellos cut him off. 'It is time for you to die.'

Slowly, Bellos rounded the near corner of the table, moved toward Selexin and Holly. Selexin looked desperately about himself. There was nowhere to run to now. Nowhere to hide.

He stood there rooted to the spot, in front of Holly, watching Bellos come closer.

And then -- slowly, silently -- something behind Bellos caught Selexin's eye.

Movement.

From above.

From behind one of the air-conditioning ducts in the ceiling.

Slowly, ever so slowly, a spindly black body began to unfold itself from the ceiling behind Bellos.

It made no sound.

Bellos hadn't noticed it. He just kept approaching Selexin and Holly -- while behind him, the large spindly creature assumed its full, ominous, nine-foot height.

Selexin was dumbstruck.

It was the Rachnid.

The seventh and last competitor in the Presidian. It looked like a giant stick insect, small-headed, multi- limbed. He saw its eight bone-like limbs slowly expand, preparing to wrap themselves around Bellos' body and squeeze him to death.

Then suddenly the Rachnid struck -- quickly, violently -- closing its arms around Bellos with stunning speed, wrenching him off his feet, lifting him high into the air.

At first, Selexin and Holly were stunned by the sheer rapidity of the attack. It had happened so fast. The slow ominous descent of the Rachnid had instantaneously transformed itself into brutal violence. And now all of a sudden Bellos was in the air, in the grip of the Rachnid, struggling with this new opponent.

The hoods moved immediately.

The able-bodied one galloped from the doorway, leapt up onto the table and flung itself at the Rachnid, jaws bared, defending its master. The second, injured hood moved more slowly, but with equal fervour, clambering up onto the table and diving into the fray.

The element of surprise now appeared completely worthless as the Rachnid -- confronted by the unexpected appearance of the two hoods -- dropped from the ceiling, shrieking. It landed with a loud smack! on the table below, its eight spindly limbs flailing wildly in a desperate attempt to ward off the three- pronged attack.

Holly and Selexin were both staring at the scene in amazement when suddenly they both had the same thought.

Get out of here.

They bolted for the stairwell door and burst into the darkened stairway.

'Up or down?' Holly asked.

'Down,' Selexin said firmly. 'I saw another contestant up on the Third Floor before.'

They had barely taken five steps down the stairs when there came a deafening -- but familiar -- roar from the bottom of the stairwell.

'The Karanadon,' Selexin said. 'It's awake again. I saw the red light on Bellos' wristband. Come on,' he grabbed Holly's hand. 'Upstairs.'

They started up the stairs again, and as they ran past the door to the Second Floor, Selexin glanced inside and saw a flashing glimpse of Bellos on the table, kneeling astride the Rachnid, locked in combat.

But now Bellos clearly had the upper hand.

The hapless Rachnid was pinned beneath him, flat on its back, squealing insanely as one of the hoods ripped one of its arms clean off. The Rachnid shrieked. Off to one side, the other hood -- the injured one -- was busy mauling the Rachnid's guide.

And then Bellos coldly broke the Rachnid's neck and in an instant the squealing stopped. Then Bellos stood and called the hoods to stand behind him, and pointed his guide's head toward the dead body on the table.

'Initialise!' he said loudly.

A small sphere of brilliant white light appeared above the guide's head and Selexin was suddenly captivated.

Holly pulled on his arm. 'Come on, let's go!'

Selexin ducked back behind the door and the two of them hurried up the stairs.

----ooo0ooo------

The first thing that struck Stephen Swain about the lower parking level was its size. It was smaller than the parking floor above it. And it had no exit for cars. You could park down here, but you had to go back up to the floor above to get out.

There were three doors, each set into a different wall. One, leading east, had emblazoned across it, emergency exit. Opposite that door was another that read TO STACK. A third door -- an older one -- lay on the