The Belly of the Beast

Ch. 35, To the Stars

"That's the level's motto," he said, a school-boy like pride filling his voice. "Most are in Latin, but a few are in other languages. K-guards have to memorize them all." He paused, "Well, all of them above the Belly."

Right, because the Belly doesn't even get a motto. He smiled even wider, as I tried not to flinch away. The dusting of freckles on his nose, the wide brown eyes that reminded me of strange creatures called cows on Old Earth, the youthful innocence and eager gaze—it all seemed so opposite of everything I knew of K-gaurds. It made me wary... and curious. "What does it mean?"

"Thus, we go to the stars." He winked at me. "It's one of the nicer ones."

So there are ones that aren't nice? Bet I can guess which. "So what's Level K's motto?"

His smile slipped a bit. "Si vis parcel, para bellum." He glanced back at the other gaurds waiting in groups across from us, his voice softer now. "If you want peace, prepare for war." The words felt like a warning. A reminder that even if we stood here talking, one of us was chained and one of us was armed.

But he surprised me yet again and said, "What about the Belly? Do you have a motto?"

I hesitated, wondering if this all just a bet, to pry the girl from the Belly with details of her ugly life before she died. But there was something earnest in his eyes, so I shrugged. "We don't have an official motto, but my best freind and I always said, 'You, me and the sky'. Just don't ask me the Latin translation."

He chuckled, a warm, pleasant sound, and I gave him a hesitant smile back. It felt like flexing a muscle I didn't even know I had. I'm smiling at a K-guard, and I'm not even trying to rob him. Who am I?

"Alright, everybody inside!" The Kaptain called out, and the moment shattered. Kovu stepped away from me, a K-guard again, as the Kaptian's burrowing whip cracked.

The line began to move forward as they packed us all into the elevator. I'd never felt so small, a full head shorter than most of the other men, but I kept my shoulders squared and chin up. In the corner Dagger's face was drawn and ashy, and I suddenly remembered his fear of confinement. Had I stood next to him I would have said something encouraging like, hey, at least we're not underwater. Or, gee, isn't it great I saved so many men that get to try and kill us all over again next round? I wondered if saving the others would make the others more likely to help us or just make us bigger targets in the next trial—probably the second.

When we were all packed inside, the elevator shuddered and began to rise. Through the small glass window set in the front of the elevator, I watched as R faded, and we went past Q and P without even stopping. When the doors opened next, Skull's mouth dropped open in surprise.

At least ten K-guards stood before us.

I inched sideways in line for a clearer view.

Our Kaptain stepped forward, saluting a man with white-hair and a stocky build. Our Kaptain pulled something from his pocket and passed it to the white-haired Kaptain. "Got special permission to take the Pucker Trial winners up to the next level, so they'll all get there at the same time." The white-haired Kaptain nodded, like this made perfect sense, though I couldn't see why it would matter that we all came together. "Biggest group we've ever had. Couldn't go the normal way."

"Mmm," the other Kaptain murmured, flicking through the papers, looking as if the whole thing bored him. He glanced over the group of us dismissively, but then his eyes stopped on me and widened. He kept staring, till I wished I'd stayed hidden. "That the girl everyone's talking about?"

He'd addressed the question to the other Kaptain, but I answered anyway. "My name is Z."

Our Kaptian's eyes flashed with fury, but the new Kaptain just stared, as if surprised I could speak.

"How old are you?"

"16."

"Was it your mother you jumped in to fight for?"

He'd seen the Tuv Trial? But he wasn't the only one watching me with curiosity now. Behind him, the entire group of guards had quieted, all of them staring at me, waiting for my response. I swallowed, then shook my head. "No, she wasn't my mother." But she may as well have been.

He shook his head and turned back to our Kaptain. "Don't like it when they let girls fight in the Trials. Especially the young, pretty ones. They always kill them in the worst ways."

The worst ways.

His words, and the detached way he delivered them, like I was already dead, froze me to the spot. No matter how beautiful the levels, no mattered how they cheered or smiled, his words were a cold reminder to the reality of my situation. This was all a game to the rest of the Beast— even I had once bet on the trails. I was a pawn, moving in a game I didn't the rules to, outmatched in every way.

Suddenly even the necklace, and my hope to find Adrocles and save Xyla, felt less like a plan than the foolish hope of a young, pretty girl destined to die in "the worst ways." The Kaptain before waved a lazy hand and passed the papers back to our Kaptain.

"You know the protocol," he said. "Don't stop at N for any reason."

Which was when I finally understood what level we were on. Level O. The level directly below Level N, the Dead Level. That was why there were guards here. The level where a strange sickness had been reported, and for fear that it would spread to other levels, they'd sealed the level off forever, every single soul on the level condemned.

But that wasn't the story Yaneli told. Or Smoky, when she asked if Yaneli regretted it. I wished I would have asked Yaneli what Smoky meant... along with a million other things. Maybe I finally knew what Yaneli said when she had regrets—it took being in the Letter Trials to realize men and women killing each other in a pit for sport, or honor, or whatever bullshit excuse the Top gave, wasn't right.

Our Kaptain nodded, his smile sour. The doors slid shut again and the other guards were gone. Silence settled over our group, the energy in the enclosed space suddenly changed. A few of the guards exchanged nervous glances, their hands going to the weapons at their side. Even Skull stopped humming.

The elevator trembled as we rushed through the darkness. In seconds it was so dark I could only sense the nearby presence of the guards and other prisoners. For one bizarre moment, standing in the darkness, rushing past the level of the dead, it felt as if the separation between guard and prisoner disappeared. As if we were all one, united by the blood rushing through our veins and the air in our lungs. Thus, we go to the stars. A beautiful motto, chosen by a people hopeful for a better future. I wondered if those people knew how many people would die to reach that goal.

Then we rose past Level N. Light grew through the window, and once again we were prisoners and guards, the favored and the condemned. We passed another level, and then the elevator shuddered to a halt. The elevator door opened to blinding light.

"Move it out!" the Kaptain called.

We stepped into Level L.