large blank door. Next to it was a glowing light. The door opened and we went through.
The room was small and bare and made out of the same dull gray metal as the corridor outside. It had two doors and a control panel along one wall. The brute pushed me through one of the doors, which closed and locked behind me.
I was in a chamber barely large enough for me to fit, although the roof was quite a bit above my head. Then the chamber grew warm.
I have only teleported a couple of times, but that is often enough to be familiar with the sensations of it. First, there is a feeling of being stretched somehow, even though you do not physically change. Then comes the feeling of being in two places at once. During the final second or so, you can see two places at once -- the chamber you were in, and your destination.
Then my teleport was complete. I looked around, blinking in bright sunlight.
I was standing on a patch of light dirt. All around me was grass of some alien sort. Further away, I saw small trees and a forest. The sky above me was blue, the sun yellow. An earth-like planet in some ways, although obviously not in others. There were a few clouds high in the sky. The day was warm, so being naked was not a problem, at least, not at the moment.
When I looked down at my feet, I saw a square of some sort of silvery metal. I picked it up. It felt light, almost like tissue. It was cold to the touch. I turned it over. On one side, it had writing in some kind of alien language, a language I couldn't read.
As I held the metal sheet and looked at the letters, a strange thing happened. It began to grow warm, perhaps responding to my body heat. As it did, a strange thing happened: the letters moved and changed, until they finally became a language I could recognize, good old Earth Empire Esperanto.
I read the message. I also heard it in my head as I read it; it seemed to be using an alien telepathic alphabet.
Greetings, Earth female. You are here because you have been convicted of a felony crime by your government, and the details of the offense fall under the terms of the peace treaty between the Earth Empire and the Sivashtan Hegemony. Under the terms of the treaty, a certain number of human criminals are to be turned over to the Sivashtan Hegemony. You have that honor.
You are the newest contestant in one several versions of one of our most popular reality shows, Hunting Humans. All around you are hundreds of small cameras that will transmit your every move to the homes of Sivashtans all over the empire.
The rules are simple. You must survive as long as you can, while a party of Sivashtans hunts you. This party may be composed of professional hunters, such as police or military, amateur hunters, or robots designed for hunting warm-blooded creatures such as you.
The rules are simple. At the moment, the hunting party is on the other side of the planet. They are aware of your current location. It will take them several hours to reach you. You will have that long to make any preparations you wish to make.
You must avoid being caught for a period of time that varies from a few hours to seven Earth Empire days. You will not know how long you will have to avoid the hunting party. If you can do this, you will be considered to have won the game.
The other way to survive is to reach the Safety Spot, the location to which varies with each game. There are clues hidden in the hunting ground that will give you directions to the current location. If you reach it, you cannot be harmed and will be considered to have won the game. Many previous contestants have reached the Safety Spot, and there is no reason you cannot be the next.
Food, clothing, shelter, weapons and water are such as you can find. There are no manufactured items for you to use, but everything you need can be found on this planet if you know how to find it. The clues for the location of the Safety Spot are also around you, although hidden as we don't want to make them too obvious.
Good luck. May you provide an interesting hunt. The game begins as soon as you read this.
By the time I finished the message, I was sobbing. I was barely aware that the note I held glowed white briefly, then disappeared with a pop.
When it was gone, I looked around again. I was totally alone, naked, unarmed, without food or water, and I was the prey in some evil game.
What had I done to be sentenced to this? How come I had never heard of this part of the peace treaty? The war between Earth and the Sivashtans ended seven years ago with an armistice.
I choked back my sobs and tried to figure out what I was going to do. I had to find any tools or weapons myself. What was there? I wished I knew more about survival on hostile planets. I had taken the standard course in school, but it was very basic.
Maybe I should spend all my time looking for clues to the location of this Safety Spot. What sort of clues would they be, and how would I recognize them?
Then something else occurred to me. The hunters, whoever and whatever they were, knew I was here and were on their way already. I had some hours to move out of here. Perhaps that would help.
I had to do something. What?
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