Pronuk by Julie Steimle (romantic story to read .txt) 📕

player in the game. Hit the lit marks and you get extra points. We are playing no floor inside the line. Ready players?>>

Both Zormna and Kurtz nodded.

A ball dropped from a hole in the ceiling, and Zormna dived to hit it. It was her serve. Kurtz waited, watching the ball hit the east wall and ricochet off to the front wall and out to the west wall. It struck a lit circle. He skidded and hit the ball back before it could reach the ground. The game flew in motion quickly.

Both players were diving and hitting the ball against the walls and ceiling, keeping the ball in flight as long as possible.

<<Floor!>> Cadet Lenn called from the dark observation room.  Zormna had missed the ball, taking a dive after one marvelous ricochet from four walls by Kurtz.

“Good hit,” she said, picking the ball and herself off the floor.

Cadet Kurtz smiled as he took the ball she handed to him.

He served. The game continued.

Outside the door the crowd gathered more, now exchanging bets with their creds on their identi-cards. Cadet Lenn’s friend kept tally of all the bets and made several of his own for himself and Cadet Lenn. Neither Zormna nor Kurtz knew of the crowd outside. It was bet two to one that Kurtz would lose this game, but Cadet Lenn bet against the odds.

<<Floor!>> Cadet Lenn called out. Zormna missed Kurtz’s fatal attack that had destroyed her game the last time.

She got up, picked up the ball, and she turned to him and said, “Let’s see you try that again.”

Cadet Kurtz flushed and took the challenge. Once again they went into action. Zormna ran and reached for the ball that Kurtz hit, nearing a lit square. She hit it, denying him points. She grinned as she pushed off the wall, diving after another of his hits. Kurtz was getting feverishly sweaty, keeping focused on the ball. Zormna’s game was better, better than at the tournament, but it was different. She was just playing around.

It annoyed him that she was not taking the game seriously. She was practicing flips and turns that only the professional Pronuk players used, and they were costing her points, yet she did them anyway and she still kept him scrambling for the ball. And the more they played the more infuriated he got to see her so flippant about something he had deemed so important. He played harder and fiercer, but also more blindly.

<<Floor.>> came the call from the observation room. This time Kurtz missed Zormna’s ball.

Panting, he picked up the ball. He handed it to Zormna for her serve. She nodded then confidently tossed up the ball for the hit. It flew again at the side wall. Cadet Kurtz watched it carefully, waiting to catch the fall.

They played feverishly, chasing and diving, watching the walls flash lights as they hit. Ten points. Thirty points. The score was nearly tied when Zormna started to play with flips again.

<<Floor!>> Cadet Lenn called out anxiously. Kurtz had stumbled missing the ball by an inch.

He stood up and picked up the ball. Giving Zormna the eye, he handed her the ball.

“Your play,” he said, crouching over his knees for the serve.

Zormna nodded and tossed the ball up in the air.

“Stop immediately!” A voice bellowed from the back of the hall.

Zormna caught the ball and turned around. Kurtz did the same, turning to see who had interrupted their game. They saw the door wide open. Standing there was Alea Prantz Bently with several cadets peering in the doorway.

He walked into the room, looking furious. He marched right over to where they were playing and demanded for the ball. Confused, Zormna tossed it to him then glanced over at Cadet Kurtz. Kurtz looked just as confused as she did, and he gazed back at her. Kurtz stood up.

“You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!” Alea Prantz said.

Zormna looked dazed. “For what? What did we do?”

Going towards her, the Alea snapped, “Don’t play innocent with me. I know all about your betting scam. This game is over.” 

Alea Prantz marched over to the observation room door and pounded on it for Cadet Lenn to come out.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Alea Prantz.  We’re just having a game,” Zormna said, motioning to Cadet Kurtz.

However, Cadet Kurtz was staring out at the crowd of cadets outside their door that were peering in. His face flushed.

He turned to Zormna. “You used me!”

Zormna whipped around and shook her head. “What are you talking about? I’m just here for a game.”

Then she noticed the crowd. Her face started to burn as she realized what he thought. They all had their identi-cards out and were watching them with bated breath. Zormna turned and saw Cadet Lenn step out of the observation booth, looking innocent, playing like he was confused. Alea Prantz dragged the cadet over by the arm.

“This scam you two have cooked up isn’t going anywhere. Both of you are coming with me,” the Alea said.

Zormna followed him. “What scam? What are you talking about, Alea? I didn’t do anything—”

“You actually think I’m going to believe your innocent bit?” Alea Prantz said. “I have absolute proof you and Cadet Lenn here concocted this scam to dupe many of your fellow cadets into betting on a fixed game.”

“That’s not true!” Zormna hopped after him, her hands now balled into fists. “This game was not fixed! We were playing for fun! Weren’t we?”

She turned to face Cadet Kurtz, but Kurtz was now fuming at her.

“You tricked me,” he said again.

Her mouth just dropped open. “You don’t believe me?”

He shook his head angrily as he said, “I knew you were playing funny, but I couldn’t figure out why. Now I know.”

Zormna just gaped, her face gone ashen.

Alea Prantz nodded and grabbed her arm to escort her out of the hall.

She jerked out of his hold, stepping back. “I didn’t do it! It was Lenn, not me! I was just playing for fun!”

Near tears, Zormna knew she should have stuck to her gut feeling not to trust Cadet Lenn, but her pride had gotten in the way. Now it was going to cost her.

Alea Prantz walked toward her, but she kept backing up, declaring her innocence.

“You scheduled this room. You arranged this match. Don’t pretend that you weren’t involved. You’d scam the cadets as a prank, knowing you,” he said, coming closer.

The eleven-year-old girl still kept backing away. “No! I didn’t do it! I only got the room because I thought it’d be a fair game!”

Cadet Kurtz tromped out the door. Alea Prantz let him leave, believing him to be innocent. He still kept his glare on Zormna who was inching her way to the door. She tried to slip out, feeling trapped and panicked, but it really was of no use. Two other Aleas were waiting for her outside the door, glaring and furious. One of them was Alea Sholda, an Alea that she knew hated her already. They grabbed a hold of her and held her as Alea Prantz walked out the room with sulky Cadet Lenn. Lenn did not fight. He just glared guiltily, caught and unable to avoid it.

“Take her and this boy and his pal here to the brig,” Alea Prantz ordered.

Both Aleas nodded. Zormna could see another that was holding Cadet Lenn’s friend along with the cred-reader he had been using. Her face flushed. She glared at Cadet Lenn for getting her involved.

The Aleas pulled them down the hall away from the crowd, dragging them forcibly as they walked. Zormna clenched her teeth as she growled to herself. Whenever she said anything louder than a whisper, Alea Sholda boxed her ears to shut her up.

“You’ve really done it this time, Cadet Zormna,” Alea Sholda said, almost smug, but mostly angry.

That was the last thing anyone said to her before she was locked into the brig with the other two cadets. When the cell door was closed, Zormna turned and faced Cadet Lenn, growling. “I ought to strangle you for getting me into this mess. I never should have trusted you.”

Cadet Lenn stumbled backward when he saw her angry posture. He then stopped, glaring back. “What do you mean me getting you into this? I thought you were going to play fairly.”

Zormna’s face dropped.

“Don’t give me that! It isn’t my fault we’re stuck here! It was your scam! You were the one making bets on our game!” She poked a finger into Lenn’s chest.

He pushed back and shoved his chest into her face. “It was your scam, Zormna. I was just refereeing.”

Furious that he would perpetuate that lie, Zormna pounced on him, wrestling him hard to the floor. His friend tried to pull her off of him, shouting for the guards.

The guards came running immediately, gaping at Zormna and the other cadets wrestling on the floor. Opening the cell they pulled her off of him then pushed them apart as Cadet Lenn kicked at her. Zormna stood back with her chest heaving, still glaring at the two con artists that got her thrown in the brig. Without another word, the guards dragged her to the cell next door.

“Behave yourself, Cadet. What you do here will affect your trial,” the guard said.

Zormna scowled and sat directly on the bed in the corner of the cell, folding her legs into herself.

When the guard had gone to his room the other cadets jeered from the other cell. Cadet Lenn’s smile curled up with malice.

“The Kevin’s favorite is all sulky,” he said in a simpering baby talk voice.

Zormna cast him deadly looks knowing he was playing on her emotions.

“Well you won’t be his favorite after this, Zormna. Now that he know you’re nothing more than a scammer and a con-artist that has been using him, he’ll think twice about helping you out,” he said.

She clenched her teeth. It was too much to bear having to listen to the roach that ruined everything. It would have been better if they had taken her to another cell altogether. Zormna knew this would put another dark mark on her record, worse than any of her pranks could possibly do. The Council was hardly lenient. Her future in the Patrol stood at risk.

Zormna closed her eyes and rocked herself. She could feel the tears form under her lids as her face still burned with anger. How she was going to get out of this one?

The Verdict

Zormna stood in front of the council, trembling as Alea Prantz gave the evidence to the council head. It was all too convincing for them.  She had scheduled the match. She arranged it with Cadet Kurtz. She was not playing her usual way, and all Cadet Lenn did was take bets. It was Lenn’s word against hers that she was involved more. All she could do was declare her innocence and beg the court to be merciful because she was used, framed.

They did not believe her.

Zormna tried to beg the Kevin to believe her testimony, but he also looked down on her with deep disappointment. More than the verdict of Council, it crushed her that he thought she was capable of such deceit. Not only did she feel ashamed, but infuriated at Cadet Lenn even more.

She tried to beg Alea