I take in this information, trying to remain calm. "So…there's a dude in our pit."
"Yes."
"And he's a 'splice'?"
"Looks like a mix of mesakkah and praxiian, judging by the looks, but I wouldn't be surprised if they blended something else in. They're big fans of gene-tweaking, the splicers." My guy grimaces. "Sterre's guarding the pit, but he's alive and asking to come out, so I wanted to talk to you and see what you thought."
My panic melts into a surge of happiness. "You came to get me?"
Kaspar looks confused. "Of course I did. We're a team. I want to know what you think."
God, a man asking my opinion is the sexiest damn thing ever. I want to throw him down onto the floor and climb him like a mountain…and then I wonder if my hormones are in overdrive. Maybe I really am pregnant. Ugh. I touch my stomach and try to concentrate on the very big problem at hand. "Did he say how he found us?"
"Gladiator training games," Kaspar tells me. There's a crackle of thunder outside and we both pause as the muggy air immediately turns into a downpour. He shrugs. "That'll just make it harder for him to get out. He can get a little wet while we figure out what to do with him."
"He's not going to drown, is he?" I grimace.
"If it keeps raining, I'll go down and rescue him."
I think for a moment. "Or hold him under if we have to kill him." I cross my arms, considering. "You think we should kill him? If we can pick them off, one at a time, we might be able to solve our problem."
"I thought about that, too." Kaspar rubs his chin. "But he said he's on a gladiator training exercise—him and four others. And if there's that many on a training exercise, it means that there's a training school nearby. He's been pretty chatty so far and eager to give me information. I think he just wants to save his own hide, but it might be smart to pump him for as many details as we can before we get rid of him."
"You think he'll lie to us?"
"Oh, probably." Kas shrugs. "But I imagine some of it will be the truth, and we can use that to our advantage."
I think for a moment. Using him for information is probably a really smart move. I'm not keen on the fact that he's here, but he's in our trap and we have to figure out what to do with him. We can't just leave him there. "Information is probably smart. You think…do you think it's safe? Or do you think he's going to try to kill us?"
Kaspar pauses, and his gaze goes to my stomach. I know he's thinking about our theoretical baby (and I am, too). "Maybe I should just kill him."
I glance outside, into the pouring rain. "Sterre's still out there?"
He nods. "She's not leaving that pit until he's dead. I meant it when I said carinoux are sold on the black market because they're excellent protectors. If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, she's going to tear his throat out."
That makes me feel better. Between Sterre and Kaspar, I feel pretty safe. Even so, if he's got a gun, we're fucked. Mentally, I'm scouring through memories of old movies, looking for ways to bluff that we're better armed than we are. "Is he armed?"
"If he was, I suspect I'd already be dead. Gladiators aren't given weapons except in special bouts. The appeal is watching them tear each other apart with bare hands." Kas shrugs. "That's why they shove them out into the wild, I'm guessing. To hone their predator skills."
He's probably right, which doesn't exactly make me want to welcome this guy with open arms. I lean back against the wall, thinking. A gladiator school, here on this planet. "Who would be running a gladiator school?" I ask, curious. "Is it like, a guild? Sports teams? Something else?"
Kas shakes his head. "Most rosters are privately owned. I'm guessing some lord is running a school as a hobby on his private planet."
"So they don't fight here?"
"Oh no. The fights are usually handled in big arenas. Once a gladiator is ready, his owner will bring him to a station where tickets will be sold to the bouts."
"So they're getting off planet, right?"
Kas eyes me. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking we find out where this school is and steal a ship from them. How much security do you think they have?" I study him. "We can find out information from our friend—how many people are at this school, what it's like, what times are busiest—and then we come up with a plan to steal a shuttle of some kind. Then, we get the fuck out of here. What do you think?"