Page 4 of Narzek
“So, what happened to end slavery in the Sargan Empire?” Cayla wondered.
“The Consortium and the United Galactic Alliance of Worlds became allies and took out the Emperor. They are now in the process of conquering his fleet. They are too busy now to return the people enslaved by the Sargans to their homeworlds, so we are searching for them ourselves.”
“Where’s the Alliance from?”
“They are on the far side of the Sargan Sectors.
“Are they anywhere near Earth?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
Cayla could see that he was hedging again. She didn’t get a chance to ask him anymore because the droid brought her clothing packed into a small duffle. Tagnel took the duffle from the droid to carry it for her and started heading down the narrow corridor.
“This way,” was all he said. Near the end, he stopped in front of a lift, and the door slid open. He stepped inside, and Cayla followed.
It didn’t look much like the ships on Star Trek. It was much more utilitarian, and space seemed to be at a premium. The young warrior showed her to a cabin that was about ten feet square with a built-in bed with a small closet at one end, and storage drawers underneath. There was a wider door at the other end of the bed.
Tagnel set the duffle on the bed, then went to the larger door and gave a command, and it opened. “This is your sanitary closet. Here are the retractable toilet and waterless hand cleaning dispenser. With the toilet retracted, this becomes your shower. Water is at a premium here, and every drop is purified and recycled. The water comes in cycles. A short burst wets you, then you apply the cleaning solution to your hair and body. Then you call for a rinse. The whole process takes less than three mini-spans.”
“What about towels?”
“It dries you with warm air,” he said. “Then you may want to get some rest. It could be several spans before the LC returns.” He went on to tell her the commands for the room functions.
“Thank you, Tagnel.”
The young man snapped to attention and dipped his head in what Cayla guessed was a salute. “Se’atu.”
He then did an about-face and retreated out of the cabin.
When he was gone, Cayla did a slow turn around the cabin. Against the wall beside the door was a small square table with rounded edges with two built-in seats facing each other and a darkened screen on the wall. The cabin was nothing fancy, but it was better than sleeping in a barracks in a bunk bed with over 80 other women.
She went to the duffle on the bed to look at the clothing Tagnel gave her. There was a brand-new pair of boots on top of three pairs of black cargo type pants and three tops all in black. Underneath were two pairs of gray boxer type shorts and matching tank tops. Cayla stowed the clothing in the drawers and kept out a tank set to wear to bed after she showered.
She gave the privacy command and sat on the edge of the bed to untie and remove her military boots. She stripped off the ragged desert, camo fatigues, and dropped them on the floor. She walked into the shower closet nude and went through the cycle just as Tagnel had explained.
It felt delightful to be clean. Though she was a little anxious to find out what was going on, she was exhausted. Cayla put on the soft, comfortable tank set and picked up her boots and fatigues from the floor and stowed them in the empty closet along with the duffle. She would have discarded them, but she didn’t know where to do that.
Finally, she turned back the thin sheet on the bed and lowered herself on to it, delighted to find a real pillow at the head. She had so many questions circling in her mind about what was happening and whether they would discover Luanne at one of the factories if she were still alive.
She was just too tired to speculate. Instead, she closed her eyes and cleared her mind, taking slow, deep breaths. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, relaxing her muscles as she did, and finally, she slept.
Several spans later, Narzek stopped in the corridor at the door of Cayla’s cabin. It was still set to ‘privacy.’ He rested his hand on the door and sighed. Although he had the authority to override it, he didn’t. He’d been working twenty spans straight, and he was so tired he was almost asleep on his feet.
He would come back later after they had both rested, and he could think a little straighter. He stood there for some micro-spans working up the will to set his body in motion to go to his cabin a few doors down.
Once inside, he toed his boots to retract from his feet and fell into his bunk fully clothed and murmured one word. “Solmatu.”
Chapter Four
Cayla had wakened refreshed, though with no idea how long she had slept. She took out a set of the clothing she’d been given and started to pull on the pants over the boxer shorts when she realized there was a liner within them. It was the same for the matching shirt, as it had built-in breast support.
She had just pulled the shirt on when she heard a kind of chirping noise. Guessing it might be the door alert, she gave the command to open it. She was still in her bare feet but otherwise fully clothed.
Cayla was not surprised to see LC Pardantu standing there with a tray of drinks and two covered dishes.
“May I enter?” he asked.
Cayla nodded, and he stepped inside. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out as her eyes met his. His gaze was intense, and his pale blue eyes were a shade she had rarely seen. This time she knew she hadn’t imagined the attraction that seemed to reverberate between them.
