Page 16 of Anna's Bounty
The room is small; a full-sized bed takes up most of the space. The only other furniture is a small desk and a nightstand. Rovos pulls me into the room and then leads me to the right and through a door that opens up into an empty tiled room. When we walk inside, the light turns on automatically. Against the wall is a tile with a blue squiggle on it. He presses the flat of his hand against it, and I jump back when a toilet and sink combo rises out of the floor.
“Are you familiar with this version of waste eliminator?” he asks me.
“We call them toilets,” I say, examining thewaste eliminator. While it’s alien for sure, it’s not so strange that it’s unrecognizable.
After a quick demonstration of how it works, I’m relieved to find that I could have figured it out without him. Rovos taps the blue tile again, and the toilet disappears back into the floor. Then he taps the red tile beside it, and a shower stall slides out of the wall.
“This is a sonic cleanser,” he tells me, sliding the stall’s opaque door open. We both duck our heads inside the tube-shaped shower stall, and he shows me how it works. “This is the temperature control,” he says, twisting a dial. Huh. So red and blue really are universal for hot and cold. “And this,” he slides his palm up the side of the wall, “controls the sonic pulses.”
I nod as he explains. “So, it doesn’t use water? Or soap?”
“Water showers are impractical on ships such as this one. The sonic waves work just as well.”
Right. Got it.
“I’ll leave a change of clothes on the bed. When you’re done, you can rest. It’s common to need more sleep than usual after using the med-bot,” Rovos tells me, already backing out the door. “If you need anything else, I’ll be on the bridge with Igid.”
Before I can get out anall right, thanks,Rovos leaves, and I’m alone in the cleansing room. When I’m sure he won’t pop back in, I pull his tank over my head. This time when I bring it to my nose, I get the overpowering scent ofit’s been way more than a week since I last showered.
My face flushes with embarrassment. No wonder Rovos couldn’t get out of the bathroom fast enough. I am ripe.
Dropping the tank to the ground, I step inside the sonic cleanser and close the door behind me. The controls light up, and I tap out what I want. With no warning, I’m surrounded by warm vibrations. They ruffle my hair, caress my body, and even get between my legs, which makes me squeal in surprise.
Once I get used to it, I decide it’s not so bad. Quite nice, in fact. Maybe not as relaxing as the steaming hot showers I liked back home, but the sonic pulses are similar to a massage on my sore muscles. Raising my arms, I turn in a circle, making sure the sonic waves get everything. Far sooner than I expect, the waves stop, and the door pops open.
Huh. I guess that’s it.
I lift my arm and give myself a sniff. There’s nothing but the smell of clean skin. I’m impressed, and in less than a couple of minutes! How’s that for efficient? Stepping out of the shower, I look for a towel, a robe, or something. All I see is Rovos’ dirty tank balled up on the floor, and there’s no way in hell I’m putting that back on.
Well, shit. Why didn’t I think of this before showering—sonicing?
There’s no help for it. I’ll have to leave the bathroom naked and hope Rovos left clothes for me like he promised. I hit the tile and send the shower back into the wall, then step in front of the door. Biting my lip, I hope fervently that Rovos isn’t still in the room.
He’s already seen you naked, a voice in the back of my mind chides.
Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I want to parade around him in my birthday suit.
When the door slides open, I catch myself covering my boobs and crossing my legs before peeking my head out, only to breathe a sigh of relief when the room is empty. True to his word, a pile of clean clothes sits on the edge of the bed for me. So far Rovos hasn’t given me any reason not to trust him, but I can’t help myself as I rush to dress.
I’m pretty sure the clothes are from Igid. The cut is decidedly feminine, and the fit is pretty close, considering she is nearly the same height as Rovos. I only need to roll the pant legs up several times, but ill-fitting clothes beat walking around in Rovos’ tank and nothing else.
After I’ve dressed, I sit on the edge of the bed. Rovos said I should rest. Except I feel like that’s all I’ve been doing since being abducted. As I sit on the bed, I notice I am slowly sinking into the mattress. It’s similar to a memory foam mattress, but it cradles me.
I yawn, a great big, jaw-cracking yawn. Maybe a quick nap won’t hurt.
Pulling the blankets back, I settle against one of the soft pillows. My body sinks deeper into the mattress until everything, the pillow, the mattress, even the blanket, cocoons me in soft warmth.
My eyes flutter closed.Just a quick nap,I tell myself right before I fall asleep.
9
Anna
Stretching my arms over my head, I roll onto my stomach, pressing my face into the pillow to keep the morning at bay for just a little longer. Breathing in the scent of clean sheets and… and something darker. More masculine. Mmm. I’ll have to remember to buy this laundry soap again.
I yawn and roll to my side. As soon as I stop moving, my body sinks into the mattress. How come beds become more comfortable when you know you have to drag yourself away from them?
In fact, I don’t remember my bed ever feeling this comfortable.
