HAWK

CHAPTER TWENTY: CAVEMAN (5/5)

By the time they arrived at the bedroom, Kas was well and truly lost. The tunnels had twisted and corkscrewed and robbed her of all sense of direction. They entered a corridor filled with dark wooden doors, all of which were closed. Mana opened one and stepped with Kas into a little room that was to be her new quarters.

'I hope you find it comfortable,' Mana said. 'All the rooms are the same.'

Though she didn't say it, Kas thought it looked more comfortable than any room she'd ever stayed in. It was very small, measuring about fifteen-feet each way, but there was a large alcove in the far wall that housed a double mattress which looked extremely cosy. The room was dimly lit by a chain of warm fairy lights suspended around the ceiling's perimeter. There was a wooden wardrobe and a matching chest of drawers topped with a collection of well-thumbed paperback books. Beside the wardrobe was a full-length mirror and a small clock that told Kas it had just turned eleven. She looked down and saw most of the floor was taken up by a circular rug made from soft yellow fur.

'If you want to bathe, there is a washroom at the end of the corridor,' Mana added.

Kas turned to her and raised her chin. 'Who are you?'

'Excuse me?'

'I get why Rhaspa and those soldiers are here... but I don't understand why you're here. This is a Rhaspian base, and you're, well... an alien.'

'I'm here for the same reason as everyone else. I'm a fugitive.'

'Why? What did you do?'

Mana seemed to give the question considerable thought before answering. 'This is not the best time to discuss it. If you are still here tomorrow, you may ask me then. Until then, I hope you rest well.' Mana left before Kas could reply and closed the door behind her.

Kas stood alone in silence for a few seconds and realised it was the first time she had been truly alone in weeks. Even in her isolation cell on Eidol, she knew she was being watched. The closest time before that was when she was travelling to the asteroid belt with Hik, but even after he'd been destroyed, Kas had taken comfort in believing part of him was still with her.

She took a few short steps to the wardrobe and pulled it open, surprised to find a full rack of clean clothes within. She checked the drawers and found them similarly stocked with a variety of fresh garments. There was even clean underwear for her. She took out some lightweight linen shorts and a vest, and with great satisfaction, unfastened her artifibre skinsuit and let it fall to the floor. She'd been wearing it nonstop since Eidol, and though artifibre was self-cleaning and could be worn for many months at a time, people rarely did and Kas had been itching to change clothes for days.

She slipped on her new shorts and vest and immediately felt a hundred times refreshed. She approached the bed in its snug alcove and crawled onto the mattress. She rolled onto her back and lay atop the sheets.

Sure beats sleeping on a cockpit floor...

She lay like that for many minutes, staring at the rough stone of the alcove's ceiling, too lazy to move a muscle. When she finally fell asleep, it was to dreams of being chased by giant red spiders with glowing green eyes.