It wasn’t as though she had much to say anyway. Maureen walked with open-mouthed awe as she took in her impossible surroundings.
The structure was universally illuminated with a comfortable, warm light, but there was not a single lighting source visible. However they had achieved it, the Mondarians had found a way to evenly light the entire place without casting shadows in any direction.
Maureen wondered if there was perhaps some sort of floating particle or something filling the air and found herself holding her breath at the thought. If she was inhaling light-emitting micro whatever they might be, what would it do to her insides?
Don’t be ridiculous,she told herself.Everyone else would have the same problem if that was the case. And these guys seem too advanced to make a mistake like that.
Of course, if thatwasthe case, at least her guards would suffer the same fate. But her momentary fear left her and she took another breath, pretty much sure that whatever was making the light, she and her guards were not sucking it into their lungs.
Walking deeper into the building she marveled not only at the strange artwork decorating the walls, but also the lack of any physical protuberances for what seemed like control panels of some sort. Everything was smooth, but like a touchscreen back on Earth, it seemed as if whatever they operated was controlled by tapping the appropriate section of the wall’s surface.
It wasn’t like any touchscreen back home though. Whatever material it was made of, it shifted from opaque to clear where needed but appeared to change function with the need of the operator. She wouldn’t have been able to tell that just by looking at them, of course, but when her escorts arrived at a smoothly inset door, the panel next to it modified itself as one of the guards reached for it.
He keyed in a sequence, but it looked as if it might also be some sort of genetic identifier judging by the way he held his hand in place a moment as the section briefly illuminated brighter.
In any case, the door silently slid open and she was ushered inside.
“Remove your clothing, please,” a warm but warbling voice said as the door closed behind her.
A relatively short creature with long arms and lumpy looking pale skin covered in fine lines and far more runes than all of the other aliens she had seen thus far, gestured toward a bathing area somewhat similar to what she had been using back in Ahzma’s property. Unlike that one, however, this was spotlessly clean.
“I will not harm you,” the creature said, the strange sound of its voice making her feel unsure of its words despite the friendly tone.
“Who are you and what do you want from me?” Maureen demanded, though the guards standing quietly at either side of the door behind her were a silent reminder that she was in no position to demand anything.
The creature smiled, its yellow teeth flashing in a look of either hunger, anger, or amusement, she couldn’t tell which. A pitfall of never having seen this sort of alien physiology before. Reading body language was a total crapshoot.
Fortunately, the alien seemed calm by the way it moved. Calm and utterly confident.
“I am the Skrizzit,” it replied. “And you are to receive your runes today. Very strange, one as grown as you has not yet been marked. But it is of no matter. I will take care of that shortly. But first, you must bathe. Your skin must be absolutely clean before I begin.”
“Iwasbathing before I was so rudely taken here,” Maureen shot back.
The Skrizzit laughed, sniffing the air with what she thought was an amused look. “Oh? I am quite sure you were doing something else. And while that will have helped relax much of your body, you will still require some preparation. Now, please, bathe. And be thorough. I do not wish to have to request the guards assist you, and I am sure you would prefer not as well.”
Maureen glanced at the guards. They didn’t move a muscle, but the quiet threat was clear. Do this yourself or we’ll make you.
She stripped quickly, getting the awkwardness over with as fast as she could.
“Hm, I see your translation rune is expertly applied,” the Skrizzit said as she stepped into the water and began washing herself, washing her hair and exposing the marking behind her ear as she rinsed from head to toe. “Very good work. Why only this one rune, though?”
Maureen wiped the water from her eyes and fixed her gaze on the alien. “It was another prisoner who did it.”
“Prisoner? But prisoners do not have access to the implements, let alone possess the skills.”
“Well, this one did. And the Raxxians had him mark all of us each time they took someone new.”
At hearing the name of the Raxxians, a look of disgust flashed across the Skrizzit’s face. Even the guards seemed to shift their stance a little as emotion made the slightest chink in their stoic armor.
“Raxxians,” the Skrizzit said with obvious contempt. “Damnable creatures, the lot of them.”
“Well, a prisoner there, a prisoner here,” Maureen grumbled as she scrubbed herself down.
“Oh, not the same at all. The Mondarians have no desire to eat you, I can assure you. And you will be able to buy your freedom after your term of indenture.”
Maureen rinsed and the water abruptly stopped. A blast of warm air blew her dry in a flash, though she didn’t see where it originated from. It seemed the Mondarian tech was even more advanced than she had imagined.
“What do you mean, indenture?” she asked.
