Spoils of War by Terry Mixon

Author:Terry Mixon [Mixon, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781947376250
Publisher: Yowling Cat Press
Published: 2020-07-09T22:00:00+00:00

21

With the marine guards and Grace checking on her at various points during the evening, One Twenty-Four found it difficult to go to sleep. Her mind continued to race across unsure ground.

Even if she had been inclined to sleep, it was too quiet. There were none of the sounds that one would expect when living in the crèche.

She felt so alone.

And then there were the unfamiliar sounds. The various mechanical noises seemed constant, but sometimes there were other sounds that she couldn’t decipher. Were they normal? What made them? Those thoughts kept her staring up at the bunk above her for long hours.

She didn’t recall falling asleep but woke to a loud knock at the hatch leading to the bathroom—or the head, as Grace had called it.

The name seemed nonsensical. Why not the tail? That would at least account for most of what took place in the room.

Whatever it was called, it had amazed One Twenty-Four. Everything was so small, seemingly designed for a single person.

Nothing in the crèche was designed for one person except the bunks. All showering and other activities took place in a group setting. That made the head feel even more alien than her quarters.

Just one more thing to adjust to.

When the knock repeated, One Twenty-Four sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted and ached all over. A lingering effect of her fall?

She took a deep breath and rose, making her way to the hatch. It was lockable from her side, but she’d decided that wasn’t prudent. She was a prisoner, and a prisoner shouldn’t act as if she were doing something that mandated closer scrutiny. Just as in the crèche, one had to behave as if one were being watched at all times.

In fact, she couldn’t dismiss that possibility. There could be vid cameras hidden in her quarters, monitoring everything she did. For that matter, she wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been some inside the crèche doing exactly the same thing.

Keeper always wanted to know what they were doing. Why should Grace be any different?

She opened the hatch and found her captor on the other side.

“I’m prepared,” she said evenly.

“You don’t look like you slept very well, which isn’t surprising, I suppose,” the woman ventured. “I hope that improves as you get used to us.

“Before we get breakfast, I think we need to see about getting you some new clothes. Those look like you slept in them, and they’re also inappropriate for you now.

“I’m sorry, but that life is behind you, Andrea. We’ll come up with something more suitable, though it will have to wait for a while. In the meantime, I’ll bet we can get something rigged up for you to use on the ship.”

One Twenty-Four blinked in surprise. She’d seen others wearing different kinds of clothing yesterday. She wasn’t certain that any of the styles she’d seen actually appealed to her, but what did she know?

Not that her preferences mattered one way or another. If they said that the

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