Siblings of Sol: Destruction of a Planet

Chapter 34

Evian wakes to find herself still in her small dark cell. The rough blankets still smelling foul from the dampness and sweat of numerous bodies over the cycles. She painfully sits up on the edge of the bed. The last full pitcher of spiced water had made her even sorer as she tried desperately to satisfy her drug induced need.

She feels clear headed, but that just allows the hopeless thoughts to renter her mind again. Her mood swings again from one of deep need and pleasure to one of intense sorrow as the images of the last couple of days flood back into her consciousness.

The guard hears her start to moan slightly and leaves the outer room for the main part of the holding area for the Moles. He quickly goes to Jard's quarters to report that Evian has woken again.

Jard had been talking to the head of the guards and some of the leaders of the different divisions of the Fortress. He waits till the last one has filed out the door before entering to let him know that Evian is ready for him.

Jard looks up from behind his desk to the guard. "So, she is awake again?"

"Yes, and the moaning has resumed. Do you wish me to get some more of the water for her?" asks the guard.

"Yes, this will be the last time, and I need her so happy to see her partner that she distracts him from causing us any trouble, so make sure it is the strongest we have given her so far," smiles Jard.

The guard snaps a salute with his hand and turns back to the door, as Jard remembers something else. "Oh, and make sure she is washed and smells good for him. Return her clothes to her also. We are supposed to return her unharmed, and if she smells like the cells, it will take away from her appeal to the male."

"As you command," smiles the guard.

Evian is pacing her cell when the door opens and the guard steps in and throws her simple clothing at her. "Here put this back on." She does before the guard takes her arm roughly. "Come with me. It is time to get you ready for your meeting with the Speaker."

He pulls her to the table outside the cell and the pitcher of water sitting there. "You will be taken to the showers where you can clean the fowl smell from your weak body, but first you must drink some more of the spiced water."

Evian looks to the pitcher and almost refuses to drink it but knows that the Speaker might want her for more than someone to talk to, as she remembers the primitive Mole on Ter being eaten by the Shrils there. She realizes that one way or the other, she will have to drink it, and the thought of a shower to clean the grime generated by her excitement from her body, makes her reach for the glass again.

The guard watches patiently, as she drinks it all swiftly. Then, as soon as she is done, he pushes her towards the door that leads out of the smaller cells area, and down the long corridor between the larger cells, to a small chamber to the side just before they reach the main part of the Fortress.

Evian steps inside and looks around the room, not knowing what to expect. There is a small ledge to the right with what looks like a bar of white soap sitting there waiting to be used. She does not have long to wait as water starts to rain down on her from numerous small holes in the ceiling. The water is warm, not quite as hot as she likes, but the feel of it lifts her spirits, which is not hard to do because the spiced water is starting to have an affect on her again. She quickly removes her simple covering and washes it in the stream of water in the center where it is the heaviest.

The bar of soap is plain, unscented, reminding her of the fact that the soaps she used to enjoy are all gone now that Ver has been destroyed. The sad feelings are quickly replaced by the stronger need to touch herself which she does vigorously with the soapy water. She is just starting to lose herself in the sensations when the water turns cold and she snaps out of her need and jumps from the heaver stream of water to the side, clutching her wet clothes to her body.

The door opens, and the guard reaches in for her. "Come with me, you need to be dry and looking good for the Speaker." He takes Evian's arm that is still clutching her simple clothing to her body and pulls her out of the small shower room, back into the corridor. The processing area is to the left, but he ushers her into the other direction, heading towards the meeting room and the Sphere Chamber, where she had been the period before.

They pass the entrance where Adam and she had entered the Fortress mere periods before, when they had arrived on this strange planet. The guard continues, and soon the floor is too hot for Evian to continue, so the guard unceremoniously picks her up by the waist under slings her under his arm. He carries on to the meditation chamber at the end of the corridor.

They arrive at the edge of the lava pool and the stone recliners that are all full of Shrils, basking in the heat of the pool. The guard slips along the wall at the back, trying not to disturb the others, to a set of steps that lead up to a higher ledge. The guard sets her down on the stone floor, which is still hot, but bearable to Evian's bare feet.

"Move to the railing and let the heat dry your hair and body. You need to be presentable; your life may depend on it."

Evian looks up at him as a shiver runs up her spine, causing the small hairs on the back of her neck to rise. "What does he want with me?"

The guard shows his teeth as he smiles. "It is not the Speaker you need to impress; it is the Speaker's guest that you need to appeal to."

Evian's mind races from the spiced water affecting her thoughts, and she cannot seem to decide if she is excited about what might happen to her, or afraid that no matter what it is, she will respond anyway. She moves to the low railing and lays her simple covering and cord over the edge, so it can dry in the heat as she works her fingers through her hair to dry it, and also to get at least some of the tangles out of it.

The guard waits at the entranceway to the stairs back down. "Do not take too long, or you can walk back down to the lower level by yourself or wait for one of the meditators to come back from their relaxation, which always makes them hungry."

Evian looks over the railing down to the half circle of reclining Shrils and grabs her single lower covering and pulls it up between her legs with the cord that she ties at her waist. "It will dry close to my body now. I am ready to go."

The guard scoops her up under his muscular arm again and walks back down the stairs and along the back of the lower chamber to the corridor. Then, as soon as they are back to the entrance of the meeting room and the Sphere Chamber, he puts her back down. She gives a little whimper at the realization that the Shril carrying her like that had caused a need to manifest itself in her. The water is in full swing now, and everything takes on an appraising look to judge the ability of curing the ache in her mind and body.

They carry on to Jard's quarters beside The Speakers Chamber at the other end of the Fortress in silence.