“I say what I would like to be told,” Garona said.
Suzanne nodded. It was a sensible variation of the Golden Rule.
Garona rolled toward her and tried to envelop Suzanne in an embrace. Suzanne ducked under his arm and slid off the bed.
“Please, Garona,” Suzanne said. “Let’s not replay last night. Not now.”
Garona flopped back onto the bed and stared up at Suzanne.
“I don’t understand your reluctance,” he said. “Could it be that you don’t care for me?”
Suzanne groaned audibly. “Oh, Garona, for all your sophistication and sensitivity, I can’t imagine why this is so hard for you to grasp. As I told you last night, it takes me a little time to get to know someone.”
“What do you need to know?” Garona questioned. “You can ask me any personal question you like.”
“Look,” Suzanne said. “I certainly care for you. Just letting you stay here is a testament to that. It’s not usual for me when I’ve known someone for such a short time. But I did let you stay, and I’m glad I did. But you can’t expect too much from me. Think of everything I’m trying to take in.”
“But it’s unnatural,” Garona said. “Your emotions should not be so contingent.”
“I disagree!” Suzanne remarked. “It’s called self-protection. I can’t go around allowing spur-of-the-moment desires to dictate my behavior. And it should be the same for you. After all, you don’t know anything about me. Maybe I have a husband or a lover.”
“I assume you do,” Garona said. “In fact, I would be surprised if you didn’t. Anyway, it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s nice.” Suzanne put her hands defiantly on her hips. “It doesn’t matter to you, but what about me?” Suzanne stopped herself. She reached up and rubbed her sleep-filled eyes. She was getting herself all worked up, and she’d only been awake for a few minutes.
“Let’s not discuss any of this right now,” Suzanne said. “This day is going to be challenging enough. Arak has promised to answer our questions, and believe me, I have a lot.” She walked over to one of the many mirrors and cautiously moved into the line of sight of her image. She grimaced at the reflection. Her mind might have been in a turmoil, but there was one thing she knew for certain: she did not look her best in inch-long hair.
Putting his legs over the edge of the bed, Garona sat up and stretched. “You second-generation humans are so serious.”
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘second generation’,” Suzanne said. “But I think I have reason to be serious. After all, I didn’t come here on my own accord. As Donald said, we’ve been abducted. And I don’t have to remind you that means being carried off by force.”
As he had promised, Arak showed up just after the group had eaten breakfast and asked if everyone was ready for the didactic session. Perry and Suzanne were demonstrably eager, Donald less so, and Richard and Michael completely uninterested. In fact, they acted tense and subdued, hardly their normal brazen selves. Perry assumed they were suffering from hangovers and suggested as much to Suzanne.
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Suzanne responded. “As drunk as they were it stands to reason. How do you feel?”
“Great,” Perry said. “All things considered. It was an interesting evening. How about your friend, Garona. Did he stay long?”
“For a while,” Suzanne said evasively. “How about Luna?”
“The same,” Perry said. Neither one looked the other in the eye.
As soon as the group was ready, Arak led them across the lawn toward a hemispherical structure similar to the pavilion although on a much smaller scale. Perry and Suzanne kept up with Arak. Donald lagged a few steps behind and Richard and Michael even more so.
“I still think you should tell Donald,” Michael insisted in a whisper. “He might have an idea about what to do.”
“What the hell is that bastard going to do?” Richard responded. “The kid’s dead. Fuller’s not going to bring him back to life.”
“Maybe he’ll have a better idea where to put the body,” Michael said. “I’m worried about the kid being found. I mean, I don’t want you to find out what they do down here to murderers.”
Richard stopped short. “What do you mean, me?”
“Hey, you killed him,” Michael said.
“You hit him, too,” Richard said.
“But I didn’t kill him,” Michael said. “And the whole thing was your idea.”
Richard glowered at his friend. “We’re in this together, dirtbag. It’s your room. Whatever happens to me is going to happen to you. Plain as day.”
“Come on, you two,” Arak called. He was holding open a door to the small hemispherical, windowless structure. The other members of the group were standing to the side and looking back in the divers’ direction.
“Regardless,” Michael whispered nervously, “the point is that the body is hardly hidden. You got to ask Donald if he can think of a better place for it. He might be an ex-officer asshole, but he’s smart.”
“Okay,” Richard said reluctantly.
The two divers quickened their pace and caught up to the others. Arak smiled congenially and then entered the building followed by Suzanne and Perry. As Donald crossed the threshold Richard gave his sleeve a tug. Donald snatched his arm away and glared back at Richard, but kept walking.
“Hey, Commander Fuller!” Richard whispered. “Hold up a second.”
Donald glanced briefly over his shoulder, treated Richard to a contemptuous look, and continued walking. Arak was leading them along a curved, windowless corridor.
“I wanted to apologize about last night,” Richard said, catching up to Donald so that he was walking right behind him.
“For what?” Donald asked scornfully. “Being stupid, being drunk, or allowing yourself to be duped by these people?”
Richard bit his lower lip before responding. “Maybe all three. We were bombed out of our gourds. But that’s not the reason I want to talk to you.”
Donald stopped short. Richard all but collided with him. Michael did bump into Richard.
“What is it, sailor?” Donald demanded in a no-nonsense voice. “Make it on the double. We’ve got an interesting talk ahead of us that I don’t want to miss.”
“Well, it’s just that…” Richard began, but then he stumbled over his words, unsure of how to begin. Contrary to his early braggadocio, he was intimidated by Donald.
“Come on, sailor,” Donald snapped. “Out with it.”
“Michael and I think we better get the hell out of Interterra,” Richard said.
“Oh, that’s very intelligent of you boneheads,” Donald said. “I suppose this sudden epiphany just occurred to you this morning. Well, perhaps I should remind you that we don’t know where the hell we are until Arak decides to tell us. So once we’ve learned that, maybe we can talk again.” Donald made a motion to leave. Richard grabbed his arm out of desperation. Donald glared down at Richard’s hand. “Let go of me before I lose complete control.”
“But-” Richard said.
“Can it, sailor!” Donald snapped, cutting off the conversation and yanking his arm away from Richard. He walked briskly ahead and ducked through a door at the end of the corridor in pursuit of the others.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell him?” Michael demanded in an irritated whisper.
“You didn’t tell him either,” Richard pointed out.
“Yeah, because you said you’d do the talking,” Michael said. He threw up his hands in frustration. “Some talking! My grandmother could have done a better job. Now we’re back where we started. And you’ve got to admit, that body’s not in the world’s best hiding place. What if they find it?”
Richard shuddered. “I hate to think. But it was the best we could do under the circumstances.”
“Maybe we should just stay in the room,” Michael suggested.
“That’s not going to solve anything,” Richard said. “Come on! Let’s at least find out where we are so we can figure out how to get the hell out.”