He smiled. “I say that rock music will rot my brain.”
“This from a man who drinks vodka from a straw. I’ll keep it low and you can interject with a cease and desist order whenever you deem necessary. Acceptable?”
“Acceptable.”
The rest of the day slid by with a musical accompaniment.
CHAPTER SIX
With his accelerated metabolism acting as a moderating influence on his culinary standards, supper was entirely acceptable. Francis then enjoyed casual conversation with several people in close proximity at the dinner table, and caught Lena smiling at him in a blatantly suggestive manner from across the room. All in all, a fine evening. At this point, he resigned himself to the fact that if he didn’t do laundry, he would be wearing soiled clothing in the very near future.
The laundry room was situated awkwardly near the end of the hall that led away from the dining area. One had to walk past the kitchen, past a seldom used research room, past the boiler room and several storage rooms before finally reaching the cramped room that always smelled like laundry soap. There was only one washer and one dryer, so timing was everything. Hamlin had found that the first person to arrive after supper got the lion’s share of the available time, so he made sure he was the initial person to lay claim to the room. He threw his load in, gave it the prescribed amount of detergent, pushed the regular cycle button, and set things in motion. The wash cycle would take about fifty minutes, so he planned to return to his room and break out one of the novels he had brought with him. He had been saving them, not wanting to read through them in the first few days but rather savor the anticipation for a while. He turned to see Lena blocking the doorway; an unexpected but not altogether unpleasant obstacle to his plan.
“Hello, Doctor.”
Even her voice was having an immediate effect on him now. Hamlin would have sworn that she was more attractive than when he first arrived. He recalled some joke about natives taking the ugliest woman in the village along when they went hunting. Once she started looking good, it was time to return.
“I guess it’s time for me to return,” Hamlin said as he walked slowly towards her. He immediately slipped his right hand under her sweater and enjoyed the soft warmth of her skin. This seemed to distract her from any concerns about his incoherent opening statement.
“Doctor, please. You’re too forward for me.”
His hand remained under her top. “You’re the one interrupting my laundry routine. You should have heeded the standard protocols of clothes washing.
“Please, don’t take advantage of my innocence,” she gasped softly.
Hamlin smirked. He thought that this role playing game was quite good. Not exactly Shakespearian, but then again, that wasn’t the sort of performance they were about to enjoy. A sharp crash came from the dining hall. Somebody must have dropped a plate. That temporarily broke the spell. It did not, however, immediately motivate him to release his grasp.
“Say, Lena, doesn’t this seem a little bit too…public for this sort of thing? There are usually at least three or four people doing laundry every night. Therefore, I feel safe in saying that we’re probably going to get interrupted. With my luck, I’m sure it would happen at the worst possible time.”
She reached back with her one hand and grabbed the doorknob. She then pushed him slowly back into the room. Her voice was still low and suggestive. “You don’t mean that they could catch us doing…you know. Surely not that.”
Once the door was pulled shut, she turned and looked over her shoulder.
“What have we here? Oh, a latch. Just one moment.” She hooked it shut. “Now, you were telling me about my mistake. What is that you want to do to me, my overlord?”
Francis was trying to slip back into character. “Silence, you. Only talk when I give you permission. That’s the way it’s done in America.”
“I find that hard to believe,” she replied with a smile.
He bent down until his lips just brushed against hers. “Would you believe me if I gave you my word?”
A thunderous crash startled them both. Lena actually screamed just a little bit. They pulled apart and looked around for the source.
“What was that?” Lena had been scared back into reality.
“I don’t know.” Francis stared at the wall where the sound seemed to originate. He couldn’t imagine what could have generated a sound that loud. His heart was pounding. “What’s on the other side?”
“We call it the medical room. There’s almost nothing in there. We never use it.”
Another crash vibrated through the wall. It was accompanied by a hideous shriek.
Lena had a look of absolute terror. She reached for the latch on the door.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. We must tell the others.”
Francis was seriously shaken by this totally unexpected turn of events. He was unable to imagine what could possibly be the source of the ruckus.
“Great idea,” he said. “Let’s get back to the dining hall.” He was desperate to fulfill his safety in numbers yearning. All the intuition he possessed was telling him that something was very wrong. He clung to enough control to restrain himself from pushing Lena out of his way.
Another thunderous crash, this time sharper, perhaps mechanical in nature, assaulted their ears. It sounded like someone had thrown a piece of furniture into the wall. It was followed by another terrible scream.
She fumbled with the latch, then flung the door open and stumbled into the hall. Hamlin was one small step behind her. Most faces in the dining hall were now turned toward them. Sokolov appeared as they ran back down the hall.
“Doctors, if you would be so good as to keep the physical aspect of your relationship in check to the point where you’re not destroying our station, we would greatly appreciate it.”
Lena pointed toward the end of the hall. “There’s something in the medical room. We heard crashes and screaming.”
Sokolov immediately assumed a grim expression. “Dr. Kuvayev! Come here at once.”
A chair scraped and the big man rose up. “What is it?”
Sokolov waved him over. “I’ll explain in the hall. The rest of you should go to your sleeping quarters, just as a precaution until I give the all-clear. Dr. Hamlin, would you be as good as to accompany us? Dr. Sayanski, please join the others in returning to your room.”
Kuvayev arrived, and the three of them started down the hall.
Hamlin was anxious for information.
“What the hell is going on down there? Do you know?”
“Let us walk a little further down the hall before engaging in conversation, if you please,” Sokolov insisted.
They walked until they drew even with the laundry room. Sokolov stopped and looked toward the last door in the hall.
A horrible, inhuman scream pierced their ears. The door crashed as something slammed into it violently.
It was Kuvayev’s turn to look grim. “Pechkin is in there.”
Sokolov nodded. “Yes.”
Hamlin almost felt ill. Something was very wrong here. “Is he all right? Is he being attacked?”
Kuvayev’s eyes were wide and unsure. “He is in there by himself.”
Sokolov turned toward Kuvayev. “Perhaps some tranquilizer is in order. Would you be so kind, Doctor?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll be right back.”
“Here, Doctor. This supply room right here should have some stored in it. If you please.”
“Certainly.”
An animal-like roar echoed down the hall. Hamlin felt like a character in a horror story.
“What is happening in there?” Hamlin asked. “Who is Pechkin?”
Sokolov resigned himself to the necessity of sharing some information.