A high corral fence contained many curlies, among them Diego’s Cisco and Bunny’s Darby. A team of dogs, snarling and snapping and for all their red fur as unlike the gentle and intelligent foxhounds of Kilcoole as they were unlike caribou, were tied in the open, a short distance from the house. She could smell the filth of their leavings even through the icy wind.
Satok misinterpreted her lack of struggle and perusal of his holdings.
“Ah, so you’re impressed, eh? Well, girl, all this comfort and luxury can be at your disposal if you’re nice and do as you’re told. Come in now, while the night is still young.”
She tried to struggle again, but he was very much stronger and she was in the wrong position. She knew that once he got her indoors, her chances of escape and her danger from him were much greater, but she also thought that perhaps the secret of his hold over these people who wouldn’t come help a girl when she was screaming bloody murder was inside this fine house.
She was surprised at herself, at how analytical and calculating she was being. Her anger at what he had done to Dinah, to the planet, and to these people had turned to cold calmness, as cold as the profound loneliness she had felt in the cave. It was even lonelier here, with a man who had to be crazy to even attempt to do this to the planet. Bunny knew that she needed to keep her wits about her, if she was going to learn what she needed to and keep him from killing Diego and Krisuk as ruthlessly as he had murdered Dinah.
He hauled her indoors. She didn’t give up all show of reluctance, feeling that that would alert him, and indeed, she had trouble suppressing the panic she felt at being alone with him in his house.
The first thing she thought was it was no wonder he wanted a woman there. The place was a mess. The second thought she had was that it was an interesting mess. She hadn’t known there was this much technical gear on Petaybee outside of SpaceBase and, maybe, Sean’s lab.
Two computers and a vast array of hand tools scales, and rock samples were interspersed with bones, a couple of small skulls, feathers, and desiccated bits of animals. She noted that there was a wide choice of objects that would make good weapons.
The tools were spread across several makeshift tables, but there was no proper eating table, and no chairs, though there were cooking facilitiesgreasy and covered with dirty utensilsand a large mattress spread on the floor.
Once inside, Satok released her and she edged as far away from that mattress as possible, though she’d had enough run-ins with her pubescent cousins to know that a mattress was not strictly required for her to be in deep dog shit.
Before he could say anything, she decided how to act in the same deliberate way she decided what to do when she was stranded on her snocle, or she and her dogs were attacked by a moose. She wouldn’t provoke him until necessary. In fact, if he thought she was stupid just because she was a girl, she was prepared to let him go on thinking that for a while.
“Wow!” she said, with a nervous giggle she hoped didn’t sound too forced. “What a place!”
“What’s the matter, little Dama Shongili? Not good enough for you?” he sneered, setting his staff by the door and shedding a couple of layers of clothing.
“No, it’s great,” she said, ignoring the fact that he wasn’t calling her by her own name. She wasn’t sure she wanted her name in his filthy mouth, much less any of the rest of her. “I’ve never been anywhere except SpaceBase where they had two computers. Are they both yours?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Gosh, where’d you get them?”
“They were part of my retirement benefits,” he said and started for her, but she danced away and picked up another piece of equipment. It was fairly heavy and made of steel.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Come off it. You’re not interested in that stuff. I got something to show you over here,” he said, and grabbed his crotch.