Part 4 - Crisis

When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.
- John F. Kennedy


Chapter 49

Day 14

The end of another long work day. "I just want to go to bed." JJ said, her face marked with more weariness than usual as they shuffled through the passage back to the dorm.

"You didn't sleep well last night, did you?" Spencer asked. He'd heard or sensed her tossing and turning in the bunk above them.

"No. I kept dreaming."

"Lillit?"

"Jotir." JJ managed a smile with no humor, "Because things weren't complicated enough."

"Great."

While they had been talking Elena had been speaking to others as some word of something was passed around. Now she turned to them. "We get showers tonight." She told them

"Yay." JJ said, with at least a little enthusiasm. "At least I can get my head clean."

Now it was Elena's turn to smile without cheer. "Don't get overly excited."

"Oh?"

As it turned out the showers were much like the toilet room. Pipes came out of the wall with no shower heads on them, pouring out a constant flow of tepid water that smelled of the factory next door. Each stall consisted of a half height partition with a bar of hard, cheap soap on top. And that was it; there was no other provision for any form of privacy. You stripped in the middle of the room, left your clothes in a pile on the concrete floor, and climbed in. Elena sighed and started taking her clothes off. "I just hope the guards don't come through."

"Looking for new victims?" JJ asked before she sighed and started in herself.

"Yeah. What better time, right?"

"Of course." JJ looked over at Spencer, "Eyes above the neck?"

"Yes." He looked over at Elena and smiled, "For both of you." Elena looked surprised at that. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice, "Until we're home safe." It wouldn't be right at all to bring those feelings to this place as strong as they were now.

She blushed and smiled, "All right."

Less than one minute later that rule was broken. "Spence!" JJ said, looking him over.

Thankfully his pants were only down as far as his hips. "Above the neck?" Hello!

"Not that! Since when are you built like Morgan? Have you been holding out on us?"

Built like Morgan? Not even close, right? Not that he was flabby but he'd always been on the softer side of scrawny, no muscle mass to speak of. Except now he looked down and found he had an actual six pack down there, and that v-shaped line angling in to his pants that Garcia spoke so highly of when it came to men's bodies. "Um, this is new."

"Do not complain." JJ told him before she looked away.

"I'm not looking." Elena told him. "Not here."

"Trust me." JJ said.

Bastian came around to them as he made the rounds of his people. "Mit a't nyi a'oinlaevi, za'dit a't nyi aetlaevi." He said.

"Women on the inside, men on the outside," Elena said, "More or less."

More or less didn't apply to their little group. He and Ladz took the outside and kept their eyes on the wall above everyone's head. Elena and JJ took the inside, facing away and stepping closer to the wall when it was their turn to step out from under the water and soap up. In theory this was safer.

But when a phalanx of guards armed with what might be machine guns entered they were reminded of just how unsafe this place was. Being caught naked and wet added humiliation and vulnerability to the sudden strong smell of fear in the room. Fear or, in some cases, anger. Spencer leaned toward anger, was this display really necessary? Did they honestly think it would help increase production or whatever they valued here?

"Spence?" JJ asked, a hint of nervous fear in her voice.

"They're just trying to intimidate." They didn't have the body language of attack. This was a formal group here to make a showing. "Ignore them."

But they weren't just there to make a showing. Once they were in position, another walked in. Spencer had only seen this uniform, this patrician profile from a distance, but the oozing confidence was clear. Odot strode in like he owned the place, slowly looking over the amassed prisoners until he found the one he wanted. He stopped at the stall next to theirs and gestured for Kaeg to move out of the way. Kaeg bared his teeth in reply and gave this ugly, inhuman growl that earned him a gun barrel under the chin. Not good. Spencer reached over and took him by the shoulder to get him to back down even as Bastian moved to take his other arm. He could feel the desire to attack raging through the other man's body. But that pull back was enough to get the guard to partially back down as well.

Unfortunately that pull back also exposed Adrianna to Odot's gaze. She faced away as he looked her over, but even her tentative look over her shoulder was enough to show the damage done to her once elegant body, her once beautiful face. But Odot didn't seem put off in the slightest. He looked her over like one might evaluate a horse in a barn, stripping away all her dignity in a glance. Then he looked over at Bastian, met his eyes, and smirked.

And slowly started clapping.

Odot slowly clapped as he walked out of the room. As he left he gestured and the guards followed, leaving them all alone.

As Adrianna burst into tears JJ looked over her shoulder at Spencer, "Intimidation successful."