I woke up in the pitch darkness with someone holding a mask over my face.
“Hmmm!”
I tried to push away the hands that held it, but they were too strong.
Panic surged through me.
“Shhh, calm down, it’s all right.” It was Thayu’s voice.
I raised my head. The hands holding the mask were hers. By the faint light of a comm, I saw that she was wearing one as well.
Nicha was rummaging around in the room. I could hear the rustling of a protection suit.
I began, “Why—” My voice sounded muffled in the mask.
“Sleeping gas. Come, let me do up the strap. We need to go.”
I let her tighten the mask over my face, trying to process what had happened. Had she really set off a sleeping gas bomb in the room? I swung my feet out of the bed and fumbled for my clothes.
Something creaked in the far corn
