Free Velvet Dogma About 3300 wds by Weston Ochse

face. So, she did what she could with water and soap. She'd kill for some make-up. With mascara and lipstick she might have hope. She began checking the drawers and cupboards which had been used as storage for wires, chipsets and other unidentifiable electronics. She found what looked like Vaseline, some chap stick and what might be like mascara. She was able to spike her hair and wash her face, but the mascara brush couldn't be more alien. Instead of what she was used to, this appeared to be nothing short of a stylus. No matter how many times she dipped it in the slim bottle and applied it to her eyelashes, nothing happened. Finally she tossed it back in the drawer. This was as good as she was going to get. How good was it? A long look in the mirror told her more than she wanted to know. She ignored reality and Hepburn-pretended, striding confidently back into the room.
    Andy stood as she entered, looking just as good as he had the night before. He'd manage to find another T-shirt, and his jeans were wrinkled but clean. He looked her up and down. "Wished I cleaned up as well as you."   He proffered a plastic tube about a foot long. "Here. All they have is old gamer grub."
    Ignoring his flirtation, Rebecca accepted the food and read the directions on the side. She tore open an end and squeezed free an inch of what promised to be blueberry pancakes and sausage. Andy sat on the couch across the narrow room from her and only after he'd inhaled half of his did she take the most tentative of bites. It was delicious. She sat back on the couch and squeezed out more. Closing her eyes, she ate the rest of it in silence, pretending that she was sitting at a table in a normal kitchen doing normal things eating normal food. She could even taste maple syrup.
    When she finished Rebecca got up, tossed the wrapper in the trash, then returned to the sofa. "Got one filled with coffee? I like mine with three sugars and two creams."
    "No, but we can get you some java real soon."
    "We can leave? What did Panchet tell you?"
    "It was as you suspected," admitted Andy. "The network wasn't broken. You were followed."
    "How do we keep from being followed again?"
    "There's nothing we can do, really. We have at least two stops to make, Olga's and your grandmother's. We just need to make sure you aren't at either one of them for very long."
    "I've been thinking," Rebecca said. "Do you think that those Black Hearts had something to do with David's death? I think it's too much of a coincidence that they were there right after he died. Almost as if they were waiting for me."
    Andy nodded grimly. "I thought about that too. And you know what? I can't argue with your logic. But I still can't fathom why they killed him to get to you. They're into retrieval and espionage, not assassination."
    "Yet they attacked like they were assassins."
    "That they did."   He smiled humorlessly. "I wished I had the answer, Bec. I really wish I did. If it helps, I spoke with Panchet and he's also working on it. It's only a matter of time before we figure this out."
    Sometime between when she'd gone to sleep and now, Rebecca had remembered that she had some questions she needed answered. She had a problem with the drugs. She still didn't understand the relationship with the boarders. Panchet had created the technology. Andy was Panchet's friend. But what else? That couldn't be the whole tale. How would she broach it? Where she came from a person didn't just walk up and ask Are you a drug dealer?
    She jerked as she heard a noise from the other room.
    "Just a couple of boarders crashing out." Andy told her. "They need some down time."
    She frowned. "Is it the drugs? Is that why?"
    "Are you a prude, Bec?"   Andy's eyebrows caterpillared. "Things are different now. The stimulants they need are legal."
    She hated that word— prude . How dare he.
    "Listen. I could tell you were wondering about this earlier, so let me come clean. Do I provide the drugs for Panchet's boys? Yes. Does