Free Hunger by Harmony Raines Page B

decide now might be a good time for a relaxing shower and a new dress.
    The bathroom took some figuring out. The shower was a completely enclosed cubicle, with two dials. One, she presumed, was for water, one was for the decon’ shower. She only hoped that if she used the wrong one it wouldn’t gas her.
    Standing on the outside and leaning in to turn the dial didn’t work. Evie assumed the door had to be shut to contain whatever came out of the vents. Assuming that even Ishk wouldn’t have a killer shower installed, she stepped in and turned on the right-hand dial. Nothing happened, or at least nothing she could tell. Turning it off again, she tried the other one.
    Water came from the vents on the side of the wall, and from the ceiling. It wasn’t what she expected, and she ended up with water in her face. Grinning, she quickly opened the soaps and shampoo Celia and Elissa had given her and washed. Pure luxury. The scents were amazing, leaving her skin the cleanest it had ever been. Even when she lived with her parents, she had never been this clean.
    They used to use a bath filled with water, for all of them; Evie would go first, and then her mom, lastly her dad. Although her mom always made sure to top the water up and make it warmer for her dad. But soap had been the kind that never lathered and never smelt like this. Taking another deep breath, Evie could just imagine she was rolling through a scented flowerbed. If she hadn’t been so aware of Ishk’s warning she would probably have stood in the shower, letting the water cascade over her body, for hours.
    Instead, she washed the soap off and squeezed the water out of her hair, only then realising she had no towel. In fact, she had not seen any towels in the bathroom. Turning the water off, she was about to get out when a whirring sound started and warm air hit her body from the vents. It was powerful, almost knocking her over.
    Then they adjusted to her size, and she found that if she stayed central in the cubicle, they were positioned to hold you in a place. The jets of air perfectly balanced. Evie had to admit, the Karal were ingenious with their technology. And she could hear Ishk’s voice now, “ All solar powered ,” Smiling, she found herself wondering when he would be home. His company might be sullen and he was disinclined to talk, but she found his love of his garden and watching him cook, soothing.
    “Right. Clothes.” The jets switched off, presumably they knew she was dry; and she exited the shower, going to the mirror and looking at her hair. It was so clean, if a little windswept. She brushed it and left it loose around her shoulders. For once, it actually looked shiny and blonde, not dirty blonde, but golden. If only her face wasn’t quite so discoloured, she might look halfway to normal. At least the swelling was subsiding, but the water had taken away some of the effect of the ocatha and her body was beginning to ache once more.
    Before her body gave out on her again, she began to rummage through the box of clothes. Picking them out one by one and laying them on the bed, she was stunned at how beautiful they were. Simple, in natural colours: beige, greens and blues. Evie wondered what plants were used, because she was sure that none of the dyes would be synthetic.
    They were loose fitting, but flattering to her figure. She tried on a blue dress, which brought out the colour of her eyes. With her blonde hair, it made her look like a clear sunny day on Earth. Running her hands over the fabric, she turned slowly, watching it sway around her knees. Dresses such as this had been out of place on Earth. Durable, serviceable clothes, usually a shirt and pants with a sweater to keep out the cold, were what everybody, male or female, wore.
    That had been her usual dress code since she was seven. Before then her mom had made her dresses out of any spare scraps of material she could find. But as she got bigger, they had come to resemble a mismatched