have nothing to fear here on the planet Verna. We are pleased to have you here as our guest Jo-Anne even if it was not by your own choosing. I'm sure that you must be very confused by recent events and that you have a great number of questions to ask, but there will be time for that when you have rested and had something to eat. The people of Verna also have some questions to ask of you, so you will find yourself restricted to this apartment for the next few days. You will find everything that you will need in the adjoining rooms and I'll return tomorrow when you have rested to begin our discussion." She turned to leave and had reached the door when she turned and remarked, "You may be our enemy, but the men who brought you here have reported your actions in passing the test and things will surely go well for you now." Joe started to speak, but she had turned and left before he could stop her.
Now his head was really spinning with questions. How could he possibly be the enemy of these people whom he had never met before today? What did she mean when she said that he had passed the test? He grinned to himself as he realized that Rhena must have been an interpreter and she had somehow twisted the meanings of words around when she used the term men to describe his captors when she obviously meant women. He would explain the mistake when they talked tomorrow but at the moment he was starved.
He searched until he found the kitchen area, however there was no food to be seen anywhere. A small unit sat on the counter though and he noticed that it had a three dimensional viewplate which showed what appeared to be a dish of unusual tropical fruit. He twisted the dial on the console and the image of fruit was immediately replaced by the image of a cup containing some sort of beverage. He pushed the button on the front of the console and a wall panel slid open leaving the cool drink sitting on the counter in front of him. By repeating the process he soon had a complete meal that looked as if it would be delicious. At first he tasted things cautiously and when there were no immediate ill effects, he proceeded to finish the meal.
The next room was obviously a bedroom and he saw that clean clothing had been laid out for him and what wonderful clothing it was! There on the bed was a skirt and jacket similar to those worn by his captors except this outfit was not white
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