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“A Santa hat,” Sonja put in.
“Yes, I suppose.” Ellilah nodded. “I…I saw him putting something in the punch. Something from a small, blue bottle. I shouldn’t have talked to him—shouldn’t have even gone near him—I know that…” She bit her lip. “But…I went up and asked him what he was doing.”
“And what did he say?” Liv asked, frowning.
“He said he was…was putting something in the punch that would make everyone feel happy. ‘Especially the females’ he said. And then he made me try some.”
“You saw him putting something in the punch and then you drank it anyway?” Strong demanded, frowning.
The little priestess’s cheeks went red and she looked near tears.
“He didn’t give me a choice. He put the cup to my lips and I…I swallowed.” She shook her head. “But then I started to feel…so strange.”
“Like nothing mattered and you could do anything you wanted, right?” Sonja demanded.
Ellilah nodded.
“Exactly. So when he told me…” She cleared her throat. “When he told me to come into a dark room with him—I think it was a storage closet—in the back of the conference room, I…” She swallowed hard. “I went.”
“Oh, honey…” Liv’s hand tightened on the girl’s arm. “Did he hurt you? Take advantage of you in any way?”
“He…” Ellilah’s eyes flickered up to Liv’s and down again. “He asked me if I was…was a virgin.” Her voice sank almost to a whisper. “And I told him that I was. So then he said…he said, ‘Forgive me little virgin, I will not take your chastity, but I must test the punch.’ And then he kissed me and…” Her eyes began to fill with tears. “And touched me.”
“Oh, honey!” Liv exclaimed again, putting an arm around her. Sonja stroked the little priestess’s other arm gently and murmured,
“Let it out, girl. It’s okay, it’s all right…”
“No, it’s not all right!” Ellilah said fiercely. “It’s not all right because I didn’t try to stop him. In fact, I…I wanted him to touch me more! I begged him to!” She choked out the words as though she was spitting out fragments of glass that had cut her throat when she tried to swallow them. “I…I took his hand and tried…tried to put it beneath my robes but he wouldn’t touch me that…that way. He wouldn’t even though I begged. I begged!”
Her voice broke down into a sob and she buried her face in her hands.
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself! The stuff in the punch affected us all that way,” Sonja assured her. “It’s not that you’re evil or bad or you wanted that man to molest you! It was what he put in the punch that did it.”
“She’s right,” Strong said, frowning at the readout on his screen. “Look.” He pointed out the results to Sylvan, whose face went grave.
“Diamethal-Hexadrone,” he said, frowning.
“What’s that?” Liv asked, looking up from comforting the little priestess.
“A synthetic aphrodisiac more commonly known by its street name—Desire,” Sylvan said grimly. “It causes females of most humanoid species to lose their inhibitions and give in to suppressed sexual fantasies and desires. But the aftermath is harsh.”
“How harsh?” Strong’s heart was suddenly in his throat. “What are the after-effects besides the headache and hang-over feeling we’ve all been experiencing?”
“Depression and low self worth are common after-effects,” Sylvan said, frowning. “Some females have even been known to self-harm in the hours and days after the initial euphoria of the drug wears off.”
“That’s awful! Can you make an antidote?” Liv asked anxiously.
Sylvan nodded.
“It’s possible. We could—”
“Already working on it,” Strong told them. He was tapping rapidly at the holo-keyboard in front of him. “Commander Sylvan,” he added, looking up at his superior officer. “Permission to bring a dose of this down to Earth as soon as the replicator can start manufacturing it.”
“Of course, Doctor Strong.” Sylvan nodded. “Why—do you know a female who was at the party last night who needs it?”
“I do,” Strong said grimly. “I just hope I can get the antidote to her before it’s too late.”
18
“You need to stop moping around the house, Melly!” Aunt Marge said, frowning at Melanie. “You look like your last friend just died. Go take a walk outside in the fresh air—you’ll feel better for it.”
“Okay, Aunt Marge.” Melanie nodded listlessly.
What she mostly wanted was to just go lie on the couch and watch mindless TV to try and numb her pain, but her aunt wouldn’t hear of that. Her philosophy was that if you were awake, you ought to be up and moving. She didn’t even sit down at mealtimes, other than on special occasions. She preferred to eat over the kitchen sink while her cats gathered around her and begged for scraps from her tuna sandwich.
At least she’d gotten a chance to take a shower and change her clothes, Melanie thought, as she opened the front door and trudged outside. Riding down to Earth, still wearing the red and white sex-nighty she’d used to seduce Clear and Strong the night before under her wrap dress, had made her feel almost unbearably dirty.
