Sleeping With the Enemy Read Online Free PDF Page A

the thin cracks she could see were joints for sliding doors. This was confirmed, more or less, when the beings halted and an opening appeared. Lights flickered on-the dim bluish ones from the other room-and she was pushed inside. The door sealed shut behind her before she could turn around.
        She stared at the panel, trying to control her runaway heart, trying to think.
        Why had she been taken? Why was she here instead of dead? Where was she?
        A shiver skated through her and she wrapped her arms around herself, wondering if the deep cold she felt meant they were in space or if it was the result of shock and the fact that she had nothing but her underwear on.
        And what had happened to the landing crew, she thought abruptly?
        Were they here, too? Where they dead? Or were they on the surface of Venus, wondering what had happened in the orbiter?
        She shook the thought. She didn’t have time to worry about them now. She was on her own and so were they. Not that she could see that that helped her in any way. She couldn’t remember a damned thing after discovering the intruder behind her. Had they docked with the Mars II without her noticing?
        That seemed unlikely, but what other explanation was there?
        The strange sensations she’d felt just before she blacked out surfaced. She felt her throat close with horror, but it seemed indisputable that they must have used something like the particle transporter-on her !
        Was that the reason for the scan? To see if she was still in one piece?
        The thoughts gave rise to a panicked internal evaluation, but she couldn’t tell that she was suffering from anything but the cold and she wasn’t even sure that was because of the temperature around her.
        After a moment, she glanced around uneasily. The room she found herself in was a cube maybe six foot square-make that seven, she decided once she’d looked up at the ceiling and then at the narrow cot attached to one wall.
        It was a prison cell, she realized abruptly. It had to be.
        The door opened while she was studying the cot. There was no sound, no warning beyond a prickling along her skin from the currents of air and a faint scrape along the metal floor. She whirled, prepared to defend herself, but the sight that greeted her swept that instinct right out from under her. This was no little gray creature!
        Sucking in a sharp breath, Sybil retreated to the furthest corner, plastering herself against it. The being stared at her for a long moment and then took a step closer. The door sealed behind him so fast Sybil barely caught the movement.
        She knew the very instant she was trapped inside the tiny cell with the thing though! She would’ve screamed if she could’ve found her voice. Instead, she stared at it with wide-eyed horror.
        “Why are you here?”
        Sybil flinched when it-he-spoke, but she recognized the voice, or thought she did, that she’d heard before. He tilted his head. “You spoke English before.”
        Sybil licked her lips. “I don’t know where I am,” she said finally.
        His lips tightened, drawing her attention. The mouth was surprisingly human-like, thin lipped but then that particular trait wasn’t all that uncommon. She watched it form the next words and caught a glimpse of teeth that looked a bit sharper than she’d ever seen in a human mouth-more predatory.
        Like a cat.
        She blinked as the impression deepened, flicking a quick, assessing look at the face. The shadows cast by the strange light, she decided, had given her the impression of a monster.
        Or maybe she’d just expected a monster?
        He wasn’t human. That much was certain, but he was surprisingly human-like once she managed to throw off her shock and fear enough to actually study the face. The form was certainly human-like, although he seemed exceptionally tall.
        “You know where you