The Sons Of Cleito (The Abductions of Langley Garret Book 1) by Derek Haines Page B

my door. I glanced at my watch on my way to the door. It was after seven.
    Chara's smile waited for me on the other side of the door, and when I saw her I said, 'I have so many questions for you.'
    She smiled back and brought a bottle from behind her back. 'And I have wine for you.'
    'The questions can wait,' I said as she walked in, giving me a quick kiss on passing.
    'You've been busy then I see', she said, as she looked over the four books open on the desk.
    'Yes, it's all a bit much to absorb. My head is spinning.'
    'Would an evening beach picnic help?'
    'Is that an invitation?'
    'Perhaps. There's a picnic basket outside your door if you think it's a good idea.'
    'You like the word perhaps I've noticed.'
    'Maybe,' she smiled, as she cradled the bottle of wine in her arms.
    'That's a very pretty dress,' I said, as I admired her beauty, which was only enhanced by her white floral summer dress and white sandals.
    'Thank you, I'm glad you like it,' she said as she spun around, letting me catch the low cut of the back of her dress.
    'Well if it indeed was an invitation to a picnic, I accept. But only on one condition.'
    'Oh yes, and what's that?'
    'That this picnic is with you.'
    'Oh I assure you it's just the two of us. Now, are you ready Lang? The evening only lasts so long.'
    'Ready,' I said, as I quickly slipped on my shoes and tied their laces before leaving with Chara for my first return to the island.
    We took the elevator, which was no surprise, but I was stunned when it didn’t open from within a rock face near a runway. This elevator opened onto a veranda overlooking a white sandy beach, with the sunset glistening across the sea. As I'd already witnessed a sunrise, I knew this was the opposite, western side of the island.
    *****
    I lay on my bed with my hands behind my head, looking up at the ceiling. My brain processing what had been a long, sensual and romantic evening on a warm beach with a beautiful young woman, while my traverse, ascending and descending colons were rearranging their order and knotting themselves around the upper reaches of my large intestine in the process. With my mind acting as mediator between my brain and digestive organs, my brain reluctantly accepted the possibility that something might be wrong. My liver and stomach weren't all that happy with this conclusion, and sent a new message to the effect that everything was indeed very wrong.
    Deciding to put off any immediate decision over which part of my body was right or wrong, I grabbed Evenor and Leucippe from the desk and got back into bed for a little reading. It was heavy going, which was exactly as I had hoped, and as my eyes drooped a little more with each page, I left my internal organs, mind and brain to sort themselves out while I slept.
    After I woke the next morning, I peed, shat, showered, shaved and gave my teeth a thoroughly good brushing, while I looked for answers in the bathroom mirror. I didn't find any, but my mouth felt very fresh. When I checked the buffet cabinet, which was completely restocked with an assortment of breakfast ideas, I wondered how it had been replenished overnight. I'd grabbed a mineral water and packet of potato crisps after I returned the night before and there was no sign of breakfast assortments then. Unless someone had snuck into my room silently during the night and refilled the cabinet, which was doubtful, the only logical conclusion was that it had been restocked from the other side of the wall. Pleased with my powers of deduction, I then prepared my breakfast and enjoyed it along with a few pages of The First King.
    With breakfast finished, I made another coffee and took The First King with me to the sofa and read while waiting to see what the new day would bring. It was no surprise that my brain, mind and internal digestive organs were forecasting very different expectations for the day ahead.
    Dubiety
    When the knock on the door came, only a few minutes after I'd finished my coffee, of