Khandaq Harem Room

"I was thinking maybe...Diana?" Rat said. "If she's available."

"Hmm, yes." the woman said. "She's in the Khandaq Harem Room. Go right ahead." The woman pulled aside the curtain, revealing a short hallway. Small lights were mounted above the door; most were let red, which suffused the hallway with crimson glow, but the light above the portal at the end was green.

Rat took Lois' hand, and she took the lead through the curtain, smiling at the woman as she ducked through and into the hallway.

Once they were clear, she whispered to Rat.

"Who was that?"

"Angelica Blaze. She owns the place." Rat whispered back. He smiled up at the ceiling, and Lois followed his gaze to the small camera mounted there.

There was a shunk as the door at the end of the hall unlocked. Rat opened it for her, and Lois stepped through...into a scene from the Arabian Nights. White tile and sun-baked bricks, pots of incense burning to fill the room with the scent of exotic spices. A massive circular bed dominated the room, beneath a ceiling-mounted mirror. On one wall there was a window which opened to a matte painting of blue night sky, looking over a city of minarets. There were no interior walls, bu diaphanous hanging curtains gave the illusion of privacy to the small bathroom area, with a sink and bidet, in one corner of the room. Four ceiling-mounted speakers occupied each corner of the room, playing soft, Middle Eastern music.

Lois examined the murals on the wall—scenes from Kama Sutra, taken possibly from some Persian edition. The crude figures captured in coitus, position after position...the reporter had never taken the time to read the work, but staring at the pictures, she might have to make time. There was a primal energy to the scenes of coupling, so many positions she had never tried...

Laid out on a table where a series of sex toys—vibrators, butt plugs, a few more exotic creations in glass and silicone, some of which Lois recognized, others which she had never seen before—along with a pitcher of clear fluid. Lois sniffed it, and smelled strawberries. Dipped her fingers into it and rubbed them together...a very fine oil, probably here for lubricant. On impulse, she brought it up to her lips to taste it...heavy and thick, not sweet, but with the taste of strawberries very strong on her tongue.

Rat stood near the door, not touching anything.

A sudden sound caught their attention...