Page 28 of Sawyer’s Mistake

Before he knew it, he was outside, his long legs quickly eating up the distance between the building and the van. The stars shone brightly above him. So much brighter since everything else around them was dark. It reminded him of the night sky in his hometown. From the time he was eight years old, he had to walk three miles in the dark after hockey practice every day. Character-building, his father had said.

The van’s door was closed. He held his breath at the guttural sounds coming from inside the vehicle. His hand reached unconsciously for the gun in his back then relaxed. The grunts coming from inside the van sounded like Remur noises, except the voice making those noises was a feminine voice—and one he knew only too well.

He opened the van door quietly. Saoirse alone inside. Her back was to him, so absorbed in what she was doing that she didn’t even notice him come in.

She was leaning over the translation box. She grunted something into the machine and paused. An instant later, the electronic voice returned her words back in English. “Leave now,” it said, the voice almost without inflection.

“Saoirse,” Jake said softly.

Saoirse jumped into the air, turning around so fast she hit her shin against the side table.

“Ouch!” she cried.

“Sorry,” he said. He stood with his palms up and out. “I thought you heard me come in. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I’m not—” she stopped herself. “Maybe a bit.”

“I don’t ever want you to be afraid.” He sat down on the stool.

“How are you doing?” she asked, pointing at his wrist. The pressure cast was now a very light green. Still a ways to go.

“It’s better.”

“I didn’t get the chance to thank you. What you did … I never meant to put you in danger.”

He tried to keep the anger out of his voice. “It’s okay. I would have cut my arm off at the elbow if it meant keeping you safe.”

“I …” she stuttered.

“Looks like you got the box working,” he said, changing the topic.

She smiled softly. “Not sure about that. It’s certainly responding to some Remur notes, but I still have no idea how it actually works. There’s some advanced AI here, though. It somehow seems to be learning with me.”

“Notes, you say?” he said.

“That’s what I’m calling the Remur sounds. It doesn’t seem right to refer to them as words; I like to think of it more a series of notes put together. I should probably get back to it.” Her mouth opened in a yawn, which she tried to cover.

“You look tired. Why don’t you continue tomorrow?”

“Maybe I am a bit tired,” she conceded. Her face pinched in worry. One finger came up and started twirling one of her red curls around, something he’d seen her do when she was nervous.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I haven’t been sleeping well ... Every time I close my eyes, I wake up and I’m there again. Sometimes alone. Sometimes with you.” She shook her hand. “You can’t imagine what it’s like to be so afraid all the time.”

“Come to bed with me,” he said.

“You want to sleep with me?” she asked, her mouth a round O.

He smiled gently. She didn’t realize how beautiful she was. “I would think that’s pretty obvious by now, Saoirse, but that’s not what I meant. Come to bed with me. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

He stretched out his hand to her and held his breath for an instant. Her small pale fingers came up slowly, and she grabbed his hand.

#

Saoirse

His hand was cool to the touch and much bigger than hers. It made her feel safe. He made her feel safe. Maybe because of what they’d been through together.