Page 79 of Alien Burn

“I wanted to hear your voice,” she said.

The admission was very quiet.

Dhomhes looked at her until she began to fidget with the blanket again.

“Sereya.”

“Yes?”

“You can call me for that.”

“What if you're busy?”

“I'll answer when I can. And if I can't, I'll call you back.”

She nodded. Not quite trusting the promise yet, but wanting to.

He wanted to deserve it.

They talked for a few more minutes about nothing he could have included in a report. The flowering branches at the reception. The tea. How long it took to become accustomed to sleeping while the light outside remained unchanged. She was halfway through explaining that she kept checking the time before she believed it when a yawn interrupted her.

“Bed,” he said.

“I'm in it.”

“Sleep, then.”

“You first.”

“I have a little more to do.”

She looked disappointed, though he wasn't certain whether it was for him or with him.

“Soon,” he said.

“All right. Soon.”

After she ended the call, he sat with his hand on the dark display.

He had just agreed to call back a woman whose safety might depend on what he found in the next few hours. He could not ask her to prove she was worth protecting. Nor could he let wanting her make him careless about the people around her.

The staff message confirmed the additional guards were in place. Roemary's enrollment record gave only a processing date; he sent it back with his outstanding request for the submission trail. Then he checked the watch assignments himself.

12

SEREYA

The pillowcase slipped off the stack just as Roemary opened her bedroom door.

Sereya caught it against her chest. She was standing inside the linen alcove off the sitting room, reaching for a fresh sheet on the upper shelf. From where she stood, she could see a narrow strip of the room beyond the cupboard door.

Roemary crossed it without looking toward her.

“I know the schedule.”

Sereya almost answered. There had been another notice at breakfast, changes to the day's appointments while the residence remained under increased guard.

Then she heard the faint, uneven hiss of a comm.