Page 81 of Alien Burn

Her fingers hovered above the screen. For a few seconds, she could think of nothing to write that wouldn't sound foolish. Roemary had been unpleasant on a call. Roemary was often unpleasant. A name she didn't recognize. A deadline. A sentence without its beginning or end.

It has to look local.

She sat down too hard.

The platform. Yesterday's attack. People saying someone here hated the women for coming. She had heard those explanations repeated until they felt as solid as the walls.

What if someone wanted them repeated?

That wasn't proof of anything. She knew how easily fear could fill in what a person hadn't heard.

She opened a blank note and wrote only the words she remembered. She left a space where the other person had interrupted. When she reached the unfamiliar name, she wrote it the way it had sounded and added that she didn't know the spelling.

Her hands steadied as she worked.

She knew how to remember a room. Who had entered, what they had said, where they had stood. She had done it for Roemary often enough. She could do it for herself.

When she finished, she read the note twice, then sent Dhomhes a message.

Can we speak privately?

I need to tell you something very important.

Are you well? Safe?

I’m in my bedroom.

I can meet you near the housing office.

Have you been threatened?

Do you need a guard?

No one has threatened me.

Roemary has gone out, but I heard something, and I think you need to know about it.

He told her where he would wait. She could come with the residence escort; the housing staff were already offering room changes, and he would be there to discuss the security arrangements.

Then another message appeared.

You don't have to speak to her first.

Sereya put a hand over her mouth.

It was such an ordinary permission. She should not have needed it from anyone.

She dressed, left the linens on the bed, and went out without cleaning up the tea.

Dhomhes was standing outside the housing office with two guards when she arrived.

For a moment, the sight of all three made her want to turn around. Too much attention. Too many people who might remember she had come here. One guard moved aside to let her pass, and she caught herself preparing an apology.

Then Dhomhes said her name.

He hadn't raised his voice. She heard it anyway.

“Sereya.”