Number Four dealt five cards to each of them and flipped the top card of the remaining deck face up to start the discard pile.
It was the six of hearts.
"You go first," he told Anita.
"Why me?"
"Because you are our guest and a lady."
This time, the curvature of her lips was almost a full smile. She looked at her hand, picked a card, and laid it down on the discard pile.
The game began.
For a few minutes, nobody spoke except to call colors when an eight was played.
Anita won the first hand. "I remember the game now. My grandmother used to play it with me and my sisters, but that was a very long time ago when I was still a girl." She smiled sadly. "It seems like it happened in a different world. I barely remember anything from before."
"How long have you been on the island?" Number One asked.
"Nine years." The words came out flat.
The collective absorbed the number and didn't say anything for a moment, because there was nothing useful to say. Nine years was a long time.
"Doctor Petrov told us that you were a nurse before," Number One said.
She tilted her head. "Does he talk about me?"
"Yes. Often."
She smiled. "Doctor Petrov is a good man. Brilliant, really. I just wish he didn't drink so much vodka. He's not a mean drunk or anything, and he's somehow lucid despite how much he drinks, but he smells of alcohol and I don't like it." She shook her head. "I shouldn't have said that. Konstantin is so nice to me. He always showers before he comes, which is more than I can say for most of the others."
She played a card, and her hand stilled before she lifted the next one.
"He hasn't come for weeks," she said quietly. "Do you know why? Has he gotten bored with me?"
"Not at all," Number One said. "Lord Losham is putting pressure on the scientists, bringing them new assignments and tightening the deadlines on the old ones. Doctor Petrov and Volkov have been working sixteen-hour days, and neither of them has left the lab in a long time."
"Really?" She looked at him.
"We are there every day. We know it for a fact."
She held his eyes for a moment longer, searching his face, but even if he were lying, she wouldn't have been able to tell. The Eight had mastered the art of emotionless expressions long before they mastered the emotions themselves.
"Poor Konstantin." She sighed. "I wish he weren't working so hard. He needs a vacation."
"Don't we all," Number One said. "But none of us are getting any."
Anita nodded. "Is he well?"
"He is more resilient than he appears."
She chuckled. "It's his Russian stubbornness that keeps him going."
Anita picked up her next card and slid it into her hand.
"Tell him that I miss him," she said. "And tell him to come see me when his workload allows."
"We will," Number One promised.
