Page 63 of Alien Burn

“He likes you here.”

His father looked tired. Ore dust still marked one sleeve. Dhomhes had come with a problem and eaten his food and added a search operation to an already crowded day.

“I'll come more often,” he said.

Ruthak nodded, then took the dishcloth from the counter and went to help Sheira.

Dhomhes stood there a moment before remembering the stars.

He sent Sereya a message.

Are you free?

While he waited, he went out to the rear terrace.

The air was cool enough to feel through his jacket. Lights marked the paths between the buildings. Beyond them, the dark rose toward a sky crowded with stars.

Her reply arrived before he reached the railing.

Yes.

He called.

The little screen brightened with her face. Her hair was loose, and she had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. There was a wall behind her, the edge of a narrow bed.

“You remembered,” she said.

“You asked.”

He regretted how easily that could sound. A polished answer. Then she smiled, and he decided he would have opportunities to mean it again.

“Did you have dinner?” she asked.

“Twice, I think. Sheira believes the light side is starving me.”

“Is it?”

“Not successfully.”

“I was hoping you hadn't meant to call while flying back.”

“Why?”

“I didn't want to hear you tell your driver you'd lost another turning.”

He laughed. “That is going to follow me, isn't it?”

“For a while.”

She looked comfortable enough to tease him. He wished she were sitting beside him on the low terrace wall, close enough that he could hear the laugh without the comm flattening it.

“Shall I show you?” he asked.

He turned the view toward the sky.

For a moment she said nothing.

“Sereya?”