Page 74 of Alien Burn

“No.”

Roemary watched her. Sereya kept her fingers still against the edge of the display.

“You should tell me if he does.”

“Everyone will receive the notices.”

“That isn't what I mean.”

“I know.”

Roemary's eyes narrowed. Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.

“Perhaps you should keep being pleasant to him. We could all use someone who knows what's happening.”

She returned to her bedroom before Sereya could answer.

Sereya stood alone beside the table. The order was almost permission, and somehow worse than the prohibition had been.

Her comm warmed in her palm.

A message from Dhomhes.

I am safe. Sorry I hadn't been able to contact sooner.

Please tell me when you return to your room.

She closed her bedroom door before she answered.

I'm here. Thank you for telling me.

After a moment, she added another line.

I'm glad we had our tea.

His reply came quickly.

So am I.

She sat on the bed in her blue dress and let herself be glad about that much.

11

DHOMHES

The report Dhomhes had been waiting for arrived while he was trying to eat something he could no longer identify.

He moved the plate aside and opened the Kerde warehouse file.

The public report was short. A fire. Extensive damage. An initial finding of fuel-system failure. Nothing in it about deliberate charges or anyone flushing away what remained. The broker's account had either come from someone who knew more than the investigators or someone who had enjoyed inventing a story for a paying listener.

Neither possibility pleased him.

He sent the report to the explosives investigators with the broker's account clearly marked as unverified. They would compare what could be compared. He could not make a missing detail appear by staring at the page.

He wanted to stare at it anyway.

Beyond the operations-room door, a guard spoke quietly to a replacement taking over the watch. Dhomhes checked the time. The fourth day had become the fifth while he was reading.