Page 88 of Alien Burn

“I'm asking you.”

The sharpness in her voice made Sereya's shoulders tense. She felt the old response begin: agree, soothe, get the task done before the anger found something more painful to settle on.

Roemary saw it too. Her tone softened.

“Hand it to him yourself. No one else. Mid-morning, not earlier. It won't take you long.”

She held it out.

Sereya took it because refusing would leave it in Roemary's hands, and she wanted Dhomhes to know what had just happened before anyone else carried it away.

The packet was light. An ordinary program seal closed the flap.

“I'll have to check what movements are permitted,” she said.

“Oh, I'm sure your new friend can arrange something.”

Sereya looked up.

Roemary's smile had returned.

“He's been very attentive. It would be a shame if that made you forget who's been here for you all along.”

Sereya heard the threat underneath, familiar enough now that she could have supplied the next words herself. Her past. Her safety. Everything Roemary knew.

She put the packet on the table.

“I need to pack.”

She went into her bedroom and closed the door.

There wasn't much to take. Borrowed clothes, toiletries, the things supplied after the ship burned. She stood over them for a moment, feeling the absence of the scarf she had kept for six years with a suddenness that made her throat close.

Then she picked up her comm.

She wants me to deliver a packet.

She told Dhomhes the clerk's name, the window, the time. She told him where it was and that she hadn't opened it or promised to deliver it.

His answer came while she was folding the blue dress.

Leave it where it is.

Stay with the escort.

All outgoing deliveries will be screened.

I'll arrange for this one to be checked.

She read the message, then gathered the rest of her clothes. Her hands were shaking, but they kept working.

When she came out, Roemary looked at the small bag and smiled as though they had agreed on every part of the afternoon.

“Don't forget the packet.”

“Outgoing deliveries have to go through security. They'll collect it.”

The smile disappeared.