Page 82 of Alien Burn

She looked at him.

“There you are.” His gaze moved over her face. “Come sit down.”

He led her into a small room beside the office. There were three chairs, a narrow table, and a window looking onto an inner courtyard. The door stayed open until he asked if she would prefer it closed.

“Yes, please.”

He shut it and took the chair beside hers, leaving the third empty.

“Would you like water?”

“I'd like to say it before I decide I haven't heard anything worth saying.”

“All right.”

She held the comm in both hands.

“I was getting sheets. She didn't know I was there.”

She explained the alcove, the call, the voice she couldn't hear. He listened without interrupting. When she reached the name, he leaned forward a little.

“Rhysgarrd?”

“Yes. I think so. Do you know it?”

“I do.”

Her fingers tightened around the comm. “What does it mean?”

“It's the name of a criminal family on Kerde. We're looking at possible connections to what's happened here.”

For a moment, the room was very quiet.

“Criminal,” she repeated.

“Yes.”

“Not a minister. Or some friend of her father's.”

“Gilorn Rhysgarrd is her father's brother. That relationship is confirmed. What they've done together is another question.”

Sereya stared at him. He waited until she looked down again.

“I wrote it out,” she said. “What I heard. I didn't put in what I thought it meant.”

“May I read it?”

She handed him the comm.

His face didn't change much as he read. His thumb stopped against the side of the device when he reached the end.

“She said the deadline was firm,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Did she mention a day? A place?”

“No.”