Sometime during the night, I escaped the dream world, only to find myself
sitting at one of the tables outside of Kleiner for most of the night.
I wasn’t tired, and I knew if I went back to my room, I wouldn’t be
able to sleep. So I sat out there,
part of the night with a cup of coffee from Java City, part of it with nothing
at all, and watched the snow fall, the clouds break up, move off, and the sun
rise as the moon set. Jude found me there the next morning while she was on her way
to class.
“Shai, did you come home last night?”
I shook my head. “Couldn’t
sleep. I stayed out here and
watched the snow.”
“Aren’t you cold?” She
sat down near me. I shook my head.
“It’s me, Jude. I
don’t get cold, remember?”
“Craig was looking for you last night.”
My heart skipped a beat. “He
was? Did he say why?”
Jude shook her head. “He
seemed upset, though. He asked me
to have you call him when you got in, no matter what time it was. I left a note on your desk, but you never came home, so...you
should probably go talk to him.”
I nodded mutely, suddenly worried. Craig’s
upset? Over what, I wonder.
“Well, I need to get to class. See
you later.”
“Yeah. See you later.” I watched her walk away before I got up and went back to my
building, to my room, and sat down at my desk.
I stared down at the note Jude had left me, the note that read “Call
Craig – URGENT.”
Then I picked up the phone.
It was two rings before Craig picked up, his voice sounding thick and
choked as he spoke. “Hello?”
“Craig, it’s Shai. What’s
wrong?” I frowned slightly – it
sounded like he’d been crying.
He sounded even more upset. “Jude
was supposed to tell you that it was urgent.”
“She did. I just got in a
few minutes ago. What’s wrong?”
“You were out all night?” He
asked incredulously. “Where were
you?”
I growled. Something was
urgent. Why are you suddenly so
concerned with where I was all night, Craig?
“It’s not important. Now
what’s wrong?”
He sighed. “You know that
unit Jim and my brother are in?”
I frowned heavily. What
does this have to do with Jim and Matthew?
“Yeah.”
“They’re getting deployed. In
about twelve hours. To the
Philippines.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. At
least they’re not going somewhere where there’s already fighting.
“Is that all?”
“Shai,” Craig said slowly, “the Philippines are the next target.
Don’t you pay attention? My
brother and our friend are walking into the line of fire.”
My heart sank. Why did
everything have to happen at once?