will?
When he took her back to her room, he told Tina, "I really liked what you said. Or, if I didn't actually like it, I know it was good for me to hear. This language topic is very new to me, and I perhaps should have thought about it more before now."
Tina gave him a seductive smile. "Ah, Séamus, so you are also one of the babies here. Or maybe I should say 'innocents.' Knowing we are doing something someone considers extremely important, but not have the slightest clue why."
"Yes, but I believe Alice doesn't know a lot more, either. She's a code-breaker, so she's here because she knows how to find patterns in languages. It's my boss and Wilkie who know the real story."
"Some terrorist code, perhaps?" Tina threw herself on the bed and put her hands behind her neck. "Or are those terrorists freedom-fighters? Doesn't every terrorist believe he is a freedom-fighter, and isn't every freedom-fighter viewed as a terrorist by someone? Are we being manipulated for good or for bad?"
"I can only trust my government that it's for good," Séamus replied.
"And we girls should trust respectively the Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Philippine governments?" Tina sighed. "I think we can rely only upon our animal instincts and take care of our own families." She tapped her foot at the end of her bed. "Can you sit a moment?"
"Literally a moment – I need to fetch Phyllis soon." He sat on the corner of the bed. "So you're still loyal to your family, despite how they treated you?"
"Funny, isn't it? Maybe so many women want to start their own families because they want to find another one to be loyal to. We're scared of having no loyalties."
"I don't think men are much different," he told her. "What about football teams?" He paused. "So you had dreams of starting a family with the Russian?"
"Yes, but I realize now that would have been a mistake." She lifted her leg and placed a shoeless foot in his lap. "Anyway, I'm glad I'm here. I hope you are too, Séamus."
"Yes." He stared down at the foot.
"Can I ask you something? Did the other girls touch you, or ask to be touched?"
More clearly now, Séamus felt forces moving around him which he could not understand. "Yes. One hugged me tightly, the other one asked for a shoulder massage. How could you have guessed that?"
Tina stared at the ceiling. "I'm guessing that we ladies have a lot in common. I mean, if we have unusual language ability, we may all lack something, or have extra something-else, or both. Maybe we read people very quickly, including even very small gestures and expressions. Who knows if we read well or badly? But I think we all studied you and quickly realized, you are the one person we can depend upon. Maybe the one person in this world. Touching is our signal for that. Most people we don't care to touch. Maybe we're all dying to find that person who feels really good to touch."
Séamus thought of how little touching he and Sheryl had done in the last six months, and how acceptable that had felt to him. Was that because he felt he could no longer depend upon her?
A few minutes later he knocked at the door marked "P." A clear voice invited him in. Phyllis was short like Jenny, athletically built like Chrissy and darker-skinned like Tina, but there the similarity ended. The most striking difference was her large, round eyes, she alone having natural, deep shadows around them. She was sitting on the bed as he entered but immediately jumped off it. She walked up to him and appeared to straighten his jacket.
"Now, why did they send a handsome boy like you to look after us?" she said before he even spoke. "They want us girls fighting over you, is that it?"
"Thanks for the flattery, Phyllis, but the key to this project is cooperation."
"Oh, we can fight and cooperate at the same time!" Phyllis adopted a mock boxing stance, then grabbed his cheek. "Just playing with you, Silly. Do I kid
When he took her back to her room, he told Tina, "I really liked what you said. Or, if I didn't actually like it, I know it was good for me to hear. This language topic is very new to me, and I perhaps should have thought about it more before now."
Tina gave him a seductive smile. "Ah, Séamus, so you are also one of the babies here. Or maybe I should say 'innocents.' Knowing we are doing something someone considers extremely important, but not have the slightest clue why."
"Yes, but I believe Alice doesn't know a lot more, either. She's a code-breaker, so she's here because she knows how to find patterns in languages. It's my boss and Wilkie who know the real story."
"Some terrorist code, perhaps?" Tina threw herself on the bed and put her hands behind her neck. "Or are those terrorists freedom-fighters? Doesn't every terrorist believe he is a freedom-fighter, and isn't every freedom-fighter viewed as a terrorist by someone? Are we being manipulated for good or for bad?"
"I can only trust my government that it's for good," Séamus replied.
"And we girls should trust respectively the Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Philippine governments?" Tina sighed. "I think we can rely only upon our animal instincts and take care of our own families." She tapped her foot at the end of her bed. "Can you sit a moment?"
"Literally a moment – I need to fetch Phyllis soon." He sat on the corner of the bed. "So you're still loyal to your family, despite how they treated you?"
"Funny, isn't it? Maybe so many women want to start their own families because they want to find another one to be loyal to. We're scared of having no loyalties."
"I don't think men are much different," he told her. "What about football teams?" He paused. "So you had dreams of starting a family with the Russian?"
"Yes, but I realize now that would have been a mistake." She lifted her leg and placed a shoeless foot in his lap. "Anyway, I'm glad I'm here. I hope you are too, Séamus."
"Yes." He stared down at the foot.
"Can I ask you something? Did the other girls touch you, or ask to be touched?"
More clearly now, Séamus felt forces moving around him which he could not understand. "Yes. One hugged me tightly, the other one asked for a shoulder massage. How could you have guessed that?"
Tina stared at the ceiling. "I'm guessing that we ladies have a lot in common. I mean, if we have unusual language ability, we may all lack something, or have extra something-else, or both. Maybe we read people very quickly, including even very small gestures and expressions. Who knows if we read well or badly? But I think we all studied you and quickly realized, you are the one person we can depend upon. Maybe the one person in this world. Touching is our signal for that. Most people we don't care to touch. Maybe we're all dying to find that person who feels really good to touch."
Séamus thought of how little touching he and Sheryl had done in the last six months, and how acceptable that had felt to him. Was that because he felt he could no longer depend upon her?
A few minutes later he knocked at the door marked "P." A clear voice invited him in. Phyllis was short like Jenny, athletically built like Chrissy and darker-skinned like Tina, but there the similarity ended. The most striking difference was her large, round eyes, she alone having natural, deep shadows around them. She was sitting on the bed as he entered but immediately jumped off it. She walked up to him and appeared to straighten his jacket.
"Now, why did they send a handsome boy like you to look after us?" she said before he even spoke. "They want us girls fighting over you, is that it?"
"Thanks for the flattery, Phyllis, but the key to this project is cooperation."
"Oh, we can fight and cooperate at the same time!" Phyllis adopted a mock boxing stance, then grabbed his cheek. "Just playing with you, Silly. Do I kid
Similar Books
