14

In a fit of desperation, he considered joining the Colonial Marines. If he did that, maybe after years of hard work and faithful service he’d be in a position where he’d be given sufficient security clearance to be able to gain access to information about his brother. But then again maybe not. Still, what else could he do? Maybe develop his computer skills further and hack his way into the system? He’d never been terrible with computers, but he was hardly an expert, either, and how would he know where to start?

He was considering these and other schemes when a live feed changed everything. He was lucky to catch it—normally he would have been at work during that time, but he’d traded shifts with someone who had a funeral to attend. Even so, he was lucky to see it: the vid request came in without a name or a location marker and so at first he figured it was just an ad, something new put together by a vidimarketer.

But there flashed into his mind the recorded vid from Henry. That, too, had had no location marker. And so he connected.

It was Henry this time, too. He was hunched toward the vid screen, difficult to see. He was whispering. He looked nervous and cagey, and kept glancing back over his shoulder. It took him a moment to realize the connection had been made.

“Henry,” said Jensi. “What a great surprise.”

“Shhh,” said Henry. “Not so loud. I shouldn’t be calling out at all, let alone using this channel. If they find out I did, at the very least it’ll cost me my job.”

“What’s wrong, Henry?”

Henry shook his head. “I’m calling you just so you’ll stop worrying about your brother. He’s here. He’s alive, he’s okay, you don’t need to worry about him anymore. That’s all I can tell you.”

Jensi felt his heart leap. “Where’s here, Henry? I have to know.”

“I can’t tell you,” said Henry. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is he’s okay.”

“Is he a prisoner? What’s happened to him?”

“It’s a penal colony,” said Henry. “That’s where I work. Yes, he’s a prisoner. I saw him for the first time yesterday. Not in person, on vid. I almost didn’t recognize him.”

“What was wrong with him that you almost didn’t recognize him?” asked Jensi, his voice rising.

Henry pressed his finger to his lips. “You don’t know what I’m risking telling you this.”

“It’s not enough,” said Jensi. “I need more. I need to know where you are.”

“Classified,” said Henry, reaching now for the off switch. “I wish I could, but—”

“Henry, think of everything we did together,” said Jensi hurriedly. “You’ve already told me enough to get you in trouble. Now give me the rest.”

Through the screen, he saw Henry hesitating, his hand still hovering near the cutoff.

“Please, Henry,” he said. “I’m your best friend.”

And for a moment Henry’s nervousness stilled. He nodded almost imperceptibly, and said one word: “Aspera.”

And then the screen went dead.