YEAR: 25

Braheton City, Central Tharsis, Mars

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After allowing Gwen and Matthew into the apartment, Kasper locked the door behind them and led them down a short, narrow hallway. It opened at the end to a kitchen on the left and a living room on the right. Gwen spied through a half-open door opposite a small bedroom cloaked in half-light. There was nothing remarkable about the apartment; it was shabby but clean, everything painted a nondescript beige. She'd seen far worse in her time. Kasper gestured to a low black sofa that looked like it had never been used.

"Please, make yourself comfortable."

Gwen perched on the edge of the sofa, her heart still working overtime, and Matthew sat beside her. Kasper took a seat in a matching easy chair opposite. Between them squatted a battered storage trunk doubling as a coffee table. A locator lay on its surface, but other than that it was as barren as the rest of the room. Either he was a lousy decorator, or he didn't plan on staying long. Again she wondered if this was some elaborate ruse, although now that she had met him that seemed less likely. He appeared, if possible, even warier that she was.

"How did you find me?" he said.

"I hired a private investigator. He got lucky. I had no idea I had a brother until a few days ago."

"You don't remember me?"

She shook her head. "I don't remember anything. Well, almost nothing, at any rate."

Kasper glanced at Matthew. "Is this the investigator or your lawyer?"

"Neither. He's a friend."

He studied them for a long moment, seeming to consider this, before speaking again. "They gave me a new name for my safety, told me you were dead. Collateral damage, they called it. I've suspected for some time that wasn't true, but I don't understand how you tracked me down. I've been searching for you on and off for years and have never found anything but dead ends."

"My private investigator discovered a link to your old Feed from our aunt's. From there he was able to track your name change by looking at old school records. As I said, I didn't know you even existed. His instructions were to track down my parents and any remaining relatives."

"And I'm the only one left." The statement had a tinge of old bitterness to it. "Why did you start looking, then, if you weren't looking for me?"

Gwen decided not to tell him about the dream. Not yet, anyway. "I'm making a run for City Administrator. I needed to tie up any loose ends."

Kasper's expression hardened. "Loose ends. You mean making sure no one knows about your Sov parents, right?"

Gwen traded glances with Matthew. She didn't want to antagonize Kasper, but she didn't want to sugar coat things either. She was starting to think this whole thing was a bad idea after all. Matthew spoke up, his voice steady, much calmer than she felt. "You have to understand this is a shock to Gwen as much as it is to you. All she knew was her parents were dead, her Creche records sealed. She didn't know what she would find, but she thought it best to look into it herself before an opponent, or the media, did it for her. If she had any idea she had a brother, she'd have tried long ago to find you. Believe me, we were in Creche together. I ought to know."

Matthew's speech defused some of Kasper's hostility. He gave her a cautious look. "Hanne," he said. "Your name was Hanne. Not Gwen. You really don't remember?"

"I'm sorry." She wasn't sure why she was apologizing, but couldn't think what else to say. The worst case scenario was making an enemy of him, and she seemed perilously close to doing that. She ought to have known she'd be lousy at a family reunion, considering her track record.

"It's all right. I won't say anything about our parents, if that's all you're worried about. It would be almost as disastrous for me as for you. I've worked at Republic-run museums most of my career. You don't get a lot of promotions when your parents are known artifact thieves."

Again she sought Matthew's gaze. He had read her parents' criminal records too and he looked just as mystified as she was. She looked back at Kasper. "There's nothing in their records about that. Is that what you were told?"

"What I was told? Hanne—Gwen—I was sixteen when they died. You may not remember much, but unfortunately I do. It wasn't their worst crime so maybe it never got reported. I don't know. It certainly got them both fired." His eyes narrowed as he glanced between her and Matthew. "What exactly do their records say?"

Gwen hesitated, unsure if he really knew as much as he claimed and what was safe to tell him. After all, she had no idea what he would do with the information once he had it. He might be her biological brother, but he was as capable as anyone else of blackmailing her. She decided to stick to the barest of facts, ones he likely already knew. "They were involved in a series of confrontations with opposing Sovereigntist groups that the Republic stepped in to try to mitigate. It was some sort of infighting, is the impression the records give. Several people were killed or injured along the way."

Kasper got to his feet. She found his expression hard to read but got the impression her answer didn't satisfy him. However, he didn't mention this as he moved around them towards the kitchen. "Do you want anything? A drink?" He opened a cabinet, pulled out a large blue bottle, and set it on the counter with a clunk. "I've got Norman whiskey. Or water. Choose your poison."

"I'll take water," she said, although the whiskey looked very tempting at the moment.

Kasper glanced at Matthew. "How about you? It's a good year."

"No, thank you. I'm not much of a drinker."

"Right. Neither am I." Kasper filled a tumbler with the whiskey and took a long pull from it before carrying the drinks back to the living room. He handed Gwen her water but didn't sit himself, looking down on her from above. "So you're a lawyer, right? Are there forms I'm supposed to sign, or did you plan to buy my silence with the Mendez fortune?"

Ouch. She set her glass down and stood to face him. "I have no intention of bribing you. I'm counting on your discretion, yes, but I wouldn't have come here myself if that's all I was interested in. I wanted to meet you. I suppose I was curious what you'd be like, if it would trigger any memories."

"And does it?"

Beside her, Matthew rose, and she was again glad for his presence. She met Kasper's eyes, but divined nothing aside from the notion that he was keeping as much from her as she was from him. "No," she said. "No, it doesn't."