A moment later, Andreas opened the door.
“Your brother, sir. He’s here.”
Trevor kissed Shireena and sent her on. She passed Connor, who greeted her with warmth.
“Hey, sorry about yesterday. I spoke out of turn. Forgive me?”
“No worries. Sometimes, our mouths get ahead of our brains.”
Shireena hugged him and moved on.
Trevor downsized the incriminating holos.
“Surprised to see you back in uniform, C. Aren’t you on leave?”
“I am, bruv. The blue and gray is an eyecatcher, and I’m proud to wear it. Impresses the hell out of my old mates. I was hanging around with one when you called. What’s so urgent?”
Trevor pointed to the couch.
“Have a seat. We need to talk.”
Connor pointed to Trevor’s glass.
“Oh, good. We’re drinking?”
Shit.
Trevor set the glass on his desk.
“No. We’re not smoking either. Just talk, C. Can you do that?”
Connor shrugged.
“You’re the Governor!”
While Connor made himself comfortable, Trevor transferred the holos to his pom and flipped it shut. He sat across from his brother and vowed not to lose his cool.
Watch, he told the Enzathi. Don’t speak unless I ask you a question. Understood?
Mau nodded.
“So,” Trevor began. “You’ve been catching up with old mates.”
“Yeah, bruv. It’s been fun. The guys on EngSec9 were good to me. Half the team rotated out since I was here.”
“Sharing tales about your adventures?”
Connor wriggled his hands.
“What I could. After Basic, most of what I did is classified. That’s why I cut you short last night. There’s so much I want you to know, but it’s out of my hands. For now, anyway.”
“For now? What do you mean?”
“Circumstances change. All I can say. Speaking of circumstances, you wanna tell me what this confab’s about?”
Connor leaned forward, hands in his lap. Eyes bright and eager, big smile. As if he already knew.
“I wanted to have a word about Thomas.”
“Quinlan? That guy? Why?”
“He works in Shireena’s department next door. There’s a decent chance you’ll run into him while you’re here. And frankly, we steered clear of the subject for a long time.”
Connor scoffed.
“Good reason, don’t you reckon?”
“Look, it’d be easy to regret my decision, but his parents were good to us. It felt like paying down a debt.”
Connor leaned back and crossed his arms.
“To you. Not me. He’s garbage. Always was.”
“And you steered clear when both of you worked in Episteme.”
“Because I couldn’t trust myself.”
“Why?”
