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"The girl ran away from home. I made a deal with her that I'd take a preliminary look in return for her going home to her aunt."

"No mom?"

"She didn't mention one. It didn't seem cool to ask."

I waited through a moment of dead air on the other end of the line. "Mom died two years ago. Ouch. Okay. So what's the plan?" asked Ganos.

"Dig around a bit and see what you can find. Odds are good that her dad disappeared the way that most dads do and there's nothing special about this situation."

"Wow, someone was hurt as a child."

"This isn't about me."

"Right. He could have met someone, and suddenly, it became convenient not to have a kid."

"I hope not, but yeah. Something like that. See if you can find him. Send me a bill for your time."

"This one's on me."

"Yeah?" Something in her voice tipped me to the fact that there was more to that than she was saying, but I didn't want to press.

"Let's just say that I knew a dad like that once."

Someone had hurt her, too. It made me angry, but I didn't know what to say. I hadn't exactly been father of the year to my own kids when they were younger. I'd never be able to make it up to my daughter, who had died in military service on Cappa. I was still trying to make it up to my son and his kids. But I didn't want to compare that with whatever lay in Ganos's past. There were all kinds of ways to screw up as a parent, each unique in its own horrible way. All I said was "Thanks."

"Sure thing. You want me to call you with what I find?"

"Can you send me a file? I'm going to bed, and I'll look at it in the morning."

She snickered. "You're old."

"I really am."

* * *

I was lost in a building. I didn't know what building, only that it had that vague quality to it that screamed, I am a military building! I was behind or late for something, and I didn't know how to fix it. I was supposed to be processing out of the military today, but I didn't have any of the prerequisites completed. I hadn't turned in my gear or even had it cleaned. But I was a colonel, and I'd been called back in after retiring, so maybe they'd cut me a break. Because bureaucracies are always great at making exceptions for things.

I passed multiple offices with soldiers lined up down the wall outside each door, and finally one of them pointed me to the right place. The door was closed, so I knocked before opening it and peeked inside.

"Sorry I can't stand to greet you," said a woman with a thin, pale face and dark hair seated behind a government-issued desk. I didn't know if she meant she physically couldn't stand at all, or if something was preventing her at the moment, and it seemed like the most absurd thought to have right then. Something was off, and I didn't know what. I'm not good in these kinds of situations...

I forced myself awake. My clock said 0445.

I hadn't dreamt like that in a while, and while I found it interesting that my stress dreams had gone from combat things to administrative, I still wasn't happy about it. I'd learned how to push myself out of them a lot of the time now—to force myself to wake—but they still left me disconcerted. I needed more rest, but I didn't want to go back to sleep because I'd dream again, so I swung my feet to the floor, hesitating at a slight twinge from my robot foot that thankfully passed, and sat on the edge of my bed for a bit, somewhere in that state that might be sleeping, might not, but you can never really tell on your own.

After a time, I got up and made coffee before checking my security system to see if anything happened in the night. Assured by the AI that ran it—I called him Todd now for some reason that I've forgotten—that all was well, I fired up my terminal to see what Ganos had sent me. Sure enough, I had a message from her. Not that I ever suspected I wouldn't, but her efficiency always impressed me.