“Hey, kid. This is a rough part of town. Are you sure you know what you’re doing here?”

Andrus looked up from his drink. The man sat down across from him and met him eye to eye. The man was professionally dressed. He wore a nice but not expensive suit, modern but not fashionable. His hair was short and his face was closely shaved. “I’ll be careful,” Andrus said.

“If you don’t watch your step, you’ll be dead,” the man said. He took out a badge. “I’m Special Agent Ernam. I work for the ISXC and I’m here looking for a particularly unsavory character I hear is in the neighborhood. Have you seen anyone of particularly unsavory qualities around here?”

Andrus let the man see him look around the dive bar. “Take your p...

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