Free Need to Know by Karen Cleveland

into my mom mug, the one that Matt gave me last Mother’s Day, the one with the picture of our kids. It’s one of those rare ones where all four of them are looking at the camera, three of them actually smiling. Took us ten minutes to get that shot, me making ridiculous noises and Matt jumping up and down and waving his arms behind me, both of us looking like lunatics, I’m sure.
    Athena loads, and I click through the warning screens, the ones I disregarded yesterday by telling Matt. His words run through my head, unbidden.
I’ll never tell. I swear.
And he won’t, will he? More of his words run through my head.
I’m loyal to you.
I believe that. I do.
    I’m back in Yury’s computer, same as yesterday. Same blue background, same bubbles, same icons lined up in four rows. My gaze settles on the last one,
Friends.
The vault is quiet. I glance around and no one’s nearby. I double-click, and the folder opens to the list of five images. I click open the first. Same guy with the round glasses. Then the second, the redhead. My eyes linger on the next, the third, the one with Matt’s picture, but I don’t open it. Can’t. I skip to the next, the fourth, a woman with pale skin and wispy blond hair. The fifth, a young guy with spiky hair. I close it, close the whole folder, and stare at the screen, the blue bubbles, the icon with the folder.
Friends
. All sleepers. How is this possible?
    My gaze drifts to the top of the screen, right side. Two buttons. Active. Passive. There’s highlighting around Passive, the only mode the analysts are permitted to use, the one that creates a mirror image of the target’s screen, doesn’t allow manipulation. But it’s the Active button that draws my eyes, holds them in place.
    I hear something behind me. I turn and see Peter standing there. I go shaky, even though there’s no way he saw where my eyes landed, where my attention was focused. No way he knows the thoughts that are running through my head. He glances at my screen and I feel a rush of adrenaline. The folder’s right there. But it’s just a folder, and it was just a glance. His eyes are back on me. “How’s your little girl?” he asks.
    “Fever, but otherwise okay.” I try to keep my voice as even as possible. “Matt’s home with her today.” Matt. I swallow down the lump in my throat.
    “Tina came by yesterday,” he says. “She wants to see you.”
    “Why?” I say quickly. Too quickly. Tina’s the head of the Counterintelligence Center. Fierce, no-nonsense. Tough-as-nails Tina.
    There’s a flash of confusion on Peter’s face. “She knows we’re in the laptop. Wants to know what we’ve found.”
    “But I haven’t had time—”
    “I told her that. Don’t worry. I pushed the meeting to tomorrow morning. She just wants to know if there’s anything that looks promising.”
    “But—”
    “It’s just ten minutes. Spend today digging around. I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”
    Like pictures of five sleepers? One of whom is my husband?
“Okay.”
    He hesitates. “Want a hand? I can take a look, too.”
    “No,” I say, again too quickly, too forcefully. “No, don’t worry about it. You’ve got a lot on your plate. I’ll come up with something for her.”
    Peter nods, but there’s an odd expression on his face. Uncertain. He hesitates. “Are you okay, Vivian?”
    I blink at him, and I know what I have to say. I have to do this. I don’t have a choice. “I need to talk with you about something. In private.” There’s a sick feeling in my stomach as I say it. But I have to get it over with, before I lose my nerve.
    “Give me ten minutes. I’ll ping you when I’m ready.”
    I nod and watch as he walks away, back toward his office. I just set this in motion. Ten minutes. In ten minutes my world will change. Everything will be different. Life as I know it will be over.
    I turn back to the screen. The folder.
Friends
. And then I look away, because I have to. Over to my far wall,