The Outside Line

Chapter 1

The first report that frightened Lena came from Buenos Aires. It showed people calling names outside a locked station in Valencia. That evening, the bloc’s news showed the same station empty and called the closure routine.

Tomás sent her the link. He had grown up in Argentina and returned there six months earlier, after officials questioned him about the foreign reports he shared. He and Lena had decided he should go first. Leaving together with three children would attract attention; staying had become dangerous. They told the children it was temporary.

When direct calls stopped connecting, Lena installed a VPN. Tomás could again read bedtime stories to the younger two in Spanish and help ten-year-old Nico with his homework.

Three mornings after the Valencia report, police in blue leather coats searched the apartment. Phones, a laptop, and the smart coffee maker accumulated on the kitchen counter. Lena held the younger children close while two officers placed Nico’s tablet on the table.

“What did you use to call your father?”

“The tablet.”

“Which application?”

“You have the tablet.”

“We need you to unlock it.”

Nico understood. The calls were on there. If the officers found Tomás’s account, Sunday might be the last time they were supposed to speak—and Sunday might never come.

“If I open it, can I still call Papá?”

“This will be easier if you answer.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

His little sister began to cry. Nico pulled at a loose thread on his sleeve, trying not to cry himself.

“We need to record whether this household is cooperating,” the officer said. “What is the passcode?”

“He’s frightened,” Lena said.

The officer kept his eyes on Nico. Nico kept his hands beneath the table.

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30 Sep 2026

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