The Road to Hell

Chapter 18

There was a sombre air aboard The Spectral Hawk during the transit back to Desrequins's base. In between one of the jumps, David finally got a chance to check his email, and found waiting for him two messages. One from José and one from Admiral Coschek. Dreading what he would find, he opened Coschek's first. It simply read:

NEED UPDATE ASAP.

David wasn't looking forward to making that call. José's message put a smile on his face though. It said that he was on Futurity Gate, and that he'd like to rejoin the crew. David sent him a quick reply, telling him they'd pick him up in a few days, and went to tell the others they'd be making a quick stop at Futurity Gate before going back to the White Sharks base.

#

David decided to keep the reason for their detour a surprise, and hoped José hadn't told anyone else. He brought the team together in a diner under the pretense of a meeting. They didn't protest, though David could tell they were somewhat suspicious. But when they walked into the restaurant and saw José sitting alone at a large table, the funk everyone had been in since the Arcturus attack immediately lifted.

José looked as cheerful as ever, though David saw that his friend hadn't regained proper full use of his leg, and instead relied on a powered exoskeleton to support himself.

Wendy wrapped José in a long hug and spoke for everyone when she said, "We missed you, JG."

"Your leg's not anywhere near healed. You should be back home resting up and building your strength." Fisher's remark dampened the mood somewhat, though everyone knew she was only thinking about what was best for José.

He stepped forward and hugged her. "More than anyone here, you should understand why I couldn't sit this one out. I started a job, and I'll see it through, injury or no." José was right; Fisher did know the feeling, and she knew it was useless to argue, so she hugged him back.

"But please take it easy, sir."

"Don't worry. Spook is on a tight leash. No car chases for him," David said as he gave José a jocular nudge. "It's really good to see you up and about though. I remember you in the Academy; you could never just sit around. He was always exploring or training."

"Yeah, being cooped up in that hospital was torture," José said. "But I'm back now, and ready to pick up where I left off. What did I miss? It took you a while to respond to my last email."

"You didn't hear?" Farid said.

"About Arcturus?" asked José darkly. "Yeah I heard. They're trying to limit the word, but news like that spreads fast. You were there?"

"We helped them do it."

"All we did was provide cover while they boarded a League dreadnaught. They said the plan was to steal it. We had no idea that they were going to use it to destroy the whole station like that," Tanner said, looking to the others. His voice was hard and he'd unconsciously put one foot back as though adopting a fighting stance.

"I wish we could've done something," Billy said, "anything to stop them."

"That wasn't our mission," David said with a firm shake of his head. "Still doesn't make it feel any better. The only thing we can do is make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

"After it blew, Zeus broadcasted a message from Desrequins's ship," Farid said. "That means he's somewhere back at base now."

"But we have no idea where to find him."

"I'd be willing to bet Desrequins knows," David said.

José already looked hard at work. "How will we proceed?" he asked David.