Purgatory

Chapter 26

Waking up in my quarters was not something I expected.  I lay for a few moments in silence before a soft beep interrupted the quiet, and I jolted to a sitting position.  A notification on the wall panel informed me that I had one unwatched video message from Cole Atherton.

“Play message,” I prompted, and the video immediately started to play.

“Hey, Helena,” Cole said.  He looked sleep deprived and pallid through the display.  “Uh…when you get this…  I don’t know, call me or something.”  He stood for a moment longer as if to possibly continue with an explanation, but the video ended instead.

I unplugged myself from the system and lifted my shirt to look at the stab wound I had received from the mission.  My fingers brushed over a bandage the size of my palm taped to my skin, and I lowered my shirt.  The notion that I had messed up in a major way nagged at my brain, and I wondered if Cole was upset with me for being so careless on my first mission.

“Call Cole Atherton,” I commanded, and the wall panel beeped as I waited for Cole to pick up.  Only about seven seconds passed before he displayed on my screen, and I stood to walk over to the wall panel.  He looked weary and worn as he gazed at me through half-lidded eyes.

“Hey,” he said to me softly.  “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” I replied, and I eyed him cautiously.  “What about you?  You look terrible.”

“Oh, yeah.”  Cole ran his finger through his hair as he released a sigh.  “Yeah.  I’ve been trying to help with the investigation to find Koen.”

“Koen is missing?” I asked with concern.

“Yeah, he hasn’t checked in.  We can’t track his signal, either, which means he’s been tampered with or…”  Cole’s voice trailed off.

“I’m…sorry, Cole,” I apologized hesitantly as I realized through my actions I had essentially caused his last friend in Purgatory to disappear.  I felt my cheeks flush with guilt that swelled with my embarrassment.  I should have found Midvar first.

“We reviewed your recordings,” Cole informed me, though he looked down at the corner of the screen.  “You were just following orders, so it’s not your fault you were even found.  You’re actually going to help us find these Rogues.  I don’t think they killed him.”

“How are we going to find him?” I asked.  “The target’s house that led us to this mess is likely heavily guarded by now by those Rogues.”

“Actually, your target and his lover are off the grid,” Cole explained.  “And our best tracker is conveniently missing.”

I wanted to punch the wall and tear up my room to release the anger that bubbled inside of me.  I couldn’t understand why these Rogues would be so interested in this average Joe kind of guy.  It was clear that they had found a way to communicate with the outside world, and that was cause enough to end this band of exiles.

“In the meantime,” Cole continued, “I’ve been assigned to continue your training.”

“What, we’re not going back out there to look for him?” I asked in confusion.  Training seemed secondary to finding Midvar.

“There are observers tracking him down and your target already,” he said to me.  “You’re going to help by giving a recount of your mission.  Don’t forget you still need to do that.  You’ve got an hour to do that and wash up and eat, and then I want you to meet me in the data lab, okay?”

“Yes, sir,” I responded, and he ended the transmission.

As I gave my account of the mission, my thoughts continued to stray to wonder about Cole.  Was he upset with me or upset that his friend was missing?  Or perhaps he was upset about both.  Curse watched me curiously as we ate quietly, which began to trickle into annoyance.