Free Hell Divers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Willis request?”
    â€œHe didn’t specify. The transmission cut out. All I know right now is that Ares is in trouble and they need our help.”
    Samson crinkled his nostrils. “We’re in the best shape we’ve been in years. We shouldn’t risk—”
    â€œWhich is exactly why we’re in a position to help,” Ash said, cutting him off. She didn’t have time to argue with the engineer or anyone else. Besides, she had called him to her office for a report on the Hive, not for his opinion on helping Ares .
    â€œAnything else?” she asked.
    He shook his head and left her office without another word.
    A moment later, Jordan entered. “X is on his way,” he said. “Should be here in fifteen minutes.”
    Ash paced behind her desk as they waited. The dull, tarnished plaque on the wall caught her eye : Commissioned in 2029. US Army. Model #43.
    â€œHard to believe there are only two left,” Jordan said.
    â€œMight be only one left if we don’t answer Captain Willis’ call.”
    He waited for her orders. She wasn’t ready to give them—not until she talked to the most experienced Hell Diver on the ship.
    A knock sounded on the other side of the door, and Jordan opened it. X stood outside, with his back turned to them.
    â€œCome in, Commander,” Ash said.
    X turned away from the bridge and walked into the room. He cracked his neck, on one side and then the other. Unlike Samson, X wasn’t covered in workplace grime, but he looked just as bad. His features were hardened into a mask of anger, and even from here she could smell the ’shine on his breath.
    â€œHow’s Michael?” Ash asked.
    â€œStill an orphan. But with all due respect, Captain, you didn’t invite me here to discuss Tin.”
    Ash sat back down and folded her hands primly on the desktop. “You’re right, I didn’t. Have a seat, Commander.”
    X glanced at Jordan, then reluctantly sat.
    â€œ Ares is in trouble,” Ash said. She repeated the same thing she had told Samson a few minutes earlier, then waited, searching X’s face for a reaction.
    He scratched the stubble on his chin for a few seconds. “I’m assuming there’s something else you haven’t told me yet.”
    X wasn’t just a good diver. He was smart. Ash had always appreciated that about him. She told him what she had kept from Samson.
    â€œ Ares is hovering above Hades. Captain Willis has already dropped a team down there.”
    X tilted his head, as if he hadn’t heard correctly. “ Hades? What the fuck are they doing there?”
    â€œGood question,” Jordan said.
    Ash shot her XO a look, then brought her gaze back to X. “We’re not exactly sure how they got there, or why, but at this point it doesn’t matter. I asked you here for your counsel—to see what you would do if you were in my shoes.”
    X picked with his thumbnail at something stuck between his front teeth. He had an unusually white smile—a rare feature on the ship. But during Ash’s long history with him, he was usually too hungover or angry to crack a grin.
    He pulled his thumb away from his teeth and, inspecting the nail, said, “So you’re asking if I think we should attempt a rescue?”
    â€œYou’re the best diver on either ship,” Ash said. “You know the skies and the surface better than anyone.”
    X scowled. “I know as much about Hades as you do. The electrical storms there are the worst on the continent. Even if Captain Willis’ divers make it to the surface, they’re going to have to deal with off-the-chart radiation, and if they survive the storms and the rads, they still have to survive whatever monsters are down there.”
    Ash leaned back in her chair, and X fidgeted in his.
    â€œMonsters like the ones you saw on your last dive?”
    â€œYeah … maybe something even