Pike's eyes widened a bit. There were rumors of what April and the other ships sent out there found on Tarsus that circled through the captaincy. Pike thought they were all just that rumors. He thought that humanity as a whole was past doing all those kinds of things, things favored by dictators and men who thought they knew what was best for their people, and it never was.

He signaled the bartendeder for another few beers before he spoke, needing to buy a little more time to come up with a response. Instead of apologies or whatever else he could have said, Pike went with a little more information.

"How long were you there?"