"Why didn't you answer any of my coms?" she asked, wondering how often he'd been making these little excursions over the past few weeks. She had little belief this was his first time out of the room.
"It seems Roake's paranoia extends to their Nexus as well. I ran afoul of a defense system that knocked me offline for a brief span."
Kira's eyes closed as her chin sunk toward her chest. Why her?
"Did they discover you?" Kira asked, her tone one of careful control.
"Nooo," he said, drawing the word out.
At least that was something.
"But they know someone tried an incursion. I barely came back online and managed to find a hiding spot before they came looking," Jin confessed.
Kira cursed.
This was not good—especially with Graydon in the mix. He was already suspicious because of the ship. This would only add to his belief she was hiding something.
"What were you thinking?" Kira asked.
Jin wasn't dumb and he wasn't usually this careless.
"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry, but our little friend missed her last two check-ins. She's been radio silent since I contacted her from Ta Da'an," Jin blurted. "Odin too. I haven't heard from either one. There's not even a message on any of the forums."
Kira touched the dermal data patch on her forearm, all too aware of the danger it posed. The Tuann might forgive her a lot, but taking advantage of a crisis to steal starmaps? Even they had their limits.
With every day that passed, the chance of discovery grew greater. Handing the patch off was the best solution, and had she returned to her ship as originally planned, that's what would have happened.
There was also the small fact that Luatha could discover she’d accessed the maps at any moment.
"I thought if I could patch into the Nexus’s systems, I might be able to get through," Jin confessed. His tone made it clear he knew how badly he'd screwed up.
Not that it mattered now. They had to hope for the best and pray Roake didn't decide to launch a search for the mysterious intruder. Or if they did, that they wouldn't discover a certain annoying drone was the culprit.
Kira's hand dropped away from her arm. "I know where our little friend has wandered off to."
"Where?" Jin asked, perking up.
"She's stolen the Wanderer," Kira said grimly.
"That’s bad. Very, very bad."
Kira's thoughts exactly. She fixed him with a look. "What exactly did you tell her about the reason we missed check-in?"
Jin was silent for several seconds. "The truth?"
Kira exhaled. She could see that being a problem. Their friend was young and impulsive. She didn't always consider the full extent of the consequences of her actions.
"There's nothing we can do about it now," Kira conceded.
Right now, she was more concerned about Odin's radio silence. While Odin had shown a propensity for going dark in the past, Kira didn't see her friend doing that now that the piece they needed to complete their goal was in their hands.
Leaving Ta Sa’Riel to track the two down wasn't an option either.
"Odin will turn up eventually. Until then, all we can do is wait," Kira finally said, trying to convince herself as well as Jin.
"I did warn you Odin could be unreliable," Jin informed her.
Kira fixed a dark look on him. He was one to talk. He made a grumbling sound as he caught her meaning.
Kira swung her legs over the edge of the bed, pulling the covers into her lap. A thought occurred to her. “Did you know some of Roake’s members were slipping new clothes into my dresser?”
Jin froze. “Ah, about that. Yes.”
Kira shook her head at him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It seemed to fill some need in them, and I didn’t see the harm,” he said. “I kept an eye on them anytime they entered. They never tried anything suspicious, so I left them alone.”
Kira grunted. Well, that settled any remaining suspicion—not that there had been much.
"While you were gone, I made a few discoveries," Kira told him, changing the subject.
Jin listened as she recounted what her excursion with Graydon had revealed, including the fact the Tuann's history included the Tsavitee's masters.
Jin whistled. "That's an unexpected development."
Kira grunted.
He circled the room. "Although, if you think about it, it makes sense. What better way to reestablish control of the beings you created than to kidnap their offspring? It would take years of observation to determine how their time away from their masters might have changed the Tuann."
It also allowed them time to find weaknesses to exploit if they were thinking of conquering their former slaves.
"I'll have to consider this new information," Jin said. "Does Blue or Raider know?"
Kira shook her head. "I'd have to explain too many things, and I don't think it wise to let humans know of the link between the Tuann and Tsavitee."
Jin's voice was grim. "You're right. Humans have a tendency of vilifying those they consider different. There's already negative sentiment toward the Tuann because they didn't play a bigger part in the war."
The two shared a look. If the Tuann's history with humanity's scourge got out, it would devastate any hopes of a continued alliance. Humanity would be ripe pickings for the Tsavitee in the event that happened. It could start a domino effect, ending with the Tuann returned to their master’s control.
Kira scrubbed at her face. "Why do things always have to get complicated?"
*
Music blasted in Kira's ears, drowning out any distractions as she pelted along the trail, her mind still preoccupied with the previous day's revelations.
So many things to digest. So many ways her life had become more and less complicated.
In the end, she decided to set the Tuann and their mysterious enemy of old aside. There wasn't much she could do about the information. All she had was a child's memories, taken from a turbulent time in her history.
Nothing could be done at this point. Baseless speculation would be more likely to cause harm than good.
The morning held a crisp chill, the temperature perfect, a runner's dream. Not too hot that you felt like you were swimming in sweat, but also not cold enough to steal your motivation.
Kira's breath plumed in front of her as she picked up her pace, Finn stretching to match.
She planted a hand on a fallen log, using it to spring over the obstacle, Finn flipping over it with an effortless grace she couldn't help but admire.
They both noticed a shift in the atmosphere at the same time. A slight thread of wrongness that didn't belong. Danger lurking in the shadows as if it had a right to be there.
Kira and Finn slowed to a stop, sharing a glance as they focused on what had set off their instincts.
The trees practically quivered with tension.
Even Kira's basic grasp of ki and its nuances told her something was wrong. The currents she'd begun to sense in the world around her were disturbed. Something deadly had made an appearance.
Yodeling howls split the silence.
"Are those—" Kira started.