by T. A. White
"Thanks, you two. It means a lot to know your opinion of me," Kira said, watching Graydon's warriors.
Sneaky. They used the fact most saw them as part of the furniture, to watch and listen. No doubt they understood more of the hidden undercurrents and saw more secrets than most visitors to a House. She'd have to keep that in mind. They'd make excellent sources of intelligence and gossip.
"You're welcome," the two said in tandem.
Kira shook her head. She'd forgotten how those two tended to gang up on her, given half the chance.
The amusement fell from Jace's face as he gave her a sidelong look, his expression grave. "I thought we agreed you were going to get to know these people."
It was a thinly veiled criticism, meant to say, “Don't go getting any bright ideas until you complete your side of the bargain.”
She gave him a sharp smile. "Why would I want to spend time with people who make it clear they don't wish to know me?"
His expression tightened as he read between the lines. Why would she bother with getting Himoto what he wanted when she could just as easily gain her freedom?
"I forgot. You always have to be the first to leave." The words held a snap to them.
Kira fought her flinch, her mouth already opening to fire another salvo.
"Children, enough," Graydon rumbled.
The look on Jace's face startled a bark of laughter out of Kira before she stifled it.
"That word suddenly doesn't seem quite so funny now, I'm betting," Kira murmured to Jace.
"I'm not a child," he responded.
"To me, you are," Graydon said. "You're what? Fifty? I'm nearly two hundred of your years."
"I'm thirty-nine," he snapped.
Graydon made a less than impressed face.
"Somehow I don't think you’re helping your case." Kira leaned toward Jace.
He shot her a dirty look. "In the eyes of humans, I'm considered a mature adult."
"Try middle-aged," Kira said with a wicked smile, touching on the phrase he'd carefully avoided using.
Jace snarled. "I'm not middle-aged. I have years to go before I'm considered that. I haven't even had kids yet."
Kira blinked, surprised. Jace had grown up an only child of only children and had lost both parents in the early part of the war. He'd always talked about the family he'd have one day when the war was over.
"Better get on that," Kira told him, keeping her voice light. "You don't want to be chasing them around when you're an old man."
Amila leaned forward, her gaze curious as she stared at Jace. "You're really forty years old?"
"Thirty-nine."
"It's one year, Jace. Just get over it," Kira told him.
"It's an important year," he said stubbornly, trying for dignity and failing.
"That's right, boss man," Nova called. "You hold onto your thirties as long as you can. Once you hit forty, it's all downhill from there."
Kira bit her lip to keep from laughing as Jace's shoulders bowed, the man's words hitting him where it hurt.
As much shit as they were giving Jace, he was right. He wasn't quite middle-aged. With health advances from the last century of space travel, humans now lived to be close to a hundred and fifty years—longer if they could afford the anti-age boosters. Jace was at least four decades from retirement and considered to be in the prime of his life.
"How old are you?" Pare, one of Graydon's oshota warriors, asked Blue.
"Twenty-six."
Pare choked as several of Graydon's people stared at Blue with wide eyes.
"What?" she asked.
"You're a child," Amila said in a hushed voice. She turned to Jace. "How can you let a child serve in such a dangerous position?"
He started to defend himself before giving up and shaking his head.
Kira took pity on him. "Blue's not a child. She's considered a full adult."
She might be considered an adult now, but when she'd attached herself to Kira's team fourteen years ago, she had been a child in truth.
Blue had learned the hard way—war spared no one. Not even children. The only way Kira had known how to protect her was to show her how to fight and keep her close.
It'd worked out for Blue. The tactic wasn't as successful for others.
"None of us have anything on the Grandma over there," Raider said with a curl of his lip.
Kira didn't react to the statement or the barely veiled dislike there.
"You're what, sixty-five?" he asked.
"She's ninety-two," Graydon said, not pausing as he strode down the hallway, leaving the rest of them staring after him in surprise.
Kira hurried after him. "How do you know? I thought you didn’t know who my parents were."
"I didn’t. Not until Liara confirmed you were a first cousin. She only has one—a girl, stolen days after her birth. If you're her cousin, as Liara believes you are, it would make you ninety-two," he explained.
"Damn Phoenix, you're so old," Blue said.
Kira didn't respond, her expression pensive as she followed Graydon. If he was right, it meant she had lost more decades than she wanted to think about in that awful place from her childhood.
Roderick stepped to the side and gestured inside a room. "This is your wing, Lord Graydon. The Overlord felt it would be best to keep your people together."
Most of Graydon's oshota filed inside, leaving Graydon and Amila outside waiting with her. The Curs followed, Raider pausing beside Jace as he shot him a questioning look.
"I'll be there," Jace said.
Roderick frowned at Kira. "You're this way."
He led her away from the others, the twisting halls and stairs confusing. He gestured at a door.
Kira stepped inside.
"The Overlord hopes this meets with your approval," Roderick said tersely. He didn't wait for a response, stalking off without another word.
Graydon watched him go with a frown. "If you need anything, call for Amila. She'll stay out here for now."
Kira grunted, wandering around the large sitting room. It was roomy. At least ten times the size of her ship's entire living space.
High ceilings overhead contributed to the airiness of the room. It was decorated in shades of white and subdued neutrals, as if the Luathans were afraid colors would destroy their calming palette.
A wide bank of windows led out onto a stone terrace.
The warm tones of wood furniture saved the space from being stark. It was a welcome relief from the whites and faded blues.
Jace peered around, his eyebrows climbing. "It's a lot of room for just you."
Kira glanced back, noting Amila standing sentry outside the door as she and Jace drifted through the room, exploring.
Kira headed further into the suite, moving toward an intricately carved wooden door. She opened it and ventured inside to a bedroom out if a dream. A large wooden sleigh bed dominated one end of the room, framed on either side by tall rectangular windows. The bathroom was easily half the size of the bedroom with a large tub that could have fit ten people.
She'd certainly say this for her cousin's people—they sure knew how to live comfortably.
If this was how they treated unwanted guests, what must their normal quarters be like?
"Nice room," Jace said from the archway.
Kira glanced at him but didn't respond beyond a nod.
"If you ever told me I'd be standing in a place like this back then, I would have checked you for drugs," Jace said, glancing around. "It's unbelievable. Hard to believe first contact ever mistook them for unadvanced."
Kira hummed in agreement.
"I'm sure you want to get settled. I'll send someone by in a bit to check on you," he said, moving toward the door.
Kira fought to keep her silence, but in the end, she couldn’t let him leave without a warning.
"Jace, be careful,” she called. Her face was grave as he looked at her in question. “This place is beautiful, but I have the feeling its also deceptive."
Jace arched an eyebrow at her. "You know something?"
"Not for sure," she said. "But if I was you, I'd watch what you discuss with your squad."
Awareness filled his eyes as he caught onto her meaning. He glanced around, suspicion creasing his forehead. "Did Jin pick something up?"
"Nothing definitive, but their technology is way more advanced than ours," Jin said. "Just because I can't find it doesn't mean it isn't there."
Jace studied the two of them with a somber face. "You don't think you're being a bit paranoid?"
"If the situation were reversed and our people thought they could get away with it, they'd have this place wired from one end to the other. You know they would."
Jace grimaced. He couldn't argue with that. Kira would be surprised if Himoto or he hadn't put something in the common areas the Tuann frequented while on the station. She knew from conversations with Amila and Baran the Tuann had elected to sleep on their ship during their visit.
He nodded and pushed off the doorway.
"Jace, whatever you're up to, make sure you're smart about it," Kira said.
He gave her a wry smile. "I could say the same about you. I'm not the one chaos follows."
Fair enough.
He left without a backward glance, leaving Kira to get acquainted with her new surroundings.
*
Kira jolted awake from a restless sleep. The cobwebs of her nightmare still clinging to her—madness and death all around, the dying screams of her closest friends ringing in her ears.
For several moments, Kira stared up at the ceiling, disoriented. This wasn't her bunk on the Wanderer. The bed was too comfortable and there was no soft gleam of the emergency lights.
Memories from over a decade ago filled her head. The dreams disjointed and illogical, as they recounted events out of order and gave her glimpses of scenes she'd never actually witnessed.
Failure tasted like ash on her tongue. The feeling in her chest tightened until it was an almost physical ache.
Kira lay still, letting her heart rate slow and her breathing steady.
It'd been a while since those dreams haunted her. She hadn’t missed them or the havoc they played on her mind. She blinked up at the ceiling, struggling not to feel crushed under the mountain of guilt she didn't know how to let go of.
Jace had a reason for his anger as did Raider. She couldn't even blame them for the harsh words. She'd abandoned them before the war even ended, disappeared without a word unable to live with all the things she'd done. For her own good—and theirs—she'd needed space and time to heal the wounds both inside and out.
Of the original Curs, the three of them were the last. Sad, that they felt more apart than ever.
She'd finish this mission, get them an “in” with the Tuann and make sure her departure didn't affect their treaty. Then she was gone. This time she would make sure she stayed gone.
Feeling calmer, she lifted her head and looked around the shadowy bedroom, the moon's silvery light turning it dreamlike.
She wasn't surprised when she saw no sign of Jin. He was probably off getting the layout of the place and sticking his metal in places the Luatha would dismantle him for, if they caught him.
Kira sat up and swung her feet out of the bed, feeling restless. Staying put and trying to sleep after one of those dreams was pointless. She'd just end up crabby and irritable in the morning. Better to get up and get moving, maybe tire herself out so she could try for sleep again later.
If nothing else, it would give her some quality alone time, a precious commodity since O'Riley.
The night air felt chilly against her skin as she stepped out onto the terrace, but not enough to send her inside. The stone under her bare feet was cool as she made her way to the railing. Steps to her right led down into a small garden, the start of the forest a few feet beyond its edge.
The night felt alive around her, making her forget the dream as she relaxed into its song. The sound of the wind moving through the trees, the rustle of branches, the calls of alien animals and insects, all making their own music.
It was totally different than what she was used to. Ships were by no means quiet places. There was always air hissing through the vents, the grumble of the engine, the creak of metal as the ship flexed around you.
She tilted her head and looked up. At least one thing hadn't changed. The stars still shone. Perhaps not as brightly or vividly, given the three moons dominating the sky, but they were there.
The sight eased the tight spot inside her chest. This was here. This was now. Some things might have changed, but others remained the same.
She was still Kira. A long-lost cousin and the people of her birth weren't going to change that. She needed to remember that.
She pulled out the communicator Jin had procured for her when she’d told him what she wanted. She powered it on.
I'm here. Stand by for next phase.
She sent the message and waited. She didn't have long before a message popped up.
Allfather - I'll be waiting.
Kira released the breath she'd been holding. That was it. The first part was done. This wasn't what she'd planned when he first suggested it, but fate had conspired and now she was standing at a precipice. The only thing to do was jump.
She couldn't decide if this was a good idea or not. In some ways, hacking Centcom would have been easier and less dangerous. They, at least, were a known entity.
The Tuann? Who knew what they were capable of, or if it could even be done?
This plan was insane; that's what it was. Unfortunately, desperate people did desperate things, and Kira had been desperate for a long time.
It was the reason she was contemplating such an action.
If worse came to worse, she could always abandon her plans. She wouldn't risk her life needlessly. She'd remember her promises. That's all she could do for now.
She exhaled slowly. Things would work out. Somehow.
Something tore through her senses, a hint of metallic ice accompanied by acidic rain.
She dove to the side. The railing in front of her exploded, chips of stone slicing her arm and leg.
She was up and moving in the next second. Metal projectiles and energy bolts flying hard and fast.
She sprinted, barely avoiding the blast of energy or the throwing knives concealed in its wake.
There. To her right. The attack was coming from those trees.
She didn't hesitate, leaping over the edge of the railing, snagging a few of the blades sticking out of the stone, before sprinting across the ground.
Twenty feet. Ten. Almost there.
Yellow light tore from the dark. She lunged sideways, then sideways again, when more blasts streamed toward her.
Bastards.
Shouts filled the air behind her, the chaos of the fight drawing the attention of those in the Citadel.
Kira didn't let that distract her, finding cover as another barrage streaked from the trees.
The lights tore the small tree she'd dodged behind to bits, bark and branches raining down on her.
Two could play that game.
She leaned to the side, throwing the knives in quick, sharp movements, aiming in a split-second before diving behind cover.
She had no idea if any of the knives hit their target.
She waited several seconds before standing. Whoever the attacker had been was long gone now. Probably a result of those she sensed approaching from the Citadel.
She moved closer to where her attackers had lain in wait, her body tense and poised for action.
There was no sign of her assailants when she got there, the spot empty and silent. Kira frowned at the area, a frustrated sigh escaping her.
She'd missed her chance. The dark hid any signs of her assailants’ passage. Following would be out of the question until daylight. By then, they would no doubt be far from here or hidden among those inside the Citadel.
She closed her eyes and inhaled. The same f
aint trace of metallic ice and acidic rain filtered to her again. Her eyes popped open.
A Tsavitee had been here, standing in this exact spot.
A dim form appeared out of the darkness, reaching for her arm. Kira reacted, grabbing the person's wrist, yanking them forward as she stepped into them.
It was a classic judo throw. There was a soft sound of surprise and then the man flipped, landing agilely on his feet as he used her grip on him to jerk her forward into a throw of his own.
She landed hard on her back, blinking up at the man. Much of his face was in shadow, but she registered the dark hair and piercing eyes.
She didn't recognize him, and he definitely wasn't Graydon's man. Likely not Luatha either, given the dark hair.
It was all the analysis she had time for before he was on her again, reaching down and grabbing her shirt.
She jackknifed up, trapping his arm against her as she got one leg around it.
He growled as she started putting pressure on the joint. He picked her up and slammed her down. Then again, when her grip didn't loosen.
Pain ran up her spine as her grip broke. She kicked him in the face in retaliation.
There was a wordless shout from their right.
Kira didn't hesitate, kicking at his knee, savagely happy when her foot connected with a crunching sound.
It didn't stop him. He roared, tackling her as she made it to her feet.
She landed back on the ground with an oomph as he fought to pin her arms and legs. She headbutted him, pain blazing from her forehead.
He didn't rear back as she expected, though he did curse, the sound vicious.
She smiled.
Kira wiggled for better leverage, punching up with her hips, while simultaneously grabbing one of his wrists and throwing her weight against that arm. His grip broke as he crashed onto the ground next to her.
She rolled on top, punching down with everything she had.
He didn't make it easy for her, protecting his face and neck.
A force hit her from the side, carrying her off her attacker.
Kira exploded into a frenzied rage, losing herself as she fought for her life.
"Enough, I'm not your enemy," Graydon roared.
She threw one more punch, gratified when it landed just below his eye. He barely turned with the force of the blow, his eyes narrowing.
