by T. A. White
Kira could be overreacting, but she didn't think their response would be nonviolent. She didn't really want a deathmatch right off the bat. She might have preferred to keep herself distant from these people, but they were still hers.
Raider sobered, the extent of the mess they were in registering. "How sure are you that will be their response?"
Kira lifted an eyebrow at Finn.
"Any other would face death. Kira might get a pass, but the humans wouldn't." Finn's expression was serious, his bearing that of one delivering a terminal diagnosis. This situation might as well be.
Kira knew her friend. He wasn't the type to fly under the radar.
"It's likely they would have forbidden him entry even if he'd come through proper channels," Finn continued.
“They did forbid him entry,” Raider confirmed.
"Ha, I was right to smuggle myself onto this planet," Jin crowed.
Kira held up a hand. "Not. Another. Word."
"I'm mad at you," Jin protested. "You don't get to be mad at me too."
The three of them ignored him.
"What do we do?" Raider asked. "Come clean?"
Kira was reluctant to take that option. There were too many unknowns. Too many factors to account for. If Roake decided to kill them, Kira didn't like their chances of fighting their way free. Not when they lacked a proper weapon among them—Blue's smuggled device notwithstanding.
This wasn't like going against the Tsavitee or even humans. These people had the same strengths as Kira, only they were much better trained and weren’t dying.
Escaping in the middle of the night while the Tuann's guard was down was doable. A straight fight that pitted the three of them against the still unknown numbers of Roake's military force, not so much.
"I need to think," Finn said. He moved to the door before pointing at Jin. "He doesn't leave this room."
"Aye, aye, Captain." Jin bobbed in the air as a salute.
Finn scowled, exiting and slamming the door behind him.
Silence descended.
Kira punched Raider in the arm. He jumped and cradled the injured appendage. "Ow. What was that for?"
"I expect this sort of behavior from him, but not from you. What were you thinking?" Kira hissed, feeling the urge to punch him again. "You don't even like each other."
Raider shrugged. "Not much choice. He would have found his way here one way or another. At least this way was less likely to draw attention."
Kira's shoulders slumped as she acknowledged the truth of that statement. Jin was nearly unstoppable when he got an idea in his head.
Raider patted her shoulder sympathetically as he made his way over to the door. "Let's be honest—he was never going to stay behind, no matter how mad at you he was."
With that, Raider took his leave, leaving Jin and Kira alone in the room.
Kira regarded her friend, an individual that had been in her life since she could remember. As dangerous as his latest antic might be to them, she couldn't bring herself to regret his presence.
The knot in her stomach that had developed when he’d left her to face Roake and Luatha on her own, finally relaxed.
"I'm glad you're here," she confided.
Jin snort was derisive. "Of course, you are. You'd be lost and lonely without me."
Kira shook her head even as she smiled. She should have expected his response. His arrogance was nothing if not consistent.
Jin settled onto her bed. "Man, this place is strange. I thought I was short-circuiting when we first crossed over."
Kira's head tilted, a few things suddenly making sense. "That headache was from you, wasn't it?"
She should have suspected as much. The nature of Jin's making meant they were irreversibly linked. Most of the time, that didn't mean much. He could ride her senses when allowed, experience things the same way she did. Only in moments of extreme adversity did the other's feelings or pain bleed over, as was the case in this situation.
Jin hummed in agreement. "I thought my number was punched. If that's how you felt on Luatha, I feel sorry for you."
Kira glared at her friend, not moving.
Jin spun to face her. "What?"
The question made her snap.
She grabbed him and spiked him onto the bed. "This is why smuggling yourself in a bag was dumb. Don't ever scare me that way again."
Jin sputtered before righting himself, electricity buzzing along his casing so Kira couldn't repeat the throw.
"You're always so violent," he complained.
She bared her teeth. "I'm about to show you violence."
Jin made a tsking sound before spinning in place. "What do you think it means, though?"
Kira calmed, considering his question. "I suspect you were interacting with the Mea'Ave."
"But why here and not on Ta Da'an?"
That was a good question. Kira could only guess.
"Maybe this is where you were born," she mused. It was a wild supposition at most. "Perhaps because I'm descended from both Luatha and Roake, I reacted to both."
It was a thin theory and would require testing. If she planned to stay involved with the Tuann, she would have delved deeper. As it was, she didn't know, and there was no one to ask without revealing Jin's unique situation.
Jin floated toward the ceiling as he made an unimpressed sound, seemingly losing interest in the topic. He was like her. He'd never had questions about their origins, never strove to find the people they came from. Such concerns were for dreamers. They had been too occupied with surviving to entertain such fleeting fantasies.
Kira didn't push. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. Getting cleaned up and then rest were the first orders of business.
*
A knock sounded at the door two hours before the warning chime.
Kira paused where she was doing pushups and sent a significant glare at Jin.
"All right, all right," Jin muttered, heading toward the bed. "I'm going to remember this, you know. It's going to take twice as long to earn my forgiveness."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Kira waited until he was under the bed and out of sight before approaching the door.
She paused to adjust her clothes, a pair of simple pants that were surprisingly easy to move in, and a top that hugged her figure. She’d found the two items and many others in the wardrobe.
She wasn’t going to look a gift drawer in the mouth since the clothes she’d collected on Luatha were now gone—likely given to the sea if Makon was to be believed.
Finn waited on the threshold, his gaze darting to take in the room. Approval descended when he caught no sign of Jin. It was wiped away in the next second.
"What are you doing here? I thought I had until 0900 to report for training," Kira asked, puzzled.
His gaze dropped toward hers. "Quillon is expecting us."
He strode down the hall, not waiting for Kira's agreement.
"And good morning to you too," she muttered, feeling resigned.
Doctor's visits—especially those that came so early in the morning—made her cranky.
"Lingering isn't going to make this go any faster," Jin advised from under the bed.
She waved a hand at him and grimaced. She knew that. But it didn’t make it any easier swallowing the fact that this course was necessary.
"Don't forget your promise." There was a vulnerability in Jin that silenced any argument she might have made.
"I know. I won't."
"Prove it," he ordered.
She fixed a hard stare on Jin. "Since when do I need to prove things to you?"
He was her oldest friend. They'd never had to be anything but what they were with each other.
"Since I found out you lied about something pretty damn important."
Kira's eyes flicked away. "I never lied."
"Omission is the same thing."
Kira released her breath. He was right, but how he'd gone about obtaining what he wanted was wrong. Something told he
r he knew it too.
"We're going to have words later about you manipulating me," she informed him.
Kira accepted her health was important to him. She was his link to the world. Without her, he'd very likely be alone.
A lonely Jin was dangerous. He might be slightly ridiculous, but he was brought up the same way she was. He was a killer, like her. For better or worse, his sanity hinged on her existence.
She'd let herself forget that. She wouldn't do that again, but she also couldn't let him overstep. They had boundaries for a reason, and not even he got to circumvent them.
"Good, because I'm still mad at you," he snapped.
Kira's smile was sharp. "Then we're in agreement."
Kira started out the door, Jin following. She paused on the threshold and arched an eyebrow at him. "Where do you think you're going? You heard Finn. You're to stay hidden, that means staying here."
Jin sputtered, looking like he was about to argue.
"I mean it. I see one electrode beyond this threshold, and I'm turning you into scrap metal," she promised.
"You can't leave me behind," he squawked.
Kira's expression was gloating. This predicament held a certain poetic justice. She planned to use it to its maximum potential.
"Maybe next time try using the front door like the rest of us," Kira taunted, stepping outside.
"You can't leave me in here all alone," he wailed as the door began to shut. "You know how I get when I'm bored."
"I have every faith you'll figure this out."
There was a crash, then angry grumbling that gradually faded as he moved further away from the door.
Kira shook her head, unsurprised. That had gone better than she expected.
The hell of it was, she did know how hard this would be for him. No one liked a bored Jin. He was dangerous if he didn't have something to occupy himself, but this time her hands were tied.
He couldn't come with her, and she couldn't stay in her room without arousing suspicion. He'd simply have to endure.
SEVEN
Finn was waiting for her at the end of the hall. A fact which Kira was grateful for since she didn't want to wander around the massive fortress. She'd likely end up searching for hours and still not find her destination.
Seeing her, Finn started up the stairs, again not waiting for her. Someone still wasn't happy about Jin's presence here.
Kira mentally shrugged. There was nothing she could do about the past now.
Their journey was mostly silent, allowing Kira to take in the fortress's interior. There were only so many things you could notice at a time, and yesterday she'd been suffering from sensory overload after completing a grueling physical endurance test.
This morning she caught things she’d missed yesterday—like the stained-glass windows, not all of which looked outside. Some peered into other rooms.
It was beautiful and complicated in a place that seemed to have defined itself by its simplicity.
The contrast was unexpected, and if her companion's silence hadn't boiled with anger, she might have questioned him about it. As it was, she took note of things of interest even as she cataloged their route, storing it in a mental map of the fortress.
Perhaps the beauty of her surroundings was the reason it took her so long to notice the stares they were drawing from the Tuann they passed.
She glanced around, instantly on guard as one such Tuann stopped when she caught sight of Kira, her expression pained as if Kira's presence had ripped wide a wound that had barely sealed.
Another of Roake's people ventured over and hustled the woman away, but not before sending a glance filled with yearning toward Kira.
Kira became conscious of the whispers around them as they continued, the voices not quite hushed enough.
Very quickly, the weight of those inquiring glances, filled with more emotions than her presence warranted, became tiring. It didn't take long before Kira stiffened. Habit had her viewing them as potential hostiles. In her experience, good things never came with drawing attention like this.
Tension threaded through her as her hand itched for a weapon she didn't have. Her muscles coiled in preparation for action.
She stared at those they passed, her expression hard and unrelenting. Not antagonistic but not welcoming either. Several Tuann flinched from her, their gazes dropping as they hurried away.
"You shouldn't challenge them like that," Finn advised, finally speaking.
"Then they shouldn't be staring."
"Can you blame them?" he asked. "You're an impossibility they'd forgotten to hope for. They're bound to be a little curious."
It wasn't lost on Kira that Finn used the phrase "them" when referring to the Roake caught staring. It meant either he no longer identified with his former House or that he harbored enough pain that he was afraid to lump himself in the same boat.
Kira's posture shifted infinitesimally, enough that she no longer felt like she was on high alert for an attack. It had been a while since her instincts had led her to view everything and everyone around her as an enemy.
Kira supposed that as long as their curiosity didn't lead them to do anything stupid, she was content to let them watch from a distance.
Finn stopped in front of a large door. "We're here."
Kira hesitated on the threshold.
Like the rest of the fortress, the room had stone walls and floors, while still managing to seem homey and inviting. There were no windows, which in a way made sense. Everything Roake did showed a mindset focused on survival. Locating your hospital wing behind thick walls in the center of your stronghold made sense. It would allow healers to treat their patients without worrying a missile attack would breach their sanctuary unexpectedly.
Despite its lack of windows, it managed to appear light and airy without seeming artificial.
Kira wouldn't have minded knowing how they did that. The Wanderer could have used a little of this lighting. Even with UV lamps, she sometimes found herself missing the sun and natural light.
Far from being empty, the room contained more Tuann then Kira had expected. The healer worked briskly; her movements efficient as she tended to the Tuann sitting in the bed. The man was tall, his shoulders broad, his arms and torso corded with muscle. He had rough looking features and an unrefined air.
Next to him stood a woman clad in training leathers, frowning. Her arms were folded over her chest as she watched the healer clean a cut the length of the Tuann’s bicep.
Both seemed younger than Graydon's oshota, but with the Tuann, it was hard to tell. For all she knew, they could be several centuries old.
Kira and Finn's entrance drew the trio's attention. The warriors glanced up, not bothering to hide their interest.
The healer remained focused on the man's wound, a five-inch cut, the edges raw and bloody. The instrument in her hands glowed as she moved it slowly over the wound, the jagged edges sealing themselves shut.
"I'll be with you in a minute," the healer called over her shoulder.
The words were said in Tuann, but even with her less than perfect grasp of the language, Kira understood.
Instead of answering, Kira stuck her hands in her pocket as she drifted around the room, taking careful stock.
It didn't resemble a human med bay, lacking the fancy monitors or equipment she normally associated with them. There was none of the sickly-sweet smell of antiseptic, nor was there a general air of desperation.
Only the healer working on the Tuann's wound and the faint coppery smell of blood suggested this was a working med bay. Well, that and the row of beds, which weren't nearly enough for a fortress of this size.
She studied the room with interest. If Kira had to guess, she'd say there were several tens of thousands of people living behind the fortress's sturdy walls. This small room couldn't possibly be big enough to act as their hospital.
Even judging by Kira's boosted immune system, there would need to be much more than this for a structure of this si
ze.
Kira kept her questions to herself, conscious of the two warriors who were aware of her presence. They weren't being obvious about their attention, but she knew they were as conscious of her as she was of them.
The two traded glances but said nothing.
Kira clasped her hands behind her and settled in to wait, something she had grown used to. In the military, everything was a rush until it wasn't. Sometimes you spent hours waiting for action of any sort.
The Wanderer had been different. There, they could move at their own pace. She found she didn't miss the whole hurry up and wait mentality.
The woman sat back, throwing an irritated glance her way. Several lyrical words flowed from her.
Kira stared blankly.
The woman's voice turned sharp and cutting. A small smile crept across Kira's face. That was quite the dressing down. She was sure it would have been epic had Kira understood more than every other word.
The healer scowled, Kira's amusement not sitting well. Her voice rose.
Kira remained silent. How long would it be before the woman realized Kira didn't understand?
The two warriors traded a glance again before the one standing said something quick, her words precise and fluid.
Finn finally moved at Kira's back. His voice was rough as he spoke.
All three stared at Kira.
Quillon walked into the room right then, moving quickly. "Sorry I'm late, Kira. I had to finish briefing some of our people about what happened on Ta Da’an."
Kira inclined her head. "It's fine."
It really wasn't. Not when she would have very much preferred being anywhere else.
Quillon glanced at the other three, quirking an eyebrow as he took them in. He kept to human standard as he asked, "Did you have another accident during training?”
The big man's face was sheepish as he withdrew his arm from the healer's hold, answering in the same language. "Nothing so interesting."
"He was practicing one of those tricks he saw on the human holovids." The woman beside him scowled. "Only they don't work quite so well with our technology. He lost his balance. This is the result."
