She didn't listen. She needed to time this perfectly.
The small sailboat picked up speed in its descent. It drew level with their terrace, missing it by inches as it fell.
She hit the end of the terrace and leaped, free fall and gravity pulling her down, her heart reaching for her throat. She didn't have time to calculate or second-guess. She hit the bow of the sailboat hard, rolling to a stop as it rocked precariously under her.
She recovered, throwing herself back to rebalance. Without the fully functioning engines and the sail, her extra weight could force it to roll.
"Sloppy," Jin chided, appearing over her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah. Some of us don't have antigravs."
Jin made a small sniff to convey his opinion on that statement.
Kira ignored her prickly companion. "See what you can do about this thing."
He didn't answer, already heading for the engine.
She entered the main cabin.
Two children huddled behind the pilot seats, peeking over the edge at her with large, wary eyes.
Their clothes were expensive and made from a material Kira didn't recognize.
The boy was around thirteen or fourteen, his guarded expression making him seem older despite the faint remnants of baby fat around his cheeks. In a few years, when time and age had refined the lines of his features, the girls would swarm him.
His top lip trembled as he fought to project a strong front.
The other child was much younger, seven or eight. Her eyes were scared, evidence of tear tracks on her face. Her pale, white-blond hair was tied with a silver ribbon. She looked like a doll, pretty and delicate.
"Is there anyone else here?" Kira asked, making her way toward them even as the cabin bucked and swayed under her feet.
They didn't answer, holding silent and still as she examined the cabin.
A charred body was curled in on itself on the floor behind the children’s seats. Black scorch marks climbed the walls to the rear of the cabin. The poor bastard must have tried to protect the children from the fire.
Kira could tell there would be no saving that person.
No one else besides the children was present.
"Come on. We have to go."
Neither child moved.
Kira scowled at them. Time was of the essence. She didn’t have time to console them or win their trust. She reached around the boy and plucked the girl up. She sensed she was the key to getting the other one to cooperate. Kira held the girl to her chest as the boy babbled at her in a strange language, his voice high-pitched and angry.
It didn't take speaking the language to know what he was saying, to know he was demanding she put the girl down.
Kira didn't listen, heading to the front of the cabin and out the door, the boy trailing after her, the panic in his voice clear.
The girl clutched at her, fear making her cling harder, her knuckles turning white where she gripped Kira's shirt.
Kira patted her shoulder in wordless sympathy, even as she looked for a way to safety. Jumping onto one of the terraces would be impossible with two children clinging like limpets to her.
"Jin, anything?" she called.
"This engine is dead. There's no saving it. It's not capable of anything but a crash-landing," he said. The chip embedded behind her ear made it seem like he was speaking directly into it.
Kira fought the desire to curse, knowing the children would probably panic more at the sight of her frustration.
