Kira's stomach tightened, the primal fear people experienced when facing the thing in the dark sinking deep.
It answered the question of whose side he was on.
"You're here to get the humans out," he guessed, his voice flat.
"They're vulnerable here," Kira said. "I have to get them to safety before I can consider doing anything else."
He fell silent, staring off into the distance. Finally, he shook his head as a gruff sound escaped him. "Where do you think they'll go? Luatha controls the airspace. There's no way to get them off-planet. The defensive net would rip them to shreds."
"We send them into the forest. They only need to hide long enough for us to expose the conspiracy," Kira argued.
"We should inform Graydon," Finn argued. "The defense network affects more than just the Luathans. Bringing it down would leave all of our worlds vulnerable."
Kira understood his loyalty. Graydon held an authority Finn recognized and trusted. Kira was tempted to agree, the idea the commander was part of this too terrible to contemplate.
She shook her head. No. She couldn't take the chance. They didn't know how far this conspiracy went.
"Can you guarantee beyond any shadow of a doubt Graydon has no part in this?" Kira asked.
He couldn't. No one could. Right now, the only person she trusted completely and utterly was Jin. They'd gone through too much to do anything else. The Curs she trusted to a lesser extent, but only because she knew their motives.
"He is the Emperor's Face," Finn said as if that explained everything.
"Empires have been brought down before by those in trusted seats of power," Jin pointed out.
Finn's lips tightened. "Not the Tuann. Not Graydon. I would trust him with my life—and yours."
Conviction thrummed in his words. His expression said he wouldn't give in on this point. Kira didn't know the players well enough to judge. It was obvious his history with Graydon went deep—perhaps as deep as hers did with Jin and the Curs.
"At least let me get the Curs out," Kira bargained, sensing she was losing him. If he really decided Graydon needed to be informed first, there would be little she could do.
"Alma and her people could come for them while we're wasting time finding Graydon," Kira argued. She needed him to agree. "My people have no weapons and stand little chance against warriors in synth armor."
Finn looked torn, her argument swaying him. He scowled.
"We're already here," Jin added. "We'd waste valuable time backtracking, assuming Graydon's where we left him."
"Which is unlikely given someone's disappearance," Finn said, shooting a meaningful look Kira's way.
She shrugged, unconcerned. "If I hadn't needed some time to myself, I never would have overheard their scheme."
Not entirely true, but close enough.
"Fine, we'll do it your way," Finn said, his dark eyes piercingly intense.
Kira breathed a sigh of relief.
"But at the first sign of danger, I want you out of there," he said, pointing a finger at her.
She nodded. If an empty promise made him feel better, she'd give him all the empty promises he needed.
"I must have done something to anger the commander for him to suggest you to me," Finn said with a sigh.
"Why did you accept?" Kira asked as they moved toward the guards.
"Because my choices were limited. It was either act as your guard or sit around for another hundred years feeling invisible," Finn said. "Oshotaare meant to protect their Houses. To be of no use to them is like living a life with no color."
"Empty and meaningless," Kira said in a soft voice.
