These were warriors of some kind. Guards, Kira thought. Of the little boy and girl? What sort of children required an escort of eight?
The speaker glanced at the one in charge. They exchanged a weighted look.
Kira waited. The men stood between her and her way off this platform. While she didn't think they really meant her any harm, it paid to be careful in her line of work. That same mentality bled into the rest of her life as well.
A gust of wind from a passing craft yanked her hood off. She grimaced but didn't fuss with it, her entire focus locked on the children and their guards.
The speaker stepped up. "It seems we must thank you for the safety of the children."
Kira didn't respond. She didn't need or want thanks. She'd only done what was necessary.
He held his hand out, his expression thawing, so he seemed almost bashfully friendly. "We're sorry for our suspicion. It is a job hazard as humans would say."
Kira could understand that. She faced similar reactions herself, sometimes acting before her brain had caught up with her body, even so many years after the life that had built the muscle memory.
She raised her hand to shake his.
His gaze dropped, the smile on his face freezing. He grabbed her arm and yanked.
She reacted without thought, turning her shoulder into him and kicking out with one leg as she grabbed his shouldar and jerked him to her. She used her hip as leverage to throw him as she twisted her hand out of his grasp.
He stumbled forward with a sharp cry.
"Kira!" Jin warned.
Kira grunted, grabbing the collar of the man's armor before he could pitch over the edge.
The guards who had started rushing her slid to a sharp stop at a shout from their leader.
Kira didn't take her eyes off them as she kept the other man suspended in the air, only his feet touching the platform and her grip keeping him from plunging over the edge.
The moment stretched out as Kira considered the warriors in front of her. They waited, their gazes going from her to their comrade. They seemed torn, wanting to hurt her but also not wanting her to drop their ally.
Every one of them had their hand at their hip and seemed poised to attack. Her eyes narrowed. The station didn't allow projectile weapons on it, but she was willing to bet they had some type of blade style weapon hidden in their armor.
Of course, they did. They wouldn't be very good guards if they couldn't protect their charges.
Another craft raced past them, the force of its passage stirring the air. Kira didn't flinch, her gaze locked on her enemy.
This was quite the stalemate she'd landed in. She couldn't let her attacker fall, else his companions would be on her before she'd taken two steps. She couldn't pull him from the edge either for the same reason.
What to do?
This right here, was why she never liked coming to O'Riley Station. It was always something.
There was a clamor as men and women wearing the distinctive uniforms of station security—blue and black, with their ranks emblazoned on their sleeves in gold—assembled along the platform, laser rifles pointed at all those present.
"Now they show up," Jin muttered, echoing Kira's thoughts.
"Can we go over the edge?"
"No, my reserves are too low after saving you."
She gave him a sidelong look.
"I didn't say you were heavy," he defended.
No, he'd just insinuated it.
