Jin played the recording without any further prompting.
Kira took the time to study Graydon as he watched it. His expression remained closed, giving her no hint to his thoughts beyond a slight tightening along his jaw.
"You're here to see if the defense network has been tampered with," he said flatly.
She nodded. "Close enough."
He released a frustrated breath. "That is an excellent plan. Truly."
She sensed sarcasm in that statement as he pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at her.
"You have no clue how it works. It takes talent along with years of training to handle the stress it places on the mind."
Kira's lips firmed.
He nodded at Jin. "Your drone can handle a hundred tetrabytes of information at a time, right?"
"Two hundred," Jin boasted.
"The melding sends double that every second. Even if you'd succeeded in not killing yourself within seconds, you would have activated the secondary defenses."
Kira frowned pensively before shrugging. "I'd have figured something out. If nothing else, we would have waited for the traitors to show themselves. Killing them would have worked just as well."
"Yes, and you would have been executed immediately after. Brilliant plan," he snarled.
"I would have stopped the attack. I count that as a win." She gave him a thin smile. "You seem to think I'm easy to kill. I'm not."
"This is a true statement," Jin agreed. "She's like a cockroach, only hardier."
Graydon didn't react to that statement, never taking his attention off Kira as he scowled at her.
"A hundred different ways to address this and you chose the most dangerous," he muttered.
"Also, a trait of hers," Jin pointed out. "You get used to it."
"Are you going to help or continue to poke holes in this plan?" Kira asked Graydon, lifting her chin.
He curled his lip. "Follow me."
Graydon approached the octagon, stopping on the first step and going no further. He raised his hand, his forehead creasing with strain.
Before him a field of stars came into view, some dull and faded, others bright and almost blinding.
"Woah," she said, looking around her in awe.
The stars zoomed by as Graydon played with it.
"There, that's the Tsavitee ship," Kira said, pointing.
It was barely noticeable, an easily overlooked blip if she hadn't suspected its presence.
"It's heading toward the planet," Kira said.
Probably the only reason they caught it.
Graydon muttered several unfavorable curses.
"What about the defense network?" Jin asked urgently. "Can you tell if it's been tampered with?"
