A man in the station's uniform stepped forward, shadowed by his aide, a woman who looked calm and efficient. Recognition flashed across his face at the sight of Kira.
"Captain Forrest, it's been a long time," he said.
CHAPTER THREE
Kira remained motionlessas she studied the people in front of her, the rest of the station noise fading into the background. A hand grasped her sleeve and pulled it slowly up. She gave the man she held a no-nonsense stare as he pushed the sleeve up even further to peer at her forearm.
Brave move from someone whose life she quite literally held in her hands.
Then again, maybe he had a reason for his bravery. Kira might have figured out a way to escape his people, but station security? Unlikely. Not when they controlled every feed on the station. There must be hundreds of cameras between her and her ship. Making it back undetected was impossible.
Kira sighed. She yanked the speaker up, dumping him on the ground at her feet. She might as well save her strength, none of them were going anywhere now.
"Spitzy, I'd kind of hoped to never see you again," she said.
His smile was brief and failed to reach his eyes. "I'm sure you did."
He didn't wait for her to respond, his attention shifting to the others. "Commander Liont, what seems to be the problem here?"
The man Kira had pegged as their leader glanced at Spitzy, his face an expressionless mask.
Spitzy waited a long moment. When no answer was forthcoming, he sighed. "Alright, how about all of you accompany us while we get this sorted out?"
It was not a request.
Liont made a sharp gesture at his men. Their tense postures relaxed as they straightened, the threat they'd presented downgrading from serious to simply alert. They stood down as station security assumed command.
Spitzy lifted his eyebrows at Kira. "You too, Captain."
She had no choice but to comply. Those laser rifles might not puncture the space station's metal hull, but they would do considerable damage to living flesh.
"In and out, my ass," she told Jin as she sidestepped the man she'd dumped at her feet and moved toward Spitzy.
"This isn't my fault. No one told you to perform feats of heroism. You did that all on your own," Jin griped as he trailed her.
Spitzy pulled out a pair of laser cuffs and held them up.
