"Belay that order," Kira barked. "Prepare for a hard turn."
There was a silence on the bridge as everyone considered her.
"I'd do it now," she said mildly.
Kai's jaw locked as he considered her, judging how much to trust her. "Do what she says."
The deck bustled with movement.
The ship began to turn, the force of its momentum screeching through the hull as it threatened to cleave it in two. Even here in space, the laws of physics wanted to be obeyed, and what they were doing threatened to tear the ship apart.
"Almost there," someone called.
"The cannons on the Tsavitee ship are realigning. They'll lock onto our new position in ten seconds."
"It was a good try," Kai told Kira. "Don't blame yourself for it failing."
She didn't glance at him, a faint smile on her face. "You need to learn to have a little faith."
The Tsavitee ship's weapons prepared to fire. Those on the bridge braced, their hands dancing across the controls as they fought until the last second.
The ship completed its turn.
"Second ship detected," someone shouted.
"An enemy?" Kai asked.
"No. Human."
Kira's smile felt strange in this form. The flinch of those closest to her told her it wasn't a welcoming sight. Understandable since primus form looked more monstrous than beautiful. The more time she spent in it, the less she resembled the Kira and became something else entirely.
The human ship appeared on the Tsavitee’s other side, firing into it, their weapons already targeted and locked.
Good, they'd gotten the firing package she’d sent.
The Tsavitee were caught off-guard, largely unprotected on that side, their cannons having rotated to lock on the Tuann ship.
"The humans are firing at the Tsavitee ship," someone said in excitement.
A voice came over the comms. "Tuann ship. This is Admiral Grant of theCSS Reliance. Please unload everything you've got. We'll do the same."
Kira tied the two ship strands together, linking them. She wasn't sure if the action would help or hinder, but it felt right. That would have to be enough.
Her consciousness faded from the Tuann diplomatic ship.
She stumbled, her body weak and tired as the symbols faded from her skin, the gray turning to normal pale creaminess as her second form deserted her.
She resisted the cold pull of rest. Her job wasn’t done quite yet. Lifting her arm, she used one fingernail to peel off the small, nearly invisible dermal micro storage device she carried on the inside of her bicep.
The color of her skin, it was designed to stay attached through everything, short of being burned to death. It was her backup if she ever got caught somewhere without her normal supplies.
Carefully, she stripped the wires of the Tsavitee device before wrapping the patch on the exposed metal.
Her hands shook as she sifted through the Tuann database. Trillions of pieces of data at her fingertips. She hoped the patch could download everything she needed.
Ah, there. That’s what she’d come all this way for.
She downloaded what she needed into the patch before disconnecting it and smoothing it back onto the underside of her upper arm.
