"Three weeks ago."
Kira looked up sharply. "Two weeks after my encounter with the generals."
Odin inclined her head. "They're trying to draw you out."
Of course, they were.
Honestly, Kira should have expected this reaction. They would know she'd do nearly anything to find Elise, and this tactic guaranteed she'd come to them, practically hand-deliver herself into their trap.
"Where was this?" Kira asked.
Odin's hesitance was marked. Kira leveled a hard glare on her. She could see why Odin might want to withhold the information, not wanting Kira to run off and destroy years of planning, but that wasn't how this partnership worked.
"Near Osiris."
"That's in Haldeel territory," Kira said, unable to hide her surprise. What would Elise be doing there?
Kira's fingers drifted over the person’s features. They were nearly the same as they had been. Perhaps her face was a little thinner, maybe Kira imagined the haunted expression in her eyes, but overall, that was the woman she'd thought dead because of Kira until she realized Elise's fate had been much worse.
The urge to find the first ship off-planet was nearly overwhelming. Kira hadn't been this close to Elise since Rothchild.
"Do you have a plan for when you find her?" Odin asked. All trace of playfulness had faded. "A real plan?"
Kira's silence held a note of stubbornness.
Odin jabbed a finger at the picture Kira still cradled. "You'll be up against a planet filled with millions of your greatest enemy when you're nowhere near top form."
Odin tapped the disrupter, her expression meaningful. "They know by now that you're coming. Your burst is gone, and you have no allies except one insane drone and a hacker. How exactly do you think you're going to save her?"
Kira sat back. "From the looks of things, I won't need to find their planet. She’s out in the universe again. Much easier to find her out here than there."
Odin lifted an eyebrow. "And what if she fights you? I don't see any Tsavitee chains on her, do you?"
Kira's expression darkened at the implication. Her gaze dropped to the photo. Odin had a point. The Tsavitee had perfected mind control. The fact they'd let Elise out meant they were confident in her brainwashing. It was doubtful she'd escaped on her own. If she had, she would have wasted no time contacting Kira. Jin would have told her if he'd found activity on any of their old message drops.
Kira's stare was stony. "It wouldn't be the first time I've faced impossible odds."
"You weren't alone then," Odin pointed out.
"I'm not now either. I have Jin."
Frustration chased across Odin's face. "You're not usually this obtuse."
Kira fixed her with a dry look. "Usually the people I trust don't make an end run around me after I've taken considerable risk getting information they said they needed."
"Perhaps I don't want to watch you commit slow suicide. Because if you take on the entire might of the Tsavitee horde, that's what it will be."
Well, when she said it like that.
"If you fail, they'll have both of you. You know what that would mean," Odin said.
It was a nightmare that haunted Kira's dreams. The Tsavitee were merciless, but their unseen masters were worse. They lacked a sense of right and wrong.
They were deceptive. Deadly. With a thirst for power that would consume the universe if left unchecked.
For some reason, they found Kira's genetics fascinating and believed it held some mystery they wanted to unlock. Kira was just as invested in making sure they failed.
"The others don't wish to see you die either," Odin said carefully.
