"Jin?"
"I don't know," her friend told her. "Best guess, he's manipulating sound waves in some way."
The implications of that were astounding. If you could manipulate the sound waves to carry your voice, you could do the same to others. As a tool for spying, it would be virtually undetectable.
Graydon's board dropped to match her trajectory as Finn broke away to monitor them from above. "How about a small wager?"
Raider glanced over, maneuvering to parallel their flight path.
"What did you have in mind?" Raider shouted.
"A race. Loser owes the winner a boon."
Kira scoffed. Like she was foolish enough to fall for that. Knowing Graydon, he'd have already skewed the odds in his favor.
"I'm game," Raider's smile was wicked as he shot a challenging glance at Kira. "Unless you're scared?"
She aimed a flat stare at him.
Raider shrugged. "I didn't want to assume since you've been living the soft civilian life."
A small smirk teased Graydon's lips as he waited. Why exert himself when Raider was doing the work for him?
Kira's eyes narrowed. Were the two of them working together to taunt her into this?
After a moment of consideration, she shook her head. Naw. Raider didn't like the Tuann enough to team up with them.
She rethought that conclusion seconds later when Graydon said, "Yes, we wouldn't want to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with. You are, after all, only barely out of your infancy."
The lizard snorted against her neck, knowing that word was guaranteed a reaction.
She didn't disappoint. Rising to the challenge was almost a compulsion. Letting Graydon have the last word wasn't an option.
"There has never been a day when you could out fly me, Raider," Kira declared, before fixing Graydon with a look. "You sure you can keep up?"
His chin bent down. "Only one way to see."
Trash talk, how she'd missed it.
Graydon was about to lose. Even better, both he and Raider would owe Kira a boon.
Her lips curved in anticipation.
Graydon was about to learn the true terror of facing a Cur in battle.
Graydon's expression darkened with expectancy at the challenge he saw on her face, saying without words he was eager to pit himself against her skill.
They'd see about that.
Graydon spread his arms, closing his eyes and tilting back as gravity pulled him down until he fell into a smooth backward dive.
Twenty feet above the waves, his board woke with a roar, bringing his descent to a quick stop as he shot forward, the force of the board's thrust kissing the surface, water flying up around him.
Raider flashed a maniacal grin at her. "Like old times."
"I beat you in those times," Kira returned.
"Things change," Raider promised. "It’s not going to be as easy this time."
