"What happened to them?"
"They're extinct now." Graydon's expression darkened, cruelty stamped on his features. "The Tuann may have played a large role in their fate."
Kira’s gaze lingered on a statue’s features. They were disturbingly familiar. They starred in her oldest nightmares from a time when pain and fear were her daily companions.
Graydon’s enemy of old was the same one who used to visit the camp where Kira and Jin had spent their youngest years.
Realization rocketed through her. She was staring at the Tsavitee's masters. More surprising was the knowledge that the Tuann had once been their servants.
"Why are you telling me this?" Kira asked, still distracted by her discovery and its implications.
No wonder the Tsavitee had turned their attention to the Tuann. Their masters weren't the type to let their toys escape their control.
Kira had intimate knowledge of the extent they'd go to return a wayward toy to their care. Could the reason for everything be so simple? Her parents' deaths, her childhood in the camp, the war against humans?
One thought stopped her. Why would the Tsavitee’s masters make their move now? From what Graydon had said, the Tuann had escaped thousands of years ago.
What had changed?
"If I expect information, I should be willing to share in return." Graydon's focus was searing, startling her out of her contemplation. "Would you like to share why your ship has left O'Riley?"
Shock made Kira slow. Her expression went blank in the next second. She hoped Graydon hadn’t caught her surprise.
"My ship has built-in security systems. If we don't access it in a certain time frame, it will disengage from whatever station and use autopilot to fly itself to a remote part of space where it will remain until I activate my beacon," Kira heard herself saying as if from a distance.
There was no hint Graydon had caught her slip as he regarded her steadily. "I can see many ways such a feature could come in handy."
A strangled sound of agreement was all Kira could manage.
While plausible—and worth making a mental note so Jin could rig the ship to do exactly that in the future—it was also a bald-faced lie.
"As interesting as this lesson has been, I have more training today," she said, making an excuse to escape.
The corners of his lips tilted up, the smile not quite reaching his watchful eyes. "I wouldn't want to stand in your way."
Kira's nod was jerky as she took her leave.
If theWandererwasn't at O'Riley, it meant someone had stolen it. There were only a few people who had the capabilities to bypass the ship's defenses.
Of those, only one Kira could think of who would devote the time and effort to such an undertaking. It was not a person she wanted flying her ship.
*
Graydon watched Kira's hasty retreat, pondering what the conversation had revealed. Next to him, the shadows parted as Solal stepped away from the line of statues.
He joined Graydon. "She doesn't know who took the ship."
A “hmm” was Graydon's only response.
No, she didn't. Her moment of unguarded reaction had been brief. There and gone in an instant. Had he not spent time observing her and her mannerisms, he might have missed it. Because of that, she couldn't hide her surprise at the news of her ship's disappearance.
"What do you think it means?" Solal asked with a hint of a frown.
Graydon shook his head. "I don't know, but I think we need to find out."
ELEVEN
Kira approached her room at a quick clip. Jin had better be there. If he wasn’t, there were going to consequences—extreme ones.
