"Did they discover you?" Kira asked, her tone one of careful control.
"Nooo," he said, drawing the word out.
At least that was something.
"But they know someone tried an incursion. I barely came back online and managed to find a hiding spot before they came looking," Jin confessed.
Kira cursed.
This was not good—especially with Graydon in the mix. He was already suspicious because of the ship. This would only add to his belief she was hiding something.
"What were you thinking?" Kira asked.
Jin wasn't dumb and he wasn't usually this careless.
"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry, but our little friend missed her last two check-ins. She's been radio silent since I contacted her from Ta Da'an," Jin blurted. "Odin too. I haven't heard from either one. There's not even a message on any of the forums."
Kira touched the dermal data patch on her forearm, all too aware of the danger it posed. The Tuann might forgive her a lot, but taking advantage of a crisis to steal starmaps? Even they had their limits.
With every day that passed, the chance of discovery grew greater. Handing the patch off was the best solution, and had she returned to her ship as originally planned, that's what would have happened.
There was also the small fact that Luatha could discover she’d accessed the maps at any moment.
"I thought if I could patch into the Nexus’s systems, I might be able to get through," Jin confessed. His tone made it clear he knew how badly he'd screwed up.
Not that it mattered now. They had to hope for the best and pray Roake didn't decide to launch a search for the mysterious intruder. Or if they did, that they wouldn't discover a certain annoying drone was the culprit.
Kira's hand dropped away from her arm. "I know where our little friend has wandered off to."
"Where?" Jin asked, perking up.
"She's stolen theWanderer," Kira said grimly.
"That’s bad. Very, very bad."
Kira's thoughts exactly. She fixed him with a look. "What exactly did you tell her about the reason we missed check-in?"
Jin was silent for several seconds. "The truth?"
Kira exhaled. She could see that being a problem. Their friend was young and impulsive. She didn't always consider the full extent of the consequences of her actions.
"There's nothing we can do about it now," Kira conceded.
Right now, she was more concerned about Odin's radio silence. While Odin had shown a propensity for going dark in the past, Kira didn't see her friend doing that now that the piece they needed to complete their goal was in their hands.
Leaving Ta Sa’Riel to track the two down wasn't an option either.
"Odin will turn up eventually. Until then, all we can do is wait," Kira finally said, trying to convince herself as well as Jin.
"I did warn you Odin could be unreliable," Jin informed her.
Kira fixed a dark look on him. He was one to talk. He made a grumbling sound as he caught her meaning.
Kira swung her legs over the edge of the bed, pulling the covers into her lap. A thought occurred to her. “Did you know some of Roake’s members were slipping new clothes into my dresser?”
Jin froze. “Ah, about that. Yes.”
Kira shook her head at him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
