Jace couldn't hide his scowl.
Kira snickered. "That bad, huh?"
Not surprising, really.
The Tuann were like a group of bristly porcupines, intent on not letting outsiders get too close. Traveling on a ship filled with them would have been hell—especially when most didn't have a favorable view of humans.
Jace and the Curs had won some goodwill with their actions on Luatha, but still, Kira didn't imagine it was an easy voyage.
What she wouldn't have given to be a fly on the wall.
"Thanks for that," Jace said, sounding anything but thankful.
"Himoto asked, and I delivered. Not my fault you're his lapdog."
"Still angry at him, I see," Jace observed.
Kira lifted a careless shoulder. "Not really."
"Liar."
He was right, but Kira had no intention of letting him know that.
She preferred to strike from the shadows when a person's guard was lowered. Made everything so much easier.
"Think those ships will make a difference?" Kira asked.
"Only time will tell," Jace said. "The scientists have already started digging into the technology. I don't think I've ever seen grown men and women so giddy."
Best case scenario was the scientists cracked the Tuann technology and replicated it throughout the fleet.
The problem was that would take time. Even if they could figure out a substitute energy forki,they'd have to build new ships using that technology. Something like that didn’t happen fast. It'd likely take a decade or more to disseminate on a large enough level to make a difference.
With the Tsavitee on the move again, the changes wouldn’t come soon enough.
"I've been looking into that matter you told me about before," Jace said with a meaningful expression on his face.
Kira's gaze cooled, highly conscious of Finn's presence next to her as he listened to every word they said.
"I didn't tell you about that for you to go digging where you don't belong," she said through stiff lips.
His gaze was chiding. "What did you say before? We all face death every time we put on that suit?"
Kira flinched at having her own words thrown back at her.
"This is me facing death in place of you," he said with a resoluteness that caused Kira's eyes to drop to her lap.
Jace reached out, tapping her on the side of the knee. "You've carried this burden for so long. Let me help. It's what a battle buddy is there for."
"What matter?" Finn asked, his drawn hood moving as he glanced between them.
A question flickered across Jace's face.
Kira kept her expression blank, leaving it up to him to decide to tell or not.
"A traitor within our military is responsible for the losses at Rothchild and in several other battles," Jace said.
A somber quiet filled the air.
