Finn advanced on her, a warning in his face telling her to remain calm.
"Nothing permanent," the leader assured her. "We erected a field around your drone so that its energy output could not affect its surroundings. In the event you are deceiving us and he didn't power down, the field will make any attempts to move impossible."
"He's not damaged, then?" Kira asked, unable to keep the note of fear out of her voice.
The leader inclined his head. "He is not."
For the first time since Jin's presence had disappeared, Kira drew a full breath. She could handle that. As long as she knew it wasn't permanent.
She closed her eyes, concentrating.
Once again, she butted up against that invisible wall. Her mental state trembled.
With an iron will, she gathered herself. He was there. It was faint, almost impossible to register, but it was him.
Kira opened her eyes and nodded. "How does this work? Will there be handcuffs?"
The Haldeel leader considered her with patience. "As long as you don't have intent to bring harm to others or yourself, I think we can forgo such extreme measures."
Kira stared at him. "That's rather nice of you."
Much nicer than the methods that usually greeted her in a situation like this.
The Haldeel’s smile was faint as he stepped to the side and gestured for her to join him as his companion moved forward to retrieve Jin.
Finn shot the Haldeel a challenging look. "I'm going too."
The Haldeel leader's lips twitched. "That is acceptable. I suspect before this is over it'll be us who owe you the apology."
Kira contained her snort. That would be a first.
ELEVEN
AVEIN JUMPED in Finn’stemple as he fell into step beside her. "Next time, I would very much like to be apprisedbeforeyou do something death-defying."
"Why? You think you can stop me?"
