That was when Pallas changed. He was no longer the old Pallas when he finally returned.
Blood no longer bothered him. Killing either.
Too many other of her siblings had self-destructed upon being broken. Unable to cope with their new reality. For Pallas to come out the other end, still alive, if a touch crazy, was something she’d always admired.
"Where is he going?" Pallas asked, pulling Kira out of her memories.
She turned in the direction he indicated to find the J1N motoring away from them, its lights on full illumination.
Kira's shoulders slumped. "Damn it. What does that thing think it’s doing?"
Pallas's snicker followed her as she trudged after the drone. "Best catch him before he goes too far. You wouldn't want to leave your best friend behind. You have a ruse to maintain after all."
And there was the asshole she'd come to know and hate.
Kira didn't go far, only a few steps back along the path they'd trekked before she cupped her hands around her mouth. "Get back here, J1N!"
The drone stopped, swiveling in place as if trying to establish her location.
"That's right. This way," Kira called.
She waved her arms, hoping movement would help the glitchy drone figure out which way to go without her having to walk all the way back to the ship.
The drone veered to the right.
Kira dropped her arms to glare at the J1N. "Don’t make me come over there."
The J1N didn't seem to hear. Or if it did, it failed to recognize the significance of that threat.
It continued bumbling in the direction it had chosen.
Graydon stopped next to her. "Better catch it before it gets lost."
Now there was a thought. Unfortunately, not one she could pursue if she ever wanted to return Jin to his body.
Thankfully, corralling the drone didn't take long.
"Stop wandering off and just follow," Kira ordered after catching him.
"Follow. Roger."
"Not that way." Kira grabbed the J1N when it immediately set off in the wrong direction. "This way."
She steered it back onto the right path before cautiously letting go. To her relief, it stayed on course this time.
Kira trudged after the rest. Pallas and Lathan had already set off again, but Graydon waited for her to catch up. He nodded as she passed him, falling in behind her.
The group set a punishing pace as they moved over the rolling hills near where they’d landed. It wasn't long before Kira found herself wishing for some kind of specialized snow equipment.
Even with Pallas blazing a path, the going was tough with the snow reaching to Kira's thighs in some places.
Ice from last night's storm had created interesting shapes among the branches of the trees. Twisting ropes of icicles bowed the trees, their canopies nearly sweeping the ground from the weight.
It was strangely beautiful. A sight that deserved to be captured and memorialized forever.
The thing Kira was most worried about, however, was the possibility of straying into one of the numerous rivers that riddled Rothchild's surface. There was a reason this planet was referred to as the river world.
Rothchild had no real ocean. Just a series of great lakes and rivers that covered huge swaths of the planet.
