"I'm aware," Lathan said with a faint smile before disappearing into the trees.
"Coli, your companions get stranger with every one you add," Graydon said, watching him go. He turned to stare at the patch of forest where Kira had gone. "Finish your business soon, cheva nier. I can't guarantee how long I'll be willing to wait."
Seventeen
Kira
Brie vanished into the ship via the gaping hole in its side. Probably formed sometime during the moon's explosion or the ship's crash landing.
Kira stopped on the bank, tilting her head back to take in her former home.
The Vega had seen better days. Scars from its last battle were evident everywhere. The hull was riddled with fissures. Its sides streaked with singe marks from the missiles and weapons fire it would have endured to lure the Tsavitee ship into the blast zone. Whole sections were missing or so mangled they were unrecognizable.
Despite that, the Vega was an imposing figure, rising out of the snow like a resurrected phantom for one last mission. To rain vengeance on its enemies before it disintegrated back into the ether.
Kira set a hand on the ship's side. "Hello, old friend. How I've missed you."
A deep silence answered her. If she were to close her eyes, she could almost hear the echo of those who'd made this their final resting place. Ghosts who lingered long after their deaths.
Something engraved in the metal next to the hole caught her eye.
The words "Never Forget" had been etched so deeply into the side of the ship that it would take a thousand years or more for the elements to erode them away.
Kira's smile was faint as she traced the characters. "You're right about that. I will never forget."
She'd carry them with her. A welcome weight. And when she finally located the Tsavitee's home world and their masters, she'd make sure to exact a little vengeance in their name.
Because she was the Phoenix. And that was what she was best at.
Kira stepped inside the ship, locating Brie in the gloom through the greenish glow her goggles emitted.
"Good of you to join me," Brie said, crouching just out of reach of the moonlight filtering in through the gap.
"This place brings back a lot of memories for me. It's not easy."
Brie’s goggles were strangely sinister looking in the dim light, lending her a mysterious aura.
The J1N stuttered, its altitude dropping sharply before it recovered.
Brie rose, the moment broken. "Follow me."
"As you wish," Kira murmured, waiting until the woman's back was to them before giving the J1N a glare. Was it too much to ask for the drone to go more than two seconds without drawing attention to itself?
Kira stomped after Brie, following her deeper into the ship.
It wasn't long before she recognized the area where they were heading. A place the crew had affectionately referred to as the ship's brain.
It was located in the center of the ship behind several bulkheads made from some of the strongest alloys in the Consortium's arsenal. The reason being that in the event of attack the ship could remain active as long as its brain was somewhat intact. And if it did go down, the information contained there had some chance of making it back into the hands of the military's leaders.
Personally, Kira thought the Tsavitee had the right of it by destroying all crucial systems when a ship went down to prevent their technology from falling into the hands of the enemy. The higher ups hadn't agreed.
Brie and Kira meandered through the ship in a roundabout manner. The Vega's state didn't allow for a straight shot from point A to point B, forcing them to take detours to bypass the damaged sections.
"You're different than I was expecting," Brie commented as Kira crouched to crawl through a section where the ceiling had partially caved in. Before Kira could respond, she set off again. "Stay close. The All Father placed traps in the interior of the ship to prevent unwelcome visitors."
"That’s not surprising," Kira said.
Odin had always been even more paranoid than her.
