Kira nodded. "If you could."
He took a seat, leaning back in it until it was reclined. His hands moved over the arms of the chair, tapping on a few controls until a soft glow rimmed his head. A sign that a neural net was active.
"I can confirm they're not in the system or any of the surrounding space."
"How far out do your scans extend?" Kira asked.
"Pretty far. If they're not showing up, it means they're still more than two days out."
Disappointment moved through Kira. "That's less than ideal."
Odin shut down the neural net and returned the chair to its original position. "I tried hailing them but I got no response."
Odin's equipment likely wasn't much worse than Jace's. If the rear admiral could contact her in the deep of space, Odin should have had no trouble either.
"It's a long way between here and Ta Sa'Riel," Odin pointed out. "Anything could have happened."
"Wren and Finn are with Raider. Between those three, they should be able to handle anything that comes their way."
Kira wouldn't let Odin make her believe otherwise.
"They just got delayed. That's all."
"If you say so."
"I do," Kira confirmed with a nod. "Worse case—if they don't show up in the next couple of days, I’ll go looking for them."
"I have a ship you can borrow. It just needs to return from its smuggling run."
Kira arched an eyebrow at her friend. "Pallas was right? You’re a smuggler?"
"Running Yggdrasil takes a lot of funds. Not to mention, it's dangerous out there right now. A lot of people just want a little reassurance in the event the Tsavitee come knocking."
"I can understand that," Kira said softly.
The J1N circling in one continuous slow loop made Kira sigh with frustration.
"While I wait, do you think there's anything you can do about that?" Kira nodded at the J1N.
"I take it you want its personality to resemble Jin's?"
"At this point I'd settle for it being able to fly in a straight line."
Odin's snicker held amusement. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks." Kira glared at the drone. "Blue did what she could, but as you can see, it didn't really help."
Kira was hoping the occasions where Odin had hacked Jin's system to leave him a 'present' might come in handy now.
"That's probably because Jin left an imprint to prevent anyone from tampering with his physical form," Odin explained. "No worries, I should be able to bypass that."
Kira looked at him. "You sound certain."
"I've had a lot of time to consider Jin and his situation," Odin told Kira. "Jin being on the home world isn't good. If the Osiri find out he's there, they'll take him apart until they figure out the secret that has eluded them for so long."
"The Osiri?" Kira asked.
"The masters' true name. No one ever uses that word though." A bitter smile tilted Odin's lips. "That would be considered an invitation for a long and painful death at their hands."
