"You brought him."
"Of course, I did," Odin said, seeming offended.
"Does he work?"
Odin lifted his hand and let go of the J1N. "You tell me."
The J1N remained floating, its 'eye' pointed at Kira.
"Where have you been, Nixxy?" the drone asked. "We've been looking all over for you."
Kira released the breath she'd been unconsciously holding and nodded. "Good."
That would do.
Odin looked back as the humans crawled out from behind their natural barricade, the earring at her ear glinting. The humans, a man and a woman, both dressed in clothes meant to blend with the snow, made their way cautiously toward them.
"Where'd you two come from?" the woman asked, her face suspicious.
Kira wasn't sure she appreciated the other's hostile tone.
"It doesn't matter where she came from," Odin said impatiently. "Show a little appreciation. She just saved your ass."
The woman rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else.
Odin gave Kira a look as if to say "see what I have to deal with."
The two humans weren't so bad. A little trigger happy. A touch aggressive. But all within the realm of acceptability.
They were on edge and afraid. Young enough that this was likely their first dust up with the Tsavitee. No amount of training could truly prepare you for the first time your life was on the line.
A surplus of adrenaline was probably swimming through their systems, making them more reactionary than they would have been otherwise.
Still, they were obviously skilled. They'd managed to hold out against at least fifteen Tsavitee and still protect their primary target.
Not bad.
A rustle came from the trees. The humans acted like scalded cats as they trained their weapons on the sound's source.
"Whoa." Kira held up a hand. "She's with us."
Brie stepped out of the trees, her expression blank.
The woman lowered her rifle. "Don't scare us like that. We almost shot you."
"That's why I announced my presence before stepping out, Sykes." Brie's expression was warm as she nodded a greeting at the other man. "Alvarez."
Alvarez propped his rifle on his shoulder, the tip pointed in the air. "You got tapped for this too?"
"I volunteered."
Sykes made a face. "Crazy."
Brie didn't seem offended, patting the other woman on the shoulder. "Rothchild always pays its debts. You know that."
"Here, here," Alvarez said.
Sykes sent a pointed glance at Kira. "Let's just try to avoid blowing up any moons on this trip, shall we?"
