"How is Blue involved? She left the Vega months before it was assigned that mission."
When Rothchild happened, Blue was attending a military academy on New Lexington. It was why Kira and Jin had excluded her from the list of suspects. Their orders hadn't come down until long after she was gone.
"There was a sleeper program embedded in the comms array. It was set to send her regular updates as to the Curs' status. Your status specifically."
Kira looked up from the tablet. "It's funny. This is the second time today that someone has claimed to know who was responsible for Rothchild."
Jace frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"I ran into an old friend of ours down on the planet," Kira said, glancing at Raider as he leaned forward in sudden interest. "Remember, Diesel?"
Raider's nod was slow as a thoughtful look entered his eye. "I do."
"He's dead," Jace said in confusion. "I attended his funeral."
"Maybe he is now," Kira allowed, remembering the explosion that had leveled the Vega. "But earlier today he was as alive as you and I."
"What does this have to do with Blue?" Jace asked.
"Only that he claimed he was the one responsible for Rothchild."
There was silence at her answer. Then Raider exploded to his feet. "I told you it wasn't Blue!"
Jace wasn't listening. "Explain."
Kira took the storage device Diesel had given her and handed it to Jace. "You might want to get your people to look at this."
Jace took the device.
"When he handed that to me, he said he'd been approached by a woman looking to sell him ordnance. He was desperate due to the supply issues and took her up on the offer. What he didn't know was that the weapons had trackers on them set to give away our position at regular intervals."
Jace was quiet as he considered this new information, absentmindedly turning the storage device over in his hand.
"What happened to Diesel?" Raider asked.
Kira shook her head. "I don't know. We got separated. He stayed behind to delay the Tsavitee kill squad on my ass. After that, there was a rather large explosion."
"But you didn't see him die?"
Kira shook her head.
"He could still be alive then," Raider said, looking like he almost hoped he was so that he could get revenge.
"This doesn't absolve Blue," Jace said, gesturing with the device.
"No," Kira agreed.
But it did cast doubt as to her culpability. And it helped explained why Himoto had never done anything about her.
"Do you remember that time Blue tagged Bayside with a tracker beacon when he was on leave for R and R?" Kira asked Raider.
"He was pretty furious when he found out," Raider said with a light chuckle. "He'd been planning to visit the casinos and a bliss den."
Similar to the opium dens of old Earth, bliss dens were popular during and after the war as a place people could go to smoke an herb known for its relaxing properties.
While not illegal, the use was frowned upon by the higher ups. It was also not the kind of thing you wanted your annoying adoptive sister knowing about.
"Blue had extreme separation anxiety back then. It was bad enough that Himoto and I made it a requirement for her to see a counselor when she reached the academy."
