Graydon dropped her hand, his gaze playful. "Now where would be the fun in that?"
In the depths of his eyes, lightning flashed. It set off a chain. Dozens. No. Hundreds of bolts striking in the midst of the stormy gray.
Tingling started in her limbs. The fine hair on her arms stood upright.
"Teleportation, cheva nier," Graydon whispered at the question on her face. "I thought it'd be a fun couple's experience."
The building pressure burst. Kira's world went white.
They landed on the edge of House Roake's space dock. Exactly where they needed to be.
Located in the shadow of Roake's Fortress of the Vigilant, the space dock was tens of miles from the Inquisitors' Hold which had been built well outside the capital city of Ta Sa'Riel in an area that was considered sacred.
Kira found that last part out by accident when she crashed her ship into their backyard.
With a sense of wonder, Kira held her hand out to catch the droplets of rain from the weakening storm. "Blue would have loved that."
It was too bad the human hadn't been able to experience it for herself. She geeked out anytime she encountered unfamiliar technology. Once she fixated, she could be quite the handful. For something like that, something almost magical in nature, Blue would have lost her mind.
"I'm so over Tuann travel methods," Raider said with a groan, looking miserable as he straightened.
He took Aeron's arm, marching him toward the silhouette of the Wanderer where it waited in the storm.
Designed by humans, Kira's ship had been built for function rather than form. She stood out compared to the sleeker lines of the Tuann ships surrounding her. Almost ugly in comparison.
Despite that, she was a welcome sight as Kira and Graydon followed.
"He's rather weak to relocation technology. I thought it was a side effect of his humanity but your other friend doesn't have the same reaction," Graydon observed.
"That's because Raider's issue isn't physical. He just hates technology. Unless he can shoot it or fly it, he'd prefer to pretend it didn't exist."
Their unit, the Curs, had enjoyed ribbing him over that.
Raider had been brought up on a planet of religious zealots who rejected the modern world—including much of its technology. Never mind that the same technology was what enabled them to settle the planet in the first place.
"Strange that he and Jin get along so well," Graydon said.
"Don't let them hear you say that. They'll deny it."
As much as they argued though, they always had each other's back in the end. They might pretend to dislike each other, but Kira knew the truth. There was a lot of respect between them.
The wind and rain had lightened considerably during their time in the Inquisitors' Hold, making for the perfect launch conditions. Almost like fate was abetting their crimes.
Raider pushed Aeron. "Hurry up."
Aeron caught himself after a small stumble. "You don't have to be so rough. I'm all for leaving a planet teeming with my enemies."
"Had a change of heart, have you? That was quick. It's certainly not what you were saying earlier."
Aeron bared his teeth at him. "Watch it, meat."
"Keep talking. I'll rip out your tongue."
"Damn it." Kira groaned as Aeron shoved Raider with the same amount of force the human had used on him. "I thought I was supposed to be the one with control issues."
She started jogging toward them.
"Don't make threats you can't follow through on," Aeron warned.
