"Did you refer to these mini drones as Jin's spawn? They're quite amazing I must say. Very useful for surveillance since you said Jin is occupied somewhere else tonight. I'm going to have to ask him how he created them when I next see him."
Kira frowned, having no idea what Blue was talking about for a moment. Realization dawned a second later.
Oh right. The lie she told Blue. That Jin was on another mission of vital importance.
"You should have told her the truth," Raider mouthed silently, kneeling to remove the small pack he was carrying and swinging it in front of him.
Kira shrugged. She would if it became necessary. Until then, she wasn't telling anyone about Jin's little sojourn.
Raider shook his head in resignation as he dug through the pack, pulling out a bundle of metal rods the length of Kira's hand.
"Hold," Blue barked.
Raider went motionless as Kira trained her eyes on the ramparts.
"The timing for their patrol is off. Someone decided to go on walkabout early."
Blue’s warning came at the same time a pair of oshota appeared overhead, the quiet murmur of their voices reaching them a second later.
Raider shifted the rods to one hand as he reached for the modified zuipi Blue had made him.
Kira caught his hand, shaking her head in warning.
"No violence," she mouthed.
That was Harlow's price for helping them. Either they got in and out undiscovered or they surrendered.
Raider glared at her in frustration, his hand tense under hers.
Her shrug was unconcerned. This was the deal they'd made. No one got hurt. Not by so much as a stubbed toe.
Raider yanked his hand out of her grip. To her relief, he didn't reach for his weapon.
"They're gone. Proceed."
Kira bent to help Raider, holding the rods as he unhooked the straps around them before trying to pry one away from the rest.
It didn't budge.
He tugged harder. The rod lifted a millimeter, a wave of sparks cascading off it and feeding into the others.
"What did you do to these things? Why is it so difficult separating them?" Raider gritted out.
"Just a little design of my own creation. It's based on Jin's anti gravs. Only instead of repelling, it attracts. Like it?"
"Not the word I'd use," Raider hissed.
The rod rose another inch, the increased distance making it easier to maneuver. He attached it to the wall, electricity arcing between it and the three Kira still held.
"One down, three to go," Raider muttered.
"You should be happy I made it so difficult for them to come apart by accident. If that happened, the field disruption they'd create would make your insides become your outsides. Cool picture, huh? Your organs falling out of your body."
Blue sounded a little too enthralled with that visual as Raider pried the second rod away, allowing it to attach to the wall. Several more minutes passed until all four were in place.
Electricity danced across the stone, moving from rod to rod. Each pass making the wall grow a little more transparent. There was a harsh buzzing sound as the molecules forming the stone began to vibrate.
"I'll be damned," Raider muttered as he and Kira looked through the small doorway they'd created.
