There was a brief pause. "These vary based on the government enforcing them."
"Yes, they do, but a common theme throughout Haldeel, Tuann, and human space is that an abandoned ship is up for grabs by whoever chooses to salvage it."
As a former salvager, Kira was familiar with all of the laws governing the recovery of abandoned and dead ships. Although most humans focused on Tsavitee ships, there had been the odd one here and there who would target the Consortium's relics. She'd wanted to know the rules just in case.
"That is correct," the J1N said after a moment.
"Do you see anyone nearby who could lay claim to this ship?"
"That would be a negative."
"Then this isn't theft or piracy—we're simply salvaging an abandoned ship," Kira explained.
"I see."
With a sense of victory, Kira turned to the ship's airlock, only to find herself stymied a second later.
"Ah, crap," Kira muttered.
She didn't recognize the security system. Given the way the ship bristled with weapons like an unfriendly hedgehog, she should have expected its owner to go the extra mile to prevent unauthorized entry.
She was a decent hacker, but this was far beyond her skills. Jin, on the other hand, would have had no problem.
That actually gave her an idea.
Kira crooked her finger at the J1N. "Come here."
The drone was sluggish to obey, drifting toward her in fits and starts. Its lens ending up facing away from her despite being pointed in the right direction to begin with.
Kira made a frustrated sound before yanking the drone into position.
"Stay there."
She opened the J1N's access panel located at the bottom of the drone. Its leads dropped.
Normally, Jin could have wirelessly hacked the hatch, but since the J1N was a pale facsimile of him, she had to go old school.
That meant manually splicing into the system before using the J1N's programs to trick the door into opening. And hope the ship didn't use her for target practice in the meantime.
It didn't take long, the ship de-pressurizing several minutes later as the hatch opened.
"That was easy," Kira muttered with a frown.
A little too easy.
Despite that, Kira wasted no time, detaching the J1N's wires from the ship's access panel before stuffing them back into the bottom of the drone.
"Follow me and don't do anything stupid," Kira ordered, extending the akieri into its sword form.
She shoved the hatch fully open, pausing to scan the ship's interior before stepping fully inside.
Her guard lowered partially when she found no one waiting for her. Not enough to dismiss the akieri entirely, but enough to lower its tip so it pointed at the ground.
"A ship after my heart," Kira said, stepping carefully as she examined her surroundings.
Its design was spartan. Much more so than the outside. The plain metal walls and floors carried no additional embellishments. As cold and intimidating as its exterior.
Kira explored until she found a room that she assumed was the bridge.
