Kira was still dealing with her own sense of betrayal over the Consortium’s shortsightedness. She couldn't imagine how much worse it was for Rothchild's citizens whose moon was a reminder every time they looked up at the sky.
"My father was one of the miners stationed on the moon during the blast."
Kira slowed and then stopped; her gaze trained on the back of Brie’s head.
"He was my hero," Brie said into the silence. "Every day he would call home and tell me a story to put me to bed."
The love Brie had for her father was perceptible even all these years later.
"He told me about the Phoenix too."
Suddenly, Kira was aware of how very alone she was with a stranger on what could be considered the other’s home ground.
"Such stories that made the Phoenix seem almost mythological."
Kira shifted her hand closer to the hilt of the akieri, watching the other woman with a focused intensity.
Brie’s gaze followed Kira’s movements, a wry smile appearing. "You needn't worry, Phoenix. You’re not the one I hold responsible for his death."
"Why not? I do."
Even knowing that was survivor's guilt talking, Kira sometimes found it hard to move past the self-blame.
"Did you know several of the miners managed to get one last call out before the moon went up?" Brie put her back to the wall, sliding down into a sitting position.
"No, I didn't."
That hadn't been in any of the reports. Most of the information she and Jin had gathered had to do with the military's movements. Before and after. They hadn't paid much attention to the miners' side. They were considered inconsequential. There was no way they would have known in advance of the meeting with the Haldeel. Nor would they have been privy to the Curs' presence.
In Kira and Jin's minds, they were civilians who'd gotten caught up in the crossfire.
"I didn't receive it until afterward, but he called us. My mom and me. He said that something bad was happening and that he had the opportunity to get out but that he and the rest had chosen to stay." Brie tugged off the goggles and set them in her lap. "He told me there was something important that only he could do. That he was sorry but that he was fighting for me and my mom and everyone else. That the Phoenix was too and we had to support her or there was no way she'd win."
Kira's eyes felt tight. "He was a hero then."
"That was my dad. My hero." The smile that formed lit up Brie's features. "The rest of the Consortium may have forgotten his name. But I remember. Rothchild remembers."
They would always remember, she seemed to say.
"As they should," Kira agreed.
She remembered them too. Maybe not all of their names. But what they'd done.
She couldn't have saved Rothchild without their sacrifice. Even with her burst.
Without them to flood the mine shafts with smaralta, Kira could never have done enough damage to the Tsavitee fleet. Because of their actions, Brie was able to live through her childhood to become a woman her father would have been proud of.
Brie dashed a hand over her face, wiping away any dampness that might have fallen from her eyes. Kira pretended not to see as Brie nodded at the hallway to her left. "That'll lead you to the All Father's den. Stay to the left and you should be fine."
Kira glanced in the direction she indicated but didn't move. "What was his name? Your father."
It felt important that she learn it.
"John."
Kira nodded as she moved toward the corridor. "I'll be sure to remember it the next time I toast the departed."
Kira knew she was getting close when she started having to step over thick wires and ducts running down the passageway like roots from a tree. The air grew progressively cooler the further she went. Not quite freezing but colder than humans or Tuann generally preferred.
