"I do." This was annoying to have to explain. "At least he was. There was a slight hiccup during transport."
"I take it he escaped," Odin guessed.
"More like I was kidnapped."
Bafflement showed on Odin’s face.
In the resulting silence, the J1N bumped into a screen and bounced off it, changing directions. It drifted in a straight line until it knocked into something else, shifting course again.
"You were kidnapped," Odin stated in a flat voice, dipping his head to peer at her with one eye. "By the forty three, I'm guessing."
Kira nodded.
"And now you're here."
"Yup."
"They wouldn't have let you go so easy. Which of your siblings did they send?"
"I resent that assumption," Kira defended. "I'm perfectly capable of escaping them on my own."
"Which? Kira!"
There was no point hiding it when Odin could find out for himself.
"Pallas."
Odin rounded the chair. "You brought that lunatic here? Does he know about me?"
"He most certainly does," Pallas announced, pushing through the wire curtain and sauntering into the room. "Calling me a lunatic before we've ever formally met. Tsk. Tsk. I'm wounded."
Weapons dropped from the ceiling and shot out from the walls, swiveling to point at Pallas.
He squinted at a couple. "Are those Haldeel dalies? Nice. I didn't think anyone in Consortium territory could get them since they're banned for civilian use. You must have had to smuggle them in. Who's your contact?"
Odin backed away, ensuring Kira was between him and Pallas.
"What are you doing here, Pallas? I don't remember inviting you," Kira said.
"I find it incredibly hurtful how you continue to exclude me from important conversations, but I'll get back to you on that later." He bared his teeth at Odin in a way that was more aggressive than friendly. "Let's just say I was taking a stroll and happened upon you two by accident."
Bullshit.
There was no such thing as coincidental with Pallas. Every move was calculated. Planned with meticulous precision.
Pallas might have been the forty three's blunt instrument, but he was a cunning one.
"I don't see lover boy." Pallas made a show of looking around. "Did you not trust him enough either?"
"Graydon's here too?" Odin asked, scandalized.
"Yes, he's here," Kira admitted wearily. "I didn't have much of a choice. He is my ally. You've met him before, remember?"
"That was different," Odin practically hissed.
Kira disagreed.
Odin’s eyes flared. "If you're going to insist on bringing guests, I'll have to reconsider allowing you access to my stronghold."
