"You fucking idiot," Raider said with a regretful shake of his head.
Although he wouldn't have felt the Mea'Ave's presence as a human, he was acquainted with her personality. He knew that she'd never make a promise she didn't intend to keep.
Graydon leaned his chin on his fist, seeming entertained. "How very interesting this all is."
Raider ignored him. "You realize he's a general. Our enemy."
Kira did, in fact, realize that.
"It's not much different than what Jin and I have been doing anyway."
Ferreting out the camps and rescuing the children she found within. At least this time she'd have help.
Finn was the only one in the room who looked like he knew what Kira was talking about. He'd met some of the children she'd saved.
Graydon glanced at her in curiosity. "More secrets. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get to the bottom of you."
He didn't sound upset by that prospect. Instead, he seemed almost delighted.
Kira pretended she didn't hear as she focused on Aeron. "I did what you wanted. Your turn."
"About that—I don't rightly know."
Kira went very still. "What do you mean you don't know?"
"As I said before, I can't give you the answer you seek. Not because I don't want to. But because I don't know it. The location of the home world is one of the most closely guarded secrets we have. A fact I'm sure you're aware of given the difficulty you had procuring the stars maps in your possession."
He wasn't exaggerating about that. It had taken Kira years of searching. Every Tsavitee wreck she'd come across had led to one disappointment after another.
"Even we aren't trusted with that information," Aeron said.
"How is that possible?" Wren asked.
"We're each given a piece of the location. It's rare for those sent out to return. In those cases, you need at least one other key to find your way back."
Raider folded his arms over his chest and glared at the side of Aeron's face. "Like I said before. This is a giant waste of our time. Forget your promise, Kira. Let's just throw him out of the airlock."
"I agree," Wren spoke up from his position in the corner.
Finn remained silent, but Kira could tell he was in favor as well.
Graydon watched Aeron intently, giving no hint of which direction he was leaning.
For Kira's part, she was tempted to go with Raider's suggestion. She didn't like being made a fool of and right now Aeron was dangerously close to doing exactly that.
"Don't get your panties in a twist. All isn't lost," Aeron said. "I may not be able to give you an exact location, but I have been there. If your Sye and I compared notes, I'm sure we could come up with something."
Well, well, well. Would you look at that? Raider's continuous threats had yielded results. Just like always.
"You're saying you can get us to your home world," Kira re-stated, wanting there to be no doubt.
"Possibly."
Kira glanced at Raider. It was better than a no.
"Tell me you're not considering this," Raider asked with a disbelieving look. His eyes widened as he read the answer on her face. "He's a general. An enemy. Not to be trusted."
Wren and Finn's expressions had gone suspiciously blank.
