"Zero. I killed zero."
Because she was more focused on stealth in order not to draw undue attention. Unlike a certain someone.
"To each their own, I guess." Raider wiped the blade on his leg before sticking it back in its sheath. "What about the others? Did you see where they landed?"
"No. You?"
Raider jutted his chin toward the south west. "Finn and Talon landed somewhere around there." He pointed to the north. "Graydon and the rest were in that direction."
She'd suspected they'd wind up pretty far apart, but Raider's words confirmed it.
Getting separated wasn't rare for the Curs. It had happened on many other missions. Although never ideal, she and Raider were trained to operate alone when things like this happened.
"What's the plan?" Raider checked the status of his weapons. "Are we rendezvousing with the others?"
"We don't have the luxury of time. Jin says Elena's situation is critical."
"How critical?"
"The kind where every second counts,” Jin answered, heading toward the cliff and away from the heart of the city.
"What does that mean?" Raider demanded, following. "Isn't your spawn with her?"
Kira brought up the rear, sending one last uneasy glance at the curved structure with its reflective windows.
"No," Jin answered, his voice grim.
Raider sucked in a breath, increasing his pace until he was beside the drone. "You were supposed to stay with her!"
He shoved Jin. Surprisingly, Jin let him.
"Raider," Kira warned.
His eyes were wild as he swung toward her. "He was supposed to protect her!"
"He did his best," Kira said.
Whatever else happened, she was sure of that much. Jin would never have willingly placed that little girl in danger.
At her rebuke, Raider turned away from them, scrubbing his hands over his face.
Kira relaxed a little, satisfied that he wasn't going to vent any further emotions on Jin.
"What happened?" Raider asked when he'd gotten control of himself. "Why weren't you with her?"
They started walking again as Jin led the way through some trees and around strange looking plants to the base of the cliff.
"I was with her. At least part of me was."
Kira held her silence, for once not upset at Jin’s tendency of replicating his spawn. He could have created an army and she would have been okay with that.
"Was?" Raider asked, latching onto the important part of that statement.
"There's something about the room she's in. I don't know what it was, but it severed my connection. Every spawn I've attempted to send in has met with a similar fate."
They arrived at a section of the cliff covered in a mass of vines.
"I think you need to tell us exactly what happened," Kira said.
