Graydon folded his hands in front of him. "Do you have another way off this planet?"
Kira waved madly at the ship around them.
"You'd leave me behind?" Pallas asked, sounding hurt.
"In a heartbeat."
In fact, there was nothing she'd like better.
"Another blade at our back wouldn't be the worst thing," Graydon pointed out.
"Trust me, it could."
Graydon wasn't acquainted with Pallas's particular brand of mayhem. He didn't realize what he was asking.
Graydon's gaze moved to the console. "To leave him behind, we'd have to be able to steal his ship. How's that going by the way?"
Kira avoided his eyes as she crossed her arms. Not well.
"Then there's no alternative. We need a ship. He has a ship," Graydon said with an air of finality.
"Fine," Kira said, giving in. "He can come. But only until I rendezvous with the Wanderer."
"We'll see," Pallas allowed.
"No. We won't."
Kira was ditching him at the first moment possible.
Pallas brushed past Kira as she moved to the side.
"Look at this. You weren't even close." He tsked as he took a seat in the captain's chair she'd vacated. "Jin must be the brains in your operation."
"Don't," Kira warned in a guttural voice that made Graydon straighten to give her a cautious look.
Pallas's hands never stopped as he logged into the ship's controls. "Sensitive. You should really fix that or else your enemies will take advantage."
"You would know."
Pallas paused. "I'm not the enemy, Kira. I never was. That's a story you made up to make yourself feel better about abandoning us."
Kira gave him a startled look. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing, Kira. We wouldn't want to threaten your fragile view of the world."
Kira's eyes narrowed. "No, you brought it up. Obviously, you have something to say. What is it?"
Graydon was a quiet presence at her back, watching the two of them carefully.
Pallas let out a sigh, twisting to face her. "You want to do this now? Okay. Might as well since we're going to be bosom buddies for the next little while. A chance to clear the air and everything. You want to hold the past against us? Turnabout is fair play. We didn't abandon you. You abandoned us first."
That wasn't fair.
"What did you expect me to do? Leave Jin there to die? He wouldn't have survived the punishment for our escape."
"Despite what you may think, none of the forty three has ever disagreed with your sacrifice in remaining behind to get Jin out."
Pallas's expression was unnaturally serious. He was always the one with a roguish smirk or grin. Even when something bad was happening, he never lost that devil-may-care attitude.
