“Why do you automatically assume this was my fault?”
It could just as easily have been Bez or one of the other two.
“Woman, I know you.You’ve never met a problem you didn’t think could be solved by making things go boom.”
“Are you sure you’re not talking about yourself?”
“I wasn’t here, was I?You were.”
Kira grudgingly admitted he had a point.“It wasn’t like I intended for this to happen.It was an accident.”
One she still hadn’t figured out.The ship shouldn’t have gone up like that.She was certain of it.
“If there are snipers, it’s going to make our exfil difficult,” Raider pointed out.
“Maybe not as much as you think.”Seeing the question on Raider’s face, Kira expanded.“I saw the landslide swallow them.There’s no way they survived that.”
The chances of there being two snipers in whatever group the pirates had left behind was low but not zero.Snipers required specialized training that wasn’t always so readily available to civilians.That rarity was what made them so highly coveted by the clans.
Kira was actually surprised to find one here.It wasn’t the clans’ normal operating procedure.
Ambushes—yes.
A sniper that was likely contracted for this specific job—no.
Pirates were opportune hunters.They didn’t waste time and energy when the payoff was uncertain.
Unless they were working with an employer, Kira conceded.In that case, she could see them devoting resources they might not otherwise.
It was nothing but a theory—but a good one.It would explain a lot.
Like why the pirates had attacked the enclave in the first place.Normally, they went after softer targets.Shipping freighters or civilian vessels.Not heavily armed aliens with a reputation for being deadly in battle.
Caius was likely their primary target.The children would have been a bonus.
“It’d be interesting to know if other enclaves in this sector of space have been hit lately,” Kira mused out loud.
While the others looked at Kira in confusion, Jin easily followed her train of thought.“You think it’s starting again?”
Kira was calm as she met his gaze.“As we’ve seen in the past, every time we cut off one head, two more rise to take its place.Perhaps they found a new source of product that we were unaware of.”
It made Kira’s skin crawl to refer to the children as “product”, but that’s what they were in the eyes of their captors.
“House Maxiim,” Finn announced abruptly.
Kira started to frown at him before remembering that House Maxiim was the name of Joule and Ziva’s former House.The one that had fallen before Kira had saved them.To pirates, if she remembered correctly.Though those had been of the Tuann variety.
“Their stronghold was located in this sector of space,” Finn continued.
Kira stared at Jin, a sinking feeling in her stomach.“What are the chances?”
Jin’s small features were grim.“I really hope we’re wrong about this.”
Kira did too.
“What are you guys talking about?”Bez asked.
Kira glanced over to find Raider looking at her with a hard expression, having guessed what Kira and Jin suspected.Bez and the other two had frowns on their faces.Their upset at being left out easy to read.
