Not that there was much to do except endure in either instance.Kira wasn’t in any shape to carry him and the rest of their party needed to remain alert in the event of an ambush.
“I don’t even know anymore.I hurt too much to tell.”
Kira regarded him with a tired amusement.“All those years of heckling others and this is how you end up.”
The place Bez had chosen as their rest stop looked to be ruins of some kind.Stones that might have once been walls poked out of the ground.Trees now grew out of half demolished buildings, their roots displacing former pathways.
A plant very similar to ivy covered the crumbling remains of a tower.
With an experienced eye, Kira picked out what she thought might be other towers.Vines covered them as well.A carpet of green and brown from which massive lumps rose.
Jin massaged his thighs.“I want my old body back.”
“Too bad.So sad.It’s gone,” Kira murmured in a preoccupied voice.
She might have been crazy, but she thought she detected a Tuann influence on these ruins.It was hard to describe.More of a feeling than something she could put into words.
“Your support is overwhelming,” Jin shot at her.
At that, Kira glanced at him with a sly smirk.“Face it—we come from the school of tough love.”
She doubted he’d know what to do with an understanding and empathetic Kira.
Jin gave his thighs one last squeeze before straightening to look around.“What do you think happened here?”
Kira shook her head.“No idea.”
But she was betting it had happened a long time ago.Long enough that whatever remained had crumbled into obscurity.
She doubted they’d ever know the details.Just one more mystery on a planet filled with them.
Finn signaled for silence.
For one breathless second, the world quieted.The only sounds the creaking of tree branches and the wind through the ruins.
Kira found herself holding her breath, the pain from her wounds easing as she waited for whoever or whatever to burst out of the forest like an old time horror film.
Adrenaline filled her veins.An old, familiar friend that reminded her of just how she’d survived all these years.
By staying alert and engaged.
The moment lengthened.
Then finally a storm of sound and light.
Kira dove for Jin, knocking him down and rolling them behind the remnants of a wall.
Pye was caught off guard, taking two bullets in his shoulder and abdomen.
“Take cover!”Raider shouted, laying down suppressive fire.
“Stay down,” she urged Jin, huddling over him as best she could.
Jin listened, curling in on himself and covering his ears.
“Shh.Shh,” she soothed as he made whimpering sounds.“I’ve got you.”
Kira looked around to take stock of the situation.Raider was still returning fire with his zuipi/rifle hybrid.
