Highly toxic and a favorite method of poison for most of humanity’s history.
“Guess that answers the question of which clan they belong to,” Raider said, letting the man’s arm fall.
Kira frowned.“That doesn’t make sense.Belladonna isn’t near big enough for an operation of this size.”
They were barely a pirate clan at all.Their existence was more rumor and myth than actual fact.
“Current circumstances would appear to contradict that assessment,” Raider said, rising.
“I guess so,” Kira said, her gaze lingering on the dead man’s tattoo before she shook her head and looked at Finn.“Was anyone injured?”
“Jin, Raider and I are fine.”
Kira supposed she should have been clearer.Silly her for assuming he’d know what she meant.
“What about the rest?”
Finn’s tone was stiff.“Caius’s pod took damage.Pye and Az will heal, but they won’t be much use in the interim.”
“Can they move?”
“With difficulty.”
That was better than nothing.Kira wanted to get back to the gate as soon as possible.They’d been attacked twice in a matter of hours.Who knew what else awaited them out here?
Kira realized something.“I saw Pye go down, but I lost track of Az during the fight.”
One moment she was there; the next she was gone.That wasn’t unheard of in a fire fight.The same thing happened with Dylan and Finn.
“It appears she had the same thought Dylan and I did.We found her unconscious next to one of the humans after we finished the rest off.It looks like he got off a lucky shot before she took him out.”
“That was careless of her,” Roderick mused.
Finn’s face said he privately agreed.
“What about Maksym and the rest of the gate party?Have you been able to get in contact with them yet?”Kira asked.
They hadn’t been able to at the compound.Kira had hoped that proximity would change that, but Finn’s shake of the head crushed that hope.
“Do we still not know the reason for the comms blackout?”Kira asked
A second shake of Finn’s head sent disappointment shooting through her.They should have been in comms range by now.
Spotting Jin sitting alone on top of the ruined wall, Kira decided to wrap things up.She was already walking toward him as she said over her shoulder, “Let’s get the injured stabilized so we can get moving.I want to rendezvous with Maksym and the rest as soon as possible.”
Raider ambled after her.
“Penny for your thoughts?”Kira asked Jin.
She infused her voice with a little levity, hating how crestfallen he looked.
He had his arms wrapped around his bent knees and was resting his chin on them as he watched their approach.“Is it always going to be like this?”
Kira didn’t have to ask what he meant by that.“First battles can be hard.”
Fight or flight was a saying for a reason.The physiological reaction allowed the body to confront a coming threat or escape it.But there was also a third option that most never considered—freezing in place.
It was also a lot more common than people thought.
