“Stay here, Raider,” Kira ordered when the human’s attempt to rise was met with a whine and a grimace of pain.
“Gladly.”Raider laid back down.“I really hate this planet, Phoenix.”
“I think I do too,” Kira said over her shoulder as she and Finn headed toward Maksym.
Three attacks in quick succession.It must be a record.
Maksym led them away from the rest of the group until they were standing just inside the tree line.
“What happened?”Kira demanded as soon as they were far enough away to have a modicum of privacy.
“Was any of your party out of sight during your search?”Maksym asked instead.
His question brought Kira up short.“Roderick was.”
“Everyone was at one point or another,” Finn answered.
“True, but Roderick was the only one who spent a significant chunk away from the group,” Kira said.
Hours in which he could have been doing anything.
“Why?”Kira asked.
“Why else?Betrayal.”Maksym met her gaze with a flinty one of his own.“Someone fiddled with the gate.I don’t know when.I don’t know how.We’re lucky Wren believes in a well-rounded education.If I hadn’t spent time under Silas, I might not have realized that the gate’s circuits had been altered.The moment we tried to return to Ta Sa’Riel it would have self-destructed.And before you ask, no, I don’t think humans could have done this.They’re not advanced enough.”
“What made it go off then?”Kira asked.
Obviously, they hadn’t tried to return through the world gate.Otherwise, he wouldn’t be standing here.He’d be dead.
“Remote detonation,” Maksym announced.
“You detonated it?”Finn asked in surprise.
“Had to.We couldn’t get hold of anyone on your side, and I couldn’t risk you trying to return to Ta Sa’Riel.You might have taken Roake’s gate with you.This was the best option, all things considered.”
“You took a risk,” Finn chided.“If we’d been any closer, we might have gotten caught in the explosion.”
Maksym shrugged his massive shoulders.“Had to protect the House.It all worked out anyway.”
That was Maksym.Always looking on the bright side.
“None of this explains why you mentioned betrayal,” Kira said suddenly.
The gate could have easily been tampered with prior to their arrival.Maybe even shortly after the attack.It hardly merited a claim of treachery.
“Ah, that.”Maksym scratched his cheek.“One of Caius’s pod tried to kill me.”
Kira gave him a frustrated look.“You should have led with that.”
Maksym caught her arm when she would have bolted back to check on Jin.“He’s safe enough.Dylan’s not going to let anything happen to him.The oshota’s a mamalu-ongwhen it comes to his charges.”
Kira struggled out of his grip, the knowledge that she only escaped because he let her doing nothing for her temper.“Why did you ask if any of them were out of our sight over the last few hours?”
“Because that gate wasn’t supposed to go up until I found you,” Maksym confessed.“So, either, I made a mistake when setting up the charges.Or—”
“Someone else detonated the world gate,” Kira finished.
Maksym patted her on the head.“Very good, youngest.”
