His only choice was slow or fast.
“You never asked me a question,” the human blurted.As with most humans when they became desperate, he turned to bargaining.“Whatever it is, I’ll answer.You don’t even have to take me with you.Just let me go.”
Raider wagged his finger at him.“Ah.Ah.Ah.Trust, remember?You don’t have ours.The clans are notorious for how tight-lipped they are.You won’t tell me what clan you’re with.It’s against the code, isn’t it?Mum’s the word when you’re captured.Adds to the mystique.Just like I also know you’ll never tell me where your hideout is.”
“That’s not true,” the human cried.
He was freaking out.If Kira hadn’t seen what he and his friends had done at the enclave, she might have felt sorry for him.As it was, she’d like to drop him out of an air hatch at ten thousand feet.
“You need me,” the human insisted.
Raider shook his head regretfully.“In fact, I don’t.You see Red over there.She has experience with you lot.Actually, you might know her.”
At his signal, Kira rolled up the sleeves of her jacket to expose the tattoo of two intertwined crescent moons facing in opposite directions, one above the other.Spiked lines radiated from them with small dots of varying sizes creating a curved line both above and below the moons.
Though not her only tattoo, it was one of the few that had always been visible.She’d accumulated others in her time with the Tuann as her experiences changed her.The majority, however, were usually invisible unless her primus was active.As if they were drawn in invisible ink beneath her skin and its presence brought them back to the surface.
Harlow had told her those runes and symbols were a language.Proclaiming not just her lineage but the shape of her soul.Very few could read them.From what she knew even fewer had the number she did.It was one more mystery in the legend that was Kira.
Because they’d always been with her, the crescent moons were something of an identifying mark.
The human recognized them instantly.His voice lowered to a hushed tone.“The Reaper.”
Raider paused, sliding Kira a look that said he couldn’t wait to ask her about this later.
“Oh, good.You’re familiar.That saves time,” Raider crooned.
The man searched the air over Kira’s shoulder, his expression growing increasingly terrified.
Jin coughed and stepped forward.“Am I who you’re looking for?”
The lack of comprehension on the human’s face made Jin roll his eyes.“How about now?”
A J1N drone rose out of his backpack.It twisted to focus its “eye” on the kneeling human.
The man keened and would have tried to flee if Arly hadn’t kicked him back to the ground and then planted her boot on his chest.
“Why are they always more afraid of you than they are of me?”Kira complained.
It should have been the other way around.She was way less forgiving than Jin.
“Shh.There now.You’re scary too,” Jin soothed.
Kira sniffed and looked away.
“You still haven’t asked me your question,” the human insisted.
“Ah yes, I’m getting to that.”Raider looked irritated at the interruption.“I haven’t even hurt you yet.I don’t know why you’re so eager.”
“What did you do to make them so afraid of you?”Bez asked.
Kira and Jin looked at each other, their smiles appearing at the same time.
“The better question is whatdidn’twe do,” Jin drawled.
There was a time they hadn’t suffered pirates lightly.They’d taken any and every opportunity to fuck with them and the syndicates.It made life dangerous, but in that phase of her existence it was what she’d been looking for.
“Now for my question.”Raider leaned forward and waited for the human to look at him.“Where is your ship?”
