Eighteen
Kira
Itturnedoutitwasn’t far.Just a few miles as the crow flies.The hills and ravines forced them to detour a few times, but within a couple hours they stood on the bank of a picturesque, slow moving river.Tall trees shaded moss covered boulders.Breaks in the forest canopy allowed the sun’s weak rays to pierce the shadows, bathing the ship in warm light that only served to cast its imperfections into stark relief.
“That’s their ship?Can it even fly?”Bez demanded.
Kira considered the bucket of rust that had brought the pirates to this planet, debating that question herself.“Jin?”
“I don’t know.Maybe,” Jin admitted with a noticeable lack of confidence.
He looked just as dismayed as the rest of them.The pirate’s ship appeared like it was being held together by duct tape and a prayer.
Not the good kind of duct tape either.
“Maybe we can dig out one of the enclave’s ships,” Arly suggested in a faint voice.
The Tuann looked like she was envisioning his future death via giant fireball and wishing she could revisit some of the decisions that had brought her to this point in time.
Kira was too.
In any reputable port of the Consortium, the ship before them would have been considered unfit to fly.There were enough halfheartedly repaired pockmarks and tiny fissures to give a mechanic heart palpitations.
Even if they managed to get it off the ground, the trip promised to be an uncomfortable one.It was small.Close quarters for the duration.
Kira seriously questioned how the pirates thought a ship this size would be enough to ferry them home.
The air scrubbers would have been strained to the max.They would have had to live right on top of each other.It would have been a miracle if they made it to their destination without them tearing each other apart.
Maybe that was the point.
Az eyed the ship.“No one told me humans were insane.”
“Maybe you just weren’t paying attention,” Raider quipped.
He had taken the ship’s state of disrepair in stride.Then again, he was no stranger to sketchy vessels and desperate circumstances.
“I’ll check it out,” Jin offered, holding his arms out to Dylan in expectation.“If nothing else, I’m sure I can dig out records of their flight path.It should also give us a better idea of where we are.”
“Do it,” Kira ordered.
Even if she was willing to abandon the hunt, it would take months to return to Ta Sa’Riel in a ship as slow as this piece of junk.If it managed to hold up in the first place.(And that was a pretty big if.) Either way, Pye wouldn’t survive in his current state.Their best option was to make for the nearest outpost of civilization and hope whoever they found had medical supplies and access to the satellite network that allowed communication across solar systems.
Chances were they’d need to call for a ride.If they also stumbled across whoever took Caius in the process—and that party just happened to be responsible for the attack on Kashori and Asanth—who could blame her for acting in Roake’s best interests?
Jin impatiently jiggled his arms at Dylan when the oshota continued to stare.“I need you to carry me across.I don’t know how deep that water is or what’s in it.I don’t want to risk getting swept away or eaten.”
Raider sent Jin an incredulous look.“The current is barely moving.”
“How am I supposed to know if it’s safe or not?This body is fragile and I’m pretty sure it can’t swim.”
Kira held in her laugh.Barely.She suspected Jin’s concerns stemmed more from the prospect of getting wet than anything else.
“You meanyou’refragile andyoucan’t swim,” Raider argued.
“I said what I said,” Jin returned, a pompous look on his face as Dylan hoisted him onto one shoulder.Jin didn’t break eye contact with Raider, staring the human down the entire time Dylan waded through the water.
“He is ridiculous,” Raider complained under his breath.
