Kira hoped the oshota didn’t get claustrophobic.Those caches weren’t meant for people.They were cramped and tight.The best ones were also hermetically sealed so as to fool random inspections.
Please let this not be one of those.
Kira could just imagine the uproar if Jin’s oshota suffocated.
Twenty Seven
Kira
KiramovedthroughtheRed Rabbit’s lobby, her forehead creasing as she tried to understand the level of destruction she was seeing.
All the pirates had to do was grab Jin and get out.Yet, this place looked like a grenade had hit it.There were deep grooves in the floor and walls and a hole in its ceiling that exposed some of the duct work.The artwork that had once decorated the walls, now lay ripped and torn on the ground where it could be trampled by careless feet.
In fact, the pirates seemed to have made a point of doing exactly that.Boot prints were easily visible on several of the canvases.
Planters had been overturned.The flowers and trees inside ripped out and tossed carelessly aside.Dirt had been tracked through the halls, leaving an easy trail to follow.
The hotel’s front desk, unique among Titan’s hotels because they employed real people rather than automated reservation systems, had been shoved halfway across the room and now lay on its side.The old fashioned swinging door that had once led to the employee break room was half askew and in danger of falling down if you looked at it wrong.
In front of it, there was a puddle of blood.Singe marks on the wall next to it.
But no body.
Kira hoped that meant the front desk attendant had escaped.
“Why did they do this?”Kira muttered to herself.
If Kira or Jin had been their target, why not come in quietly?Be in and out before anyone noticed.
There’d be less chance of fallout that way.
While violence on Titan was an accepted and normal part of life, it was balanced by the station’s very real need for the influx of cash from visitors.As such, hotels and their guests were usually left alone.
On the occasion when things did happen, they were usually done with a certain amount of discretion in mind.
This wasn’t discreet.It was excessive.Wanton.
It felt personal.
Strange, since as far as Kira knew the Red Rabbit’s owner wasn’t the type to make enemies.They were reclusive, careful to keep a low profile, which Kira had always appreciated.
While business was steady—especially among a certain type of clientele—it wasn’t the sort to draw rivals.
Its only real claim to fame was its access to the secret tunnel system hidden behind its walls.
“Let’s keep moving,” Graydon instructed.
Kira nodded, casting one last glance over the lobby before following him toward Jin’s rooms.
They moved through silent halls.Those inhabitants who’d survived had long since abandoned the area.
Solal and Amila ghosted through the corridors, their en-blades out and easily visible as they guarded Kira and Graydon’s front.Talon sauntered behind them.He’d forgone the en-blade with its longer length for something that was a lot smaller.About the length of his forearm.
It was a good choice.Better for the close quarter combat they were likely to see in narrow corridors like these.
Kira approved.
It didn’t take long to reach the section Kira had reserved for their rooms.
