“Schemes inside of schemes.”Kira glanced at Graydon.“I think the forty-three have something to do with this.”
“What makes you say that?”
She nodded at the list of shell companies.“Those are all plants toxic to the Tuann.”She’d know.She’d fallen afoul of a few of them.“They’re also all common on human planets.”
“I don’t follow,” Dylan said.
“Pityrodia Augustensis.That’s who owns those,” Kira said, more sure than ever of Gus’s presence on this station.
She’d been here this entire time.Jin and Kira never suspected.Not once.
“My siblings are paranoid and highly territorial.Moreover, they’re also very well trained.Only another of the forty-three could do what you see here.”
“It tracks,” Talon interjected.“Their behavior starting six months ago shows them having undergone a significant shift.A change in leadership could be the cause.”
Kira nodded.“That’s what I think too.”
Someone, probably another member of the forty-three, had co-opted Belladonna for their own purposes.
Augustensis could have bowed to pressure and joined them, but somehow Kira thought not.She couldn’t imagine one of her siblings joining forces with someone who had harmed them.
“Is this sibling the reason for the Tuann plants on Titan?”Graydon asked.
“Probably.”
There was a thoughtful look on Graydon’s face as he looked at Dylan.“That’s interesting.”
Dylan’s expression was stony as he met Graydon’s gaze.“TheMycorrare extinct.”
“Appearances would suggest otherwise,” Graydon pointed out.
“That’s not what matters right now,” Dylan said, struggling to contain his impatience.“Jin’s safety is my only priority.All else can wait.”
“He’s right,” Kira agreed.
As interesting as this conversation was, it wouldn’t help Jin or the other children.
“Can you show me where Jin is?”Kira asked the scorpion.
“Certainly.”
The lines of code dissolved, rearranging until a star map of the local sector took shape.A blue dotted line extended from the station into an expansive debris field before fading and then eventually vanishing.
“What are we looking at?”Talon asked.
“The Falling,” Kira answered, studying the hundreds of Tsavitee and human ships suspended in midair.The debris cloud they floated in was so dense that it was difficult to distinguish details of the ships inside.
That was one of the reasons salvagers made such a good living.They spent years studying the flow of the field, identifying what lay within.
“These guys are smart,” Kira said.
“Why do you say that?”Dylan asked.
Rather than answer, Kira glanced at Raider.“Where did you say you lost Martha’s ship?”
He pointed to a spot in the tail of the debris cloud.“Right about there.”
Martha, that bitch, had gotten her again.
