“Outsider politics is uninteresting and irrelevant,” Jeheni snapped.
“No, it is not,” Regi snapped back in the same tone. “What you're seeing are the results from a Belfin mine attack. The mines attach to the hull of the ship and drain energy. But rather than store it, they release the energy into space. If enough mines attach to an individual ship, the ship's reserve power can be drained within hours, leaving the ship a flying coffin full of dead bodies.” Regi worded it in the harshest way possible to break through the xenophobic shell Jeheni embraced with such fervor.
A hush filled every corner of the room and every face reflected Regi's horror.
“Illogical. Why would these weapons appear in Kowri space?”
Five seconds ago, Regi would not have had the answer to that. But the moment Jeheni asked the question, Regi knew why there were Belfin weapons in Kowri space.
“The Belfin trade with pirates. Pirates have been poaching dops for their poison, and dops are only found in Kowri space. How many habitable planets are in this sector?”
Jeheni stared at him for a moment before he turned to another Kowri.
“Six,” the Kowri said in a tremulous voice.
“Do we know how many have dops?”
Jeheni continued to stare at the same officer, but he ducked his head in a negative and touched his thumbs to his temple to call for the gods blessings, although Regi wasn't sure who he was praying for. Perhaps all of them since Divashi had chosen to bless them with new opportunities to die.
“They must have mined the corridor they use to get into our space so that they would have warning if we sent ships after them,” Regi mused. It made sense. It all made sense.
“They will regret harming our sacred animals and entering our territory,” Jeheni said with a growl. “How do we defeat this weapon?” Despite his fervent hatred for all outsiders and Regi as their ally, he moved to finding a solution.
“A targeted electrical burst can usually overload the electronics, but it has to come from close range. We either need a ship I can pilot or some sort of drone we can send in.”
Jeheni turned to another officer. She stood so she could look over the tallest of the consoles. “We have single Kowri fighters capable of that sort of attack, but we will need to know how to calibrate the weapons.”
“We’ll need a rotating series of frequencies. The mines are designed to shield themselves, but if the frequencies change often enough, the shielding will fail. I also need Vk here radioing me navigational information.”
“Absolutely not,” Jeheni barked.
Regi growled and allowed his ears to flatten to his skull. He would not play nice while lives were in danger. “She is the only one I have trained with. She knows Belfin mines and their defenses, so she can give me better information than any of your people.”
“I will not have an outsider in here.”
Regi stepped forward, trembling in his rage. “Being an exalted of Divashi means I must do the impossible. I rushed into an area soaked with radiation because that was what was required. I am now telling you that having Vk on a monitoring station is required. You either accept the challenge Divashi has put in front of you or all opportunity will be lost and all souls on that ship will die.”
Jeheni stood, his fur bristling as he glared at Regi, but Regi did not back down. He could not back down. If he did, Dante and Ter and every Kowri on that ship would die because the number of energy readings bleeding from the ship suggested they were covered in Belfin mines.
After an impossible length of time where not even a junior technician dared breathe, Jeheni growled, “Fine. But a Kowri will sit with your outsider.”
“Sit with, yes. But they will not interfere with her.” Regi turned to his mother and touched his thumbs to his temple in supplication. “I ask you to guard her back and speak for me,” he said in formal tones.
She touched her thumbs to her temples. “I shall speak for you and guard what you find of value and seek the answers you would have known.”
Regi turned to the officer who had spoken of Kowri fighters. “Show me your ships and give me instruction on the controls. The mines will target me with energy blasts, so I must be able to navigate quickly.”
The officer looked at Jeheni before giving Regi a nod. “I must suggest that one of our pilots would be better able to handle the controls.”
“I have trained extensively on countering Belfin weapons. Your pilots cannot match my proficiency in battle, even if they know the ships better.”
“That arrogance may get you killed.” Surprisingly, Jeheni sounded thoughtful rather than angry.
Regi gave a rough laugh. “If it were not for my goddess, I would have died months ago as my ship fell into a black hole. That scared me. However, I remember being a child obsessed with all that Gavd touched, including his ships, and I have years of training in Belfin weapons. Those gods-forsaken villains willnot kill me.” He would not die, and he would not lose Dante and Ter. He would not allow that to happen.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dante sighed as Ter huffed. “I do not need to learn any of this.” He pushed a tablet off the table, the computer clattering against the floor. Dante expected Ter to show more respect for a computer, but it was a child’s console, something appropriate for Ter’s supposed new status.
