Little flashing lights indicated where the droids contended with the fire. The mindless drones flew around, squelching any hotspot their sensors spotted. They looked like bugs from this distance.
Khalzin had showed her how to change the windows so she didn't have to see out if she didn't want to when he brought her here. Yet, even when she did make them opaque, she still felt the pull to see. It was like staring at an accident, or watching litigation. She couldn't look away, just in case she missed something important. Yet nothing important seemed to be happening.
What it was she looked for, she didn't know.
Maybe someone being caught? A giant sign in the night that said “I did this. Come get me!”
It was better than letting her mind wander too far into the guilt of the situation. She poured herself some tea and crossed to a chair to stare out into the night. And maybe not think about what was keeping her awake.
The apartment was in the same building as Janae. Khalzin had wanted the two of them to be near one another, so Janae would have a friend, he said. Adryel might have found it amusing and sweet if she wasn't getting more and more nervous by the minute, with no answers to anything.
She didn't sleep much, even though the bed was probably the most comfortable she'd ever had. And so quiet, it seemed almost unreal, which meant any sound would wake her immediately. Even on the transport here, a constant hum of the engines added a low buzz of noise everywhere. She got to where she didn’t hear it.
There was background noise on the ship.
Here, there really wasn't any.
Nothing to distract her from the images behind her eyelids. As soon as she closed them, she was back in her apartment, and she saw her friend. What was her friend, anyway, on the floor of her apartment.
She could hear the Rhysgarrds somewhere nearby. Like their laughter or their voices or something. She could feel it.
Then the memories would start firing. Every memory she swore didn't exist came back to her. Some she would never forget--would never admit to knowing, but she couldn't forget. It was like once they started coming to her, then they all flooded her.
She’d worked for the Rhysgarrds for a couple of years. Doing simple work. Errands. Service work. Nothing illegal about it.
But she also heard things.
And saw them, and the things they were doing that were illegal.
They conducted their business right in front of her. She knew exactly when rivals were killed or when deals were going down. She didn't want to be so knowledgeable about their activities, but they didn't bother hiding anything.
They trusted her.
Until they couldn't anymore.
It was her own damn fault.
Now they wanted to kill her because of what she might tell the authorities. She’d tried to hide back in the Trinity Alpha Prime system. After all, planets and moons were not exactly small.
Didn’t seem to work, even though she’d tried.
She thought she would be safe, here in space, in this Galactic Alliance program. But with this explosion, she wondered if she really was. Ship bombs? The crime bosses had the means to do it. They’d done it before, anyway.
Could they have tracked her here?
She thought about the policing agent that came by looking for her. If he--even if he was on the level, though she wasn't sure--saw where she was because of the Galactic Alliance Science Society's checks, then anyone could have seen the same requests and data.
And anyone could have tracked her.
She rubbed her head. It was enough to make her crazy.
Her eyes got hot again, and filled with tears. The idea that this happened because of her.
It made her sick.
The odds were high it was her fault, but still possible.
“Okay, I have to let this go,” she muttered to herself. Even if they knew where she was, they wouldn't possibly be able to track her here. Hell, she didn't know for sure where she was going until a week ago.
