Nykyrian stepped back. “Next time you want to help a civ, let me know.”
“Why?”
“I have a friend who can help cover tracks.” He held a chip out to Jinx. “You left a trail a mile long with Jayne. That’s the only copy of the footage and we’ve fixed the paperwork so that no one can tell it was altered . . . Fury.”
“Still don’t understand why you’re doing this.”
Nykyrian folded his arms over his chest. “I don’t understand why you did what you did, either. Guess it makes us even.”
“Guess so.”
And with that, Nykyrian left him alone.
Jinx pulled out his reader that The League didn’t know he had and put in the chip.
He winced as he saw the footage that would have had him arrested and executed. “How could I have been so fucking stupid?”
Jinx knew better.
He also knew why.
Emotions.Never let your emotions rule your actions.
How many times had that been drilled into him?
If not for Nykyrian and his unnamed friend . . .
He didn’t want to think about that. So he pulled the chip out, crushed in under his boot.
Then swallowed it.
By the time he shit it out, it’d be utterly destroyed and no one would ever know about it. Provided Nykyrian wasn’t lying and there were no more copies.
God, how he hated trusting someone.
Anyone.
You trust Sav.
But only some days and not with everything.
Had Nykyrian wanted you dead, he could have done it and taken a rank advancement.
Turning him in would have bought the kid a lot of favor with their command. Instead, Nyk had warned him and covered his tracks.
Guess I have a friend, after all.
Nykyrian pulled out his secure link that he kept completely secret. “Yeah, he took it.”
Syn let out a heavy sigh. “You sure you can trust him?”
“No.”
“Then why did you open yourself up for that kind of trouble?”
“What’s he going to do? Kill me?”
Jinx wouldn’t be the first to try. His own mother had left him for dead.
