Despite his appearance, Kira couldn't let herself forget who and what she was dealing with.
If Elise's words were true and the generals weren't willing partners to the Tsavitee's masters, it stood to reason that Aeron's upbringing was similar to Kira and the forty three's. He'd be trained to adapt to any situation. To manipulate and sabotage in the pursuit of his mission.
The question was if that mission aligned with Kira's goals.
As if to remind her of this, Aeron made a show of examining the room behind Kira. "I was so sure Elise would be beside you when you finally remembered I existed. Yet I don't see her. Did something happen?"
It was as if Aeron already knew the answer. His smile widening as the atmosphere in the room plummeted.
Kira's gaze moved behind Aeron. To Wren. Her seon'yer's face remained unyielding. His control over his emotions impeccable despite the topic revolving around the daughter he'd lost in the Sorrowing.
Aeron twisted to see who she was looking at. "Ah, that's right. Elise was yours, wasn't she? How was the reunion?"
Wren's gaze dropped to the general, something deadly moving in the back of his eyes. He didn't speak, simply stared.
If they hadn't needed Aeron, Kira was pretty sure he would have died right then and there.
Losing interest in Wren, Aeron faced forward. "I'm guessing she did something. What was it? Escape? Another betrayal of some kind?"
Raider leaned a hip on the table next to Aeron, staring down at the other from his higher vantage point. "Are you sure we need him?"
"If we don't, he's all yours," Kira answered, not taking her eyes off Aeron.
Something flashed across the general's face before it was gone. Ah, so he was nervous.
"You're quite the conundrum, Aeron. I haven't been able to figure you out," Kira said conversationally.
He could have run after Elise broke him out of prison. Everything Kira knew about generals said they were self-serving assholes willing to sacrifice their subordinates for their own survival. But instead of taking the opportunity Elise procured for him, he'd decided to stick around. Not helping Kira during her confrontation with Elise, but not hindering her either.
It was a surprise. Kira wasn't a fan of those. Particularly not when they involved an enemy's behavior.
It made Aeron unpredictable. An enemy who couldn't be anticipated was a dangerous one.
"You know what I want," Aeron said.
Kira tapped the table, lost in thought. "Freedom for your people."
At least that's what he'd implied. Elise had confirmed it as well.
Raider's quiet snort of disbelief said he wasn't buying it either.
"You can see why I might have trouble believing that given the history between us," Kira explained.
The generals had been a thorn in her side for years. If they weren't trying to actively kill her, they were hatching schemes to trap and enslave her. Such behavior made it difficult to build trust.
"You must need me though," Aeron stated calmly before his gaze shifted to Graydon. "What's the going punishment for treason these days? Beheading? Exile? I'd really like to know."
Graydon quirked an eyebrow at Kira. "I thought you said he was smart. I certainly can't tell it from his current actions."
"He's young, and he thinks he has the upper hand. It makes him bold."
Raider leaned over Aeron. "Kira and I have experience dealing with idiots like that. Don't we, Nixxy?"
"I suppose you're referencing the time you killed Arz," Aeron said with a cool glance. "He was a distant relative of mine."
"I could tell you how he died if you like," Raider offered.
The general didn't take his eyes off Raider as he spoke to Kira. "Mind games? Really, Phoenix? These tactics are beneath you. Stop wasting my time and tell me what you want."
Very well then.
"The Tsavitee home world. Where is it?"
Aeron's face betrayed his surprise. "Why do you need to know that?"
"Ah, ah." Raider shook his finger at him playfully. "We're the ones asking questions."
Aeron studied the room, noting the presence of those around him—along with the deafening absence of who should be. His eyes met Kira's in realization. "I was right. This is about Elise."
Kira's expression went cold.
The ship's engines cycled, the sound loud in the sudden silence. Their whine reached a crescendo and there was a slight jolt that came with the ship lifting off the ground. The motion was much smoother than it'd been before. Almost imperceptible as they arrowed toward the sky.
"Isn't this a pickle?" Aeron drawled.
Raider lost his temper at that, grabbing Aeron by the throat and squeezing. "I'm getting tired of your yapping. Answer the question. Where is the Tsavitee home world?"
"Raider," Kira warned.
Raider continued to strangle the other man with one hand. Long enough that Kira thought she'd have to physically intervene.
Graydon held a hand in front of her when she would have risen. He shook his head faintly in warning.
Aeron made a choking sound. A laugh Kira realized a second later as his face started to turn red.
He rolled his eyes up toward the human, still chuckling.
Raider flung him away. "Fucking weirdo."
Aeron bent forward, wheezing as he fought to suck in breath. "Sorry to disappoint but I don't really care what you do to me. I can't give you the answer you want. It's simply impossible."
Finn grabbed Raider before the human could throw himself at Aeron.
"Easy," Finn cautioned.
Raider shrugged out of the oshota's hold but didn't try to attack Aeron again. "Kira, let's go with my earlier suggestion. Throw him out of an airlock if he's not going to be useful."
Kira pretended to consider it. "What do you say, Aeron? The suggestion isn’t half bad."
While it would be a shame to kill Aeron after they'd gone to all this trouble, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. Kira had no need for dead weight on this mission. Who knew? Maybe Raider's threat would incentivize him to stop wasting her time.
Kira wouldn't hold her breath though.
Caution finally entered Aeron's face as he saw that she wasn't kidding. "It's not that I don't want to help you. It's simply impossible."
"That's not going to work for me," Kira told him.
If he couldn't help her, she had no need for him. If she didn't let Raider kill him, she could always drop him down the deepest, darkest hole she could find. Maybe it would soften him up and allow him to see things her way.
"What about the Sye? Aren't you still working with them?" Aeron asked, referencing one of Kira's companions. The person Kira knew as Odin. Like the generals, Odin's kind was enslaved by the Tsavitee's masters. Their most trusted pets.
The Sye were a unique race that possessed minor shape changing abilities that allowed them to shift between male, female, and a third, gender neutral form that the name for their race came from. The Sye. A word that when translated roughly meant "All and none."
"Odin doesn't know how to return to your home world."