"We're each given a piece of the location. It's rare for those sent out to return. In those cases, you need at least one other key to find your way back."
Raider folded his arms over his chest and glared at the side of Aeron's face. "Like I said before. This is a giant waste of our time. Forget your promise, Kira. Let's just throw him out of the airlock."
"I agree," Wren spoke up from his position in the corner.
Finn remained silent, but Kira could tell he was in favor as well.
Graydon watched Aeron intently, giving no hint of which direction he was leaning.
For Kira's part, she was tempted to go with Raider's suggestion. She didn't like being made a fool of and right now Aeron was dangerously close to doing exactly that.
"Don't get your panties in a twist. All isn't lost," Aeron said. "I may not be able to give you an exact location, but I have been there. If your Sye and I compared notes, I'm sure we could come up with something."
Well, well, well. Would you look at that? Raider's continuous threats had yielded results. Just like always.
"You're saying you can get us to your home world," Kira restated, wanting there to be no doubt.
"Possibly."
Kira glanced at Raider. It was better than a no.
"Tell me you're not considering this," Raider asked with a disbelieving look. His eyes widened as he read the answer on her face. "He's a general. An enemy. Not to be trusted."
Wren and Finn's expressions had gone suspiciously blank.
"We did break him out of prison," Kira pointed out.
The whole point of this exercise was to get something useful from it.
Raider's face held stubbornness.
"If you have a better plan, I'm all ears," Kira said.
They were up against the wall, and it was time to do something crazy to shake things up.
"This probably won't work, and he'll try to betray us before the end," Raider warned.
"Maybe, but we could also get lucky and find something unexpected on the journey," Kira shot back.
This was a familiar refrain from their time as Curs. Something they'd said more than once on missions that were tantamount to suicide. It meant don't give up just because all looked hopeless. Keep moving forward. Because it might work.
That hope was what had driven them to surmount impossible odds on more than one occasion.
Knowing he'd already lost, Raider switched his focus to Graydon. "You're awful quiet. You must have some opinion on this."
Kira waited, interested in Graydon's response.
Whatever he planned to say was lost as the uncomfortable feeling that had been growing in Kira over the last few minutes edged into true pain. Agony lanced her brain. The barely scabbed over wound that represented Jin's place in her psyche was ripped open, leaking her soul's essence.
"Kira!"
Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe?
Kira's vision tunneled. Arms closed around her, hauling her off the ground. She didn't need to see to know they belonged to Graydon.
"Easy, coli. I've got you," Graydon whispered.
There was the sound of something breaking and then Raider's roar. "What did you do to her?"
It was the last thing Kira heard before she went limp.
Graydon
Graydon cradled Kira to his chest, watching as runes scrawled across her face and arms. They reappeared and vanished one after another. The shade of her skin shifted back and forth between graphite gray and her normal shade.
"That's interesting. She's caught between states. Almost like her primus wants to rise but can't," Aeron murmured with detached curiosity.
Raider yanked him to his feet. "What's wrong with her?"
There was something almost feral about the human’s actions. His eyes on the verge of madness.
Finn moved closer, not saying anything as he caressed the hilt of his en-blade. The gesture a threat.
"Don't look at me. For once, I'm innocent," Aeron said with a twisted amusement.
Raider shook him. "Liar."
"Ask the emperor's Face. He knows what's going on or at least has a guess. Just look at him," Aeron challenged.
Graydon didn't look up from the woman in his arms as he checked Kira with his senses. Quillon had warned him this was a possibility. Jin's absence had left a hole in Kira's soul. A wound that would kill her slowly unless she could fill it in some way. Until now, she'd somehow managed to stay fine. Probably due to the abundance of ki on Ta Sa'Riel and the Mea'Ave's own will.
Removing her had caused a backlash. Hence her collapse.
"He's right. You do know," Raider said, letting Aeron go. "Tell me what's going on."
Raider's demand fell on deaf ears.
Graydon put a hand on Kira's chest, channeling some of his ki through their bond. He wasn't a healer but their connection would offset his lack.
Wren knelt beside them. "Graydon—"
"We're not turning back," Graydon responded, already anticipating what Wren planned to say. "She wouldn't want that."
If there was one thing his coli was, it was stubborn. She'd be furious if she woke up to find herself planetside.
Wren touched one of the faded outlines of her runes. "This is dangerous."
"My decision is final." Graydon lifted Kira into his arms and rose.
"Of course, we're not turning back," Raider argued, his face holding confusion and worry. "Kira would kill you. So would I for that matter."
Finn stood by Aeron's side, one hand on the general's shoulder to hold him in place and make sure he didn't escape. There was anxiety and concern in the oshota's face as he watched Kira, the desire to attend to his sword warring with his duties to secure her interests. In this case, making sure their prisoner didn't try to go anywhere while they were all distracted.
"She's fading, isn't she?" Aeron said out of nowhere.
Every Tuann in the room stiffened before eyeing the general with hostility.
"What is he talking about?" Raider's gaze moved from Wren to Graydon and finally to Finn. "Someone explain to the poor, dumb human in the room."
Aeron's lips quirked in a humorless smile. "It's a sign of extreme grief."
Graydon raised his head at the vague note of knowing in Aeron's voice. As if the general had experience with this phenomenon.
"Why would she be grieving? There's no reason for that. Everyone is still alive," Raider said with an edge in his voice, looking like he'd explode if anyone tried to correct him.
"Jin isn't elsewhere on the ship, is he?" Aeron asked, acting like he hadn't heard. "The Tsavitee have him."
Raider pointed at him. "Shut your mouth. You don't know what you're talking about."
"She's connected to the soul bound in some way. That's why he's different from the rest. She's sustaining him and without him here to complete the bond, she's dying."
There was a crack. Aeron slumped to the floor unconscious as Raider stared in confusion.
"Thank you," Graydon told Finn.
The oshota gave him a firm nod. "He talked too much."
"He's wrong though, right?" Raider pressed. "Elena and Jin aren't dead. There's no reason for Kira to fade or whatever."
The silence that answered filled Raider's face with desperation.
"They're all fine, right?" he asked again, emotion thickening his voice.