Jace's lips quirked. "You did your job a little too well during the last war. The Curs have a reputation now. When people hear they're entering the battlefield, it gives them hope. Boosts morale. We could use all of that we can get."
No wonder Raider looked like someone had pissed in his bed. This was the death of everything he’d worked for. The career he'd built over a decade. All going up in flames before his eyes.
Raider couldn’t ignore this order. Not and get away with it. If he failed to comply, he’d be court martialed when Centcom got their hands on him. Desertion during a time of war sometimes carried a death penalty. Minimum, he'd spend time in a brig.
He was between a rock and a hard place.
"This is awkward," Kira drawled.
"How's that?"
"I'm on a mission for House Roake. It's not convenient for us to re-route at this point. We're weeks away from human territory, and I'm on a time crunch. Your needs will have to wait."
Jace's eyes narrowed, suspicion forming as he squinted at Kira. "That's interesting. I didn't realize your status in House Roake had advanced to the point you were being given missions."
“A lot has changed in the last few weeks. You understand, don't you?”
Jace's expression had gone blank as he tapped his desk in thought. “If I remember right, you never submitted your exit packet either. Technically, you're still under Centcom's command.”
“That trick won't work on me this time.”
She was now a fully-fledged member of House Roake. Protected by the full might of her House. Humans couldn’t touch her. Jace knew it too.
"Don't worry," Kira said with a smirk as she reached forward to end the transmission. "Next time I'm near a Consortium planet, I'll make sure to put these two on a transport. Until then, you'll have to make do with the Curs you still have."
The transmission shut down before he could respond.
Raider kicked the back of a seat. "This is bullshit."
"You can come in, Blue," Kira called.
Blue poked her head around the door frame. "Is it over?"
"You're safe,” Kira said with a glance at Raider.
At least for now.
Blue joined them on the bridge. “I don't understand why we're not telling Jace about Elena and Jin. Not to be negative or anything but going up against a Tsavitee horde with just the few of us is a suicide mission. Jace’s fleet at our back would be awful nice to have on hand."
"No," Raider snapped.
"What Raider means to say is that anyone who learns about Elena's heritage becomes an avenue through which information could leak,” Kira interjected, trying to smooth things over.
"The admiral wouldn't do that," Blue protested.
Kira nodded. "He wouldn't. But what about those around him?"
Blue’s forehead wrinkled in thought. She’d probably never considered it from that perspective.
"Then there's that transmission. How many hands does it pass through before it reaches Jace?"
Any transmission would have to route through several stations and satellites to reach Jace's ship. It took just one compromised relay point for the Tsavitee to know everything they’d discussed. There was no way to guarantee the information's security.
If Odin had taught her anything, it was that no encryption was unbreakable.
Even with Harlow's upgrades to Kira's comm system, there were points that could be exploited.
Kira would rather be paranoid than risk Elena's information getting into the wrong hands.
Kira met Blue’s gaze firmly. "Jace was a major player in the last war. They'll be watching him. We have to do this quickly and quietly without anyone knowing what we're up to."
It was the only way they would succeed.
Kira and Raider shared a glance. This was why they'd kept Elena's identity as his daughter from the other woman as long as they had. And why Kira hadn't immediately revealed what was going on with Jin.
What they were asking put Blue in a compromising situation. She was being pulled between two loyalties. The one she felt towards them. And the oath she'd sworn to Centcom and the fleet.
Raider's gaze dropped to the J1N Blue was absentmindedly cradling. "Did you finish? Does it work?"
Blue lifted the J1N up for them to see. "Congratulations are in order. I accomplished the impossible."
Her grin nearly split her face as the J1N came alive. It lifted out of Blue's palms, twisting back and forth as the 'eye' that was an inside joke between Kira and Jin moved in and out of focus.
"What do you think?" Blue asked excitedly.
That was a good question. What did Kira think?
The J1N was the culmination of decades of upgrades to a machine that had passed its end of life years ago. While others of its kind were considered obsolete, this version was outfitted with the most advanced weaponry known to man or Tuann. Or Haldeel for that matter.
Kira would wager its surveillance capabilities outstripped anything on the market. The hundreds of cameras they'd installed provided its user a comprehensive, panoramic view.
At Kira's continued silence, Blue's face showed a trace of uncertainty.
"It feels soulless," Kira finally managed.
Wrong at its basest level. Jin's personality filled a room, even when he didn't say a thing. He wasn't this…machine.
If she could, she wouldn’t have this thing anywhere near her. Not on her bridge. Not in her ship. Not even in the same galaxy.
Everything about it made her skin crawl. The desire to be anywhere but here almost too strong to ignore.
Seeing Blue's excitement fade, Kira tried for a smile. "You did a good job. Exactly what I asked for."
Raider nodded. "At the very least, it’ll make people stop asking about him."
Blue glanced between them, reading their resistance to the J1N on their faces. "This won't do. For this to work, you have to treat him like the real Jin. Try calling him by name. Say Jin."
Kira’s lip curled in immediate rejection. This machine wasn’t Jin.
"Jiiiinnnnn," Blue repeated, drawing his name out into several syllables.
"Do you want to die today?" Kira asked.
Blue looked affronted. "This was your plan, remember? How do you expect to fool anyone if you can't even call him by name?"
"The kid has a point, " Raider pointed out.
"See!" Blue exclaimed.
"Fine."
If they were going to make that big a deal about this, she'd give them what they wanted.
"Jin. Happy now?" Kira asked.
"Ecstatic."
Raider sent Kira a sympathetic look as Blue flounced off the bridge, leaving the J1N behind. "It's a good plan."
"I know."
That didn't make its implementation any easier though.
"Jin is not going to be happy about what I've done to his body when we finally get him back," Kira said.
"He'll understand you did what you had to."
"I hope so."
"Besides, he's the one who left his body unattended. He can't complain if someone else put it to good use."
Kira smirked at her friend. "I'm going to let you be the one who explains that to him."
A knock came from the open hatch. Kira looked over to find Joule standing on the threshold.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Since you're awake, Devon and I were wondering if you'd like to oversee today's training session."
That wasn't a bad idea. After the last few days of inactivity, Kira could use a little training herself.
"When is it?" she asked.