This ship had its claws on the outside. Practically shouting that it wasn't to be fucked with.
Curious, Kira touched a wing, trailing her fingers over the metal and finding it cool to the touch. Inert. Another difference. The metal in Tuann ships felt alive. Her touch should have woken a reaction. A shimmer of colors to announce the ship's awareness of her presence.
"What are you?" Kira murmured, studying the ship in its entirety.
Tuann designed but Consortium made. Outfitted for a fight and just begging to be stolen.
"Jin was so right. Piracy really is fun."
Though technically she considered this closer to pure theft than piracy.
"Piracy is banned in all known territories of space,” the J1N said from above her.
"Then it's a good thing we're not in any of those territories."
She was pretty sure.
"My programing does not allow me to participate in a known felony. Should you continue on this course, I will be forced to take action."
That got Kira’s attention as she eyed the drone carefully.
Given the amount of firepower she and Jin had installed, that was a serious threat. To make matters worse, she couldn't do anything that would cause harm to Jin's original body.
"J1N, what are the rules on salvaging ships?"
There was a brief pause. "These vary based on the government enforcing them."
"Yes, they do, but a common theme throughout Haldeel, Tuann, and human space is that an abandoned ship is up for grabs by whoever chooses to salvage it."
As a former salvager, Kira was familiar with all of the laws governing the recovery of abandoned and dead ships. Although most humans focused on Tsavitee ships, there had been the odd one here and there who would target the Consortium's relics. She'd wanted to know the rules just in case.
"That is correct," the J1N said after a moment.
"Do you see anyone nearby who could lay claim to this ship?"
"That would be a negative."
"Then this isn't theft or piracy—we're simply salvaging an abandoned ship," Kira explained.
"I see."
With a sense of victory, Kira turned to the ship's airlock, only to find herself stymied a second later.
"Ah, crap," Kira muttered.
She didn't recognize the security system. Given the way the ship bristled with weapons like an unfriendly hedgehog, she should have expected its owner to go the extra mile to prevent unauthorized entry.
She was a decent hacker, but this was far beyond her skills. Jin, on the other hand, would have had no problem.
That actually gave her an idea.
Kira crooked her finger at the J1N. "Come here."
The drone was sluggish to obey, drifting toward her in fits and starts. Its lens ending up facing away from her despite being pointed in the right direction to begin with.
Kira made a frustrated sound before yanking the drone into position.
"Stay there."
She opened the J1N's access panel located at the bottom of the drone. Its leads dropped.
Normally, Jin could have wirelessly hacked the hatch, but since the J1N was a pale facsimile of him, she had to go old school.
That meant manually splicing into the system before using the J1N's programs to trick the door into opening. And hope the ship didn't use her for target practice in the meantime.
It didn't take long, the ship de-pressurizing several minutes later as the hatch opened.
"That was easy," Kira muttered with a frown.
A little too easy.
Despite that, Kira wasted no time, detaching the J1N's wires from the ship's access panel before stuffing them back into the bottom of the drone.
"Follow me and don't do anything stupid," Kira ordered, extending the akieri into its sword form.
She shoved the hatch fully open, pausing to scan the ship's interior before stepping fully inside.
Her guard lowered partially when she found no one waiting for her. Not enough to dismiss the akieri entirely, but enough to lower its tip so it pointed at the ground.
"A ship after my heart," Kira said, stepping carefully as she examined her surroundings.
Its design was spartan. Much more so than the outside. The plain metal walls and floors carried no additional embellishments. As cold and intimidating as its exterior.
Kira explored until she found a room that she assumed was the bridge.
The J1N meandered through the room like a drunken bumble bee as Kira sat down in the captain's chair, looking everything over.
She wiggled her fingers and set them on the keyboard. First—she’d commandeer this ship. Then—she’d see what she could do about picking Graydon up so they could get off this rock.
"Well then, let's get started, shall we?"
Eleven
Raider - The Wanderer
Raider glared at the woman he'd come to view as a particularly annoying little sister over the years. A minor miracle considering Raider's fractious relationship with the notion of 'family'.
Until Elise and Kira had crashed into his life and dragged him into their orbit, he'd been happy to give the concept a wide berth. He was a lone wolf. A half feral creature with no concern for anyone but himself.
To him, family had always meant the people who hurt and beat you. Those who thought they owned you simply because they'd been responsible for bringing you into the world.
He'd been a commodity. Someone they vented their anger and imposed their will on.
Kira changed that. The first he'd come to view as 'family'. Though he hadn't known to call it that back then.
He didn't have a word for the fact that she and the rest of the members of their tiny group were people he'd gladly lay down his life to protect. He wouldn't even have to think twice.
By the time Elise came around, he was more open to the concept of relationships. It helped that she'd captivated him from the first fake smile she'd given him. The one she used to fool the rest of the Curs into thinking she was a good person.
He couldn't help but be drawn to her duality. So like his. Her outwardly warm exterior a mask for the cold way she treated people. Often with them never realizing. Then there was the person he sometimes glimpsed when her guard was down. The stray acts of kindness when she thought no one was looking. Like the hospital bills she paid off for Bates's mother without ever letting him know that she was the one responsible. Or the little girl she'd given her food to when they were on Kala.
That girl had been starving and the protracted siege of the planet meant no one knew when they would be able to get supplies in next.
It was those little things. So at odds with the devious and cold woman he'd come to know.
Everything that happened afterward. Rothchild and her disappearance. Raider no longer cared. He knew who Elise was. Had been reminded of it the moment she injected the isotope that would allow her to follow Elena, thus taking Kira's place.
She was the only woman he'd ever loved. The mother of his child. A master of intrigue. And the ultimate survivor.
He was getting them back. Both her and Elena.