"Kira, he may have been able to use my escape tunnel," Odin said, attempting to offer hope where there was none. "He knew they were there because he helped me build them."
Kira motioned sharply, cutting Odin off. "I can't."
She just couldn't right now.
She still hadn't dealt with her anger at Diesel for what he might have done. Adding the possibility of his death or survival was too much. She had already grieved his loss once. She wasn’t ready to do it again so soon after getting him back.
Composing herself, she looked at Pallas. "You need to get us out of here. There are three Tsavitee ships inbound."
The ship banked sharply, flying away from the crater and arrowing upward.
Kira caught the back of a seat, Graydon steadying her as gravity caught them. It wasn't long until the ship breached the boundary that separated the planet's atmosphere from space.
"I hope you got what you came for," Pallas said tightly as the trio of Tsavitee trips came into view. "Because we might not be making it out of here in one piece."
"We don't know that they're here for me," Kira said, analyzing the flight pattern of the three ships.
They were coming in fast. On an interception course.
Rothchild's fighters swarmed the ships, unloading their payloads in an effort to hamper their progress.
Pallas snorted as their ship broke off, attempting to place the moon between them and the Tsavitee. "Don't lie to yourself. They're here for you. Someone leaked your location. Again." He shot her a sarcastic glance. "It's almost like humans have a pattern."
"It wasn't us," Brie said, speaking up.
Pallas didn't respond as he focused on dodging any debris still in orbit. His silence, though, expressed his disbelief quite loudly.
Outside, the Tsavitee ships changed course to follow them.
"There—you see. Just like I said. You’re their target."
Kira bit back her retort, glancing at Graydon instead. "I don't suppose you can do what you did down there again."
Graydon shook his head. "It'll be hours before I can summon even the faintest whisper of my soul's breath."
Kira's shoulders sagged. She'd had a feeling that would be his response.
"What about you?" Pallas asked, his eyes on Kira.
"No," Graydon said emphatically, his voice overriding Kira's. He glared at her, looking angrier than she'd ever seen him. "You can't."
Kira’s expression was reluctant. "Let's leave that as a last resort."
"Sure thing," Pallas agreed sarcastically. "It's only all of our funerals."
"I don't think it will come to that, seon'yer." Lathan hit a few buttons and then nodded at the screen. "Look."
A fleet of ships came into focus.
"I don't believe it. They belong to Centcom," Brie said.
As they watched, several ships broke off to engage the Tsavitee fleet.
Pallas frowned as the last of the ships headed in their direction. "What is Centcom doing here? They're supposed to be setting up a defensive posture on one of their more populated planets."
"How do you know that?" Kira asked.
"I have my ways."
Sure, he did. Just like Odin. And Graydon. It seemed only Kira was consistently out of the loop. She might need to fix that sooner rather than later.
Centcom’s ships began firing on the Tsavitee. The barrage was quick and furious, resulting in one demolished Tsavitee ship before too long.
"We're being hailed," Lathan announced.
Pallas looked at Kira. "Did you know they were coming?"
"No."
There was distrust in Pallas's gaze before he turned back around. "Answer it."
Lathan hit a button. Raider appeared on screen.
Surprise rendered Kira nearly speechless.
"Raider?"
"The one and only."
Jace moved into view. "Just so you know, he's not alone."
Kira shot Raider a hard look. "I thought you were avoiding him."
"Let's just say we ran into some trouble ourselves."
Jace moved out of the range of the camera, but Kira could hear him calling commands to his subordinates.
She lowered her voice. "What about the package? Is it safe?"
"As safe as we could make it," Raider responded. "How about you? Did you get what you were looking for?"
Odin moved into view and waved.
He nodded, his features loosening with relief. "That's good. That's very good."
"What about Wren and the others?" Graydon asked.
"They're here too. Along with a few friends I wasn't expecting when I began this journey," Raider said with a pointed look at the emperor's Face.
Graydon suppressed a smile, his expression the picture of innocence when Kira looked at him.
Spotting Pallas to the side, Raider arched an eyebrow at Kira. "You left him alive. That's surprising."
"Be careful of your words, boy." Pallas's grin was nasty. "I don't share her attachment for your kind. I can and will kill you if I get bored."
"Why is each of your siblings crazier than the last?" Raider complained.
Kira rolled her lips between her teeth at Pallas's furious expression. There was something satisfying in watching Raider get under Pallas's skin so effortlessly.
"I'm sending you some coordinates," Raider said as he ignored her brother. "They're about half a day out. It's an abandoned combat outpost from the last war. Rendezvous with us there. I'll explain the rest when we're face-to-face."
"Understood," Kira said as Raider vanished from the screen.
Pallas sniffed. "I don't know what Elise ever saw in him."
"Next time you see her you can ask her."
Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too long now.
"Why would Centcom have a stronghold so close to Rothchild?" Brie asked with some confusion. "Our planet and this section of space doesn't have any known strategic value."
"It's Himoto's secret base," Kira answered.
Sometimes it was scary how prescient her former mentor had been.
"I have the coordinates," Lathan said, speaking up. "Should I plot a course?"
Pallas twisted his chair to face Kira. "I don't know. Should we?"
"They did just save our asses," Kira said mildly, ignoring the challenge on his face.
Pallas reclined in his seat. "Yes, because walking into another den of humans after barely escaping the last one with our lives seems like such a great idea."
"You were in danger? It looked to me like you cleared out when you caught wind of something going down."
Then returned at the most opportune moment for him.
"I thought it best to move the ship out of harm’s way. Good thing too. Or it may have been the one targeted by that city breaker."
Kira bit back her words, settling for glaring at him instead.
Pallas swiveled his chair to face front, saying over his shoulder, "Seeing as I've agreed to follow your lead, I can be magnanimous this once."
"How kind of you.”
"I'm aware. Just don't get used to it. Next time we're going with my plan."
"You mean the one where you kill everyone involved?"
His smile was slow and wicked. "Exactly."
Elena - Tsavitee Planet
"Nothing to say to me?" Elise asked, fiddling with one of the utensils Elena had sharpened into a fine point. "That's fine; I have plenty."