"You sure?" Blue asked, sounding uncertain.
She probably didn't understand why Kira was so upset. To her, the spawn were an intriguing puzzle her friend had made for her to play with. She didn't realize that they and the J1N drone that had once housed Jin's soul were all Kira had left of him at the moment.
"Uh huh," Kira said in a stilted voice. She pinched the bridge of her nose, suppressing the tide of emotion threatening to sweep her away. "The modifications you made. They'll get us in?"
"The theory works the same. Though the window they create will be much smaller."
Raider squeezed Kira's arm in support before focusing on the conversation. "Big enough for a person to drop through?"
"In theory."
"It could work," Raider said with a glance at Kira.
"Alright," she agreed. "Where do you need us to go?"
They followed Blue's directions into the bowels of the Hold, descending several levels until they were on the floor above where they suspected Aeron was being held.
"This is the place," Raider said after they slipped into the room Blue had identified. He cast a probing glance at the bare walls and floor. "Does it seem a bit odd to you that this place was left unguarded. Careless, don't you think?"
Kira did.
The entire journey felt too easy. Their path suspiciously free of obstacles. Except that one patrol in the beginning and another on a different level, they hadn't encountered any problems.
"Think it's a trap?" Raider asked, his line of thought mirroring Kira's.
"We'll find out soon enough. Blue, how much longer?"
"Not long. They're close."
"Why aren't they already here?" Raider griped.
"Well, excuse me for not being perfect," Blue retorted. "You know, this isn't as easy as it looks. Jin's spawn aren't exactly user friendly."
Raider rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, enough with the complaining. Just get here."
"Doing my best," Blue sang.
While the two argued, Kira moved to keep a look out. She eased open the door they'd used to enter and peered through the crack.
Adrenaline jolted through her at the sight of a group of oshota in the matte black of the emperor making their way down the hallway. A few split off to check the empty rooms they passed.
As quietly as she'd opened it, Kira shut the door again.
"What is it?" Raider asked, seeing her expression.
"It looks like the Tuann aren't as careless as we thought. There's a patrol making their way toward us as we speak."
"Inquisitors?"
Kira shook her head. "I'm pretty sure they belong to the emperor."
"How long?" he asked.
Kira backed away from the door. "Seconds."
"Blue, this would be a really good time to come through for us," Raider snarled, joining Kira.
"Almost there."
Raider and Kira looked at each other.
"What happens if they catch us?" Raider asked.
"Arrest? Possible execution? Your guess is as good as mine."
The only thing Kira was certain of was that they'd be detained. Probably long enough to eliminate any hope of getting to Elena and Jin in time.
Resolve formed on Raider's face. "Kira."
"I know."
For all Kira's words before about not burning their bridges, neither were willing to let themselves be caught.
She reached for the hilt of the folded up akieri sword at her side. "Hopefully the emperor can forgive us for any concussions we cause."
"You can put your weapons away," Blue interjected. "They've arrived."
Kira's gaze dropped to the bottom of the door to find a small, bug-like creature that looked like a beetle with jeweled wings and an emerald body squeezing through the opening it had drilled into the wood. The edges around the hole still glowed white hot from its laser.
The beetle waddled toward Kira and Raider, followed by three other spawn. A cute looking crustacean and two tiny mammals that Kira had seen on Ta Sa'Riel during one of her runs through its forest.
They crawled toward the middle of the floor as Kira hung back to melt the metal in the doorknob and latch, turning it into a hunk of useless scrap that welded the door shut. It wouldn't hold long, but hopefully it would be enough.
"Like I said before, the window they create probably won't be very big," Blue warned. "My calculations suggest two feet by two feet is the limit."
Raider backed away from the door toward the spawn. "Plenty big enough."
"I'm also not sure what this will do to them. The power surge could destroy them."