"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.