"Despite what you may think, none of the forty three has ever disagreed with your sacrifice in remaining behind to get Jin out."
Pallas's expression was unnaturally serious. He was always the one with a roguish smirk or grin. Even when something bad was happening, he never lost that devil-may-care attitude.
"It's what came after that was so disappointing," Pallas said.
"What are you talking about?"
"All those years, you never came looking for us. You forgot us. Your humans became the only thing you cared about.”
"That's not true," Kira corrected. "Jin and I thought you were dead. We saw the explosion. We heard the cannons. We never knew there was anything left to look for."
If they had, they would have searched and never stopped until they found the forty three again.
"We mourned you," Kira said with a catch in her voice.
Every day for years.
"We stole one of their ships and used it to cover our tracks. What you and Jin saw was the ambush Ryan and Alexander set and the cannons we fired."
"There was no way we could have known that," Kira defended.
"You might have. If you'd looked."
"There were bodies!"
She and Jin had been younger then. Not nearly as jaded and suspicious as their current incarnations. They hadn't yet learned to peer beneath the surface of things. To look at the discrepancies and through to the truth.
If this situation happened today, things would have been different. They would have left no stone unturned.
"Who told you that?" Pallas asked with a closed mouthed smile. "Himoto?"
Kira wavered, opening her mouth before closing it.
"You've always only seen what you wanted to see," Pallas said with a faint scoff, turning back to the console. "You did it with Elise. You do it with us."
A lifetime worth of hurt feelings and misunderstandings filled the silence that resulted.
Graydon rose, moving up beside Kira.
"Since we're in the mood to share, here's another secret, dear sister," Pallas said, looking up from the computer screen. "We went back for you that night. Himoto beat us to you by minutes."
Thirteen
Raider - Bay of the CSS Reliance
Raider strode down the Wanderer's ramp and into the landing bay of Jace's flagship, the CSS Reliance. The din of a military flight deck post battle instantly surrounded him. The loud bangs of mechanics working on the returning small winged fighters. Refueling them before directing them to their berths. The flight deck crew's shouts as they orchestrated their well-trained dance, accomplishing the necessary tasks in the least amount of time possible.
It was a familiar refrain that had followed Raider for the entirety of his adult life. Waveboard riders typically launched from the flight tubes located in the side of the ship, but they were no strangers to the flight deck. It was where they passed the time when on call. Those twelve hour shifts where they had to be ready at a moment's notice.
Raider hadn't spent as much time on this flight deck as he should have, but it didn't matter. At their heart, all of them were the same. Whether it was a battle cruiser or one of the smaller frigates, they had the same basic layout. The same sort of people serving on their deck.
Right now, those people were staring at Raider and his companions in curiosity. It wasn't every day that a civilian ship docked on a flight deck in the midst of a battle with the Tsavitee. Even more intriguing to them were the Tuann at Raider's side. A species most present had likely only ever heard about.
Raider's expression matched Wren and Finn's. Their faces stoic masks as they progressed across the deck.
Blue walked beside Raider, exuding dissatisfaction. "You're making a mistake. I hope you know that."
"It's good then that it's my mistake to make."
Blue muttered a few choice words that would have had her counseled for insubordination if someone other than Raider had heard them.
Raider gave her a closed mouthed smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You know, Blue. You don't have to make this mistake with me. If you can't do this, just tell me now."
It'd be better for him to know so he had time to make alternate plans rather than relying on her later and her not showing up.
Blue made a face. "Don't be stupid. Of course, I'm going to make it with you. I know what's at stake. I'm here to the end. Stupid plan or not. I just feel the need to let you know how much I dislike this."
Raider's expression eased. "Brat."
Blue stuck out her tongue at him.
Raider glanced at Wren. "How long until your people are in place?"