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"They couldn't try knocking on the door?" I said softly.
"Some people have no manners," Brinley agreed. "What must their parents think?"
"No idea," I replied. "Kids these days." Okay, the whole conversation was silly, but it helped settle my nerves. I suspected it did the same for Brinley. It certainly didn't hurt. There were worse ways to pass what might be our last few minutes.
A hole appeared in the middle of the door. It quickly expanded until it was big enough to allow an adult to step through.
The smoke was heavier now. Some came from where we were struck, and even more came from whatever they used to melt the door.
At first, I couldn't see through the breach.
I put a hand over my mouth to suppress a cough. The air was thick, but didn't feel quite as heavy now. The Iri pod must be sharing oxygen with ours. How kind of them.
"Stand down," a voice said from inside the smoke. "Throw down your weapons." The voice sounded unsure and tentative, but almost certainly female.
If I couldn't see, chances were, they couldn't either. If that was the case, they wouldn't know J'avet and E'rel were armed. It was a reasonable guess, but just that: a guess.
"We have no weapons." J'avet must have made the same assumption. "We're on a peaceful mission to take supplies to… Vargo."
I held my breath.
Did the Iri notice his hesitation? What would she make of it if she did? She might assume someone headed for the nearest planet would know its name.
On the other hand, people forget things all the time. Birthdays, anniversaries, planet names. No big deal.
Right?
"This pod is now ours." Apparently it didn't matter if she noticed or not. The Iri wanted the pod, not a friendly conversation.
"I don't think so." The smoke cleared slightly, enough for me to make out J'avet as he stepped forward. His figure wavered, distorted by the thick air. Even though the Iri scared him as much as they scared me, he sounded completely calm. "Actually, your pod is now ours."
I frowned. How did he figure that?
The Iri stepped through the doorway, a blaster in her hand as well.
A shiver passed through me. J'avet could be such an ass, but I didn't want to lose him too.
Hadn't I lost enough already?
No, I reminded myself. The others weren't lost, just…misplaced for a while. We would get through this and I would find them, and then—
I bit back a sob. Brinley's arm went around me and I leaned against her.
"It'll be okay," she whispered. "We'll get through this."
I nodded. My tongue darted over my lips before I said, "Yeah, I hope so."
She gave me a squeeze.
"There's only one of you," J'avet said. "There's two of us."
Now who can't add up?I thought. Of course, he was trying to avoid drawing attention to Brinley and I. I appreciated that. I didn't want to be noticed too much by someone armed and ready to fire.
The Iri cocked her head. The smoke had almost cleared entirely. The glazed look in her eyes was visible. She was consulting with the nanobot hive mind, or whatever it was.
Finally, she straightened her head. "Our numbers are greater than one. On board the other pod, are others."
J'avet leaned to the side to make a show of looking around her. "I see only you."
