Siska stared through the one-way glass at the Dawn Fox, busy at his station. He was certainly younger than she had expected, and rather taller than usual. If he was standing straight instead of stooping over the workbench, she could look straight into his eyes. “And has he been there
The armored cage landed hard and bounced, spinning through the treeline and grinding to a halt, broken limbs and debris marking the path of travel. The locator beacon flashed automatically, firing the same data block over and over and over. Ketra worked her jaw, then clawed at the strap release.
Several hours in, the guidance system map of the family ranch was steadily filling in. It looked somewhat like an Ank tree; comically heavy trunk with short branching limbs. At least Ketra thought it did. Another square on the grid lit blue, and she glanced at the ship’s chronometer.
Ketra was on the flight deck as dozens of Toul foxes disembarked, heading in multiple directions within the large orbital station, shipyard crew in their mechanized gear bustling around performing post-dock inspection checks. She spotted Seven, taller than nearly everyone around him. He noticed her gaze and made the smallest
Ketra was unimpressed. "Weird. Yes. That's one way you could describe it." Pausing, she added, "House Lacroix certainly has claws into aerospace on this planet. Is that how you cleared a boarding card?" Seven held her gaze, but felt his ears fighting to rotate away, tipping downward in a universal