His smile was gloating. "Nope."
The woman behind him looked discomforted at the sight of the cuffs, giving Kira an apologetic frown. She was young, younger than Spitzy and had the fresh polish of someone who wasn't more than a few years out of the academy. Her uniform was perfectly pressed with her hair pulled away from her face. She was the poster child for the space force's regulation on personal appearance. Seeing a commander being so petty must have sat ill if her expression was anything to judge by.
"Someone's on a power trip," Jin muttered.
He had that right.
"It's for the safety of my men," Spitzy said, not looking the least bit chagrined at the judgment. No, he was enjoying this—immensely. "You do have a history of violence."
Kira narrowed her eyes and held in what she wanted to say. It would make her situation worse.
The woman came near, saying softly, "Everyone will wear them."
Kira looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, Spitzy's men were putting similar cuffs on the wizards.
"The children too, Spitzy? Really?" Kira shook her head at him in mock disappointment.
His smile disappeared to be replaced by a clenched jaw. "They're wizards. Every one of them is dangerous."
And there was the Spitzy she remembered—the xenophobic asshole convinced anything not human was to be treated with extreme caution and fear.
"I'm sure their people will remember this," Kira said.
Given the dark look on the faces of the children's guards, she had no doubt of that fact. They’d submitted, but the moment Spitzy's men approached the children, every single one of them went on the alert. They looked seconds from violence, especially when the girl started crying again.
"What do you care?" Spitzy said, his words nearly a snarl. "You left, remember?"
Kira gritted her teeth but didn't respond, holding the other man's gaze while burying the sting from his barb.
"She's right," the woman said to him. "Surely restraining the children is unnecessary. Diplomatically speaking, it would be best to treat them as we would any human child."
Spitzy's face darkened at the unvoiced rebuke in her words. Kira was impressed despite herself. Telling your superior he was wrong without actually saying it took skill and guts.
She was either very stupid or had a conscience. The two weren't mutually exclusive. Though they were a rare combination in the military.
"Fine," Spitzy bit out.
The woman released her breath and made a gesture at the man currently trying to coax the little girl to don the cuffs. He retreated with a look of relief. He hadn't been any happier to obey his orders than the woman.
Kira shook her head but held her hands out, letting Spitzy place the cuffs on her.
"Have J1N power off," he said, stepping back as one of his people took her elbow.
Kira didn't move. "You know I'm not going to do that."
"The unit can either power down voluntarily, or one of my men will shoot J1N with an EMP net," he said with a shark's smile.
Kira didn't move, staring him down. Temptation coursed through her.
"It's fine, Kira," Jin said. "Just get this cleared up so we can be on our way."
Jin floated to the ground, his lights darkening one by one, as he powered himself off. Her friend disappeared, leaving nothing but a hunk of metal in his place.
A woman pointed a device at Jin and nodded. "The drone is off."
"Good," Spitzy said as she picked him up.
"Ensign Waverly, please escort our guests to the containment room."
His aide gave a sharp nod before barking several orders.
"It's good to know you haven't changed a bit in all these years," Kira said sweetly. Her dark smile was anything but nice as she was led off.
*
The need for patience had been beaten into Kira at a young age. It was why she didn't particularly mind sitting in a small room on a metal chair, her friend a blind, silent presence on a table behind her.
To the casual observer, she would look like she was sleeping–body slumped, her chin on her arm, her other hand a few inches from the clear forcefield bisecting the room and separating the wizards from her. They'd miss her alert gaze, her eyes hidden by her hood which allowed her to study the people responsible for this whole mess without being seen.
The wizards’ leader stared at her from his side of the table, an intent look on his face as if he were trying to figure her out.
What could be seen of her face remained still, even as amusement filtered through her.
These men weren't your average guards. They were soldiers. She'd bet her life on it. She recognized the type from her own years in service to the human space force during the war with the Tsavitee.
They were a unit, anticipating orders not yet voiced. They moved like a well-oiled machine, indicating a long history with one another. She wondered what they were doing posing as guards for children.
Not that it really mattered. Not anymore. She'd left that part of her life far behind her, and she didn't intend to pick it up again.
The door to the room slammed open, drawing the attention of everyone except the leader whose gaze never lifted from hers.
Hm. So they didn't see Spitzy or any of his men as a true threat.
It was understandable, really. While Kira had spent several minutes being patted down, every item on her person confiscated for fear she might use them for some unknown purpose, the station's security had barely touched the wizards, giving them a cursory examination, which failed to uncover the blades Kira was sure were stored in their armor. She suspected they weren't the only weapons these men had.
She had to wonder how many other things security had missed.
Spitzy sauntered toward Kira, his heavy steps making him easy to track despite the fact she couldn't see him with her hood limiting her peripheral vision.
"I want to know what you were doing on that craft."
Kira held her silence.
The man in front of her finally looked away, staring at Spitzy with a glimmer of curiosity. So, the forcefield didn't block sound. That or the man could read lips. Which meant he probably understood at least a little of human standard.
Good to know.
Spitzy nudged her shoulder. "Do you hear me?"
The wizard’s leader frowned, the look in his eyes turning turbulent.
"You have the station's feeds," Kira said blandly. "Watch them. They'll tell you everything you need to know."
Spitzy was silent a moment, his anger sizzling through the air. "I could do that, but why waste my time?"
Kira's sigh was weary. She longed for the quiet peace of her ship. Dealing with hardheaded idiots had never been her idea of fun. Less so, since she'd spent the past few years around a very small number of people besides Jin. She could count on one hand the number of conversations she'd had outside the Wanderer.
"We both know you don't have anything to hold me on."
He snorted. "Who's to say. Maybe the feeds all went haywire during the time in question."
The wizard’s forehead wrinkled, a frown crossing his face as thunder gathered in his eyes. The expressions on the rest turned slightly disgusted.
Kira almost felt sorry for Spitzy. If he wasn't on such a power trip, she might be tempted to clue him into the fact he was dangerously close to creating an intergalactic diplomatic incident his superiors wouldn't thank him for. If he continued in this vein, he'd be lucky getting a job as a convoy escort.