“What?” Tarkos asked. “What is that?”
“Death and destruction,” Ki’Ki’Tilish clicked behind him. Tarkos crouched by Eydis’s side. He de-opaqued his visor. The Kriani’s two small black eyes seemed to fix on his face.
“Why would she do that?” Eydis said, leaning closer. “Did the person who killed her force her to do it?”
“I killed her,” the Kriani choked out.
“Oh, Wak, why?”
But the Kriani did not answer. Eydis leaned closer. She seemed to listen. After a moment, she whispered, “He’s gone. He’s dead.”
Tarkos checked his suit’s med subroutine. The Kriani’s remotely detectable vitals were diving. Eydis was right.
The human woman stood abruptly and walked around the Kriani, till she stood by the weapon thrust in its side. She put one foot on the Kriani, grabbed the handle of
