I made sure my face and voice were SecUnit neutral. I said, “I’m a SecUnit under contract to Security Consultant Rin, who was sent by GoodNightLander Independent as an extra security measure for the assessment team.” I had to admit I was a SecUnit; there was no augmented human who could do what I just did. Also, my right sleeve was still rolled up, exposing the weapon port in my forearm. (The inorganic parts around the port might look like an augment designed to correct an injury, but the weapon port doesn’t look like anything else but what it is.)

It was at this point I remembered Miki, and how I had told it I was an augmented human security consultant. I had been in Miki’s feed, the connection so intimate even though I’d had my walls up. Miki would know that the Rin it had been talking to this whole time was the SecUnit standing here. Yeah, I should have taken Miki over earlier when I had the chance; there was no time to do it now.

In my private connection to Miki, I said, Please, Miki, I just want to help.

Miki cocked its head at me, then at Abene. Still dazed, and possibly concussed, she hadn’t let go of me yet. She stared up at me, her brow wrinkled in confusion. Following my wounded human protocol, I had upped my body temperature to try to prevent her from going into shock. She said, “Miki…? Who is this?”

Miki said, “Security Consultant Rin is my friend, Don Abene. I was asked not to tell you, to keep you safe.”

Huh. That wasn’t a lie, but it sure wasn’t the truth, either. Maybe Miki had hidden depths.

I saw Gerth throw a startled glance at Wilken. Wilken reacted but controlled it. They didn’t speak on their feed connection. From the shuttle, Kader demanded an update, asking if the team needed assistance. Brais said, “Ejiro is injured.” She pushed herself up the wall, shaking. “Is Abene all right? What happened?”

Abene started to nod, then winced. She patted my arm and pushed away a little, and I let her stand on her own. “I’m fine…” On the feed, she told Kader to hold his position. Aloud, she said, “Ejiro, how are you hurt?”

“It’s my shoulder,” Ejiro said. His voice indicated stress, his expression tense with pain. I started to tap MedSystem and remembered I didn’t have one. (I know, I was all over the place.) Ejiro added, “What were those things? I couldn’t see, just shapes.”

Wilken and Gerth still aimed their weapons at me. Don Abene and Miki were blocking clear shots from this angle and if either Wilken or Gerth moved, I was going to have to do something about it.

Then Miki said, “Don Abene, Hirune is missing and is not answering her feed or comm.”