"How many others?"
"None of your business, child." Paladin Zire was stern. "Report. What happened? Your orders were to avoid engagement. We lost contact with you and your partner on the 26th. What happened?"
"The Storm wrecked our comm-system. We hid in a cave for two days and on the second night, Skolas turned it around on us," Petra tried to keep the anger out of her voice. "He engaged us. He attacked Niff. I had an emergency transmat set up that took us back here."
"Rix Nifla, otherwise known by the familiar name 'Niff,' was declared dead upon arrival. While you were in the medical center, the Crows investigated your coordinates, and they have traced the attack back to Skolas, who was, unfortunately, long gone by the time they arrived. The hunt has been called off. Skolas has vanished without a trace."
"So the others, the other corsairs sent out, should have already returned," Petra persisted. "What happened to them?"
Zire hesitated. "Over the duration of the past two weeks, we lost contact with them as well."
"All of them?"
"To have escaped Skolas, you are either very lucky, or very skilled. The Crows found at the scene a broken sniper and an empty sidearm, standard issue. Which was yours?"
"The sidearm." She responded, gritting her teeth. Over seventy corsairs had set out into the Hildeans two weeks ago. If they were all gone…
"You mean to tell me that you fought off Skolas, Kell, with nothing but a Requiem S8?"
"I also dislodged his rebreather with my knife. There was carbon monoxide. That slowed him down long enough for me to activate the emergency transmat."
Paladin Zire narrowed her eyes, as if she found this hard to believe. Petra wasn't sure how it had happened either, but she knew it was the truth. Finally, she said, "Very well. You will receive a promotion for your work. Congratulations, lieutenant. You will be reassigned to-"
"What about Skolas?"
Her eyes flashed, angry at the interruption. "Skolas has vanished. The hunt is being called off. We've lost too many corsairs. As I was saying, you are being reassigned. We are planning an attack on Beltrik's resupply, starting this evening. You will be in the second attack group. Report to Commander Tyne for briefing, and remember, the details of your scouting mission are to be kept in the strictest confidence."
Petra clenched her jaw to hold back her frustration. They'd lost seventy corsairs. Including Niff. Her friend. And what did they care about? They didn't want anyone to know what a failure it was, how many people they'd lost, or they'd be in big trouble. Worst of all, she had wanted to find Skolas. She had gotten what she'd wanted, and look what had happened. Not at all worth the excitement.
Maybe it wasn't her business. But that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to care.