Iachi came to a pause not far from Meelak, his hands drawing into his pockets as he stared at the Nebari in his black uniform, the long tails of his jacket slapping against his legs in the mild breeze. His eyes narrowed on Meelak as he moved ahead enough to stop him before he could get to the footbridge.
"What, nobody with you?" Iachi gazed around at the path behind Meelak. Meelak smiled wanly in cautious greeting, leaving the only sound the delicate chimes, bells and chants distantly wavering through the jungle's calm din from the Delvian temple. Iachi glanced to Silan, slightly shadowed in the darkening jungle as her back drop. He found some amusement at finding disapproval in a fairly unreadable look from her. His eyes turned back on Meelak with a darkened wildness in them, the corner of his mouth drawing towards a half smirk.
"I came alone," Meelak assured, tensing very subtly as Iachi drew his hands from his pockets.
"Establishment must be wondering where you are," Iachi began in an unusually calm tone for him. He stepped to standing side by side from Meelak when he held no response, staring sharply into the side of Meelak's face. "So you won't be lingering around, will you? It'd be best ... wondering where you stand and all."
"Where I stand," Meelak seemed to smile as he turned his gaze to the ground. He was used to some like Iachi in the resistance having no trust for him, even resentment; but Iachi always made it a point to target him for his own. Meelak knew that although he was innocent of any involvement, his collaborations with the Establishment made him an extension of those Iachi had to blame for the loss of his sister. He turned enough to meet Iachi's eyes. Despite the Establishment he was supposed to represent, and whatever Iachi thought of it, he too was still part of the cause, playing his own role. "Is to report to Nerri. Without - any undue delays."
Silan looked from Meelak to Iachi. Was she enjoying this? Iachi had to wonder. He certainly wasn't becoming any more amused. "I wonder ... how you manage it." He seemed out of breath as he continued to stare on Meelak, searching his eyes. "What you're willing to do to keep your cover ..."
"It isn't much of a cover with you knowing about it Iachi," Meelak returned as evenly as he could though the tension on his face was beginning to show as he continued forward. "That, at least, you can hang over my head. Now if you'll excuse me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Iachi called after him, though his voice had drawn breathless. He drew his hands back into his pockets so no one could see them trembling as Nerri came rushing up along his side.
"Iachi," Nerri hugged Iachi's shoulder tightly, giving it a few jerks closer into himself as he stepped along with him past Meelak. "Chuda said something about empty power cells in the cesium fuel charger, wanna be a pal and go see what him and Nivirl are trying to do to my ship?"
Iachi nodded as he let Nerri move him ahead, cutting Meelak a dark glance where he stood waiting with urgent anticipation. "Sure Nerri ..."
Meelak denoted Nerri with a grim nod as he came to him. "What happened," was the first thing to come from Nerri as he stood prepared for bad news.
"The ..." Meelak halted. Nerri followed Meelak's gaze to Shian, idly observing from her lean against the handrail of the footbridge while she absently twisted at the stud on her chin. Shian seemed abruptly taken out of trance, looking up to them with a questioning quirk of her brow.
A shattering explosion suddenly boomed across the landscape. Shian gasped as the bridge beneath her shuddered. Nerves compelled Nerri a few feet ahead and Meelak a few feet back.
Nerri swung around at his waist as Meelak unholstered his tanzer. Their eyes settled in a squint towards the dock sheltering Nerri's vessel, translucent clouds of dust pillowing from the area through the jungle. They snapped to action, running for the footbridge as Shian turned at the sight of them running for her and dashed to hurry ahead of them. She stumbled, barking her knees on the hard, thick wood of the bridge. Nerri reached out, snatching up the seat of Shian's shorts and hoisting her onto her feet.
Meelak routed in front of Nerri as they approached the site of the explosion, each taking cover behind suitable trees.
Through settling dust and the leaves still lightly raining from disturbed trees, all three gazed in wary astonishment at the twisted wreckage of the transport Nerri and his company had arrived in. Meelak moved to a better vantage along the tree line just before the docking port, seeking the perpetrators and watching for potential enemy attack as Nerri glanced for any signs of the explosion's victims. Shian moved more cautiously along pillars to the open pad of the port's base.
Nerri's gaze was distracted by the sounds of Vishnir's approach. Stopping just behind Nerri's shoulder, Vishnir gestured his head toward the wreckage. Nerri nodded approval, stopping with some surprise at Vishnir producing a formidable pulse pistol Nerri hadn't known Vishnir had. Vishnir made a small shrug of his shoulders. Nerri closed his eyes and raised his brow for a microt before returning his attention to the scene of destruction.
Nerri snapped back against the tree trunk at the approach of light rustles of the jungle floor, rushing as a murmur of whispering, familiar voices advanced. Cringing, he peered around the tree trunk at the realization they were Delvians of the temple, cursing their luck that onlookers should arrive so quickly.
"Wait back!" Nerri waved franticly at the group of priests draped in blue and gold designed robes, almost over heavily decorated in plated ornaments of gold and gemmed jewelry.
The group of gaudily colored priests obediently held back at the edge of the jungle as several more spread out through the forest bearing pulse rifles. One stepped forward towards Meelak, seeming to draw into some sort of meditative state or perhaps to pray. An elderly Delvian took lead and began to make subtle glances and gestures around, members of the group hurrying to specific places as if the leader had pointed or spoken commands.
Nerri followed the Delvian priests to the pad of the docking port, searching for any signs of further enemy attack as they began to search the smoldering wreckage of what had been Nerri's ship only moments before.
"Iachi!" Nerri cried out, his wild searching gaze caught by a priestess beginning to lift a large triangular piece of what used to be part of the ships hull. After looking about the piece, the priestess grabbed onto it and set to moving the piece aside. Despite the evident weight of the piece, she seemed to move it with minimal effort. "Chuda! Nivirl!"
Nerri's brow rose in surprise, suddenly distracted by the scene at the corner of his eye. Meelak was discovered by one of the priests, returning a slightly puzzled glance under his brow. Feeling the odd sense of something over his shoulder, Nerri looked to find a priestess watching him with some tranquil interest.
"Were you followed?" Nerri barked to Meelak.
"It's not impossible," Meelak responded, wide eyed with a genuine fear to his words. "Nerri you've got to get out of this area the ..."
Creaking metal brought everyone's attention to a haphazard pile of plating under the piece of hull the priestess had removed. The plates kicked away from their cover over big Chuda. He relaxed the hold his arm had over a crate, dropping to an awkward seat in a cooking vat and blowing a sharp exhale of relief up at his dusty nose. His eyes snapped up to the Delvian now looking down at him in a curious inspection for injuries.
"Who was it? Did you see anything?" Nerri asked, rushing to Chuda's side. "Where's Iachi and Nivirl?"
"He power surged the starting coupler while we had it off line for cesium fuel replacements." Chuda stated at length, wiping his dusty face and waving his hand dismissively. His hand settled into a point of his index finger. "If this explosion didn't get him, I'm killing him!"
"Who?!" Nerri demanded. Shian touched Nerri's forearm, lightly biting her lower lip in thought. Her brow low, she gestured Nerri to look toward the mangled transport.
"There's our little fighter pilot now," Iachi smiled with a rueful sigh behind Nerri.
Nerri turned sharply, grasping Iachi by wads of his jacket at his chest. He shook him slightly as he gaped wildly on Iachi's smoking hair. "Where'd ...?"
Iachi pointed again to where Shian had been trying to direct Nerri's attention. Nerri looked to see a priestess preparing a bandage as she walked down the damaged loading ramp with Nivirl. The priestess applied it to a tiny cut at Nivirl's temple just as Nivirl looked over the scene before himself.
"Oop," Nivirl announced, scrambling the opposite direction of the onlookers.
"Hey kid!" Iachi took off after Nivirl, chasing him down the open pad of the docking port leaving a trail of smoke hung in the air behind them.
Atyrn audibly cringed in distaste at the display of her physical contacts with a patron who was now more interested in her than the gaming. As the image showed her hips grinding into the man behind her, the eyes of Chiana's memory knew the blurs her own eyes saw while her senses were focused upon experiencing the desire of the man's hardening in its press between her buttocks. But the eyes of Chiana's present saw exhibition that trivialized experiences to occurrences seen as only wanton in the eyes of others. Her eyes cut to Rygel and saw his entertained face. She wanted to bring him the pain of acrid anxiety she felt now instead.
"I want you to show me this art you can do," Malsk stated to Chiana.
"Yeah?" Chiana forced herself to her knees again, tocking her head as she glared on Rygel. "And what's the Hynerian get if I do?"
The hand of the guard came, striking her hard enough to force her down on an already bruised shoulder. She felt the hard, round end of his boot land into the small of her back, crying out harshly as her body responded with an involuntary jolt. She tried to slide herself away, coming to her hands again with a sharp shake of her head. This was getting very tiresome, already her body was racked with dull pain, numb with exhausted endurance. She just couldn't take much more.
"Then you don't deny this?" Malsk asked as he speeded the visions forward to a new display of observations. "You may be wise yet ..."
Rygel watched with more tolerant entertainment than anxiety as the scene played on from a dozen invasive displays, showing the coincidence of the symptoms of her ability with her winning predictions. A peculiar pride washed through her at seeing how little of the incredible pain she experienced showed on the screens. Perhaps only she could discern the intense pains that were revealed in a subtle wince here and a tremble of her body there. Or perhaps all others interpreted it as the intense pleasures they may fantasize it were. A smile cracked unevenly onto her face. It stopped some time after she quit the hope that it would.
"I trust you have seen enough, Captain Mollusk?" Rygel asked with a knowing tone to his voice.
The Sebacean plucked the chip from the device at his table; the displays returned to monitoring the casino and all that could be seen of all beings within. Atyrn visibly withdrew at the Sebacean's stand. "Malsk, Hynerian," the Captain corrected with a warning tone raising in his voice. Nevertheless he gestured to Rygel's attending guard; "Farris." Evidently under prior instruction, Farris released Rygel from his hand cuffs and activated Rygel's thronesled, parked conveniently at the back of the platform pending their agreement.
"Now you have seen proof, I trust your part of the deal will be taken care of immediately?" Rygel sat in his thronesled, sighing to himself with satisfaction at having the sled once again after so long. "Captain Mollusk?"
"Malsk," he humorlessly corrected. "Don't push your luck, Hynerian," the captain of the guard glared on him with icy blue eyes. "You've got to prove what you've said first."
Rygel raised his earbrows, drifting his fingers across his robes. "Surely you don't need me ..."
"Excellent observation results, wouldn't you agree Atyrn?" Malsk interrupted as he turned away from Rygel. Atyrn nodded his head in an all-too eager agreement. He moved to speak, but Malsk interrupted Atyrn as well. "Bring the Hynerian to my office."
"The Nebari?" Thorn asked with a kick at her back for emphasis.
"Chiana I ..." Rygel raised his stubby hand, his voice faltering as he lowered his eyes from her trembling image.
Chiana didn't respond, jerking at her shoulder in a tense, soundless protest to gain her knees again. Her expression remained unseen, her lips parted into a quiet gape. She couldn't let Rygel win this one, not this time. He was going to be long gone counting his losses while she was still stuck here in this ... using the vision for these creeps until maybe - maybe John would think about getting her out of here ... and that would be a someday she may not survive to see ... if Rygel even tried to get back to Moya to tell him ...
"Whatever you like with ..." Malsk sneered at her, "the wanton violator of rules; just be ready to produce her if I should ask."
Thorn yanked her from the floor as if she were an animal on a lead. She tried walking on her knees as naturally as the forced position allowed. "It seems," Thorn barked a hard laugh to himself, "that we'll have to find some use for you until Malsk summons you for sentence. Fortunately for you, patrol delta is at break. Maybe between the lot of them they'll think of something," he barked another laugh while she seethed.
"Nyyyuah!" A desperate cry for the last of her strength shrieked across the room as Chiana caught Thorn in the crotch. He doubled over, groaning as Farris, Atyrn and Malsk remained motionless, stunned as Chiana gained her feet. With a harsh yell she kicked out as Farris came for her, planting her heel into the lower part of his stomach. He grabbed her foot, shoving her back by it. Chiana went sprawling, hitting the floor back first, her grasping hand coming up with a small section of flooring grate.
A shot fired. Chiana whirled herself away from it into a low crouch, looking almost as startled as Malsk at her seeming anticipation of his aim. Her eyes fell wildly on Malsk as he fired again, the shot buzzing past her ear. Chiana leaned her ear towards her shoulder in a painful wince of her eyes as a recoil to the sound and brilliant blast.
"You're only making it worse on yourself," Malsk stated as he motioned Atryn to stay where he was, keeping his eyes on Chiana. Her own were filled with desperation.
Chiana swayed her head as she awed at Malsk. "Worse than what?"
He fired again.
In a sharp breath she sprang, leaping out from her low crouch with such height it seemed like she was going to gain the ceiling before the leap arched and she was sailing towards Malsk like a tree frog. Time began to slow, feeling as if she were in true flight with its long delay. In a thickening fluidity, the grate floated from her hand to strike the pulse pistol from his hand before he could effectively fire at her approach. She hit knees first into his chest, grabbing the sides of his head as it seemed like eternity was passing by to crash him down on the console behind him with her body.
She reached for the pulse pistol that had fallen just to their sides as the vision began to dim into blackness, shouting her desperation as time returned with a sudden bolt of pain and darkness. She twisted the pistol, raising up on Malsk on her knees and fired down. Sparks from the console exploded around her. She fired again, crying out once more as she turned at her shoulder and threw the pistol outward, firing blindly into the room. There was only one way out of here and she was taking it or dying. Either one, they were going to leave her alone.
