A few Days Off 2

The note on the kitchen counter which waited for me along with a thermal pot of secret Dantassi hang over cure was short and neatly written. It made me smile.

Sj’iu tekari,
Drink at least two cups, I promise it will help. I shall be quite late this evening, I am afraid, as I have some lengthy meetings and strategic planning sessions to deal with. I hope that you enjoy your day. Do something fun and relax. Don’t be too alarmed if Rukh sneaks up on you, he was quite put out when I told him he could not accompany me as a bodyguard to the palace. I assigned him to keep an eye on you, should you leave the flat. I imagine this task will either keep him incredibly busy or bore him to death, depending on what you decide to do with your day. Either way, he is occupied.

Oh and Cati left you a message asking about confirming the appointment you made while en route to the planet. I told her I appreciated her work and her reply was most amusing.

A’mera,
Za’ar

Since I had nothing better to do, I did as his note had told me to and I drank the strange tea. It worked well enough that I could actually stomach some toast for breakfast. After an hour of sitting quietly, reading I felt mostly human again and decided it was time to get out and go shopping. I confirmed the appointment with Cati and made a mental list of all my favourite places to browse. I needed new lingerie, new casual clothes and new fancy dresses, which also meant new shoes and probably some make up. As I got ready to leave I wondered when I had turned into the girl who cared about these things because on Tatooine that had not ever been the case. I almost never wore make up, my clothes were usually loose and practical and often covered with machine grease and hyper-drive fluid, my nails were always a mess and my hair more often than not resembled something that rats frequently nested in it. So what had changed I wondered. I came to the conclusion that probably I shouldn’t ask that question as chances were I would not like the answer. I decided to stop off at the Imperial Palace first to see if Shiv had returned but the office secretary droid told me he wasn’t back yet and she didn’t know when he was due in. As I was on my way out I bumped into Antygra who surprised me by apologising for being rude the night before.

“It was just that I had some bad news, well, I guess I told you that.” He explained. “I should have stayed at home but my girlfriend insisted I go with her. I was not really in a celebratory mood and I took it out on you.”

“I remember, you said that a relative had died in the battle? I’m really sorry to….” I started.

He held up is hand. “It’s okay, I was being an ass, I’m the one who is sorry. You know how I get about all this pomp and ceremony over war. I think it is a big waste of money.” He said with a shrug.” Are you going out, or just coming in to work?” he asked.

“On my way out, I have some time off so I am going shopping, want to tag along?”

He shook his head. “Can’t, gotta work.” He said. “Any place in particular?”

“CoCo town and then Cati’s.” I said.

“She’s the designer who made your dress from last night?” he asked.

“Yes.” I said a bit surprised that he knew this, Cati was not a well known designer, despite her amazing talent.

“Shiv’s mentioned her name a few times. Do you think she’d do something for Terisse, my girlfriend?” he asked.

“I am sure she would.” I said. “Her studio and store is on the south concourse, next to that pastry shop Shiv loves so much.”

He nodded. “Okay, yeah I know where it is, thanks. Terisse loved your dress and wanted to know where you got it, so I said I’d ask.”

I nodded, and then asked. “Say if Shiv gets in before six can you get him to comm me? I’d love to meet up for stimcaf and cake.”

He gave me a smile. “Will do, he’s due back around three-ish I think.” He said and we parted ways. So I was on my own. I drove the small speeder to the CoCo district, determined to enjoy what was left of my day.

I parked in the multiplex and decided to walk through the main shopping concourses and walkways. It had been a while since I had had my feet on a planet and it was nice to get out. I wandered in and out of the boutiques that Shiv had me hooked on, and made the mistake of popping into Bam’s hair salon before my appointment with Cati. I had wanted to buy some of the wonderful conditioner he sold and instead I ended up being forced to listen to Bam’s exclamations of horror at the state of my hair. This led to me being unable to argue with him and finding myself sitting in the studio being fussed over by Bam himself. Ever since the first time I had been placed under his capable hands, I was considered a ‘special case.’ I was never quite certain how to take this but when I saw the results Bam got, I couldn’t complain. Forty minutes later my hair looked like someone else’s and I had a bag full of hair-care products, enough to last at least six months. I left the hair salon promising to come back the next time I was on planet. I looked at my chrono, I still had an hour before I needed to be at Cati’s so I decided to take a little detour and visit my favourite bookshop.

Bevin’s Books was owned and run by a burly man called Bevin Glack. He specialised in antiques, imports, hard to find titles as well as the standard faire of current Holo-novels. I loved his shop; it was chaotic and had a musty bookish smell that always reminded me of good things. The store was just on the quiet side of a small walkway which was not well used. Bevin didn’t go out of his way to encourage customers; he was quite particular about who he sold books too, which of course made him incredibly popular. I knew from experience that it took me five minuets to get from his shop to Cati’s using a short cut if I hurried, so a few minutes of browsing would be well worth it.

I spent far too long gazing through shelves of books and bought far too many. I was going to be late if I didn’t hurry. I walked quickly to the short cut. I was about half way there when that weird nagging sense of something wasn’t quiet right started up. I stopped and looked around but saw no one following me. I reached out with my force sense but couldn’t really tell anything other than someone was near. It was probably Rukh, his ability to be invisible never ceased to amaze me and despite my best efforts to find him by using the force I often failed. That was not one of my strongest gifts and it was such hard work that I rarely applied it. Thrawn had told me he had sent Rukh after me so I shrugged it off. I sighed, if it was him there wasn’t much I could do about it. He was like a ghost, hard to see, impossible to catch and if I had to be brutally honest, I didn’t actually mind. I decided that if Rukh wanted to waste his time trying to follow me while I was shopping that was his business and I continued on my way, turning the corner to the small ally that led to Cati’s. I was about halfway there when I was jumped.

Two men. One large and powerful grabbed me from behind and held my arms behind my back in a vice like grip that hurt. The other facing me, clamped a hand over my mouth and smiled. My heart thumped painfully in my chest as I recognised my attacker.

“Hullo Mouse.” Said Jyrki calmly.

I just stared at him.

“Can we talk without a fuss, I don’t want to hurt yer?” he asked.

I nodded and he removed his hand from my mouth. I drew a deep breath. I should have been terrified but I wasn’t, instead I was about as angry as a person could get. I didn’t fight against the grip that the man holding me had. I had learned a thing or two so instead of screaming or struggling or succumbing to the fear that had frozen me when Rukh had grabbed me and that was now edging its way into my gut I concentrated on my breathing and relaxed, taking stock of what I was up against.

“That’s better. Yer looking good, I take it the Empire is treating yer well.” He said. He glanced at the shopping bags that had dropped by my feet.

I arched an eyebrow and didn’t dignify it with an answer. “Who’s your new friend?” I asked.

“Teldahn is insurance. Yer know how to fight, a little muscle doesn’t hurt when it comes to ensuring yer do as yer told.” He said coolly. “I seem to recall yer were never too good at that.”

“How did you know here to find me?”

“Yer easy enough to track.” He shrugged. “I have my ways.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

He stepped back a pace from me and studied me carefully. “I want yer to get away from here. Come with me and be safe.” He said.

“Be safe from what?” I asked. “I think we have established the Empire isn’t going to hurt me, you on the other hand….” I tensed a little as I spoke and I felt Teldahn’s grip increase. He wasn’t taking any chances with me. I shifted my senses slightly to the touch the force but he was not force sensitive, his strength was purely physical.

“Yer left me no choice, Mouse.” Jyrki smiled. I had forgotten how beautiful that smile could be, but behind it there was something not so pleasant. His ice blue eyes remained cold and humourless. It was as if part of his soul had died somewhere along the line.

“So you risked everything to come and find me again?” I asked, trying to find the logic in what he was telling me and failing. Nothing Jyrki did made sense to me any more.

“Yes. Thanks to yer I am a wanted felon. I believe there is even a decent price on my head now.” He said softly. “But I can get past the security easily enough.”

“Why are you really here?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“There are events set into motion that will lead to the downfall of the Empire. It will be too dangerous for yer here.”

“What events?” I asked narrowing my eyes.

“Doesn’t matter, yer just need to come with me, things are going to get hot for the Empire soon enough and we have plans for yer talents.” He spoke with a serene calm that I found unnerving.

“I don’t think so, Jyrki.”

He sighed. “That is what I figured.” When he withdrew something from his belt that looked a lot like a very slender stiletto knife, I frowned.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Just something to make yer more docile, last time we tried this yer were not exactly compliant until we doped yer.” He said as he approached me with a smile that made me shudder. If I hadn’t felt fear before, I did now.

I sighed and decided I had had enough. Time to see if all the training I had been given and the time spent with Rukh had done any good. I waiting until Jyrki was close enough for me to do maximum damage to and then I moved swiftly. I pushed back using Teldahn as a brace and kicked out with both legs at the same time catching them both by surprise. I kicked Jyrki directly in the chest and sent him sprawling backwards to the ground, trying to catch his breath. The thug who held me made the mistake of leaning forward to try and hold me tighter and I smashed my head backwards as hard as I could catching him squarely on both his chin and nose. I heard him grunt in pain and I was certain the entire planet heard the crack as his nose broke and his head snapped backwards, hitting the wall. As I had hoped, the pain loosened his grip. I used two of the anzati moves I had learned from my uncle and watched in satisfaction as the man who had grabbed me slithered unconscious to the ground. He’d stay that way for hours and wake up with the worst headache of his life. For a split second I considered killing him but I had other problems to deal with.

I whipped around to see Jyrki stagger to his feet. There was a brilliant anger in his eyes. One hand clutched at his chest , the other held the knife in a tight grip.

“Nice little trick, Mouse.” He acknowledged, still catching his breath. “Why don’t yer ever listen and come easy?” he asked. “I only want what’s best for yer.”

“Ktah!” I swore. “Why don’t you just get the hint and leave me the hell alone? I don’t want your help. I don’t want you in my life!” I told him, watching his eyes carefully. “You don’t know what is best for me! You are the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

He moved much faster than I had suspected he would. His moves were elegant, even with the slight limp he still had and the fight between us began. I did the best I could to avoid the knife thing he held. We were well matched. I remembered that from the fight on Rothana, he remembered as well but we had also both learned new tricks since then. Fighting with him was like fighting my own past. I was a bit surprised that no one had seen us in the small alleyway and called the local law enforcement but we were remarkably quiet and it was possible that the surveillance equipment that had been installed all over the city didn’t cover the smaller alley ways. I could not remember being so angry and had to work to contain it.

This worked until he got in a lucky shot that slapped my face and set me off. I gathered my fury and channelled it into the force which augmented my strength, just as Lord Vader had often taught me. I ducked Jyrki’s next blow and dropped low, catching him off guard with my foot, smashing the same knee I had the last time we had seriously faced off. It was a weak spot for him. He hissed in pain, but the knee didn’t break and I wondered if he had some sort of cybernetic implant because it had felt harder than I remember bone feeling. Still, it had hurt him. He snarled at me and lunged forward. I stepped backwards to avoid him but stumbled slightly over the arm of the unconscious man on the ground. Jyrki was faster than I could recover from tripping and before I could get away and he drove the knife deep into my left shoulder. I was so angry I didn’t feel it at first. I struck out using the heel of my hand to violently connect with his face. The brutal punch sent him staggering backwards, leaving the knife still embedded in my flesh. A burning flash of pain made me look at it. At first I didn’t understand what it was then I yanked it out, suddenly realising that the left side of my face and my left arm were starting to tingle. I held the knife in my hand and stared at him. He was struggling to get back up, his knee was hurting him and his nose and lips were bleeding. I took a grim satisfaction in watching him wince as he stood.

“You bastard!” I spat at him as the world was starting to slither around me in a very bad way. “I hate you.” And as I said those words out loud I realised they were absolutely true. A blackness swirled around my soul and all I wanted, in that single moment, was for him to die, horribly.

He started towards me, his face distorted in a mixture of anger, pain and something else I was scared to name. A shadow moved out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look at it.

“Lady Merlyn.” A sandpapery voice said near my side.

Jyrki turned to look and saw Rukh standing there. He looked at me then back again at the approaching Noghri and decided that leaving was a better idea than trying to fight the latest addition to the party. As he slipped away I heard him say. “This isn’t over Mouse.”

“Rukh, follow him, catch him.” I tried to say but my words were slurring. It hurt to breathe.

“You are hurt.” Rukh said ignoring my commands.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine, you need to catch him!” I couldn’t feel my legs any more and just sort of crumpled to the ground. I looked up into Rukh’s face and sighed. I stared at the knife I was holding and realised that at the tip of the blade was a tiny needle. This was a kind of assassin’s blade and he had pumped me full of some sort of sedative. The knife slid out of my hand to the ground because I couldn’t hold onto it any more. I couldn’t feel my fingers. I looked at my shoulder which was bleeding and wondered how I was going to stop the blood because I couldn’t really move my arms. I tried to swear but the words tangled on my tongue. The last thing I remember was thinking before the world went dark that Cati was going to be very cross I had not made the appointment on time.