Entry Ninety Five: Ambushed

Garst Tyrell watched her leave the Last Gate, staring from the shadows, eyes like a predator, muscles bundled and ready for action.

He waited, biding his time. Patiently. Purposefully.

And then he saw her.

He stalked her for blocks until she had almost made it to the hangars, knowing her guard was down.

He closed the distance quietly, his enhanced implants turning night into day, he hunted Shalee's heat signature, watching the heat of her blood circulate.

She walked along, unaware, humming to herself.

His lip curled as he watched. The sway of her hips, tipsy from the drinks he'd watched her finish. Disgusting. She'd pay for her weakness.

He made his move, stepping out of an abandoned office as Shalee walked past, the workers long gone from their shift. He had studied their work patterns. He had chosen his ambush site carefuly.

He wrapped one calloused hand around her mouth, another around her waist, naturally strong muscles augmented by subtle genetherapy, literally picking her up and pulling her out of site before she was even missed. He locked the door behind him, purring her name. "Shaleeeeee."

He held her to him and ran his tongue down the back of her neck before pushing her away, disgusted by the smell of alcohol on her body.

She spun around, disoriented, terrified. "What do you want..."

He worked his neck slowly in a circle, stretching it, sliding his left palm over his closely shaven, nearly bald head as he spoke, "You're drunk." He glared at her as he crossed his arms.

She took a step back until she was flush with the door, leaning against it, slipping a hand behind her back to find the lock, "What's it to you what I do?" she spat the words at him.

Garst stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face, knocking it sideways and leaving a small red mark on her cheek. It would bruise later. He knew she would thank him for the pain later.

"Drunk Bitch! No more questions, your inquisitive inflection pains my ears. I deal in facts. I deal in statements. You will do the same if you expect to leave here in one piece."

"What do you want, Garst.." Her tone was hinted with hysteria. "Since when does it matter to you that I drink....you drink..."

He clampped his right hand around her mouth vertically, forcing her mouth shut and pulling her slightly towards him. "My god woman you act like you don't have two perfectly crafted ears! You haven't earned the right to address me yet. You will call me Mr. Tyrell."

She gave a short nod of her head, eyes now wide with terror.

"Good." Satisfied, he dropped his smothering hand and patted her head. "Good Girl. Let's start over. I fear you lost your compsure there and I want to give you a chance to redo our meeting tonight."

She jerked her head, nodding, afraid to actually say anything.

He took a deep breath. "You always were very trying to be around. But that's the past and for Capsuleers like us only the future matters."

She continued to stare at him, staying perfectly still, saying nothing, doing nothing that might set him off.

"I watched you at the bar tonight. You act like a harlot. You flirt with every man in sight. You drink until you stumble home. I'm surprised you didn't fall over and pass out in a gutter, no matter how poetic that would be."

He continued his speech. "You neglect your duty to the Empire. You chase kills and ignore your agent, your controllers. You are not the Shalee I once know. Respond."

She opened her mouth but words failed her. She gasped a little sound as she looked around helplessly as if searching for some means of escape. When she found none, she looked back to him, "What? I wasn't flirting with anyone I was having a bit of fun and I'm not drunk, I only had a bit of wine. Gods...since when do you care about my duties to the Empire?"

He fought back his frustration, "Save your lies, I saw you with Verone. I saw you disappear. Did you go with him into his private quarters? I know his reputation and I know you. It's time to stop deluding yourself. You need help but you direct your questions outward instead of looking into your own self. This is not acceptable."

"Fuck...are you really accusing me of sleeping with Verone? Gods, that's disgusting. He is engaged to be married. His fiance was there! I am engaged too, dammit!"

He shook his head. "I can't stand to think of what you do with your 'personal life'. But I'm here for you now. I'm here to put you back on the straight and narrow, to help you find purpose in your life again."

"Help me...?" she whispered incredulously.

"Yes, you need help. You've been decandent and metaphorically fat."

"You want to help me be a better Imperial....?"

He traced her curvy figure with his eyes. "Yes. And No."

"Then what...?"

"I don't give two shits about the Empress or her Empire. I'm a wanted man. The Empire is no home for me anymore, no sanctuary. Can't you see how much I've risked in coming here tonight to find you? I've had do unpleasant things to pleasant people to get passed the Unified biometric idents, and those acts are just more things you must atone for if you are to be whole again. I did them on your behalf, they are your sins."

She stared at him.

"What I want. ...what you will want is to become the Shalee you once were, the Shalee I loved, not this bitch that stands before me, pathetic and debased." He crossed his arms again and averted his eyes, as if barely wanting to look at her.

"...and how precisely do you think I'll become the Shalee you once thought I was?"

"Adversity. You are complacent. You are soft. You will purify yourself." He walked behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders gently, carassing her soft skin.

She nodded, agreeing with him, afraid to anger him. He was too close to her and she knew exactly what he was capable of. "I see..." She tried not to wince as he touched her, "How will I purify myself...?"

He closed his eyes and let his head fallback, savoring his next words. "You will go on a Crusade."

"A crusade of the soul. You are lost. I see the seeds of corruption in your heart. I see the seeds of hate in you. I...wasn't strong enough to do anything about it before."

" ...crusade? What do you mean?"

Infuriated, he closed his arm around her neck, slightly choking her while whispering against her ear, "Shut up woman. Verbosity thy name is Shalee. Woman you hear but you do not listen."

She gasped, going eerily still, tensed, her breathing ragged.

"I admit it. I wasn't strong enough to help you. I've been reborn on the fringe, Shalee and now it is finally time I find the inner strength of will to help you remake yourself, to find your true self and experience a rebirth of your own." He whispered, savoring her uneven breathing before untensing his arm. "You need a crusade of the soul. And you will do this or I will destroy you. I will kill you. I will burn you to ashes. I will destroy you so completely that not even a single corrupt atom from your existence will taint this world. No clones, no do-overs, you will overcome or you will die. And it breaks my heart that it has come to this."

He released her and stepped back, his expression softening for a moment.

She nodded her head as if agreeing with him. Tears trickled down her cheeks untouched, too terrified to move.

"Listen to me, and you must not just hear, listen to me."

His face flashed a mixture of heartbreak and fury at the sight of her self-pitying tears.

In a very small voice she asked, "...what do I have to do?"

"I've canceled your clone contracts. I've killed you. If you die it is final. You are mortal. Don't bother trying to work your away around it. I will only take that as a sign of your irredeemable corruption and murder everything youve touched." He promised.

Her mouth fell open.

"Yes you are no longer a Goddess, you are dust. Worthless. But I see your inner worth, your inner beauty. Perhaps I was the only one who ever could. You will overcome." He smiled cruelly, "I can see you're outraged. You should be. Hate is a strong emotion. I want you to hate me Shalee. I want you to loathe me. I want you to use that hate to focus on yourself."

"You've cancelled my clone contract? You have no right to do that." She started to tremble, "Don't worry I do hate you, more than I've hated anyone in my whole life."

He sneered, "You are so weak. So trapped in misconceptions about the way the universe works. There is no right and wrong, there is only survival. But you will learn."

She swiped her fingers across her face, wiping away the tears. "You're insane." She started for the door, "I want you to stay AWAY from me," she yelled, exploding into a furious rage.

He crossed the room with gene enhanced speed and pushed the door closed with the palm of his hand, preventing her from leaving. His left hand grabbed her soft underdarm and spun her around to face him, the strap of her dress fell off her shoulder, drooping onto her arm.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat as she glared up at him, "You can let me go or kill me now, but I'm not staying here!" she screamed at him, shoving at him with her free arm.

"I want you to think about what you just said. "Kill me now." Did you consider the importance of those words? Do you really understand what youre saying?"

She shoved at his chest again, "Let. Me. Go."

He fought through her anger, a bastion of resigned calm. He gently grabbed the strap of her dress and slid it back onto her shoulder, intentionally brushing her breast with the back of his hand as he spoke, "You are free to go. You are free to die. If you want to live, if you want to become something greater than you have ever become when we speak next you will be more composed and hate me. You are sacred, I understand that, but I am here for you Shalee."

She jerked free from his grasp, "Don't you ever touch me again."

"I've sent for a transport. It's waiting for you in your hanger. It will take you home and you will think of what we discussed here tonight. I'm sure you have a lot to process. We will speak soon. Now go. Crawl from my sight. Next time I see you, we will see if we cannot teach you to walk."

He grabbed her again as she fumbled for the door, yanking her to him, covering her mouth with a wet kiss, biting down gently on her lips before pushing her away. "Now get out of my sight."