Sheridans Rescue (many months ago)

[Sheridan Karrde]

Sheridan

Everything hurt. That was her one and only thought upon waking. IT hit her like a solid steel wall. She might as well been hit by a ship. Then immediately she opened her eyes and wished she hadn’t. The dim light hardly gave illumination to the small cell she was in, but it was enough to hurt immensely. The room swam, causing her to vomit up what little contents were remaining in her stomach. It took a while, but soon enough, she was able to lift her head slowly to look around.
First order of business was to find out what she could about the place.


She was in a rather decrepit and dirty cell no larger than 6 feet by 6 feet. Seemed to be just as tall too. A simple door with a tiny opening, supposedly for food stood on one wall. This did not guarantee that she was fed, only that it was there. No windows or indications of where she was or who had her were anywhere, but then, she hardly expected there to be. Every motion brought about pain. Her skin was bruised from head to toe. Blood covering most places. She could only assume it was her blood. She was nearly naked. Thin cloth, threadbare and torn, was the only thing between her skin and the air in only precious few places. Sheridan desperately fought to keep her noise to a minimum. Yet despite her efforts, tiny sounds of heart wrenching sobs and soft screams fell from her lips unbidden. She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath as a movement brought about more pain than she could handle. Though she did not want to and fought it every step of the way, the blackness consumed her.

Sheridan didn’t know how long she lay in the cell before consciousness came once more. She was in a different place than she had fallen before. Upon inspection of her body a new set of wounds had manifested across her abdomen. She could not remember anything, so she could only assume, no questions had been asked of her while unconscious. She was aware of being hungry, of being hurt badly and of the cold hard floor. Once again, unbidden, the blackness overcame her. Perhaps it was a sweet escape from what was being done to her. She could only guess as much.

Merek

Time had dragged by aboard the Destiny's Kiss. The ship had been his home for almost a year, especially since he had helped buy the thing. He'd put his time to good use. He'd given her heavier guns, and given them robotic mechanisms, and an independent fire control so that he didn't need gunners. The ship now sported a concussion missile tube with a large magazine, and he had also considered a concealed belly repeater. He'd also purchased a .65 hyperdrive for the Soro-sub seed-shaped ship, and had outfitted it with an extra power plant from Skipray Blastboat, making it faster, and gives it more punch to its cannons. For moment, he had been by himself.

Waiting.

Eventually as he had watched the clock, the message had never come. The message he was waiting for was a call from Sheridan Karrde, a descendant of the famous and infamous Talon Karrde. At her call, he was supposed to make a micro-jump in system and give her a ride out, by way of lots of cover-fire if needed. With the message never being sent, he kicked into action. By way of his own instincts, and some would say the Force, sense he was sensitive to it, he knew something was wrong to begin with.

The jump had been made, and he'd dropped out to the coordinates. It had only taken him a few minutes to begin looking. He'd also made it a point to have the meet point where Sheridan was supposed to meet her... 'associates'. Merek had dropped some bribes, and eventually got pointed to a warehouse, then from there to an underground pit fighting circuit. Once there, a few recognized him from Corellia and Nar Shadda's fighting circuits, which resulted in an unplanned and unscheduled match. It had been rough, but then again, with his raining from his family and his Teras Kasii master, and of course his time as a shockboxer, it only brought back old memories, and allowed him to vent his frustration. Walking away with an extra 2,500 credits, he earned most of his bribes back.

From the fight club he was pointed to a group that might know something. He talked to the Crash Crazies, which told him that Sheridan had been captured. They saw her being dragged off from the meet point unconscious. He was only able to find out she'd been dragged into an air speeder. From there, her trail evaporated. Then on a whim, he'd broken into the spaceport's secure area. He spliced himself into the computer network and was able to eventually slice the records of arrivals, departures and air traffic from the scanner logs, and traffic-control logs.

It had been a while since he'd done any real slicing, but it quickly came back. The Hutts were always one to be spending thrifts so the system was somewhat out of date, allowing him to pinpoint where the speeder landed, which happened to be at one of several private docking pads. Within an hour after it landed, he was able to track an YT-2400 flying under the name Peril Gambit departing. Its listed course was to the Tion Hegemony. Another CEC freighter was also lifting off flying under the name Dolldrum Deliant, heading for the Corellian sector. Another one departed in that hour that was an IntCom T-65 Mark I, heading toward the Parlemian and Hydian Way.

Out of the three he was betting on the Peril Gambit, and headed out, already aboard the Destiny's Kiss. He traced the transponder, and then began running one of his slicing packets, which coincidentally was taken from some of Ghent's base-code. Ghent was arguably one of the best slicers in the galaxy at the time that he worked for Talon Karrde and the New Republic. That his coding was still around was a testament to his skill. Merek had to go through six layers of bullshit to get the ship's -real- name. It was registered as Bloody Knuckles.

Eventually Merek was able to track the ship down, now deep inside the Tion Hegemony. It had been jumping from place to place. He'd always been a day too late. Then a week too late. Now a cold fury was resting in his belly, and it drove him tirelessly. He had finally started to catch up.

The mottled blue-white of hyperspace shattered into millions of starlines. Instantly they leaped back resolving themselves into white pinpoints of light that were stars light-years distant. Ahead a large green and blue marble mottled with white rushed up, hurtling toward the ship then stopped as the ship completed its transition from hyperspace to realspace.

'Now, to see if they're still here,' Merek thought to himself as he switched on the shields, smoothing them down for atmospheric flight, without creating a plasma trail a mile long from reentry.

Sheridan

She still had no idea who held her. At least for the moment she had been left alone to heal enough presumably to be tortured again. Sheridan never once considered that Merek would go to such great lengths to find her. She had only contracted for him to get her out of a sticky situation should it arise upon leaving. She had been a fool to think that Theedo would not capture her immediately upon arriving. Where were her men? Did they escape? She couldn’t imagine. Slowly she lifted herself from laying on the floor to sitting, but by gods it hurt like hell. Wounds burned like fire at the movement and muscles ached like they had been torn asunder. She lifted a hand to the cool walls of the cell she was still in, glad for once that they had not moved her recently.

She had vague flashes of memory during the time of her capture, mostly about places she barely saw and the pain she endured. Nothing stuck with her quite like the constant cold. How many times had they come in, drugged her and dragged her to where she would be tortured? She couldn’t remember now. She fought them as much as she could but sadly only the first time had she had success. From then on they had overwhelming numbers to hold her down as they drugged her into submission. But the drug was never enough to take away the pain. No, it only kept her from moving.

Food slipped in on a steel colored and rusting tray. To say the food looked like rotting flesh would not be far from the truth. Yet eat it she did, not caring about the putrid smell or bitter taste. And when she was done she sat in the corner, her arms curled around her knees drawn up to her chest. All she had was time... time to wait and time to heal.

Merek

Merek didn't know if she'd had any of her personnel with her. Even still, he wasn't being paid to pick them up. Just her. But at this point it wasn't about money, it was about principle. He'd been chasing her down for three weeks. Anger seethed, making is trigger fingers itch.

He skimmed the upper atmosphere of the rock. He couldn't even remember the name anymore. It didn't really matter to him. Carefully he used all of his piloting skill to use the edge of the under edge of the ionosphere and the planet's gravity well to sling shot him around the orbit, easily obtaining hypersonic speeds. Had he been in a more dense amount of atmosphere he would leave a violent shockwave behind him.

Eventually, he'd mapped out all the structures on the surface, and had decided to start at the most likely site. The Destiny's Kiss dove through the atmosphere sliding like a vibro-shiv hurled by an angry god. After a few minutes of straight drop she leveled out just off the deck, making a lake approach. The air pressure, and thrust coming off the ship was enough to press the water into a glass-smooth bowl, throwing up a wall of water on each side one hundred feet high.

Within a few more minutes the ship was bobbing and weaving, flying N.O.P. (Nap Of the Planet), tucked neatly into what he hoped was a blind corridor afforded by the terrain. It was a shallow canyon that would lead to within a few kliks of the site.


Sheridan

They had grown frustrated with her. She tended to pass out way too often and for way too long. They had to let her heal, but that meant they could not toy with her for some time. This left them irritated. She heard their muttering basic through the door slit. They had no idea that she was listening. All her senses were aware, though it made her pain that much more vibrant in her mind, Sheridan listened hard. All she could tell was that the city they were in didn’t have good whores nor good drinks. They hated it here and would move soon. Again irritation flowed through their conversation. They had to wait until she was healed enough to go.

IT had been two days since she was last beaten. Though it felt to her much more recent a time. The hours dragged by with agonizing slowness in this place without a window. Most of their friends had long since left to spend the evening carousing in a local Cantina. More grumbling ensued. Gods, if they didn’t stop whining she would bust out just to shut them up. It was then that they noticed her hand holding open the tiny slot that they put her food through. She heard their exclamation and backed away quickly to the corner as their footsteps were heard coming in her direction. Her fingernails dug into the wall desperately as though if she scratched hard enough she could break through. She screamed with all that she could muster, sending even a ripple through the force with the intensity of it. But nothing would save her as they wrenched open the door coming for her.

Merek

It was a mid-sized city that Merek landed near. The only reason why he'd come down in the Destiny's Kiss in such a manner was that if done right it would look like a meteor strike, but one that hit in the ocean. Having come up through the low lands and canyons, inward about forty kilometers, he was now a short ways outside the city. They were using hydroelectric power, with a small power plant on the river. It was actually a rather efficient setup, since they had small fusion generators to back up the main plant with.

He slipped out of the cockpit and into the 'garage' section of his ship, lowering the cargo lift with his small black sports style speeder. It was rated up to 1,200 kilometers per hour, and he knew how to handle it. Into the seat he dropped a concealable Firelance carbine and then strapped his DH-44 'Deathsingers' or Whiners to his thighs. Then he added several vibros to his ensemble, and threw a long coat over his frame.

He hopped down to the ground level where the lift rested and gave the speeder a sideways push, causing it to drift a couple of feet off the platform, then set it to raise back up in the ship, then slipped into the speeder. With a whine of repulsors he took off, kicking up leaves, grasses, and dust, quickly heading for the city. He needed to find out where the Bloody Knuckles had docked.

Sheridan

There was no escape. It was a six by six cell. Before she could stand or try to move away, a hand came to her throat and lifted her. Her feet dangled some six inches off the ground as she flung around like a rag doll by the gigantic man holding her. It was surprising her neck didn’t snap right then and there. Though, the suffocation he was causing could be just as bad. Just before she passed out he dropped her to the floor, leaving her gasping for blessed air. The two men laughed and watched her struggle.

She got to her knees and continued to cough and gag though she was able to breath just fine. She gathered her hand into a fist and took a swing, directly up, standing swiftly. To be sure, the guy had no idea it was coming. He doubled over in pain as she hit a very precious part of his manhood and just kept going. The other man was shocked, but it didn’t last long. He swung, knocking the wind out of her and throwing her into the wall. The blackness came at last. She didn’t want to think of the pain they would inflict while she was unconscious. If she was lucky, they would take their wounded and go.... if she was lucky.

Merek

With a pair of macrobinoculars he had stored in the small storage compartment in the cockpit of the speeder he'd spied from the air where most ships were docked. After a casual cruise by, without entering the spaceport's airspace he spotted the ship he was looking for. Then he swore he heard a woman scream.

It was familiar, bringing Sheridan immediately to mind. He could even see her bruised face distended in desperation. He'd learned enough about the Force from being around Kabe, Murra, Leiyn, and Anna that he knew it wasn't coincidence. He'd also learned to trust his instincts. He stretched out, trying to feel the emotions as they came, and feel out their source. He didn't get anything so precise as a room or building, but he did turn his air speeder toward the downsider part of the city. Within minutes he was settling down on the outskirts.

He hopped out and secured his ride, making sure to tuck the Firelance under his coat. Acting quickly, and listening to his gut he began a light jog, his coat billowing partially behind him. It was half a mile or more to the building he felt led to. Then just as quickly as the impressions came, they went silent.

Uncertain as to whether he just simply was not aware enough, or what had happened he picked up the pace approaching at a dead run. Once he was near the building he slowed to a brisque walk, eyeing the windows, entrances, and whoever was standing around, even up to several blocks away. He'd didn't have a good feeling about this, but he couldn't afford to bring more toys and attract more attention. With the macro-binoculars he surveyed the building.

Sheridan

As though on cue, two men exited from the building, one of who was barely standing. The other was laughing at him and wiping blood from is fingers with a cloth. The vibrant red showed its sickening freshness but there wasn’t much. Perhaps that was a good thing, perhaps bad. They had no idea they were being watched. The men didn’t think anyone would be after her so far out. They were glad she was unconscious and figured even if she came to, she wouldn’t be able to escape. So they figured to make their way to the Cantina where their friends were.

Sheridan groaned, slowly gaining a half consciousness in the small room. She rolled to one side. How long was she to endure this before they killed her? She coughed and then yelled out in pain as her ribs protested. It was likely that one or more of them were broken. She crawled to the corner with agonizing slowness to move with as little excess as possible. Using the corner she was able to sit once more with her eyes to the door. Her knees moved up and were wrapped around by her arms. She sat shivering as she fell into a light slumber.

Merek

Seeing the two stumbling out in the near darkness he let them slip past, paying attention to the door they came out of. Then he reached down to his belt and pulled out a tiny case, with two circular containers on it. He unscrewed the first, revealing a contact lense inside. He slipped it on his left eye, and then repeated the same procedure with his right. His eyes now glowed a bright blue as he blinked a few times. To him the world was rendered in bright blues, giving him excellent nightvision as the contacts amplified the ambient light.

They were electro-chemically charged, and as long as they were charged they held power. The charging method was a small circuit board along the backs of his eyelids that charged the surface of the contacts every time he blinked.

Once he was at the door he slipped on a pair of very dark glasses, and tested the door itself to see if it was locked or not.

Sheridan

The door to the outside wasn’t locked. Inside it looked like a small shop of sorts with nothing of any importance. The layer of dust only would tell anyone that nothing was truly for sale here. However, a small table had been set up in the middle of it. Cards and old cups of caf littered it. Beyond this was a door that was locked. Behind it he would find a room of nothing but torture devices as though this was a private playground for these men. In that room were two doors, each with a small slot near the bottom.

Merek

Merek, being the methodical type slinked through the room, pulling his right pistol. As soon as he took a hold of it, its small power core kicked to life, giving it a distinct but quiet whine. A second later he clicked the small power system off, letting it run on power pack alone. The first door with the slot in the bottom he checked was the one to his left, carefully inspecting it for locking mechanisms and ways to unlock them.

Sheridan

One was unlocked. The simple latch easily opening the door for him to inspect, however it is empty. The second one is locked however a simple set of lock picks would easily undo this lock for someone as talented as merek. Sheridan could have picked it in her sleep though her condition had never given her the chance to.

Merek

Merek reached into his coat and pulled out a small tool kit, pulling out a couple thin pieces that would suffice for lockpicks then crouched, setting in to pick the lock. He was rusty, so it took him more than a minute to catch all the pins right, then using a small driver he turned the lock, trying to be as quiet as he could. He pulled out his pistol. He turned on the entry light just at the bottom of the weapon, then swept the door open sweeping the bright white beam of light emitting from the end of his DH-44 across the room at head level, looking for any targets.

The light had swept above Sheridan's head purposefully, and now it swept down and around to the floor, resting near her feet, reflecting the light around the room and back onto him so she could better see who it was, instead of a black, back-lit silhouette. He turned back to peek at the first room where he'd entered from, to make sure they didn't have company yet, then he crouch-walked over to her, putting the pistol down. "Sheridan?"

Sheridan

The sound of some kind of scratching hit her ears and begged her to wake, but the blackness was her safety and she resisted. She didn’t want to be awake if they had come back again, regrouped. The numbness was too sweet. But when the door swept open suddenly Sheridan body tensed up. She wanted to whimper and didn’t know if it actually came out. It wasn’t as if she had much control over herself these days. The hand that wasn’t hurt too badly balled into a fist preparing for more pain to come.

This time was different. Had they brought someone new to torture her? The sound she heard was him leaving for a moment and then returning. Curious, She started to open her eyes. As the person neared her, she tried to back further into the corner as though she could meld with the wall but no comfort was to be found. Her name startled her. With some effort she willed her head to turn to look at the man before her. Recognition lit in her eyes, her voice squeaked out his name. "Merek!"

There was nothing that could keep the tears from falling, tears she figured had long since dried up after so much torture. She began shaking uncontrollably as relief washed through her. Was it a dream? A hallucination? She didn’t care for the hope it gave her. Trembling, her hand reached out to touch him.

Merek

Quickly he took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "It's me. I'm here. Sorry I'm late, traffic was hell," he murmured softly. "Can you move, or be moved?" As he held her hand he looked her over, she looked like she'd been tattooed from head to toe with bruises. He was sure there was damage where he couldn't see, under what could barely be called clothes. The room stank, but he'd been around worse, even if it made his stomach want to turn.

With his other hand he began fumbling in the coat, puling out a small tool kit, a small med-pac, and the Firelance rifle. He opened the case of the pac, and pulled out a small patch, placing it on her shoulder. In the patch was a medium high grade pain killer that would penetrate the skin and be released in a time-release format. It wouldn't give her total relief, but after the treatment she'd been through, it would feel like water to a man dying of thirst.

He also pulled out a small container from inside his coat in the form of a moderately large flask, which he opened the cap and passed to her. "Water," he said quietly. He was pretty sure by the look of things they barely gave her enough to keep her alive, and even then, if her body wasn't in survival mode it would have made her sick.

Sheridan

Traffic was hell. She half laughed at that and then sucked in a breath because it hurt. His hand felt wonderful in hers. A kind human touch was better than the pain killer he placed on her shoulder. "I can’t move quickly by any means, but I can be moved." She paused in between most every word to breath and to think. The painkiller kicked in, washing over her like a cool wave. The relief was incredible. Her breathing came easier, she stopped shaking nearly so much, and she became a little more alert as the pain dulled. The fire in her lungs from the broken ribs died down enough for her to want to cry it felt so wonderful.

She carefully took the flash finding it heavier than expected. She set it down on the floor for a moment to rest before lifting it to her lips. She knew better than to gulp it down. She took sips. Sheridan felt just a little more like herself with every moment that passed. But her strength gave out quite quickly. She set down the flask upon the floor again and closed her eyes for a moment. Breathily she spoke, "I would have dressed nicer if I had known I would have company." Sheridan squeezed his hand. "Get me out of here Merek before they come back."

Like a harbinger of bad news, her statement was no more uttered than the front door slammed. At least one if not more of the men were back. Their deep voices echoed through the torture chamber to her small cell. Terror washed over her, as her grip on his hand became tighter.

[Sheridan Karrde]

Merek

Merek switched off his the entry light on his pistol. "Cover your ears," he whispered in a barely audible tone. As he spoke he reached into his coat and pulled out a pair of grenades. He pulled the pin on one. Immediately it started hissing producing a thick smoke. He tossed it toward the entrance, giving it a good five count before he activated the second and covered his own ears.

After three seconds the second grenade went off, with a brilliant flash that filled even the cell with light, despite its opening being perpendicular to the next room. It also created a harsh bang that would almost have popped his ears and maybe popped his eardrums had he not had them covered. As soon as the stun grenade went off he drew his pistols and leaped for the door, just a half meter off the ground, already tracking to see how many there were.

Sheridan

At his behest, she lifted her hands to her ears and covered them as tightly as she could muster. She watched as he pulled out two grenades and throw them. She whimpered and turned her head towards the wall, closing her eyes tight. The light flashed brilliant, causing another sound to escape her lips, though it would likely be heard by no one. The men didn’t know what hit them and lay sprawled across the floor. There were four of them. Each moved slowly or not at all, completely unprepared for a fight this evening. Two of them were the ones that had left earlier. The smell of heavy liquor filled the air only attesting to their drunken states.

Merek

He would have liked nothing more than to kill all four of them, but murder was the last thing he would lower himself to. Instead he flicked the selector lever to stun, and brought his pistols around to the two that were moving and quickly fired a pair of blue bolts into each of them, dropping them like a bad habit. Then he quickly double-tapped the other two as well. He holstered his pistols and quickly set about putting the four stunned men into chairs at the table and making it look like they had passed out from their revelry.

He stalked back into the cell and knelt down in front of Sheridan. "Come, I don't think we have a lot of time," he said gently as he stood in a half crouch. "Do you need help getting up? I think you have some broken ribs. You know how you need to move, so it’s up to you."

Sheridan

With each shot, she winced and endeavored again to become one with the wall. Merek came back without a scratch on him. She wondered what he had done for those few minutes he was gone. Her hands drifted down from her ears and looked up at him. "I wont be able to walk very fast. I will try my best though. Just take my hands and pull me quickly to my feet. It will hurt but its better to do it quickly than with agonizing slowness. Then I will need your coat. I doubt very much that we can slip undetected with me dressed like this." She didn’t care that she was barefoot but she didn’t think a bloody half covered woman would be inconspicuous. She couldn’t imagine what her beautiful golden hair looked like now, bloodsoaked and matted beyond repair. She lifted her hands to him and steeled herself against the pain that would surely follow.

Merek

"I was already planning on handing it over to you, once you were standing," he said quickly, with a slightly quirky smile. Then he reached down and packed up the gear, stuffing it into his cargo-style pants pockets. Then he took her hands. "I'm sorry... this is probably going to hurt worse than anything," He said apologetically. As soon as he finished he gave a mighty haul, but did so smoothly and quickly. As soon as she was near standing, he let go of her hands and instead slipped closer, and gently but firmly wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her upright.

Sheridan

He took hold of her hands and pulled. No amount of preparing would keep her from hurting. For a moment she stood, as his arms slipped around her, shocked. Sheridans face turned whiter than a ghosts. Her own arms for a second stood still. Then they fell to his shoulders, her nails dug in deep as she let out a scream. If he had not been holding her up, she surely would have fallen back to the floor.
Sheridan lowered her head to his shoulder and held on tightly, taking short breaths and trying not to pass out again. After a few moments she looked up at Merek, her cheeks tearstained but her breathing returned to normal and her nails retracted from his shoulders. "I’m okay."

Merek

She was stronger than he had thought she would be after weeks of confinement and absolutely shitty living conditions. Her nails dug into him through the hardy nerf-hide of his coat, digging into the muscle. If he weren't wearing it, it probably would have resulted in muscles being separated or her fingernails ripping through skin. After she straightened up he gave her a small nod. "Good. Can you walk?" As he asked he took half a step back, his hands slipping to her waist, while subtly suggesting through his body language she take a testing step. He would catch her if she fell.

Sheridan

She was only stronger because the pain made her stronger. She was only stronger because they had let her rest the day before for the first time in weeks and Sheridan was a fast healer. And then there was the fact she was Sheridan Karrde and a strong woman by nature. IT was all an illusion and short lived at least here and in these conditions. Nothing she could do would last for more than a few scant seconds. As the adrenaline faded from standing, she stood shaking, hanging onto him so she would not fall. She had to struggle constantly for the blackness not to consume her. She took a step forward causing shooting pain to rip up her lower calf all the way to her thigh. This time she didn’t have time to scream. The pain was too much for her, the edge of her vision swam with black and then she collapsed, unconscious.

Merek

He saw her pupils dialate just in time. He quickly stepped forward and caught her weight. With as long as she had been imprisoned she had lost weight, and to him she felt light as a feather. He quickly hefted her weight in his arms, sweeping her legs from the floor and carried her into the main room. Gently he laid her on the floor, then went back to her cell.

Once inside he quickly rigged the Firelance rifle. He set it into overload mode, but it wouldn't detonate until the trigger was pulled. Inside he bonded it to the wall with a strip of adhesive that could hold his entire body weight on 12 centimeters. He ran a thin thread down attaching it to the corner of the door, after attaching it to the trigger. Soon as the door was swung open, it would blow.

While it wouldn't level the building, it would certainly blow apart anyone within the room, and anybody within the hall for roughly four meters. Carefully he locked the door back to provide the illusion that it hadn't been touched. Then he went into the main room and collected the empty gas grenade and checked on Sheridan to see if she had come back to consciousness. He prayed she hadn't at this point.

Sheridan

Sheridan had no idea about the trap he set, though it would certainly have gotten her approval. She was notorious for doing the same types of things on some of her jobs. The pain patch, the water, and hope did wonders for her, but not enough to enable her to wake from the shock she had put her body through so far. Merek for the most part was on his own.

Merek

Merek lifted her from the floor as gently as he could, settling her over his shoulder in a military carry used to help minimize balance problems, as well as keep from damaging injured comrades while transporting them unconscious. He opened the door just a crack and lowered his darkened glasses, letting his night vision contacts paint the outside world to him as bright as day. He carefully observed from there, without stepping out, yet. He let a full minute pass by, then slipped out and to the side of the building out of the splash of the city lights.

Sheridan

For the most part, there were no real people around. The Cantina was several doors down and though bustling with activity, no one paid attention to the man carrying a woman down the street for the short period of time he was in their visual range. Mereks timing was perfect. Shortly after he left, the men in the room started to stir. IT took them several minutes to wake fully. Startled that they had been jumped, two men rushed out onto the street and the other two rushed to look for their prisoner. The blast took everyone by surprise. The two men on the street started shouting and ran in to see if their friends were still alive but came out very shortly afterwards with their hands empty. Sheridan woke only briefly, but upon seeing nothing but road in front of her as he carried her through the streets, she did not fight to stay awake. All she felt was cold.

Merek

By the time the rifle had gone off, Merek was at his speeder. He quickly deactivated the security system, and laid her down in the back seat, then slipped into the front after securing her, and closed the canopy. The speeder started up with a soothing hum, and in a matter of seconds it was sliding down the street. After hugging the ground for a few moments he took it to the air, looping it in a lazy curve over the city, idly responding to traffic.

"Hang on, Sheridan. We're almost out of here," he murmured. The black speeder ducked down to just a few stories, cruising at a modest rate to keep from attracting attention.

Sheridan

Sheridan knew he was good when she hired him. He responded to traffic at a normal pace, seemingly not rushed. Nothing abnormal happened in his escape with Sheridan. There was no cause to suspect a speeder like so many around the city. Even if the men had been able to get their wits together, they would not have been able to find the mysterious man and the woman he rescued. Sheridans only response to Mereks soothing words were her body relaxing more and a soft murmur emitting from her lips, incoherent.

Merek

With a smooth cruise, he set the speeder back down to street level and headed for the outskirts of the city where the Destiny's Kiss was waiting. He set the ship down, then contacted the ship's computer, giving the code to lower the cargo lift. Deftly, he slid the black speeder next to it, then got out and pushed it onto the lift, then activated it, taking them both up into the garage section of the ship.

With a sigh, he looked down at her, then brushed his hand over her forehead. After a moment longer he used a magnetic clamp to lock the speeder in place, and slowly stalked out of the garage, the door hissing shut quietly behind him as he headed for the cockpit. As the engines whined to life he slid into the left seat, smiling as the purring vibrations of the ship greeted him. "Alright baby, " He said to the ship, "Let's get the lady somewhere safe." Moments later the ship was hovering on its repulse fields, then gliding over the ground skimming the treetops away from the city, ducking into the nearby canyon he had come in through, with no running lights.

Once he was in the canyon he turned them back on, only so he wasn't violating too many laws. He allowed the ship to fly that low for a good fifteen minutes then pulled up to only a few thousand feet, accelerating to maximum repulsor, and set the ship on autopilot. It was going to take them to the completely opposite side of the planet, where the traffic systems were blind, and from their climb to jump altitude.

Merek left the cockpit and headed back to the garage to check on Sheridan.

Sheridan

Throughout the entire trip to the Destinys Kiss, Sheridan slept like the dead. Perhaps it was the fact that she felt safe, but more likely it was because she was that exhausted. Sheridan hardly trusted anyone. That was why she did not think that Merek would come for her. Her sleep was dreamless and so deep only the ship accelerating to a high speed woke her up. She groaned and turned her head, opening her deep golden eyes, not nearly their normal vibrant color due to lack of nutrients. She was still in the speeder, but in some sort of garage. By the familiar hum of the engines, she realized they were on Mereks ship. Every moment was another moment closer to safety.

The patch was still working wonders. In the light of the garage, she looked incredibly bad. It certainly reflected how she felt and what her body had gone through. Cuts littered her body but most would not scar. Dried blood was everywhere, including her poor hair, matted and beyond help. Deep Purple and black bruises were merely bruises on bruises. Her body had not had a single chance to recover. Her fingernails were torn. She had lost a great deal of weight so that she looked anorexic. And she felt forever cold. Even in the warmth of the garage, she shivered.

Merek

Seeing how bad she looked, Merek walked over to a set of equipment and pulled what at first had looked like a metal slab off the wall, letting it tilt over, but it never slammed into the floor. Instead it bobbed to rest about a meter high, floating silently on repulsors. He brought he repulsor sled over to the speeder, and then making sure she was still asleep, lifted her as gently as he could and put her on it. Then he guided the make-shift gurney out into the main part of the ship slinking past several closed doors and a state-of-the-art communications, conference, and holo-set to the left.

He turned just after the table to a set of doors, one to the left, and one to the right. He keyed open the door, pushing the repulsor sled inside. It was dark, but it was a soothing dark. He brought her over to a part of the floor and gently extricated her from the sled, and then laid her out. Instead of lying on the floor though, she was suspended a half a meter in the air. It was nice to have a Bakuran repulsor bed on the ship. Arguably it was one of the most comfortable beds Merek had ever had.

He took a minute to place a couple of blankets over her as she shivered in her sleep, then set another piece of equipment to begin radiating warmth through the repulsor field, to help heat her up. Then he took the sled back to the garage, and checked their course.
Sheridan

She only groaned in protest when she was moved, but her eyes did not reopen. Her shivering stopped while she was in his arms, soaking up what warmth it could from his touch before being placed on the gurney. Yet it started up again as soon as she was away from him. Sheridan would have appreciated the Bakuran repulsor bed if she had anything on her mind but sleep and pain. However, the comfort was lost on her. She only knew in her dim awareness of her movements that she was getting warm and she didn’t feel as much pain as before.

She would sleep like that for as long as he would let her. Eventually though, he would have to wake the sleeping woman so that she could eat and if possible, bathe so that her wounds could be looked at with a better understanding of what is old and what is new. For the moment though, she simply slept like the day after her father died, incredibly deep and restful.

Merek

He let her rest, returning to the cockpit. Sliding into the seat he found the found the shadows shortening and the area lightening as the ship was speeding across the terminator, though it was cutting across it at an angle. Merek rotated the ship over, and then set his trajectory to make use of gravity as they were to head out.

He punched on the sublights kicking the ship forward more, but he also dialed the inertial dampener up for the rest of the ship so anyone in the back wouldn't feel a thing. He left the cockpit dialed back to 95% so he could 'feel the g's '. Within moments they were out of the troposphere and skimming through the ionosphere.

It was only a couple more minutes before he was at the edge of the planet's gravity well. He didn't even bother plotting a course. He just pulled the hyperspace lever, making a blind micro-jump as he pushed it forward again, causing the stars that had leaped forward into starlines to snap back almost as soon as it had happened.

Carefully he began plotting his first jump out of the system as they had covered several standard orbits of distance, and would be safe for a while, if they had been detected at all. His first jump was in the direction of Kashyyk. It only took a moment to bring the ship about, and with a flicker of pseudo-motion it was -gone-.

Merek stood up and divested himself of his firearms, then headed back to the refresher and collected some water and grabbed a med-pack, and headed to the cabin with Sheridan in it.

He cleaned off her face and neck gently, then her hands, and arms. After that was done he set about cleaning the rest of her as best he could, taking time to inspect her injuries as well. Several broken ribs, massive bruising and tissue damage. A few lumps that were likely internal bleeding. Sprained or broken ankle and wrist. Others he couldn't tell on external inspection.

Sheridan

For a long time as he washed her, she did not move. One might have thought her dead if she was not breathing slow and steady. She was pale, far more than anyone ever had a right to be. She looked frail and broken. Sheridan never felt embarrassed about her body but as her eyes opened and she realized what Merek was seeing, tears slipped down her temples. There was no movement, so he might not notice for a while that she was awake. There was pain but nothing like she had experienced in those endless weeks. She either felt numbness or pain. There was nothing in between. She could hardly feel the bed beneath her at all or the blankets that had been on her.

"I know you wanted to see me naked, but this is a bit excessive." She just kept her eyes towards the ceiling and half smiled, needing the joke to lighten the severity of her predicament. Her fingers curled around the blanket that was off to one side so he could wipe her clean.

Merek

He shook his head. Merek had yet to break the confines of modesty, though he still remembered his medical training, and at this point he was of a clinical mind, he was only tending to what he could see without removing anything. "Maybe, but you're jumping to conclusions Sheridan," He said quietly as he finished the last of his cleaning.

But, in a way she was right. Seeing her so battered, bruised, broken, and emaciated (sp?) left her more emotionally, mentally, and spiritually naked than anything. "We've made our first jump, so we're safe," he said softly.

Then he picked up the kit and opened it and began tending her cuts with a small antiseptic spray, following it up with flesh-knit. He gave her an injection which were filled with medical-grade nanites and bacta. The bacta would help her heal faster, and it was a small enough dose that when it was done her body would easily process it out. The nanites were knitter class, so they would be fixing as much damaged blood vessels as they could, and work on fixing some of the internal damage.

After a minute he gave her another hypo-injection, but this time it was a local painkiller into her the area around her broken ribs. "It's a good thing I found you," he murmured, then looked back to her, then stroked her hair back from her face.

Sheridan

"Sorry Merek, I am not quite up to my usual wit and repartee. You will have to excuse my crass jokes at your expense." She had not actually thought that he was doing this to see her body. Indeed in this state there was nothing sexual about it. She kept her eyes solidly on the ceiling, not allowing herself to look at him for the moment. As he told her they were safe, she let the sob she had been holding in escape. It was a helpless and sorrowful sound. More tears streamed down her face, but she did nothing about them.

Once the dam had broken there was nothing she could do. She made no sound as the antiseptic spray hit her cuts. IT stung but it didn’t hurt. The injection he gave her did though. The spot he put it in was incredibly tender. She whimpered but it wasn’t until he stroked her hair back from her face that she finally looked at him and nodded. "That bad huh?"

Merek

He considered for a moment. "Well, it could have been. With infection starting to set in, and the internal bleeding you have going on, and the rate they were hurting you, I would have given you another two weeks at most," he said quietly. After a moment, he wrapped the blanket back around her and gently wiped away her tears. He siddled over next to her, laying on his side, and just stroked her hair and
her forehead.

Sheridan

Sheridan had not been awake during her recovery times enough to do a full assessment of her damaged body. She was sure though, that Merek was right. Everything with her instincts told her that. Despite the fact that they had given her a day to recover she knew that would not last and they would indulge in their fun as soon as they could without killing her. Still, they were not adept enough at torture to be able to keep her alive for much longer. They indulged far too much. She didn’t think Theedo even told them who they had. The order had just been to get her away from him and have fun. Perhaps he owed them something and she was the payoff.

Merek carefully laid beside her and tried to sooth her. He could have just sat there and it would have been a comfort. She turned carefully on her side to face him. "There is a good hospital on Kashyyyk. I have friends there. We should probably not go directly there though, just in case." As she spoke, she struggled to stay awake. His touch was gentle and she found herself unable to fight off the sleep that beckoned her into its depths. And as her lids drooped to a close, she whispered, "Thank you Merek."

Merek

He smiled softly, but sadly as she at last drifted off to sleep. "Great minds think alike," he murmured. He laid there for a while, also drifting to sleep eventually, but it was a light, and aware sleep. It was the watch sleep of someone who was waiting for an injured family member or loved one to wake up in the hospital. It also was giving him some respite from the stress of the last few weeks of trying to find the blonde-haired I-beam in a asteroid field.

After a few hours he woke, and slipped back out of the cabin, careful not to disturb her. Sure enough, he was right on time as they dropped out of hyperspace. The Destiny had dropped out in between systems. He sat there considering his options, and pulled up the navicomputer. There was Kashyyk, and of course Aleris or Aleris Prime. He decided to lay in a course for Aleris, at least there they could hear what was going on, on Kashyyk.

Sheridan

Normally Sheridan was an incredibly light sleeper. But she put a great amount of trust in Merek and slept deeply. Not even when he moved and left her, did she wake. The warmth of the blankets and the bed kept her from even detecting he was gone. When she finally did wake, she drifted in and out of sleep waiting for Merek to return. She needed a real bath, a pair of scissors, food, and clothing. Sheridan had no idea the trouble he had gone through to find her, only that it had been several weeks since she had been captured. Her ankle was broken, so walking was not going to happen. She could have hopped on one foot, but her strength was not up for it. So for the moment, she let herself sleep and let the medicine do its job.

Merek

He decided to plot the next few jumps ahead of time, and set them in the auto-pilot. He needed more sleep, and Sheridan needed tending to. Once the courses were laid in, he pulled the lever to activate the hyperdrive again, and starlines snapped forward melding into the mottled blue and black sky of hyperspace.

Once he was sure everything was in order, he headed back to the stateroom, slipping inside quietly. Finally, he took his boots and socks off, letting his feet revel in the coolness of the decking. Moving quickly he kneeled next to Sheridan, looking to see if she was awake.

Sheridan

The sound of his boots woke her. She opened her eyes in time to see him kneeling next to her. She felt much better, though that might be the medicine numbing the pain for her. She didn’t care much. Sheridan was usually sharp as a tack, but at the moment the medicine had dulled her a bit while it worked through her. "I would kill for a bath and a pair of scissors, food and clothing if you have it." She felt bad
asking him for more when he had done so much already. But somehow she didn’t think he would mind these small things. She even bit her tongue on a wisecrack about how a man was serving her on hand and food. She merely smiled softly.

[Sheridan Karrde]

Merek

He nodded. "Well, I've got all three. Which do you want first," he asked. "I'm betting on the bath first, eh?" Merek smiled slightly, then pondered. She was too busted up to get around well, and she still had broken ribs, and the Force only knew what else. Between her injuries and a broken ankle he was calculating the situation.

Sheridan

She attempted to laugh but winced instead. "Yes I believe a bath would be first. With the scissors. Don’t you worry though, I wont hurt myself with the scissors... they are for my hair." Just speaking that much had her winded. She closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated on breathing. She did smile softly again to reassure Merek that she was alright. "Just get me into the tub and Ill take care of washing myself. It may take a while, but I can do it if you don’t feel right doing it for me. Drawing the bath and getting me there.... that’s your problem." Again she tried to laugh but sucked in a breath. "Remind me not to do that again."

Merek

"Don't do that again," he said dryly, then shrugged. "I can handle cleaning you up, if you can," he said teasingly. Then he shrugged and stood, padding out of the room, heading to the refresher. Luckily the Destiny's Kiss had started her life as a luxury vessel, and so it did have a tub, which he knew from experience was good for soaking in. He quickly set about filling it, and then headed out, leaving it running.

He slipped back into the room, then sighed. "This is probably going to suck quite a bit for you." He carefully slipped his arms under her, trying to keep from hurting her with a surprising amount of success. "Let me know when you are ready."

Sheridan

She watched him go and thought on it for a moment. Certainly this was not the best way to get washed, at least with other goals in mind. However, here she was only trying to get clean with minimal pain. She would likely clean her most private parts by herself but for most of the washing, it would be immensely helpful to have him doing it. As he started to return, she spoke. "Well it is disconcerting to look like this and have a man touching me but I think I can handle it."

Then the laughter in her eyes died as she thought about how painful the bath was going to be. But then, she had been through a lot worse these last few weeks. As he picked her up, she laid her head on his shoulder and held onto his shirt. "I am ready to feel clean again. Pain, I can handle."

Merek
Carefully he lifted her, showing not a hint of strain, and barely effort. He headed for the door, forcing his movements to be as smooth and flowing as possible, well with a fifty kilo weight in his arms. It was a short walk to be refresher, where he sat her down gently on the dirty clothesbasket which doubled as a bench. He turned away and bent down to check the water in the tub. It was hot, almost enough to turn the skin red, certainly just right to soak and loosen the muscles, and
help free up the dirt, grime and blood that was left. He flicked his hand dry then turned back to her. "How do you want to do this?"

Sheridan

As he turned away, she carefully began to peel away the thing that had served as her clothing for the last three weeks. It stuck in certain areas and had to be carefully removed from the skin it had stuck to. She worked carefully and got it all unstuck but couldn’t lift it off of herself. She felt utterly useless and helpless, something she hated feeling. "Just cut this thing off me please." There was a tone of desperation in her voice. She needed it off of her.

If he did start to cut it off of her and got her out of it, she would suggest while he was doing that, "Just lower me in I suppose. There is nothing we can do to keep me from the pain it’s going to cause. It will hurt but Ill be fine." She hoped she would be fine. After all, it was not soaped water. The soap would wait until she had been in there for a few minutes. She just wanted to be clean as though bathing would wash away these last few weeks of hell.

Merek

He gave no preamble. With a quick motion he reached around to the small of his back and pulled out a small vibro-knife, clicking it on with a soft hum. He did as she suggested carefully cutting the clothes like the weren't even there, slipping them off with practiced ease. Then he slipped the knife away, and then gently picked her up again, made the few steps across the refresher and sat her down in the tub slowly, letting her get accustomed to the water some as he let her down, as well as letting its buoyancy help him out.

Once she was down, he stood smoothly murmuring that he would be back and slipped out the room, letting the door close most of the way behind him.

Sheridan

She felt no embarrassment for her body being exposed because she was always very proud of it. However she did blush a little because he had to see her like this, beaten, bruised, cut and abused. She held her breath almost the entire time she was being placed down into the water. It was nearly scalding hot but a necessity nonetheless. It hurt but after she got used to it, it felt truly wonderful. She relaxed
and as he left carefully dipped her head down into the water as well. She also took the opportunity to start cleaning the parts that she didn’t want him to clean. It hurt badly. She carefully wiped away the tears with the heated water. Its not that she thought he wouldn’t understand. It was just that she didn’t want to have to explain it and didn’t want to have to speak of it. So Sheridan used her time wisely cleaning from her waist to the tops of her thighs. By the time he would rejoin her, she would have started slowly on her legs and if he asked, she would simply claim that she wanted to start at the parts she could reach the easiest so he wouldn’t have to do too much.

Merek

He'd left for precisely that reason: to give her a few minutes of privacy. He returned with a couple of different scissors, all designed for cutting hair and he set them off to one side of the room. She could make use of them later. "You know, I have horribly bad luck when it comes to helping women. First Leiyn, and now you," he said with a wry smile. He shook his head. "Least you're in better condition than she was. That and you didn't have the tender loving care of my evil
twin," he said, with sarcasm to the words 'tender loving care'. He knelt next to the tub, turning sideways to lean against it, his gray eyes locked on hers. "I'm sorry I wasn't faster," he said softly.

Sheridan

She was curious about Leiyn. Sheridan had met the woman a while back when she was pregnant. There was precious little information available about what had gone on. She turned to look at Merek and found herself caught by his gaze. His apology took her by surprise, mostly because she was grateful he had even made it before she died or before she ended up like Leiyn had. She blinked at him for a moment and gave him a small fleeting smile. Her hand came up to envelope his. "You came, that’s all that mattered. I am alive and with a few months work, Ill be back to normal. There is not anything more in the galaxy I could ask for." With that, she lifted her other hand revealing the sponge soaped and ready for him to use.

"Tell me about your evil Twin. I was not aware you had a brother?" Really this was meant only to serve as a distraction for her. Though she was curious, she needed something to take her mind off the pain. She lifted a leg to float on the surface, giving him a place to start. As he was finished with one limb, she would move another for him, then her back, then her front. Her hair would be last.

Merek

"Well we grew up on Corellia, near Coronet City. Dierk was my twin in all but eye color. His were green where mine are grey. Our parents were somewhat older, and well... My mother had worked for what used to be New Republic Intelligence as a slicer. My father had been Special Forces, and the two of them had worked together several times. Over the course of their work they expressed an interest in each other and well.. One thing lead to another.

"When we were old enough, my father started teaching us how to fight, and shoot... which to us boys was the coolest thing ever. We both took to the lessons well. I don't know how many times me and Dierk wound up sparring in our living room, throwing each other around and flipping each other. Dierk had a talent for it, and over time I found out he was so good cuz he liked hurting people.

"I wound up getting more teaching from a Teras Kasii master on Corellia just so I could keep up, and I also had a talent for it, but I did so because of more altruistic reasons. Eventually, after I killed my master and best friend as the last step of my training, I wound up taking some Corellian Shockboxing, and got into the fighting
circuit.

"Dierk left Corellia and went off to study. I didn't really find out what, but he liked anatomy and biology. Eventually he dropped totally off the holo. Apparently he became a merc, but a slaver type of merc. His specialty? Breaking and training new slaves.

"Dierk was completely amoral, and I knew this before ever left Corellia, but he had told me he would change, and well. I wanted to believe him. I caught him doing some bad things years before he left, and I damn near beat him to death. I should have finished it then. I could have spared many people pain they didn't have to endure."

As the last words slipped from his lips like drops of blood dripping from open wounds he sighed, then realized that he had stopped working on finishing cleaning her up, and was instead staring blankly at the tub. He blinked a few times, then went back to removing the grime. "But, he's dead now, so I can't complain."

Sheridan

"You had to kill your master and your best friend as a last step of training? Surely that was not altruistic? Sounds downright barbaric. Not that I am making judgment, I’ve done some pretty bad things in my life, but it just sounds like a stupid way to finish training." She kept her eyes forward, concentrating on the pain, feeling it ebb and flow with each movement of the sponge. The water grew red over time. It was hard to imagine that it was her own blood, caked on her body over three weeks that she saw now coming off. But with every piece of skin revealed, she felt much better despite the fact the bruising had become more prominent because of that. Getting clean was important to her.

She looked back at him as he stopped washing her and then continued to look at him as he started again. "Did you kill him, or did someone else?"

Merek

"My master was my best friend, and as such he had taught me everything he knew. The last lesson was that no one can fake the combat edge, and that it was time to test who was better. If I lost, then there would be more training, if I won, then I had surpassed him. He trained me well, and... It was actually very traumatic, though in retrospect I am proud of him, and myself. Him because he taught well, and was a true friend to me always. I am proud of myself because I learned and surpassed him, though I hate the way I proved it.

"As for Dierk, he died by someone else's hand. I know not who. I felt his death though, through the Force." That was a memory he didn't want to relive. It was likely that one of his former slaves had caught him and decided to vent some justice on the ... thing that was called Dierk.

Sheridan

Ah I see." She turned her back on him so that he could start that part of her. Already Sheridan felt better. She carefully started to scrub her face. "It is a good thing you found Leiyn too. I saw her when she was close to giving birth. She looked haunted, but not bad at all. I hear the baby lives." She wanted to get onto more nice subjects. It would not do to keep reminding Merek of bad things. He had been good enough to find her, the least she could do was reign in her curiosity.

Merek

"-Babies actually," Merek said with a smile that carried into his voice. "Alexis and Kefret Dar. Both are healthy and doing well." Suddenly, he found himself missing Leiyn, and the big-ass wookiee, Kabraka. Though it was weird seeing him with white fur. They'd met each other on Nar Shadda and he had taught the wookiee general fighting skills to help improve what he already had. In turn the wookiee had helped him out with his flying and smuggling skills. Years later they had met up again, and the wookiee had been Jedi. Then things went down on Ord Mantell... now he was all albino looking.

He tried to be gentle around her ribs. His hands were steady, and he gently flowed water over them instead of using the sponge. "I'm going to have to bandage these busted ribs after we get you out of the tub. I'll make sure to get you all knocked out and medicated before I do though."

Sheridan

Ah yes, Twins. Sheridan remembered Ord Mantell and the chaos the rescue mission ensued. At least Leiyn, their objective had been safe. Murra had taken quite a beating and Kabraka was livid at Sheridan though they had since worked things out. In fact she kind of missed his unique perspective on things. She sucked in a breath as he reached her ribs and held herself carefully so that it was easier for him to clean her.

"Well that’s probably a good idea. As much discipline as I have, I don’t think I have enough to be able to stay still while you bandaged them. After you wash my hair, Ill cut it. Wasn’t Ord Mantell when we first met?"

Merek

He nodded. "As a matter of fact it was. That situation could have gone better, but... It's made things interesting," he said with a smile in his voice. "And actually I think Kabe was a bit more irritated at the situation than anything. Oh well, he got over it."

He finished with her back and shook his head. "You must think you're some sort of super-star, getting the 5 star treatment and all. Right down to the narcotics and painkillers, and a head to toe bath and shampoo, and a few nights on a repulsor bed." He grinned slightly and shook his head.

Sheridan

"Lots of things could have gone better. But Murra put her trust someone she should not have and it made my job harder by about 1000 percent. And the Wookie was not happy with me taking point on it but I had my reasons." She laughed softly and winced. "Evil man. Why are you making me laugh! Don’t you know? I am a superstar." She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. "I am Sheridan Karrde. Just the name makes me famous and just the fact I have followed in my great grandfathers footsteps makes me even more famous. If I wanted to, it would still be hard to disappear because my name would still be whispered in hushed tones and accounts of my brash and brazen behavior would be looked at in awe." She was of course joking, making light of her name. But it had her smiling and maybe that’s what Mereks true purpose was.

Merek

Indeed, it had been his intent. Life was serious enough, and he didn't feel like saving to deal with things in seriousness if he didn't have to. "Brash and brazen certainly fits," Merek said with a smile, shaking his head, then went to finishing the work of washing. "... I really hate to bring this up right now, but since I was late, does that make my contract with you void, or what?" Trust him to be business when things were definitely un-businesslike. (lol, nice little personal twist that he's got at times... makes it hard to tell -what- goes through that man's brain.)

Sheridan

"Technically you would not, but as the fact you did save my life and you are doing things to make up for the fact you were late.... I suppose it does stand to reason I should pay you." One could weigh the pros and cons with this as with any other things. He had been three weeks late and because of that, she had been through three weeks of indescribable hell. However, he was here now, and had gotten her out before she died. He was also treating her very well and she would be alright in the end because of his efforts. He was also genuinely sorry for not making it sooner to her and he was taking care of her in this state without making her feel embarrassed or wrong. That certainly deserved repayment.

Merek

He nodded. "Well, whenever you're ready I'll have a full After Action Report prepared. I got lucky and they got lazy," he finished mostly to himself. "Anyway, it wouldn't matter either way. Just wanted to get that settled." He checked his chronometer then nodded to himself. 20 minutes to reversion to realspace, then the next jump. "Yeah, sorry I couldn't book a cruise liner to take you back to Kashyyk, but a small luxury yacht might have to do. Can you handle that," he said with a grin.


Sheridan

"They thought they were safe. They didn’t know whom I was, nor that I had a backup. Though truthfully I didn’t expect you to show up. I didn’t contract you for this." She poured soap upon her hair and started to work out the grime and blood from weeks of torture. Though the soap and conditioner would not get out all the tangles, it would help her enough so that she wouldn’t have to shave her head. "I think I could handle coming to Kashyyyk in anything as long as I got there in one
piece. I am sure a small Luxury yacht will be fine"

Merek

"Actually, I was contracted for this. I was contracted to extract you, either by picking you up at the meet point, or to come in guns ablaze and pull you out by force. It was never worked out when and where," Merek said with a small smile. He turned and grabbed the sheers from behind him, and sat them on the edge of the tub, then stood. He walked over to a standing cabinet, and opened it up, disappearing behind its white doors for a few moments, until he came back out, holding a trio of large towels. One he unfolded, then folded in half and laid it on the floor in front of the tub, then the other two he set to the side.

"You know... I should probably look at what the Bakuran market has on repulsor chairs. It would have helped out several times by now. I'm going to have to make a note to get one or two, for the odd occasion."


Sheridan

Sheridan honestly hadn’t thought of it that way. It is true that they both assumed it would be right after she was captured or on her way out that Merek would come to her rescue. IT only showed she had only partially planned for this meeting with Theedo. She would have done better to expect him to take her right away. She was losing her edge and that was not acceptable. After she was back up and running Sheridan knew she would have to figure out some way to get it back.

Sheridan dipped her head below water, washing out the soap. Even after her hair was clean, it was obvious her dehydration and lack of nutrition. The usual shining golden curls were lackluster and frizzy. She was going to miss having long hair. For several months she would likely let it grow only to chop off the length until no longer did the unhealthy hair show. So her hair would remain short for at least a year if not more. She placed conditioner in her hair as he retrieved towels and rinsed when he returned. "Where would you put them?"

Merek

He shrugged, eyeing her hair. "Well, I'd probably put them in the galley or by one of the entertainment centers. At least they'd be out of the way, but easily accessible." He shook his head. "So you gonna go back to sleep, or what? I don't think you wanna be awake when the painkillers wear off."

Sheridan

"I'll go back to sleep when I have finished cutting my hair. It won’t take me long. Ill need a mirror for when I’m done getting the chunks out." She took a hold of the scissors and started using her fingers to gauge where her hair needed to be cut. Her hair that had once been to her waist, now fell in large clumps to the floor leaving the length to no longer than the nape of her neck. "Then I will be ready for you to
take me back to bed."

Merek

He'd taken the time to help her stand, and had pointed out the mirror across from the bath, over the sink station. Also present were a few combs and brushes which she could make use of. At the same time he went to work, setting about using one of the two extra towels to help dry her off, being gentle, especially in the presence of such visible damage. It made him cringe to think about what that had taken.

Sheridan

She tried not to concentrate on his drying her off. Her hair took was somewhat distracting enough. It didn’t stop tears from flowing down her cheeks though. The painkillers were doing their jobs but it didn’t stop things from hurting as the towel brushed across them. Once all the big chunks were gone, she started to comb her hair and cut it into some kind of style. She simply settled on a short style bob. She parted it 0n the side and swept her bangs across her forehead, tucking them behind her ear. She turned her head to look at Merek and took a hold of his wrist. "Its okay Merek. I..." Sheridan paused as her voice broke and closed her eyes. "Just get me some clothes. Please." She leaned against the sink but didn’t meet his eyes. She couldn’t think about being naked and vulnerable in front of him anymore. It hurt too much.
Merek

He nodded, and sighed. Then he reached over picked up the towel and draped it over her shoulders, then slipped out of the refresher. He slipped back into the stateroom and just stood there for a few moments. "Some days... just wish things were easier," he muttered to himself and headed into the walk-in closet. He pulled out an ottegan silk nightgown which was a deep green color, then grabbed a pair of slippers that were very cushioned, and headed back to the refresher slowly.

Sheridan

She took the towel he placed over her shoulders and wrapped it around her as she trembled. There was only so long she could be strong. Sheridan carefully wiped away tears as they fell. The towel was huge on her emaciated body. She slid slowly to the floor and curled up in its warm confines, letting the sobs take over she had been holding back. It hurt to cry, but it hurt more not to. She leaned against the wall, feeling the cool tile against her cheek. He would find her there either crying or not, depending on how fast he walked. She hoped he didn’t take offense to her words but she couldn’t bring herself to think of how to say it better.

Merek

He opted to leave her to herself, at least for a few minutes, giving her time to compose herself, unaware of her breakdown. At least for the moment he knew she needed some privacy and some time to herself. Instead, he’d taken a detour and gone to the cockpit to verify their course. He then left, heading toward the refresher, still taking his time.

Sheridan

By the time he came back to the refresher, she was no longer crying. Her face had been wiped and was only a little red. The cool tile kept her face from becoming puffy, something she was grateful for. Everything hurt on her. The crying, though cathartic for her, was not good for her ribs or her stomach. She was suddenly very tired. Her eyelids drooped slowly down, her thoughts left her mind so that she had nothing left to concentrate on except how tired, hungry and in pain she was. She tried to stay awake for Merek, but this was one fight she was losing.

Merek

He slinked back into the bathroom, finding her where she had been left. He shook his head, then walked over to a hook on the wall. He pulled off the robe there, and wrapped it around her, helping her as he could see she was about to pass out on him. Then he simply sat there with her, letting her rest against him for a few minutes, hoping she would fall asleep so that she would be out whenever he went to move her back to the stateroom.

Sheridan

Sheridan vaguely saw Merek enter the bath. Her eyes were hard pressed to stay open. She wanted to say thank you to him, but lord only knew how that came out of her lips. She doubted it resembled the intent. As the robe was placed around her, she let the towel drop, feeling the soft fabric of the robe against her skin. In normal circumstances, she would not care, but in this, the softness was much desired and appreciated. As soon as it was around her entirely she lost the fight.
Nothing could keep her awake lying there in his arms. With a whimper she fell into a deep sleep once more, her hunger forgotten for the moment. Her breathing evened out easily and quickly indicating the deep sleep she was under. Even if Merek wanted to wake her, she would not be able to comply.

Merek

Ever so gently, he lifted her up, her weight almost nothing in his arms. He quickly carried her through the Destiny and back into the main stateroom, and put her back to bed on the repulsor bed. He brushed her hair back from her face, and then shook his head. After a few moments Merek slipped out of the room, shutting out the bright light of the rest of the ship as the door shut behind him.

Once outside, he decided to activate the four ASP's he had available, and set their settings kind of high on the scale. He wanted to vent some frustrations, and well, he felt he needed some practice, as he had been too busy to for the last three weeks or so.

As soon as he gave the go command, they all slipped into combat stances and quickly advanced. Merek wasted no time, and spun into the midst of them, hands becoming a blur of speed....

[Sheridan Karrde]

Sheridan

She slept so deeply that she did not dream. Soon they would circle around back to Kashyyyk where the hospital was and she would be able to start regaining her health. She had not mentioned to Merek that she had a condition that required medication. Only twp in the galaxy knew of this weakness and she would keep it that way. She had convinced the idiots that had her that she was merely sick with some bug and the medicine kept it from spreading to them. For the most part they complied with giving it to her if only to save their own necks. By the time she reached Kashyyyk she would get her dose from Dash and then all would be well.

Merek

Merek wouldn't have cared either way. After a few hours of practice he'd worked himself into a hot mess, and not all of it was sweat, some of it was his blood, as his four ASP droids were designed to adapt and learn, which in turn made him adapt and learn.

He grabbed a quick shower, and then checked their route again, finally deciding to kick the ship up to its full .75 speed, rather than cruising at class 1. It was taking too long to reach Kashyyk. 8 hours until arrival. That would do. With that he finally headed back to one of the stateroom, but this time, curled up on the floor, letting the cool surface lull him into a comfortable slumber. At least he wasn't on bare decking, but a cool carpet that wouldn't steal all of his body heat.

Sheridan

Sleep to her so deep and restful was like water to a man in the desert. She drank of it much the same sleeping as long as her body would allow. Yet her hunger was what woke her up and pain as the meds began to wear off. At least she was clean and for that she was most grateful. She wanted to return to that dreamless state but try as she might, her eyes remained open, her mind somewhat alert, her body screaming in pain and her stomach growling.

Merek

After a few minutes of her being awake, Merek snapped awake, and looked around, not sure what woke him. It was then that he realized it was the change in her breathing, and in the very dim lighting of the room he could see she was awake. He moved to his knees and knee-walked over to the edge of the bed. "Meds wear off," he asked quietly, able to see the pinched look to her face, and the beads of sweat on her brow from the stress and strain of dealing with the pain.

Sheridan

She found her face near hers as her hands balled into fists to deal with the pain shooting through her body. Sheridan could only nod to answer to his question if it was indeed a question and not a simple statement of fact. Her heart pounded in her ears as she closed her eyes tightly against the pain. At least her tolerance for pain would be higher from now on. Perhaps that would help her in her work.

Merek

He nodded slightly and picked up the small injector gun from the kit and loaded an ampoule with a moderate dose of yarrock, then placed it against her neck, activating it with a small hiss, directly injecting it into her blood stream. It would take effect almost immediately, but it wasn't enough to knock her out. "Want something to eat," he asked quietly.

Sheridan

A whimper escaped her lips as the ampoule was injected. Within seconds, the roaring in her ears subsided and the pain began to ease. The tension that had been holding her body tight as a bowstring started to fall away. She took one experimental breath slowly and then another. At last she unclenched her fists and opened her eyes to look once more upon Merek. Her voice cracked, needing water but she spoke, "yes Please."

Merek

"What would you like? Something light and easy to handle, or something a little more filling," he said softly. He reached over to a nearby duffle and pulled out a bottle of water with a condenser unit on it to keep it almost freezing... perfect for drinking. He pulled the nipple top open and passed it to her, not entirely letting go just in case it slipped, but letting her handle it mostly by herself.

Sheridan

"Something soup like would probably be best." She took the bottle of water and carefully drank from it though it pained her to do so, her fierce independence won through. Breathing heavy from the effort she gave it back and waited for her breathing to calm before adding, "I doubt my stomach will be able to handle solids much."
Merek

He smiled, and then nodded. "You rest. It will take me a little bit to fix something but I think it will be worth it." With that he stood smoothly and left the bottle with her. With a smooth turn he headed out of the room on silent feet, slipping out through the door like quicksilver, heading for the galley.

Sheridan

She nodded back, though that made her head swim. When he left she fell back asleep. There was naught other to do. For her, she knew, life would consist for some time of sleeping and eating and pain. Only this time she knew her pain to be because she was on the mend. Much better than pain being given with the only hope you had was to be given more.

Merek

It did take him a little bit to get it made but he put together a thin but hearty, but mostly broth, soup, but he loaded it down with vitamins and minerals, seasoning it just perfect to conceal the vitamins and make it actually worthy of being called edible. He also brought more water, and a slice or two of soft bread. He slipped back into the room carrying on a tray after about an hour and a half, setting it onto a small repulsor pad. "Sheridan."

Sheridan

Her sleep was dreamless once more, but who knew how long that would last. Someday soon her mind would mix her fears and her memories into terrifying nightmares. But for now she rested peacefully, too tired and bone weary to be able to have dreams. She heard his voice vaguely and fought sleep to wake enough. The smell of the soup helped greatly to pull her from slumbers spell. "Yes?"

Merek

He smiled and gestured toward the soup. "Let's get you sitting up, and then we'll get some food in your system. What do you say?"

Sheridan

"Mmm it smells like heaven." She smiles back though it hurts her dry cracked lips.

Merek

He smiled then reached out to gently help her to a sitting position, which was fairly easy as she was sitting on a field of energy rather than a solid surface. Once she was there, he gave her a quizzical look. "So, can you feed yourself, or do you need help," he asked with a slight smile.

Sheridan

She winced softly as he lifted her to sitting. His question made her think. Did she have the energy to feed herself? Dear god would the humiliation never end? She knew the answer but didn’t want to accept it at first. Remaining sitting would take all the energy she possessed and then some. With a reluctant sigh she answered, "Help is likely needed." she glanced at him from underneath her lashes hoping he wouldn’t make fun of her.

Merek

He shook his head, smiling slightly to himself, catching her apprehension. "Oh don't worry, I may be a smart-ass most of the time, but not right now." He scooted forward slightly and pulled over the tray on the repulsor pad, checking the soup to make sure it was a little cooler now. "Besides, I'm getting slow in my old age."

Sheridan

She merely nodded. "Old age? HAH! I don’t believe you"

Merek

"You should hear me some mornings when I get up. Everything I do, I snap crackle and pop." He shook his head then sighed. With a gesture the lights in the room came up a few notches, but still not terribly bright. It was enough to see by. It might have been his imagination, but already she looked a bit stronger, a bit healthier.

Sheridan

sheridan nodded again, feeling her head swim. When one thought one had nothing ever to be embarrassed about, she was certainly finding an extraordinary amount she was embarrassed about this day. Luckily soon she would be at Kashyyyk to the blessed anonymity given by being around Wookies.

((Still work in progress))