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Chapter 15 “I’ve spent months looking for you,” Alvis Ker grinned, revealing the large gap where his front four teeth, on both the bottom and top, had been removed. “Now Mistress Katrina will bow down to me.” “Go away,” Katrina snapped, her back firmly against the hard wall behind her. “You can’t be here.” “Ahh, but I am. I have come all this way just for you. Your father and the pathetic Vader cannot protect you any longer. You are mine.” Katrina stared at him as he stepped towards her. The light in the corridor was dim but the paleness of his head in the light drew her attention. At first she thought it only a lacking in skin coloring, but to her horror the 13-year-old realized that what she was looking at was his bare skull. Katrina’s stomach leaped up and twisted, her throat closed and she began gagging violently. “Such a show of weakness,” Ker laughed. “But you can not fool me, I know your powers are stronger than even Palpatine realized, the fool.” “Such courage,” Katrina gasped, “too bad you didn’t have that courage to say that when he was still alive.” An invisible force reached out through Ker’s blazing red eyes and slapped her. She staggered back slightly but had nowhere to go but hard against the wall. The sound of her head hitting the wall echoed in the empty hall as she shook herself to clear her vision. Ker had stepped closer still and looked down on her, only an arm’s length away. “Taunt me all you like, my little slave, but you will only harm yourself. Be a good girl and keep yourself quiet and I may reward you for it.” Katrina shuddered at the idea of his reward. She looked up at him and saw one hand and five shriveled fingers reaching out to grab her. In her mind she screamed but aloud she made no sound as fear and anger welled up in her and boiled over. Ker flew backwards down the hall and into the darkness. Katrina watched him go, too glad to see it happen to wonder at her uncontrolled use of power. Grimly she knew that a fight could not be avoided and leapt after him, making use of his surprise for as long as she could. Katrina plunged into the darkness ready to use her fingers, arms, legs, feet, and the Force to defeat the threat but found only empty space. She whirled around in time to see his elbow appear out of the shadows and dig into her ribs, knocking her off balance as an ankle banged into hers. She crashed to the floor and tried to roll away be he was ontop of her, fighting off the hands trying to hit his head. “I will not be defeated by a little girl,” Ker growled. “No,” Katrina replied just as fiercely as she freed one leg and brought it up between his. “You will be defeated by me.” Katrina hurried away and gasped for breath as Ker groaned and tried to compose himself. He rushed blindly for her but she had clamed enough to sidestep his attack. As he passed her she took hold of his robe and through her weight back, swinging him around so that he slammed face first into a wall. He stood stunned long enough for Katrina to make several quick punches to his ribs that he obviously felt but were largely absorbed by his thick robe. Ker turned on her and used another Force-shove to pull the girl towards him. He reached out with cold, long-nailed fingers and pinched her chin. Katrina tried to reach him with her legs but was unable to find anything more than air as she squirmed under his gaze. “You have failed,” Ker told her softly, menace heavy in his voice. “Do not bring more punishment on yourself by continuing to fight.” Katrina closed her eyes and concentrated on manipulating his mind. It was an area where her Force-skills were least trained and Ker’s mind was shielded especially well. She could touch the outer edges of his working mind but a sinking feeling told her that he had allowed it. Katrina opened her eyes to see amusement in his. He was laughing silently at her. Rage filled her once again and Katrina directed it and the power that came with it to create a large windstorm within the corridor. The sharp winds whistled past her without notice but tugged forcefully on Ker’s body and clothing. He spread his feet to brace against the onslaught but it did little good. At last his fingers slipped from Katrina’s chin and he tumbled backwards, spinning uncontrollably in the air until landing against the wall of the dead end. Katrina watched his body hit the wall then slide to the floor with a thump. She stood motionless, waiting to see him stand and attack again. He stirred slowly and pulled himself to his feet. He looked up at the girl with such pure hatred that she shivered with fear of the man. She had no intention of willingly going with him, but she had no hope of truly defeating him. He rushed at her again, this time not allowing her to step away. He caught her by the throat, his cold fingers curling against her skin. He didn’t speak, he only growled but little could have been more threatening. Though his fingers didn’t twitch tightness took hold of the girl’s throat and she began to choke. Katrina fought and clawed at his hand though she knew that even if she freed herself of his touch she would not be doing herself any good. She knew what he was doing; through her powers as a Zanespot of the Past she had seen Vader do the same thing to many Imperials. If she had any hope of saving herself she would have to break his concentration and she had no idea of how to do that. She kicked violently towards him but connected with no more than his robe and failed in even tangling herself with that. The white, sneering face before her began to go dim and her body began to sag. She didn’t have any energy left to fight and dimly she thought that fighting had most likely just made the inevitable more difficult. Katrina gasped and choked as the force squeezing her windpipe shut suddenly eased. She slid to the ground and sank to the floor, powerless to stand on her own. Her eyes struggled to focus as one shape in the darkness moved another limp shape across the floor. “It’s ok, young Katrina,” Tabi’s friendly voice said so close and so relaxed that she was sure that she must have imagined it. “Tabi?” Katrina whispered hoarsely, seeing little harm in the attempt. “It’s ok now,” the Weequay’s face appeared before Katrina’s eyes. Katrina realized that one of the shapes she had seen had been her friend. Katrina was so glad for that knowledge that she suddenly burst into tears and was swamped by her fear, dissipated anger, and relief. She through her arms around Tabi’s neck and cried into her shoulder. “I know, it’s been a long night,” Tabi said soothingly, rubbing Katrina’s back. “What did you do?” Katrina finally sniffled. “I startled him with the emergency alarm and beat him in the head with my chair when he turned on me,” Tabi said proudly. Katrina looked at her, puzzled, for a long moment before the loud noise of the alarm finally reached her. She looked back at where she had seen Tabi drop Ker’s dead weight and saw only the corridor. She looked back at Tabi, alarmed. “He’s run off, the pathetic coward that he is,” Tabi assured her. “He won’t be coming back here for you.” “Thank you, Tabi,” Katrina cried before the pain from her injuries swamped her and the corridor went completely black as she slumped against her friend’s shoulder. |
