Chapter Twelve

"I'm only going to ask you one more time, Ambassador," hissed N'aadija as she dug her claws into his pasty green throat. "Where is that clearance pass for the N'aanwarian sector that I ordered you to obtain?"

Ver'aanas blinked his glassy Joirilian eyes at her, but his full lips remained sealed. N'aadija knew that she'd have to use a different tactic if she was going to get this stuffy idiot to betray his home planet. She called upon her greatest weapon: her charm.

"You do realize, Ambassador Temusa, that in the event that you help me, you will be handsomely rewarded," N'aadija whispered and then licked her lips. She slowly and deliberately approached the ambassador and pressed her smooth, sexy form against him. She could see the lump on his neck raise and lower as he swallowed hard. It was working. The former N'aanwarian model's eroticism was taking hold of his stubborn mind. She lowered herself onto him and pressed her lips against his, knowing that it was only a matter of time before this handsome Joirilian succumbed to her superior willpower.

She was just in the middle of enjoying the feel of her tongue shoved down his throat when a barrage of blaster fire echoed through the chamber. She quickly removed her tongue to prevent its avulsion and turned to glare at her cohorts.

"Sith-spawn!! Why can't I ever complete a business transaction without you imbeciles screwing things up!?" N'aadija cried in a rage, separating herself from the ambassador.

"On the contrary, my dear N'aadija. It was we who were conducting business properly," M'aaranik hissed, showing off the clearance pass with one hand and motioning to his associate with the other. "While you were screwing the ambassador, we were getting things done!"

"Oh, and what's wrong with that? If we did things my way, we wouldn't have to slaughter every creature that stands in our way! However, since you two are uglier than a Q'aachi's behind, I don't think you have any choice but to blast your way into things!" N'aadija growled, her human features contorting to become more cat-like. M'aaranik bared his own fangs at N'aadija and his eyes glinted in warning as he raised up his hand. N'aadija clasped her throat with her hands as she felt it begin to constrict. M'aaranik smiled maliciously as he watched his female companion struggle for breath.

"I'd advise you to hold your tongue the next time you decide to cross me N'aadija, or you might find yourself living without one!" M'aaranik said evenly, staring at N'aadija as she dropped to her knees. He was losing interest in this game. He didn't want to kill N'aadija. She was too much fun to have around, when she wasn't in one of her moods. He released his hold on her and then watched her shoulders heave as she got down on all fours. M'aaranik didn't want to admit it, but he found this sight slightly arousing.

"You idiot!" Croaked N'aadija. "The ambassador is getting away!"

M'aaranik turned to see Ambassador Temusa backing quietly toward the doorway. With quick jedi reflexes he whipped out his blaster and fired a shot that burned right through the ambassador's chest before he even knew what hit him. Temusa's humanoid form crumpled to the ground as N'aadija looked on in horror.

"I pity those Joirilians. They never had much in the way of jedi powers," M'aaranik said sardonically.

"You moron!!" shrieked N'aadija.

"What's the matter? Oh, I'm sorry N'aadija! I didn't mean to kill your lover!" M'aaranik said, his voice once again dripping with sarcasm.

"No, you don't understand! I don't care about him! What I care about is not getting caught, and plastering the ambassador's guts all over the chamber like a morbid calling card is one sure way for us to get caught!!"

"For once, you've got a point," M'aaranik said as he put his blaster back in its holster. "I'd say it was about time that we left this place. N'aadija, Daa'salar, come with me. We now have the final link that we need to infiltrate the N'aanwarian system and destroy the Narundi Dynasty once and for all!"

"Could you sound any more like you came straight out of a holomovie!?" Muttered N'aadija under her breath.

"What was that again?" M'aaranik asked, turning slowly around to glare at her.

"You sound as if this is going to be easy! The only way that we're going to destroy the Narundis is through years of working to undermine them! Here you come along, acting like we're going to do it tomorrow!" N'aadija snapped, returning his angry glance.

M'aaranik whirled around to slap N'aadija square across the face. She reeled from the blow, but managed to maintain her balance.

"Don't you ever question my authority again, N'aadija!" M'aaranik growled. "You forget that it was I who brought you out of exile in that filthy Sraenian sector and helped you to become the dark jedi that you are today!"

"Boss! They've dispatched commandos from the upper decks." Daa'salar interrupted as he sniffed the air, sensing the impending danger. "They know we're here."

"We have to get out of here, M'aaranik," N'aadija said, pulling herself from his grasp.

"You're right. I'll have to deal with you later!" M'aaranik said calmly, raising his eyebrows at her. He turned on his heels and walked toward the docking bay. N'aadija glared at his back as she rubbed her sore face, wondering why she even got herself into this line of work. She reluctantly followed the two men, knowing that she didn't have much of a choice.

"Hurry up and get on board. We don't want to be here when this place goes to hell!" M'aaranik barked.

"What do you mean, when this place goes to hell?" asked N'aadija, giving him a puzzled stare.

"You'll see, my dear. For sure, you'll see," M'aaranik laughed devilishly as he sealed the hatch to the Dark Pirate. N'aadija felt a cold shiver creep up her spine as she watched the sinister smile crawl across his face. She stared back at him with eyes of hardened ice as she realized what he had done. Their stare was interrupted by a loud fire of engines as Daa'salar piloted the ship out into the deep blackness of space.

"The Narundis will have your head for sure. You're getting too cocky for your own good, M'aaranik," N'aadija said softly as she stared out the window.

"That is why I decided to obliterate the ship. If the evidence is vaporized, they can't do anything to trace it back to us," M'aaranik said matter-of-factly as he sipped his glass of Benulian champagne. "Besides, I didn't want you to worry your pretty little head off that I'd be captured and executed. I know you can't bare to be without me," M'aaranik whispered as he stroked his hand down her back. N'aadija cringed as he kissed her shoulders and neck.

"Better watch what you do when you drink, M'aaranik. You wouldn't want to do something you regret later," she said, pushing him away from her.

"I barely had a sip! What can I say? Seeing you with that ambassador got me in the mood. Plus, I wouldn't want all of that pent up sexual energy to go to waste!" M'aaranik purred slyly, pulling her body up against his.

"Spare me, please! I don't need to be reminded of how you murdered Ambassador Temusa! That just doesn't strike me as an arousing vision, M'aaranik!! I don't know how it is one in your sick, twisted mind!!"

"I'm talking about how I found you two when I first walked in, my pretty little nitwit!!" M'aaranik said softly as he held her face in his hands. "Why have you suddenly become so disenchanted by the trail of gore that we leave behind?"

"Maybe I just need some time alone right now!" N'aadija hissed and then retreated back to her sleeping pallet. M'aaranik was quick to follow her and he sat down lazily on the edge of her bedding.

"Maybe you need some of this to calm your nerves," he said, offering her a glass of champagne.

"What, so you can drug me and I won't be so disagreeable?" N'aadija said, pushing his hand off of her thigh.

"No, so my kitten won't be so grouchy! It's the only chance I have of getting my hands on you!" M'aaranik said, looking at her with bedroom eyes. This was about all that N'aadija could stomach. She slapped him across the face in disgust, but that only worked to further his enjoyment of the situation.

"Oh, so we're going to play that game now, are we?" M'aaranik said, smiling eagerly at her.

"No, I'm not playing any games, M'aaranik! I really don't want to do anything with you right now! I'm definitely not in the mood!"

"I don't see what the problem is! You've given yourself to me countless times in the past! What the hell is wrong with you, N'aadija!?" M'aaranik cried in frustration as he followed her to the front of the ship.

N'aadija stared at him with a hurt expression as the light from the exploding ship illuminated her features. M'aaranik reached up to caress her chin and this time she didn't back away.

"I guess I just realized that I'm eighteen years old, and my only profession is wreaking havoc and destroying lives around the galaxy!"

"What's the matter with that?? I've been doing that for twenty years! You'll get used to that, N'aadija," M'aaranik said as his tone softened. For a split second, N'aadija actually got the feeling that he was concerned about her.

"There's also another problem. Who will I marry? I mean, fooling around with you is all fine and good, but I need someone who'll actually commit to a lasting relationship with me!" N'aadija said.

"A lasting relationship!! Hah! Don't make me sick with all of that mythological nonsense! No man would ever commit to you once he realizes how purely evil you really are! You're lucky that you have me around here to give you what you need!" M'aaranik said, exasperated.

"When did you ever know what I really needed?" N'aadija said angrily and stalked off to her chambers, remembering to lock the door this time.

"Females!" M'aaranik groaned, rolling his eyes. "They think what they want is a storybook marriage, but all they really want is a nice roll in the fibreplast."

"Is N'aadija giving you a hard time again?" Daa'salar asked from the pilot's seat.

"Yes, quite," M'aaranik said tightly, his face radiating his discomfort. He put on a headset and slowly lowered himself into the copilot's seat.

"Don't worry about it. She'll snap out of it," Daa'salar said as he switched on the ship's navicomputer.

"Yes, she will. She always does." M'aaranik said, his moss-green eyes staring vacantly out at the stars.

Inside her room, N'aadija sat on her pallet with her knees pulled up to her chest. She stared out the window, wishing that she could be anywhere but here on this ship. She despised the way that M'aaranik always seemed to be in the mood. She couldn't remember the last time when he wasn't desiring her. She knew that he was wrong about nobody ever loving her, and she was going to make sure that he wasn't the only mate she ever had.

"Somewhere out there is the perfect man for me," N'aadija whispered as a tear trickled down her cheek. She wiped it away with her hand. "You're wrong, M'aaranik. He's out there, and he's coming for me."