Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Invader Zim.
Chapter Four: To Be a Hostage
Tah felt somebody watching her, a feeling that pulled her from the depths of sleep. She opened her eyes to see the expressionless face of Mim staring at her, her face not two inches away from her own. She yelled and backed away in horror. Mim leaned back and let a deliberate smile slowly stretch across her features. "You talk in your sleep," she said with a hint of wicked amusement. Tah blinked at her. "You were able to carry out a whole conversation."
Tah did not like the idea of her roommate asking her questions while she was unconscious, although she had no plausible reason to distrust her. "What did I say?"
"Trifles," assured the guard, cocking her head to one side. "Trifles. I even got you to get out of bed and turn off the light. You're a sleepwalker." There was a tinge of satisfaction in her voice that made Tah uneasy. She pulled the covers around her and tried to lie back down, but Mim seemed insistent upon something. She turned sharply toward Tah. "You know the ancient language?" Tah wondered how Mim knew, since she'd never had an occasion to tell her, but nodded yes. "Good. There's something I want you to do for me." The guard took Tah's arm and began to force her out of the bed. Although she was a good five or so inches shorter, the guard was much stronger and more than able when it came to moving the confused researcher about. "Get dressed," she ordered mercilessly. Tah hurried to do as her roommate commanded, not sure what would happen if she tried to disobey.
"What do you need to help with?"
"A friend of mine, a pilot, found something while he was on patrol. It's got some ancient writing on it, and I want you to translate it for me." Tah first wondered if someone like Mim could have friends, but then she began to get suspicious about the situation. Something didn't ring true about the story.
"Isn't that the job of a scientific team? We shouldn't be tampering with a discovery." She suddenly found herself pinned to the wall, Mim's black gloved hand wrapped around her throat.
"You're going to do it!" ordered the hostile female. Tah was released and couldn't help but rub her aching neck for a moment before she began to dress again. She pulled on one of her black, knee high boots.
"It's the middle of the night. You aren't going to take me out of the Massive are you? What if someone finds out we're gone? I'm sure we don't have the authorization to do this." There were a thousand other objections that echoed in Tah's mind.
Mim hefted her spear on her shoulder, obviously intending to take it. "We're going in the middle of the night so we won't be missed. It's going to take a few hours to get where we need to go, and I don't want to be late for work." She glared over at Tah. "Are you done yet?"
Tah nodded and stood. She followed Mim out of their room and down to the docking bay. She'd never been in this area of the ship, and she hadn't brought her map with her. She trembled at the fact she was depending on Mim to take her to the right place. She looked about nervously at the many ships that were kept onboard the Massive, and began to seriously worry when they began to approach one of the private vessels of Admiral Queue. "What is this?" she asked, half in a panic. "Is it okay to take one of Queue's ships?" Although it was not a luxury craft, it was still somewhat larger than the others, a ship usually meant for long excursions into space.
Mim punched in the access code to open the ship's door. "I have permission." She stepped aside to wait for Tah to enter first, pushing her along with her spear as if she were a prisoner. Tah hoped no one had seen her enter the craft, although she figured she could truthfully say she'd been forced on if they were caught. Mim pushed her into the copilot's seat and took the controls. Tah could only sit and watch as Mim maneuvered the ship out of the docking bay and into the blackness of space. She looked out the window and watched the thousands upon thousands of smaller craft that were the Armada. The ship broke away from the cloud of vessels and headed in some unknown direction. Tah opened her mouth to object once more, but quickly changed her mind as she watched her roommate. There was something very frightening about Mim's air as she silently piloted her craft. She sat back and let her eyes droop. Her mind screamed out that she should stay awake around such a person as Mim, but although this little trip was very weird there was nothing outwardly hostile or dangerous going on. There was really nothing to justify her being so afraid. Plus, her body was angry at her for getting out of bed, and reminded her that she had a long day of investigation ahead of her. Slowly she let herself fall back into unconsciousness.
When she awoke Mim was still flying the craft. She adjusted herself in her seat and looked around. She glanced at a clock and nearly fainted when she realized her shift had started hours ago. There was no chance she wouldn't be missed. She turned to Mim and said in a pleading voice, "We've got to get back! I can't believe you sent me out this far! You'll be late too, you know!"
A slight grin pulled at Mim's hard mouth. "No one keeps track of my hours," she explained. She twisted her head so she might look Tah over. "I didn't think you'd wake up so quickly, but I guess this is far enough." With a quick movement of her arm, Mim grabbed her spear and swung it around. Tah leapt out of her chair, which was decimated by the guard's blow. Mim stood up and took an aggressive pose. She lunged herself at Tah, who could only dodge the numerous blows that came at her from every side. She extended her pod legs, taking advantage of their speed and maneuverability. She circled around the large cockpit, unsure of exactly what was going on. She yelled as one of Mim's slashes nearly ripped through her arm, missing her by fractions of an inch.
"Are you trying to kill me?" she yelled in frustration.
"Yes."
Tah screamed as her roommate extended her own pod legs and began to chase her around, swinging her weapon with deadly proficiency. "You can't possibly get away with this!"
"Oh, yes I can!" growled Mim as she continued her pursuit. "All I have to do is shoot you out the air lock. I'll return empty-handed, and no one will know. They'll just think you ran away, as some overworked soldiers are apt to do." Mim's eyes were bright with ferocity, and Tah realized she couldn't run forever. She started to wonder if she could take Mim in a fight. She did have the advantage of size, but Mim was much stronger and had a weapon to assist. Her thoughts were interrupted as a monitor came to life, revealing a fairly ugly Irken with rare green eyes.
"Hold on there, Mim!" he yelled. Tah was shocked when Mim obeyed. The guard continued to hold her spear out at Tah, but directed her attention to the monitor. "Seems like our detective knows one of the Tallest or something. The Massive thinks they have a hostage situation, and is giving out the call to whoever took this little lady. The boss thinks we can take advantage of this, maybe get some funds. I'm sending someone over to transport her to the base. You'll take a Voot back to the Massive."
"It's Tallest Purple," Mim said in a business-like tone. "I heard her talking about him in her sleep. I think they touched."
The green-eyed ugly Irken beamed at the information. "Good! I'm sure we can get a lot for her 'safe' return. Carry on!" The screen faded out and Tah felt something slam against her. She faintly cursed herself for letting her guard down as she drifted into darkness.
When she opened her eyes again, Tah found her legs and arms bound. She was lying prostrate on the cold hard metal floor of the craft. She positioned herself so she was sitting up. Her pod had been removed, making her feel naked. She hurt all over, and all she wanted was to lie back down, but she forced herself to look about. Mim was gone, but someone new was at the controls. He was not Irken. He turned to glance at her when she moved, and she could see his face. His skin was dark blue and he had shimmery black hair that fell down to his shoulders. Three red marks decorated his thin cheek, just under his pink-pupiled eyes. His wide mouth formed a grin, and Tah could see small sharp teeth protruding from his red gums. He casually stood and strode over to her. He kneeled down and looked into her face. "You are a pretty one, now aren't you?" he purred in purposely seductive tones. He brashly reached over and began to stroke one antenna, sending sharp sensations through Tah's body.
She tried to squirm away, violently resisting this man's caress. "Stop fondling me!" she desperately yelled. The man laughed.
"You Irkens are so easy to arouse." He stood up and sauntered back to the controls. He jumped in his chair and lazily placed one heavy boot on the panel.
Tah shivered at the sensation of just having her antenna forcefully stroked. She looked up at her captor and forced herself to speak. Her words came out as shaky whimpers. "Where are you taking me?"
"The base. You don't need to know more then that. From what I've heard, you've been getting into things that you shouldn't, so don't think you're going to worm any information from me." Behind this man's laid-back expressions lurked dangerous insinuations.
"Who are you?" Tah regretted asking the moment the words escaped her mouth. She watched with terror as a sick smile contorted the man's face. She slid himself out of the chair and again approached her.
"So, you want to know me? You want to know who I am?" He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her up. He slammed himself against her, pinning her to the wall. She squirmed under the force of his body, but he only held on closer. She could feel his steamy breath on her neck as he spoke in a soft growl. "You'll have plenty of time to get to know me. Rumor has it you've got the attention of high-class people, people used to fine things." She froze as the man's hand began to slide down around her hip. "Believe me, I'd like to know what's so sexy about a mouse like you." He then backed away, allowing her to collapse to the floor. "But, I'd better keep the bait pure for now." He walked back to the controls, chuckling to himself. She gasped for breath, not believing the sheer humiliation of the situation. She wondered why Mim had tried to kill her, and why she was now being kidnapped. Did someone find out about her secret investigation? She wondered how anybody could know about her suspicions about an assassination plot.
She quietly sat for the rest of the journey, not wanting to provoke her captor's libido. She wondered if she'd touched on something when she went to find out about Admiral Queue. She looked back at the man at the controls - she'd definitely hit on something. She tried to think back to the graduation banquet. Had she seen Admiral Queue there? It was then she realized she had no idea what the Admiral looked like. She'd never seen him. Every time he had requested information, Mim had taken it. Every time she had gone close to his room, Mim had prodded her away. She wondered what secret the Admiral was hiding and if it had anything to do with the assassination attempt. Mim was probably back on the Massive, and Tah shuddered to think of someone like her on the same ship as Purple. For all she knew Mim could have been the one who'd tried to kill him before. Why not, if she'd just tried to kill her? She tried to unfasten the ropes that bound her, but they were too well tied. Her squiggly pooch sank when she realized there was nothing she could do at the moment. She wondered why the assassin had merely tried to kill Purple and not Tallest Red. Maybe he wanted to get them both, but had run since the first shot had missed its target. She began to rub her ropes against the wall, hoping she could wear them down if she struggled enough. The Tallest were in danger, and she was the only one who could help them.
She spent the trip brooding over her situation, trying to understand the full extent of what was going on. The ship eventually landed on a grayish moon in a building that looked like it was made of scrap metal. Her blue- skinned captor wrapped a thick bag over her head and hefted her up. As he dragged her along, she tried to listen with all her senses. She could tell that the building she was in was very large, with a collection of different ships being worked on by mechanics. Tah got the distinct impression that most of the people around her were not Irkens. They suddenly stopped, and Tah could tell that they were standing in front of someone. "I've got 'er!" announced her captor as he threw her on the ground.
"Good job, Montoy. Good job." This new man's voice was very refined and controlled. Tah supposed that his was a voice to remember. The man walked around her, and she tried to sit up. "We must be destined for greatness, to have the luck to stumble upon a gold mine. Bri has the Tallest on the monitor - you can do with her as you like when we're finished. She'll have to be killed, anyway." The man walked away and she was again lifted up by the man she now knew as Montoy. He drug her to another room and tore off her head cover. Before her was a monitor with the two faces of the Tallest and the ugly green-eyed Irken. Red looked confused and Purple worried. She smiled up at the monitor, a flutter touching her squiggly pooch before she remembered where she was.
"Release my friend," said Purple in a dangerous voice, his deep purple eyes narrowed.
Red nodded with an equally aggressive glare and reminded, "You don't want to face the force of the Irken Armada."
The green-eyed Irken, Bri, seemed unaffected by the Tallest's displeasure. "As you can see, she's in good condition. We haven't harmed her."
Red growled at his defiance. "You're lucky for that, Squat!"
Bri chuckled almost merrily. "How much is it worth to you to keep her that way?" He raised one brow. "You know, she's had a long night. I bet she couldn't put up much of a battle if someone were so inclined." he let his voice trail of suggestively and glanced over at Montoy.
"They didn't know we knew eachother!" Tah yelled out, trying to economize her speech. As she predicted, Montoy's sweaty hand slapped over her mouth. She made a show of squirming with repulsion.
Purple glared at both Bri and Montoy with an obvious look of hatred and disgust while Tallest Red just looked mad. "What does she mean by that!" demanded the ruby-eyed Tallest.
Bri turned toward Montoy. "Take her away, she's too much of a bother." Tah gasped as her head was once again covered and she was carried off by Montoy. He pushed her into a small room and followed her in, locking the door. He flipped on a light, and Tah trembled in the corner as he approached her. He pulled off her head cover again and hungrily looked into her eyes. He slammed her against the other wall, and she shook her head with pain as he swaggered to her. He began to tear at the ropes that bound her feet together, and Tah thanked Irk that she'd trained at the foremost Academy for combat. As soon as she was able, she kicked him away, causing him to fall down on his back. She quickly righted herself and looked about the room. There were no windows, no boxes or supplies. There was just one door and the overhead lighting. She faced her opponent, who was holding his stomach in pain. He pulled out a knife and began to stagger towards her. She lifted her leg and booted him square in the jaw. The knife flew from his hand, and as he tried to recover, Tah got down on her back and picked up the knife with her bound hands. Montoy snatched his opportunity and threw the force of his body on top of hers, holding down her shoulders with his large, blue hands. She smiled as she cut the last of the rope and grabbed a hold of the knife. She wrapped her arms around him and held him down as she swung her body out from under him. He was now laying on his stomach on the ground as she held him down, knife to his throat.
"You nasty bastard!" she hissed. "You're going to tell me everything I want to know. Do you have any idea how disgusting you are?" She tightened her hold on the knife. "What's the plan here? Why did Mim try to kill me?"
Montoy breathed hard, not having suspected a simple researcher to have the ability to pin him down. "You were getting involved in the assassination. You saw." He half choked as he tried to inch away from the sharp blade.
"Why was someone trying to assassinate Tallest Purple?"
"Listen, I'm just a grunt."
"TELL ME!" She forced her knee down into his back, causing him to arch in pain.
"We.we wanted a weakened enemy. Tallest Red is too difficult to kill. he's an ex-marauder and a damn good one. We figured if we killed his best friend, he'd be easier to deal with when we made the attack."
"What attack? What's the main plan?"
"A coup of some sort. I don't know - I'm just a mercenary. I'm just in this for the money. Someone wanted to knock off the Tallest so they could establish a dictatorship. Some. admiral."
"Admiral Queue?"
".No. I never heard of that guy. No, this one is a former Admiral. Some guy by the name of Yir. He's the guy we talked to first, real gentlemen- like fellow. He.He's probably gone by now, he never stays here long."
"What about Mim? How's she involved in this? Was she the assassin?"
"I don't know if she was the one at the banquet. She's our operative on the Massive - tells us what's going on."
Tah narrowed her eyes. "My backpod?"
"It's still in the vessel I brought you in."
"Thanks." She clenched her eyes and tightened her arm, lifting the knife through the would-be rapist's throat. A gurgling noise came from Montoy's mouth as blood began to cover the floor. She rifled through his cloths, picking up anything she thought might be of use. She strapped the knife to her thigh and retrieved his laser pistol. She then cracked the door open to see a small docking bay with about a thousand ships. Slack-jawed mechanics wandered about, doing what repairs they could manage. She narrowed her eyes and made a break for it, pistol at the ready. Screams followed her, but the mechanics did not get in her way. She jumped into the cockpit of Queue's ship and grabbed the controls. She lifted the craft up, not even bothering to locate the entrance. She made the ship go strait up through the ceiling, doing as much damage to the 'base' as she could, and set in the coordinates for the Massive.
Chapter Four: To Be a Hostage
Tah felt somebody watching her, a feeling that pulled her from the depths of sleep. She opened her eyes to see the expressionless face of Mim staring at her, her face not two inches away from her own. She yelled and backed away in horror. Mim leaned back and let a deliberate smile slowly stretch across her features. "You talk in your sleep," she said with a hint of wicked amusement. Tah blinked at her. "You were able to carry out a whole conversation."
Tah did not like the idea of her roommate asking her questions while she was unconscious, although she had no plausible reason to distrust her. "What did I say?"
"Trifles," assured the guard, cocking her head to one side. "Trifles. I even got you to get out of bed and turn off the light. You're a sleepwalker." There was a tinge of satisfaction in her voice that made Tah uneasy. She pulled the covers around her and tried to lie back down, but Mim seemed insistent upon something. She turned sharply toward Tah. "You know the ancient language?" Tah wondered how Mim knew, since she'd never had an occasion to tell her, but nodded yes. "Good. There's something I want you to do for me." The guard took Tah's arm and began to force her out of the bed. Although she was a good five or so inches shorter, the guard was much stronger and more than able when it came to moving the confused researcher about. "Get dressed," she ordered mercilessly. Tah hurried to do as her roommate commanded, not sure what would happen if she tried to disobey.
"What do you need to help with?"
"A friend of mine, a pilot, found something while he was on patrol. It's got some ancient writing on it, and I want you to translate it for me." Tah first wondered if someone like Mim could have friends, but then she began to get suspicious about the situation. Something didn't ring true about the story.
"Isn't that the job of a scientific team? We shouldn't be tampering with a discovery." She suddenly found herself pinned to the wall, Mim's black gloved hand wrapped around her throat.
"You're going to do it!" ordered the hostile female. Tah was released and couldn't help but rub her aching neck for a moment before she began to dress again. She pulled on one of her black, knee high boots.
"It's the middle of the night. You aren't going to take me out of the Massive are you? What if someone finds out we're gone? I'm sure we don't have the authorization to do this." There were a thousand other objections that echoed in Tah's mind.
Mim hefted her spear on her shoulder, obviously intending to take it. "We're going in the middle of the night so we won't be missed. It's going to take a few hours to get where we need to go, and I don't want to be late for work." She glared over at Tah. "Are you done yet?"
Tah nodded and stood. She followed Mim out of their room and down to the docking bay. She'd never been in this area of the ship, and she hadn't brought her map with her. She trembled at the fact she was depending on Mim to take her to the right place. She looked about nervously at the many ships that were kept onboard the Massive, and began to seriously worry when they began to approach one of the private vessels of Admiral Queue. "What is this?" she asked, half in a panic. "Is it okay to take one of Queue's ships?" Although it was not a luxury craft, it was still somewhat larger than the others, a ship usually meant for long excursions into space.
Mim punched in the access code to open the ship's door. "I have permission." She stepped aside to wait for Tah to enter first, pushing her along with her spear as if she were a prisoner. Tah hoped no one had seen her enter the craft, although she figured she could truthfully say she'd been forced on if they were caught. Mim pushed her into the copilot's seat and took the controls. Tah could only sit and watch as Mim maneuvered the ship out of the docking bay and into the blackness of space. She looked out the window and watched the thousands upon thousands of smaller craft that were the Armada. The ship broke away from the cloud of vessels and headed in some unknown direction. Tah opened her mouth to object once more, but quickly changed her mind as she watched her roommate. There was something very frightening about Mim's air as she silently piloted her craft. She sat back and let her eyes droop. Her mind screamed out that she should stay awake around such a person as Mim, but although this little trip was very weird there was nothing outwardly hostile or dangerous going on. There was really nothing to justify her being so afraid. Plus, her body was angry at her for getting out of bed, and reminded her that she had a long day of investigation ahead of her. Slowly she let herself fall back into unconsciousness.
When she awoke Mim was still flying the craft. She adjusted herself in her seat and looked around. She glanced at a clock and nearly fainted when she realized her shift had started hours ago. There was no chance she wouldn't be missed. She turned to Mim and said in a pleading voice, "We've got to get back! I can't believe you sent me out this far! You'll be late too, you know!"
A slight grin pulled at Mim's hard mouth. "No one keeps track of my hours," she explained. She twisted her head so she might look Tah over. "I didn't think you'd wake up so quickly, but I guess this is far enough." With a quick movement of her arm, Mim grabbed her spear and swung it around. Tah leapt out of her chair, which was decimated by the guard's blow. Mim stood up and took an aggressive pose. She lunged herself at Tah, who could only dodge the numerous blows that came at her from every side. She extended her pod legs, taking advantage of their speed and maneuverability. She circled around the large cockpit, unsure of exactly what was going on. She yelled as one of Mim's slashes nearly ripped through her arm, missing her by fractions of an inch.
"Are you trying to kill me?" she yelled in frustration.
"Yes."
Tah screamed as her roommate extended her own pod legs and began to chase her around, swinging her weapon with deadly proficiency. "You can't possibly get away with this!"
"Oh, yes I can!" growled Mim as she continued her pursuit. "All I have to do is shoot you out the air lock. I'll return empty-handed, and no one will know. They'll just think you ran away, as some overworked soldiers are apt to do." Mim's eyes were bright with ferocity, and Tah realized she couldn't run forever. She started to wonder if she could take Mim in a fight. She did have the advantage of size, but Mim was much stronger and had a weapon to assist. Her thoughts were interrupted as a monitor came to life, revealing a fairly ugly Irken with rare green eyes.
"Hold on there, Mim!" he yelled. Tah was shocked when Mim obeyed. The guard continued to hold her spear out at Tah, but directed her attention to the monitor. "Seems like our detective knows one of the Tallest or something. The Massive thinks they have a hostage situation, and is giving out the call to whoever took this little lady. The boss thinks we can take advantage of this, maybe get some funds. I'm sending someone over to transport her to the base. You'll take a Voot back to the Massive."
"It's Tallest Purple," Mim said in a business-like tone. "I heard her talking about him in her sleep. I think they touched."
The green-eyed ugly Irken beamed at the information. "Good! I'm sure we can get a lot for her 'safe' return. Carry on!" The screen faded out and Tah felt something slam against her. She faintly cursed herself for letting her guard down as she drifted into darkness.
When she opened her eyes again, Tah found her legs and arms bound. She was lying prostrate on the cold hard metal floor of the craft. She positioned herself so she was sitting up. Her pod had been removed, making her feel naked. She hurt all over, and all she wanted was to lie back down, but she forced herself to look about. Mim was gone, but someone new was at the controls. He was not Irken. He turned to glance at her when she moved, and she could see his face. His skin was dark blue and he had shimmery black hair that fell down to his shoulders. Three red marks decorated his thin cheek, just under his pink-pupiled eyes. His wide mouth formed a grin, and Tah could see small sharp teeth protruding from his red gums. He casually stood and strode over to her. He kneeled down and looked into her face. "You are a pretty one, now aren't you?" he purred in purposely seductive tones. He brashly reached over and began to stroke one antenna, sending sharp sensations through Tah's body.
She tried to squirm away, violently resisting this man's caress. "Stop fondling me!" she desperately yelled. The man laughed.
"You Irkens are so easy to arouse." He stood up and sauntered back to the controls. He jumped in his chair and lazily placed one heavy boot on the panel.
Tah shivered at the sensation of just having her antenna forcefully stroked. She looked up at her captor and forced herself to speak. Her words came out as shaky whimpers. "Where are you taking me?"
"The base. You don't need to know more then that. From what I've heard, you've been getting into things that you shouldn't, so don't think you're going to worm any information from me." Behind this man's laid-back expressions lurked dangerous insinuations.
"Who are you?" Tah regretted asking the moment the words escaped her mouth. She watched with terror as a sick smile contorted the man's face. She slid himself out of the chair and again approached her.
"So, you want to know me? You want to know who I am?" He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her up. He slammed himself against her, pinning her to the wall. She squirmed under the force of his body, but he only held on closer. She could feel his steamy breath on her neck as he spoke in a soft growl. "You'll have plenty of time to get to know me. Rumor has it you've got the attention of high-class people, people used to fine things." She froze as the man's hand began to slide down around her hip. "Believe me, I'd like to know what's so sexy about a mouse like you." He then backed away, allowing her to collapse to the floor. "But, I'd better keep the bait pure for now." He walked back to the controls, chuckling to himself. She gasped for breath, not believing the sheer humiliation of the situation. She wondered why Mim had tried to kill her, and why she was now being kidnapped. Did someone find out about her secret investigation? She wondered how anybody could know about her suspicions about an assassination plot.
She quietly sat for the rest of the journey, not wanting to provoke her captor's libido. She wondered if she'd touched on something when she went to find out about Admiral Queue. She looked back at the man at the controls - she'd definitely hit on something. She tried to think back to the graduation banquet. Had she seen Admiral Queue there? It was then she realized she had no idea what the Admiral looked like. She'd never seen him. Every time he had requested information, Mim had taken it. Every time she had gone close to his room, Mim had prodded her away. She wondered what secret the Admiral was hiding and if it had anything to do with the assassination attempt. Mim was probably back on the Massive, and Tah shuddered to think of someone like her on the same ship as Purple. For all she knew Mim could have been the one who'd tried to kill him before. Why not, if she'd just tried to kill her? She tried to unfasten the ropes that bound her, but they were too well tied. Her squiggly pooch sank when she realized there was nothing she could do at the moment. She wondered why the assassin had merely tried to kill Purple and not Tallest Red. Maybe he wanted to get them both, but had run since the first shot had missed its target. She began to rub her ropes against the wall, hoping she could wear them down if she struggled enough. The Tallest were in danger, and she was the only one who could help them.
She spent the trip brooding over her situation, trying to understand the full extent of what was going on. The ship eventually landed on a grayish moon in a building that looked like it was made of scrap metal. Her blue- skinned captor wrapped a thick bag over her head and hefted her up. As he dragged her along, she tried to listen with all her senses. She could tell that the building she was in was very large, with a collection of different ships being worked on by mechanics. Tah got the distinct impression that most of the people around her were not Irkens. They suddenly stopped, and Tah could tell that they were standing in front of someone. "I've got 'er!" announced her captor as he threw her on the ground.
"Good job, Montoy. Good job." This new man's voice was very refined and controlled. Tah supposed that his was a voice to remember. The man walked around her, and she tried to sit up. "We must be destined for greatness, to have the luck to stumble upon a gold mine. Bri has the Tallest on the monitor - you can do with her as you like when we're finished. She'll have to be killed, anyway." The man walked away and she was again lifted up by the man she now knew as Montoy. He drug her to another room and tore off her head cover. Before her was a monitor with the two faces of the Tallest and the ugly green-eyed Irken. Red looked confused and Purple worried. She smiled up at the monitor, a flutter touching her squiggly pooch before she remembered where she was.
"Release my friend," said Purple in a dangerous voice, his deep purple eyes narrowed.
Red nodded with an equally aggressive glare and reminded, "You don't want to face the force of the Irken Armada."
The green-eyed Irken, Bri, seemed unaffected by the Tallest's displeasure. "As you can see, she's in good condition. We haven't harmed her."
Red growled at his defiance. "You're lucky for that, Squat!"
Bri chuckled almost merrily. "How much is it worth to you to keep her that way?" He raised one brow. "You know, she's had a long night. I bet she couldn't put up much of a battle if someone were so inclined." he let his voice trail of suggestively and glanced over at Montoy.
"They didn't know we knew eachother!" Tah yelled out, trying to economize her speech. As she predicted, Montoy's sweaty hand slapped over her mouth. She made a show of squirming with repulsion.
Purple glared at both Bri and Montoy with an obvious look of hatred and disgust while Tallest Red just looked mad. "What does she mean by that!" demanded the ruby-eyed Tallest.
Bri turned toward Montoy. "Take her away, she's too much of a bother." Tah gasped as her head was once again covered and she was carried off by Montoy. He pushed her into a small room and followed her in, locking the door. He flipped on a light, and Tah trembled in the corner as he approached her. He pulled off her head cover again and hungrily looked into her eyes. He slammed her against the other wall, and she shook her head with pain as he swaggered to her. He began to tear at the ropes that bound her feet together, and Tah thanked Irk that she'd trained at the foremost Academy for combat. As soon as she was able, she kicked him away, causing him to fall down on his back. She quickly righted herself and looked about the room. There were no windows, no boxes or supplies. There was just one door and the overhead lighting. She faced her opponent, who was holding his stomach in pain. He pulled out a knife and began to stagger towards her. She lifted her leg and booted him square in the jaw. The knife flew from his hand, and as he tried to recover, Tah got down on her back and picked up the knife with her bound hands. Montoy snatched his opportunity and threw the force of his body on top of hers, holding down her shoulders with his large, blue hands. She smiled as she cut the last of the rope and grabbed a hold of the knife. She wrapped her arms around him and held him down as she swung her body out from under him. He was now laying on his stomach on the ground as she held him down, knife to his throat.
"You nasty bastard!" she hissed. "You're going to tell me everything I want to know. Do you have any idea how disgusting you are?" She tightened her hold on the knife. "What's the plan here? Why did Mim try to kill me?"
Montoy breathed hard, not having suspected a simple researcher to have the ability to pin him down. "You were getting involved in the assassination. You saw." He half choked as he tried to inch away from the sharp blade.
"Why was someone trying to assassinate Tallest Purple?"
"Listen, I'm just a grunt."
"TELL ME!" She forced her knee down into his back, causing him to arch in pain.
"We.we wanted a weakened enemy. Tallest Red is too difficult to kill. he's an ex-marauder and a damn good one. We figured if we killed his best friend, he'd be easier to deal with when we made the attack."
"What attack? What's the main plan?"
"A coup of some sort. I don't know - I'm just a mercenary. I'm just in this for the money. Someone wanted to knock off the Tallest so they could establish a dictatorship. Some. admiral."
"Admiral Queue?"
".No. I never heard of that guy. No, this one is a former Admiral. Some guy by the name of Yir. He's the guy we talked to first, real gentlemen- like fellow. He.He's probably gone by now, he never stays here long."
"What about Mim? How's she involved in this? Was she the assassin?"
"I don't know if she was the one at the banquet. She's our operative on the Massive - tells us what's going on."
Tah narrowed her eyes. "My backpod?"
"It's still in the vessel I brought you in."
"Thanks." She clenched her eyes and tightened her arm, lifting the knife through the would-be rapist's throat. A gurgling noise came from Montoy's mouth as blood began to cover the floor. She rifled through his cloths, picking up anything she thought might be of use. She strapped the knife to her thigh and retrieved his laser pistol. She then cracked the door open to see a small docking bay with about a thousand ships. Slack-jawed mechanics wandered about, doing what repairs they could manage. She narrowed her eyes and made a break for it, pistol at the ready. Screams followed her, but the mechanics did not get in her way. She jumped into the cockpit of Queue's ship and grabbed the controls. She lifted the craft up, not even bothering to locate the entrance. She made the ship go strait up through the ceiling, doing as much damage to the 'base' as she could, and set in the coordinates for the Massive.
