Disclaimer: I do not own "Lilo & Stitch" or any of the characters therein.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
TRANSMISSION FROM THE KAIZAXX
FLASHBACK:
ZaiLeia Miik, Grand councilwoman of the Galactic Alliance, grumbled irritably for the umpteenth time as she sat with the rest of the council at yet another pointless meeting. Beside her sat Grand councilman Horsthar Le'Kruune, a similar-looking alien whose only contrasts were his reddish skin, extra fingers and two sets of antlers. Across the wide, circular table from them sat three diplomats from different planets in the Strangeand Galaxy, all requesting to join the Alliance. As theirs was a rather large and anarchic galaxy, filled with much anti-Federation sentiment, the meeting was being held in secret, so as to protect the diplomats from violent protestors. The meeting was nearly over now, as the third diplomat, a timid, spineless little one-eyed creature, rose to make his closing statement before signing his allegiance to the Federation. Le'Kruune watched the smaller alien with a smug smile on his thin lips. Momentarily he leaned over toward ZaiLeia and whispered, "That little bugger is the only thing that's made this meeting worth my time. Listen to him stutter! As if that weren't amusing enough, try wondering how he even became a diplomat in the first place! If his people think he's diplomatic material, then imagine what the rest of them must be like! No wonder they're seeking allegiance with us! They should have been wiped out millenniums ago without our backing. Personally, I'm shocked that this guy's worked up the guts to come to Turo in the first place! Talk about spineless!"
Annoyed, ZaiLeia gave him a stern sideways glance. "You know, Horsthar," she mumbled, "you wouldn't be half the man you claim to be if you had to ooze along through life as a monocular invertebrate, sensitive to practically everything and everyone that comes your way, so I suggest you zip it for once, before you let slip something that you will regret for the rest of your life!"
Hardly taken aback by these words, Le'Kruune merely smiled and nodded in agreement. "As you say, my dear. As you say. You do remember our little wager, I assume? Regarding the outcome of this meeting?"
Once again, the Grand councilwoman growled. She felt a clawed hand on her leg and tensed, flashing her colleague the deadliest of looks. Le'Kruune wasn't fazed in the least. Instead of removing his hand, he let it wander up and down her thigh in a teasing caress. He leaned toward her again and said, "If the little tubeworm backs out on Article Twenty-Seven, I get lucky tonight."
"He won't back out," ZaiLeia whispered, watching the little one-eyed diplomat from Eiros Sans as he read over the treaty. "While he may not agree to surrender up to seventy-five percent of his planet's resources during an intergalactic emergency, his people have far worse to contend with if they don't have the Federation's protection, and he knows this. Therefore, he will sign."
"Well, believe what you want, but I doubt he'll be taking it all in stride. He's bound to say something about it before he signs. That is, IF he signs. And if he so much as winces at Article Twenty-Seven, I win the wager, and you know what that means…" he grinned wickedly, awaiting her response.
She glanced back at him, looking irritable. "You get lucky," she said in a mockery of his earlier intonation of lust.
Le'Kruune smiled smugly, turning to watch the diplomat again. "Damn straight."
ZaiLeia shook her head and mumbled, "Yeah, lucky that I don't put you in traction before the night is through."
Whether or not Le'Kruune heard that last remark is uncertain. He simply continued to observe the diplomat with a pleasant look on his face, while under the table his long, muscular hand continued to fondle his colleague's thigh.
* * * *
PRESENT:
ZaiLeia Miik sat quietly in her office, reclining in a high-back upholstered chair, resting fitfully. Dull pain throbbed intermittently in her side, though this was the least of her troubles. Results of the most recent assassination attempt lay in the long, thin gash of a laser shot that had grazed her right flank and had put her in an ICU for two days. Having just been discharged from the hospital that morning, she had gone straight back to work at Federation Headquarters, the scene of her near-death experience, against doctor's orders. Although it had not been officially determined, it was largely believed that the assassin had been a Kaizaxx member, specifically one of Le'Kruune's elite Rapturian mercenaries. How he had gotten past security was beyond anyone's guessing, although it was also believed that one or more diplomats from the Neverun galaxy held secret allaegiance with the Kaizaxx, and had therefore set up the attempt on the Grand councilwoman's life. Why they had decided to target her in particular was a mystery to all except ZaiLeia herself. If it had indeed been the doing of the Kaizaxx, then it was quite obvious why Le'Kruune would want to take her down first. She had been the one who had cost him his position on the Council, and she alone had known things about him that would not do him well to leak out into the general public. These things ranged from lethal food allergies to embarrassing personal details of a sexual nature, some things that even Vay Pleakley didn't know. ZaiLeia had long ago learned of the 'business transactions' between her and Le'Kruune, and was no more disgusted or angry with Vay than she was shocked at Le'Kruune, even though it had been going on at the same time as her own affair with him. The horny bastard had an unquenchable thirst, and it was highly likely that he had raped several woman over the years, though this of course could not be proven. It was rumored that he even had a small harem of wives, all Kaizaxx, back on his home planet, although he had not made use of them in ages. Once he found satisfaction with a particular sex object, he grew bored of her quickly and began to hunt for something new. Such was the case for all the females he had used and abused in his life, with the exception of Vay Pleakley. What was it about her that continued to arouse his lust after more than thirty years? Though she had forged a sort of friendship with the illustrious agent, she still could not understand what all the fuss had been about.
ZaiLeia chose not to think about this anymore, knowing that it was really none of her business, and instead wondered what the hell had happened three days earlier. All she remembered from that day was approaching the platform to deliver a briefing on an electrical disturbance in the Glarce nebula that some had thought to be terrorist activity, when a white-hot pain in her side caused her to double over. Hitting her head on the platform, she had grown dizzy and blacked out, clutching her wounded side as the blood gushed through her fingers. She had regained consciousness hours later in a post-op intensive care unit, the laser gash in her side already scarred over from a procedure which accelerates tissue restoration, the closest thing to the Kaizaxx' secret molecular map project that the Federation could attain. Even with the new skin tissue in place, the area was still as delicate as though it had been stitched, and she had been strongly advised against any physical activity beyond walking. In her pride and determination, she had ignored these warnings, and had surprised the entire Council by returning to work only three days after her bloody brush with death.
* * * *
FLASHBACK:
Fifteen minutes later the assembly room was empty, as council members and diplomats alike all departed for their private suites to retire for the night. ZaiLeia Miik and Horsthar Le'Kruune strolled side by side down a deserted corridor, as both their rooms were located in the same sector and were practically next door to each other. As they neared their quarters, Le'Kruune tried to slip an arm around her waist, but just then she quickened her pace and remained at arm's length from him until she reached her door. The door to his own room was just across the corridor, facing hers. As she searched through the compartments on her belt for her cardkey, Le'Kruune leaned against the wall with his arms folded and said seductively, "So, your place or mine?"
ZaiLeia located her cardkey and proceeded to open the door with it. "Neither," she said flatly.
"Okay, babe. Whatever you want. We can just do it right here in the hall, then!" he said as he came up behind her and seized her by the waist, pulling her close. She gasped, then swung around to push him away, but he held her firmly, sealing his mouth over hers and pressing her up against the wall. She opened her own mouth to protest, but her words were silenced as he deepened the kiss. Far from being subdued by this, ZaiLeia pounded her fists against his chest, trying to beat him off, then quickly resorted to slapping him across the face. That did the trick. Le'Kruune broke the kiss and stepped back, looking stunned. Thoroughly disgruntled, ZaiLeia straightened her suit and said, without looking at him, "Dammit, Horsthar, you lost the wager! Don't be a sore loser! Gangley signed… it's a done deal… you lost… now get over it and go flog your trog, because you're not getting lucky tonight, or anytime soon, if you even think about doing that again!" And without another word she entered her room, shutting the door behind her.
Alone in the hall, Le'Kruune stood staring at her door, a wicked little grin playing on his lips. "Bitch," he said, almost fondly, before turning toward his own door. "Say what you want, my succulent little stiin'amae… but I'll be damned if I don't get any before tomorrow's summit. And next time I doubt you'll be able to refuse me. I was a diplomat myself once… and only a true diplomat can tell you to go to Hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip."
* * * *
PRESENT:
"YELLOW ALERT! THIS IS A YELLOW ALERT! INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM THE KAIZAXX! REQUESTING GRAND COUNCILWOMAN ZAILEIA MIIK TO COMMUNICATIONS SECTOR 3-12 IMMEDIATELY!"
As the frightened feminine voice shrilled over the intercom, ZaiLeia groaned. A sharp pain flared up in her side and quickly faded, but it was enough to get her on her feet and out the door. Now absolutely certain that it had been Le'Kruune who had sent her assassin, she would not hesitate to greet him herself, and have it out with him. A technician met her a little way down the corridor with a hover chair, and proceeded to escort her down to 3-12 in it. With some reluctance, she had accepted the help, even though her throbbing wound would not have permitted her to move any faster than a light stride. Once inside Communications, she was greeted by the twenty-five foot high image of her rival, looking as pleasant as ever.
"Why, Zai, whatever has happened to you?" he asked in feigned shock upon noticing her hover chair.
"You know damn well what happened to me!" she growled back, baring her teeth. "And don't you dare play the innocence card! I know it was one of your mercenaries that tried to kill me! And don't tell me you didn't give him the order, either! I'm onto you, Horsthar, and I won't rest until your Kaizaxx crusade has ended and the whole lot of you are executed! And when that day comes, I am going to put you in your proper place by mounting your horny head over a mantle!"
Several council members gasped at the ferocity of her words, but none appeared so shocked as Le'Kruune, although they all knew it to be his way of funning them. "Well, Zai, I must say I'm flattered! Coming from you, that's quite a compliment to wish to keep my severed head as a trophy. Just promise me one thing: don't let your sister's brats use my antlers as coat hangers or play ring toss with them. I find that to be very undignified."
"I'll use them to rake up trog dung if it suits me! You can rot from the inside out for all I care, and do it slowly enough so that you may suffer horribly, like so many of your own victims!"
Le'Kruune did not seem to hear this last remark, for he was now staring past the Grand councilwoman at someone who had just entered the Communications sector. The smug smile plastered on his face caused her to turn the hover chair to the side in order to see who he was looking at. There, half concealed in shadow, her greenish skin mottled with freckles and slightly weathered-looking, long brown hair stained with wisps of silver, and her single large eye rimmed with crow's feet, stood Vay Pleakley.