Interchapter
"She destroyed the tablet."
Malachi shrugged. "Don't matter. I figured she would as soon as she stepped aboard. What's important is that she's seen it now. We just have to wait."
He knew Nain – both of them. This Star Gate thing would intrigue them, call to them, until eventually they had to go out and look for it. And they would find it. Alex Nain was a brilliant, ingenious young woman, and Kana Nain was some sort of demi-godlike alien. Between them, they would have no trouble finding the Star Gate.
As soon as they did, he would move in and take it from them. At the same time, he would repay Kana for all the insults she had made to him today.
He didn't really know what a Star Gate was, but it sounded impressive, and had to be worth a bit of money. He was guessing on some sort of portal, perhaps a new way of travelling interplanetary distances. If that were the case, it would be worth an awful lot of money indeed.
He hoped that Nain hurried up and found the thing.
It occurred to him that his first mate hadn't said anything in response to his statement. That was odd. He had expected there to be questions, an explanation required. It wasn't like the man to just trust that his captain had everything under control – although Malachi wished that he would, from time to time.
He turned in his chair.
His first officer was nowhere to be seen. Nor were any of the other members of his bridge staff. Instead, there stood a quiet little man in a neat black suit, his hands patiently clasped behind his back, watching the Cartel man steadily.
"Who the hell are you?"
"That's not your concern. Where is she?"
"Look, buddy…" he started to rise, clenching his fists to use against this little man. This little man who put a hand on his chest and effortlessly pushed him back down into his seat.
"Where is she? She was aboard your ship. I can sense her presence. Her foul soul…it lingers on these bulkheads. So I ask you again, where is she?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The Dictator. Kana."
Malachi was shocked. "Kana Nain? You're after Kana Nain?" Was the man suicidal?
"Kana…Nain?" He frowned, the surname unfamiliar. There was a moment during which he pondered over this, and then he smiled. "She has taken a vessel. Clever. No wonder I haven't been able to find her. You. Tell me what you know about Kana Nain."
"Piss off," replied Malachi. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but I'm not – gagh!"
The little man's other hand pressed on Malachi's throat, cutting his speech short. That pale face lent into his, and for the first time Malachi really noticed the eyes. A cold sense of dread percolated throughout his body. He knew that, no matter what he said or did, he wasn't going to survive this encounter.
"I have spent millennia hunting down the murderer of our race. My vengeance will not be denied! You will talk, mortal. You will tell me everything that I want to know. I will know what form the Dictator hides in, I will know where to look for her, and I will finally kill her! Now talk, mortal. Tell me what I want to know!"
As he spoke, his human guise slipped away more and more, revealing the creature beneath. Something out of a nightmare; something that made fear tingle in every sinew of Malachi's body, and which his mind could only conceive one description for: evil.
And he screamed. And he kept screaming until the little man broke him, and he told him all that he wanted to know.