Chapter 9

---Kira---

I jumped at the pounding knock on the door. "Open the door!" I could hear Sylar demand from the entrance. I hadn't expected him to be here so soon!

Deep breaths, Kira. Good! Now go get the door.

I unlocked the door and stepped out of the way as Sylar strode into the room with a whole entourage of lackeys. Once they had all crammed into the room I tried to slip out of the door silently only to run smack into a hard chest. Rubbing my nose I looked up- it was Patches.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To the bathroom." I hissed back.

"It can wait." He shoved me callously back into the room.

I turned and stared at the backs of a good dozen people crowded in front of me and closed my eyes in despair.

My heart was pounding; trying to burst forth from its confines in my chest. It was amazing that I didn't just have a heart attack right now- what a shame.

Sylar peered into the cell with a smug grin on his face. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Captain. Please understand I am a very busy man."

I stifled the urge to laugh out loud. After I had contacted Starfleet I had enough time to manage one final bit of trickery. In their cell I installed a small holo-projector and set it up to look like the three unfortunate men were still there suffering in captivity.

Sylar couldn't tell the difference!

Yet…

I stood ramrod straight as I waited for the inevitable. It wouldn't be long before the he realized that the unresponsive prisoners were simply computerized visions.

He frowned as they seemingly ignored his presence. "Ubar," he summoned. "Get them out."

Ubar pulled a set of keys off of his belt and opened the cell door. He paused inside the cell in confusion when they disappeared before his eyes.

Sylar, however, was not confused even for a moment. I watched his body become tense and rigid, and his hands clench tight at the sight of the image projected off of Ubar's back.

He turned towards me, his lips pursed in a tight lipped frown, eyebrows furrowed in rage.

"Where… are… they?" he enunciated each word slowly and distinctly.

I tilted my head up towards him in a confidence I didn't know I had.

"Who?" I asked brazenly.

Pain seared across my face! I could already feel the spot where he struck cheek beginning to swell.

"You insolent wench!" I flinched as he grabbed me up by fistfuls of my shirt. "Where are they?"

I met his gaze in full defiance. "They are long gone by now."

He freed one of his hands and reached for his comm device. "Peeps! Give me a status report on the Enterprise."

There was a moment of silence, "It's gone, sir."

He held my gaze in a staring contest for a moment in disbelief.

"How did three officers get past each and every one of you?" He shouted at his lackeys.

I managed a raspy laugh, scoffing at his easy defeat after 18 years of harsh servitude. A few hours of planning and I had managed to get three Starfleet officers to safety right under his very nose. It baffles me how, even now, I couldn't manage to free myself from his grasp.

"Bitch!" He made a deep guttural growl in the back of his throat at me as he grabbed at my neck. I gasped for breath and tried to claw his hands off as I struggled in mid air. Black spots swam in front of my eyes as my oxygen deprived body fought for air.

Before I could drift away into the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness he tossed me roughly to the floor. I lay there gasping for air like a fish out of water.

Sylar glowered down at me as he spoke to the others, "She's all yours to do with as you see fit. They sky is the limit… however… don't kill her. Not yet."

He hunched down in front of me on his legs and spoke with a promise of menace. "I will never let you escape… not even in death. You will live through each and every punishment I can think to inflict upon you, and soon you will see just how generous I have been to you up until now."

He hoisted me up back onto my feet and tossed me into the arms of Ubar- head of interrogation.

Sylar spoke one command as he walked from the room.

"Feed her to the Hyenas."

Those were proverbial Hyenas, of course! Tell me what you think? Good? Bad? Unremarkable? Also, I just wanted to warn you now… I'm thinking about ending the story after this "smugglers saga" is over (in a few more chapters). I figured even though there wasn't romance it would make more sense to end it and continue on in a sequel story. What do you think?