Chapter 3

I stared wide-eyed. Now I understood. The unapparent thing I felt between Kruger and I, was that we worked for the same people "Y-you work for Delacourt?" I stammered.

"That's right, princess..." Kruger growled softly. He paused as he waited for me to look at him. "I work for the missus."

How could I have not figured this out before, why had I not seen it? I should have known Kruger was a special forces agent. He didn't carry himself as an agent, no, he was much more brutal.

"What do you expect to do, then?" I yelled at him, finding my voice for the first time since the initial capture. "Do you expect to take me back to Elysium? To send me to the government's claws? Do you honestly expect I'll suffer there, you psychotic fuck!?"

"Yes."

Kruger's simple answer sent shivers through my body. His confidence was unnerving.

I had done what I did on Elysium for one reason; to start a revolution. I would suffer at the hands of the Elysian government. They would kill my family, but they would make me live for ages. The Medbays had kept alive those who should have been long since dead. One woman had even lived for one hundred and thirty-four years.

"We'll see what your boss has to say when I bring in his little hacka!"

Kruger pulled me to my feet and pushed me back towards the MCK-030211. I stopped hard, keeping my back to Kruger, shielding my face as I asked, "Why did you take me here?"

I felt Kruger's breath on my neck, hot like steam. His armoured chest pressed hard on my back, making me lean forward. "So you could see your sacrifice laying in pieces on the ground, scattered from hea to Mexico..."

I choked back a frightened sob as I stumbled back to the ship. I wouldn't mind dying now. My failure to save innocent people, to save my family, felt too great.

"Alright boys!" Kruger yelled. "Time to go up!"

I was slung back into a seat and fastened tightly. Kruger barked an order at his men as he called someone on his communicator, most likely Secretary Gabriella Delacourt. I had heard of her before. She was described as being as pale as silk, with such icy blue eyes that she could freeze the Serengeti over twice. She was also known to be fiercely democratic, and despised Illegals.

I sobbed quietly, pulling my legs up against my chest. Kruger was taking me back to Elysium and handing me over to the authorities. He knew the fate I was most afraid of; falling between the gnashing teeth of both Delacourts.

Kruger walked silently towards me and, once again, sat opposite to me. "So, pr—"

"Why are you taking me back there?!" The glare I got from Kruger for interrupting him could melt steel. I saw his jaw clench tightly and his eyes widen. I had just kicked the hornet's nest, hard. I flinched against whatever punishment was coming. When no strike came, I cautiously opened my eyes. Kruger was not even looking at me. He was looking at the floor between his feet, brooding, almost.

It seemed impossible, but Agent Kruger had just restrained himself.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was totally involuntary, and relatively loud, even against the ship's engines. I clamped my mouth shut, wishing I had held my breath. Kruger looked up at me, dirty bangs hanging down across his forehead. His eyes were peculiarly green again. He said nothing and looked down again, a tight smile on his face.

Now that I had a fairly clear mind, due to the fact that I would soon be out of Kruger's grasp and at least back on Elyisum, I realized that he reminded me of a cobra. A serpent you're cautious of, one that you know is deadly, and yet you are mesmerized by it at the same time.

"Why don't you want to go back…?"

Kruger's tone surprised me. It was just a quiet, simple mumble. His fingers clasped together tightly and his hands began to tremble. I was afraid; his erratic behaviour threw me off-guard. One minute, he was all over me and the next, he attacked his own man for touching me. He struck me when I did not respond, but now stood silent when I interrupted him. I hated to admit it to myself; I was beginning to find Kruger interesting, mesmerizing, quite like a fearsome cobra.

"Isn't it…perfect? Up thea?" Kruger finally spoke after a long silence. His apparent calmness was disturbing. The fact that he was behaving like a normal human being, though, allowed me to speak clearly for the first time since being abducted.

"Not really…" I said quietly. I was still in a defensive position, my knees to my chest while my hands were still bound behind my back. They were starting to ache, and I was losing feeling in my arms. I shifted my shoulders uncomfortably as I continued carefully. "The government is corrupt, the people are pricks."

A muffled grunt came from deep in Kruger's throat. If it were anyone else, I would've thought that it was a genuine laugh.

"Entering atmosphere," Crowe's notification sounded from Kruger's radio.

I must've whimpered, for Kruger looked at me with attentive green eyes.

"Why don't you want to go back?" he asked simply, no aggression in his voice.

I looked on nervously. "I want to save people, not despise them…" I whispered quietly. It was true. Elysians were blatantly taught to despise Illegals on Earth. All the propaganda could make a person sick, but gradually, like a tumor.

Kruger nodded. "What kind of people?" I noticed that he had stopped calling me "princess" after every sentence, which was a small comfort because I despised it.

"Everyone who deserves it; the sick, the dying, the innocent…"

"What about the people who don't fall into those categories then, eh?"

I didn't think my next answer through as well as I should have. I glared at Kruger as I spat the words. "Every other vile cretonne can skulk around in the filth as they always have…"

Kruger shifted towards me, his eyes darkened dangerously.

"Is that right? Then I'll show you just how vile I am, princess!" He roared as he lunged towards me, hands outstretched, aiming for my neck. Without thinking, I kicked out, making contact with Kruger's chin, knocking him back momentarily. He was immediately on me. I screamed as he grabbed my legs and slammed them down. His other hand grabbed the back of my head and forced it down. In such an awkward and painful position, I couldn't even struggle. My head was wrenched back. He straddled me, sitting all two hundred and forty pounds of him and his gear on my lap. My neck began to scream in pain the longer he held my head back. I felt his beard scrape along the tender flesh of my exposed neck. I shivered violently against him as Kruger's arms wrapped themselves around me and slither down my back. I heard him whisper, "I can't let you go… I can't…" Kruger grazed his teeth along my jugular, softly biting the tender skin. I cried out softly. I knew what was coming; my throat was about to be ripped out by the most vile creature on planet Earth. I hoped that I would bleed out quickly, so I wouldn't have stare at Kruger's snarling face stained with my own blood.