Imperial times- Coruscant

Tarik awoke with a throbbing headache and no idea where he was. It was warm was all he could tell, and quiet. He was blindfolded, and he was bound tightly to a chair. He sniffed at the air for information.

Empty building, electric heater, rope, metal, burnt ozone, fish, cheese, and one other person, the Drathan.

A human hand pulled the blindfold off, letting him look around the room. He was in an empty room with only a table, two more chairs and a plate with a fish sandwich with cheese sitting on top of the heater to keep it warm. The smell of burnt ozone came from the small blaster lying on the table, reminding Tarik that he�d been shot. He squirmed against his bindings, but they were some sort of polymer cord, not rope like he�d thought, and far too tight.

Riker watched him squirm with cruel amusement, he�d tied him to the chair so tightly that the cording was beginning to draw blood at the wrists where he struggled. Tarik lashed his tail behind him angrily, it was the only thing Riker hadn�t figured out how to tie down.

Tarik hissed viciously, fighting against the crude muzzle Riker had tied around his snout. He poked his tongue through a loose spot, tasting the stench of machinery in the air. He guessed they weren�t too far from where he�d been captured, the air still tasted like the sewage processing plant a few levels below. He twisted his head away as Riker looked at him from an angle, studying him.

"You�re a lot uglier than I remembered," Riker teased, poking Tarik in the snout with a gloved finger. Tarik hissed, dropping into a growl as he yanked his head away from Riker�s touch. He spat a muffled curse at Riker, but the obscenity was choked short by the muzzle that held his mouth closed.

"Now, now, mind your language," Riker said, pulling one of the other chairs over and sitting across from Tarik. "If there is a mind in that head at all," he added, smiling maliciously. Tarik flattened his ears to his head and snorted, fighting to get his wrists free again.

Riker smiled, "You�re only hurting yourself by struggling," he said, ignoring the glare and hiss from Tarik. Tarik stopped fighting, growling at Riker with a viciousness that made him lean back in his chair away from Tarik. Riker coughed, trying to hide the nervousness he suddenly felt so close to the giant lizard. Tarik kept his orange eyes locked on Riker menacingly as he stood and walked away a few steps.

"Well, anyway, I suppose in true bad-guy form, I should tell you why I�ve been hunting you," Riker said, looking toward the heater. "You�re a menace, a freak, something that should have been destroyed years ago at your creation," he said, turning back to face Tarik. His comments were met by a low growl and a single thrash of a green striped tail in hostility.

"But, I�ve no desire to kill you," Riker said, standing and walking closer to him. "I never realized what an extraordinary creature you were before," he said, crouching at eye-level to Tarik. Tarik growled again, jerking his snout toward him in a snap that was strangled by the muzzle. Riker backed away, taking a few seconds to collect himself before resuming his speech.

"As I was saying, I�m not going to kill you, I should never have tried," he said. "I was misled, deceived, lied to," he said, trying to sound wounded.

Tarik snorted the equivalent of �liar� at him, struggling at his bonds again. Riker backed away again, placing a hand on his chest and looking hurt.

"I�m being sincere!" he lied, "I was told you were a mindless killer, a creature without a soul," he ventured closer again. "That I have seen is obviously not so," he studied Tarik�s snarling face, then smiled.

"We have been mistreated by both the empire and the Emperor, my friend." Tarik snorted derisively, raising an eyebrow at him. Riker hesitated for a moment, then reached out and untied Tarik�s snout.

"There, as an act of trust.." he began, but was rewarded with another snap, this one barely catching his sleeve as he jumped away. Tarik hissed, spitting the ribbon of cloth he�d ripped off Riker�s sleeve onto the floor and flicking his tongue. Riker rubbed the hole in his sleeve thoughtfully, a wary glance cast at Tarik.

"Okay," he mumbled aloud, reminding himself not to get that close again.

"Well, now that you�ve shown you still don�t trust me, how can I prove to you," he began, but was interrupted by a very vulgar comment from Tarik.

"Feed tralak to smaller ears, me no stupid," he hissed, flattening his ears again. "Want something, so say and shaddup," Tarik snapped, glowering at Riker with an intensity that would probably have unnerved even the Emperor. Riker paused, raising his eyebrows in momentary surprise.

Well, the diplomatic approach isn�t going to work, he thought. Let�s try the direct method, he decided, stepping slightly closer to Tarik.

"All right, here�s the deal," he said, sitting down in the chair he�d pulled closer earlier. "I want your mysterious man in black dead, and you�re the only creature on this planet capable of killing him," he said bluntly. Tarik backed away, flexing his claws in surprise.

"Yes, that�s why they�re trying so hard to kill and capture you, they�re afraid of you," Riker said, finally looking sincere. Tarik flexed his claws again, thinking.

"I know what you did to those Stormtroopers, and look at how you escaped from me!" Riker said, sounding slightly impressed. "You are capable of more than you know, and they�re afraid of that." Tarik looked thoughtful, assessing his words.

"Why you want him kill?" he asked, twitching his tail in thought.

"Because he lied to me, and he�s done many more things far worse to other people. Your rebel friends for instance." Riker finally had Tarik�s full attention.

"Them hurt?" he growled, sitting straighter in his chair.

"Not yet, but they�re going to be," Riker said, "They�ll be hurt because he thinks that they can help him find you." Tarik growled, flicking his tongue anxiously.

"No hurt, they no know nothing bout mees," he muttered, looking sad.

Riker leaned closer, straining his luck. "Then help me and we can save them," he said emphatically, his words bringing the green snout up level to his own face. He froze, all Tarik had to do was make one move and half his face would be gone if he didn�t buy into his scheme. The orange eyes searched Riker�s, he made a low snuffling sound, as if trying to smell whether Riker was lying or not.

"Untie me, I help, if you help mees," he said, backing his snout away to speak. Riker let out a breath he hadn�t realized he�d been holding, standing. Easier than I thought, he mused to himself, walking around to untie Tarik.

He stood dumbfounded for a moment upon seeing that most of Tarik�s bindings were already untied, then he remembered the prehensile tail he hadn�t thought to tie down. He foolishly wondered if he should untie him the rest of the way or simply hope he hadn�t untied the right ropes yet.

He took the fool�s road and untied the rest of the cords, releasing the creature that could rip his head off in a heartbeat if he chose to. Tarik flopped to all fours for a moment, then sat down, rubbing his bleeding wrists with a growl.

"Oughta bite you," Tarik snarled, instinctively licking his wounded wrist before he caught himself with a snort. Riker smiled weakly at his comment, then turned his back to him to pick up a rag.

His hand never reached the rag, instead he was tackled to the ground from behind, a green snout snorting in his ear as his face hit the floor.

Tarik growled, centering his weight on Riker�s back.

"Gimmie one good reason not to rip you in half," he hissed into Riker�s ear menacingly, holding Riker�s hand to the floor next to his face.

"You kill me, the Emperor will hunt you to dust," he wheezed, trying not to panic squeezed between the floor and the scaly being.

"Big tralak, no find me before, never find me again," Tarik hissed, flicking his tongue next to Riker�s face. He felt the shudder of panicked fear run through Riker as he fought to breathe under his weight. He shifted his weight so that his foot was in the most painful spot in Riker�s back. He choked out a cry of pain as Tarik stepped harder.

"No good reason yet," he said, a growling undertone to his voice. He extended his claws over Riker�s hand, making sure he could see the action. "Better start rip in half," he said, settling his other hand onto Riker�s right shoulder and extending his claws through his shirt.

"No," Riker pleaded, "If you kill me, you�ll never find your friends," he choked out, feeling Tarik�s claws graze his skin under the shoulder of his shirt. The claws kept position, but Tarik seemed to be considering.

"Think what Vader will do to them if he finds out you killed me," Riker wheezed. Tarik growled, thinking, then pulled his claws out of his shoulder.

"You lie to me, I bite your arm off," Tarik said, easing the weight on Riker�s back. "You traitor to me, I cut you in little pieces, let giant sewage rats eat you piece by piece," he said, stepping a few paces to the side of Riker to let him breathe. Riker just nodded, rubbing his back and throat as he sat up.

"Fine, we have a deal then?" Riker asked, still trying to catch his breath. Tarik growled softly, nodding.

"You really think me able kill man in black?" Tarik asked, still doubtful. Riker rubbed his shoulder as he stood.

"From that little display, I�d say yes." He looked down at Tarik as he stood, realizing how short he was compared to even an average sized human. "Of course, you might need a little help from me to teach you what to do," he mused aloud.

"I fight," Tarik defended, trying to stand taller.

"Yes, but I know how Vader fights, you�ll need to know about how to fight against the way he fights," Riker said, straightening his shirt. "He�s a lot bigger and meaner than a Stormtrooper," Riker added.

Tarik nodded, "Remember little, him bad magic," he said, surprising Riker.

"Yes, very bad," Riker said, wondering how Tarik managed to learn of Vader�s abilities.

"Smell bad too," Tarik said with a snort, trying to make a joke.

----on to Part 4 of Chapter 3---

© 2000 Michelle Petrosky

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