Imperial times- Coruscant

Pale yellow eyes met Tarik's orange gaze, searching over him curiously. He didn't see what there was to be so afraid of, this was just one teeny old human who dressed funny. He sniffed curiously through the mesh at the human, intrigued. The figure in black laughed, more like a cackle than a laugh.

"It doesn't seem to be afraid of me," he said, studying Tarik. He cocked his head curiously, confused by the odd aura of coldness surrounding this apparently harmless human. Of course he wasn't afraid, there was a cage around him and no one to threaten him yet.

"So, doctor Nerai, what do you think of my little renegade pet?" the old man said, smiling. Nick looked taken aback.

"Um, he's, well," he stammered. Tarik growled at the man in black, startling Nick.

"No pet," he growled softly, twitching his tail. Even the emperor looked surprised this time.

"He speaks," he said flatly, more a statement than a question.

"Yes your highness, I had said that in my notes," Nick said.

The emperor frowned, "Yes. I had thought you'd exaggerated though. My sources said that this creature was incapable of speech." Tarik snorted.

"No speak when no worth speaking to," he grumbled, flicking his ear. Nick gulped again.

"Sir, he's been in a sort of... emotional shutdown of a sort. He hasn't spoken or responded to anyone since his capture." Nick studied Tarik,"Actually, I believe this is the first time he's spoken since then," he said, looking thoughtful.

Tarik snort/sniffled, crossing his arms over his chest. "No talk to traitor scum that stick me in cage," he said, growling. The old man laughed again.

"I agree, I wouldn't talk to him either," he said, surprising Nick. "Why don't you come out of there," the emperor said, waving a hand, and the locks on the cage door snapped open. "You will have to promise to behave yourself though," he warned, lowering his hand to rest on top of the other on his cane. Tarik chirruped, nudging the door open warily, confused.

"Lemme out?" he asked, curling his tail around his striped leg. The withered old man nodded.

"Only if you behave yourself, otherwise, they'll kill you," he said, gesturing toward the guards in red. Tarik snorted again, studying the force-pikes the guards were carrying. At least he knew where Drekano had gotten the idea for his own guard's weapons now.

"No fight," Tarik said, then looked toward the open door.

The Emperor nodded slightly, "Then come out here, I'd like to see you without the bars interfering." Tarik hesitated, looking at the guards and Nick suspiciously for a moment, then hopping out through the door. He dropped to the floor next to the cage, holding onto one of the bars to balance himself. The old man smiled strangely, studying him.

"Now I see why they hid you from me, they thought I'd be disappointed," he said, leaning closer on his cane as he examined the green being. A low chuckle escaped him as he smiled slightly.

"You are a bit of a disappointment. I must say, I expected something.... bigger from the stories I've been told." Tarik snorted, trying to stand up straighter. Another chuckle.

"Don't worry, size isn't everything. There are still those who think myself too frail to possess this office." The smile turned brittle, "Most of those found out the hard way that this was not so."

Tarik shifted his stance, wrapping his tail around his leg and studying the old human.

"No look bad," he said. The emperor laughed.

"My scaly friend, I am very, very bad compared to what you perceive of me," he said, smirking.

Tarik shook his head, "No, no what meant," he grumbled to himself, "no right word," he muttered, suddenly embarrassed by his poor speech. He sighed, giving up on trying to explain. The yellow eyes narrowed at him curiously,

"You're not uneased by me, but you're so easily upset by a grammatical error?" He studied Tarik intently, as if trying to piece together a puzzle. Tarik grumbled, ticking to himself nervously and flattening his ears to his head.

"Persons think me stupid cause no speak right," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder at Nick, who still stood silently near the corner of the room.

"I should not think you stupid if you were capable of proving your intelligence," the emperor said.

"Me speak," Tarik said defensively.

"I have seen many creatures in my time that were capable of speech but lacked the most basic intelligence." A thin smile crept onto the old human's face.

"Many of whom unknowingly helped me into this office," he said, smirking at some private joke.

Tarik made a ticking noise again, cocking his head slightly.

"No matter to you," the emperor said, dropping the smile. "Doctor Nerai, you may go," he said bluntly, turning and walking back toward the throne room.

"But sir,..." Nick began. A cold glare from narrowed yellow eyes silenced his protest.

"You need not fear, doctor, I will be quite safe with this creature," he said, looking toward one of the red-clad guards. Nick swallowed hard again, then nodded.

"Yes sir," he said, turning to leave. Tarik chirped softly, pricking his ears forward. Nick glanced back as he approached the door, forcing himself to smile a goodbye at Tarik.

"Now then," the emperor said as the door closed behind Nick with an echoing thump. Tarik looked up at him, pivoting one ear up at an odd angle.

"Why don't we go someplace a little quieter and talk," he said with a strange smile on his face. Tarik stood to nearly his full height, watching him suspiciously.

"I'd like you to tell me about your little adventure with Riker," the emperor said, turning and walking through the massive double doors into the throne room. Tarik followed, curious.

"Riker? you know Drathan?" he said, hopping to catch up.

The old man nodded, "I do, though I've never thought I'd hear him called that," he said with a slight smirk.

"Riker Drathan, bad magic, like Vader,"Tarik said. The emperor laughed this time genuinely.

"No, Riker is nothing like Vader. He may have a few powers, but he's nothing but an arrogant fool." He chuckled, "Though I've heard you gave both of them quite a run," he said, looking down at the green being with a smile.

Tarik shrugged, trying to give his 'innocent-little-lizard' look.

"They needed it, Vader had gotten a bit complacent in his perceived superiority, you reminded him there are still worse things than himself in this galaxy." The emperor's smile dimmed, "Much worse," he added quietly.

Tarik followed quietly, feeling out of place in the huge room.

"You still haven't figured it out, have you?" the emperor said, stopping by the window and looking out at the city beyond. Tarik stopped at his side, then realized he'd been following at his heel like a pet. He backed a few steps away with a snort.

"Yes, that's right. Its no use to fight that instinct, I made sure it was designed into you from the beginning." Tarik looked up at him with a low growl.

"Of course, when they started meddling with the design to make the second generation prototype look more vicious, they lost much of the original genetic programming." The emperor turned away from the window and looked down at Tarik's unhappy form.

"The second prototype they created had been altered too much, it had lost the programming that kept it from attacking all force-sensitive beings, myself especially." He sighed, looking back out the window.

"That is why you instinctively followed behind me without prompting, and why you have no fear of me as a threat as you do others."

Tarik clicked to himself, thinking. He didn't like where this train of thought was going. He barely noticed the almost affectionate tug on his ear that brought his focus from his own thoughts. The emperor was watching his reaction, a slight smile on his wrinkled face.

"You see, my boy, you belong to me, whether you like it or not," he said, tugging on Tarik's pointed ear again. He hissed, backing his head away.

"No touch," he snapped, but couldn't bring himself to put anything behind his attempted threat. The old man just smirked, watching the moment of hostility fade to uncertainty. He sighed quietly, turning back to look out the window.

"I've spent too much time on weapons and not enough on people some have said. You are the only proof that I have done both in one strike." He smiled coldly, watching the tiny specks of distant starships fly past.

"Vader is more upset about the loss of this Death Star than I. He is taking it as a personal insult of sorts. Especially considering who the pilot that launched the fatal shot was." The thin smile turned wicked.

"You, my dear little creature, are going to keep very busy if things go as I have foreseen." He cackled menacingly, "Yes, you are yet going to be worth something to me," he said, sounding slightly distant, lost in thought. Tarik waited at his side, not quite sure why he simply didn't walk away and tell the withered old human to go kiss a sewer-rat.

He whimpered quietly, confused by his own reactions. The old man looked down at him, the smile gone.

"You look tired, perhaps I'd better have someone take you to your new quarters and rest. We've a lot of work ahead of us," the emperor said, looking up toward a side door as it opened. A red-haired female human slipped in silently, bowing as she approached.

"This is Mara Jade, you'll notice that the block on your instincts also extends to her." the emperor said, watching Tarik study the newcomer strangely. The green creature sniffed at her curiously, sensing her discomfort in his presence.

"Escort him through the back hallways, I don't want him either getting lost or being seen." The emperor said. She nodded, studying Tarik with confusion and wonder.

"Stay with her," the emperor instructed, a slight warning to his tone. Tarik cowered slightly, backing away and following the red-haired girl through a hidden door.

----on to Part 2 of Chapter 7---

© 2000 Michelle Petrosky

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