Dead? For a moment she thought these two men were taking her to her execution, then she pieced everything together. They had removed her ID band and placed it on a ship and sent it in the opposite direction that they were taking her. Any attack on the decoy would trigger something that destroyed the decoy, making it seem like she was killed. It was devious, cunning, but devious.
“That’s clever,” Kiera said, “Rig the decoy ship to be destroyed and make the Empire believe that me and my kidnappers were killed. So, now that you can relax since you’re no longer being hunted, who are you, exactly?”
“Glad to know that your intelligence is equal to your beauty,” Altrius said, “The Imperial education system is extraordinary.”
The door opened some time later, but neither man rushed out, instead Altrius spoke. “I recommend that you lie down. We’re going to make a hyperspace jump. It’s not like your gates.”
Kiera took the advice. These men had proven to be intelligent and wouldn’t cause her any unnecessary harm. While she wouldn’t just take being captive lying down, she wasn’t prideful or arrogant enough to ignore their advice. She made a mental note of how he said ‘your’ gates despite speaking the Imperial language.
The ship began to shake, her stomach lurched into her throat and she felt pressure increase on her body. It felt similar to the pressure felt when a shuttle took off from or landed but a hundred times more intense. Kiera closed her eyes and grit her teeth, fighting back against the pressure to remain conscious. Then as quickly as the pressure came it vanished, leaving her light headed, tired, and breathing quickly.
She heard the door whoosh open. “Still awake back there?” Altrius called back.
If she stayed quiet maybe they would leave the door open and they’d talk and give her more information. No, it was closed when she first woke up. She didn’t see a rhyme or reason to how they determined if the door was closed, or if it stayed open. Her stomach started to gurgle and threatened to unload its contacts.
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“Bathroom,” she gasped, “I’m going to vomit!” She grabbed the water cylinder, it wasn’t big enough for her to vomit in, but if they did open the door.
Qwent stepped into the hold and unlocked the door, “That—”
Kiera rushed out of the cage and sprinted to the door, her stomach wasn’t going to let her wait anymore. Fortunately she made it to the toilet; these men would have probably made her clean up the mess, and she was glad for her shorter hair. She stayed sitting in front of the toilet for several minutes, trying to catch her breath and verify that her stomach was empty. Slowly she got to her feet, flushed it and washed her hands and face before filling up the cylinder and rinsing her mouth out.
“Are you done in there?” Qwent called.
“Yeah,” Kiera replied, stepping out of the room, the cylinder held at her side.
“Back in the cage,” Qwent said.
“No.” Kiera hit him with her directed Radiance, enough to enthrall him, the second”level” of nymph intensity. He raised his hand to his head and slowly shook it. “Stay right here,” Kiera whispered.”
She walked around the man and headed for the cockpit, cylinder in hand. Altrius implied that he might be resistant to her charms, taking him by force might be the only way for her to get out of this mess. Kiera stepped into the cockpit and was met with a backhand that dazed her and sent her staggering back a step. Altrius had a couple inches on her and was slender; his black suit and helmet masked everything else about him. He caught her wrist, twisted the cylinder from it before twisting her arm behind her back as he stepped behind her and kneed her in the back forcing her to her knees. Altrius grabbed the back of her neck and her leg, letting go of her arm, and slammed her into the cage before closing the door.
“That was brave, foolish, but brave,” Altrius said, “Or maybe it was desperate. Either way I advise you to not try anything like that again. I would hate to actually bruise you.” He walked over to Qwent and took the key, returning to the cockpit after locking the door. Qwent followed him a few minutes later after the enthrallment wore off.
Altrius was strong and moved just as fast as Captain Feren did when she went all out. His movements were astonishingly precise. Her Kiearrogance thought she could outwit these men, and take them down by plying her charms and a sneak attack. This was certainly something to reflect upon.