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Truth or Dare

Chapter 4: Dare

"Truth?" Deamos asked, his voice coming out in a way Katlin did not like at all, it made her skin crawl.

"Truth," Katlin replied with no small amount of effort to remain calm, even if it felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest. The way he was staring at her made her increasingly uneasy. Watching Deamos she noticed that a slight tick had begun under his right eye. Moving slowly and deliberately he rose from his seat, placing both hands on the table he kept his head down so his gaze stayed on the table. Cracking his neck to the left and then right his gaze drifted back up to Katlin while his head stayed low.

"Playing with fire," Deamos stated dangerously, "you realize that, that is good; I can see it in your eyes, I can smell the oily stink of fear rolling off of you, I can hear your heart beating. You will follow what I say next to the letter, failure to do so and I remove that pretty head from its current location, do you understand?"

Katlin nodded wide eyed. Yes he had spoken to her in a harsh manner before and had brought her to the verge of tears, but this voice, this tone he used made her want to hide. She felt like a kit again and was facing something soul crushingly horrifying. She managed a weak nod which in turn caused Deamos to straighten up completely but he kept his eyes locked on her.

"I will be returning to my office," began Deamos in the same chilling voice, "you will accompany me back to it. You will stand on my left side at all times unless I dictate otherwise. You are not to speak or cry out. You will keep both eyes firmly planted on my left boot. If you try to run I will kill you where you stand. Is that understood?"

Katlin nodded. As soon as Deamos turned to leave she hurried to his left side not because she wanted to but because she believed him. She had noticed since they had left his office the crowds seemed to part before him. None would meet his gaze and most that looked at her gave her pitied looks. It was only moments before they were back at his office; Deamos paused briefly before entering his office. Once inside he stood to the side so that she could enter. Once she was inside the door closed with a dreadful 'snick'. Standing stock still she waited to see what happened next.

"You have no idea what kind of fucking mess you are in," Deamos stated harshly, he was moving about his office the same way a caged animal paced in a cage that was too small. Stopping at the back wall he lifted a panel that was hiding a small key pad. Punching in a series of numbers there was an audible beep followed by the sound of something sliding open. From where Katlin stood she could not see what was going on. There came a second beep at which Deamos turned around as he moved away from the panel Katlin noticed two things a low static charge had built up in the room making her fur stand on end. The second, well it garnered all of her attention making her forget the first.

Deamos was carrying his Enforcer sidearm; to call it a pistol would be insulting, though the thing technically was. Katlin knew that every Enforcer's weapon was different but each was made from the recognizable grey green metal. The exact alloy composition was unknown, being one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Empire. Enforcers were not authorized to carry any kind of firearm besides a pistol, in most cases they did not have too. The reason behind this was that the pistols they carried were one of three weapons platforms that could fire solid state antimatter; the first being the main cannons on a Dreadnaught class space cruiser, the second was the Mobile Heavy Armor Mechanized Battlefield Dominator (M.H.A.M.B.D) the last being an Enforcers sidearm. Each weapon was genetically and biofeedback encrypted to the user rendering it useless to anyone but the owner. A dead man function also kept it from being used by cloned or other counter fitting device; the resulting explosions are quite spectacular from attempts made.

Deamos had closed the space from the far wall to the door in three steps. Even quicker he had grabbed the front of the scrub top and had hoisted Katlin up and off her feet with one hand. Her back slammed into the wall next to the door with a painful thud causing white spots to flash through her vision. When her vision had cleared she saw that Deamos was glaring at her, his gold and positronic eye burning directly into her soul. Katlin also felt the distinct pressure of something hard and cold pressed painfully underneath her jaw.

"Where the fuck did you hear that phrase!" Deamos growled the bass deep enough that Katlin could both feel and hear the question.

"You!" Katlin managed to reply through closed teeth.

"Bullshit!" He roared, the gun pushing harder into her jaw, "I have never said that around or too you! Now again, where the fuck did you hear that phrase!"

"YOU!"

There was an explosion of light and fireworks that filled Katlin's vision. She became vaguely aware of a hot throbbing pain against the left side of her face and muzzle. 'He hit me,' Katlin realized, 'he fucking hit me.'

"Don't play dumb bitch! I have neither the time nor patience for it!"

"I hurd it com ought oft yer mouf," Katlin replied drunkenly.

Katlin's world toppled as she felt herself being thrown down. Before she had traveled too far Deamos had brought his knee up hard striking her right in the stomach forcing air and her lunch to leave her body. Hitting the ground hard Katlin tried to breath, cry out and scream in pain; she failed at all three. She curled up into a ball; she wrapped arms around herself, trying to comfort the hurt. She felt as if she had been hit squarely in the guts with a 60 pound sledge hammer by someone who had all the intent in the world of knocking her spine from her body. She felt Deamos grab her and roll her onto her back. Her eyes snapped open when in abject terror when she felt his weight push her legs down and his hand grabbing onto both of her arms. 'Oh please NO!' Katlin tried struggling unsuccessfully, the edges of her vision began going dark, 'NO this can't be happening!' She felt her arms pulled forcefully up and over her head and pinned to the floor. This also caused her lungs to inhale ever so slightly but enough to get them working again.

Deamos watched dispassionately as the terror turned to confusion and back to terror. Katlin was wracked by a horrible bought of coughing as her lungs struggled to reassert themselves. When she was able to draw a shuddering breath Deamos brought his face to within inches of hers. Tendrils of smoke were clearly seen escaping from his nose. His teeth were barred and Katlin was able to see that each tooth was serrated very much like a sharks tooth. His breath came out in steady, calm, hot inhales and exhales. Hot tears flowed down the sides of Katlin's face as she stared back up at Deamos, wondering vaguely how many others he had questioned similarly.

"Know if you are not going to suffocate," Deamos stated in an icy tone, "answer my question before this gets any worse."

"On the other station."

"What?" His forked tongue flicking in and out slightly.

"That's where."

"Do you enjoy pain?" Deamos asked in a dry tone, pressing the barrel of his gun into Katlin's arm pit, "because you keep saying things that are not true."

"It's TRUE!" Katlin insisted in a near begging tone, "you said it to that-," her eyes darted about in panic as the name escaped her thoughts. "TIGER!" she screamed in pain as Deamos squeezed her arms together causing the bones to press together, "you said it to that Tiger!"

Deamos raised his left eye ridge, "I have yet to speak to any tiger or cat species sense you have been in my custody," Deamos squeezed harder causing Katlin to scream out in pain, "I grow tired of this Katlin Star Redtail . . ."

With his voice fading Katlin heard the voice go through her head, 'Ka'lin Star Red-Tayl, tha is your name correcht?' Eyes going wide Katlin yelled out, "it was Colonel Ross!" she watched in surprise as Deamos recoiled as if she had hit him, he stayed over her confusion on his face.

"How do you know this individual?" Deamos asked regaining his composure and narrowing his eyes, "speak quickly."

"What do you mean?" Katlin asked flabbergasted, "the two of you were arguing over protocol for prisoner handling procedures based on something that dealt with the Delion incident." Looking at Deamos she would have sworn he was someplace else, "you two were arguing over me and cargo bay 4 and you not being an Enforcer Commander," she said in a cautious tone. She stiffened when she felt him move.

Getting to his feet Deamos almost fell to his right, dropping his pistol an unheard of action for Enforcers, he caught himself against the wall. His obsidian black scales had taken on a more grayish tone. Staying against the wall a moment longer he walked hitched stepped to his desk and fell into his chair. Again the expression on his face was that of being someplace else. Where that was Katlin was not sure, sitting up slowly she kept a wary eye on the dragon, she did see that whatever the significance of what she had it had been detrimental to him. It was nearly a half hour before he 'came back' and even then he seemed pathetic when compared to earlier. When Deamos saw Katlin still sitting on the floor he looked very surprised.

"Your . . . I will call down to medical," before Katlin could respond Deamos pushed a button his desk and asked for someone named Marcus and to bring a litter, "probably should lower the dampening field," he said to no one in particular. Pressing several more keys the static charge that had been affecting Katlin dissipated; it was then, she realized, that she could hear normal station background noise.

Katlin kept her attention on Deamos as she waited for what was to happen next and find out who this Marcus was. She hoped that whomever it was that he was not as violent as Deamos had been. As time ticked by Katlin gradually became aware of the acute pain that was now making its self known as the adrenaline wore off. She begun to realize that Deamos had worked her over with in that short period, she shuddered and winced in pain as the idea that he had only started. When the chime at the door went off Deamos did not respond he was now staring at his desk with that other place look.

The door slid open seconds later and Marcus stepped in followed by to rabbits that wore medical uniforms. To Katlin's surprise Marcus wore 'her' Enforcer uniform quite well for a Wolf, due to their physical makeup clothes always seemed too small for the males and overly clingy for the females. The fur that was visible was silver and white with bright red highlights. She saw Marcus look from Deamos to her to the pistol that still sat where he had dropped it; Katlin noted that she too wore those odd green glasses that Deamos did. The rest of her uniform matched the one that Deamos wore minus the belt buckle. While Deamos had chosen to have his uniform nearly skin tight, Marcus wore hers with a relaxed fit accenting her generous curves but not revealing as well. Walking to Katlin the she wolf crouched next to Katlin crossed her arms over her knees and looked her over with a critical eye.

"Can you still speak?" Marcus asked in a neutral tone.

"Y. . .yes," Katlin croaked, eyeing the wolf warily.

"That is good, because you will need to answer questions momentarily, but right now you will be taken to Medical and placed under guard. Your injuries will be treated, if you try to run you will be shot on sight, this is your one warning. I don't know what it is you did or have done, right now my job is to make sure you are seen and treated and kept alive. If you have questions you will wait until you are asked. Is this understood?"

Katlin nodded not trusting her voice.

"Take her down and have Charlie stand watch."

The two rabbits did not speak only nodding that they had heard. When they got to Katlin they did a quick evaluation of her one of them grunting slightly and looking over at Deamos before looking back shaking his head. Katlin felt something press against her neck making her flinch before there was a sharp hiss and a brief sting. She did not know what they gave her but she suddenly felt her body become lighter and she leaned back down. The rabbit near her head cradled her head as she went down so to keep it from banging against the floor. Moments later she thought she could hear bells chiming faintly and then nothing.

Marcus watched at the rabbits loaded the unconscious vixen on to the litter. Moments later it rose by itself and the two medics left with it between them. Once gone Marcus walked over and picked the pistol up from the floor, "fuck me," she said quietly not realizing the things weight, "no wonder he never carries the thing." Walking over to the desk she placed the weapon gently on it. She sat on the edge of the table watching Deamos.

She had only seen him like this three times prior. The first time was when she was a Crew Chief on a Marauder Drop Ship. They had broken orbit to retrieve his team after they had gotten word that the mission had become totally fucked. She still remembered when the back hatch had dropped and he was standing there his power armor completely fraged sparks going every which way his own blood flowing freely from everywhere. His wings had been fucked one looked to have been ripped off at the elbow the other was limp mass on his left side. He walked on to the ship using his own rifle as a crutch his right leg ripped off nearly to the knee. When he had passed her she saw that most of his tail was gone, he continued walking until he was about halfway to the drop seats before falling over. She had later learned that he had retrieved the Dog Tags of every member of his team and burned what was left of them. When they had removed his helmet to get to the data recorder one of the medics had vomited, the left side of his face had been burned horridly and the smell was only evident when the helmet had been removed.

Marcus sighed continuing to watch Deamos as he stayed in his own private hell. She knew he was a tough stubborn son of a bitch and it took a lot to shake him. He was back to full duty in 10 months and drop qualified 3 months after that. The second time she had seen him like that was when they had responded to a hostage situation roughly 20 years ago. It had ended poorly and when they finally breached the building and took out the Rebels Deamos had managed to get shot twice; he had been wearing his body armor that day so he walked away with a cracked rib and two ugly bruises. But what had caused him to freeze up was at his feet were two cubs obviously siblings that had been shot execution style. It was the only time she had seen him remove his coat while on duty. He had wrapped both of them in his coat and taken them to the meat wagon. That event had definitely caused him some problems. Shortly after that he had turned in his pistol effectively retiring. It had taken an act from the Dragon Imperium ordering him to reactivate himself, an unheard of precedent amongst Enforcers. It was also how he received his current side arm.

The third time she had seen him like this was 5 years ago. He was on a mission and his partner was a female hybrid wolf/snow leopard. She was a 15 year veteran and had worked solely on deep undercover assignments. Marcus knew that the two had been dating off and on for a few years before actually going steady. She had been a little jealous when Deamos had told her who he was dating; she had been working as his partner for ten years at that point. He told her that she would be promoted to a Squad Captain and that it was time she started to lead vice follow. She could not fault him though her canine and feline genetics made her look very exotic and due to the world she had come from it left her in remarkable shape. The few times that they had run into each other in the station showers, it had left images and yearnings that made her blush. She was straight but Debania made her want to be with her, she was perfect. Proportionally, physically and mentally there had been numerous males within the Enforcer corps who talked about how 'hot' she was and what they would do with her if given half a chance; this sentiment was also felt amongst some of the female Enforcers as well.

"Fuck me that was a shitty day," Marcus said aloud as she recalled that day.

It had been a simple operation Deamos and Debania had been investigating corruption amongst their own. Word had reached Debania, through one of her contacts, of a station chief that was smuggling class two firearms and second gen power armor to various rebel leaders. It took two years of undercover work with Debania posing as a high end Companion for one of the Command Officers at Jump Gate 5. Debania had been wearing several nano-cams, which had captured more than enough damning information, when luck would have it that she got caught by the stations security while she was in one of the many cargo holds of the station. For her part Debania played her end well and Deamos had been able to get her released into his 'custody' but not without getting into a pissing contest with the stations security chief. The whole mission went south after that, as soon as they had made it to the main commons area they were attacked. Intel gathered after the fact pointed to the stations Commander letting rebel elements know of a high ranking Enforcer was there and was alone. The ensuing fire fight did not last long, the stations security, for their credit, had reacted quickly. In the end it was 10 dead civilians 6 wounded security officers 13 separatist killed and 5 captured. And one Enforcer killed.

"Fucked up days we live," stated Marcus absently, "sad days we die."

"The interrogation," Deamos said suddenly, causing Marcus to jump, "she knew about the interrogation."

"What interrogation?"

Not answering, Deamos continued to stare blankly at nothing. Marcus waved her hand in front of his face, not getting a reaction she stood up and left his office. Shaking her head as she closed the door she knew he would come around in a few hours, he always did.

* * *

The amount of time that passed she was not sure of. The veil of darkness slowly pulling back from her mind, she could hear sounds faintly unrecognizable but sounds none the less. The darkness slowly turned to a light grey and she found herself standing in a hall of unknown size. On one side she could see a bright light that was warm and inviting calling to her. She felt compelled to start walking towards it, it was so warm and she felt so cold. Rustling in the air caused her to stop and look around. She saw the other end of the hall and it was cold, dark and unwelcoming. Shuddering at the sight she continued towards the light, shinning all the brighter as she approached. The rustling sounded closer and again she paused trying to locate the sound, a new sound began to great her it was the light sound of chimes or bells whichever the case it sounded beautiful. She took another step and froze as an ear splitting roar broke into her mind. Slamming into the ground just before her with enough force to make her stumble backwards she saw a large feral black dragon.

The scales of the beast were so dark it made obsidian look cheerful and bright. It was nearly twenty feet at the shoulder, it walked on all fours now circling her. Two black horns protruded from the back of its head and curved back towards its neck. Three similar horns, though smaller and curved forward, ran under each of it red eyes. Under its chin was a bone spike nearly three feet in length. Running down its back were massive spines that stuck straight up, each two feet in height at first and gradually becoming smaller until going away completely at the end of the tail. The end of its tail looked like a six headed ax and it was kept raised just off the ground. With each of its steps it sent small rumbles through the ground. Each of its steps was accompanied by the clicking of its massive claws. She could see the scales moving against each other as well defined muscle moved under them. There were larger thicker scales covering the front of each leg from ankle to knee, each scale looking like plate armor. Similar scales could be seen covering the chest, underbelly, top of the head, sides of the neck and flanks. The rustling sound was now identified as the wings, the fine scaled membrane rubbing against itself. The wings were folded against the dragon's body but she could see a wicked looking claw on each wings 'thumb'. She could also see that the leading edge of each wing appeared to be edged.

As the dragon continued to circle around her she began to pick up on a smell not unpleasant but very strong. Taking a deep breath, she nearly fell to her knees and a lightning bolt went through her making her suddenly very horny. The dragon stopped its circling and locked eyes with her, forked tongue flicking out several times. The low music had been replaced by the dragon's deep breathing, she soon picked up on another sound, she could hear the steady beat of its heart. Feeling no fear she walked up to the large predator raised a paw and placed it lightly on its nose. There was a sudden flash in her mind as a torrential flow of thoughts and images plunged into her being. With much effort she broke contact with the dragon. Doing so seemed to have agitated it as it now was growling at her in a threatening manner. Taking several steps back as it took one towards her, she realized too late that the dragon had placed itself between her and the bright light she had been attempting to get to.

When she tried to walk around the dragon it snarled and crashed its bladed tail before her with teeth that looked like daggers bared. She tried to go on the other side and the dragon lunged to the side wings splayed out, head low and smoke coming from its nose and mouth. She took several more steps back and away from the increasingly hostile dragon. When it lunged at her, her fight or flight instincts kicked in and they screamed run. Pivoting on her right foot she spun around and was off with speed that would have impressed any Olympian Athlete. Behind her the dragon roared and gave chase, each of its strides booming as it gave chase. She ran toward the opposite end of the hall, her legs pumping faster than they ever had. She could almost feel the dragon's breath as it chased after her towards the darkness that seemed to not be getting any closer. Fear gripped her as she ran knowing should the dragon catch her everything would be over. Running for all that she was worth she barreled into the darkness, the dragon behind her roared in anger and defeat as it could not enter the darkness to run her down.

Running blindly through the darkness there was a sudden jolt and searing pain through her body. It felt as if every nerve of her body had been lit on fire. Stumbling she tried to catch herself but another jolt shot through her body causing her to gasp in pain. Still falling forward she braced herself for the eminent impact; eyes going wide she realized too late she was now in a free fall. At this time she began to scream into the inky darkness.

Katlin sat up as a scream clawed its way from her throat, what came out was more of a strangled croak. Looking around her surroundings, while breathing hard, she recognized that she was in the medical ward. She moved to wipe her eyes in relief and was surprised to see both her paws were restrained to the sides of the bed. She could raise each hand several inches but that was it. Looking back up she gave out a small sigh as her ears laid flat against her head in resignation. Staring at the white sheet that covered her lower half she became aware of a rhythmic tapping sound. She swiveled her ears to locate the sound before looking in the direction of the sound.

Sitting in a chair just inside the clinic she saw a male white furred fox. She also noted that he too was an Enforcer a young one by his appearance but still an Enforcer. The tapping sound was coming from his right boot; he was tapping his foot like one does when listening to music. She found it odd that he was not wearing the green glasses or coat she had seen Deamos and Markus wearing. There were a few smaller differences in what he was wearing that the other two had on, but she did not take any particular note of it. She soon realized that he had some sort of music device that he was listening too when he started to lightly sing lyrics to some song she had never heard.

" . . . oh slam them to the ground! Then crush in their heads . . ." the male fox began then trailed off, nodding and tapping his toe to the unheard beat.

Katlin raised an eyebrow to the lyrics, 'probably not even 25,' she thought.

"You know they WANT to even when they say NO! DA-DA! . . BAH!-DA . . ." the male continued oblivious that Katlin was watching him with a slight smirk.

'Check that, I doubt if he is past 20.'

" . . . so fuck the weak and piss on the dead . . ."

Clearing her throat Katlin said just loud enough to be heard, "excuse me? I'm a bit thirsty." To say what happened next was comical would be an understatement. The white fox stood quickly eyes snapping open, revealing them to be a dull blue. He fumbled with whatever device he had been listening to, dropping it in the process. Katlin saw a single ear bud fall from his left ear to follow after the music device. She stared in wide eyed humor as he lunged to catch both but only managed to trip himself up fall to the ground with a painful thud. Jumping back to his feet quickly he brushed himself off and tried his best to play it off though she could clearly see the dark red of his skin under his fur.

"Prisoners do not get to make request," the white fox stated sternly.

Katlin looked at him for a moment then burst out laughing. Even though her body protested in pain, Katlin continued to laugh, tears forming and falling down her cheeks.

"Stop that laughing or I will have you gagged," the white fox demanded, frustration clearly in his voice.

Katlin only laughed harder at the notion, thinking that Diana would have fallen over in shock if she told her that she had been handcuffed to a bed and gagged.

"You're going to get me in trouble," the white fox said a now pleading tone raising his hands up in a pleading manner.

"Oh my . . . . oh my . . . you are just," Katlin tried to keep speaking but fell back laughing again.

"And what is so fucking funny?" Marcus's voice boomed out, causing Katlin to stop laughing and the white fox to spin around snapping to attention, "you telling jokes there Charlie? Just yucking it up with the detainee are we? You better get you shit locked on there or I will plant my boot so far up your ass you will be spit shinning it with your tongue."

"Aye ma'am," Charlie squeaked out.

"Get the fuck out of here now!" Marcus shouted bearing her teeth as she did so.

"Yes ma'am!" Charlie replied before beating a hasty retreat to where ever it was he was going.

As soon as Charlie was no long in sight Marcus turned her attention to Katlin. Much to Katlin's surprise Marcus had changed her demeanor completely, taking on a more friendly appearance. Gabbing the chair that Charlie had been sitting in she dragged it over to Katlin's bed turned the chair around so that the back was against the bed. She then surprised Katlin again when she undid the restraints on her wrist then sat dam looking at her, she had crossed her arms over the back rest in a relaxed fashion. Though she appeared relaxed, as Katlin rubbed her wrist, she knew that if she tried anything those hands would have her pinned to the ground before she could get too far.

"I am Enforcer Marcus," she began not in a hostile tone but defiantly authoritative, "I am the partner to Enforcer Falchion."

"Felkcheeonion?" Katlin said with a confused look, "who is that?"

"Falchion," Marcus said again with a small chuckle, "don't worry it takes a few tries to even begin pronouncing the language of the Dragon Imperium."

"Dragon Imperium?" Katlin repeated with a very puzzled look on her face, "I don't understand what that refers to and you still haven't answered who this fellkion is," she grimaced in frustration as she fought to get her mouth to work the difficult pronunciation, "also I am not stupid to fall for the good cop bad cop routine. In my eyes Enforcers are all the same: smart, charming and deadly. Which is why the Empire did away with diplomats and went the way of the Enforcer."

"Well you have done your homework," Marcus said with a grin, "but I would expect no less from a Hack Hound."

"Data Analyst," Katlin corrected tersely, her fur bristling at the use of the slang term, "I know my job inside and out and I see things too."

"Well I see why he took interest," Marcus stated, her grin getting bigger, "you come off all mousy but are more of a firecracker huh."

Katlin blinked in wide eyed surprise as she blushed, the insides of her ears turning red.

"So tell me," Marcus began, "how did you manage to change Enforcer Falchion's opinion of you two minutes after he sent his report clearing you of anything malicious or detrimental to the well being of the Empire?"

"Deamos?"

"Deamos? . . . Oh you mean Demthoiousen, big black dragon, yes that one. I was unaware he had become so familiar with you."

"I'm not exactly sure; I asked a question in regards to something I had heard when we were traveling to this station."

"What was it that set him off? I know he beat you pretty bad, but don't take it personally he was doing his job.

"His JOB! HE FUCKING TRIED TO KILL ME!"

"Keep your voice down Katlin or the cuffs go back on, I know you are no threat to anything. But if you get to excited I will have you sedated and restrained until we figure out what to do with you, without any input from you. As far as you thinking he tried to kill you, believe me if he had been trying to kill you we would not be having this conversation right now. Instead there would be a cleaning crew in his office scrapping meat and fur off of every surface of that room. I know he would not be happy if it came to that, because he already had it done to his flyer but that prick had it coming . . . you feeling all right you are looking a little ill."

'. . .I just had this thing detailed,' Demos's voice spoke up in Katlin's head. She felt her stomach heave at the realization at what he had meant.

"Oh don't be like that," Marcus said, snapping her fingers to regain Katlin's attention, "I need you to stay focused here. Enforcer Falchion is not here nor will he be coming down here for several hours. I am here to merely find out what you had said to make him fly off his handle like that. I need you be honest and through in what you tell me. Start from the beginning and I mean from the time you made contact with Enforcer Falchion to now. Do not leave any detail out; do not worry about time constraints. This will be recorded and entered into you case as a debriefing. You may begin however you want, but please for the sake of my sanity do not narrate like it is a story.

"From the very beginning?" Katlin asked skeptically.

"Yes Katlin."

"Ok then," she began, taking a deep breath before starting, "I literally ran into him . . ."

* * *

"Well that is interesting," Marcus stated, "what you described in your encounter with Colonel Ross was something that happened several years ago. Pick your jaw back up; somehow you managed to . . . skim Enforcer Falchion thoughts. No I am not saying that you can read minds but you are what we call Sympathetic. Your mind seems to be able to gather thoughts from others if they have weak wills or they are not guarding their thoughts. Now like I said you cannot read minds, you can touch thoughts that are just on the surface of one's conciseness. I will have to do some further testing to confirm this but from what you have told me I do believe you can be classified as Sympathetic."

"But that was the first time something like that has ever happened," Katlin protested, "how could I have this ability and never known about it until now?"

"Easy." Marcus replied, "I bet you do your job as a data analyst very well correct? I am sure you can look over reports figure out what is going on and pass the information to the proper channels faster than your own coworkers."

"Well yes but I have been doing my job for years, so I am bound to work faster than anyone who comes in that is new."

"One of the tells for anyone who may be Sympathetic is the ability to process information at higher volumes than your average worker. You have shown this trait for the past 5 or 6 years and yes we were watching you. We have to keep track of anyone who we believe is Sympathetic as to make sure they do not end up in positions that would allow them to compromise the security of the Empire."

"I am no threat," Katlin stated in a meek tone.

"Oh the Enforcer Corps is very aware of the fact that you are no threat as you are. But the potential is there and believe me there are elements that would love to get a hold of you and use your abilities, even though they are just starting to show, to wreak havoc. So you will have someone assigned to you to monitor your daily activates. They will not engage you or make direct contact with you unless required."

"S-so now I have a shadow from the government," Katlin began to say, sounding very annoyed, "can't you just put a tracking device somewhere?"

"Believe me when I say it is better for you this way," Marcus replied her voice dropping to a low rumble, "it is either this way or you are confined to a prison cell, granted it would be a nice prison cell, for the remainder of your life."

Katlin held her head in her hands; she massaged her forehead with the tips of her fingers as she tried to comprehend what she had just been told.

"Also I have one question left that I need answered," began Marcus, "in the report he wrote that you said something, now the language of the Imperium is complex which is why most arrangements are verbally recorded and agreed to. To write down what is said can lead to confusion as there are many words spelled the same but each is pronounced differently. So if you would indulge me what did you say?"

"I'm not going to be dragged off somewhere else and beaten am I?" Katlin asked nervously, looking up from her hands just enough so she made eye contact with Marcus.

"You will not be dragged off," Marcus assured.

"I am not sure if I can pronounce it right," Katlin offered meekly.

"I am sure you will say it fine, one of the perks of gleaming another's thoughts is once you manage to get something you can repeat everything back as if you were the one that had been saying it in the first place. So cut the act and say it I want to hear what you said."

"Ok, but I still don't know what it means," Katlin began taking several calming breathes, "it was fiem Cordu Nicheah," Katlin stared at Marcus waiting for her reaction. The first reaction surprised her as she watched the insides of Marcus's ears turn a shade of red, and then Marcus herself seemed a bit flustered. "So what does it mean?"

"Something very vulgar," she replied, "where or who did you hear that from?"

"Deamos."

"Well I would expect him to say something like that," said Marcus, there was a slight edge to her voice, "But for what it means there are two translations, you have the literal translation and then the real world translation. Did you want both or just one?"

"I . . . I guess both," Katlin replied scratching the back of her head.

"The literal translation means," Marcus paused for a moment clearly thinking on what she was going to say, "it means 'bitch you fuck this one long', the more correct translation is 'Bitch you want to fuck her all night right?', the Imperium language can be a little tricky but I am sure you grasp the meaning."

"Y-yes," Katlin stammered, her blushing was clearly evident, "but that aside why did he get violent when I said it?"

"You are aware of the Dragon Imperium?" asked Marcus raising her right eyebrow.

"Only in name," Katlin replied honestly, "other than that no."

"I am going to tell you something," Began Marcus in a hushed tone, "that does not leave your mouth to anyone that is not an Enforcer or the Emperor himself, understand?"

Katlin frowned at this, "are you going to tell some state secret because if you are stop. I have had enough with these shadow games."

"No not a state secret," she replied still in a hushed tone, "you can find out quite a bit about the Dragon Imperium with any network data search. It is not classified or anything of that nature."

"So why the build up and implied secrecy?"

"Well the fact that you may be Sympathetic will put you on the Dragon Imperium's watch list. Pending on the level of your abilities, if you do indeed have them, may earn you some attention you may not want. Not in the manner that they will send someone to kill you, just an envoy may encourage you to return with them to Drackinalis, their home world."

"You mean they would take me correct?"

"I am technically inclined to respond to that question with 'no'. But yes they would be taking you with or without your consent."

"And the Emperor allows his citizens to be taken and he does nothing to prevent or stop this?"

"He would not be able to do anything if he wanted."

"Do we not have a mutual pact? Would kidnapping a sovereign states citizen not be a declaration of war?"

Marcus chuckled lightly, "you would think that. Unfortunately it does not work that way. The Imperium is the Alpha in the agreement between states. The Emperor does hold sway over massive fleets and countless legions of ground forces. Yes the Empire is powerful in its own right, but in comparison to sheer power, the Imperium has that hands down."

"So why the alliance between the two powers? If they are so powerful why not invade and take over to expand their own borders?

"It seems there is no clear cut reason, they have the capability and rescores but they have not acted. I have been to the Imperium border territories and they are not all Dragon. I am inclined to guess they take over through simple assimilation. Their influence slowly penetrating a society until one day they wake up and they are now members of the Dragon Imperium. That is my theory anyway."

"So where do I tie into all this?" Katlin asked with some confusion."

"As I had stated earlier," Marcus replied waving one of her hands in a vague motion, "you may be Sympathetic and that makes you a possible target for the Imperium. Which is why I stated earlier that you would have a shadow from the time you leave until you can no longer perform."

"No longer perform?" Katlin asked with raised eyebrows

"Yes," Marcus replied, in a matter of fact tone, "being Sympathetic places an enormous amount of strain on both the Hypothalamus and frontal lobes of your brain. The exact area we have yet to figure out. If you use your ability on a constant bases you will literally burn out your brain, hence the involvement of you Hypothalamus. It is not pretty when it happens, your body's temperature will gradually increase after every time you . . . access, your ability. This is both in passive states and active states. If there is a long enough 'cool down' period your body's temperature will go back to normal, how long that period is varies on the individual, how much of a temperature increase varies on the individual fur."

"But how will-" Katlin stopped speaking as her eyes went wide as ice replaced the blood in her body.

"That is quiet enough chit chat Enforcer Marcus," stated Deamos as he entered the medical bay, "I need to speak to Ms Redtail."

"Be nice," stated Marcus as she glanced of her shoulder at Deamos, "we were just having girl talk."

"Enforcer Marcus you are to leave," Deamos stated, his eyes narrowing an aspect that Katlin noticed.

'Where are his glasses?'

"Yes sir," Marcus replied after standing to attention.

Deamos continued to glare at Marcus until she realized he was not going to say anything else. With a slight smirk Markus placed a fist to her chest bowed slightly before dropping her hand to her side and briskly walking from the room. As soon as her tail was out of the medical bay Deamos walked over to Katlin's bed. Katlin for her part was trying to put as much distance between her and him as she could without falling off the bed. Deamos turned the chair, which Marcus had occupied, back around. Sitting in it, the metal of the chair protesting under his weight, he stared at Katlin his features unreadable.

"W-w-what the f-f-f-uck do you w-want?" Katlin stammered angrily, her fur bristling and her ears swept back.

"What happened today was unfortunate," Deamos stated plainly.

"UNFOTUNATE!" Katlin shrieked, sitting up straight, "you fucking damn near killed me. All you can say is unfortunate? Do all Enforcers have no soul or is that just your particular trait you bastard!"

"You still live do you not?" Deamos asked calmly.

"No thanks to you!" Katlin snapped, "how can you dare to come down here and talk like all you did was have a regular conversation!"

"That was regular in my line of work," replied Deamos just as calmly, "I could have killed you right there for uttering those words."

"What the Dragon Imperium is a state secret?" Katlin challenged, "no it is not, so you can cut the bullshit and intimidation factor. If you came down here to harass me and maybe break my fingers or knees get on with it! If not get the fuck out of my face! Not seeing you again cannot happen fast enough! Oh in case you are wondering, which I doubt, I am going to tell everyone what happened here, blow the whole Enforcer image wide open so everyone will see how fucked up you all are."

"You can do that Katlin," Deamos replied still in a calm tone, "we will not stop you from going to the press and telling them everything that happened here on Liberty Station. None of it will reach the General Public. No reputable news outlet would put anything disparaging of the Emperor or any entity directly associated to him."

Katlin said nothing to this; she could only glare at the black dragon before her. She could not understand how he could be so calm. She had access to resources that could put her story out to the GP without ever talking to any news outlet. If she did it right she could get it out to the entire Empire.

"Go find someplace to die already," Katlin growled, looking away from Deamos.

"I believe you already beat me in that area," Deamos replied standing in a casual manner before turning to walk away. He had not seen the shocked look on Katlin's face.

"How . . ." she began to ask, causing Deamos to stop after only a few paces.

"Ms Redtail I have only one more question for you," Deamos began keeping his back to her, "I don't want to hear the answer down here. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. In fact once cleared by the head Doc here, Charlie will take you home and you will never see or hear from me again. Enforcer Marcus has taken over this case. But you may have questions after I ask mine and if you want the answers go back to my office."

"Fat chance at that," Katlin grumbled under breath.

"Did the Dragon you saw try to attack you right as you saw it or did it merely chase you?" With that Deamos continued on his way leaving Katlin to stare at his back wide eyed and slack jawed.