The door swung open.

“Jarlath’s my name. You never asked on the way up.”

He was holding a baseball bat in his right hand.

“You really did come at a bad time. Right when a major operation against smugglers and infiltrators was under way. Bad, bad man. So are you just a smuggler or something worse?”

He lifted the bat over his shoulder and brought it down on my lower legs. A searing, immense pain engulfed my body.

“That’s a nice woman you brought with you. The boys are going to love her.”

Removing the cloth wrapped around my mouth I shouted, “Leave her the fuck alone!”

Jarlath laughed.

“Now, why were you trying to get to the Emperor’s habitat? And don’t fucking lie.”

“It was to trade…”

Another blow came crashing down.

“That’s not what Tabitha said, well after she got a few slaps. Oh yes, you were out cold so we started the process with her some time ago. A feisty woman. I sensed a real dislike of the Emperor. So, stop fucking around. I have places to be. Meeting a nice girl called Sharon in an hour so don’t delay. Funny enough, she’s the kind of person you were looking for. Ah well, too bad.”