Again having to feed on his rage, his way of hiding from the insecurities that plague him, his desire to be loved.He chewed on that for a while, until the implications made him feel cornered and murderous -- more like his old self than he had felt for days.
And he trains Morn to crew for Bright Beauty. Along the way he learns that Starmaster wasn't specifically after him, they were just poking the bushes and flushed him out incidentally. So they hadn't told anyone they were after him.
That left him an opening. He could bluff his way back to Com-Mine.
You know, I think the whole, make him do repulsive, evil things while sowing the seed of sympathy thing is a little transparent here. Is it just me? I know it's important for the remaining story, but...In the sickbay he studied her face, drilled her, dredged the information he needed out of her, and drove himself between her legs in spasms of fear and hope . Eagerly, avidly, he watched her for signs that she was falling in love -- that she was growing dependent on her helplessness.
I'm also not thrilled about evil coming from insecurity. I grant that it's a common enough story, but the question of evil doesn't always have such easy answers.
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