A persistent beeping roused Riddick out of what was an unusually calm
sleep. As the control board swam into focus before him, his eyes zeroed in
on the flashing orange light, located in a row of three to the bottom left
of the controls.
"What the?"
He muttered as he tried to find the cause of the flashing light. Riddick stiffened slightly as his tired brain caught up with his tired eyes and processed what the light indicated. He turned slightly and shook the young girl, asleep in the co-pilots chair next to him, awake.
"Ha? What? Who?"
Jack mumbled as she stared bleary-eyed around the cockpit of the small skiff they were traveling in.
"What's wrong? Are we being attacked? Have the Merc's found us?"
Her voice was rising, to match her state of alarm.
"Yes. A problem. Me. Nothing major. No. No."
Riddick's reply stopped Jack's worried mind in its tracks as she tried to process his answers.
"Go and wake Imam."
Said Riddick punching in a few more keys. A small planet appeared on the view screen.
"Why? What's wrong?" Asked Jack.
"Just go and get Imam."
Said Riddick giving Jack a little shove. Suddenly the planet on the screen disappeared and the lights in the cabin, which had been low till then, brightened, though not by much. Symbols, commands and counter commands, scrolled down the screen that the planet had been on and lines of letters and numbers sped across the main control screen. Riddick turned to a still waiting Jack
"Now!" He growled.
"So, what you are saying is that the wings are disintegrating,"
Said Imam calmly. They were standing in the back end of the cabin discussing the problem.
"In a manner of speaking.yes." said Riddick "I don't think Caroline,"
His voice caught for a second as the memories surged inside him
"I don't think Caroline had enough time to check and patch the wings. Fuck, I don't even know if she picked up the problem!"
He muttered as he ran his hand over his shaved head.
"Well what are we 'gunna do? We can't just sit here." Jack said.
"According to the computer we've got about 72 hours until the situation with the wings reaches critical. There's a planet about 36 hours away. We can land, dock for repairs, and be on our way in about a week, maybe two." Said Riddick
"But."
Said Jack, with a trace of fear, Riddick cut her off.
"Buy now the Hunter-Gratzner will have been reported as not reaching her first port-of-call and be noted missing, they might have even picked up the distress signal, if the Gratzner company cares any for the ship, which in my experience the merchant class have more invested in there ships then there passengers, they should have picked up the beacon by now and sent out a retrieval party, if not, we're just another ship that's got lost in space, gunna to be assumed we were eaten by a black hole or attacked by pirates, or something."
"What will happen if we do not land on this planet?" Asked Imam
"Well, the next habitable planet is about 70 hours away, it'd be a race to see if the wings make it." Answered Riddick quietly.
"Well then there's no debate, we've got to land. I really don't know why you asked us in the first place if this was the only course of action."
Muttered Jack between yawns, as she hauled her aching body back to the comfort of the co-pilots chair.
"I think it would be wise to land on this planet, the wings need attention and so do you and the girl." Said Imam.
Riddick looked at Imam, who raised an eyebrow and pointed to the bloody bandages wrapped tightly around Riddick's left leg.
"It's not that bad." Riddick muttered, looking away.
"On the contrary," Said Imam "It looks quite serious."
"Yeah well we'll land soon, I'll get some medic attention then."
Riddick said standing and walking, with just a bare trace of a limp, back to the cockpit.
"Wait," Called Imam "What is the name of this planet?"
Riddick didn't bother to turn around as he answered "Serenity".
"What the?"
He muttered as he tried to find the cause of the flashing light. Riddick stiffened slightly as his tired brain caught up with his tired eyes and processed what the light indicated. He turned slightly and shook the young girl, asleep in the co-pilots chair next to him, awake.
"Ha? What? Who?"
Jack mumbled as she stared bleary-eyed around the cockpit of the small skiff they were traveling in.
"What's wrong? Are we being attacked? Have the Merc's found us?"
Her voice was rising, to match her state of alarm.
"Yes. A problem. Me. Nothing major. No. No."
Riddick's reply stopped Jack's worried mind in its tracks as she tried to process his answers.
"Go and wake Imam."
Said Riddick punching in a few more keys. A small planet appeared on the view screen.
"Why? What's wrong?" Asked Jack.
"Just go and get Imam."
Said Riddick giving Jack a little shove. Suddenly the planet on the screen disappeared and the lights in the cabin, which had been low till then, brightened, though not by much. Symbols, commands and counter commands, scrolled down the screen that the planet had been on and lines of letters and numbers sped across the main control screen. Riddick turned to a still waiting Jack
"Now!" He growled.
"So, what you are saying is that the wings are disintegrating,"
Said Imam calmly. They were standing in the back end of the cabin discussing the problem.
"In a manner of speaking.yes." said Riddick "I don't think Caroline,"
His voice caught for a second as the memories surged inside him
"I don't think Caroline had enough time to check and patch the wings. Fuck, I don't even know if she picked up the problem!"
He muttered as he ran his hand over his shaved head.
"Well what are we 'gunna do? We can't just sit here." Jack said.
"According to the computer we've got about 72 hours until the situation with the wings reaches critical. There's a planet about 36 hours away. We can land, dock for repairs, and be on our way in about a week, maybe two." Said Riddick
"But."
Said Jack, with a trace of fear, Riddick cut her off.
"Buy now the Hunter-Gratzner will have been reported as not reaching her first port-of-call and be noted missing, they might have even picked up the distress signal, if the Gratzner company cares any for the ship, which in my experience the merchant class have more invested in there ships then there passengers, they should have picked up the beacon by now and sent out a retrieval party, if not, we're just another ship that's got lost in space, gunna to be assumed we were eaten by a black hole or attacked by pirates, or something."
"What will happen if we do not land on this planet?" Asked Imam
"Well, the next habitable planet is about 70 hours away, it'd be a race to see if the wings make it." Answered Riddick quietly.
"Well then there's no debate, we've got to land. I really don't know why you asked us in the first place if this was the only course of action."
Muttered Jack between yawns, as she hauled her aching body back to the comfort of the co-pilots chair.
"I think it would be wise to land on this planet, the wings need attention and so do you and the girl." Said Imam.
Riddick looked at Imam, who raised an eyebrow and pointed to the bloody bandages wrapped tightly around Riddick's left leg.
"It's not that bad." Riddick muttered, looking away.
"On the contrary," Said Imam "It looks quite serious."
"Yeah well we'll land soon, I'll get some medic attention then."
Riddick said standing and walking, with just a bare trace of a limp, back to the cockpit.
"Wait," Called Imam "What is the name of this planet?"
Riddick didn't bother to turn around as he answered "Serenity".
