"THIEF – PART TWO" BY LWC
DISCLAIMER:
I do not own Richard B Riddick – if I did, I would be a very happy woman.
For those who enjoyed part one – here is part two. Enjoy.
Riddick jumped into the pilot's seat as a laser blast smashed into the side of the ship. Jenai was thrown forwards into the control panel – bruising her arms as they protected her from splitting her head open. Another blast threw her back again. Her head hit the back of the seat – momentarily stunning her.
"Buckle up" Riddick growled as he flicked switches, grabbing hold of the controls, and looked at a screen. Jenai quickly pulled her belt over her shoulder and buckled in as another blast hit the ship, jolting her body sideways.
"Good girl, " he purred seductively, as he touched more controls. Jenai looked out of the glass. Two ships were in front of them – the monitor showed two behind her.
"They're class A ships," she whispered. "Four of them. Fuck." She said, turning to look at the goggled-man next to her. His face was intense with concentration.
"Holy fuck! What kind of heat are you bringing down on me – you fucking maniac!" she snarled loudly.
"Language, " Riddick said with a deep rumble. "Thieves shouldn't swear. It's so unprofessional."
Jenai looked at the screen in front. "We have to outrun them. Let me fly my ship." Jenai spun her head towards him. "We can't stand and fight."
"Last time you ran, you got caught, Remember?" Riddick said dryly and smiled. He started to turn the ship around.
"What are you doing?" Jenai asked.
"Ever played chicken?" he asked. Riddick touched more control. The lights dropped low in the ship and turned a crimson colour. A voice hailed out: "Warning, this ship will self-destruct in two minutes."
Jenai's jaw dropped. "What…what are you doing?"
"Let's see how yellow these mercs are." Riddick growled as the ship started to accelerate towards two of the ships. Riddick fired on the ships.
"We've got to get out of here. I can cloak this ship, "Jenai protested.
"Now, where's the fun in that, Jenai?" Riddick smirked.
"You're crazy," she said.
"Never proven, "he growled.
Jenai snarled at him and looked around her small cockpit. Lights were flashing, numbers were being counted backwards, her ship was shaking and blasts were firing on her ship…HER ship…the one this…this…..man…this predator has taken from her.
Jenai leaned forward and started to frenziedly touch the control panel in front of her. Her face was set hard and her eyes gleamed with intense focus. Riddick noticed her movements.
"What are you doing, Jenai?" Riddick whispered, holding the ship onto a direct collision course.
Jenai turned to look at the man next to her, whose face was still an unreadable mask.
"As much as I have enjoyed meeting with you, Richard….Richard…hmm..such a normal name for such a raging madman…I really, really must be going."
Jenai tapped a few controls on her wrist band and it flashed green. Jenai smiled to herself. She was going to get out of this ship and leave this madman to his fate. She had money stashed away…she was a thief…she could get another ship any place. Four merc ships against her ship? It was designed for speed and theft – not playing chicken with mercs. This man clearly needed to take life right to edge to feel alive…to feel something….if he felt anything at all.
"Sit down, Jenai or one glove comes off," he purred at her.
"One glove?" Jenai laughed softly.
"One glove…one warning."
"Very dramatic of you," Jenai said quietly. "And if two gloves come off?"
"Pray," Riddick answered coldly, their eyes meeting. Jenai knew he wasn't joking. She didn't know what this man wanted from her but he had truly fucked with her. Why? Boredom? Something to do? Whatever he needed from her she needed to get the fuck away and get back on track. If he wants to play chicken, let him. It may just give her the chance to get away from him. Who knew what he had planned for her? Fuck her and kill her….maybe not even in that order.
Jenai quickly turned to get out of her seat but a laser blast threw her to the back of the ship, whacking her hip. She grimaced and limped over to a side of the ship. She touched a control and a panel in the side of the ship opened up, protected by a force-field. She looked out into space and then to her wristband. It flashed green and then stopped. Ah…thank the gods it was outside….cloaked….a tiny space ship…more like a space bike than anything else. Plan B….thank the gods for Plan B. It was a remote-controlled escape pod – all good thieves had them, she smirked to herself.
Riddick looked over at her and she looked back. She staggered back over as he flew her ship closer and closer to the other two ships. Neither side backing down. Jenai reached down to the ground and picked up the small statuette.
"This statue is mine. The ship, you can keep. As for me….I'm going," Jenai said.
Riddick smirked. "One glove, Jenai."
"Game over, Ricky-boy," Jenai whispered.
"Two gloves, " he said coldly and softly tutted.
"Looks like you've got your hands full, Ricky-boy, with the mercs and everything…..as for me….I'm off. Good luck to you," Jenai said. "I hope we don't meet again."
"I've marked you, Jenai, "Riddick said slowly, a deep, masculine growling. Jenai felt a strange feeling in her stomach.
"Marked?" Jenai asked. Riddick nodded as the ship flew closer and closer to the other two ships.
"Your neck. My bite mark." Jenai reached to her neck. He had bitten her neck hard earlier.
"So?" Jenai asked.
"We have unfinished business," he whispered.
….this ship was self-destruct in 30 seconds…..another blast hit the side of the tiny ship. Jenai's instincts told her to run and keep running.
"Consider it finished," Jenai said as she tapped another control on her wrist-band and disappeared out of the ship. Her teleportation device worked only on her genetics and only from ship to ship in close proximity – it avoided detection that way.
Jenai transported onto the back of her tiny spaceship/bike. She was undetectable from the others ships. She saw her ship…her beloved ship storm forward into two merc ships, as lasers hit from the two ships behind. That man was crazy….maybe he wanted to die….
Jenai looked at the statuette in her hand and she put it down on the bottom on the ship. She pulled up a screen infront of her…..where the hell am I? Where is the nearest planet I can steal a ship?
Jenai tapped more and more controls and she ran her hand through her hair. Shit…shit! There was nothing…nothing at all. The only place she could get to was the prison planet they had left. Jenai closed her eyes in frustration and then suddenly opened them – remembering something very important. Riddick had left a ship behind on the prison planet. Jenai sat up straight and started to tap in co-ordinates. She looked out of the tiny ship and saw Riddick fly directly at two merc ships. There were two blasts from Riddick and two of the merc ships blew up. Holy crap! How the hell did he do that? She saw him turn the ship around and face the two other ships which were still firing on him. He must've taken off the self-destruct, she thought…he should've blown up by now. A small sense of admiration passed through her before she dismissed it and focused on getting the hell away and getting her hands of Riddick's ship back on the prison planet.
Her tiny space ship shot off and headed back on the course Riddick had piloted from the prison planet. As she piloted closer to the planet, her mind trailed off. She put her hand to her neck. Yes, he had bitten her. Was this some strange kind of ritual of his? What would he do? Hunt her like an animal? Yes, he had tracked her before on the planet below but she was now aware of his abilities, which meant she would have to be extra careful and cautious. She would need to be smarter, faster and deadlier than Riddick. Would he pursue her?
Jenai approached the prison guard ships hovering around the planet. They didn't even get a sense that she was flying by them. Easy….easy…..she thought as she effortlessly piloted her ship down through the atmosphere and started to touch the computer screen. Riddick would've had to cloak his ship to land….but she didn't have the technology on this little ship to locate it….but…she knew his scent. She would track him the old fashioned way. She would follow his scent to his hidden ship.
Jenai slowly landed where she had previously been…before Riddick had hi-jacked it – hi-jacked her. What was he doing on this planet? What had he come for? She had come to steal a statuette and get some damn good credit for it…but him? What was his business here? Jenai became fascinated by this issue. Was he looking for someone? If he was then he didn't find them and had become sidetracked by Jenai's presence in the dungeon.
Jenai stepped out from her cloaked ship and pushed herself against the wall. Damn! Back on this planet. She prayed that there was a ship….that Riddick just wasn't an inmate that had taken an opportunity to escape.
Jenai still had Riddick's scent on her body…she could feel the bite mark on her neck. His mark, he had said. Unfinished business he had said.
Jenai sensed the air. She paused and then inhaled again. Yes, she had his track. He had covered quite a lot of ground. She noticed her synthetic pheromone markers were still throwing out a route back into the dungeon. Well, it wouldn't be in there, she thought …and she really didn't want to go back into that pit of misery if she could avoid it. He would have to have left it near where she was now…it was the only place that would make sense. There was trail of his scent near where she was. She looked around her and noticed that there was a small hover ship about fifty feet above her. She tapped her armband and the hover ship left. Not too bright these prison guards…and then another idea dawned on her…..a police ship…she smiled. If I can't find Riddick's ship…..I'll take a police ship. She grinned wickedly at herself and almost laughed.
Jenai moved with the speed and the grace of a cat and moved over the landscape like a blur. She followed Riddick's scent – so familiar to her now she could sense him miles away. After a few minutes of running like the wind, she knew she had come across the ship. It was, indeed, cloaked but it was no effort for someone of her skill to get into it. Jenai laughed to herself. Yup, her ship was definitely better than this one….no lie. If it was an animal, you'd shoot it. Where the hell did he steal this heap of crap from? It looked as though it had been in a war.
Jenai opened the door of the ship with her armband and climbed into the cockpit. His scent was overpowering in the small ship….masculine…so masculine. She tried to power up the ship but it was low on energy. Shit! Shit! How the hell was the maniac going to get off this planet? Then it dawned on her…..he was going to steal a guard ship (the same plan as hers)…..but he had found a better opportunity with a professional thief.
Ok, she thought. This ship is dead and I need to get my hands on a guard ship. Fine…just fine. I can do this. Easy. Easy.
Jenai rubbed her eyes. She was looking forward to getting off this planet, getting paid and hitting a bar. She knew a fantastic place on a sleazy planet where she could play some pool and drink some alcohol and maybe take a man to her bed. Her thoughts turned to Ridd…..but stopped herself fast.
Jenai sat in the cockpit and looked out on the planet. A dustball…..a great, big dustball with little vegetation. It was….just dead. A dead planet with dead souls condemned to die on this planet.
Jenai frowned.
She sniffed the air and sat still.
Riddick.
He had landed on the planet. She could smell his scent. More importantly, she knew he could smell hers. Fuck…..fuck! She needed a ship fast before he caught up with her and that was only a short matter of time.
She sniffed the air again. Closer…
How long did she have? Fuck…not long she figured….
Jenai aimlessly hit the controls in a futile attempt to will power into the ship. Damn! She hit the controls with her fist. Damn! She hit them again.
No ship! She needed a police ship – now! She needed to get back to her bike and steal a ship.
Jenai cautiously climbed out of the busted ship. Dust and sun – that's all there was and yes, rock. Lots of rocks. Most humanoids wouldn't last a day out here. She started to run back to her bike – at lightning speed. In all her life she had never met anyone with her abilities and that made Riddick interesting to her. Who was he? Maybe he had just been modified. A genetic experiment – a rogue cyborg that had escaped – broken its programming and gone awol. Yet, she hadn't sensed any cybernetics on him. He was organic.
Genetic splicing was becoming more frequent in the galaxy and their enslavement growing. Jenai had come from a planet where they believed they were the only life form in the universe and it was punishable by death to suggest anything else. Jenai's abilities had shown her that view point was simply not true and by the time she was 13 she had seen other life forms on her planet. The inhabitants on her planet were under a form of hypnosis and they just did not see all the other life forms moving freely around. Jenai played it cool. Pretended she was the same and then stole a lift away. Theft and survival were natural to her and she had done both very well. She was a solitary character and the life of a thief complemented her state of being.
Jenai moved faster and faster towards her bike. There was no sign of Riddick and she was moving away from his scent. She could tell he was heading towards his old ship – but he was quick.
Jenai touched her arm panel and de-cloaked her bike and climbed on it. Ok, she needed to get hold of a police ship – NOW.
Jenai launched her cloaked bike and headed up into the sky. Her fuel cells were low on energy and she needed this ship fast. She pulled up alongside the ship, where the door was and she tapped on the side of her arm panel and she teleported inside the ship.
Jenai knew these ships well. There were armed with six guards. Two pilots and four grunts. She teleported in with her gun ready to shoot but there was no-one there. In fact, the whole ship was quiet. There was a strong and strange odour in the air, which permeated and overpowered everything. Jenai stifled a cough and put her hand over her mouth. She squinted and held her breath.
She looked around her. No-one. She suppressed a cough – not wanting to let anyone know where she was. Throughout her life she had slipped in and out of crafts, buildings, etc and her gut instincts were finely tuned. This was wrong and she knew it. There is a moment when every instinct tells you to leave but curiosity drives you the other way and her curiosity was getting the better of her. Leave…..just leave…..
Jenai quietly but with agility moved around the ship. There was no-one – no-one at all. However, she had yet to go to the cock-pit. Two pilots? Easy – no problem. Jenai moved towards the door. She listened, but there was no sound. The ship was in orbit and flying steadily but there it had the silence of a ghost ship.
Jenai swallowed and reached out towards the control panel. She pressed a green button and the door shot open. Jenai sped into the cockpit with her gun outstretched.
Two dead pilots.
Every instinct prickled. Her heart pounded. What had done this? There didn't seem to be any evidence of a struggle. There was no blood. They just seemed to have died.
There was something on this ship with her. Something not humanoid. A killer. It had managed to take out six men without a struggle.
Jenai knew not all lifeforms were humanoid and some moved in and out of nearby dimensions. There was something moving about.
Now Jenai was torn. Below was a prison planet – a prison planet with Riddick prowling for her and here…an invisible killer.
Jenai turned around quickly and pressed the button to close the door. Yes, it was closed but she suspected it wouldn't stop what was ever in with her.
Jenai pulled one of the slumped bodies away from the control seat and sat down in it. She flicked the controls and went onto the communications channels. There was just static noise. She saw a panel showing the dozens of ships orbiting the prison planet and yet there was no noise coming from the communication channels.
Had what happened here happened on all the ships? Jenai sat down and chewed her thumb nail and thought hard. Something had taken out all the humanoids on the ships – leaving them in orbit. They were unmanned but for an entity she could feel onboard – an entity she could smell – but then she had heightened senses. A normal humanoid may have smelt nothing at all.
To fly or not to fly?
If she moved the ship would the entity come after her? Was there one in every ship or just here? If she flew the ship would it disturb it? Where was it and what was it waiting for? Jenai knew she wouldn't be any better off on the planet below.
Jenai turned on the communications channel and tapped in a code.
"Riddick…" Jenai whispered. "Riddick are you there?"
"Jenai…what an unexpected pleasure," the deep voice replied. "I take it you've acquired a guard ship?"
Jenai licked her lips. "Riddick….something really bad is going to happen.."
"Yes..when I get hold of you…." Riddick growled deeply.
"Listen to me….all the guards are dead….something…..something has killed them and it's in here with me…."
There was silence for a moment.
"Maybe I should just leave you to your fate, Jenai." Riddick said. Jenai breathed in.
"Riddick…if I move this ship, I think it's going to kill me. So far, it hasn't registered I'm here.."
"Hmmm.." the dark voice rumbled. "How interesting…"
Jenai looked around her and took another deep breath. "Look…."
"hmm…"Riddick said and chuckled deeply. "And how can I help?"
Jenai licked her lips and rubbed her forehead. "Riddick….I need my ship."
"You said I could keep it." Riddick replied.
"I..know..I know…Riddick…..you…YOU put me in this situation." Jenai insisted.
"No Jenai. Greed put you where you are," Riddick replied,
Jenai looked out onto the planet below. She turned to her armband and tapped some keys.
"If I don't get off this planet….Ricky-boy, then neither do you!" Jenai growled.
There was silence for a moment before she heard the deep laughter of Riddick.
"You play a very, very dangerous game, Jenai." Riddick whispered.
"Bring my ship alongside this one or I'll destroy it. 5 minutes," Jenai whispered.
"Jenai, Jenai….Jenai…" Riddick chuckled. "You may just be better off where you are."
"All I want to do is get off this planet, get paid and fuck off. You can keep the fucking ship. I don't fucking care anymore. Just get me fucking out of here….."
"Please." Riddick whispered.
"Please…"Jenai growled.
"Good girl. Learning basic manners at last." Riddick said huskily. "I'm coming Jenai and you better be prepared."
T.B.C…