Hello everyone! I was watching Pitch Black on USA while I was sick and I got an idea. What if Riddick had a partner? And a female one at that. Someone as deadly as him. So this is the person that I came up with.
Name/ Malaya Leann Derifcov// Nationality/ 1/2 Russian 1/2 Italian// Age/ 26// Piercing's/ Belly button, five in each ear, tongue// Tattoo's/ Angel wings across upper back, 3 slashes across neck (will be explained later), panther circling belly button// Hair Color/ Black// Eyes/ Dark chocolate
PS: Malaya can speak Italian, Russian, and English. Most of the time she speaks Russian. But when it calls for it she speaks English. And when she gets mad she starts yelling in Italian. (You know, the Italian tempers) And if you can't tell, Riddick and Malaya are together.
Disclaimer: I don't own Vin Diesel! WAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! But I do own Malaya Derifcov
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*Riddicks POV^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
I heard something drop out side our small apartment. I sat up and looked around the bedroom with my shined eyeballs. I could tell someone was out there. I felt the warm body next to me sit up as well. She looked around and whispered "What's going on Riddick?" I shook my head and answered "I don't know-" As soon as those words went out of my mouth our window shattered and several people jumped in. I pulled her behind me as they came over to the bed with their guns raised. "Both of you! Get up!" One of them yelled. We got up slowly with our hands raised. I looked at her as one of them came around the bed. She knew what I was thinking. As the other came around she jumped up and kicked him in the face. I punched the other and grabbed his gun and shot him as she shot her guy. Just as he went down the third grabbed her around the throat and pointed his gun at her forehead.
"Drop the gun, or I'll give her a new hole to breathe out of." He threatened. I put the gun on the floor and kicked it over to him. He smirked and said "Now on your knees with your hands on your head." I glared at him and did as he said. He came over to me pushing her in front of him. He forced her down on the ground by kicking her stomach and cuffed her hands. She looked at me desperately as he cuffed my hands. Pulling us up he said "We're going for a very long ride on a space ship. And you two are going to go quietly, unless you want the other not to be able to wake up the next morning." I glared at him and spit in his face. He just wiped it off and pushed us out the door.
!!!!!!!!Several hours later!!!!!!!
I looked down at her from where I was chained and whispered "Are you okay Malaya?" She nodded biting her lip. "My stomach hurts. I think he ripped part of my ring out with those silver tipped boots of his." I growled quietly, wanting to kill any one who caused her pain. She rubbed my hand and said "I'll be fine. We can kill him later. Just wait." Then the Blue-eyed Devil came by. He swung his baton and said "We're going on one of the ships to New Mecca. They have a new Slam there. It's even better than the last one you two were in. 200 hundred feet down, rat's all over the place. It's just your kind of place Riddick. Though I'm sure that your bitch over here will only last 2 weeks. There's a pool going on, on how long she will last. It's up to 200 credits at the moment. Care to make a bet?" I glared at him and smacked my forehead into his nose. He fell backwards, his nose exploding. I glared down at him as Malaya wrapped her leg around mine, silently telling me to back off. "Call her a bitch again and I'll kill you."
He got up holding his nose and walked back wards. He glared at us until he was out the door. Malaya raised an eyebrow at me and answering her silent question I said "I wasn't going to take him calling you a fucking bitch." She shook her head and answered in Russian "I've been called worse things Riddick." I glared at her and was about to answer her back when Johns came back with 6 guards and two pieces of Kleenex in stuck in his nose. "Time to go into your cryo-chambers." 4 guards held Malaya and me down while the other two unchained us to the wall and started to lead us out the door and down the hallway. We passed other passengers on the way. I got a kick at the way they were looking at Malaya and me. Malaya looked around and held her head high. I whispered to her in Italian "How much do you want to bet 30 of these people are going to get off after they find out who we are?" She giggled but was silenced by one of the guards pulling on her chains. She bared her teeth, and growled at him. Johns poked her in the side with the gun. "Shut up." She glared at him but shut up any way. He pushed her into the cryo-chamber and put the horse bit on her and locked the chains on. Sticking the monitor stickers for her vital signs on her chest he slammed the door shut and pushed the button to start the cryo-gas.
She gave me one last wink before falling asleep. Johns put me in the cryo-chamber next to her and put the horse bit, stickers and blindfold on me and closed the door. As he pushed the button for the gas, I rolled my eyes. Doesn't he know any thing? Hmmm. Now what to do for almost a year.
*****19 weeks later*****
They say most of your brain shuts down in cryo-sleep. All but the primitive side. The animal side. No wonder I'm still awake. Transporting me with civilians. Sounded like forty, forty-plus. Heard an Arab voice - some hoodoo holy man. Probably on his way to New Mecca. But what route? What route? Smelled a woman - sweat, boots, tool belt, and leather. Prospector type. Free settlers. And they only take the back roads. And here's my real problem: Mr. Johns. Blue-eyed devil. Planning on taking Malaya and me back to Slam. Only this time he picked a ghost lane. A long time between stops. Long time for something to go wrong.
Author's POV
Suddenly a meteorite shower hit the Hunter-Gratzner, penetrating the hull and hitting the captain's chamber, killing him instantly. The docking pilot, Fry, woke up and saw the flat line for the captain. She pulled the release and fell out, expecting to float, but hitting the floor instead. The navigator, Owens, fell out on top of her. "Why did I fall on you?" He asked scrambling up. Fry replied in a panicked voice "He's dead, the captains dead! I was looking right at him." Owens looked at a computer and said "The chrono says we're only twenty-two weeks out! Gravity's not supposed to kick in for another 19. Why did I fall out?
Fry yelled at him "Didn't you hear me! The captain's dead!" They each scrambled to their stations, strapping themselves into their chairs. Fry yelled into the communicator "Fifteen-fifty millibars. Dropping twenty-MB per minute. Shit! We're hemorrhaging air. Something took a swipe at us." Owens watched his monitor and muttered "Come on, come on, just tell me we're still in the shipping lane, man. Just show me all those stars; come on, big bright…" On the monitor it showed that a planet was coming up fast. Owens tried to send out a distress signal "This is an emergency dispatch from merchant vessel Hunter-Gratzner en route to the Tangier System with forty commercial passengers on board. We have been knocked out of our shipping lane and are currently entering the atmosphere of a planetary body in the following position: X 38 stroke 9, Y 95 stroke 8, Z 21…"
Fry gets out of her chair and climbs into the cockpit and opens the blast shields, to see a wall of flames as the ship entered the atmosphere and watched as pieces started to break off the ship. Owens' voice came over and asked "Fry, where the hell's our comms?" As Fry tried to adjust the decent a computer voice says "Rate of descent beyond safe limits. Rate of descent beyond…" Owens' said nervously "They trained you for this right?" Fry pulled a lever to adjust the wing flaps as the computer says "Deploy lower airbrakes now. Deploy lower airbrakes now. Center of gravity too far aft. Recommend purging ballast now. Recommend…" Fry pulls a lever to purge part of the ship. Owens mutters "What the f… Was that a purge, Fry?" She answered frustrated "Too heavy in the ass. Can't get my fucking nose down." And pulled another lever and purged another part of the ship. Owens tries to explain "Crisis program selected number two of this system because there seems to be some oxygen. Maximum terrain two-twenty meters over mean surface. Largely cinder, gypsum with some evaporite deposits." He heard a clunk. "Fry, what the hell are you doing?"
"I gotta drop more load." Fry answered. The computer asks her "Purge all?" Fry said to Owens "Look, I've tried everything else, I still got no horizon." Owens yelled "Well you better try everything twice cuz no way do we just flush out the…" Fry interrupted "Look if you know something I don't, get your ass up here and take the chair, Owens." Owens tried to reason with her "Listen, Company says we are responsible for every single one of those people, Fry." Fry answered "What, we both die out of sheer fucking nobility?" Owens jumped up saying "Don't you touch that handle, Fry!" He jumped up to jam the airlock doors, as Fry hesitates. Then she grabs the handle and yells "I'm not gonna die for them." When she pulls it the computer blinks 'ERROR, ERROR'. Fry yells at the communicator "Owens!"
He answers "Seventy seconds, Fry. You still have seventy seconds to level this beast out." The computer says "Airlock doors not secure. Airlock doors not secure." Then a second voice says "Deploy brakes now." Fry had trouble kicking the pad for the brakes. She yelled "Shit! Shit! Shit!" She watched in horror, as the ground loomed closer. "Fuck." A piece of the ship breaks of and hits the window, shattering it and showering her in sparks. Owens yelled "What the fuck is happening up there?"
In the passenger hold Johns stumbled out of his cryo-chamber and looks up to see Malaya and Riddick still in their chambers. Back in the ops center as the ship comes in for landing, the monitor reads SYSTEM ALERT. As it hits the ground, Owens, still strapped into his chair, is flung through a bulkhead. In the passenger hold as an exterior bulkhead is ripped away along with most of the passenger cryotubes, and Johns clings to the edge as the ship crashes.
****Later****
*Riddicks POV*
I shook away the dizziness the crash had given me and pulled my arms away from the chains in the chamber. I then held my fists together and hit the glass on the chamber until it shattered and I was able to get out and yank the horse bit from my mouth. I looked down and saw Johns unconscious. I rolled my eyes and turned to the cryo-chamber next to mine and saw that Malaya's eyes were open and she had pulled off the bit and the chains away from the wall. She saw me and started beating on the cryo-chamber. "Get me out of here! I can't breathe!" She was claustrophobic and started hyperventilating whenever she woke up in a cryo-chamber. I yelled "Cover your head!" And picked up a pipe from the floor and hit the glass shattering it on impact. She fell on her knee's gasping for breath. I kneeled next to her, rubbing her back. "You okay?" I whispered as she caught her breath. She nodded and whispered back "I hate cryo-chambers." I hugged her and pulled her up. She glanced down at Johns and asked "What are we going to do with him?" I grinned wolfishly and said "He's going to come looking for us right?" She nodded slowly; trying to work out what I was saying "Well let's give him something to follow."
15 minutes later I was sitting on top of a pipe 10 feet in the air while Malaya was crouched down on the floor hidden by a piece of scrap metal. I looked down at her, and as if she felt my eyes she looked up and grinned at me. Something shuffled a little bit a way and we both looked sharply at it. It was Johns trying to be quiet looking for us. When he was right underneath me, I dropped down and wrapped my leg restraints around his neck. He grabbed his baton and started to beat my legs, I dropped down to the ground and he continued to beat me. Malaya came up behind him and kicked his back. He turned around and dropped her with a blow the head. I growled and tried to get up to attack him. But he hit me in the head as well. I heard him say just before I lost consciousness "One of these days, one of us is going to get hurt. And it ain't gonna be me."
Later I woke up with my arms locked behind a tall pole. I glanced around and saw Malaya across from me, leaning back with her eyes open and glancing around. I muttered "Hey, sweetie." She looked at me and grinned and said to me in Russian "Finally you woke up. He must have hit you harder than me." I smirked and in Russian as well answered "Well you've always had a hard head." She laughed but was cut off by someone screaming "Don't touch it! Don't, don't you touch that handle!" She raised an eyebrow and guessed "Sounds like some one is dying and is not totally sure of what he's saying." I laughed and asked "How can you tell that?" She grinned and said "Call it a gift." We laughed until we heard people coming towards us. Then we heard Johns voice "They just escaped from a maximum prison." Malaya laughs loudly and yells toward them in English "Yea right. Try like three years ago for me and 5 years ago for him!" Johns yelled back at her "Shut up before I give ya' a beatin' again." I yelled to him "You try and I'll snap your neck so fast, you'll be in hell before you feel any pain."
Johns ignored me as the person he was taking to asked him "So we just keep them locked up forever?" He snorted and said "That'd be my choice." There was silence for a couple of seconds. "Are they really that dangerous?" Johns answered "Only around humans." Malaya giggled and said "Aww come on Johns. You're not tellin' the poor woman the whole truth. I mean me and Riddick over here get along very well." I laughed as I heard the woman try to stifle a laugh. "Yea Johns, I though you were a total do right, no lies kinda man!" Johns growled and left with the woman. Malaya burst out laughing, if she could have fallen over, she would have. I looked around and saw a cutting torch about 6 feet to my left. Then I looked up and saw part of the pipe was ripped through about 7 feet up. I jerked my head up and whispered "I'm gonna' try to get my arms through up there and then use that cutting torch to get us out of here." She nodded and looked away, knowing what I was going to do. I stood up and then stood up on my tiptoes, and lifted my arms up and dislocated my arms to move them in front of me.
I grunted and put them back in their sockets. I grabbed the torch and lit it by striking it against the ground to light it. Then I carefully held it against my chains melting through them. After I dropped them I went to work on my leg bindings. After those were on the ground I ran behind Malaya and undid her wrist chains and then did her ankles. I pulled her up and led her towards the sunlight.
Authors POV
Johns ran towards to the discarded chains in the sand and looks around and whispers "Motherfucker." and throws it down. He stalked over to the cargo hold where the measly survivors were collecting weapons. When one passenger, Paris, brought out his cargo, everyone was happy. There was a large selection of war picks and various other weapons. Another one of the passengers held up a blowgun and asked in an Aussie accent "What in the bloody hell is this?" Paris looked it over and said "That's a hunting blow-dart pipe from northern Papua New Guinea. And that's very, very rare since the tribe is now extinct." The passenger, Zeke, snorted and said "Cuz they couldn't hunt shit with these things, be my guess." Paris looked at Johns and asked "Well look, what's the point, anyway? I mean, if they're gone, they're gone. Why should they bother us?"
Johns answered "Maybe to take what you got. Maybe to work your nerves. Or maybe they'll just come back and skull-fuck you in your sleep." Shazza, Zeke's girlfriend shook her head and said "Sounds like some charmers." Johns walked out and scanned the horizon with his scope. Behind him Zeke and Shazza were putting together breathers. The oxygen level for the planet was low. Shazza put one on a teenage boy that she had found stowed away in one of the lockers. "There ya' go. Yeah?" The boy, Jack nodded trying it out. "Yeah it works good." Shazza shook her head and muttered "Kid's and their vocabulary." Jack silently laughed as Fry came out with Paris behind her. Fry told the holy man, who was on his way to New Mecca with his three sons, "El Imam, if we're looking for water, we should leave soon. Before nightfall, while its cooler."
Paris looked around and said over his shoulder "Excuse me, I think you should see this." They all turned around and saw that they were watching a blue sun rising, while the orange suns start to set on the opposite horizon. Jack said "Three suns?" Shazza muttered "Bloody hell" and turned back to the ship. Zeke shrugged and said "Well there goes your nightfall." Paris sighed and said "So much for my cocktail hour." Imam smiled and said "We take this as a good sign. A path, a direction from Allah. Blue sun - blue water." Zeke muttered, turning to go with Shazza "Ever wondered why I'm an atheist?" Johns shook his head and said "It's a bit of a bad sign. That's Riddick's and Derifcov's direction." Fry stood besides him and said confused "I thought you found the restraints over there, towards sunset." Johns nodded and answered "Right, which means they he went towards sunrise. Zeke-" Zeke came over and Johns handed him the gun "Fully loaded clip. Safety's on. One shot if you spot him or her, okay?"
Zeke groaned and said "Don't tell me you're going off too." Johns nodded. "Yeah." Paris looked around nervously and asked "What happens if Mr. Riddick or Ms. Derifcov spots us first?" Johns answer was simple. "There'll be no shots."
@@Malaya's POV@@
I shook my head as Riddick and I watched that little group head towards the field of bones that was hiding us. I muttered to Riddick in Russian "Do you want to keep an eye on Johns, while I keep an eye on holy man and his kids over there?" He nodded and slipped off in the bones. I waited until the two younger ones ran past me. Soon their father and the oldest walked by. The holy man yelled after the two "Come back here quickly little ones, you don't know what's out here." They came back obediently and walked besides him. I quietly walked beside them hidden by the skeletons. The oldest asked his father something in Arabic and the holy man nodded. He walked off over to my direction. I cursed silently and decided to follow him instead. I walked behind him, wondering what he asked his father. I got in front of him and looked ahead. There was a gigantic hole right around the corner he was going to take in a second. It was a blind corner so you wouldn't be able to see what was around it until you turned it. I looked down and saw that it was pitch black. (AN. Heehee.) I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw the boy turn the corner. I lunged out of hiding just as he stepped into the hole. I grabbed his hand and pulled him up. He stared at me in shock. I heard footsteps coming. I looked around and then back at the boy.
I held a finger up to my lips and backed into the shadows. He stared after me until his father came with his younger brothers. Holy man asked him something and the boy shook his head. The old man nodded and looked past him and saw the hole. He put a hand on his back and led the boys away from it. I raced back to where Riddick and I were supposed to meet. He was waiting for me there. We quietly walked back to the ship and he asked "Did anyone see you?" I nodded sheepishly and answered "The oldest Arabic boy. He almost fell in a hole the size of the Hunter-Gratzner." He raised an eyebrow. " I had to help him Riddick. I wasn't about to let him die. And he didn't tell his father I saved him. I think. I can't speak Arabic." He nodded slowly, letting out a slow breath.
We looked around the ship and saw that British guy sitting on top of the ship in style. He was sitting on a lounge chair, drinking sherry, from the smell of it, and sitting underneath an umbrella. I rolled my eyes but froze as I heard a clang and other footsteps. I looked at Riddick and he motioned for me to stay down. I nodded and a few minutes later there were gunshots and some yelling. I looked over at Riddick and saw he was gone. I looked up and saw that he had taken the British's guy seat and was drinking the sherry. He turned around and caught my eye. I glared at him and he jumped down, leaving the bottle empty. He crouched next to me and explained in Russian "That Aussie shot a survivor that had stumbled up on them, cause' they thought it was me. Then they went back to salvaging the ship and the Aussie went back to digging graves." I nodded and asked "How many passengers are there?" He did some quick calculating in his head and answered "Including us, 12."
I shook my head and sighed. "Out of 40 odd passengers that's pretty sad." Riddick nodded and then said "I'm going to check out the Aussie real quick. Stay here and stay quiet." I looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. He of all people should know that I'm almost always quiet, except when Riddick and I are... I shook my head and laid flat on the ground, in the shade of the ship. A couple of minutes later, there was a scream and some gun shots. Then Riddick came running by and pulled me up dragging me away from the ship. "What the hell is going on Riddick?" He shook his head and kept running. We ran by a mound and Johns stepped out and tripped Riddick and kicked me down. Then he grabbed Riddicks goggles, blinding him and started beating him with the baton. I lunged at Johns, and but some one grabbed me from behind and threw me down. Then some chick ran up to Riddick and started kicking him. "What did you do to Zeke?" She screamed "What did you do to him?" Riddick tried to get up but she punched him in the head and he went down again. The chick that Johns was talking to in the cargo hold tried to restrain her. "Shazza, calm down."
She screamed again "Just kill him! Just kill him!" She kicked him again, this time in the head, knocking him out. I lunged at her and hit her in the stomach, but Johns kicked me down. I glared at him and growled. "Just wait Johns," I snarled at him in English, so he could understand me. "Soon, very soon, one of us is going to kill you. And I hope to God, that'll be me." He spat on me and I lunged at him but was hit in the head with the baton.
A few hours later I woke up. That chick that had been holding onto that Shazza was talking to Riddick. "That's, fine. You don't want to talk to me, that's your choice. But just so you know, there's a debate right now as to whether we should just leave you here to die." I laughed and said in Russian "Hey Riddick! What the hell is she talking about?" She looked over at me as Riddick answered as well in Russian "She wants me to tell what killed that boyfriend of hers. And her names Fry." I laughed and said "Nice name." Then 'Fry' asked me "Do you speak English?" I looked at her in disdain and asked Riddick "Is she for real?" He laughed and shrugged. I turned back to Fry and answered in English "Yes, when needed." She nodded and was about to leave when Riddick stopped her "You mean the whispers?" I silently laughed. He's done this before. Fry looked at him curiously and asked "What whispers?" Riddick smirked and said "The ones telling me to go for the sweet spot, just to the left of the spine. Fourth lumbar down. The abdominal aorta. It's a metallic taste, human blood - copperish. But if you cut it with peppermint schnapps then that goes away…"
Fry snorted "D'you want to shock me with the truth now?" Riddick shook his head and said "All you people are so scared of me. Most days I'd take that as a compliment. But it ain't me you gotta worry about now."
Fry stepped closer to him and said "Show me your eyes, Riddick." Riddick smirked and said "You got to move a lot closer for that." Fry moved closer and he said "Closer." When Fry was only a couple of feet away, Riddick snapped forward on his chains, with his eyes open. You could see his eyes shining in the darkness of the cargo hold. Then that kid said "Where the hell can I get eyes like that?" Riddick looked at him and said "You gotta kill a few people." The kid nodded and said "Okay, I can do it." Riddick grinned and said "Then you gotta get sent to a slam where they tell you you'll never see daylight again. You dig up a doctor and you pay him twenty menthol Kools to do a surgical shine job on your eyeballs." The kid nodded and said "So you can see who's sneaking up on you in the dark." Riddick nodded and replied "Exactly."
Fry yelled "Leave! Just leave." The kid grudgingly left. Riddick then said to Fry " Did I kill a few people? Sure. Did I kill Zeke? No. You got the wrong killer." Fry looked at him suspiciously and said "He's not in the hole. We looked." Riddick answered with two words "Look deeper." Fry looked at him then at me. I gave her a smile and leaned back, closing my eyes. I waited until she left when I said "Cute kid. Bad role model."
20 minutes later Johns came in. He walked past me, completely ignoring me, and went straight to Riddick. Riddick smirked and said "Finally found something worse then me, huh?" Johns sighed and said "So here's the deal: you work without chains, without bit, and without shivs. You do what I say, when I say it." Riddick shook his head, "For what? The honor of going back to some asshole of a cell? Fuck you." Johns groaned and said "The truth is… is I'm tired of chasing you." Riddick raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you'd cut me and Malaya loose?" Johns shrugged and answered "I'm thinking you two could've died in the crash." Riddick shook his head and suggested "My recommendation - do me. Don't take the chance that I'll get shiv-happy on your wannabe ass." Johns nodded and said "Okay..." Riddick glared at him and growled "Ghost me, motherfucker, that's what I would do to you." Johns raised his big gauge and shot at Riddick. He flinched and the chains fell away. Johns kept the gauge leveled at him. "I want you to remember this moment. The way it could've gone and didn't. Here." He held out Riddicks goggles. Riddick moved to take them but grabbed the gun and turned it towards him. I watched as Riddick fought the urge to blow his ass to Kingdom Come.
Johns tried to reason with him. "Take it easy." Riddick just yelled at him "Fuck you!" Johns back down and asked "Do we have a deal?" Riddick glanced at me for a second. "We have a deal. But if I ever find you near Malaya, I'll kill you." Johns nodded and Riddick said "I want you to remember this moment." He grabbed his goggles and shot the chains off my wrist. I rubbed my wrists and walked over to Johns. I spit on him and whispered "Just wait Johns." And walked after Riddick.
15 minutes later Riddick and I were dragging a sled that had what the passengers needed and a power cell. The group was walking about 10 yards in front of us. Riddick and I were walking in silence until I asked "Why did you threaten to kill Johns for me?" Riddick stopped and looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes, so I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He reached up and ran a hand down my cheek. "Because I love you, and I don't want Johns any where near you. I don't trust that slimy bastard and I never will." I grinned up at him and stood on my tip toes to kiss him. Just as I was about to kiss him, I whispered against his lips "I love you too." And kissed him gently. Then some thing hit my foot, making me break the kiss and look down. It was a bottle of wine. I looked up the hill and saw the Brit coming down. I picked it up, took a swig and then handed it to Riddick. He drained it as the Brit came up. He held out his hand and said "Paris P. Ogilvie. Antiquities dealer, entrepreneur." Riddick shook his hand and smirked saying "Richard B. Riddick. Escaped convict. Murderer."
Then 'Paris' took my hand and was about to kiss it when Riddick growled. I elbowed him in his side and muttered in Italian "Be nice." Then to Paris I said "Malaya Leann Derifcov. Escaped convict. Thief." I took the bottle back from Riddick and looked at it. "Rare vintage. Shiraz is it? Hope it wasn't too expensive." And handed the empty wine bottle back to him. He nodded and said "You know your wines. Sounds like you've bought a couple yourself." I laughed and shook my head. "Paris, like I said, I'm a thief. I've only bought a few things in my life. The rest were borrowed with no intent of returning." He paled slightly and unconsciously held his possession's closer.
The group had stopped at the top of the hill. Fry yelled "Paris, get up here!" Paris gave us a slight bow and ran up the hill. I burst out laughing the moment he was out of hearing range. "Maybe I should have told him, the pretty much the only things I steal are priceless jewels." Riddick chuckled and kissed my lips quickly before picking up the sled again and started up the hill. I stood there shocked for a second before running after him. "What was that for?" He shrugged and smirked. "Just felt like it, I guess." I hit his arm and helped him pull the sled up the hill. I had to stop at the top though. I sank to my knees breathing heavily. Riddick sat next to me and put an arm around my waist. "You okay?" He whispered. I nodded, still trying to catch my breath, but started coughing and wheezing. The group was off to the side watching me. I glared at them and tried to get up but fell back down. Riddick shook his head and said "No you're not." He stood up and picked me up. He put me on his back and grabbed the ropes pulling the sled down the hill to the settlement. I heard the kid ask Fry "What's wrong with her?"
Once we got down to the settlement Riddick carried me over to the shade and set me down and left. A couple of seconds later the kid came up to me. Sitting down next to me he asked "What's wrong?" I looked at him and said trying not to wheeze "I have asthma. Usually I can control it, but with this oxygen level I can lose it really easily with out some sort of breathing devise." He looked surprised and asked "Why didn't you say anything?" He reached behind him and pulled the breathing devise off of his back. When he handed it to me I said "I can't take it kid. You need it." He shook his head and shoved it into my hands "You're the one with asthma. I'm doing pretty well anyways. It's almost full." I grinned and said "Thanks kid." I took a deep breathe from the tube and my wheezing and coughing ceased. I looked over at him and ruffled his hair. "You're okay kid." I leaned back and asked "So what's your name?" He leaned back as well and answered "It's Jack." I smelled something. Wait a minute I know that smell. I get it at least once a month, every month. I looked at Jack. And I mean really looked at him. Then I saw something. No Adams apple. I grinned and asked "So 'Jack'. Have you told any one else you're actually a girl?" She looked at me sharply and tried to scramble away. "Please, you can't tell any one. You can't!" I put a hand on her knee and said "Don't worry I promise I won't tell anyone. Though I can't promise that know one else will figure it out. I'm pretty sure Riddick already has."
She scrutinized me for a second before sitting back next to me. "So," I asked "Why are you masquerading as a boy?" She shrugged and said "Think about it. If you're a young girl traveling alone, you have more of a chance in being picked up by a pimp. But if you're a young boy traveling alone, people are going to leave you pretty much alone." I shrugged and said "That's true. I was almost picked up by one about 5 months after I escaped from Slam. But then Riddick noticed the guy trying to pull me into an alley and totally mutilated him. It was wonderful. From then on he kept me around." She nodded and then asked "So how'd you two get together?" I looked down at her sharply and she raised an eyebrow. "Malaya, I may be only 13 but I ain't stupid. I saw that kiss between you two earlier. And I've saw the way he was lookin' at ya when you collapsed earlier on the hill." I blushed and said "Well we had been travelin' together for about, oh I don't know, 9 months, in a small skiff with only one small room with only one bed, and a very small cockpit. The kitchen and bathroom were only separated with a hanging cloth and there wasn't a shower curtain. As you can imagine there were times when we walked in on each other in how do you American's say it, buck ass naked."
Jack laughed as I continued. "So finally we established some ground rules and it didn't happen quite as often. We still had to share a bed though. Riddick, at first, really didn't want to share a bed with me. I didn't care really. Finally he gave in after the 5th uncomfortable night sleeping in the cockpit. At the time we were trying to head to New Earth, because I wanted to see my mother after, I think, 7 years. My father had gone on some mission when I was two, to go some geological dig. That was 24 years ago. Any ways enough about my estranged parents, back to me and Riddick. We were a long way's away from New Earth. The ship was only able to handle 2 star jumps so that put us about 5 months away from New Earth.
During that five months, Riddick taught me English. I'm from Russia. My father was Russian and my mother was Italian. So the only languages I could speak were Russian and Italian. Luckily Riddick could speak Italian and a little bit of Russian so we could communicate." Jack cut me off saying "Wait a minute. How did Riddick speak Italian?" I sighed and said "Riddicks lived in New Italy from when he was born to the age of 13 when he was first arrested for supposedly beating a classmate to death." I growled underneath my breath. He was set up by The Company. He had gotten to good at the things they had taught him. Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I went on with the story. "About 3 months into the flight, Riddick started gettin' weird around me. I started catching him staring at me when he thought I wasn't looking. Then when we were sleeping, he'd find excuses to be near me. My favorite was 'it's to cold', because the cabin stayed at a steady 72 degrees the entire time. So finally I asked him what was going on and he just kissed me. Then one thing led to another..." I trailed off, letting her fill in the blanks.
She nodded understanding. Then I asked "So why are you alone?" She sighed and said "You don't want to hear my sob story." I nudged her and said "Hey, I told you what was up with me and Riddick, so it's only polite you return the favor." She glared at me and asked "Why do you want to know about me?" I shrugged and answered "I have a feeling we'll be stuck together for a while so I would like to know who I have to be stuck with. For all I know you could be some psycho killer." I grinned as she started laughing at the joke. When she calmed down she relented. "When I was twelve, my mother died. My father had left before I was born, so I've never seen him. Around the time my mother had died she had a boyfriend. Stephan. They had been dating for about two years, and since she didn't have any other family, she made him my guardian incase something happened to her.
"So after she died, Stephan changed. All of a sudden he was abusive, controlling. I wasn't even aloud to go to school any more. I put up with it for about a year, until he came into my room and started to touch me. I was yelling at him to stop, but when he wouldn't, I hit him in the head with my bedside lamp." She looked down at the sand and continued. "I thought I had killed him. I froze, watching him for an hour or so, when finally I checked his pulse and found he was still alive. I knew I had to get out of there before he woke up, so I grabbed the few belongings that he hadn't gotten rid of and hopped on the next transport. The Hunter-" I looked at her and finished her sentence "Gratzner." She nodded. I hugged her around the shoulders and said "Hey, I can promise you that you'll never see that horrible man again." She grinned and whispered "Thanks Malaya." I was about to say something else when Riddick came back with a glass of water. He noticed my arm around Jack and the breather in my lap.
He raised an eyebrow and asked "Care to introduce me Maya?" I grinned at his pet-name for me and said "Riddick, this is Jack. She gave me her breather to help my asthma." Both of his eyebrows raised when I said she. Jack opened her mouth to say something when Fry called her. She grinned and said "Thanks Malaya." And got up and left. When she was out of hearing distance Riddick handed me the glass of water and asked "Any one else know?" I shook my head and said "I think she's going to tell Fry and Shazza though." I sipped the water and then said "You know whats going to happen if Johns finds out." Riddick sighed and nodded. "I know. If she does come out about it, make sure she doesn't leave your sight. If you can't, get Shazza." I snorted and said "I don't think she's too keen on me at the moment sweetheart. She's probably got a big bruise right now on her stomach from me." Riddick laughed and asked "When did you do that?"
I grinned sheepishly and said "After she knocked you out. I would have done more but Johns kicked me down again." He glared in Johns direction. I lifted up my shirt and said "It's not that bad. He could have done worse, like yank out my ring." Riddick grinned and grabbed my legs to pull me over. I laughed as he pulled me into his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear, "When was the last time I kissed you?" I grinned and said "Oh, about 20 minutes." He kissed my neck and said "Too long." I turned around and straddled his thighs. "Care to make up for it." He smirked and kissed my lips lightly and pulled back. "It's been a long time Maya." I pressed my self against him and whispered against his lips "I know." I kissed him hard as his hands gripped my ass. I moaned into his mouth as he started to knead his hands against my firm rear. His lips left mine and left a hot trail of kisses down to my collar bone.
As he started to kiss the top of my breasts, my hands went up to his head and rubbed the soft fuzz that had started to grow. Then of course Johns had to interrupt. He stopped when he saw us, but then he said "Com'on doggies. Missin' the party." I glared at him and gave him the bird. He shook his head and said "Riddicks got that taken care of." I jumped up and lunged after him as he started to leave. Riddick grabbed my waist and said "We'll get him later." I glanced up at him and sighed. "I'm not gonna wait much longer baby. I've been waiting for almost 2 years to get him back for what he did." Riddick nodded and kissed my forehead. He stood up as well. Wrapping his arms around my waist he kissed the top of my ear and said "So have I." He stepped back and pulled me towards where everyone was gathered.
I sighed and followed him. When we stepped over the threshold, I immediately glared at Johns. I've hated him for so long. Ever since he shot me and it killed my baby. I had been 4 months pregnant the last time he had caught up with us. God, Riddick and I were so happy that we were going to be parents. I remember I was so scared when I told Riddick. His reaction had left me speechless. He had picked me up and swung me around. We had just bought a small house on a very small planet where hardly any news reached, so no one new who we were. Then Johns had to come and ruin it all. He had snuck into our house one night when we were out to dinner. We were celebrating Riddicks new job at the mines. Now he had the perfect excuse to why he had shined eyes. Once we stepped through the door though, our happiness was cut. Johns had shot me in the stomach, killing the baby instantly. Riddick had gone after Johns with his shiv and had gone for the sweet spot. But in his rage he missed and hit his spinal chord. I believe that there's still a bit of the shiv in there. Riddick had rushed me to the hospital that was used for the miners and the miners families only. They had repaired the womb so I would be able to have children, but that thought didn't replace the thought of losing our first child. When they had pulled the baby out, they had told us that it was a girl. The look in Riddick's eyes when they told us that, I'll never forget or forgive Johns for making that look in there.
I continued to glare at him, as I leaned against Riddick's chest. Johns just smirked. Then Paris walked in and asked "Who were these people? Miners?" Shazza shook her head and held up a tool, saying "Look like geologists. You know, advance team - moves around from rock to rock." Fry sighed and said "Nice of them to leave so much stuff here. Why did they leave their ship?" Johns shook his empty head and said "It's not a ship, it's a skiff and it's disposable really." Then Paris asked "More like an emergency life raft, right?" Shazza nodded and said "Yeah, they probably had a big drop ship take them off-planet." I snorted looking around, though it was Riddick that voiced my thoughts. "These people didn't leave, come on. Whatever got Zeke got them. They're all dead. You don't really think they left with their clothes on the hooks? Photos on the shelves?"
Shazza, trying to be optimistic, said "Maybe they had weight limits. You don't know." I shook my head and said "I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless there's a fucking emergency." Jack, who was sitting by mine and Riddicks feet, said "She's fucking right." I nudged her and said "Watch your mouth." She smirked. I know, I know. I'm being a hypocrite. Then Fry said "She's just saying what we're all thinking. So what happened? Where are they?" Then Imam ran in and asked "Has anyone seen the little one? Ali?" Riddick suggested "Has anyone checked the coring room?" Then there was a scream. We all ran out side and towards the coring room. Johns tried to open it, but it was locked on the inside. He took out his big gauge and shot the handles, allowing the door to be pushed open. Imam called in to his youngest son "Ali?" Jack tried to go in, but Riddick put a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up at him, he shook his head. Imam walked in and saw the rattling closet doors.
He called again, "Ali?" Then the doors slammed open and these small flying creatures flew out.
Johns, Fry and Shazza jumped back out and slammed the doors shut. We heard them flying around until we heard them stop. Johns opened the door cautiously and called in "Imam? You okay?" We saw him near the closet about to get up when Ali's mangled body fell out of it. Jack gasped and backed out slowly. I looked after her, knowing that she needed time to be alone. Shazza was about to go after her, but I stopped her, shaking my head. Shazza looked at me strangely, but stayed. I looked around, and as I was doing that, Imam and his sons carried the boy outside. Fry, Shazza, and Johns, leaned over the tunnel that the creatures went down. I heard Johns crack a flare and throw it down. When it landed, I heard the crunch of bones. I winced at the sound and heard Riddick say "Other buildings weren't secure. So they ran here - heaviest doors. Thought they'd be safe inside. But they forgot to lock the cellar." I sighed and continued to look around. Then something caught my eye. I walked over to it and picked it up. It was a very old jacket. As I looked it over, I saw a name on the left lapel. Jeremiah Derifcov. Oh my God. Shocked I yelled "Riddick!" I heard him stand up from his position and walk over. "What is it Maya?" I looked up at him, tears stinging my eyes and showed him the jacket. He saw the name and pulled me into his arms.
I clutched his shirt trying not to cry. I heard Shazza come over and ask "What's wrong?" quietly. Riddick glanced up at her and said "Her father was one of the geologists." I heard Shazza whisper "Oh my God." Then I heard her walk away. I could hear her talking quietly to Johns and Fry. Then all three walked out. After they left I just broke down. Riddick hugged me closer and kissed the top of my head. For along while neither of us said anything. I calmed down after about an hour and Riddick asked "Do you want to find a room and go to sleep?" I nodded and stepped away. The jacket fell to the ground. I crouched down and picked it up. When I had picked it up two pieces of paper fell out. I picked them up as well and stood up. When I looked at them, I laughed. Riddick looked at me strangely. I held them up and showed them to him. I pointed to one and said "I made this for him before he left." It was a small handprint in blue paint. At the bottom was my messy handwriting from when I was two. It said 'I love you Papa' in Russian. "My mama was so mad at me," I whispered in Russian. "I got paint all over my self for that one hand print." Riddick laughed and wrapped his arms around me, standing behind me. I held up the other one and said "My grandmama took this when I was born." It was a faded brown picture of my parents holding me after I was born. I sniffed trying to remember my papa. He was a very large man. I think he might have been taller than Riddick. Maybe that's why I was never scared of him. I turned over the painting and it said in Russian as well 'My baby, Malaya'. I grinned and looked back at Riddick. "Lets go find that room."
He smirked and swept me up in his arms. He leaned his head down and kissed me softly. I pulled back licking my lips and said "There sure as hell better be more where that came from." He laughed and said "Of course, Princess. I've been waiting for this for too long." I laughed as well, as he walked out the door.
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Name/ Malaya Leann Derifcov// Nationality/ 1/2 Russian 1/2 Italian// Age/ 26// Piercing's/ Belly button, five in each ear, tongue// Tattoo's/ Angel wings across upper back, 3 slashes across neck (will be explained later), panther circling belly button// Hair Color/ Black// Eyes/ Dark chocolate
PS: Malaya can speak Italian, Russian, and English. Most of the time she speaks Russian. But when it calls for it she speaks English. And when she gets mad she starts yelling in Italian. (You know, the Italian tempers) And if you can't tell, Riddick and Malaya are together.
Disclaimer: I don't own Vin Diesel! WAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! But I do own Malaya Derifcov
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*Riddicks POV^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
I heard something drop out side our small apartment. I sat up and looked around the bedroom with my shined eyeballs. I could tell someone was out there. I felt the warm body next to me sit up as well. She looked around and whispered "What's going on Riddick?" I shook my head and answered "I don't know-" As soon as those words went out of my mouth our window shattered and several people jumped in. I pulled her behind me as they came over to the bed with their guns raised. "Both of you! Get up!" One of them yelled. We got up slowly with our hands raised. I looked at her as one of them came around the bed. She knew what I was thinking. As the other came around she jumped up and kicked him in the face. I punched the other and grabbed his gun and shot him as she shot her guy. Just as he went down the third grabbed her around the throat and pointed his gun at her forehead.
"Drop the gun, or I'll give her a new hole to breathe out of." He threatened. I put the gun on the floor and kicked it over to him. He smirked and said "Now on your knees with your hands on your head." I glared at him and did as he said. He came over to me pushing her in front of him. He forced her down on the ground by kicking her stomach and cuffed her hands. She looked at me desperately as he cuffed my hands. Pulling us up he said "We're going for a very long ride on a space ship. And you two are going to go quietly, unless you want the other not to be able to wake up the next morning." I glared at him and spit in his face. He just wiped it off and pushed us out the door.
!!!!!!!!Several hours later!!!!!!!
I looked down at her from where I was chained and whispered "Are you okay Malaya?" She nodded biting her lip. "My stomach hurts. I think he ripped part of my ring out with those silver tipped boots of his." I growled quietly, wanting to kill any one who caused her pain. She rubbed my hand and said "I'll be fine. We can kill him later. Just wait." Then the Blue-eyed Devil came by. He swung his baton and said "We're going on one of the ships to New Mecca. They have a new Slam there. It's even better than the last one you two were in. 200 hundred feet down, rat's all over the place. It's just your kind of place Riddick. Though I'm sure that your bitch over here will only last 2 weeks. There's a pool going on, on how long she will last. It's up to 200 credits at the moment. Care to make a bet?" I glared at him and smacked my forehead into his nose. He fell backwards, his nose exploding. I glared down at him as Malaya wrapped her leg around mine, silently telling me to back off. "Call her a bitch again and I'll kill you."
He got up holding his nose and walked back wards. He glared at us until he was out the door. Malaya raised an eyebrow at me and answering her silent question I said "I wasn't going to take him calling you a fucking bitch." She shook her head and answered in Russian "I've been called worse things Riddick." I glared at her and was about to answer her back when Johns came back with 6 guards and two pieces of Kleenex in stuck in his nose. "Time to go into your cryo-chambers." 4 guards held Malaya and me down while the other two unchained us to the wall and started to lead us out the door and down the hallway. We passed other passengers on the way. I got a kick at the way they were looking at Malaya and me. Malaya looked around and held her head high. I whispered to her in Italian "How much do you want to bet 30 of these people are going to get off after they find out who we are?" She giggled but was silenced by one of the guards pulling on her chains. She bared her teeth, and growled at him. Johns poked her in the side with the gun. "Shut up." She glared at him but shut up any way. He pushed her into the cryo-chamber and put the horse bit on her and locked the chains on. Sticking the monitor stickers for her vital signs on her chest he slammed the door shut and pushed the button to start the cryo-gas.
She gave me one last wink before falling asleep. Johns put me in the cryo-chamber next to her and put the horse bit, stickers and blindfold on me and closed the door. As he pushed the button for the gas, I rolled my eyes. Doesn't he know any thing? Hmmm. Now what to do for almost a year.
*****19 weeks later*****
They say most of your brain shuts down in cryo-sleep. All but the primitive side. The animal side. No wonder I'm still awake. Transporting me with civilians. Sounded like forty, forty-plus. Heard an Arab voice - some hoodoo holy man. Probably on his way to New Mecca. But what route? What route? Smelled a woman - sweat, boots, tool belt, and leather. Prospector type. Free settlers. And they only take the back roads. And here's my real problem: Mr. Johns. Blue-eyed devil. Planning on taking Malaya and me back to Slam. Only this time he picked a ghost lane. A long time between stops. Long time for something to go wrong.
Author's POV
Suddenly a meteorite shower hit the Hunter-Gratzner, penetrating the hull and hitting the captain's chamber, killing him instantly. The docking pilot, Fry, woke up and saw the flat line for the captain. She pulled the release and fell out, expecting to float, but hitting the floor instead. The navigator, Owens, fell out on top of her. "Why did I fall on you?" He asked scrambling up. Fry replied in a panicked voice "He's dead, the captains dead! I was looking right at him." Owens looked at a computer and said "The chrono says we're only twenty-two weeks out! Gravity's not supposed to kick in for another 19. Why did I fall out?
Fry yelled at him "Didn't you hear me! The captain's dead!" They each scrambled to their stations, strapping themselves into their chairs. Fry yelled into the communicator "Fifteen-fifty millibars. Dropping twenty-MB per minute. Shit! We're hemorrhaging air. Something took a swipe at us." Owens watched his monitor and muttered "Come on, come on, just tell me we're still in the shipping lane, man. Just show me all those stars; come on, big bright…" On the monitor it showed that a planet was coming up fast. Owens tried to send out a distress signal "This is an emergency dispatch from merchant vessel Hunter-Gratzner en route to the Tangier System with forty commercial passengers on board. We have been knocked out of our shipping lane and are currently entering the atmosphere of a planetary body in the following position: X 38 stroke 9, Y 95 stroke 8, Z 21…"
Fry gets out of her chair and climbs into the cockpit and opens the blast shields, to see a wall of flames as the ship entered the atmosphere and watched as pieces started to break off the ship. Owens' voice came over and asked "Fry, where the hell's our comms?" As Fry tried to adjust the decent a computer voice says "Rate of descent beyond safe limits. Rate of descent beyond…" Owens' said nervously "They trained you for this right?" Fry pulled a lever to adjust the wing flaps as the computer says "Deploy lower airbrakes now. Deploy lower airbrakes now. Center of gravity too far aft. Recommend purging ballast now. Recommend…" Fry pulls a lever to purge part of the ship. Owens mutters "What the f… Was that a purge, Fry?" She answered frustrated "Too heavy in the ass. Can't get my fucking nose down." And pulled another lever and purged another part of the ship. Owens tries to explain "Crisis program selected number two of this system because there seems to be some oxygen. Maximum terrain two-twenty meters over mean surface. Largely cinder, gypsum with some evaporite deposits." He heard a clunk. "Fry, what the hell are you doing?"
"I gotta drop more load." Fry answered. The computer asks her "Purge all?" Fry said to Owens "Look, I've tried everything else, I still got no horizon." Owens yelled "Well you better try everything twice cuz no way do we just flush out the…" Fry interrupted "Look if you know something I don't, get your ass up here and take the chair, Owens." Owens tried to reason with her "Listen, Company says we are responsible for every single one of those people, Fry." Fry answered "What, we both die out of sheer fucking nobility?" Owens jumped up saying "Don't you touch that handle, Fry!" He jumped up to jam the airlock doors, as Fry hesitates. Then she grabs the handle and yells "I'm not gonna die for them." When she pulls it the computer blinks 'ERROR, ERROR'. Fry yells at the communicator "Owens!"
He answers "Seventy seconds, Fry. You still have seventy seconds to level this beast out." The computer says "Airlock doors not secure. Airlock doors not secure." Then a second voice says "Deploy brakes now." Fry had trouble kicking the pad for the brakes. She yelled "Shit! Shit! Shit!" She watched in horror, as the ground loomed closer. "Fuck." A piece of the ship breaks of and hits the window, shattering it and showering her in sparks. Owens yelled "What the fuck is happening up there?"
In the passenger hold Johns stumbled out of his cryo-chamber and looks up to see Malaya and Riddick still in their chambers. Back in the ops center as the ship comes in for landing, the monitor reads SYSTEM ALERT. As it hits the ground, Owens, still strapped into his chair, is flung through a bulkhead. In the passenger hold as an exterior bulkhead is ripped away along with most of the passenger cryotubes, and Johns clings to the edge as the ship crashes.
****Later****
*Riddicks POV*
I shook away the dizziness the crash had given me and pulled my arms away from the chains in the chamber. I then held my fists together and hit the glass on the chamber until it shattered and I was able to get out and yank the horse bit from my mouth. I looked down and saw Johns unconscious. I rolled my eyes and turned to the cryo-chamber next to mine and saw that Malaya's eyes were open and she had pulled off the bit and the chains away from the wall. She saw me and started beating on the cryo-chamber. "Get me out of here! I can't breathe!" She was claustrophobic and started hyperventilating whenever she woke up in a cryo-chamber. I yelled "Cover your head!" And picked up a pipe from the floor and hit the glass shattering it on impact. She fell on her knee's gasping for breath. I kneeled next to her, rubbing her back. "You okay?" I whispered as she caught her breath. She nodded and whispered back "I hate cryo-chambers." I hugged her and pulled her up. She glanced down at Johns and asked "What are we going to do with him?" I grinned wolfishly and said "He's going to come looking for us right?" She nodded slowly; trying to work out what I was saying "Well let's give him something to follow."
15 minutes later I was sitting on top of a pipe 10 feet in the air while Malaya was crouched down on the floor hidden by a piece of scrap metal. I looked down at her, and as if she felt my eyes she looked up and grinned at me. Something shuffled a little bit a way and we both looked sharply at it. It was Johns trying to be quiet looking for us. When he was right underneath me, I dropped down and wrapped my leg restraints around his neck. He grabbed his baton and started to beat my legs, I dropped down to the ground and he continued to beat me. Malaya came up behind him and kicked his back. He turned around and dropped her with a blow the head. I growled and tried to get up to attack him. But he hit me in the head as well. I heard him say just before I lost consciousness "One of these days, one of us is going to get hurt. And it ain't gonna be me."
Later I woke up with my arms locked behind a tall pole. I glanced around and saw Malaya across from me, leaning back with her eyes open and glancing around. I muttered "Hey, sweetie." She looked at me and grinned and said to me in Russian "Finally you woke up. He must have hit you harder than me." I smirked and in Russian as well answered "Well you've always had a hard head." She laughed but was cut off by someone screaming "Don't touch it! Don't, don't you touch that handle!" She raised an eyebrow and guessed "Sounds like some one is dying and is not totally sure of what he's saying." I laughed and asked "How can you tell that?" She grinned and said "Call it a gift." We laughed until we heard people coming towards us. Then we heard Johns voice "They just escaped from a maximum prison." Malaya laughs loudly and yells toward them in English "Yea right. Try like three years ago for me and 5 years ago for him!" Johns yelled back at her "Shut up before I give ya' a beatin' again." I yelled to him "You try and I'll snap your neck so fast, you'll be in hell before you feel any pain."
Johns ignored me as the person he was taking to asked him "So we just keep them locked up forever?" He snorted and said "That'd be my choice." There was silence for a couple of seconds. "Are they really that dangerous?" Johns answered "Only around humans." Malaya giggled and said "Aww come on Johns. You're not tellin' the poor woman the whole truth. I mean me and Riddick over here get along very well." I laughed as I heard the woman try to stifle a laugh. "Yea Johns, I though you were a total do right, no lies kinda man!" Johns growled and left with the woman. Malaya burst out laughing, if she could have fallen over, she would have. I looked around and saw a cutting torch about 6 feet to my left. Then I looked up and saw part of the pipe was ripped through about 7 feet up. I jerked my head up and whispered "I'm gonna' try to get my arms through up there and then use that cutting torch to get us out of here." She nodded and looked away, knowing what I was going to do. I stood up and then stood up on my tiptoes, and lifted my arms up and dislocated my arms to move them in front of me.
I grunted and put them back in their sockets. I grabbed the torch and lit it by striking it against the ground to light it. Then I carefully held it against my chains melting through them. After I dropped them I went to work on my leg bindings. After those were on the ground I ran behind Malaya and undid her wrist chains and then did her ankles. I pulled her up and led her towards the sunlight.
Authors POV
Johns ran towards to the discarded chains in the sand and looks around and whispers "Motherfucker." and throws it down. He stalked over to the cargo hold where the measly survivors were collecting weapons. When one passenger, Paris, brought out his cargo, everyone was happy. There was a large selection of war picks and various other weapons. Another one of the passengers held up a blowgun and asked in an Aussie accent "What in the bloody hell is this?" Paris looked it over and said "That's a hunting blow-dart pipe from northern Papua New Guinea. And that's very, very rare since the tribe is now extinct." The passenger, Zeke, snorted and said "Cuz they couldn't hunt shit with these things, be my guess." Paris looked at Johns and asked "Well look, what's the point, anyway? I mean, if they're gone, they're gone. Why should they bother us?"
Johns answered "Maybe to take what you got. Maybe to work your nerves. Or maybe they'll just come back and skull-fuck you in your sleep." Shazza, Zeke's girlfriend shook her head and said "Sounds like some charmers." Johns walked out and scanned the horizon with his scope. Behind him Zeke and Shazza were putting together breathers. The oxygen level for the planet was low. Shazza put one on a teenage boy that she had found stowed away in one of the lockers. "There ya' go. Yeah?" The boy, Jack nodded trying it out. "Yeah it works good." Shazza shook her head and muttered "Kid's and their vocabulary." Jack silently laughed as Fry came out with Paris behind her. Fry told the holy man, who was on his way to New Mecca with his three sons, "El Imam, if we're looking for water, we should leave soon. Before nightfall, while its cooler."
Paris looked around and said over his shoulder "Excuse me, I think you should see this." They all turned around and saw that they were watching a blue sun rising, while the orange suns start to set on the opposite horizon. Jack said "Three suns?" Shazza muttered "Bloody hell" and turned back to the ship. Zeke shrugged and said "Well there goes your nightfall." Paris sighed and said "So much for my cocktail hour." Imam smiled and said "We take this as a good sign. A path, a direction from Allah. Blue sun - blue water." Zeke muttered, turning to go with Shazza "Ever wondered why I'm an atheist?" Johns shook his head and said "It's a bit of a bad sign. That's Riddick's and Derifcov's direction." Fry stood besides him and said confused "I thought you found the restraints over there, towards sunset." Johns nodded and answered "Right, which means they he went towards sunrise. Zeke-" Zeke came over and Johns handed him the gun "Fully loaded clip. Safety's on. One shot if you spot him or her, okay?"
Zeke groaned and said "Don't tell me you're going off too." Johns nodded. "Yeah." Paris looked around nervously and asked "What happens if Mr. Riddick or Ms. Derifcov spots us first?" Johns answer was simple. "There'll be no shots."
@@Malaya's POV@@
I shook my head as Riddick and I watched that little group head towards the field of bones that was hiding us. I muttered to Riddick in Russian "Do you want to keep an eye on Johns, while I keep an eye on holy man and his kids over there?" He nodded and slipped off in the bones. I waited until the two younger ones ran past me. Soon their father and the oldest walked by. The holy man yelled after the two "Come back here quickly little ones, you don't know what's out here." They came back obediently and walked besides him. I quietly walked beside them hidden by the skeletons. The oldest asked his father something in Arabic and the holy man nodded. He walked off over to my direction. I cursed silently and decided to follow him instead. I walked behind him, wondering what he asked his father. I got in front of him and looked ahead. There was a gigantic hole right around the corner he was going to take in a second. It was a blind corner so you wouldn't be able to see what was around it until you turned it. I looked down and saw that it was pitch black. (AN. Heehee.) I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw the boy turn the corner. I lunged out of hiding just as he stepped into the hole. I grabbed his hand and pulled him up. He stared at me in shock. I heard footsteps coming. I looked around and then back at the boy.
I held a finger up to my lips and backed into the shadows. He stared after me until his father came with his younger brothers. Holy man asked him something and the boy shook his head. The old man nodded and looked past him and saw the hole. He put a hand on his back and led the boys away from it. I raced back to where Riddick and I were supposed to meet. He was waiting for me there. We quietly walked back to the ship and he asked "Did anyone see you?" I nodded sheepishly and answered "The oldest Arabic boy. He almost fell in a hole the size of the Hunter-Gratzner." He raised an eyebrow. " I had to help him Riddick. I wasn't about to let him die. And he didn't tell his father I saved him. I think. I can't speak Arabic." He nodded slowly, letting out a slow breath.
We looked around the ship and saw that British guy sitting on top of the ship in style. He was sitting on a lounge chair, drinking sherry, from the smell of it, and sitting underneath an umbrella. I rolled my eyes but froze as I heard a clang and other footsteps. I looked at Riddick and he motioned for me to stay down. I nodded and a few minutes later there were gunshots and some yelling. I looked over at Riddick and saw he was gone. I looked up and saw that he had taken the British's guy seat and was drinking the sherry. He turned around and caught my eye. I glared at him and he jumped down, leaving the bottle empty. He crouched next to me and explained in Russian "That Aussie shot a survivor that had stumbled up on them, cause' they thought it was me. Then they went back to salvaging the ship and the Aussie went back to digging graves." I nodded and asked "How many passengers are there?" He did some quick calculating in his head and answered "Including us, 12."
I shook my head and sighed. "Out of 40 odd passengers that's pretty sad." Riddick nodded and then said "I'm going to check out the Aussie real quick. Stay here and stay quiet." I looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. He of all people should know that I'm almost always quiet, except when Riddick and I are... I shook my head and laid flat on the ground, in the shade of the ship. A couple of minutes later, there was a scream and some gun shots. Then Riddick came running by and pulled me up dragging me away from the ship. "What the hell is going on Riddick?" He shook his head and kept running. We ran by a mound and Johns stepped out and tripped Riddick and kicked me down. Then he grabbed Riddicks goggles, blinding him and started beating him with the baton. I lunged at Johns, and but some one grabbed me from behind and threw me down. Then some chick ran up to Riddick and started kicking him. "What did you do to Zeke?" She screamed "What did you do to him?" Riddick tried to get up but she punched him in the head and he went down again. The chick that Johns was talking to in the cargo hold tried to restrain her. "Shazza, calm down."
She screamed again "Just kill him! Just kill him!" She kicked him again, this time in the head, knocking him out. I lunged at her and hit her in the stomach, but Johns kicked me down. I glared at him and growled. "Just wait Johns," I snarled at him in English, so he could understand me. "Soon, very soon, one of us is going to kill you. And I hope to God, that'll be me." He spat on me and I lunged at him but was hit in the head with the baton.
A few hours later I woke up. That chick that had been holding onto that Shazza was talking to Riddick. "That's, fine. You don't want to talk to me, that's your choice. But just so you know, there's a debate right now as to whether we should just leave you here to die." I laughed and said in Russian "Hey Riddick! What the hell is she talking about?" She looked over at me as Riddick answered as well in Russian "She wants me to tell what killed that boyfriend of hers. And her names Fry." I laughed and said "Nice name." Then 'Fry' asked me "Do you speak English?" I looked at her in disdain and asked Riddick "Is she for real?" He laughed and shrugged. I turned back to Fry and answered in English "Yes, when needed." She nodded and was about to leave when Riddick stopped her "You mean the whispers?" I silently laughed. He's done this before. Fry looked at him curiously and asked "What whispers?" Riddick smirked and said "The ones telling me to go for the sweet spot, just to the left of the spine. Fourth lumbar down. The abdominal aorta. It's a metallic taste, human blood - copperish. But if you cut it with peppermint schnapps then that goes away…"
Fry snorted "D'you want to shock me with the truth now?" Riddick shook his head and said "All you people are so scared of me. Most days I'd take that as a compliment. But it ain't me you gotta worry about now."
Fry stepped closer to him and said "Show me your eyes, Riddick." Riddick smirked and said "You got to move a lot closer for that." Fry moved closer and he said "Closer." When Fry was only a couple of feet away, Riddick snapped forward on his chains, with his eyes open. You could see his eyes shining in the darkness of the cargo hold. Then that kid said "Where the hell can I get eyes like that?" Riddick looked at him and said "You gotta kill a few people." The kid nodded and said "Okay, I can do it." Riddick grinned and said "Then you gotta get sent to a slam where they tell you you'll never see daylight again. You dig up a doctor and you pay him twenty menthol Kools to do a surgical shine job on your eyeballs." The kid nodded and said "So you can see who's sneaking up on you in the dark." Riddick nodded and replied "Exactly."
Fry yelled "Leave! Just leave." The kid grudgingly left. Riddick then said to Fry " Did I kill a few people? Sure. Did I kill Zeke? No. You got the wrong killer." Fry looked at him suspiciously and said "He's not in the hole. We looked." Riddick answered with two words "Look deeper." Fry looked at him then at me. I gave her a smile and leaned back, closing my eyes. I waited until she left when I said "Cute kid. Bad role model."
20 minutes later Johns came in. He walked past me, completely ignoring me, and went straight to Riddick. Riddick smirked and said "Finally found something worse then me, huh?" Johns sighed and said "So here's the deal: you work without chains, without bit, and without shivs. You do what I say, when I say it." Riddick shook his head, "For what? The honor of going back to some asshole of a cell? Fuck you." Johns groaned and said "The truth is… is I'm tired of chasing you." Riddick raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you'd cut me and Malaya loose?" Johns shrugged and answered "I'm thinking you two could've died in the crash." Riddick shook his head and suggested "My recommendation - do me. Don't take the chance that I'll get shiv-happy on your wannabe ass." Johns nodded and said "Okay..." Riddick glared at him and growled "Ghost me, motherfucker, that's what I would do to you." Johns raised his big gauge and shot at Riddick. He flinched and the chains fell away. Johns kept the gauge leveled at him. "I want you to remember this moment. The way it could've gone and didn't. Here." He held out Riddicks goggles. Riddick moved to take them but grabbed the gun and turned it towards him. I watched as Riddick fought the urge to blow his ass to Kingdom Come.
Johns tried to reason with him. "Take it easy." Riddick just yelled at him "Fuck you!" Johns back down and asked "Do we have a deal?" Riddick glanced at me for a second. "We have a deal. But if I ever find you near Malaya, I'll kill you." Johns nodded and Riddick said "I want you to remember this moment." He grabbed his goggles and shot the chains off my wrist. I rubbed my wrists and walked over to Johns. I spit on him and whispered "Just wait Johns." And walked after Riddick.
15 minutes later Riddick and I were dragging a sled that had what the passengers needed and a power cell. The group was walking about 10 yards in front of us. Riddick and I were walking in silence until I asked "Why did you threaten to kill Johns for me?" Riddick stopped and looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes, so I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He reached up and ran a hand down my cheek. "Because I love you, and I don't want Johns any where near you. I don't trust that slimy bastard and I never will." I grinned up at him and stood on my tip toes to kiss him. Just as I was about to kiss him, I whispered against his lips "I love you too." And kissed him gently. Then some thing hit my foot, making me break the kiss and look down. It was a bottle of wine. I looked up the hill and saw the Brit coming down. I picked it up, took a swig and then handed it to Riddick. He drained it as the Brit came up. He held out his hand and said "Paris P. Ogilvie. Antiquities dealer, entrepreneur." Riddick shook his hand and smirked saying "Richard B. Riddick. Escaped convict. Murderer."
Then 'Paris' took my hand and was about to kiss it when Riddick growled. I elbowed him in his side and muttered in Italian "Be nice." Then to Paris I said "Malaya Leann Derifcov. Escaped convict. Thief." I took the bottle back from Riddick and looked at it. "Rare vintage. Shiraz is it? Hope it wasn't too expensive." And handed the empty wine bottle back to him. He nodded and said "You know your wines. Sounds like you've bought a couple yourself." I laughed and shook my head. "Paris, like I said, I'm a thief. I've only bought a few things in my life. The rest were borrowed with no intent of returning." He paled slightly and unconsciously held his possession's closer.
The group had stopped at the top of the hill. Fry yelled "Paris, get up here!" Paris gave us a slight bow and ran up the hill. I burst out laughing the moment he was out of hearing range. "Maybe I should have told him, the pretty much the only things I steal are priceless jewels." Riddick chuckled and kissed my lips quickly before picking up the sled again and started up the hill. I stood there shocked for a second before running after him. "What was that for?" He shrugged and smirked. "Just felt like it, I guess." I hit his arm and helped him pull the sled up the hill. I had to stop at the top though. I sank to my knees breathing heavily. Riddick sat next to me and put an arm around my waist. "You okay?" He whispered. I nodded, still trying to catch my breath, but started coughing and wheezing. The group was off to the side watching me. I glared at them and tried to get up but fell back down. Riddick shook his head and said "No you're not." He stood up and picked me up. He put me on his back and grabbed the ropes pulling the sled down the hill to the settlement. I heard the kid ask Fry "What's wrong with her?"
Once we got down to the settlement Riddick carried me over to the shade and set me down and left. A couple of seconds later the kid came up to me. Sitting down next to me he asked "What's wrong?" I looked at him and said trying not to wheeze "I have asthma. Usually I can control it, but with this oxygen level I can lose it really easily with out some sort of breathing devise." He looked surprised and asked "Why didn't you say anything?" He reached behind him and pulled the breathing devise off of his back. When he handed it to me I said "I can't take it kid. You need it." He shook his head and shoved it into my hands "You're the one with asthma. I'm doing pretty well anyways. It's almost full." I grinned and said "Thanks kid." I took a deep breathe from the tube and my wheezing and coughing ceased. I looked over at him and ruffled his hair. "You're okay kid." I leaned back and asked "So what's your name?" He leaned back as well and answered "It's Jack." I smelled something. Wait a minute I know that smell. I get it at least once a month, every month. I looked at Jack. And I mean really looked at him. Then I saw something. No Adams apple. I grinned and asked "So 'Jack'. Have you told any one else you're actually a girl?" She looked at me sharply and tried to scramble away. "Please, you can't tell any one. You can't!" I put a hand on her knee and said "Don't worry I promise I won't tell anyone. Though I can't promise that know one else will figure it out. I'm pretty sure Riddick already has."
She scrutinized me for a second before sitting back next to me. "So," I asked "Why are you masquerading as a boy?" She shrugged and said "Think about it. If you're a young girl traveling alone, you have more of a chance in being picked up by a pimp. But if you're a young boy traveling alone, people are going to leave you pretty much alone." I shrugged and said "That's true. I was almost picked up by one about 5 months after I escaped from Slam. But then Riddick noticed the guy trying to pull me into an alley and totally mutilated him. It was wonderful. From then on he kept me around." She nodded and then asked "So how'd you two get together?" I looked down at her sharply and she raised an eyebrow. "Malaya, I may be only 13 but I ain't stupid. I saw that kiss between you two earlier. And I've saw the way he was lookin' at ya when you collapsed earlier on the hill." I blushed and said "Well we had been travelin' together for about, oh I don't know, 9 months, in a small skiff with only one small room with only one bed, and a very small cockpit. The kitchen and bathroom were only separated with a hanging cloth and there wasn't a shower curtain. As you can imagine there were times when we walked in on each other in how do you American's say it, buck ass naked."
Jack laughed as I continued. "So finally we established some ground rules and it didn't happen quite as often. We still had to share a bed though. Riddick, at first, really didn't want to share a bed with me. I didn't care really. Finally he gave in after the 5th uncomfortable night sleeping in the cockpit. At the time we were trying to head to New Earth, because I wanted to see my mother after, I think, 7 years. My father had gone on some mission when I was two, to go some geological dig. That was 24 years ago. Any ways enough about my estranged parents, back to me and Riddick. We were a long way's away from New Earth. The ship was only able to handle 2 star jumps so that put us about 5 months away from New Earth.
During that five months, Riddick taught me English. I'm from Russia. My father was Russian and my mother was Italian. So the only languages I could speak were Russian and Italian. Luckily Riddick could speak Italian and a little bit of Russian so we could communicate." Jack cut me off saying "Wait a minute. How did Riddick speak Italian?" I sighed and said "Riddicks lived in New Italy from when he was born to the age of 13 when he was first arrested for supposedly beating a classmate to death." I growled underneath my breath. He was set up by The Company. He had gotten to good at the things they had taught him. Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I went on with the story. "About 3 months into the flight, Riddick started gettin' weird around me. I started catching him staring at me when he thought I wasn't looking. Then when we were sleeping, he'd find excuses to be near me. My favorite was 'it's to cold', because the cabin stayed at a steady 72 degrees the entire time. So finally I asked him what was going on and he just kissed me. Then one thing led to another..." I trailed off, letting her fill in the blanks.
She nodded understanding. Then I asked "So why are you alone?" She sighed and said "You don't want to hear my sob story." I nudged her and said "Hey, I told you what was up with me and Riddick, so it's only polite you return the favor." She glared at me and asked "Why do you want to know about me?" I shrugged and answered "I have a feeling we'll be stuck together for a while so I would like to know who I have to be stuck with. For all I know you could be some psycho killer." I grinned as she started laughing at the joke. When she calmed down she relented. "When I was twelve, my mother died. My father had left before I was born, so I've never seen him. Around the time my mother had died she had a boyfriend. Stephan. They had been dating for about two years, and since she didn't have any other family, she made him my guardian incase something happened to her.
"So after she died, Stephan changed. All of a sudden he was abusive, controlling. I wasn't even aloud to go to school any more. I put up with it for about a year, until he came into my room and started to touch me. I was yelling at him to stop, but when he wouldn't, I hit him in the head with my bedside lamp." She looked down at the sand and continued. "I thought I had killed him. I froze, watching him for an hour or so, when finally I checked his pulse and found he was still alive. I knew I had to get out of there before he woke up, so I grabbed the few belongings that he hadn't gotten rid of and hopped on the next transport. The Hunter-" I looked at her and finished her sentence "Gratzner." She nodded. I hugged her around the shoulders and said "Hey, I can promise you that you'll never see that horrible man again." She grinned and whispered "Thanks Malaya." I was about to say something else when Riddick came back with a glass of water. He noticed my arm around Jack and the breather in my lap.
He raised an eyebrow and asked "Care to introduce me Maya?" I grinned at his pet-name for me and said "Riddick, this is Jack. She gave me her breather to help my asthma." Both of his eyebrows raised when I said she. Jack opened her mouth to say something when Fry called her. She grinned and said "Thanks Malaya." And got up and left. When she was out of hearing distance Riddick handed me the glass of water and asked "Any one else know?" I shook my head and said "I think she's going to tell Fry and Shazza though." I sipped the water and then said "You know whats going to happen if Johns finds out." Riddick sighed and nodded. "I know. If she does come out about it, make sure she doesn't leave your sight. If you can't, get Shazza." I snorted and said "I don't think she's too keen on me at the moment sweetheart. She's probably got a big bruise right now on her stomach from me." Riddick laughed and asked "When did you do that?"
I grinned sheepishly and said "After she knocked you out. I would have done more but Johns kicked me down again." He glared in Johns direction. I lifted up my shirt and said "It's not that bad. He could have done worse, like yank out my ring." Riddick grinned and grabbed my legs to pull me over. I laughed as he pulled me into his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear, "When was the last time I kissed you?" I grinned and said "Oh, about 20 minutes." He kissed my neck and said "Too long." I turned around and straddled his thighs. "Care to make up for it." He smirked and kissed my lips lightly and pulled back. "It's been a long time Maya." I pressed my self against him and whispered against his lips "I know." I kissed him hard as his hands gripped my ass. I moaned into his mouth as he started to knead his hands against my firm rear. His lips left mine and left a hot trail of kisses down to my collar bone.
As he started to kiss the top of my breasts, my hands went up to his head and rubbed the soft fuzz that had started to grow. Then of course Johns had to interrupt. He stopped when he saw us, but then he said "Com'on doggies. Missin' the party." I glared at him and gave him the bird. He shook his head and said "Riddicks got that taken care of." I jumped up and lunged after him as he started to leave. Riddick grabbed my waist and said "We'll get him later." I glanced up at him and sighed. "I'm not gonna wait much longer baby. I've been waiting for almost 2 years to get him back for what he did." Riddick nodded and kissed my forehead. He stood up as well. Wrapping his arms around my waist he kissed the top of my ear and said "So have I." He stepped back and pulled me towards where everyone was gathered.
I sighed and followed him. When we stepped over the threshold, I immediately glared at Johns. I've hated him for so long. Ever since he shot me and it killed my baby. I had been 4 months pregnant the last time he had caught up with us. God, Riddick and I were so happy that we were going to be parents. I remember I was so scared when I told Riddick. His reaction had left me speechless. He had picked me up and swung me around. We had just bought a small house on a very small planet where hardly any news reached, so no one new who we were. Then Johns had to come and ruin it all. He had snuck into our house one night when we were out to dinner. We were celebrating Riddicks new job at the mines. Now he had the perfect excuse to why he had shined eyes. Once we stepped through the door though, our happiness was cut. Johns had shot me in the stomach, killing the baby instantly. Riddick had gone after Johns with his shiv and had gone for the sweet spot. But in his rage he missed and hit his spinal chord. I believe that there's still a bit of the shiv in there. Riddick had rushed me to the hospital that was used for the miners and the miners families only. They had repaired the womb so I would be able to have children, but that thought didn't replace the thought of losing our first child. When they had pulled the baby out, they had told us that it was a girl. The look in Riddick's eyes when they told us that, I'll never forget or forgive Johns for making that look in there.
I continued to glare at him, as I leaned against Riddick's chest. Johns just smirked. Then Paris walked in and asked "Who were these people? Miners?" Shazza shook her head and held up a tool, saying "Look like geologists. You know, advance team - moves around from rock to rock." Fry sighed and said "Nice of them to leave so much stuff here. Why did they leave their ship?" Johns shook his empty head and said "It's not a ship, it's a skiff and it's disposable really." Then Paris asked "More like an emergency life raft, right?" Shazza nodded and said "Yeah, they probably had a big drop ship take them off-planet." I snorted looking around, though it was Riddick that voiced my thoughts. "These people didn't leave, come on. Whatever got Zeke got them. They're all dead. You don't really think they left with their clothes on the hooks? Photos on the shelves?"
Shazza, trying to be optimistic, said "Maybe they had weight limits. You don't know." I shook my head and said "I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless there's a fucking emergency." Jack, who was sitting by mine and Riddicks feet, said "She's fucking right." I nudged her and said "Watch your mouth." She smirked. I know, I know. I'm being a hypocrite. Then Fry said "She's just saying what we're all thinking. So what happened? Where are they?" Then Imam ran in and asked "Has anyone seen the little one? Ali?" Riddick suggested "Has anyone checked the coring room?" Then there was a scream. We all ran out side and towards the coring room. Johns tried to open it, but it was locked on the inside. He took out his big gauge and shot the handles, allowing the door to be pushed open. Imam called in to his youngest son "Ali?" Jack tried to go in, but Riddick put a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up at him, he shook his head. Imam walked in and saw the rattling closet doors.
He called again, "Ali?" Then the doors slammed open and these small flying creatures flew out.
Johns, Fry and Shazza jumped back out and slammed the doors shut. We heard them flying around until we heard them stop. Johns opened the door cautiously and called in "Imam? You okay?" We saw him near the closet about to get up when Ali's mangled body fell out of it. Jack gasped and backed out slowly. I looked after her, knowing that she needed time to be alone. Shazza was about to go after her, but I stopped her, shaking my head. Shazza looked at me strangely, but stayed. I looked around, and as I was doing that, Imam and his sons carried the boy outside. Fry, Shazza, and Johns, leaned over the tunnel that the creatures went down. I heard Johns crack a flare and throw it down. When it landed, I heard the crunch of bones. I winced at the sound and heard Riddick say "Other buildings weren't secure. So they ran here - heaviest doors. Thought they'd be safe inside. But they forgot to lock the cellar." I sighed and continued to look around. Then something caught my eye. I walked over to it and picked it up. It was a very old jacket. As I looked it over, I saw a name on the left lapel. Jeremiah Derifcov. Oh my God. Shocked I yelled "Riddick!" I heard him stand up from his position and walk over. "What is it Maya?" I looked up at him, tears stinging my eyes and showed him the jacket. He saw the name and pulled me into his arms.
I clutched his shirt trying not to cry. I heard Shazza come over and ask "What's wrong?" quietly. Riddick glanced up at her and said "Her father was one of the geologists." I heard Shazza whisper "Oh my God." Then I heard her walk away. I could hear her talking quietly to Johns and Fry. Then all three walked out. After they left I just broke down. Riddick hugged me closer and kissed the top of my head. For along while neither of us said anything. I calmed down after about an hour and Riddick asked "Do you want to find a room and go to sleep?" I nodded and stepped away. The jacket fell to the ground. I crouched down and picked it up. When I had picked it up two pieces of paper fell out. I picked them up as well and stood up. When I looked at them, I laughed. Riddick looked at me strangely. I held them up and showed them to him. I pointed to one and said "I made this for him before he left." It was a small handprint in blue paint. At the bottom was my messy handwriting from when I was two. It said 'I love you Papa' in Russian. "My mama was so mad at me," I whispered in Russian. "I got paint all over my self for that one hand print." Riddick laughed and wrapped his arms around me, standing behind me. I held up the other one and said "My grandmama took this when I was born." It was a faded brown picture of my parents holding me after I was born. I sniffed trying to remember my papa. He was a very large man. I think he might have been taller than Riddick. Maybe that's why I was never scared of him. I turned over the painting and it said in Russian as well 'My baby, Malaya'. I grinned and looked back at Riddick. "Lets go find that room."
He smirked and swept me up in his arms. He leaned his head down and kissed me softly. I pulled back licking my lips and said "There sure as hell better be more where that came from." He laughed and said "Of course, Princess. I've been waiting for this for too long." I laughed as well, as he walked out the door.
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