Chapter 1: Doppelganger
She could feel the dirt under her feet, the small plants brushing against her legs, the wind in her face. She was jogging quietly so as to not bring attention to her self. She didn't think they had seen her, but she wanted to get out of sight before she found out for sure. She had heard what she needed to know, and if they knew that, there wouldn't be a place in the entire universe she could hide. They may have control of the surface of the rainforest planet, but she new it's woods better then anyone on it. She would not be seen.
Something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She slowed and crouched down as quick as a shooting star. Looking up through the canopy, she saw the hull of a foreign ship, and it was descending too quickly. They're going to crash, she quickly realized. It hit the trees hard and cut them down as it plummeted to the ground. She realized then that it was going to hit a lot closer then she was comfortable with, but she was out of time to run, so she took cover behind a massive bole.
The impact rippled through the planet's surface like a rock thrown into a still pond. It would only be a matter of seconds before the "locals" would be there to investigate, but her curiosity was getting the best of her; she had to go to the site and find out what happen. It was almost like something was drawing her to it.
When she got there, a small band of Company members were already fighting the stranded invaders. They always seemed to have a shoot first ask questions later mentality, she noted to herself. The ship was a scout, she'd seen one before; it was a Necromonger ship. But what were they doing here? They must have crashed here by accident, but since when did Necros make mistakes?
Then she saw someone she recognized, the last person she thought she would ever see again, and the absolute last person she thought she would see with them. Her blood ran cold, sending chills down her spine. Her heart rate sped up and she could hear it beating in her head. Pull it together; help now, fall to pieces later.
Riddick heard gunshots below. Not so friendly planet to crash land on, guess no planet is, he concluded. The soldiers deployed upon impact were quickly piling up by the landing. What the hell was out there? But his questiones would soon be answered. He saw one of the men pass by down below. He could recognize company workers just from their scent.
He grab a gun and went to join the festivities. Shoot first, ask questions later is just how the universe worked. There were a lot more men on their side than on his. He stepped out and fought back his hardest; they were out of range for their guns and had to turn to a more primative form of fighting. Riddick's strong suit, but no theirs.
He soon realized, however, he was out numbered and alone. Well if I die at least I don't have to deal with that damn Necro army. But amid all the dirt from the crash, and smoke from the shoot out there was one more. One that knew how these men fought and before Riddick could see clearly through the debris all the excitement had stopped.
He was left standing with, to his surprise, a young women. She appeared to have taken a few hits in the sudden brawl, but didn't seem to take notice. Even though she had her back to him he could tell she was strong, even if she was small, and that she could knew handle herself. It didn't intimidated him any, nothing could anymore, but he did take note of it.
He maintained his defensive stance. But she isn't here to fight me, he realized as she threw her borrowed gun to the ground and appeared to be listening for something. With her back still turned to him she spoke.
"We should get moving. There'll be reinforcements with a lot more fire power." She turned and took off between two trees. He wasn't sure why he followed her, but she did help him and his ship wasn't going anywhere, probably ever again. Besides, he knew he was strong but still mortal and those reinforcements would not be asking any questions.
She moved quickly through the trees. He couldn't help but notice her swift and deliberate movement. She flew through the vegetation as if by instinct; knowing each turn, each plant, each hole in the ground. He stepped up the pace to stay in sync with hers, she moved quicker and more agile then he initially illated.
There was something about her, something familiar, perhaps a scents or maybe it was the way she moved, he just couldn't put his finger on; she moved too fast and there was too much in the way to determine what exactly it was, but whatever it was it had his attention. Run first, ask question later.
Suddenly, she stopped and was crouched down behind some thick vegetation. He followed her paradigm and almost immediately knew what had caused the sudden pause. Her head was down, and he could tell she was listening as well. The men moved quickly, at least fifty well armed men came marching passed no more then ten feet away.
As soon as the pounding of their march was gone she was off again and Riddick was right at her heals. They came to a small, shallow stream, and she ran straight through it without slowing down. She disappeared into a waterfall on the other side of the stream.
It was pitch black behind the water. Riddick removed his goggles to see. They were now in a very small cave just barely large enough to move in, especially for him. The girl certainly didn't have any trouble running, however, and she didn't slow down. The cave was a bright as noonday to him, but it had to be dark as night for her. But somehow she knew, almost instinctively, exactly where she was going, avoiding jutted out rocks, low ceilings, and wet slippery spots were water was coming through. She knew each turn like the back of her hand and before long they had stopped.
There was a small light hanging from the cave wall, but not enough to move him to put his goggles back on. He could see that they had run out of room, the cave seemed to just stop. Riddick could see the rock straight ahead no turns, no way out, there was even hardly enough room to turn around, at least for him. He was back on defensive. Is this a trick? Did I walk into a trap? His mind raced with questioned. The girl pounded on the rock, beating out a certain beat, a code. Then she waited. He heard her breath in sharply.
"It'll take a minute for them to get the door open." She stated breathlessly. "It'll give us a chance to talk." A mischievous tone was in her voice. She waited for a minute for her breathing to come back to normal before continuing. She still had her back to him, her stance relaxed though.
"So, who are you? Where do you come from? Who are you working for?" The questions almost came out monotone, like she already knew the answers, or she didn't really care. " and the most important question," She turned around and looked him straight in eyes, "Where the hell can I get eyes like that?" The question sent chills down his spin. It couldn't be, his mind stated in disbelief. What the fuck? No, It couldn't be . . .
"Jack." He whispered almost unconscious of his own vocalization. She smiled in recognition and turned just as the rock seemed to disappear and a small doorway was left. Jack disappeared through the small open space. Riddick stood for a moment in disbelief. But she had died, died right there in his arms. I was always with you. The words echoed in his head. But that was her, the voice, the look, and even the smell, but how and who was–. He move through the door, he wasn't going to get any answers standing here.
She could feel the dirt under her feet, the small plants brushing against her legs, the wind in her face. She was jogging quietly so as to not bring attention to her self. She didn't think they had seen her, but she wanted to get out of sight before she found out for sure. She had heard what she needed to know, and if they knew that, there wouldn't be a place in the entire universe she could hide. They may have control of the surface of the rainforest planet, but she new it's woods better then anyone on it. She would not be seen.
Something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She slowed and crouched down as quick as a shooting star. Looking up through the canopy, she saw the hull of a foreign ship, and it was descending too quickly. They're going to crash, she quickly realized. It hit the trees hard and cut them down as it plummeted to the ground. She realized then that it was going to hit a lot closer then she was comfortable with, but she was out of time to run, so she took cover behind a massive bole.
The impact rippled through the planet's surface like a rock thrown into a still pond. It would only be a matter of seconds before the "locals" would be there to investigate, but her curiosity was getting the best of her; she had to go to the site and find out what happen. It was almost like something was drawing her to it.
When she got there, a small band of Company members were already fighting the stranded invaders. They always seemed to have a shoot first ask questions later mentality, she noted to herself. The ship was a scout, she'd seen one before; it was a Necromonger ship. But what were they doing here? They must have crashed here by accident, but since when did Necros make mistakes?
Then she saw someone she recognized, the last person she thought she would ever see again, and the absolute last person she thought she would see with them. Her blood ran cold, sending chills down her spine. Her heart rate sped up and she could hear it beating in her head. Pull it together; help now, fall to pieces later.
Riddick heard gunshots below. Not so friendly planet to crash land on, guess no planet is, he concluded. The soldiers deployed upon impact were quickly piling up by the landing. What the hell was out there? But his questiones would soon be answered. He saw one of the men pass by down below. He could recognize company workers just from their scent.
He grab a gun and went to join the festivities. Shoot first, ask questions later is just how the universe worked. There were a lot more men on their side than on his. He stepped out and fought back his hardest; they were out of range for their guns and had to turn to a more primative form of fighting. Riddick's strong suit, but no theirs.
He soon realized, however, he was out numbered and alone. Well if I die at least I don't have to deal with that damn Necro army. But amid all the dirt from the crash, and smoke from the shoot out there was one more. One that knew how these men fought and before Riddick could see clearly through the debris all the excitement had stopped.
He was left standing with, to his surprise, a young women. She appeared to have taken a few hits in the sudden brawl, but didn't seem to take notice. Even though she had her back to him he could tell she was strong, even if she was small, and that she could knew handle herself. It didn't intimidated him any, nothing could anymore, but he did take note of it.
He maintained his defensive stance. But she isn't here to fight me, he realized as she threw her borrowed gun to the ground and appeared to be listening for something. With her back still turned to him she spoke.
"We should get moving. There'll be reinforcements with a lot more fire power." She turned and took off between two trees. He wasn't sure why he followed her, but she did help him and his ship wasn't going anywhere, probably ever again. Besides, he knew he was strong but still mortal and those reinforcements would not be asking any questions.
She moved quickly through the trees. He couldn't help but notice her swift and deliberate movement. She flew through the vegetation as if by instinct; knowing each turn, each plant, each hole in the ground. He stepped up the pace to stay in sync with hers, she moved quicker and more agile then he initially illated.
There was something about her, something familiar, perhaps a scents or maybe it was the way she moved, he just couldn't put his finger on; she moved too fast and there was too much in the way to determine what exactly it was, but whatever it was it had his attention. Run first, ask question later.
Suddenly, she stopped and was crouched down behind some thick vegetation. He followed her paradigm and almost immediately knew what had caused the sudden pause. Her head was down, and he could tell she was listening as well. The men moved quickly, at least fifty well armed men came marching passed no more then ten feet away.
As soon as the pounding of their march was gone she was off again and Riddick was right at her heals. They came to a small, shallow stream, and she ran straight through it without slowing down. She disappeared into a waterfall on the other side of the stream.
It was pitch black behind the water. Riddick removed his goggles to see. They were now in a very small cave just barely large enough to move in, especially for him. The girl certainly didn't have any trouble running, however, and she didn't slow down. The cave was a bright as noonday to him, but it had to be dark as night for her. But somehow she knew, almost instinctively, exactly where she was going, avoiding jutted out rocks, low ceilings, and wet slippery spots were water was coming through. She knew each turn like the back of her hand and before long they had stopped.
There was a small light hanging from the cave wall, but not enough to move him to put his goggles back on. He could see that they had run out of room, the cave seemed to just stop. Riddick could see the rock straight ahead no turns, no way out, there was even hardly enough room to turn around, at least for him. He was back on defensive. Is this a trick? Did I walk into a trap? His mind raced with questioned. The girl pounded on the rock, beating out a certain beat, a code. Then she waited. He heard her breath in sharply.
"It'll take a minute for them to get the door open." She stated breathlessly. "It'll give us a chance to talk." A mischievous tone was in her voice. She waited for a minute for her breathing to come back to normal before continuing. She still had her back to him, her stance relaxed though.
"So, who are you? Where do you come from? Who are you working for?" The questions almost came out monotone, like she already knew the answers, or she didn't really care. " and the most important question," She turned around and looked him straight in eyes, "Where the hell can I get eyes like that?" The question sent chills down his spin. It couldn't be, his mind stated in disbelief. What the fuck? No, It couldn't be . . .
"Jack." He whispered almost unconscious of his own vocalization. She smiled in recognition and turned just as the rock seemed to disappear and a small doorway was left. Jack disappeared through the small open space. Riddick stood for a moment in disbelief. But she had died, died right there in his arms. I was always with you. The words echoed in his head. But that was her, the voice, the look, and even the smell, but how and who was–. He move through the door, he wasn't going to get any answers standing here.
