Okay this is my first attempt at a Pitch Black fanfic. I hope you all like it and I hope you are all aware that I own none of the characters unless I create one off the top of my head. Reviews are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!!
Smiling to herself, Jack finished screwing the final bolt into the plate that held in the pieces she was working on. She stood, dusted herself off and pushed a few escaped blond strands behind her ears. She hopped down from the platform and tossed the screw driver into the toolbox lying behind one of the tires of her ship. Sighing, she packed up all her loose equipment and began to haul it all back into the maintenance closet aboard her ship. She picked up the radio remote and hit play. Hard rock tunes slowly began to fill the cabin. Pulling off her oil-stained tee shirt, she headed for her newly installed hot water shower stall.
She turned the dial to the hottest temperature she could stand, stripped off the rest of her clothing and slid in, closing the glass door behind her. Filling her hand up with shampoo, Jack's thoughts drifted from her ship to her family, and from her family to the episode from her childhood. Then again at the age of 22, she wasn't very far away from her childhood. The crash on the HG had happened over 10 years prior but there wasn't a day that passed that it wasn't on her mind at least once. She would think about Carolyn, Johns, and all the other people who had died, wondering if they had been alive today, if they would all still be in contact.
She rinsed the shampoo and began to condition. Her thoughts drifted to the one person whom she had kept in contact with since that trip. Imam, her trusted friend and dear father figure. She'd lived with Imam until she was old enough to get a place of her own. She made a pretty good living, had received a full scholarship to the technical school of her choice. She had specialized in Computer Engineering. Fiddling around with her ship was just a side hobby which she happened to be very good at. Jack was good at everything, or so everyone thought. She figured she was just good at a few things. It never occurred to her for it to be anything more than that.
Washing all the conditioner out of her hair, she switched off the steamy stream of water and reached for a towel. She pushed the glass door aside and wrapped herself up into the towel. She sat for a moment on the toilet seat, draped in only the towel and began to think about someone from her past. The name had of course crossed her mind more than once. Maybe even more than once a day. Richard B. Riddick. A name feared by so many but it was something special to her.
The day he had dropped her and Imam off on Euro-Futura, the newest and closest inhabited planet, she was in the grips of despair wanting nothing more than to just go with him. She knew that it wasn't possible and she also knew that he wouldn't allow it. The tears had been streaming down her face as she had begged him not to leave her there. Imam had tried to restrain her, but it was to no avail. She was strong for a 12 year old and there was no stopping her. How she had felt her heart tearing the day Riddick had turned and dropped her hand. She felt it deep down that he was just as distraught as she, although he would have just as quickly lost a limb for showing it. He had left her with Imam, never promising he'd be back to see her again. That day she promised herself she would find him. She harbored no bad feelings for him because even at the young age of 12 she knew how much trouble he was in. There was no way he could have stayed behind with them, without some Merc banging down their door and taking him away for good.
Standing from her seat, she hugged the towel closer and exited the bathroom. She headed for her bedroom suite that she had had custom made to fit her standards of a comfortable living. "Lights", she murmured and the lights switched on. She shivered as a cold draft caught her at the base of her throat. She sauntered over to her closet and picked out something comfortable to spend the day in. She threw on the pair of tight, flared jeans and the black hoodie that she'd laid down on her bed.
About twenty minutes later, she emerged from her ship, hair blow-dried and fully dressed. She quickened her pace down the docking platform and swiped her keycard through the personnel exit. This, being her first day off in about two weeks, was going to be a day full of nothing. The only reason she'd left her ship was to head out into the commons and pick up a few things she thought she might need to accommodate herself for the night.
Unlike other personnel running the planet, Jack slept on her ship instead of a cabin they provided when you were informed you received the job. The crew quarters were located in a giant sterile white building that had looked too much like a hospital for Jack's taste. The planet accommodated roughly 10 million civilians and 3,000 crew. After earth had stopped rotating and utterly imploded, most of the earthlings fled to another planet to spend the rest of their lives. Others, like most of Jack's friends, had come to Nessos to start anew. The man-made planet was set to seem like the people living there were back on the planet that they had been forced to leave. Sunrise and sunset were artificial but the creators of the planet felt it would be easier on those who lived there to feel like they were at home. Residing just a few trillion miles, but still in sight, of the North Star, residents still felt the familiar hope of asking a wish from the star they'd seen from their own bedroom windows each night.
Jack had been temporarily stationed there to revamp a glitch in the computer system. She hated it. She always felt like she was an animal caged in from the real world. Imam hadn't been happy to send her off so miserable, but he knew it was for the best. The job was only supposed to keep her there for a month or two at the most but it had been 3 months since her scheduled date of departure. She had taken a year off from school to travel and see galaxies that she hadn't even known existed. Imam wasn't happy about that either but he figured she was old enough to decide what was right for her. She had been sent to Nessos because her Computer Specialist professor, Michael Ganglin, had mentioned to a Nessos teckie that she was the best in the entire sector. Low and behold, her phone rang one day promising the amount of time and money that she would need to accept the job. Just another stop on my way to new places, she figured. Now she thought about how wrong she'd been.
Jack crossed the artificial streets and made her way to the General Store. She stocked her cart full of booze, soda, and enough snack food to hole her over until she left. Which was a date that was unknown to all. She paid the clerk the credits he needed and left the store toating the bags in each hand. She headed back to the docking area at a faster pace than she had left with. In her pocket, her hand held computer was beeping, indicating that there was a message for her. Fumbling with the bags she managed to make her way back into her ship, Eustella.
Smiling to herself, Jack finished screwing the final bolt into the plate that held in the pieces she was working on. She stood, dusted herself off and pushed a few escaped blond strands behind her ears. She hopped down from the platform and tossed the screw driver into the toolbox lying behind one of the tires of her ship. Sighing, she packed up all her loose equipment and began to haul it all back into the maintenance closet aboard her ship. She picked up the radio remote and hit play. Hard rock tunes slowly began to fill the cabin. Pulling off her oil-stained tee shirt, she headed for her newly installed hot water shower stall.
She turned the dial to the hottest temperature she could stand, stripped off the rest of her clothing and slid in, closing the glass door behind her. Filling her hand up with shampoo, Jack's thoughts drifted from her ship to her family, and from her family to the episode from her childhood. Then again at the age of 22, she wasn't very far away from her childhood. The crash on the HG had happened over 10 years prior but there wasn't a day that passed that it wasn't on her mind at least once. She would think about Carolyn, Johns, and all the other people who had died, wondering if they had been alive today, if they would all still be in contact.
She rinsed the shampoo and began to condition. Her thoughts drifted to the one person whom she had kept in contact with since that trip. Imam, her trusted friend and dear father figure. She'd lived with Imam until she was old enough to get a place of her own. She made a pretty good living, had received a full scholarship to the technical school of her choice. She had specialized in Computer Engineering. Fiddling around with her ship was just a side hobby which she happened to be very good at. Jack was good at everything, or so everyone thought. She figured she was just good at a few things. It never occurred to her for it to be anything more than that.
Washing all the conditioner out of her hair, she switched off the steamy stream of water and reached for a towel. She pushed the glass door aside and wrapped herself up into the towel. She sat for a moment on the toilet seat, draped in only the towel and began to think about someone from her past. The name had of course crossed her mind more than once. Maybe even more than once a day. Richard B. Riddick. A name feared by so many but it was something special to her.
The day he had dropped her and Imam off on Euro-Futura, the newest and closest inhabited planet, she was in the grips of despair wanting nothing more than to just go with him. She knew that it wasn't possible and she also knew that he wouldn't allow it. The tears had been streaming down her face as she had begged him not to leave her there. Imam had tried to restrain her, but it was to no avail. She was strong for a 12 year old and there was no stopping her. How she had felt her heart tearing the day Riddick had turned and dropped her hand. She felt it deep down that he was just as distraught as she, although he would have just as quickly lost a limb for showing it. He had left her with Imam, never promising he'd be back to see her again. That day she promised herself she would find him. She harbored no bad feelings for him because even at the young age of 12 she knew how much trouble he was in. There was no way he could have stayed behind with them, without some Merc banging down their door and taking him away for good.
Standing from her seat, she hugged the towel closer and exited the bathroom. She headed for her bedroom suite that she had had custom made to fit her standards of a comfortable living. "Lights", she murmured and the lights switched on. She shivered as a cold draft caught her at the base of her throat. She sauntered over to her closet and picked out something comfortable to spend the day in. She threw on the pair of tight, flared jeans and the black hoodie that she'd laid down on her bed.
About twenty minutes later, she emerged from her ship, hair blow-dried and fully dressed. She quickened her pace down the docking platform and swiped her keycard through the personnel exit. This, being her first day off in about two weeks, was going to be a day full of nothing. The only reason she'd left her ship was to head out into the commons and pick up a few things she thought she might need to accommodate herself for the night.
Unlike other personnel running the planet, Jack slept on her ship instead of a cabin they provided when you were informed you received the job. The crew quarters were located in a giant sterile white building that had looked too much like a hospital for Jack's taste. The planet accommodated roughly 10 million civilians and 3,000 crew. After earth had stopped rotating and utterly imploded, most of the earthlings fled to another planet to spend the rest of their lives. Others, like most of Jack's friends, had come to Nessos to start anew. The man-made planet was set to seem like the people living there were back on the planet that they had been forced to leave. Sunrise and sunset were artificial but the creators of the planet felt it would be easier on those who lived there to feel like they were at home. Residing just a few trillion miles, but still in sight, of the North Star, residents still felt the familiar hope of asking a wish from the star they'd seen from their own bedroom windows each night.
Jack had been temporarily stationed there to revamp a glitch in the computer system. She hated it. She always felt like she was an animal caged in from the real world. Imam hadn't been happy to send her off so miserable, but he knew it was for the best. The job was only supposed to keep her there for a month or two at the most but it had been 3 months since her scheduled date of departure. She had taken a year off from school to travel and see galaxies that she hadn't even known existed. Imam wasn't happy about that either but he figured she was old enough to decide what was right for her. She had been sent to Nessos because her Computer Specialist professor, Michael Ganglin, had mentioned to a Nessos teckie that she was the best in the entire sector. Low and behold, her phone rang one day promising the amount of time and money that she would need to accept the job. Just another stop on my way to new places, she figured. Now she thought about how wrong she'd been.
Jack crossed the artificial streets and made her way to the General Store. She stocked her cart full of booze, soda, and enough snack food to hole her over until she left. Which was a date that was unknown to all. She paid the clerk the credits he needed and left the store toating the bags in each hand. She headed back to the docking area at a faster pace than she had left with. In her pocket, her hand held computer was beeping, indicating that there was a message for her. Fumbling with the bags she managed to make her way back into her ship, Eustella.
