All rights go to the Riddick Franchise. I only own my version of Riddick.
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They say most of your brain shuts down in cryosleep. All but the primitive side. The animal side. No wonder I'm still awake. Transporting U.S. 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 the woman. Sweat, boots, tool belt, leather. Prospector types. Free settlers. And they only take the back roads.
And here's my real problem. Mr. Johns, the blue-eyed devil. Plannin' on taking me back to slam, only this time he picked a ghost lane. A long time between stops. A long time for something to go wrong.
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Chained up like an animal. That's how Johns likes it. Chains on the hands and feet, horse bit in the mouth, and blindfold over my eyes. Johns thinks this will keep me down, dumbass fucker. I still remember when he blasted an innocent child, just to capture little ole' me. He'll pay for that. I don't harm children as a rule, and that's the only humanity I got. I lift my head up as I hear multiple objects hit the ship, probably a meteor shower. I smirk behind the bit as I hear two pods open and two bodies hit the floor, the alarm blaring throughout the ship. A long time for something to go wrong, indeed.
"Why did I fall on you?" A male voice asked.
"He's dead." A female voice said. "The captain's dead. I was looking right at him."
"The chrono shows we are 22 weeks out, so-so gravity was not supposed to kick in for another 19. Why'd I fall at all?" I'm tempted to kill him first if he doesn't stop fucking complaining.
"Didn't you hear what I said? The captain's dead."
I listen as they rushed to their stations, and since the male was closer, he must be the Navigation Officer. I listen as the woman, the docking pilot, said. "1550 millibars, dropping 20 mb per minute." There's a pause before she continues. "Shit! We're hemorrhaging air. Something took a swipe at us."
"Come on. Just tell me we're still in the shipping lane. Just show me all those stars. Come on!" The male said, freaking out. "Those big, bright-" He cut himself off.
"What?" The woman asked.
There's a pause before I hear someone moving, the woman since her scent is getting farther away.
"This is an emergency dispatch from merchant vessel Hunter Gratzner en route to the Tangier system with 40 commercial passengers onboard." The male said, transmitting an emergency comm. "We have been knocked out of our shipping lane and are currently entering the atmosphere of a planetary body in this position: X-38-stroke-5, Y-95-stroke-8, Z-21—" He cut himself off. "Fry, where the hell's our comms?" Fry, hmm. Must be a last name.
I ignored the electronic voice that started speaking, as I heard Fry fumbling around the cockpit.
"They trained you for this, Fry, right?" The male asked. No response was given as I hear her continue fumbling at the controls, until the ship shakes as the ballast is purged. "What the… Was that a purge, Fry?"
"Too heavy in the ass. I can't get my fucking nose down." Fry shouted.
I feel the ship shake as the luggage department is also purged. I hear the male start talking again. "Crisis program selected number 2 of this system because it shows at least some oxygen. Maximum terrain 220 meters over mean surface, largely cinder and gypsum with some evaporite deposits." Must be the planet we're about to crash on. I hear the airlock shut us out from the front of the ship.I couldn't hear a thing after that but I stayed aware of my surroundings the entire time.
Suddenly the airlock opens and I hear Fry say, "I'm not gonna die for them." Smart woman, trying to save herself. Nothing happens and I hear her yell, "Owens!" So the male has a name and saved our fucking asses. He's going to get himself killed.
"Seventy seconds, Fry." Owens tells her. "You still have seventy seconds to level this beast out." I hear a series of thumps, likely kicking against something, before a crash is heard. "What the fuck is happening up there?"
I hear someone hit the floor of the ship, and after I sniffed the air, knew it was Johns. I felt his gaze on me, accessing that I'm still locked inside the pod. I smirk behind the bit and chuckle, causing him to become wary and slightly fearful. I'm gonna have to take care of him. His little obsession with me is starting to become a pain in the ass.
I'm suddenly thrown forward, as the ship hits the ground. I felt the chains connecting me to the pod break from the sudden force, but my hands and feet were still chained together. We slide across the surface for a bit before stopping. I kick the glass on the door, causing it to shatter and fall to the ground. I hear chatter coming from the other survivors, but I quickly climb up some wires that hanging down and wait for Johns to come look for me.
When he's right under me, I throw my legs down and wraps the cord of the restraints around his neck, choking him. He tries to pull it off his neck, but I was stronger than him. Pansy ass. Always has been. I hear him pull out the baton before he starts hitting me with it. I ignore the pain and continue holding on, determined to kill him after all this time. Unfortunately Johns leans forward, causing the support I was hanging on to break, making me hit my head on the floor and release Johns. I lay still as I feel Johns standing above me, breathing hard. I listen as he puts his baton away. "Somebody's gonna get hurt one of theses days. It ain't gonna be me."
He pulls me up and drags me towards the main cabin, before cuffing my hands behind my back to a pole that fell from the ceiling and impaled the floor. I knelt on my knees with my head down and decided to rest for the time being, knowing I was going to need it.
