BEEP BEEP…BEEP BEEP…BEEP BEEP…
BEEP BEEP…BEEP BEEP…BEEP BEEP…
SYSTEM FAILURE…PLEASE EXIT THE COMMAND MODULE...REPEAT...SYSTEM FAILURE…PLEASE EXIT THE COMMAND MODULE…
In the darkness, a pair of green eyes opened and fluttered. Focusing her eyes, she tried to rationalize her surroundings. Everything was dark, plugs and wires torn apart creating sparks against the hull of her ship. She tried to focus her eyes, tried to breathe deeper but found that she couldn't. Fuck!! She tried to move her legs, but found that they were heavy as iron. She laid there for a moment, her forehead soaked with sweat from the immense heat outside. It took her a few tries, but eventually she was able to crawl over to her com unit, only to see that all navigational operations were shot to hell.
Fuck fuck!!
As she scooted herself into a sitting position, propped against the torn hull of her ship, everything came back in a rush. She was heading toward vector prime, on her way to pick up her next target when she'd started having system failure. In a matter of minutes all power and fuel systems had shut down, leaving her dead in space. She tried to over-compensate for power loss with the back up generators, but all she ended up doing was completely frying the mainframe. She vaguely remembered strapping herself into her chair, bracing for the impact to come as she crashed onto the planet…whatever planet she was stuck on this time. She took a deep breath in order to calm herself, only to glance around and notice her two dead crewmates. She could only assume that the one without his head was Corey, the guy she'd been sleeping with for the last several months. The other one, a guy they called Scooner, wasn't fairing much better with all his limbs snapped and hanging awkwardly. She closed her eyes against a wave of nausea, trying to bite back any tears she'd had for the two men.
As she sat there against the wall a voice came to her head, telling her to calm down and to assess her surroundings...listen and feel. Regretting to even think of him, she listened anyway, calming herself down until she could think straight. First thing was the huge cut on her thigh followed by another nasty one on the side of her ribs. Her neck and face were full of contusions and sharp cuts as well. The back of her head was covered in blood, but as she fingered her head she realized it had been coming from the side of her neck. A quick glance towards to her fallen comrades confirmed that she would have to crawl over them to get to the med kit open and sprawling on the floor beyond the doorway. Unable to hold herself back, she threw up all over the console and deck, shaking as tears formed in her eyes.
It was with strong conviction that she eventually found herself on the other side of the bodies, raiding the supplies on the floor for whatever she could find. First was the first aid kit, and most importantly the pain injections. She had to give herself two full doses just to make it through the stitching and cauterizing of her wounds. That finished, she tried to stand again and was relieved the find that it wasn't all too hard that time around. As she stood up, bracing against the wall, she smelled something…engine fuel. Leaking over the floor at the cockpit and trailing towards her. In the heat of the day the whole thing was going to blow, and fast. Without thinking she grabbed a bag and started to stuff it full of supplies, anything she could get her hands on. She even filled a second bag before the fuel started trickling over her boots. She didn't have a choice anymore; she couldn't stay there and burn up like her comrades were going to. So Jack did the only thing she could, and stumbled off her broken ship and into the sweltering heat.
Riddick sat in the corner of some sleazy bar, sipping at some disgustingly strong and thick alcohol. Women danced on the stage on the one end, girls giving him the eye as they touched themselves, telling him that they were dancing for him. Five years…five fucking years since he had been picked up by a crazy bitch as he and two others were escaping from a ship-crash. Five years to the day that he'd said goodbye to the holy man and the kid with the green eyes that he'd never forget. Today was the last day for his bounty, if he kept out of trouble today, then he could actually walk around in public rather than scurry around like vermin. He could have a normal life, if he wanted. Riddick had heard only once from Imam, four years ago, when Imam couldn't get Jack under control in the wake of his new marriage and daughter's birth. Riddick had told her then that if she didn't cut her shit out that he'd come after her. He'd been surprised when she had bored those sharp green eyes at him, lips twisted in a disgusting smile..." You promise, Riddick? Promise you'll come over her and beat the shit out of me…" He'd turned off the com unit then, frowning at her ability to toy with him. Four years...yeah...maybe it was time for a little chit chat.
Downing the rest of his drink, Riddick took off to a door behind the bar, where men were playing various games to win creds. One guy in particular only raised his eyebrow when Riddick stood towering over him. "Greole, I need to use your com." The dark man laughed and shook his head. "The fuck for, Rick? Can't you see I'm busy?" Riddick gave him a smirk, one that told him he wasn't in the mood for fucking around. Greole just looked at him, shaking his head as he led Riddick to a back room and uncovered a dusty com unit. He left without another word as Riddick set up the system, typing furiously at the keyboards until static appeared on the screen. A few moments later the face of the holy man appeared, worry lines and frowns scratched across his dark face. "Mr. Riddick...I didn't expect to be hearing from you…" Riddick only grinned and leaned forward. "Shouldn't you learn to expect the unexpected with me, holy man…today is our anniversary, after all." Imam frowned and nodded his head. "Ah yes, Mr. Riddick, how could I forget…" "Where's Jacky-girl at..wanted to say hi to her before I took off again. I want her to know that I'm not coming back like I promised…." Imam frowned, stuttering over his words..." It is not a good time Mr. Riddick, perhaps later..." Riddick returned the sentiment with his own frown..." Holy man…where's Jack?" His voice leered through the screen, demanding answers.
"She's not here…"
Riddick's gut clenched, not having to ask what he meant by that. "What do you mean, she's gone. Where the fuck is she?" "I don't know, Mr. Riddick…she left us, over a year ago…to come look for you."
Riddick growled low in his throat as his teeth clenched. 'Why the fuck didn't you call me? A year later and you fucking bring this up? I want details, NOW!" Riddick's voice bellowed across the system, making the holy man jump. "She came home one evening, drunk. she'd been with a man. I told her that her behavior was unacceptable, and that she could not stay with me if it were to happen again…she laughed and told me that I was no better than you, forcing her to run away when she wanted freedom…when I awoke the next morning she was gone." "A note..?" Riddick asked. Imam licked his lips and swallowed nervously. "Yes, Mr. Riddick, she left a note…she said to pray for her soul". Riddick's frown was growing even worse by the second. "You're not telling me something, holy man…now spill!" "Well you see, Mr. Riddick...she didn't leave alone…she took the young man she'd been sleeping with, Corey I believe it was…his uncle owned a shipping lane and they took one of his ships and left…Mr. Riddick..the young man's uncle was a mercenary."
Riddick growled loudly and slammed his fists into the console, shattering the key pieces and forcing the holy man to jump back. "where the fuck did she go, Imam?"
"The last I heard from her, Mr. Riddick, she was on her way to Vector Prime to look into reports of seeing you..that was seven day cycles ago…" Riddick's whole body was tensed, eyes twitching behind his goggles. "you'd better pray that I find her, holy man..for your own sake.."
After wandering aimlessly for a few hours, Jack was relieved to notice a small crevice cut out on the side of some rocks. She glanced to her leg, which was starting to bleed again. Downing another pain med vial from her pack, she started up a dusty path towards the crevice. A few moments of trying left her exhausted and thirsty, but she continued to crawl upwards, dragging the packs behind her. At long last she got her arms stretched inside, pulling herself up until she stood in the opening. Unable to stand, she crawled into the cave until she couldn't do so any longer. She flung the packs from her, shuddering as a wave of pain induced nausea came over her. She crawled on her belly until she finally gave in, collapsing on the cooling stone and knowing no more.
