Chapter 1
I moaned softly as I fully awoke from cryo-sleep. The ship was rocking unnaturally–something wasn't right. I opened my eyes, fighting the lingering drowsiness. There was a sudden lurch and my stomach dropped to my feet. The ship was being battered from side to side and as my head cleared, I noticed one dead body in a cryo-chamber across the room. Another chamber was open and empty. But that's the personnel side, I thought, frowning. What's going on?
I heard a muted hiss followed by a thud as someone fell out of their chamber next to mine. I yelped in surprise and then pain as the ship leaned dangerously to one side, slamming me forward into the plexi-glass. I momentarily saw stars and felt a warm trail of blood trickle down the side of my face; I fumbled for the escape latch. There! The doors opened and I stumbled to the metal floor, wincing as the sudden movement jarred my head. I felt someone tugging on my arm and looked up to see Johns, the merc, trying to help me. I clumsily stood as the blood started pumping through my legs and shook off his hand when I was able to stand on my own.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked, pushing my dark hair out of my face. A movement to the right caught my eye and I turned.
The big warning labels on the cryo-chamber were hard to miss and had been the first thing I noticed when I boarded the ship: Richard B. Riddick, infamous killer, loner, resident Big Bad. Throughout my travels I'd heard of his exploits (who hadn't?) and my interest was piqued, but I was wary. Who knew which parts of the rumors were true and which were false? Johns making him wear a bit and blindfold was a bit extreme in my opinion, but I had kept my mouth shut. It wasn't my business to butt in he was a convicted murderer after all.
Looking closer, I saw the tiniest tear in the black cloth wrapped around his bald head and a dim light shining from underneath. He was awake. And he knew that I knew, because one side of his lip curled into a smirk. I quickly turned back around, ignoring Johns' questioning stare. His eyes slid past my shoulder as if to make sure his payload was still safe and sound.
"I don't know," he replied, answering my question from earlier. We both froze as a large crack echoed around us. As one we turned towards the source, and then I wished we hadn't: the hull was cracking in the back of the ship.
Johns and I launched into action, both of us grabbing onto metal beams that were placed on either side of the cabin and holding on with all of our might. Just in time, too, for not even ten seconds later, the left side and back of the ship was ripped off, pieces disintegrating almost immediately.
I watched in horror, the wind whipping my hair furiously, as almost all of the cryo-chambers slid out of the ruined ship and disappeared into the cloud of dust we were kicking up as we careened over an orange, unknown planet. I felt my fingers slipping from the metal and gritted my teeth. C'mon, girl! You are not fucking dying today. Following Johns' lead I hooked an arm into the eyelet of the beam and held on tighter, hoping this ride was almost overand that I would miraculously survive.
There was another lurch and I swore as anything that wasn't securely anchored to the remaining part of the ship started flying everywhere. I barely dodged a small piece of metal that hurtled past my head. This is fucking crazy, I thought. Of course something would happen to the ship that I'm traveling on.
The ship jerked and I lost my grip, my other arm hooked into the beam the only thing keeping me from falling to my death. I swore as my head bounced against the metal. The constant adrenaline had erased my previous discomfort, but a second hit created a throbbing ache and I felt fresh liquid drip onto my neck.
The ship jerked again and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hold on this time. I vainly scrabbled at the metal as my body was wrenched away, and then slammed into a locker. I dropped to the floor where I lay crumpled in a heap, multicolored spots swimming before my eyes. I heard Johns' expletive, but it sounded so far away and I knew I was going to pass out at any moment. The ship shuddered and there was a tremendous thud before blackness finally overcame me.