"Arggggg."
Riddick turned to Jack in alarm; she was staring out into space, clutching the armrests of the co-pilots chair in a death grip. A thin rim of white outlined her lips. Riddick placed a hand on her knee in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.
It wasn't.
With a scream of pure terror Jack turned and walloped him across the jaw. Finding nowhere in which to escape she scooted back into the arm of the chair, drawing her knees up to her chin. The fog of the nightmare had now completely disbursed and she shot Riddick a look of fright.
Trust and friendship only went so far.
Especially with men.
A trickle of blood was running from the split in his lip, Jack watched, petrified, as he whipped it away. Riddick looked down at his fingers. Jack closed her eyes and steeled herself for the blow she knew was coming.
...........
Riddick watched in shock as Jack's jaw steeled and the muscles in her face tightened.
*She thinks I'm going to hit her back* he thought numbly
Riddick had hit a lot of people in his life, men, a few women merc's, but never children. Riddick put on a lopsided grin to hide the disgust he was feeling.
"Well I guess I deserved that."
He said with a chuckle, he watched as Jack slowly opened her eyes. The look she gave him was wary and suspicious.
"Got quite an arm on ya Kid." He said "But I think we need to work on your aim."
With that said the wariness left her face and she gave him a trembly smile.
"Ahh, sorry about the--- Umm--- Sorry." Her attempt at a smile faded "Bad dream, ya know?" Riddick did want to know. He wanted to know what kind of 'bad dream' made a fourteen-year-old girl wake up screaming, and then attack the first person she saw.
Or maybe he'd rather not.
...............
Jack was mentally kicking herself. How could she have been so stupid? She had just hit Richard B. Riddick, wanted in over fifteen galaxies for crimes ranging from theft, to mass homicide. Well, at least he hadn't hit her back. Jack glanced quickly down at Riddick's large, powerful hands. The best she could have hoped for was a fractured jaw, the worst? Well, they always said it was cheaper to bury in space. She shot Riddick another trebly smile and went to join Imam.
............
It had taken them four weeks but they were finally back in the shipping lanes. With only half power, little water, and even littler food, and the gas purifier playing up, Riddick called a meeting.
"I'd say the best course of action would be to send out a distress call and hope like hell that someone picks it up."
Imam, unruffled as ever, looked up at him.
"Whatever you think is right Mr. Riddick, you have far more experience in these matters then myself or the child."
Jack looked mutinous about being called a child but she let the matter drop. Now was not the time.
"We are, after all, in your hands."
*And that sends us back to our first problem, how to look after a priest and a kid when I can't even look after myself.*
Riddick was surprised to find himself thinking in terms of how he was gunna keep them alive, not in how he was going to kill them. It just showed how much he'd changed. He'd grown to respect the holy man, who told it like it was and almost never lost his cool. It was discontenting, knowing someone had so much faith in you. And Jack, well, after the first nightmare she had closed herself off from their little group. The nightmares were still coming, because Riddick had heard her sobbing at night when she thought everyone was asleep.
Back on that planet, in the middle of a Dante creation, she had given Riddick, a murderer, her most precious possession.
Her trust.
So Riddick was starting to put some things together, from sobbed words to the thin veil of fear that settled behind her eyes whenever he made a sudden movement when she was near.
He didn't like the answers he was coming up with.
Riddick turned to Jack in alarm; she was staring out into space, clutching the armrests of the co-pilots chair in a death grip. A thin rim of white outlined her lips. Riddick placed a hand on her knee in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.
It wasn't.
With a scream of pure terror Jack turned and walloped him across the jaw. Finding nowhere in which to escape she scooted back into the arm of the chair, drawing her knees up to her chin. The fog of the nightmare had now completely disbursed and she shot Riddick a look of fright.
Trust and friendship only went so far.
Especially with men.
A trickle of blood was running from the split in his lip, Jack watched, petrified, as he whipped it away. Riddick looked down at his fingers. Jack closed her eyes and steeled herself for the blow she knew was coming.
...........
Riddick watched in shock as Jack's jaw steeled and the muscles in her face tightened.
*She thinks I'm going to hit her back* he thought numbly
Riddick had hit a lot of people in his life, men, a few women merc's, but never children. Riddick put on a lopsided grin to hide the disgust he was feeling.
"Well I guess I deserved that."
He said with a chuckle, he watched as Jack slowly opened her eyes. The look she gave him was wary and suspicious.
"Got quite an arm on ya Kid." He said "But I think we need to work on your aim."
With that said the wariness left her face and she gave him a trembly smile.
"Ahh, sorry about the--- Umm--- Sorry." Her attempt at a smile faded "Bad dream, ya know?" Riddick did want to know. He wanted to know what kind of 'bad dream' made a fourteen-year-old girl wake up screaming, and then attack the first person she saw.
Or maybe he'd rather not.
...............
Jack was mentally kicking herself. How could she have been so stupid? She had just hit Richard B. Riddick, wanted in over fifteen galaxies for crimes ranging from theft, to mass homicide. Well, at least he hadn't hit her back. Jack glanced quickly down at Riddick's large, powerful hands. The best she could have hoped for was a fractured jaw, the worst? Well, they always said it was cheaper to bury in space. She shot Riddick another trebly smile and went to join Imam.
............
It had taken them four weeks but they were finally back in the shipping lanes. With only half power, little water, and even littler food, and the gas purifier playing up, Riddick called a meeting.
"I'd say the best course of action would be to send out a distress call and hope like hell that someone picks it up."
Imam, unruffled as ever, looked up at him.
"Whatever you think is right Mr. Riddick, you have far more experience in these matters then myself or the child."
Jack looked mutinous about being called a child but she let the matter drop. Now was not the time.
"We are, after all, in your hands."
*And that sends us back to our first problem, how to look after a priest and a kid when I can't even look after myself.*
Riddick was surprised to find himself thinking in terms of how he was gunna keep them alive, not in how he was going to kill them. It just showed how much he'd changed. He'd grown to respect the holy man, who told it like it was and almost never lost his cool. It was discontenting, knowing someone had so much faith in you. And Jack, well, after the first nightmare she had closed herself off from their little group. The nightmares were still coming, because Riddick had heard her sobbing at night when she thought everyone was asleep.
Back on that planet, in the middle of a Dante creation, she had given Riddick, a murderer, her most precious possession.
Her trust.
So Riddick was starting to put some things together, from sobbed words to the thin veil of fear that settled behind her eyes whenever he made a sudden movement when she was near.
He didn't like the answers he was coming up with.