A/N:
Julian Carax: I was hoping someone would catch the Serenity's breathing bit, and LOL (is it strange I take the disturbing imagery bit as a compliment?). It is a bit odd isn't how this is the least violent Riddick I've written, but I actually took some time and did a little reading on sociopaths so I'm trying a different angle. You'll see me exploit the fact that kids seem to be his weakness (why he became a con and how Johns caught him before Pitch Black) in this update. Thanks for taking the time to review I do appreciate it greatly and I did try to shorten up my sentences in the action sequences here, hopefully you'll enjoy. :D
Ariblack: I'm stealing a bit of the back story from the games, but I've never actually played them; mainly I'm using various wikis and a little bit of creative rearranging to come up with something. Thanks for noticing the effort on punctuation and grammar I am REALLY trying since it was pointed out, and I think I've reread this update at least fifty times double checking. I do however realize that it is by no means perfect in that department still, but I get points for trying right? LOL, how I love being a bad influence, but your thesis is rather important. Thanks for reading and taking the time out to review. :D
Hotagainstthewall: Dontcha worry a fight scene is a coming! :D
Sabrina1204: Oh Sabrina, Sabrina, Sabrina, the definition of fabulousness. There is a special little surprise tucked away in this episode for you. And I did catch the whole schizophrenia thing after I had watched the episode but unfortunately it was after I published the update, I'm thinking of fixing it before the next update of Partners goes up. And LOL I am just itching to get to Jaynestown (my favorite episode of the series as well.) For the moment Riddick hasn't change too much, but as we hit episode three, Bushwhacked that's when things are gonna start to change up quite a bit. Much luv momma. :D
I am really trying to work on the run on sentence thing… but go easy on me… it's like trying to break the finger nail biting habit.
Without further ado…don't own a thing and most the dialogue is stolen… even still enjoy!
The Drowned Miner was the kind of bar the crew of Serenity liked best, dim, smoky, cluttered, and always itchin' for a brawl. Various languages spoke at once, making deals and placing bets, some honest and some not so honest, some meant to be kept and others which begged to be broken. Belly dancers swathed in silk and silver circled the patrons, spinning up clouds of smoke in their skirts and scarves to the tune of exotic music played by a small band. The four gunslingers of Serenity sat huddled around a small table in a darkened corner; their faces set in various forms of intensity and concentration.
"Your move," Jayne told the Captain, his voice even.
Mal sipped off his drink, and pocketed a small slip of paper a dancer dropped into his hand as she passed. He eyed the board of Chinese checkers for a moment longer and jumped several pieces, moving his marble half way across the board.
"Bold move," Zoe complimented with false sincerity.
"I like to live on the edge," Mal said smugly and tilted his glass slightly in her direction, as if to say, Beat that.
"Bold and stupid," Riddick snorted.
Mal looked offended until Zoe crossed the entirety of the board in a single move thanks wholly to the space the he had left open. She drank to his challenge, as small chuckle broke from her lips.
"Told ya," Riddick smirked.
"Nice move dumbass," Jayne grumbled he had had a chance, until that move.
"Been thinkin' about movin' off the edge," Mal remarked, "ain't the ideal location, mayhap a place somewhere in the middle," he finished with a half grin.
"A toast!" A man yelled from the bar, as he stumbled slightly.
Mal immediately forgot about the game at hand and turned his attention to the drunk.
Every gorraam year, Zoe thought to herself.
While Zoe and Mal focused their attention on the drunk Jayne and Riddick took the opportunity to "adjust" the placement of a few key pieces. Neither above playing dirty when a week's worth of dish duty was on the line.
"A toast!" The drunk, a bald overweight man, yelled again. "Shut up! Quiet! I'm got words, I say, today," he went on, as his drink sloshed over the edge of his tumbler, "is an asspishus day, we all know what day it is."
"Did he say suspicious?" Jayne asked Riddick as he frowned thinking hard, "What day is it?"
Riddick eyed Mal and Zoe carefully, listening to the sudden uptick of their heart rates, the sudden wave of anger that tickled his nostrils.
"A glorious day for all proud members of the Allied Planets. Unification Day, the end of the Independent scumbags and the dawn of a new galaxy!" He yelled, as he raised his glass high.
Mal pushed out his chair.
"Captain," Zoe warned.
"Just feel the need for a drink," he said evenly.
"What month is it?" Jayne asked more to himself than anyone else; up in the black it never really seemed to matter, one day cycle just blended into the next.
_
Mal found himself a spot at the bar, directly beside the toaster, "'Nother, Ng-Ka-Pei (just a drink name)," he told the bartender as he slid his glass across the dark wood.
"Hey, ya gonna drink with me?" The man wobbled slightly, and leaned against the bar for better balance, "Six years today, the Alliance sent them Brown coats runnin', pissin' their pants," he laughed.
Mal did not answer; instead he took his drink and tossed a paper bill down on the bar.
"Yer coat's kinda a brownish color," the man observed through slightly bleary eyes, as his demeanor changed.
"It was on sale," Mal told him absently, as he took a hearty swig off his drink, a slight grimace on his face more from the company than the burn of the alcohol.
"You didn't toast, and ya know I'm thinkin' you're one of 'em Independents." The drunk accused.
"And I'm thinkin' you weren't burden with an overabundance of schooling, so why don't we just ignore each other 'til we go away?" He answered a half smirk on his face.
"The Independents were a bunch of inbred, cowardly piss pots shoulda been killed offa every world spinnin'," The man turned his back as he spoke.
Mal slammed his drink onto the bar and turned, "Say that to my face."
"I said," He started, taking a step closer to Mal leaving no space between them, "you're a coward and a piss pot. Now what you gonna do 'bout it?" The man sneered, bringing himself up to his full height.
"Nothing." Mal smirked. "I just wanted you to face me so she could get behind you."
The man spun around to meet the butt of Zoe's mare's leg, and he went down like a sack of rotten potatoes.
Mal and Zoe exchanged a smile, "Drunks are so cute," he mused as he returned to his drink.
Abruptly the band halted, and several of the bar's patrons rose from their seats.
"O, zhe zhen shi ge kuai le de jin zhan (oh this is a happy development)." Mal said placing down his glass once more.
"Jayne, Riddick…" Zoe yelled.
"Hey we didn't fight in no war," Jayne said, as he leaned back in the booth and toasted to them.
"Best of luck," Riddick added, as he tipped his glass.
Mal redirected his gaze back to the crowd of men that were approaching; he looked at them with amusement and expectation, "Fine. Let's do this."
_
Jayne flinched as Mal took a hard right hook to his jaw.
"I'll put a twenty piece on Mal gettin' thrown through the window." Riddick smirked.
Jayne snorted as he grinned, "I'll take it, don't look there's a man strong enough that's sober 'nough for that."
Riddick watched as Zoe broke a bottle across some ben dan's (idiot's) face. Girl fought dirty as hell, he liked it, "How's it a man like Wash winds up with a woman like Zoe?"
"Got me, personally I think it's all kinds of weird." Jayne shrugged as he scowled at his now empty glass. "Think there's a chance I could get 'nother whiskey?"
Riddick chuckled as he watched Mal get thrown through the front window. "Tell ya what, next time we hit dirt I'll buy the first round. Seein' as how I'm twenty platinum richer, and I'm thinkin our Captain gettin' thrown through the window is the signal our kind ain't wanted here no more."
"Gorraam it!" Jayne bitched as he dug into his cargos for the money.
"Easiest twenty I ever made." Riddick pocketed the coins.
"Wells I'm ready to punch somebody now." Jayne grumbled cracking his knuckles.
"Hell been awhile since I've been in a good bar fight," Riddick chuckled cracking his neck.
The window of the Drunken Miner crackled rather than shattered as Mal passed through it. The owner having replaced it with an ionized field some time ago for just such occasions. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and reached for his comm link, "Wash, we got us some local color, a grand entrance would not go amiss."
*
"Kept the engines warm Capt, we're on our way." Wash responded as he rolled his eyes and brought Serenity into the air. There wasn't such a thing as a quiet drink on U-Day and he had been prepared.
*
Zoe followed Mal out of the bar, but rather than through the window she came out through the door. The man who preceded her did so by the brute force of her boot in his chest, and the unfortunate one who followed behind, found himself on intimate terms with a stone pillar.
Mal pushed himself up fully to take down another hun dan (bastard) that came barreling out of the bar. He ducked quick to avoid a sloppy punch and came up with a hard uppercut to the man's stomach. Almost gleefully he finished him off with a knee to the nose as the man doubled over. "Are Jayne and Riddick even awake?" he snapped as Zoe fought her way to his side.
As if to answer him, she yanked him to her left as a body came flying out from the same said window he had exited by. Another three were shoved out the door by a stool wielding Jayne, who clocked a fourth behind him with his elbow, not evening sparing the man a glance.
Mal ripped Zoe out of the way of another flying body, as he ducked a wild punch. Riddick followed the third man through the window, though Mal judged by the way he landed that it had been Riddick's choice, unlike himself and the last couple of hun dans (Bastards). He had to flinch a little as he caught the brutal uppercut Riddick gifted the man he had landed closest to with that sent the poor son of a bitch flying backwards into one of his buddies.
Zoe would have admired the uppercut herself iffin' she wasn't busy taking a jab to her face which was meant for the captain. She recovered quickly, and slung a handful of sand into the gou neong yung de's (son of a bitch's) eyes. He stumbled backward and she grabbed for his collar taking him down with a vicious head butt.
Riddick delivered a spinning back fist, and savored the feel of bone breaking beneath his hand. After the first hit landed he reversed his spin, and introduced his steel toe boot to the side of the fuck's head. It'd been too long since he'd been in a good brawl, usually going for the quick and dirty take down his shiv provided and he had to admit he was havin' a hell of a time.
Mal felt the skin on his knuckles break open at the same time he heard the sound of a jaw crack beneath them. However he felt it was worth the sacrifice and paid it little mind. Jayne, still enjoying his stool club cracked it across a hun dan's skull. He took an elbow to the back for it and spun to reward the man with an elbow of his own, straight across his jaw.
The crew of Serenity, enjoyed a few more minutes of what would later be recounted as the most brutal, throw down, knock out, brawl the bar had ever seen, before they found themselves side by side backing up towards a cliff face as more and more angry drunken patrons came pouring out through the door.
"Well there's just an acre of you fellows," Mal laughed nervously, a little wobbly from a blow to the head he had taken. "That's why we lost ya know," he turned to Zoe, "superior numbers." He explained, unworried as the sweet sound of Serenity's engines filled his ears.
"Thanks for the reenactment Sir," Zoe replied, breathing a bit heavily but a smile on her face none the less.
"Ain't possible to be bored crewin' with you Mal," Riddick smirked as he spit out a mouthful of blood. However, the smirk disappeared from his face and turned into a snarl as the original toasting drunk pushed his way to the front of the crowd, and leveled a rather larger six shooter at the crew. The others in the mob took this as a signal to draw their own as well.
"Hey them ain't koserized rules!" Jayne snapped trying to judge if he could draw 'fore he got shot. Gorram U-Day, he thought, needed to keep better track of the days. Hell, iffin' he'd realized it was U-Day he woulda brought Vera. As it was all he had on him now was his LeMat, Lucy and his favorite blade, Sabrina.
"I'm thinkin' somebody oughta put you dogs down. What do you think?" The drunk sneered.
"I'm thinkin' we might rise again," Mal grinned wickedly, as Serenity rose from behind the cliff face.
Wind whipped around the assembled mob as Wash 's voice came over the ship's speakers, "Every man there go back inside," he spoke as the airlock ramp lowered, "or I will blow a new crater in this little moon." Nervously the mob took a few steps back, some shielding their faces from the dust the ship's engines kicked up.
Mal and the others made the short leap from the cliff onto the ramp. Mal pausing a short moment to wave before the airlock closed and Serenity took off into the blue.
_
"Damn yokels can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns," Jayne chuckled as soon as the doors sealed cleanly behind them, "Blow a new crater in this moon," he laughed harder to himself as he headed to his bunk.
"Gotta say Captain, I like your idea of a quiet drink," Riddick smirked as followed him and Zoe up to the bridge.
"Wasn't me that started no trouble, Zoe swung first." Mal said innocently, as he smiled a smile that was anything but.
Zoe shot him an amused glance as she climbed up the stairs.
_
"My thanks Wash," Mal said as they entered, "nice save, as always."
"My pleasure," Wash answered sarcastically.
"And how are our passengers?" The Captain asked.
"They're fine," Kaylee answered rolling out from beneath a console, "So what happened, another terrible brawl?" She snickered.
"Oddly enough, there was," Zoe said eyeing Mal as she hopped up on the console in front of her husband. Being careful not to sit on any buttons which would send them plummeting back to the moon they'd just escaped. She had a feelin' the locals wouldn't be jumpin' to come to their aid.
"Are you getting my wife into trouble?" Wash asked inspecting a nice cut along Zoe's cheek.
"What?" Mal asked with feigned offense. "I didn't start it, just wanted a quiet drink."
"Funny Sir, how you always find yourself in some Alliance friendly bar come U-Day, lookin' for a 'quiet drink'." She smirked.
"See this is a sign of your tragic space dementia. All paranoid and crotchety," he shook his head, and placed his hand on his chest, "it breaks my heart." he said, earning a giggle from Kaylee.
"Well did we at least make contact?" Wash asked.
Smiling Mal removed the slip of paper from his pockets, "Ladies and menfolk we got ourselves a job. Wash, take us off world," he handed the paper to Zoe, "Got us some crime to be done." Mal said feelin' all sorts of pleased. If you were to ask him, he'd had a pretty good gorraam day, had a few drinks with his crew, got a job, and got to knock in some Alliance friendly folk, man couldn't ask for much more than that.
The cold steel stung her back and she wanted to escape it but colder steel bound her wrists and legs, and as she fought the needles went deeper, prodded places they shouldn't prod, poked things lose and the RIVER fled from her body encased in ribbons of scarlet. Ribbons which left trails of fire behind them, melting into her eyes and all she saw was RED and all she was was RED and all of the world was angry and hateful and RED. And there was PAIN, and there were THOUGHTS and they were BELIEF. And they were for A BETTER WORLD. And SECRETS all of their SECRETS. Old men covered in blood but it never touched them, SINS SECRETS SINS SECRETS SINS SECRETS SINS SECRETS, THEY SCREAMED. EVERY VOICE IN THE UNIVERSE SCREAMED ALL AT ONCE THEY SCREAMED…
The dam broke… and River SCREAMED….
River suddenly jerked upright, knocking herself off the infirmary bed, trembling and shaking as she muttered incoherently in Mandarin intertwined with English, and laced with Latin.
"River," Simon approached her cautiously, his voice soft, "River, it's me."
She jerked away from him and skid backwards along the floor and into a cabinet.
"River, you know who I am right?" He asked anxiously.
"Simon." River answered, and looked at him in a way that could only be translated as, 'Don't be a boob.'
"Right," he said sheepishly, "Sorry. Were you dreaming? Did you dream about the Academy?"
She pushed herself off the floor and away from him, and began to pace nervously as she tugged at her hair, "Not relevant."
"If you can talk about it," Simon tried, "I know it's hard, but the more I know the faster you'll get better."
River stopped pacing suddenly, "This isn't home."
"No. No, its not River, we can't go home. If we go home, they'll just send you back to the Academy. This is safe for now." He paused before adding with feigned cheerfulness, "We're on a ship."
"Mid-bulk transport, standard radion-accelerator core, class 03-K64, 'Firefly'," River answered reflexively.
"Well that's something," Mal interjected as he stepped through the door, "I can't even remember all that," Riddick was a step behind him.
"Need a weave on that?" Simon asked pointing at the Captain's left hand which was bleeding slightly overtly. "Or that?" He added to Riddick, looking at the deep gouge marks on his arm.
"It's nothing," Mal shrugged him off running his hand underneath the sink.
Riddick didn't bother to answer; he just kept one eye on the girl, a habit he had developed since that lovely little kick to the jaw she'd gifted him with.
"I expect there is someone's face who feels different." Simon joked.
"Ya know, they tell you never hit a man with a closed fist, but it is on occasion hilarious," Mal smiled as he remembered the look on that particular hun dan's (bastard's) face. Riddick chuckled.
"I suppose so," Simon said uneasily, "The fight… it didn't draw any attention did it?"
"No Feds. Just an honest brawl between honest folk, ain't one of us that wants the Alliance on us, that's why you're here Doc."
"I thought I was here because you needed a medic."
"Well, not today," Mal shrugged happily and exited the infirmary as quickly as he had entered.
River had remained silent during the exchange between the Captain and her brother, though her eyes followed him as he left, "Mal…bad." She turned to her brother, "in the Latin."
Riddick smirked as he leaned against the counter, ignoring the sting of the anti septic as he poured it over the gouges, "What's Richard?" He asked curiously.
"Richard, strong… power," she eyed him and took a step closer, "Brought to Earth-that-was England by the Normans, derived from Germanic elements 'Ric, power and 'hard, strong. Richard," she spoke with wide eyed awe, "the name of Kings."
"Kings huh?" Riddick smiled as he thought it over, "Like the sound of that," he said as he tossed the swabs he had used into a trash container, and headed out of the infirmary. Taking advantage of the fact the Doc would keep her from following him.
"River, you shouldn't talk to him he's dangerous." Simon told her after he was sure the killer was out of earshot.
River tore her gaze away from the door and back to her brother, "Safe."
"River," Simon said in warning and he took both of her arms in his hands to make sure she understood him, "He is a xiong meng de kuang ren (violent lunatic), stay away from him dong ma (understand me)?"
"Not xiong meng de kuang ren, shi li (strength). He protects her."
Simon sputtered, "Are you kidding me? When has he protected you?"
"Stood guard when the men who have forgotten themselves came too close, would have died, shot down the rage and saved the girl from eternity in a cage."
"River," Simon said condescendingly, "he shot down Dobson because Dobson would have turned him in too, and he came to the infirmary when the Reavers past because it seals up tighter than any other room on the ship in case of infection or disease."
"Simon does not see." She told him sadly.
"See what?"
"Dao (direction/path/principle/truth/ morality/reason/skill/method/Dao (of Daoism)/to speak/classifier for long thin stretches, rivers, roads etc, used to signify the true nature of the world)." She answered as her eyes drifted back towards the infirmary door.
"And what's the truth?" He asked.
"He wouldn't understand." She sighed dramatically.
"Well make me."
"I cannot, one must learn Dao for themselves."
"River you're not making any sense."
"See? He cannot see and so he calls her crazy."
"I didn't call you crazy." Simon defended.
"He thinks it."
"You can't possibly know what I am thinking River." He said absently as he searched for something he really didn't need. Mainly because he wasn't entirely sure she couldn't, but he told himself that that was crazy, people couldn't read minds.
"Everything flows through the River," she whispered quietly.
"Where we headed Mal?" Riddick asked as he caught up to him on the stairs.
"Skyplex 'round Ezra." Mal answered as he continued to walk.
"O di yu (Oh hell), tell me it ain't Niska."
"What's wrong with Niska?"
"Did a job for him a while back, man ain't right Mal."
"Coming from you that's absolutely terrifying," Mal replied, amusement in his tone.
"Ain't kiddin' Mal, keep the girls on the ship," Riddick warned. "Ain't a place for them and you don't want him knowin' all you count as yours. The job goes south for any reason; he'll grab everyone around you first and make you watch."
"Well I wasn't plannin' on lettin' them go for a picnic Riddick, ain't a gorraam idiot." Mal snapped and then stopped dead in his tracks in front of the engine room.
"Think little Kaylee's havin' an off day," Riddick remarked as he raised an eyebrow, and took in the unholy mess of wires and cords which hung draped across everything. Every panel and console had been torn open and patched together again seemingly at random with no regard for fire prevention whatsoever.
"Kaylee!" Mal yelled.
The mechanic in question sat with her eyes closed, a dreamy smile on her grease stained face in the Companion's shuttle as Inara brushed out her hair.
"Do you want me to put it up?" She asked.
"No that's okay," Kaylee mumbled enjoying the rare sensation of being pampered. She mighta been a mechanic but she was still a girl gorraam it; something the rest of the crew seemed to forget.
"You have lovely hair," Inara smiled down at her, "I'm sure the doctor thinks so as well."
"Simon?" Kaylee piped, "No, he's just… He could never… I'm a…Do you think it looks better up?" She asked anxiously.
"We can experiment," Inara laughed, "and who knows maybe we'll get wild later and wash your face," She teased.
"Do you ever do this for your clients?"
"Very occasionally, not all of them have hair enough to brush."
"Have you ever had to service a really hideous client? Like one that had boils and such?" Kaylee asked curiously.
"A companion chooses her clients, that's guild law. But physical appearance doesn't matter so terribly. You look for a compatibility of spirit… there's an energy about a person that is difficult to hide, you try to feel that…"
"Then you try to feel the energy of their credit account, it's got a kinda aura," Mal interrupted walking into the shuttle unannounced.
"What did I say to you about barging into my shuttle?" Inara asked coldly.
"That it was manly and impulsive?" Mal offered.
"Yes, very precisely," she narrowed her eyes, "only I believe the precise words I used were, 'Don't.'."
"Well your holding my mechanic in thrall, and Kaylee what in the hell is goin' on in that engine room? Were they're monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys that maybe gotten loose, 'cause I can't see a single other gorraam reason for its state." Mal snapped.
"I had to rewire the grav thrust 'cause somebody won't replace the crappy compression coil." Kaylee shot back heatedly.
"Well get the place squared away, it's dangerous in there and I ain't payin' you to get your hair played with."
Kaylee rose in a huff, "Ke-wu de lao bao jun (horrible old tyrant)." She grumbled passing him.
"We work before we play," he shot at her back as she stormed out. "You servicin' crew now?" He asked Inara.
"In your lonely pathetic dreams," She snorted. "What do you want?"
"We got a job."
"Congratulations. This job wouldn't be on any decently civilized planet where I could screen some respectable clients?" She asked arching an eyebrow.
"Respectable clients? Seems like a contradiction."
"Don't start." She warned him.
"We don't have a location yet, we'll be docking on a Skyplex in a bit, its run by a fellow called Niska."
"Never heard of him," Inara shrugged.
"Well I have, and while we're there you and Kaylee will stay confined to the ship."
"Is the petty criminal perchance ashamed to be riding with the Companion?" She asked.
"Niska's got a very unlovely rep, he's got work for me fine, but it ain't the kinda place you'd be safe."
"Mal, if you're being a gentleman I may die of shock." Inara teased.
He gave her a half smirk and bowed dramatically at the waist before he walked away, only to pop his head back in a second later, "Have you got time to do my hair?" He asked playfully.
"Out." She ordered him.
Mal, Zoe, Jayne, and Riddick followed two heavily armed and armored guards deep into the bowels of the Skyplex. Serenity's four gun hands walked alertly, all subconsciously memorizing the path they had taken from the ship, counting guards they passed, and noting possible spots for cover. That gorram itch was back, but this time it seemed to be a collective one. They stopped in front of a large reinforced vault door, and Mal though outwardly just as stoic as his crew, had to restart his own heart as a huge, tattooed, hulk of a hun dan (bastard) appeared on the other side of a door, brandishing an overly large angular blade.
"Crow." Riddick greeted evenly.
Crow growled in response.
"Great, a friend of yours?" Mal asked sarcastically.
"Its fine Crow, they can come in," a heavily accented voice called from behind the tattooed monstrosity, who stepped aside to allow the crew to enter.
"Malcolm Reynolds is which?" An older man in an expensive suit and thin wire framed glasses asked from behind a large wooden desk.
"I'm Captain Reynolds, my first mate Zoe, this is Jayne and…"
"Richard Riddick," he finished for Mal, a small smile gracing his face, "If I had known Malcolm Reynolds had a man of your such caliber aboard his ship I would have requested services much sooner," he said happily. "I am most pleased to learn you are not dead."
"Ain't that easy to kill," Riddick rumbled in response.
"Well that is good, yes? Yes." He turned his attention back to Mal, "Forgive me, I am being rude, I am Adelai Niska. You have all met Crow, he likes to stand behind door and give big "Boo"," he said good-naturedly.
"We got word you might have a job for us," Mal replied evenly, very much ready to get the job and be on his way, old man gave him the creeps somethin' fierce.
"Yes, yes, an exciting job, a train, you have worked a train before?" He asked as he rose and walked around his desk.
"We've hit a few," Mal told him.
"Are you going to ask me what I need?" He asked.
"As a rule no."
"Yes good, you have a reputation, you and Richard Riddick, you do the job, no complications, Malcolm Reynolds is a man that gets it done that is the talk."
"Well I'm glad to hear that."
"Do you know what a reputation is?" He asked, as he face grew serious, "It is… people talk, it is gossip," he struggled for the words in English, "it's not to hold, touch it, you can't. Not from gossip. Now I also have a reputation, not so pleasant, I think you know. Crow?" He gestured toward a door to his left and Crow opened it.
Zoe had to physically stop herself from taking a step back at the image of a man hanging upside down over a drainage pipe, his body mangled beyond identification. Mal exchanged a meaningful glance with her as Niska closed the door. Jayne gave Riddick look, as if to say, 'You gotta be ruttin' kidding me right?' he merely shrugged in response. He had been expecting that, having gotten a similar 'talk' when he took his first job from Niska. First and only job, man just wasn't right. The others however had not, and their faces showed it clearly.
"Now for you, my reputation is not from gossip. You see this man; he does not do the job. I show you what I do to him and my reputation is now fact, solid," he emphasized his point by hitting his closed fist into the center of his open palm. "Richard Riddick knew this fact, but," he shrugged, "I felt it was important for you to know this as well. You do the train job for me, than you are solid, this is a strong relationship."
"Right," Mal looked more than a bit uneasy.
"You do not like that I killed this man." Niska stated as he wagged his finger.
"Well, I'm sure he was a very bad person," Mal assured him. It didn't look good to criticize the man that was givin' you the job, but would he be taking another? Fuck no. Not to mention he didn't think Niska was the type of man who took criticism well.
Niska waved a hand in dismissal, "My wife's nephew," he shrugged. "At dinner I am getting earful, there is no way out of that," he said as he walked behind his desk. "So… The train job." He continued, as he pressed down on a large clear piece of digital paper and a train schematic appeared. "Here in the fifth car, two boxes, Alliance goods. You don't mind taking from the Alliance from your reputation I think." He smiled at Mal, who quite honestly didn't have it in him to smile back.
"You get on the train at Hancock, heading to Paradiso. You get the boxes off before you hit Paradiso, and," he clicked the paper over to reveal another map, "deliver to Crow here. Half the money now, Crow gives you the other half at rendezvous point. Anything goes wrong then your reputation is only gossip and things between us, not so solid. Yes?"
Endnote: Next update is being posted immediately.
