Official Pitch Black information--Johns' chase log in particular--clearly states that the merc used kids in order to catch Riddick. Last chapter, folks! I hope you enjoyed. Please drop me a line and let me know what you think.
Premonition
A Pitch Black Alternate Universe
Chapter Seven
"There's a system model in that building," Jack was saying as we rejoined the group.
"Thirty revolutions for every eleven standard years," Sean pitched in. "Once every sixty revolutions, this planet undergoes a complete and total eclipse. We found core samples over there dated twenty-two years ago this month."
"We could go dark any time now?" Paris asked, voice shrill. Sean and Jack both nodded solemnly.
"Then we'll have to work quickly," I decided. "Fry, we need you to reconfigure power cells for the skiff we found. Shazza, Zeke, the wings need patching. See what you can find. Imam, you and the kids collect as much water as you can from that vaporator, in whatever sealable containers you can dig up. Sean, Johns, Paris, you're to gather any provisions you can find. Remember, groups of two or more." Fry hurried to catch up as Riddick and I turned around once again. He'd hoisted two of the heavy power cells, one over each shoulder, while Fry and I struggled with the other three that we needed.
"Johns keeps trying to get somebody's glasses or sneak off by himself," the pilot told me, gasping with effort. "He won't pull his weight anymore."
"He's in withdrawal. He'll do more and more stupid things until he gets a fix or gets killed. He doesn't want to shoot up around anyone else, either," I explained. I was hoping Sean, being a big guy, would break one or two of the merc's bones, 'cause he was sure to try something soon.
My cold attitude toward the bounty hunter seemed to scare Fry; she let go of the cell between us and shuffled quickly toward the now-visible skiff. I ground my teeth and pulled, the combined weight of the cells seventeen kilos more than my full mass.
Riddick took them both out of my hands a moment later, having already left his two in the skiff. Fry was rewiring by the time I stumbled up, exhausted, and she rudely ordered the big guy to toss the twenty-two-year-old ninety-gig cell. He did, but he wasn't at all nice about it, and then he ushered me over into the shade under one wing. His glance told me what he wanted to know.
"Twelve of us are getting outta here, no more," I muttered. "That's all that could possibly fit in there, and that's all I packed for—emergency rations for a week and a dozen people. If I can help it, Johns is getting left behind. Fry, too, if she keeps being a royal bitch." He drew me close, and, killer or not, it felt damned good to be held by Riddick. "Told Jack she could stay with me since she doesn't have anyone else."
"Cute kid," he replied. "Better than the holy man's boys." I nodded and just basked in his presence for a bit.
I had finally found someone like me, reflexes, senses, and all. Well, maybe not the premonitions part, but…
"What color are your eyes?" It took a minute for the question to penetrate my temporary bliss.
"Bluish, but they gleam silver in the dark." Riddick's arm tightened, almost but not quite to the point of pain.
"Mine were brown, but they're silver all the time now." He took a deep breath. "Johns killed a kid in order to catch me. Three-year-old."
"Then he dies slowly," I snarled. I was always at my best when a case involved a hurt or dead child. The skiff's ramp hissed closed. "If she does anything more than a hull integrity test, so help me God, I'll stake her out next to the merc." Perhaps fifteen minutes later, it lowered again, and I took my left hand off the hilt of my dagger.
"Patch up the wings, and we'll be good to go," Fry announced smugly. I frowned at her, and she seemed to intuit my question. "I got it all stuffed back down in that hole. It'll be tight for thirteen, though." I just smirked, and she backed up two steps.
"That won't be a problem," Riddick growled. "Find Shazza and Zeke and get to work on the damn wings." White-faced and wide-eyed, Fry took off. She rounded the corner, and then my mind went haywire.
One large palm was cupping my cheek, the fingers threaded through my hair, and firm lips covered mine. I moaned, and my next clear thought was registering that I'd straddled the big man and was kissing him just as hard as he was me. Then I heard voices approaching.
"Fuck!" I swore. At this point, we weren't likely to get another moment alone, not for a long while. And damned if I wasn't hot for him in a bad way.
I stomped on my libido as the prospectors and pilot came around the corner carrying a big roll of what looked to be mylar sheeting. The synthetic would be ideal for patching the wings; we only needed the flight surfaces to get out of the atmosphere, and it wasn't like we'd be setting down on another planet. The plan was to get as far as the Sol-track shipping lanes—the ones Hunter-Gratzner had been on to begin with—and stick out a metaphorical thumb. First ship that had a bay would be obliged to reel us in.
We'd gotten about two-thirds of the wings done when I noticed the dark smudge on the horizon.
"Fuck! Time's runnin' out!" I stood for a moment and bellowed in the direction of the vaporator, then went back to work, only faster. Sean, Paris, Imam, and the kids showed up with the sled and started loading things into the skiff without any instruction.
"Where the hell is Johns?" Shazza wondered aloud.
"Don't know, could care less," I replied quickly. "Prob'ly shooting up and not gonna make it here." I whacked in a few more fasteners before noticing her shocked stare. "He killed a three-year-old to get Riddick, Shazz. He ain't worth the effort. At least he's never hurt a kid or a woman who wasn't attacking him." I jerked my head in the direction of my man, and she got back to work.
We finished just as the first of two sets of planetary rings covered the lower, orange sun. The blue sun was already out of sight. Fry swung from the wings directly into the skiff, turning on all the lights and beginning to run-up the engines.
Riddick and I grabbed the sled and simply pitched its remaining contents inside. The kids were next, then Shazza, Zeke, Paris, and finally Sean.
"Just Johns left," Paris gasped.
"Fuck him. He went off on his own, he can live or die on his own. His choice," I responded, dropping my side of the sled. Riddick and I stepped in, side by side, as the red sun was also covered by a ring.
The ramp came up slowly, almost painfully so. The two of us stood at its edge, shades perched on our heads and blades bared, while an unholy shrieking filled the air. With it came a horde of tiny predators, no bigger than a small dog. Those that dared to come within reach paid dearly, carcasses and thick, blue blood splattering on the ramp and sizzling in the light.
Twice, I heard Johns fire his big gauge, and then there was a barely audible scream. Asshole was dead, and good riddance. I hit one last creature as the ramp closed, and its little body tumbled inside as the ramp sealed with a hiss. Fry hit the thrusters almost immediately.
I watched the tiny corpses and the blood all but evaporate in the light, until nothing was left but skeletons. We'd made it by the skin of our teeth.
"Gonna be a lotta questions, whoever picks us up," Jack mused from the copilot's seat. "Could even be mercs. So whadda we tell 'em 'bout you?" even squinting in the light, I could tell she was looking at Riddick.
"We don't even mention him," I said firmly, touching his arm gently. "Especially not to mercs. We'll say one of us is wounded, just barely stable but not enough to be moved out of the skiff. I'll be a medic, and I'll stay with him to 'make sure he stays stable.' We straight?" Everyone nodded except the three boys, and as soon as Imam had finished translating for them, they agreed, too.
Now I had to rely on Fate to bring us a ride before the water and rations ran out.
