Chapter 10
Paradise: Tempus Fugit
The morning broke crisp and cold. Dinalla, Riddick and Puck quickly ate some bread and cold cuts before totally extinguishing the fire and loading up. This time, Puck perched in back while Dinalla held the reins and Riddick held the shotgun lightly. She could see him scanning the woods, taking in each movement and sound with an intensity she figured was part of him being in new territory. She had no idea that what she mistook for nervousness was really alertness. Being alert is what had kept him alive and out of merc hands for this long.
The wagon followed the foothills higher and higher until the road grew narrower and narrower, hemmed in by rising ridges of rock. The forest appeared to peel back as the mountain truly took over until there were only scrub brush and stunted trees clinging to any crevices they could find.
"We have to walk the rest of the way," Dinalla said and squinted through a part in the rock. "Shouldn't be far if I remember right."
Riddick hopped out of the wagon and looked at the bed full of the materials from his craft. Despite his goggles being back in place, Dinalla seemed to read him easily and chuckled.
"Leave it for now. Let's see if he's home first."
Di hefted the duffel over her shoulder and picked up her skirts to lead the way over some boulders. After trekking for only 10 minutes or so, the rugged terrain smoothed out into a shelf that wrapped around the mountain side. Piles of rock debris marked where rock slides had occurred. The trees grew a bit taller here and the undergrowth had more purchase. The trio trudged along for nearly a half hour until Di started looking carefully up the mountain side looking for landmarks. Despite the aging of the rock, she recognized a dome shaped protuberance and got excited - they were almost there.
As they rounded an jagged curtain of rock, Riddick was surprised to see a long narrow opening in the mountainside. It would have been completely hidden if Di hadn't turned towards it like she knew were she was going. But the narrow gap was only the "hallway" entrance because they stopped at a crude metal door with brackets pounded into the stone. The door looked like it would stand up to a nuclear holocaust, and Riddick paused to think why this old man would need to protect himself so badly. The grip tightened on the shotgun still in his hand.
Without ceremony, Dinalla raised her fist to strike at the door. But, before she could even make contact, the door opened wide and a grizzled old man with long braided yellowish-white hair stood smiling at her making the short, white whiskers of his face shoot off in different directions.
"Dinalla! Puck! How good it is to see you. It's been so long!" His voice sounded somewhere between a chain smoker and sandpaper.
Dinalla fell into his open arms and squeezed until the old man protested. "My ribs, girl!" Then it was Puck's turn to hug to man, but he was much more gentle.
"Sorry," she said with no apology in her voice and smile bigger than ever. "It has been a long time. I'm sorry about that. And I hate to come when..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes flickered to Riddick.
The man seemed to see Riddick for the first time. His eyes scrunched up as he appraised the man in goggles and a shirt that look like it was meant for someone else. Riddick stood in a seemingly relaxed stance, half-smirk on his face under the old man's appraisal. Neither spoke and Dinalla fidgeted until she couldn't take it.
"This is Mr. Rick, Oldtimer. He crashed here over 2 months ago -" Riddick was a little startled to hear the amount of time since one day had run into another" - and he was, well, actually, we were hoping that you could help him find a way to get him home." Her words ran together as if she was in a hurry to get everything out before appraisal turned to animosity.
Both men, now looking each other in the face, didn't move while Di spoke. The Oldtimer broke the stand off first, muttering a "Huh" and turning back to Di.
"I don't know, I don't know..." His eyes flickered to Riddick again. "Well, come in. Don't hover in the door like a bunch of vagabonds." He shuffled everyone inside before shutting the door.
The narrow path through the rock opened wider and wider until at last it opened into a gigantic domed cave that was packed full of so many machines and gadgets that it looked like someone had built a mammoth-sized erector set in the middle of the room. There appeared to be some kind of living room area - scattered armchairs, side tables, and a fireplace with a large metal pot steaming over it - to the left, and on the right looked like a series of workstations with various electric components spewing wires on the tables. Most surprising of all, flat-screen and holo-monitors flashed with streams of data that Riddick didn't understand. One set of monitors cycled through images that Riddick recognized as the outside perimeter of the cave - a surveillance system. Riddick whistled in amazement. It seemed like this planet, that lacked any modern technology, had stored whatever scraps they had in this cavern.
Dinalla smiled at Riddick's surprise and whispered, "I told you he would be the one to help you."
The smile didn't last long.
"What mess have you gotten yourself into now, Dinalla?" The Oldtimer scowled in her direction from a stool beside a workstation.
She faltered for a moment. "Old man," she started, but it wasn't a derogatory moniker; her tone held too much reverence for that. "We came to you for help. We brought you what was left of his ship," Dinalla said to the Oldtimer. "Different technology than anything you have here." She swept her hand around the room.
The old man's look of intrigue interrupted his scowl for a moment. Then he snorted and said, "There isn't much in this universe I haven't seen."
"You haven't seen this," Riddick said grimly.
Bushy white eyebrows scrunched up as the man squinted into Riddick's goggles. "And, what makes you say that?"
Riddick arms crossed over his chest. "Cuz you're alive and here." He stood by the fireplace and now leaned casually against it. "And, if you'd met the Necromongers, you wouldn't be. They force people to convert or die."
Puck kept his rapt attention on Riddick while Di looked sharply at him when he spoke those last words and shuddered in distaste. The old man's fingers massaged his jaw at those words, making an audible scratchy sound from the stubble.
"Except you." A statement.
"Except me," Riddick confirmed.
The starring contest resumed once again. Finally, Riddick broke off and turned to look at Puck who was as bewildered as Dinalla was.
"Puck..." Riddick said in the tension of silence. "Why don't scout a faster route to the wagon for us?"
Di truly looked confused and a bit hurt. Puck glanced at Dinalla, but she had deep furrow between her sleek dark eyebrows as she looked for clues in the Oldtimer's face. He looked back at Riddick whose expression was as blank as stone. Reluctantly, Puck turned and trudged back out the opening.
"She doesn't know," the old man's statement was barely above a whisper, but it filled the room anyway.
Riddick should have known that with all this equipment, he wouldn't be able to hide his identity for long. The old man probably thought he had died in the crash until now.
"What don't I know?" Dinalla looked up from her reverie and scanned back and forth between the Oldtimer and Riddick.
Riddick was the first to move; his lips slid into a smirk and he set down the shotgun next to a pile of rubber tubing. No sense in scaring her now.
"No... Less she knew, the better." His voice sounded more confident than he felt. There was a part of him that regretted having to do this, but he shoved into the corner of his mind. He needed to get this over with.
"Humph," the man responded. "Well, she will need more than your protection if you don't get off this rock and soon. I've already been tracking another ship circling, kinda like they are waiting for something."
The short squat form shambled over to a holo-vid, punching at something until a diagram of the space around the planet showed the unmistakable form of a ship in orbit.
"What is going on?!" Dinalla's shock had worn off and the impatience marred her face in anger, the first real sign of anger since Riddick had crash landed into her lap.
"Your friend here," the Oldtimer pointed a knobby finger toward Riddick. "I don't know what he told you, but that ship -" he punched his finger at the screen "- is here for him -" another finger jab "- and, if they decide to land, we might all be in for a heap a trouble."
Dinalla looked from the screen to Riddick and then shook her head. "I don't understand... Then we can contact them to pick him up, and you can get back to -"
Riddick shook his head uneasily while interrupting her. "Not unless I plan to go back to the slam... which I don't."
Everything was silent while Dinalla processed that information. She started to tremble. "Slam? Like prison?"
Riddick couldn't help himself. "Prison is for the minor leagues."
The Oldtimer punched something else and the screen shifted to Riddick's face, and he sighed. The pictures were side by side: one of him in the corridor outside pitted against his official mugshot. A stream of words flew across the right side of his image. His criminal record. He thought it looked a bit longer than it should be. Ah, well...
"Richard B. Riddick," she read and kept reading, her eyes growing wider. "You... are a criminal? A murderer?" Her voice shook slightly as she caught some of the phrases rolling past. Then her eyes took on a look of fear as she glanced to the hallway that Puck had walked down moments before.
"I would never hurt a child," Riddick said through clenched teeth. He was surprised at how angry that made him that she would think that. "I would never jeopardize either of you."
"But you have," the old man's gravely voice accused. "Just being here, just breathing, you have put Di and Puck in danger. I swore on her mother's deathbed that I would protect them, and you just made my promise nearly impossible to keep, mister."
"Gramps, I do what I do to survive. I don't suppose that makes sense when you hide yourself on a dustball, back-water planet like this." His words and the vehemence behind them made Dinalla flinch. "But out there, you have to scratch and fight and sometimes kill or be killed."
The Oldtimer humphed again and hopped from the stool to stand in front of Riddick, looking defiantly into his face. "Those are mercs out there. They are hunting you and, on this dustball, back-water planet as you called it, who's to say they won't level it to find you, huh?"
Riddick's fists opened and closed, jaw set tight until he made sure he would not choke the life from this little man.
"Give them what they came for." His voice was low, and the smirk shifted to a grin as the white-haired man squinted at the words.
"You have a plan." A statement, not a question. His eyes were locked on Riddick's face.
Riddick nodded anyway, jaw clenching.
Di's voice interrupted them. "But... You said you wouldn't go back to prison." Her voice at turned from the hurt anger to concern that he was throwing himself to the wolves.
Finally, the Oldtimer humphed and stepped away. "He isn't going back to prison. He is gonna steal their ship."
Dinalla swung her head to look at Riddick.
"Done it before," Riddick muttered still watching the crazy old man. "Sooner I get away from you and Puck, the safer you'll be." When he was finished stating the obvious, he turned back to Di.
When Riddick looked back at Dinalla's face, he felt like someone had punched him in the gut. He had expected Dinalla to scream at him, point a finger like the old man had. But this was much much worse. Her face was a mask of betrayal, the eyes glassy and brimming with wetness, her lips trembling as if she would speak in such a speechless moment. Riddick blinked hard because he thought he saw another's face for a moment, a double-image of Di's hurt face and one much younger when he had announced he was leaving. The reasons for the hurt were different but no less palpable right now to Riddick. Dinalla had been nothing but open and honest, not asking questions, not poking at things she didn't want to know. But, she had not done it out of ignorance; she had done it out of respect and a sense of privacy. Now her ignorance could very well get her and Puck killed. The other one's reasons had been... His lips pressed in a hard line as he rearranged the wall of memory to forget her once again.
Dinalla's face slowly shifted almost like a cloud crossed the sun and cast a shadow on her face. The betrayed, hurt look was replaced by a fury that burned deep in her eyes. It made her look kind of alluring with her eyes blazing like that.
But, then she turned and snatched the shotgun from where it lay.
"Need to go find Puck," she murmured, the pain obvious in her voice. Before she could make it all the way out of the cave without anyone seeing, Riddick caught the glimmer of tears on her cheek and the shaky hand that pushed them angrily away as she left.
"Let her go," the old man said when Riddick made a step to follow. "She'll be fine. Her heart is too big to be mad for long," he said quietly. Then his voice turned sharp again. "Now let's get you off this rock for good."
With a bit of scouting, Puck had found a faster way back to the wagon. It was a bit steeper than the original path, but the time saved made the difference. Over the next several hours, Puck, Di and Riddick unloaded the wagon wordlessly. It was almost like when they had loaded the cart, trudging a path through the brush back and forth, minus the amiable humor from before. Meanwhile, the Oldtimer carefully assessed and sorted the pieces among the existing piles, muttering to himself the entire time. By the time the light was fading from the sky and making it too treacherous to continue, they were finished. The simple drudgery of lugging the scrap seemed to help Di remain composed although Puck picked up on some of the obvious tension, for he refused to leave her side during the day.
Finally, when the work was done, the Oldtimer ambled over to what looked like the living area with its mismatched armchairs and carton-and-slat table to clear space for them to eat. He began picking up endless bits of cords, wires, tubing and whatnot stacking or throwing them into various piles. In fact, it looked like the mechanical paraphernalia was protruding from nearly every available surface in the room. Once space had been cleared from the minimal area needed for seating his guests, he indicated they should sit while he made himself busy at the fireplace. Something that smelled like a rich stew was bubbling in a cauldron over the fire and Puck licked his lips in anticipation. The old man served up the soup to the hungry group. He gave himself and Di the only warped metal bowls he had, and Puck and Riddick got dinged up mugs. "Don't entertain much," he grumbled as way of an apology.
Riddick mumbled a thanks and set into the stew with relish. It was made up of greasy shreds of some kind of animal meat and a starchy root vegetable. While he ate, Dinalla and the old man kept up an amiable conversation like two old friends catching up on news. But, Riddick noticed, Di kept certain details from him like the encounter with Matthews.
Finally, after Puck had had two and Riddick had had three helpings of the thick meaty stew, Puck was almost falling asleep in his cup. Riddick picked him up and followed the old man to the back of the cave which twisted again into a corridor that was shorter than the entrance. This one opened into a smaller cavern that was obviously a bedroom of sorts. An assortment of mattresses lined one wall. Some were leaned up against it more like couches than beds. There were clothes strewn about, and it seemed that some of the piles of electronics had found there way into this room, although not as bad as the first cave.
Dinalla and the old man shifted things about, throwing clothes in piles and pulling the couch-like mattress out into full beds, until there was enough space for Puck to lay out comfortably. The boy was asleep before his head hit the pillow. The adults returned to the main room to make plans.
The Oldtimer dropped into a chair with a humph. "If their course holds steady, the merc ship should be here in about 18 hours," the old man grumbled as he stoked the fire. It didn't really need it. The thick rock of the cave kept the temperature even throughout the year.
"Plenty of time," said Riddick and sat across from him.
Only Dinalla did not take a seat. She stood, hands clasped in front of her, between the two men. "I'm not helping." There was an edge to Dinalla's voice as she looked from the old man to Riddick. "I won't involve Puck in anything illegal. We're leaving in the morning." Riddick could tell she was still angry although her voice was calm.
Riddick nodded but didn't bother to tell her that it might be too late already. No reason to make her more skittish that necessary.
The Oldtimer gripped one of her hands gently in his papery, smooth ones. "Don't worry about a thing, dear. Why don't you get some sleep?"
Di nodded reluctantly and turned toward the bedroom without a glance at Riddick.
The Oldtimer sighed heavily when she left. "That poor girl has the biggest heart of anyone I know. It causes her more grief." He shook his head sadly.
Riddick didn't speak for several minutes. Both men just watched the flames dance.
"I don't know how much Dinalla told you... about her past." The old man spoke quietly without looking away from the fire. "Her father," he twisted the word like a curse, "is a very powerful man. Influential and without remorse."
He stopped speaking and Riddick just waited.
"If those mercs get close... even after all these years..." The Oldtimer's voice drifted off but Riddick picked up the meaning.
"Her father may be still trying to get her back?"
The grizzled chin nodded up and down slowly. "I wouldn't put it past him."
The crackling fire filled in the silence for a bit. Riddick's brain turned over the new information. He had only thought of Dinalla getting tagged for giving him shelter.
"Come on." The old man shambled over to the work area and dug through a cabinet finding a rucksack and shoving somethings inside. Lastly, he pulled out an old map and unfolded it, Riddick could see it was a map of the area and complete with topography probably printed from one of his machines.
"We are here," the Oldtimer pointed to the southern side of the mountain. "The ship should land here if they hold course." He pointed to a large open space well beyond the structures of the town.
Riddick glanced at the screen that still should the slow progress of the ship. "Moderate sized ship. Probably a crew of 10 or so..." Riddick calculated the best way to dispose of them, in ones or groups of twos and threes. He could pilot a ship even that size by himself as long as he didn't need to fight and fly.
"Follow this river." A squiggly line bypassed the mountain and curved around to the northern edge of town. It was probably a stream off of this river that fed the one by Dinalla's house. "Use'ta have a small boat here, but it's been years. It might not be in the same place if it's there at all, but it would make the trip a lot faster."
Riddick nodded in understanding. Paddle down river, hop off just before the town and be ready to meet up with the mercs as they landed. Surprise would be a great advantage.
Finally, Riddick's curiosity burned. "Gramps... Why are you helping me? What is it to you?"
"I made a promise," he replied simply.
Too simple for Riddick's comfort. "What was her mother to you, old man?"
The Oldtimer considered the question for a time before answering. "It's a long story, as long as this planet has been inhabited." He climbed onto a stool again and his eyes got a far away look of one remembering things long passed.
"When we established this colony, we wanted it to be the great democratic experiment. We hand picked people who were skillful but might have lacked money or means. The disenfranchised of the techno-corrupt worlds where money and power crush humanity. A closed but growing system, one protected from outside influences." As he spoke, his voice grew more vehement. Then he sighed and shook his head sadly. Now his voice took on a neutral, scientific quality. "I am the last one left, the final observer. When Di's mother made a plea for help, I thought... What if we introduced a new element? After three generations, how would the planet's inhabitants respond to being introduced to an unknown variable?" He humphed again, voice choked with anger and frustration. "We had underestimated that isolation from the greater universe would contribute to xenophobia. So, when I realized what was happening to Di and her mother, it was too late. She was already sick and dying. She made me promise not to send Di away," he said sadly, "to watch over her and keep her from harm, from her father... And, then you showed up." He humphed again.
Riddick had listened to the old man without comment, leaning against the table behind him, arms over his chest. He was certain of several things during the course of his speech. For one, the old man and his group of buddies had planted people here in some warped experiment. For another thing, the Oldtimer had lived for three generations which made him at least 150 years old. And, lastly, the old man was a arrogant prick.
"You and your friends," Riddick's voice grumbled, "played God with these people's lives... with Di and her mom and Puck." Riddick growled now. "You are no better than a little boy with an ant farm shaking it up just to see what happens."
"No one was forced, everyone knew the conditions of this planet," the old man replied angrily. "They wanted to be free from techno-tyrany-"
Riddick pushed himself from the table, face inches from the old man's. "Doesn't excuse what Di has gone through. She didn't make the choice to become an outcast, to help people while they spit behind her back."
The Oldtimer starred, not replying, lips pressed together in a hard thin line. Then he spoke, biting out the words. "I can't change the past, but I can keep my promise." He relaxed and pulled away from Riddick's silver glare. "Like you said, faster I get you outta here, the safer they will be."
Riddick nodded once, folded the map and shoved it into the pack before slinging it across his back. "Messing with people's live like that," he said, shaking his head. He paused, not quite sure why he hesitated. "What... will you tell them?" he spoke quietly.
The old man shrugged and glanced toward the bedroom. "The truth. You had a date with mercs."
Riddick couldn't say anything against that. Even though he might hide it at his convenience, he wouldn't deny the truth.
"If it weren't for Puck and Di, I might just shake things up," he said instead, voice a low rumble and full of animosity. "Ever observed a bunch of pissed off ants?"
The two men glared silently at each other before Riddick turned and strode down the long entryway and out into the fragile darkness of the forest. Not needing his goggles, he set off at a run, long lopping strides that covered ground and conserved energy.
Like the old man had said... he had a date with mercs.