End of backstory...almost. But Jack is coming back.
Almost three years later….Helion System – Planet Chronus.
Kyra was sitting at the bar waiting on Randy to return so they could put the finishing touches on their project. Boone, the club owner, came up to her and set a beer in front of her. "You look like you needed this."
"I must look like shit then, Boone. Thanks."
"Never! Just a little down. How many more days you have here?"
"Probably two at the most. We'll stay here through Sunday though. I don't think the kid would be too happy with me if I pulled him away from here before the weekend.
"Speaking of the little devil…where is he?"
"Probably found some girl to flirt with. He'll be back soon."
"He better. The club opens in three hours and you have to change into your party clothes. You promised to dance on the stand tonight."
Kyra rolled her eyes. "I never promised." She grinned though despite herself.
"You love it and you know it."
"Only in a sick kind of way." She slid off the bar stool. "See you tonight."
She took her beer to the booth she always sat in and relaxed. Drinking it, she thought of Randy. He was Kyra's right hand when it came to her security business. She thought back to when she had first met him on Helion Prime. It was six months after she graduated. She and Rob were eating at a café and celebrating a large contract she had just landed with a local law firm. She was showing him her plans on her tablet when she noticed something odd. It took her a moment to grasp what was happening. She grabbed Rob's hand out of surprise and almost laughed. "I'm being hacked!"
"Someone is hacking Ms. Technology Queen?" Rob loved her but he never quite got it how she was so engrossed by anything that ran from a processor. "How is that possible?"
"It's possible. Either I've made a major mistake or he's really good. Look around casually and see if anyone who has a tablet or handheld."
"There's a kid on a bench to my right. He's got a handheld."
"I'm going over there, but I need to take him by surprise. I've got his access now limited but he's already in my system and I can't let him get away. Stay here." She kissed him and got up from their table. She went into the café and came out the side entrance, circling behind the boy on the bench. He was too caught up in what he had found on her tablet to notice her.
"Man this chick has some great shit!" Randy was smiling to himself. He could fence these plans and make some great money. He didn't realize that Kyra was right behind him.
She leaned down next to him. "Yes, I do have some great shit, don't I kid?" Randy hesitated for a moment and then tried to bolt. She had him in a choke hold before he could even get up. "Handheld..NOW!" He handed it to her. "Get up, nice and slowly."
Randy had little choice. He had never been caught before and he had been in her system all of five minutes before she had been all over him. She linked her arm through his and they walked back to her table. "Sit and if you try to run away, you'll get a face full of concrete, are we clear?" He nodded and sat down.
"What are you going to do to me?" He watched Krya take his handheld and purge the hard drive. "Please! I need that. Shit!" He slapped his hand on his forehead as she destroyed his data. Taking out small screw driver she kept in a tool kit, she opened the back cover removing the hard drive and the back up drive she had found. She put it back together, minus the drives and turned it on. Nothing…not even an operating system, which meant he didn't have a hidden system drive in there so she handed it back to him. "You're giving it back to me?"
"It's useless now until you get a new hard drive installed and your OS loaded, so yes. But if you think I'm going to let you go you've got another thing coming. Are you hungry?"
Randy didn't know what she was up to but he was hungry so he nodded yes. Kyra gave him the menu and called the waiter over to take his order. "You're buying me lunch? What kind of crazy chick are you?"
Rob laughed knowing how Kyra could get if challenged. "I wouldn't go there kid."
She leaned over the table and looked him square in the eyes. "The kind who will string you up by your panties if you get out of line with me. What's your name?"
"Randy."
"Well, Randy how did you manage to hack me? I'm good at what I do. So, either I was careless or you know something I don't."
Randy's face lit up with a grin. "You aren't careless. I'm just damn good."
"But not good enough to not get caught, right?" His grin disappeared. "Randy, how old are you?"
"Fourteen." Kyra felt her heart twinge. Kid is same age I was when Riddick left me. She recovered herself quickly. Rob knew nothing of Riddick and it had to stay that way. He wouldn't understand.
"Where are your parents?"
Eyeing the basket of peanuts on the table, he popped a couple in his mouth. "Not here! I left home two years ago. Too much shit going on there."
"Let me guess, you've been hacking and stealing your way the entire time?"
"It works for me. I get by."
"Randy what did you find out about me?"
"A little. You own some security company called JB&B. You design and install security systems. You're stuff looks good. I didn't see much for long, but gotta hand it to you. For a chick, you're all right. I have a few ideas of my own, though."
Rob saw her eyes light up. "Kyra…he's a kid."
For a moment she was a bit annoyed with him. "Rob, this is my business we're talking about. If you need to get back to the store, go. I'll see you back at the house tonight."
"Stepped on your toes have I? Sorry. Just trying to look out for you." He leaned down and kissed her and left them to talk.
Randy huffed. "I was watching the two of you and I don't get it. You're too much woman for him. What is he like thirty and you're twenty?
"I'll be nineteen in four months and he's twenty-eight."
"That guy would love to keep you on a leash."
"I'll thank you to keep your opinion about my fiancé to yourself. He's not up for discussion. Now, back to you. What were your ideas?"
Kyra and Randy remained at the café for another two hours talking. It didn't take her long to determine how brilliant the kid was. She was getting more business than she could handle alone and she needed someone with smarts, someone who could think like her. Unfortunately, she thought like a hacker, so it would take another hacker to measure up.
"Randy, you seem interested in what I do. Am I right?
"Designing this shit? Sure. I just think it's cool as hell that a hacker is doing it."
"It takes one to know one. And a better one to keep the next one out. Would you be at all interested in working with me?"
He snorted. "Right."
Grant…thank you for what you did to me, because I'm about to use it against this kid. "Let me put it to you this way. I can call the cops right now and have you arrested. You'll do jail time then six months to a year probation. OR, we can talk about option number two if you're not crazy about going to jail."
"You wouldn't."
"Do I look like I'm fucking with you, kid?" He swallowed and shook his head no. "Good, here's my offer. Take it or you're out of my hands. I need an apprentice. You work for me for six months. I give you a place to stay and food. No salary for three months. You hack, your ass is in jail. You cross me, you're in jail. You do an incredible job for me and demonstrate that sharp mind that I think you may have and you'll start earning a salary after three months. We'll re-evaluate the deal after six months."
"What kind of salary are we talking about?"
"My last job was a fourth of the size of this law firm I'm working on. I pulled in ten thousand creds profit. Based on your performance, you'll get minimum fifteen percent per job. Not all jobs pay as well mind you but I keep busy."
"Fifteen? I'm worth twenty-five easily."
"You've got some balls kid. Twenty…last offer."
"Deal!"
"You caved too quickly. I was ready to go up to thirty." Randy about choked on the third sandwich that he was eating. "You'll learn though, right? Finish your sandwich and come on. My fiancé has plenty of room in his place and I'm moving in with him right after my birthday."
"He'll be pissed."
"He'll get over it."
"Like I said…too much woman for him but he'll roll over just to keep you." She popped him on the back of his head and thought to herself that it probably wouldn't be the last time. Despite herself she thought of Riddick and what he used to say to her…and that it fit Randy, too. "You know, you got a mouth on you kid."
Randy was now seventeen and Kyra's twenty-second birthday was coming up on Friday. She didn't like birthdays…they were usually depressing for her. First she and Riddick had to leave when she turned twelve, then he left her at fourteen, then Rob had been taken away from her not long after she turned nineteen. It had been almost three years since Rob's death. Kyra left Helion Prime with Randy to start fresh not long after. In order to build a respected business, she learned she had to get serious about how she conducted herself, at least by day. She dressed the part quite well unless she was doing manual labor. She had to if she wanted clients to treat them as professionals. She wasn't a kid anymore, but she wasn't going to deny Randy his fun because of it or because of the business. She hadn't really taken the time to be a kid herself either, so by night she let Jack out…just a little.
Randy shook her out of her reminiscing. "Kyra. It took all day but I got the last components that… you're not listening."
"What?"
"See…I got the stuff."
"When did it arrive?"
"About an hour ago. The pilot delivered it himself. Said the supplier was anxious to get it to you and he had to come to Chronus anyway to pick up a shipment. That and he got a bonus if he could get it here today."
"Isn't that interesting? Talk about service."
Randy grinned. "I invited him to the club Friday for your birthday."
"You what? Shit Randy! What the hell were you thinking? You know I don't have time for men. Don't want the headache."
"Oh come on. You haven't even looked at a guy in almost three years. Really Kyra…you need to relax."
"Relax? Isn't that what I do by night? Relax? Or do you have a new definition of the word that I'm not aware of?"
"Maybe,but that's besides the point. I'm talking about actually cutting loose, getting your groove on, living it up with people around you other than me."
"Did you just say 'get your groove on'? Never mind. I have no interest in dating and I've made that clear…I thought."
"He's you're type."
She groaned. Will he never give up? "My type? You're seventeen. What in the hell would you know about a guy being my type?"
"Ok, here it goes. Light or dark?"
"Chicken meat?"
"Come on…work with me. Hair color. Light or dark, which is your preference?"
"Dark."
"Taller or shorter?"
"I'm 5'7…what do you think?"
"Tall. Next, business build or brawny."
She laughed. "What the hell is that?"
"Built like Rob or a guy with muscles, pecs…ripped."
Good god! "Ok…if we're talking physically, ideal man…ripped."
"Facial hair – yes, no, or no preference?"
"It looks good on some guys…definitely not a no."
"Lot a hair, short hair, or bald. Not hereditary…a choice."
Riddick, you've almost ruined me for men with hair. "Short to bald." Randy's eyebrow popped up. "What! Some bald men are very sexy."
"Eye color? What's your preference?"
"Darker eyes…or in the direction of blue."
"Bad ass or business suit?"
"Randy…you're awful."
"That's not an answer!"
"Uhg!"
"Come on Kyra…if both men were just as you preferred…both in a business suit but one had a hint of bad ass about him? Which would it be?"
She mumbled her answer. "What was that Kyra?"
"Bad ass – you happy now?"
"Oh yeah…thought so. Not to speak ill of the dead…I liked Rob, but he was on the bland side, kind of like plain yogurt."
"Randy!"
"Ok. Going on…Easy come or sarcastic streak? Nevermind…I know that answer….Sarcastic streak. Happy at home or urge for adventure?"
"Urge for adventure." Elbows on the table, Kyra propped up her head with her hands. "So, Dr.Love…my type is?"
"Close your eyes as I describe this…Tall, dark hair or bald, ripped, dark to blue eyes, facial hair not a bad thing, sarcastic, bad ass with an urge for adventure."
She listened to her preferences and the man somewhat resembled Riddick. Why does it always come back to him? Randy…sometimes I wish you would keep your mouth shut. "So…this guy you've invited. You said he's my type? Were you right?"
"You be the judge. He's a pilot, A.K.A, urge for adventure. Tall, but not too tall, ripped, goatee, short black hair, blue-gray eyes. When I told him that he should come to my "friend's" birthday bash, he said milk and cookies weren't his style, thinking that it was a party for someone my age. I told him that beer was more your style, he said he'd have to check his social calendar, so sarcasm is a given. He just oozes bad ass, too."
"Oozes?"
"Trust me…if he comes here, you'll think bad ass. It's the way he walked, talked, and just carried himself."
"Listen, I have a headache, which you gave me, so I'm going back to the condo. Finish things here. We'll go through a run through of the protocols tonight."
"Get some rest." Randy watched her go and then found Boone. "Boone! You got everything ready for Kyra's birthday Friday?"
"Kid, she's going to kill you…you know that."
"She loves me…and she'll love it. We'll be back tonight."
Friday night.
"I hate fucking birthdays. You know that Randy."
"Come on! You need this Kyra. It will be fun. Boone is having dinner catered at the club and he said that he's got live music tonight. Some band that he says you might like."
She yelled from the bathroom as she was finishing dressing. "Like Boone would know what I like. Who are they?"
"Queen's Resurrection?" The next thing he saw was her face with a huge grin.
"You're kidding me. He actually got them?" He rarely saw Kyra excited so it made him happy knowing that he had helped put the smile on her face.
"Yep…he knows how much you love the original band Queen and their songs since you sing them all the time. Feeling better now?"
"Ok…give me a little more time."
"Make sure you wear one of those outfits, you know, the kind that says you can look but don't touch?"
"What if I want to be touched?"
"You? Yeah, right! Just hurry up, it's already after seven and I'm starving."
Kyra just rolled her eyes. "Keep your pants on Randy. You can't rush perfection." She heard Randy snort through the door. "I heard that Randy!" Kyra added a little lipstick and she was ready. "All done."
She was thrilled. She had wanted to hear this band live for the longest time and now she might actually meet them, too. Not bad Jack…it's definitely not business time tonight. It's your birthday and you will have a good time!
She came out of her room and Randy whistled. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
Her wavy auburn hair was down tonight. She wore a leather corset top with spaghetti straps that laced up the front, hints of skin could be seen between the laces. The swell of her breasts inviting a man to wonder what more there was below. The bottom of the corset exposed her belly button. Her low rider pants sat right on her hips and looked like they had been poured on her, defining every curve.
"Got your shiv?"
"When do I ever forget it? Let's go."
Trey, a bouncer at the club, was working the front door when they walked up. He opened the ropes for them and Kyra got some bitchy looks from some of the women in line because she was let right in. Boone greeted them not long after they arrived. "Kyra! You're smokin' tonight! Got your table over there and dinner will be there right away. What will you have to drink?"
"Beer for me Boone!"
Kyra glared at him. "Not until you're eighteen."
"Fix me something special. Surprise me."
"Coming right up." Boone started to walk away then stopped. "Oh, almost forgot." He pulled out a small box and gave it to her. "Happy Birthday."
What the hell? "You didn't have to do this. Getting Queen's Resurrection here is gift enough."
"Come on babe, just open it." Kyra acquiesced and opened the box. Inside was a silver charm in the shape of a queen's silhouette with a crown. A smile lit her face and Boone was elated. He had a thing for her, had it ever since he met her but knew she wasn't interested.
"Boone…this is great!" She stood up and gave him a hug.
"Glad you like it. I noticed you had that bracelet with a sun, so thought you could add this to it. I'll get your drinks sent over with dinner. The band is here and I need to chat with them."
"I can't believe he did that."
"He's got a thing for you."
"I know…he's nice but definitely not my type."
"Yes, I helped you figure it out, remember? Speaking of …"
"He's here?" She had a little excitement in her voice that Randy picked up on.
"So…you are curious."
"You're insane."
"You're twenty-two, not fifty-two. Shit Kyra! Have fun while you still remember how. OW!" Kyra had popped him in the back of the head. "See if I try and set you up again."
After dinner both Kyra and Randy hit the dance floor until she was ready for another drink. She had finished two in under an hour in a half and had she not eaten, she probably wouldn't be able to stand. It didn't take much to get her looped. Boone had a knack for making great drinks, which is why his club was so profitable. People came here to dance just as much as they did to drink.
She danced her way to the bar for another round. Another drink and I may be back on that stand dancing…for the…fifteenth time? Too many times. I've got to stop making an ass of myself by getting up there. Between Randy and Boone…they push my buttons and they know I won't back down.
She asked the bartender for another and while she waited on her own drink, she turned around with her back to the bar scanning the crowd. Force of habit. She could almost hear Riddick in her ear, "Never leave your back exposed, Jack. You may just find a shiv in it."
While at the bar, a tall blond man came up and sat beside her, turning himself to face the dance floor. She smelled his cologne before she noticed him. Trying her best to ignore him, she felt his eyes raking over her body. Oh fuck, here it comes. He leaned in closer to her. "You know…I was about to blow this place until you walked up here."
She had the most bored look on her face. He was blond and handsome…bordering on pretty, which for her, did not do him any favors. Her tone was flat and uninterested. "Really."
A surprised look came over his face. Usually women fell all over themselves around him and the cold look on her face unnerved him but did not deter him. "Yes…I come here quite a bit and noticed you several weeks ago. You're not a local though."
She didn't look at him. "Figured that out all by yourself?"
He shifted in his seat. She was a prize in here tonight and he wanted the trophy. "Local women can't compare to you. You're like an exotic spice in a land of bland women."
She smothered a laugh. He did not just fucking say that. She rolled her eyes, sure that he saw it. The bartender had brought her drink and she made a move to leave her stool when he rested his fingers on her arm to keep her from leaving. Her eyes snapped to it.
He's got shit for brains. She smiled but it was more out of the anticipation of what she was about to do, more than admiring him. He didn't know that though. One chance asshole. "You know, I really don't like to be touched without being asked."
He leaned in closer, encouraged by her smile and the feel of her warm, soft skin under his fingers. "No? Something tells me you just haven't been touched by the right man." He moved his hand down her arm and straight to her upper thigh then cocked his eyebrow as if to say that he knew what she needed.
I did warn him. She put the drink down and grabbed his fingers twisting them and his wrist until he fell off the stool and was on his knees, between her legs, trying to move his body to relieve the pressure. He was whimpering. She leaned down within inches of his face. "I wasn't fucking with you pretty boy. I really don't like to be touched uninvited." She broke one finger and he cried out in pain. "Do you want me to break the rest?" He just shook his head no. "Good boy." She patted his head. "Now, you go ahead and blow this place like you told me you were going to. This may be the land of bland women, but you can't handle this spice." She freed his hand and he ran, calling her a bitch when he was far enough away. She picked her drink up, took a sip and smiled. This night is getting fun.