Standing with Melody and Fletch, Riddick did his best to ignore Keira's gaze, which was burning a hole right between his shoulder blades. What did it matter if she knew who he really was? What did he care? He needed no one but himself.
"So," he heard Fletch say "as I said before, I'm Fletch. This is Rick, our fearless leader and the gal over there's Keira. We crashed in the jungle, completely obliterating our cruiser..."
"That was not my fault," added Keira archly. "I distinctly remember you being the one to piss off the planetary guards."
"Wait," interrupted Melody. "I can see you're not a rescue team, but are you honestly telling me that you have no ship? No way to escape this place?"
The silence that followed was awkward as Fletch scrambled for a reassuring reply. Riddick, with no such qualms, stated baldly "yeah. Changes everything doesn't it?"
Fletch swallowed loudly, his sweat permeating the air as his nerves grew. He began to speak cautiously, as though aware of Melody's fragile state. "You say the others were supposed to come back for you as soon as they got help. Have you maybe thought that they, well, didn't make it?"
"No" Melody replied adamantly, "they wouldn't do that. They promised me..." Suddenly her voice faltered, "don't touch that!"
Riddick heard something glass drop and roll across the floor, before Keira cried "I didn't mean..."
"Just don't touch anything" the other woman stated sharply, causing Riddick's hackles to rise. "Please" she finally amended, as though aware of the sudden tension in the room.
"What is this place?" Keira asked quietly, and he heard her cross the room towards them. "I can see it's a laboratory, but what were you doing here?"
Melody shifted uncomfortably, as if these were some questions she'd hoped they'd never ask. "It's a place of experimentation ..." She trailed off as if ashamed to continue.
"On what?" asked Fletch curiously.
"You have to understand," she said quickly "it was purely a research-based study. They were never to have been released anywhere, for any reason. It was all supposed to be under controlled supervision."
"They?" echoed Keira.
"Released?" added Fletch nervously.
Riddick fought the scowl that wanted to cross his features. "Just what are you talking about?" His gravelly rumble effectively silenced the others.
"The creatures that were stalking you in the jungle..."
"They're your creations?" Disbelief was evident in Keira's tone.
"It's not what you think. We didn't go out of our way to intentionally make them like that, it just...happened. With the modifications we made to their DNA, the tests we put them through, I realise now it was inevitable that this...this catastrophe would happen."
A fraught silence filled the room as everyone's minds raced with the possibilities of just what was hunting them outside.
"I've seen something like this before" Keira whispered softly, a strange drumming ringing through the room, as though she was tapping an object with her finger. "I recognise the diagrams." She began to rifle noisily through her pockets. "I've got it on me, wait a sec..." Suddenly she announced triumphantly, "here! I was told to give it to a man called Jethro Fletcher, but I didn't get very far with that."
A low masculine chortle followed. "Well, honey why didn't you just say so?"
"What?" Keira muttered, disbelief rippling through her voice.
Riddick tried to hide his reaction as Fletch announced cockily, "that's me. Jethro Fletcher, but everyone just calls me Fletch for short. Makes life a lot easier."
"You have got to be kidding me. Why would he want me to give you this?"
"Nice vote of confidence there," he drawled sarcastically, "but you didn't say who told you to give it to me."
Riddick heard Keira swallow before she replied "Reg." Her voice was the barest wisp of sound.
"Reg?" Fletch repeated, "shit, what is the old man into now?"
Riddick, tuned into Keira's reactions, heard her heart begin to race as she uttered "he's...dead."
Something clattered across the counter as Fletch stumbled suddenly.
"Wait," Melody interrupted. "What are you doing with one of our research chips? These aren't supposed to leave the site."
"What do I care?"Snapped Fletch angrily, "I've just been told my bloody Father is dead."
"Oh Fletch" Keira whispered, "I'm so sorry."
Something dangerous and dark stirred in Riddick at her sympathetic tone. At the emotion she was showing for another man. The pain behind his eyes blazed as the beast within him roared.
"No one has answered my question," ground out Melody, completely indifferent to the situation.
"I don't know!" spat Keira angrily, "can't you see Fletch is upset?"
"But..." the scientist began again.
"For God's sake," Keira snapped, "fine! Reg was a regular at a bar where I worked..." She went on to explain exactly how she'd met him and what had happened on that dark, bloody night. She didn't go into how she felt about it, but Riddick could hear it clearly in her voice.
"So, he survived the jungle?" Riddick pointed out, wanting to distract the others from Keira, who was starting to sound upset. The tense situation was causing the pain in his eyes to increase to such a level, that he knew he would soon have problems concentrating.
"Evidently" stated Melody, "now, I'm going to put this in and see what information was stolen."
Keira snorted at the unsubtle dig.
The sound of a computer booting up filled the room, before the chip was put in and the noise of her fingers flying over the keys followed.
"It all seems pretty normal..." she muttered, sounding distracted as she read through the information.
"Wait," uttered Fletch "let me have a look." He took over and began to type something before he suddenly cursed. "There's another layer to this. It's encrypted."
"What?" queried Keira, "it can't be. I ran it through my system and nothing cropped up."
"It wouldn't. Not unless you knew what you were looking for." His tone was sharp and cutting. "Now, if I just...Cor blimey! Would you look at that!"
Riddick ground his teeth. It was so frustrating not being able to bloody see.
"That's impossible...I mean, that's..." muttered Fletch confusedly.
"Exactly what they said wouldn't happen" Melody cried, slamming her hand down on the counter. "No government was supposed to be involved. I had the agreement of the managing director..."
"Wait, wait a minute. What are you saying?" Keira sounded puzzled. "That this was supposed to happen? Those...creatures, were supposed to be capable of tracking and...killing people?"
"Those bastards!" spat Melody, surprising them all with her vehemence. "They used us! Used our talents and our...our passions against us."
"Wow, 'passions' huh? Isn't that a bit intense?" Fletch's comment had Riddick growling at his stupidity. "I was only saying," he added, a bit sulkily.
"As interesting as this," drawled Riddick slowly, his voice deep and rumbling. "I think we should be more worried about the things themselves, outside." He felt Keira's gaze on him and resisted the urge to say something.
"Before, when the others escaped, how did they do it?" he continued, fighting a grimace as the ache in his eyes began to plague him worse than before. His heightened stress levels certainly weren't helping the situation. He couldn't stop the wince that crossed his features at the next wave of pain. Putting his hand to his face, he adjusted his goggles slightly, in the hope it would lessen the pressure. It was a small hope.
"What's wrong with you?"
He heard Melody clatter closer and instinctively backed away.
"Nothin'" he growled "I'm fine."
"I know pain when I see it" she replied "just let me..."He felt her fingers brush his face and he reacted in a blur. Quickly grabbing her wrist and forcing it down to her side, he spun her around with his shiv at her throat. "Don't touch me," he breathed, a dangerous rumble building in his chest. "It's none of your business."
"She just wants to help you." Keira's voice soothed him enough to release the scientist, though none too gently.
"I'm fine" he growled out ferociously from between clenched teeth.
"I don't believe you" she replied softly. He sensed her move closer and cursed.
"If you don't want Melody to see, then just...let me" the plea was gentle on her lips, slipping easily past his defences.
He shuddered, before he acquiesced, slipping his goggles from his eyes. Her low gasp echoed around the room.
Riddick wanted to drop his head, shield his weakness, but he made himself keep it tilted at an arrogant angle. As if it was enough to keep them all away. To show them that, with or without his eyes, he could still take them all.
"I've seen this before" Melody whispered quietly and he heard her begin to step hesitantly closer again. "It's a reaction caused by a chemical spray we developed for the military."
"I thought you didn't work for the government?" asked Fletch.
"We don't now, but we did about three years ago." She took a deep breath. "It's made from the Augen Orchid. A dangerous plant hybrid. I believe it's a combination of the Excoecaria Agallocha and the little known Shroud Orchid. It produces a lethal toxin that, when absorbed in the skin or sprayed in the eyes, has a debilitating affect on the victim. Skin shows signs of severe burning, inflammation and blistering, whilst the eyes..." her voice dropped as she realized the seriousness of the situation, "well, generally they are the worse affected. Sometimes the loss of sight is permanent."
"Hang on a sec, what are you saying?" Keira's voice sounded convincingly worried. "What do youmean 'the loss of sight is permanent.' He's not blind." She touched Riddick's arm, laughing weakly "tell her you're not blind. Go on."
Riddick turned towards her, wishing he could read the look flowing across her features.
"All this time?" she finally managed, sounding shocked. "All this time and you never said a thing? You stupid, self-sacrificing bastard!"
"Keira, come on..." he started.
"Don't you 'Keira' me. Why the hell did you not say something? God, I realise your arrogance knows no bounds, but really..."
A snarl erupted from Riddick's lips. He might be blind, but he wasn't defenceless. "Watch yourself. There's only so much of your dramatic shit I can take."
"If I could interrupt?" The scholarly tone distracted both Keira and Riddick from their heated argument, as Melody continued coolly, "I believe I may be able to help."
"A doc did tell me the antidote was on this planet. Do you have it here?" Desperation laced his tone as he turned towards her.
"I don't know if I can cure you" she admitted quietly, "but I will try." Riddick waited, knowing more was coming. "I need your word though, that you will help me get out of here. There are people who need to know what's going on."
"You have his word," uttered Keira quickly "do what you can to help him."
A tense silence followed as Melody made noises that suggested she was going through cupboards, opening and shutting doors. "Hmmm, it doesn't look like..." she seemed to think about it. "Oh, wait a minute, it's refrigerated isn't it?" The question appeared to be rhetorical and she carried on muttering to herself as her footsteps headed around the room. It obviously didn't take much to distract this scientist from the beasts that hunted them outside.
Riddick felt Keira leave, her scent drifting across him as she stepped away. He wanted to grab her arm, to look into her face and tell her that it wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to be a burden, he was supposed to be the strong one, the one with no weakness or defect, but he couldn't. He was a blind animal who had lost his humanity a long time ago, and now had only the beast within to keep him strong.
"Fletch?" Riddick finally ground out, struggling to hold it together as the pain increased ten-fold. "I need you to find out how the others got away and if there's a cruiser or skiff around here somewhere." He took a deep steadying breath, "we need to get off this planet – and soon."