I do not own Pitch Black, Dark Fury, Chronicles of Riddick, or Riddick, nor do I own their characters or the story lines. I own only Rehtaeh and any new characters that I may add, and any plot changes that may happen within.
I really hope you enjoy the story! :D
Chapter 29
*Rehtaeh*
She was up early and out of the house before the sun rose, leaving Riddick sleeping in her bed. He would follow her into town later if she was not back before two in the afternoon. After finding the rest of her wardrobe that she had left behind at her parents place, she had moved it all into her parent's room. She let Riddick take whatever he wanted from her father's things, but he really didn't have the same tastes. Besides her dad was a strict military man, he rarely wore anything that was not a uniform of some sort. She planned to sort through her parents things later, after her parole, 'rehabilitation' and Remner were taken care of.
She dressed in tight black jeans, careful to put her ID permits and UD card into the small secret pocket on the inside of them and a deep grey long sleeve jersey shirt that hugged her curves. She wore a different pair of combat boots, these ones were also black leather steel toed, but they had several scabbards hidden on the inside as well as a toe knife. Living in Vegas had given her ample time to break them in, but she had forgotten them at her parents' place the last time she had been home. The black leather was soft and supple, from use and abuse. She wore her own gun belt, leaving behind the one she had gotten from Mac, as nice as it was, it didn't fit her as well. She holstered her own weapons in it making sure that she had more than enough ammunition in case she came under fire. In total she had four knives in her boots, her two guns and two knives in her gun belt and a longer knife in a scabbard down her back. Over top she wore a long black trench jacket with an oversized hood.
Riddick knew where she was going, and he understood the advantage of her going alone before daylight. He helped her work out the details while they were still on the ship by pulling up several maps of New Mecca so that they knew where she was going. She also investigated any travel options she might need considering how far she lived from the government sector in down town New Mecca. Happily she found a Quonset on the property that held two hover bikes and a hovercraft that would carry up to eight people. It was just her heading out that morning, so she took one of the heavy bikes.
It took her no time to get to the government base, a massive compound surrounded by thick brick fencing with razor wire on the tops. There were military types covering every entrance, each one of them was heavily armed. She went to one of the gates and held up her Level 9 Military pass, he looked at her in surprise. "Ms. Furya. I was told to expect you, but with the price on your head no one really thought you would come in."
"And yet here I am." She told him, pulling off her helmet, and shaking out her hair. The long blonde hair had been braided, but there were tendrils that had escaped and were now sticking to her face.
"Are you certain you should be out in public Ms. Furya?" The man asked her carefully.
"If there was a sniper out there I'd already be dead, and if they were close I would know it." She looked at him levelly. She would have felt them around her if they had followed her. He moved for something behind him and with her right hand she whipped out the gun strapped to that hip and pointed it at him. "And if someone does try something, I am fully armed."
He looked at the gun in surprise and then back at her. He slowly moved his hand and hit a button behind him that raised the gate then he lifted his hands to where she could see them and gave her a half smile. "I am glad to hear it. General Tiller will be in building three, if someone tries to disarm you flash your credentials they will let you through."
"Thank you, sir." She holstered her weapon, and gave him a proper salute, and he followed suit. She moved the bike forward slowly. She parked in the lot closest to building three, knowing that she might need to make a quick getaway depending on what her contact told her.
It was a large compound. There were eight buildings total. Buildings one through three were the tallest being that they were the ones that were open to the public. She walked to the back doors which accessed the actual compound. When they scoped out the compound during their planning sessions they decided that this would be the safest way for her to get to her contact. Using her credentials she could come and go as standard military personnel, making her less of a public figure. Therefore less of a target. Anyone on her tail would likely think that she would prefer to go in as though she were general public, part of a crowd, making her harder to spot. She figured that since they would be watching for her arrival through the public entrance, they would be less likely to be watching for her to go in like the military personnel she actually was. Besides, she wanted it on public record that she had shown up as her Parole Release Statement commanded that she did.
The main floor of building three was pure public space, it was open to anyone. Since it was early morning, it was currently cool and dark. Very few people had yet to gather to see their city officials. She would have to go up a floor to actually get any real service. So that was what she did. She stuck to the shadows and headed directly to a back stair well. In her mind she kept whispering 'I am a shadow, no one can see me.' When she reached the top of the stairwell she looked around carefully, reaching out with her senses, feeling where the people were. She felt one woman at the main reception desk, and two people in the large office behind her. Other than the three there were no others in the near vicinity.
She stepped out of the shadows and up to the desk. Rehtaeh waited for the woman at the desk to look up at her, but she seemed very absorbed in her work and didn't even notice her. She was dark haired and wore what seemed to be linen pants and a tunic, both in a soft russet color, her skin was a soft mocha color and her eyes were a deep dark brown. He wore a teal colored sash as a belt and a teal colored scarf over her hair. Rehtaeh thought her quite beautiful and she was working hard at entering some information into the computer in front of her. She cleared her throat and put her credentials on the desk in front of her. The woman jumped with a gasp, her eyes wide in fear. She seemed completely startled even though Rehtaeh had been standing in front of her for over three minutes. "Oh! I am so sorry, you startled me. I didn't see you standing there."
"I am here to see General Tiller." Rehtaeh told the woman, a small smirk quirked her lips.
"She is in with someone at the mo-." The woman looked at her credentials, and nearly jumped up from her seat and ran to the office door behind her, waving at Rehtaeh to follow. She was looking over Rehtaeh's shoulder as though she were expecting trouble. "Come in, hurry, you will be safe inside."
"Thank you for your concern, it is not necessary. There is no threat at the-." Rehtaeh smiled at the insistent woman as she was ushered into the office. "Okay, never mind."
She stepped into the office. It was large and paneled in dark woods with deep reddish brown chairs and big heavy furniture. The fiery red haired General Tiller was seated at her massive executive desk her hands folded together in front of her on the desk. She wore a standard grey military uniform, with the medals that decorated her rank. An older woman stood in front of the desk across from her. She was ghostly pale wearing soft muted colors, in a flowing type of dress. White hair framed a gentle face, one that at the moment seemed much too fierce for her features. It marred her genteel beauty. They seemed to be in a heated argument about something.
The redhead stood in protest at the interruption, until she saw Rehtaeh enter. Rehtaeh stopped just inside the door and saluted her commanding officer. General Tiller looked surprised and after a moment saluted her back. "What happened we got reports and inquiries about you at a transport station, they were saying that your ship was damaged, all sorts of odd questions and an investigation into some gang that tried to carry through with the hit."
"The ship crashed. A few of us survived and got away, it is a long story. I did not mean to interrupt your conversation. I apologize, I can wait outside." She wished to be part of the shadows and hidden from sight, she felt embarrassed and frustrated for being led into an uncomfortable and tense situation. Rehtaeh turned to leave the office, spinning on her heal, her long coat swirling in the shadows around her.
"Wait!" The older woman said to her, it was an order and Rehtaeh hesitated for only a moment before stopping on her way out. She turned back slowly. "Who and what are you, child?"
"Aereon, this is the girl I told you about Reh-." General Tiller started.
"Farah, I want her to answer my question." Aereon hushed the general and turned back to Rehtaeh. "Who and what are you, child?"
"My name is Rehtaeh Ennaline Furya, I am the sister time forgot, the heart of seven. I am red on black." Rehtaeh whispered, why had she said that? It was her response from her dream, the one that always got her killed.
"That is not all, is it? What are you, Rehtaeh?" The elderly woman demanded, Rehtaeh bristled, her heart pounding.
The next thing out of her mouth shocked her as well as the other women in the room. She whispered, "I am the Shadow Mage. I am the Source."
"Holy shit." Farah said looking completely shell shocked. It was that look that was reserved for someone who was both revered and terrifying. She sat back down in her chair and looked up at Rehtaeh with something akin to awe on her beautiful features.
"It is as I told you Farah, the end of days begins. We must find the one who will bring balance back to the universe, or she will not live long enough to bring back the lost realms."Aereon looked Rehtaeh from foot to head and back down again.
"Who are you?" Rehtaeh whispered. She was getting strange vibes from this woman. Her presence at a distance had felt cold, but in close quarters her light airy aura was a surprising warmth. She couldn't quite read her. "Why did I introduce myself as I did? I have never spoken those words out loud."
"I am an Ambassador for Quintessa, I am an Air Elemental." The white haired woman told her, her voice had lost its angry edge and was motherly and gentle. "I asked you a direct question about what you are, and you dear child are many things to many people."
"Uh, I don't want to get in the middle of your apocalypse, I just wanted to complete any paperwork required of me so that I can go after the man who put a hit on my head." Rehtaeh backed away from the two women. The older woman swept forward, gliding as though on air she disappeared. Her motion completely spooking Rehtaeh, who spun away from her pulling a knife and holding it to the woman's throat just as she materialized on the other side of her. "Not an inch closer, lady. I don't know you, and I am not the trusting type."
"I am not here to harm you, child. I understand that you have a quest you need to complete, but when you are done you must make a voyage to Quintessa, the realm of Elementals. You are the Source of Life for all of those on our planet, considering it was your contribution that gave birth to our peoples." Aereon told her, Rehtaeh shook her head. Her file did not say what planet her eggs had gone to. She had searched and there had been no mention of the name of the planet. She waited for Rehtaeh to pull the knife away and put it back in its scabbard. "There is much there that you need to learn. I promise it will be worth your while."
"The location was never disclosed, Aereon. Other than a notation in her file that five of her ova were taken, Rehtaeh would have no notion that they are gone, much less that they were used to populate Quintessa when the women started becoming sterile." Farah Tiller told the other woman.
"You are wrong, Tiller. I got a raw deal from the beginning. I knew the moment they were taken from me. It was just weeks after being placed into Cryogenics. Before any other testing even began, because, and I quote 'we need a clean sample, without any side effects from any other studies scheduled to be performed', I felt the pain as they were taken from me." Rehtaeh growled at the other woman, shocking them both into silence. "I was awake the entire time. Do you have any Idea what it does to a person's mind being trapped like that? No? Imagine being trapped in a frozen state, unable to defend yourself from strangers. Imagine feeling the punctures of needles, the placements of tubes, hoses, and nodes. Imagine having your body violated on a daily basis for five hundred years, all the while being aware of every single moment of it. The only reason that I don't kill every one of my violators is because they are already dead, all from old age, with the exception of two. Dr. May, who actually deserved to live, was killed by a monster on a planet called T2. Now only Remner remains."
"Dear Lord!" Tiller exclaimed her face filled with horror. Her already pale skin had blanched white as she sat slumped in her chair. "I had no idea. Rehtaeh, I am so sorry. The horrible things you must have seen and heard. I just-."
"Stop apologizing. It's not like you could have prevented any of it. It was my decision to take the Alliance's deal." Rehtaeh stopped her. She didn't want the woman's pain, horror, or pity. "From what I read in my file, my body was used to assist the populations of no less than twenty-five different planets, ensuring the survival of the human race in the harshest of environments. The fact that Aereon is here and her presence doesn't repulse me tells me that at least one of my children survived."
"I am sure you have questions Rehtaeh, but-." Aereon started.
"Now is not the time for them, and to truly find the answers I must go to Quintessa. I know. Stop your scheming, woman, until I get this hit off of my head there is very little I can do to help you with your Armageddon. Oh, and stop calling me child, I am older than you by over four hundred years," Rehtaeh dismissed the older woman. Aereon was a player and she had done what she had intended, she had awoken Rehtaeh's desire to know. Now she needed to get back to the business at hand, "Tiller, what have I to do, to complete my assessments?"
"You must prove your rehabilitation and your worth to common society." General Tiller looked up at her; her face was still filled with horror, awe and a small amount of pity. After a long moment she flipped open a screen on her computer, pulling up the screen in front of all of them. The visage of a man popped up on the screen, he was in uniform and sitting behind a massive mahogany colored desk.
"And how do I accomplish that? With my training, I can pass any test you put before me." Rehtaeh ignored the man on the screen and looked at General Tiller waiting for her to come up with some sort of plan of action. When the woman continued to look at her with that perplexed look upon her face Rehtaeh became impatient. "I am as rehabilitated as a person in my unique circumstance can be. There is no test you can give me that I have not already passed since I was freed."
"Answer some simple questions for me, Rehtaeh. I will need to know your plans for the future. What will be your occupation?" General Tiller asked her, "I know that you have no need for income, but for the sake of your parole file, you do need to have an occupation."
"From what I have seen, this is no warrior race, and you do not seem to condone violence even in a public arena so my former occupation will not suffice." Rehtaeh was thoughtful, giving the question real attention and an honest consideration. This was her chance to actually create her own semblance of a life. "Therefore my occupation will be an artist, I am already a painter. I will have to discover what you people use for pigments in this time frame, but I am an artist regardless. You can put me into the volunteer ranks of the Armed Forces division of New Mecca, if you really insist that I maintain my military status."
"Your military files are very impressive. They fall short in only one area." Tiller looked up at her, she had a spark in her eyes, and a smile lifted her lips. "You do not take orders well. So where would we put you. What division?"
"Surveillance, most likely, I prefer to work alone." Rehtaeh responded quickly, this was what her former military commander had been considering her for, "I just want my freedom back, to come and go as I choose. To be able to travel where ever I please without being held up by my past, besides I cannot prepare for the apocalypse if I am tied down by my parole, can I?"
"You make it sound like this is a simple task you set before me." The General sat up straighter, glowering up at Rehtaeh, and then shooting a glare at Aereon for bringing up Rehtaeh's apparent part in some far off destiny. The Man on the screen just watched as though he had little to no part in what was occurring in this office.
"I would imagine that for you, it is." Rehtaeh returned her look. "I have confidence that before I leave this room, you can find it within you to find me more than competent and sane, as well as a worthwhile member of society. Now, if you could please clear me for public access and unrestricted travel, I will be on my way."
"You plan on killing Remner do you not?" General Tiller asked her, there was worry in her voice. Rehtaeh had to take very good care with her words. Her commanding officer was on the computer screen and Aereon was also in the room. "It would be a personal vendetta would it not?"
"Oh, this is entirely personal. Remner put the hit on me because he knows that I know his secrets. He told me everything while he was abusing my body. I know where he is hiding and have the best chance at getting close to him undetected. I plan on getting the codes from him, in order to negate the hit in the Merc system. I have not yet devised how I will go about doing this." Rehtaeh looked at the woman, watching as the red head's lips slowly lifted in a smile. "I cannot get codes from a dead man, now can I?"
"You could allow some of our men to go after him." The woman advised her.
"No, that would not be prudent. He would know he was being followed because all orders are entered into the Alliance mainframe. With his apparent hacking skills he will be watching for that."Rehtaeh told her audience. "As long as I remain a private citizen in the eyes of the universe, I stay a minor threat in his eyes. I would not be under orders, and therefore my actions would not be in the system. Let's just say, me showing up on his doorstep and hauling him into interrogation would be the last thing he would expect from the docile little Voodoo Doll."
"General Tiller, all of this is unnecessary. Special Officer Furya's only condition on release was that she survives the detoxification process, which she obviously has. Please continue with her complete release." The man from the computer spoke, his voice rang out into the room. Aereon and Tiller seemed to sit more at attention when he spoke; he was obviously a well-respected man. "If Remner has any sense, he will have read your file and know you are anything but docile. I am aware you do not take orders well, but I think this is one you will follow. Special Officer Furya, I order you to find Dr. Remner, extract the codes, using whatever force necessary to do so. Do a complete investigation on the allegations that have been reported on him, collect any and all evidence against him. If the evidence is what we think it will be, the sentence is death, no jury required. Remove the hit on your head, remove the chance of any future threat and clean up the mess. Is this clear?"
"Yes, Sir." Rehtaeh responded, saluting in good form to her senior officer. These were things that she had planned to do anyways. It was just nice to have someone give her some back up to go with it.
"At ease soldier. I will send you the file on Remner. If there is evidence that the allegations are true, I want them cataloged and sent to my attention, cc General Tiller." The man responded looking at her with a hard look. Then he looked to the other two and nodded at each of them. "Dismissed."
The screen went blank and the three women stared at each other for a long moment. Tiller went into the computer and completed her parole, clearing her file from the books. She looked at Rehtaeh, a small smile on her face. "There you have it. You are free Rehtaeh, with orders to kill the man who abused you and put a hit out on your head. If you are successful at this, you may prove to be of future use to the Alliance. Be careful that you do not become too useful."
"That's peachy, just peachy."Rehtaeh rolled her eyes, and then looked at Tiller. "No offence but I am really not all that interested in a military career of any kind. I just want to get this creep off my back and live freely. Considering that, how would I go about getting my pilot's license?"
"You want to learn to pilot?" The General was surprised. Her auburn eyebrows shot upwards and her mouth went agape.
"I already know how to pilot, I just want the license, General Tiller." Rehtaeh looked her in the eye holding her gaze.
"Well then I will escort you to the Licensing Regulation Sector, it is in building two." Tiller stood and came around her desk.
"And where would I report the crash of the Hunter Gratzner? There were very few survivors. I will need to make a formal statement." Rehtaeh asked next. Imam was going to come in later and give a statement of his own. They had decided it best to use Heath as the sixth survivor from the planet; Riddick's name was not to be brought up unless directly asked about him. If they were asked, he died on that planet as far as they knew.
Aereon looked at Rehtaeh, and she looked back at the older woman, they regarded each other for a long moment. Rehtaeh could see the woman calculating behind her wise eyes, she reminded Rehtaeh of her mother. She stepped in front of the Elemental blocking her exit from the office. "You have my word that I will visit your realm, Ambassador. If for no other reason than to feed my curiosity, but not until I have taken care of my other duties."
"That is all I ask." Aereon told her, meeting her eyes. "Until we meet again, Ms. Furya."
Tiller escorted Rehtaeh to the Alliance Planetary Monitoring sector to report the crash and the status of the planet with the three suns. She also reported the strange activity happening on the Kublai Khan, and the attempted murder of children by the captain and her first in command. She arranged a meeting for Carolyn and Heath for when they arrived to have their identification and permits replaced. It was nearing mid afternoon by the time they reached building two, she knew Riddick was there, he had promised he would show if she was any later than two, it was now after three. She knew she would be a while more in order to apply for and receive her pilot's license. She would have to prove her knowledge in written, oral and simulated examinations since it was against every protocol to just hand out a license. It was no problem, it was just time consuming and she just wanted to be home where it was safe. She completed the tests, passing each one with perfect scores thanks to Riddick. She walked out of the building with another card to add to her growing collection.
Tiller was escorting Rehtaeh, sticking to the shadows so that Rehtaeh could more effectively use her hooded cloak to hide from any attackers. They were making their way through the public grounds back to Rehtaeh's hover bike when it happened. She heard the retort of a gun, two shots in quick succession. To Rehtaeh's trained ear it sounded like a high caliber weapon. A sniper rifle? She and Tiller both dropped to the ground as the crowd of people rushed around even faster, trying to get to the safety of a building. Rehtaeh looked up at the roof tops but saw nothing, where had the gunfire come from?
Tiller called a command into her device that was on her wrist as she and Rehtaeh slunk forward in the shadows. "We have gunfire in the plaza, I want it investigated, now. I want people on the damn roof. Do it now."
"You should have people watching for the next few days Tiller. There will be more attempts, keep the security high around the plaza." Rehtaeh told Tiller softly.
She looked around the buildings looking for something anything that indicated where the shots had come from but there was nothing. The crowd was moving quickly and she could hear someone cursing out a kid that was creating havoc. Rehtaeh's stomach twisted, she knew one kid who could cause that much trouble. Sure enough she heard Jack's voice far off to the left, near the massive water fountain. She was calling her name. Damn kid was making herself and any blonde woman around her a walking target.
"Hey! Watch it asshole!" A man yelled angrily, there was a wave of disgruntled sound that came from deeper in the crowd. More people cried out as a large commotion erupted in the middle of the crowd, there was pushing and shoving and people running to get out of the way.
Rehtaeh spun and ran towards the sound. She saw Jack running through the crowd; running towards a woman with long blonde hair. She reached them as Jack pushed woman to the ground. Rehtaeh heard the woman scream in surprise and then Jack's voice yelled out, "No! Rehtaeh! Stay down!" the girl covering the woman's body with her own, just as a man struck out with his knife slicing Jack up her right side from elbow to below her rib cage. There was blood everywhere and Rehtaeh didn't even think as she pulled both of the knives that she had on her belt.
"You went after the wrong woman, asshole." She growled at the man, watching him turn in surprise as her knives slashed out and severed his head from his body. His head rolled away and his body fell to the side, gore pumping out of his body as the nerves slowly realized that there was no longer a connection to the brain. She ignored the gore, and the screams of shock from the bystanders, Tiller finally caught up to them with a platoon of guards as they pushed the crowd back.
She was kneeling above Jack when the guards hauled her unceremoniously away from the girl and pinned her to the ground. Rehtaeh struggled hard, she needed to get to Jack. The kid was dying and not a single person had moved to help her. Tiller started yelling out commands, "Let her up, Private! She is one of ours!"
"But she-," The man started to protest. Rehtaeh pushed him off and glared up at him before pushing herself towards Jack, who was bleeding out on the ground.
"She killed a hit man who was after a blonde woman. Have you not been reading your daily reports soldier?" Tiller was yelling at the man, her voice carried over the entire square as she issued orders and got people to safety.
Rehtaeh's only concern was for Jack who was bleeding out in the middle of the square. She lifted the girl off of the screaming blonde woman. Picked her bleeding body up as though she were a rag doll and made to carry her to the nearest clinic. "Jack, I am here, I am going to get you help."
"Rehtaeh? You are okay? The man he was going after-," Jack started, looking down in confusion at the woman still sitting on the ground with two guards by her side.
"Not me. Jack. Not me." Rehtaeh looked down at the girl. "What were you doing here? Why did you come down here?"
"You left so early and were gone-," The girl was in shock. She was losing a lot of blood. She passed out in Rehtaeh's arms. Rehtaeh could see into her body past the muscles to the bones of her ribs and her arm. The wounds were horribly deep. There would be nerve damage, and the longer she waited to get her to a doctor the worse it would be for Jack in the long run.
"Tiller, I need a medic!" Rehtaeh called out. "I need a medic now!"
