55) My Fear Is Warm To Get Inside Of You

Contrary to the expectations and beliefs of nearly every merc in the 'verse, Riddick was far too familiar with the concept of helplessness. He'd become well acquainted with it during his time in slams and the Academy had only sharpened his knowledge. But no longer hearing Wash's ragged breathing was possibly the worst he'd felt since he'd had to watch River be tortured if he didn't perform to expectations.

Niska was talking and the Furyan strained to hear the accented words through the roaring of blood in his ears. "Tsk, tsk, this will not do. Bring him back."

There was a low grade buzzing noise and a building whine of a defibrillator charging, then the scent of sizzling flesh and the sensation of electricity in the air as they shocked Wash's heart. Then the whole thing started again. Riddick was vividly conscious of Mal's labored breathing and fear as the torturers put their electricity to an entirely different use and failed. Niska was walking around the three men strapped to the torture frame and waved his hand almost indifferently. "What is the saying? Third time is the charm? Again."

The third time was the charm, thank all the gods and planets, and Wash's heart came stuttering back to life, his breath gasping back into his lungs.

Riddick took a breath and did his best to ignore the burning metal and plastic smell of Mal's fear and grief. The scents that filled the air in the room were of the worst kind and he'd tried his utmost to simply ignore his sense of smell. It was nearly impossible for a Furyan to ignore his senses but since Niska had started torturing them he'd had to make the attempt or go insane from the overload.

"I think we rest for a moment or two, then, yes, then we begin again." Niska nodded, "but something different for the smaller one I think. The thousand cuts... we do not wish the electricity to deprive us of our guest too soon."

Wash groaned faintly at the thought and managed to regain his sardonic wit. "You want a thousand cuts, you oughta watch me shave."

Riddick nearly chuckled and shook his head. "Need to use water as hot as you can stand and a damn sharp blade Wash. Dull blade pulls at your skin an' slices through it 'stead a your whiskers."

The buzz of electricity interrupted the conversation and Riddick cursed in annoyance.


It was hard to not catch Zoe's mood but thankfully Richard had taught her a great deal about breathing and control. It was something he excelled at, the idea of the mind controlling the body and not the reverse. She'd known some and had been working towards that end, crudely, on her own. But her mate was a master and thanks to his teachings about the animal, the balance she needed, she could maintain the control she so desperately needed to accomplish her plan.

She'd boarded the shuttle armed to the teeth, her sword and daggers distributed over her body, with the addition of her firearms and five compact grenades stuck in her belt. Jayne had wanted her to take more but she couldn't be so loaded down with explosives as to impede her movement. He had talked her into a small pack of C4 and a couple of remote switches and she had no doubt there was some use she'd find for them. As diversions went, explosions made for fine ones.

Zoe was terrified that the two most important men in her world were dead and this was a fool's errand. That at least River could reassure her was not true. "They're alive," she said quietly. "They're all alive. The jiān xié will not kill them for at least a couple of days. Death would be too easy. He wants to meet them. Reads Shan Yu and believes in the sadistic crap legitimized by florid prose. He wants to punish them."

"Wish I could say that's comfortin'," Zoe was comforted though. And at the same time not, worrying that her man wouldn't be strong enough to withstand torture.

"Wash is stronger than she knows. Survived prison camp. Survives the worries of his warrior woman going out to play with guns and the captain." River offered the tall woman a smile. "Doesn't do well with torture but he will survive."

The First Mate shook her head and half grinned, "River you do have a way of making your point." She began to power up the shuttle. "Let's go get our men back."

River's smile tilted wickedly and she began to double check her weapons, sinking herself into the fighting woman her mate had helped her become. "The jiān xié will not know what has hit him." She predicted coldly.


Riddick was doing his best to sink himself into his own place of calm. The electric shocks were annoying, but not as much of a deterrent to meditation as his companions chattering. They'd found something new to argue about, this time it was whether or not kids were a good idea. To his surprise, Wash had taken the 'for' side of the debate, going against all his prior discussions on the subject, possibly due to the fact that Mal had taken the 'against' side.

Wash finally broke off his cursing as the razor left his flesh and gasped out a question. "Hey Rick, whadda ya think?"

Mal was slightly less profane in his speech but he chimed right in. "Yeah, c'mon Rick, waitin' on your opinion here."

The buzz of electricity jolted through their bones and he heard Wash curse with decent creativity, the ancestry of his torturer. "Yú chǔn zì jiāo de dà zi ròu!"

Riddick growled his irritation with the entire situation but managed a reply, "I'm thinkin' you two yap an awful gorram lot. I'm trying to catch a nap here."

Wash sounded slightly breathless, "With all this...noise?"

The Furyan clenched his teeth as the shocks hit him again and he heard Mal groan, scented the man's blood, and realized the Captain had bitten his tongue. When it was over he managed to reply, "Wash really? This ain't the first time I've been tortured, remember?"

Mal, for whatever reason, found a new thing to argue about. Riddick was beginning to think his captain was contrary enough to argue the hind leg off a donkey. "Yeah but that was for a purpose. That was by them hún dàns as bought you."

The electricity slapped through them again, flickering on and off, leaving his jaw aching from clenching it and Mal cursing the air bluer than it already was.

When he could unclench his teeth Riddick managed a reply. "Naw, meant in the war. Not with them other hún dàns." He growled as the shocks hit them again and smelt more of Wash's blood on the air. When they got out of this he really would have to commend the pilot on the extent and creativity of his insults.

Trying to distract himself obviously, Wash choked out, "When'd you get tortured in the war?"

"That woulda been when I was tryin' to retrieve a man." It was his turn to curse as he nearly bit the inside of his cheek when the electricity hit him. "Nǐ tā mā de tiān xià suǒ yǒu de rén dōu gāi sǐ. Man was dead. Got caught." He could hear Niska chuckling in the background and the electricity went off again.

Mal cursed this time, between the two of them and Wash they were working up quite a little rhythm, and managed to bite off a question. "Well how'd you get out of it?"

"Told ya Jayne saved my life." If he could have Riddick would have rolled his eyes at his captain. As it was he didn't dare open them or he'd be blinded by the bright bulbs spotlighting them on the torture rack. Good news was his goggles were just dangling around his neck; Niska hadn't taken them off him. Bad news was his chances of being able to put them on were very slim.

The buzz of electricity was longer this time; Niska was slowly turning up the voltage, trying to see how much they could take. It wasn't anything Riddick hadn't dealt with before, the Academy scientists could do entire university courses on torture and as long as River wasn't the one being hurt... Well, he'd dealt with worse. Irritating as the whole thing was, he just had to endure it until Jayne and River got going with whatever plan they'd cooked up with Simon. And since Wash and Mal's chattering were a disturbance to his attempts at meditation, he could be grateful that Wash a decent distraction from the torture.

"He got you out of a torture session?" Wash's normally light voice was strained and the Furyan could hear the drip of blood hitting the grated floor.

"Nah," Riddick paused as he heard the whine of the electricity build just before it hit his nerves again and ground his teeth together. If he broke a tooth because of Niska he would throttle the little rat personally. "He just killed every guard 'tween us and the camp line." There went the shocks again. "Got in, cut me down and helped me out." And again. Niska must really not like this story. Riddick took a breath before he continued talking. "'Course, Alliance used whips an' brands, and knives. Didn't wanna waste electricity in the field."

A whine and another long buzz of the shocks before Mal managed to wheeze out his words, "Yeah, this is high quality torture, this is."

Riddick actually found himself laughing at that, albeit tiredly. Cap'n could be damn funny sometimes. "Sure. High quality. Not terrible creative though. Worst thing about the war was how innovative they had to get. Wanted to know where my unit was, who was with me."

Wash was grinding his teeth against the pain of the knife, the Furyan could hear it in his voice, "So what'd you do?"

"Lied." Riddick told him flatly.

In return he got a very coherent, "Huh?" from the pilot.

"S'all you can do, you get caught." He told his friend, "'Cause everybody breaks eventually. Lie from the start. Lie so often an' make up such crazy gu pì that when you break and they get the truth outta you, they won't know what to believe. Make it so if you can't live they can't profit from your capture. Confusion to the enemy after all."

The electrodes went again, on, off, on, off, until they finally went off and Riddick cursed Niska's ancestors and the frog humping son of a bitch's sanitary habits.

Wash almost, but not quite, whined as he was cut on again. "Well I guess we'll be adding to our collective memories for post traumatic stress disorder."

Mal seemed to feel compelled to comment on that. "Oh yeah, group therapy sessions for the whole damn crew after this bit."

"Cào nǐ zǔ zōng shí bā dài." Riddick growled his annoyance at the thought. "I gotta live through it, damned if I'll talk about it 'fore I'm ready."

And Wash, showing that he could keep his sense of humor through gorram near anything, quipped, "Aw... does that mean I won't get to swap manly stories?"

"Let's just get drunk all right?" His co-pilot suggested hopefully.

"I'll drink to that," Mal agreed.

And then Niska decided he wasn't being creative enough if they still had breath to speak.


River watched silently from the space beside the shuttle door as Zoe docked on the skyplex and powered the shuttle down. When the First Mate exited the shuttle, River closed her eyes and used every bit of her not inconsiderable skill to slip out in the shadow Zoe made and found a small space near the double doors to conceal herself.

It was difficult to watch Zoe go through those doors, unarmed, with only a bag of coin as a shield. But she managed it. It was her job to remain where she was, to be patient until they knew how reasonable Niska was inclined to be. She could hear Zoe's voice, the faint vibrations of it through the doors echoing what she heard with the mental grip she'd taken of Zoe's mind.

"I'm unarmed." Zoe was being plain and clear. "I wanna talk to Niska."

River could admit that Niska's staff was decently professional. They didn't abuse Zoe in anyway. She was patted down with the ruthless efficiency of men who knew their employer was subject to any amount of assassination attempts but there was no groping or pinching. She might have been a piece of equipment that could walk and talk for all the interest they took in her as they escorted her through the station and to the room that held the three missing men. Keycards, hallways and endless shadows but finally Zoe was in the same room as Niska and their men.

It wasn't easy to let go of the relative safety of Zoe's mind and latch onto Niska's foul, blood tinted brain, but it had to be done. Breathing in softly and quietly without gagging on the putrid tenor of his thoughts was even more difficult. Niska was delighted. Niska was ecstatic. Niska was like a xiǎo huáng dì pulling the whiskers off a cat before he tied a firecracker to its tail and put it in a steel box to die.

Niska was, in a word, disgusting. His brain had the same type of foul pattern to it that she'd found in the scientists at the Academy. And she knew from the tenor of his thoughts that his men were as sadistic as he was but to do anything to someone without his permission would guarantee they spent time on the same torture rack the crew of the Serenity was currently 'enjoying'. Zoe wasn't abused simply because if it was going to be done, then he wanted to be the one to do it. It was simply another facet of his control and reputation. River shuddered mentally in revulsion and kept silent by stretching her control to the utmost.

It was certain that Niska intended to kill all of the men. Had already killed Wash once. He wanted to do it again and again. He would never give back all three of the men for payment. Even as he and Zoe spoke and Zoe interrupted him to choose her husband, River knew that Mal and Riddick would be required to stay. There would be no easy death for them. Niska planned to make sure their last days were filled with excruciating pain and humiliation. He wanted, more than anything, to hear the great and terrible Richard B. Riddick beg for mercy.

River nearly growled and forced herself to wait for Zoe to come back, for the doors to open from the inside so she could sneak in and begin her work. She might never have come to this place, might never have existed as the person she was now without the Academy's training. But it was their training and Riddick's that would enable her to do exactly what she needed. And ironically, exactly what they'd trained her to do.

If she hadn't gone to the Academy would Serenity's path have crossed Niska's in such a way? Mental figuring and calculation of the odds and criminal contacts said yes. Eventually the crew would have crossed Niska's path. Perhaps they would have done the job, perhaps not, but sooner or later Niska would have found fault with them, if only for what they were and their own reputation. Sooner or later, they would have arrived at this point. And someone would have died.

The cold smile that curved her lips was one her husband would have delighted to see. The xiǎo láng was out of the cage and the prey had no notion what was in store for it.


Riddick wasn't positioned in a way that he could see the door, even if he had been interested in opening his eyes and being blinded. But his ears and nose were working just fine, despite his best attempts to stifle his sense of smell, and both of them told him, despite the background noise of the torture session, that Zoe Washburne had come for her men. She smelt like steel and blood and leather, wrath turning her voice flat as gun metal as she spoke to Niska.

From beside him he could hear Wash imploring his wife to run, even as Niska used his jovial, near avuncular, voice to comment on the recent prosperity of the crew.

He had to give her credit, even with seeing her husband, bloodied and tortured, Zoe's voice didn't waver one iota. Niska trying to tease her into hysterics only resulted in interruption as she chose her husband over her Captain and the gun hand.

Riddick would admit to himself that when Niska started talking about refunds he got a little worried about what the lunatic wanted to chop off. It wouldn't be anything huge, like an arm or a hand, because Niska wouldn't want them to bleed to death. But an eyeball would be hard as hell for Simon to put back in, even if Niska didn't crush it underfoot.

Then he heard Mal's scream, smelt the blood very near his own head and knew. Niska had cut off Mal's ear. His own steady, furious cursing was an undercurrent to Mal's painful groans when the scream subsided but he still heard Zoe helping Wash out of the room and whisper one last word designed to be heard only by Furyan ears. "Trojan."


River watched, fury riding her like a horse, unable to keep her face impassive as Wash and Zoe passed her on their way to the shuttle. Now it was her turn to work and she slipped into the skyplex without a sound.

Wash was pretty beat up though, and as the Reader slipped onto the station she took a gentle hold of Zoe's mind again to check his condition. Zoe'd had to help him into the shuttle, blood dripping from various shallow, and not so shallow, cuts. Electrical burns on his chest indicated he'd been shocked repeatedly with high voltage electricity and he was covered in bruises.

It would take a couple of hours for the crew to get Serenity into position and begin their raid of distraction upon the station. She knew Niska's intent and could feel Wash's as he'd passed her. The pilot had no intention of leaving his friends behind. He couldn't know their intentions but he still planned to fight. He was a little discombobulated at the moment though.

It was always odd to hear conversations through someone else's mind. She couldn't exactly borrow Zoe's ears or eyes, but the mental grip she had on the First Mate's mind allowed her to eavesdrop on what was said, at least until she relaxed her cerebral hold.

"He's insane." Wash seemed astonished by this fact.

His wife, however, was stoic in the face of it. River could hear her thought that no one so entranced with Shan Yu could be sane. "I know it," She agreed quietly.

Wash barely seemed to hear her, "I mean, you've told the damn stories. Saved you in the war." His voice stuttered a moment, "I, I didn't know..."

Now Zoe sounded surprised, "You mean Mal?"

The man was still rambling slightly, "He's crazy. He wouldn't break, Zoe." Another painful stutter of words, "He kept me from..."

Now that did sound like the Captain. Malcolm Reynolds was many things, and stubborn to the point of insanity with a refusal to let go of what was his... River smirked slightly. Oh yes, Cap'n Tight Pants was just as crazy as she was. Just in a very different way.

Wash must have been very close to breaking down, because Zoe's voice was reassuring, her mental tone softer, "its okay."

Her husband's voice was choked, "I wouldn't have made it. And Rick, Rick's even worse. He didn't even seem to feel it... He... He was making jokes, talkin' like nothing even hurt." Zoe made a shushing noise, trying to calm him down, and Wash continued. "Niska's gonna kill them."

Zoe's voice hardened and mentally she was preparing to tell her husband about the plan as she spoke. "He's gonna make it last as long as possible. Days, if he can."

River nearly smiled at the effect those words had on Wash. She could almost feel his hardening resolve echo back through Zoe to her as he spoke. "Bastard's not gonna get days."

Zoe's thoughts were tangled with pride and love and determination and River released her grasp on the older woman's mind as the First Mate began to explain the plan they, the crew and River, had come up with.

River smiled to herself as she climbed into the air vents. First stop was the propulsion systems, then security. Jayne had given her enough plastique to blow up a station five times this one's size and when she'd grinned at him curiously he'd shrugged. "Wanna blow it to smithereens, not just big pieces. Big pieces could make it through atmo and fall onta someun's head down on Ezra. Don' wanna have that happ'nin' iffen we can prevent it."

So as she traversed the air circulation vents she left bits of plastique behind, coded to respond to two devices only. One she had with her. The other resided on Serenity in Kaylee's capable hands.

The mechanic had been a little upset at the thought of blowing up the station and everyone on it until Jayne and River had explained it to her. Ciara had just kept methodically checking the rifles and handguns to be sure they were all clean, unconcerned for any casualties that might occur on the station beyond their own.

"Kaylee, there ain't anyone worth savin' on that flyin' piece of lè sè," Jayne had told her. "Maybe there was oncet but they's long gone now. Either Niska kilt 'em or they've gone bad as he is."

River had nodded as she continued to program the plastic explosive. "Nice people do not last long on space stations run by men such as Niska. I will listen for innocents as I go through and do my best for any I find but I do not believe I will find any."

Jayne had nodded grimly and kept working on the impact explosive with Kaylee. "I heard back when Niska took the place over he made it a kinda haven for people who are generally up to no good. They pay him money, like protection an' rent, and they run their businesses outa there."

Kaylee had been less worried then and so long as River kept an ear out for things like little kids she'd been fine with the idea of blowing up the skyplex after they got their crew off.

River imagined that the mechanic was still more than a little spooked about the violence to come but they'd tried to arrange it so that she was as far behind the lines as Jayne and Zoe could manage.

The Reader pulled her attention back to the present and the vent into the occupied room that was directly in front of her. She was light enough that the vent shafts didn't bend or make noise under her weight, in part because while Niska might skimp on parts for places he sold, he liked his own residence to be solid and reliable. The skyplex was a marvel of up to date engineering and top of the line specs. A moment of consideration and waiting for the men in the room to move around concealed her own stealthy slide across the vent.

Another pause to be sure she hadn't been noticed, a small placement of plastique and she was moving on. She'd have several hours to make her way through the vents to Niska's office and the torture room beyond his plush business area.


It was getting harder to keep track of time. Niska'd gone from electricity to knives. And while he at least didn't have to worry about breaking his teeth Riddick was finding Mal's loss of blood to be of some concern. He was pretty sure it had been at least a couple hours since Zoe had come and gone again, taking Wash with her. He'd decided to save his energy now that he didn't have to keep up appearances to give Wash heart and it seemed Mal had come to the same conclusion. Another moment of agreement, which he'd have to note on the calendar. This day was just full of 'em. As consolations went it was so small as to be infinitesimal.

Of course that didn't mean that Mal wasn't still conversing with Niska. Cap'n couldn't keep his mouth shut if his life depended on it. As was being proven over and over today.

"Hey Rick? You there?" Mal was now trying to talk to him while Riddick was getting cut on. The long slice to his inner arm, narrowly avoiding the larger veins and arteries was bleeding sluggishly and he growled as he forced himself to answer.

"What? Ya think I went for a gorram stroll or somethin' Mal?" He would have rolled his eyes if he'd had the energy. So much for saving his strength.

"Just checkin'. Don' want you ta pass out on me. I'd have a helluva lotta explainin' to do." Mal groaned as a meaty thump echoed through the room.

Niska apparently didn't like being ignored. "Do you know the writings of Shan Yu?"

"Sadistic gǒu pì legitimized by florid prose," Riddick growled the words out in irritation. Niska's astonishment at his knowledge would have been amusing if not for the connotations of the question.

Mal just groaned, "We're starting a book club? What? Are you trying to tor-" A strangled cry erupted in the middle of his sentence at something Niska did but he gamely continued when the little rat was done. "-trying to torture me?"

Niska's laugh was altogether disturbing, Riddick decided. He'd had some time now to consider it and he really did not like how the man laughed. It was just creepy. "Yes, today we meet you. Yes, and you are quite a man. An extraordinary man. Yes, but these are not times for extraordinary men. Business is not war. Heroics are unseemly. They complicate."

He moved around to talk at Riddick instead and the Furyan refused to give him the pleasure of trying to meet his gaze. He'd keep his eyes shut thank you very fuckin' much and the little monster could talk to his eyelids. "And you...Mister Richard B. Riddick... another extraordinary man. Such tales they tell of you, the convict who cannot be kept. The murderer who escapes all chains. And yet I have caught him. Your reputation is as well known as your name Mister Riddick. And when I display your head in a glass case to show the entire Underworld who has fallen to me, my reputation will be unassailable."

Riddick growled, the animal ready to break everything around him, ready to destroy the entire station if it meant a chance at killing the little rat who thought he was a lion standing in front of him.

His growls seemed to amuse Niska; further proof the man was an idiot, because the bái mù fèi fèi gāng mén just laughed again. "Soon I will have tortured the mighty Captain Reynolds and the 'terrifying' Riddick to death. And the entire 'Verse will know that none can stand against Niska. There will be no more 'talk' of perhaps Niska's grip is slipping.

The Furyan slitted his eyes open slightly and stared at the little Russian mobster, so self absorbed and satisfied with himself he didn't notice that Riddick was no where near as pained and exhausted as he seemed. "You just keep tellin' yourself that." He told the bespectacled man flatly. "Fallen from his high estate. And weltering in his blood; deserted at his utmost need by those his former bounty fed; on the bare earth exposed he lies with not a friend to close his eyes." He sneered at the fool who read and believed Shan Yu but couldn't seem to recognize Earth That Was literature. "S'amatter? Don' even know Dryden ya pompous windbag?" He shut his eyes in clear dismissal and smirked as Niska walked away from him.

He could hear the little hún dàn walk across the room and then return to stand in front of Mal. Niska seemed to regain his sense of rhythm because he started pontificating again. "For you, I have, uh... special machine..." He paused and Riddick guessed he was doing something Jayne would call creepifyin'. "Very precious."

Whatever he'd done to Mal the last time had taken something out of the Captain because his voice was strained as he replied. "And they say people don't look like their pets."

Niska's creepy laugh filled the air again, "Let us see if we can meet the real you."

Riddick wasn't sure what the hell they were doing but the sounds from whatever it was were not reassuring. A metallic whirring, the distinctive sound of flesh being penetrated, the smell of Mal's blood, dark and rich and the Captain's very loud, tortured scream. And the worst, underneath it all, the frantic, too rapid, sound of Mal's heart going crazy with pain.

It went on for a good five minutes before Mal's voice cut off with a gurgle that Riddick knew all too well and the abrupt stop of the man's heartbeat. The stupid pì yǎnr had managed to kill the captain. Sure enough he heard the torturer tell Niska after some fumbling around, "Yep. He's dead."

"Yú chǔn zì jiāo de dà zi ròu," Riddick told him.

"Bring him back," Niska snapped, and it was the most irritated Riddick had heard the little huài rén sound since they'd been brought in.

It took a few more jolts, Mal being slightly more beat up than Wash had been, but eventually they got him back. Eventually. The sound of the Captain taking a wheezing breath was a pretty good one. He was pretty sure he wasn't ever gonna like Malcolm Reynolds but annoying as he was, he was still crew, and he hadn't done anything, that Riddick knew of anyway, that would warrant him being tortured to death. At least not in anyone's mind but Niska's.

And speaking of Niska, Riddick nearly groaned as the little man began talking again. The only good thing about Mal being dead for a few minutes had been the quiet.

"Mr. Reynolds?" Niska's voice was an irritating sing song, "You died, Mr. Reynolds."

Mal was coughing a bit, and immediately proved that whatever brain damage he might have wasn't anything new, by mouthing off yet again. "Seemed like the thing to do."

Niska made a 'tsking' noise and Riddick could almost hear him shaking his head. "When you die, I can't hurt you anymore and I want two days, at least. Minimum." He paused and there was a faint squeaking sound, cloth over glass. The Furyan nearly groaned in irritation. He couldn't stand lectures. "I think many people know the name Malcolm Reynolds. Many know he crossed Niska. They must know what happens after that."

Riddick could hear the gǒu tuǐ zi of a torturer moving towards Mal and a nasty sound like scissors slicing together as Niska continued speaking. "They must know that business is still running."

Riddick growled and took a deep breath. This was going to be uncomfortable. "Yeah, like there's gonna be anythin' left a you once we're done. You're gonna be outa business ya little gǒu pì. You just don't get it. We woulda let you go your way if you'd a let us go ours. Money got returned, no harm, no foul. We couldn't get the job done. But you, you just had to decide that wasn't enough. Such a little man you gotta make yourself big by cuttin' better men down."

He was right. A hot set of knives pushed through his side was damn uncomfortable.


River had made several circuits of the space station, winding inward as she went, and found quite a bit of interesting information about how the place was run. Having her cortex with her made tapping into Niska's network extremely easy and it wasn't as if she didn't have the encryption to his files already. So when Serenity docked and the alarm went off, it was a matter of seconds to cut the power and reroute it to where she wanted it to go.

Unfortunately not everything could be done remotely or with her cortex. Hence the crew creating the distraction for the guards she hadn't been able to lock down in their quarters. Soon enough she heard the faint echo of gunfire and slid forward past Niska's office into the vents above the torture chamber.

She peered through the vent as two men bent over the Captain who was strapped to a semi-reclined rack. She could see her Riddick and smell his blood, dripping dully to the floor from two through and through wounds in his side. Mal, predictably enough, was mouthing off. "Listen... if you got guests, I can come back later."

The little man was giving the bigger one an annoyed look. At that point a timely entrance was called for because she could feel he was about to give an order she wouldn't care for.

Dancer's legs could kick pretty hard. The screws holding the vent cover in place were no match for her muscles and three of the four men in the room were startled when it went flying from the upper right side of the room to the lower left. Swinging down from her perch in the vent was a matter of gymnastics and math and she landed right behind the bigger man.

He was holding some sort of instrument that looked like scissors and it was easy for her to identify it as the cause of her Riddick's wounds. Taking it from him after kicking him in the stones from behind was easy. Stabbing it into his neck was a little harder, her muscles were only so strong after all, but Mal got loose and slammed something that looked like an amputated octopus into his back. After that, he fell down easily enough. Her knife sliced through Riddick's bonds easily and a sweep of her sword upwards killed the lights.

After that it was simply a matter of letting Riddick do what he did best. Niska didn't have a chance. Her Riddick was on the little man faster than a cat on a mouse. Niska's neck broke with an anti-climatic snap. Riddick growled down at the body, "So now you met the real me. Happy?" He looked at River, eyes glowing in the dark. "I think, we mighta worn out our welcome here," Riddick told her quietly.

"Our welcome is quite possibly frayed to uselessness my láng." River shrugged. "Need to help the captain. I'll keep you covered."

Mal was more than a bit exhausted, not having a Furyan's constitution meant that torture tended to take a little something out of you. He pointed at a loosened strap as an explanation for his timely assistance in killing the piglike villain, swaying as he did. "Didn' pay 'tention when they was...recu, resuss, bringin' me back." His words were more than a little slurred and it was obvious that he wouldn't be walking on his own.

River helped Riddick put his goggles on and guilded the captain towards her Furyan. Riddick pulled Mal's arm up over his shoulder and nodded at her. "We leavin' now?" Mal asked groggily.

"Yep," Riddick nodded grimly and began to follow River out.


It wasn't easy, having River do all the shooting, even if he did have Mal half draped over him. He was itching to shed some blood. Wanted to let the animal out and carve his way off this gorram station. But if he did, River's plan would be screwed and Mal would most likely be dead. They had deviated from their course slightly, in order to pick up a cashbox with the scent of the crew on it, but that hadn't taken long at all.

Following River through the winding route back to the hanger without dropping Mal to attack the guards with his bare hands qualified as one of the hardest things he'd done to date. River's scent blazed with cinnamon and steel, her rage tempered with the discipline that kept her abilities from spiraling out of control.

As they got closer to the edge of the station he could pick up the crew's voices, calling for backup, cursing, and shot directions. Coming around a corner behind River he could see Kaylee and Ciara pinned down by three guards, dangerously close to the ramp of the cargo bay. The rest of the crew were coming from the opposite direction, something he figured River had set up deliberately.

"Stay here with the Cap'n," River murmured and crept forward, her Ladysmith in one hand, her sword in the other. A twirling slice of her sword and two shots later as the guards turned towards their crumpling comrade and the guards were no longer an issue.

Seeing the way clear Riddick walked forward and up the ramp while River shouted down in the direction of the crew. "Clear!"

It took a few minutes, but the rest of the crew, including Wash, Riddick was proud to see, began to trickle onto the ship, some, like Jayne, firing behind them as they came. "Grenade," The big man called as he backed onto the ramp.

"Pin's out," Ciara shouted as she threw it to him and quick as a wink the huge gun hand lobbed it into the station. The resulting explosion was particularly satisfying as all gunfire ceased from that point forward.

"Clear up," Jayne called back.

"Clear down," Zoe shouted and that was apparently Kaylee's cue to hit the button for the cargo bay doors.

Wash was already making his limping way up the stairs to the bridge and Riddick handed Mal off to Jayne and Simon, following Wash and helping him walk when he caught up to the pilot.

"So what's the plan now that we're all back on the boat?" He asked as he eased Wash into the pilot's seat and took his own place.

"We beat feet." Wash was already disengaging from the station. "And then all the work River did gets put into action."

Riddick couldn't help grinning at the satisfied scent coming off the pilot. "I'm guessin' we wanna be far and away from the station when that action happens?"

"As I understand it, Jayne pretty much turned over our entire supply of plastic explosive to her and she planted it all over the station." Wash was chuckling.

"Plus robbed Niska's coffers blind." River said as she came onto the bridge.

"You had this planned pretty well I guess." Riddick smiled slightly. "You come on when Zoe came and got Wash?"

"Waited until she only came back with one man." River shrugged slightly.

"We figured Niska wouldn't accept the money for alla ya," Jayne's voice was tired as he came in and collapsed in the navigator's chair. "But just in case, we set it up so's River'd slip on after Zoe come back on the shuttle."

"Knew it would take time to get close to the room where our crew were being kept," River's soft voice was tired. "Planned it so that we'd have plenty of time to get the distraction set up and I could get to you. Detonator is set so that only Kaylee's controls here, or the ones I have on my cortex can blow the station. No mistakes that way. Even if someone else got to the detonator, it would route through my cortex and I could stop it if I had to."

"Well we're far enough away," Wash slowed Serenity and turned the ship so they could see the skyplex. Flicking the intercom on, he spoke into it. "Ladies, gentlemen and Browncoats, if you'd direct your attention to your nearest starboard window you'll see the Niska space station implode in a glorious burst of fire. In three, two, one..."

He looked at River and she smiled grimly, keying the sequence into her cortex and hitting the button to finalize it. "Done."

It wasn't the first time he'd seen light turn into death but it was among the most satisfying. When all that was left of Niska's station was dust Riddick looked at Wash. "How 'bout we land this boat and get some medical attention 'fore Simon comes and hauls us out of our chairs by the ears that Niska didn't cut off."

Wash chuckled tiredly. "That sounds like the makin's of a fine plan."


Author's Note: Wow... So I'm pretty pleased. I managed to get this out before another year passed. I'm feeling a little better, and trying to get back into the right/write frame of mind for this story. Bear with me as I get back in the swing of things. I'm still progressing and I still have some health issues but I'm getting better.

Chinese Translations:

jiān xié - crafty and evil / a treacherous villain

Yú chǔn zì jiāo de dà zi ròu - stupid inbred sack of meat

hún dàns - bastards

Nǐ tā mā de tiān xià suǒ yǒu de rén dōu gāi sǐ. - Fuck everyone in the universe to death.

gu pì - bullshit, nonsense - lit. "dog fart";

Cào nǐ zǔ zōng shí bā dài - fuck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation.

xiǎo huáng dì - lit. little emperor / fig. spoiled child / spoiled boy / pampered only child

xiǎo láng - little wolf

lè sè - Garbage, trash

bái mù - stupid / Lit. white-eyed, blind / not understanding the situation and reacting in a wrong way as a result

fèi fèi gāng mén - baboon's asshole

pì yǎnr - bastard / slob / asshole

huài rén - bad person / villain

gǒu tuǐ zi - dog's leg / fig. one who follows a villain / henchman / hired thug

láng - wolf

Quote Sources:

Fallen from his high estate. And weltering in his blood; deserted at his utmost need by those his former bounty fed; on the bare earth exposed he lies with not a friend to close his eyes. - Alexander's Feast - Dryden