Chapter 44: The Hairy Palms of Alexander Toombs
"Welcome back, goatfucker," a man says. Stare at him. Think I hate him. Think I'm not supposed to let him know that.
A woman shushes him. "What did you see?" she asks me, breathless.
Stare at her. Know her. Can't remember who she is. There's a reason we're together in a cold, tiny room with a man I think I hate. Can't remember. There's a reason Jack's not here. Can't remember that either.
Struggle to organize my thoughts. Pisses me off. My psych profile says I have no evidence of disorganized thinking. Kinda pleased about that. Not the case right now.
Keep it together, asshat. Need to find Jack.
Remember her under me. Miss her under me.
Remember the reason she's not here. Runnin' from me. The little girl that I saved on that monster planet, that cuddled with me on my lap in the skiff, that saved my life on Chillingsworth's nightmare station, that I did not rape in her princess tower, running from me. My hands are fists. It's all I can do not to punch the woman. Can't kill her. Don't remember why.
I hear myself groan. The woman I can't remember walks towards me, care rolling off her. Why does she care?
Is she real? This room does not seem real after the unbearable reality of Shirah and Fry, the angels on my shoulders.
I can feel Shirah's spear point on my chest. I can smell Fry's mojito. I can smell the ocean. Jack was on those sands. Miss her.
And then there's Jack's dead big sister. Who looks enough like me that she could be my dead big sister. Bet the dead brother who stalks Jack's nightmares looks even more like me.
Unsettling.
He hurt her. Can't kill her dead brother. He's in her head. Hate that. Turn and punch something hard. Think it's a wall.
Woman's still trying to talk to me. Trying to be soothing. She has a hand on my arm. Stare down at it. Want to break those little fingers.
World twists hard and I know where I am. Colchis. Pretending not to be me. Woman is the scientist who recruited me. Doctor Mei Nara of the Colchis Exploratory Expedition. The woman with a chip in her neck. Because of Jack. The man is Alexander fucking Toombs. Mercenary. Running dog lackey of the Elemental bitch who set this up. Abducted Jack twice. Hate him. No fucking way I'm telling them what Jack's dead sister said. Or Shirah. Who might be dead. Or Heimdahl-fucking-help me, Fry. Who is positively dead. I feel her pulled into the sky by a monster. Away from me. Blink back tears. If she hadn't died . . .
Gotta tell them something. Or I gotta kill them. Which will upset Jack. Damn kid. Hear myself groan, again. Manage to say, "was . . . strange."
Doctor Mei Nara of the Colchis Exploratory Expedition is rapt and victorious. "Tell me everything."
Everything. Fry died for me. My mother died for me. Jack's dead sister says I do not deserve the women who die for me. Jack hasn't. So far. Can almost see Jack dead at my feet. Not want. Teetering on the edge of a pit I do not want to fall into. Close my eyes. "All white. Then . . . woman. Said no. Wouldn't open the blast doors. For me. Only for Jack. Yelled at me."
Doctor Mei Nara blinks rapidly. "What exactly did she say?"
Glare at her. Mad that she's not Jack. Hits me that if she didn't invite me on Audhumla, I wouldn't be there at the foot of that damn ramp when Jack got back to Colchis. Cools me off a little. Poor woman with a chip in her neck. Because Jack got away from her.
Like she got away from me.
Blood is roaring in my ears. Why the fuck did I put my hands into that table?
Manage to give her a nod. "Find weapon. Kill Zhylaw." Take a deep breath. Syntax. It's a thing. "She wanted us to get on with it."
"Why were you able to talk to the computer? Where are you from? Are you Colchis?"
Thoughts are ordering at last. Think about what to tell her. Oh, what the fuck. "Don't know. Orphan. Never knew my parents."
"Lucky them," Alexander fucking Toombs, lackey of the Ice-Bitch, snorts. Glare at him.
Nara shushes him again. "Where was your family from?" she asks.
Know that was a cruel question. Don't remember why. Just that it makes me angry, after all of those warm feelings about her bringing me here. "Hell if I know." She's gazing at me, rapt. She's got monomania and I've got holes in my backstory. Decide to take part of Jack's. "Found abandoned on Mercer."
"You could be Colchis. They had some connection to Mercer. We should do a DNA test."
No fucking way I'm doing a DNA test. I nod. Thoughts are getting in order. "Gonna get myself checked out by the Doc-in-the-Box. Let you know if I remember anything else."
"Want me to walk you there?" Toombs asks, leering.
"Thor's shaggy balls, no," I say. "Take care of the Doc. I'll be back."
Jack stumbled into the cockpit of Riddick's ship. Started to sit in the co-pilot's seat. Took the pilot's chair instead.
Abu's been setting me up since Riddick left me. He's manipulated almost everything he could for the last 13 years. All to use me to get control of Riddick.
Abu is a freaking asshole.
Who is facing the death of everything he loves.
She rubbed her face. Remembered Riddick's hands closing over hers, lovingly, in those last days in New Mecca before he went into the dark, before he dislocated her thumbs. Then her shoulders. Preparing her for a world he'd never taken her to. Her stomach heaved. She was glad she'd vomited up breakfast already.
Facing the death of almost everything I love.
She started a preflight. Remembered Riddick teaching her how to do that.
Abu knows what Riddick is going to do to me. The gentle rape and death threats in the med lab are just the beginning. Abu did this to me.
To try to save the world.
Reports started to come back. The nanites had done their good work. The hull was repaired.
Abu took me in when Riddick wouldn't. Bought me an open ticket to home. Adopted me. Got me citizenship. Let me have a dog.
Her eyes prickled hard. I miss my dogs.
I miss my job.
I miss Yunas.
I miss Riddick. Even though he raped me. It was almost a physical pain. She started crying. Once she started she couldn't stop.
Helios took me in.
Angela and Yunas took me in.
They will die if I don't save them.
Engine was good. Fuel was low but would get her back to Polyphemus station. She snorted. At least there's no doctor waiting to cut open my brain and put a control chip in.
Because Riddick killed him. By putting his hand over his face. The way he put his hand over mine so he could fuck me and keep me quiet.
Riddick killed that doctor for me. Thirteen years without a word and he's killing for me again.
Thirteen years and his arm is still red and raw, like he cut himself regularly thinking of me. Thinking of our blood, spilling into each other's veins. Binding us.
She heard herself wail. She knew, intellectually, Riddick's blood did not still flow in her veins. Still, thinking of it there had gotten her through some dark nights.
What did it do to him?
He probably spent thirteen years brooding about me.
He probably spent thirteen years alone.
She was crying so hard she could not see. Poor Riddick. Sitting in the dark, alone, bleeding. While I missed him so much I cried myself to sleep for months. Except I moved on. Mostly.
He saved me, again and again. He probably loves me more than he's ever loved anyone.
Angela said staying away from the people we love makes us crazy.
The Necromongers are worse than Riddick. He's an up close and personal monster. Who loves me with all his dark murdering heart. Not a genocidal armada.
Riddick could stop them. Maybe. An Underverse blade in a Furyan's hand . . .
Or in mine.
She swallowed. Except that I don't have one. Because I haven't leapt into the pit. The one that goes a long way down.
The pit on the other side of the blast door. With the mercs who want to sell me to monsters.
With Riddick.
Or I could take Riddick's ship and fly away.
Leave everyone I love to die.
The tears took her and she sobbed for a very long time. As they finally ebbed, something cold and calculating rose within her. Radne said the Necromongers would welcome me with open arms. Riddick will chase me wherever I go.
He'll chase me and he won't have an Underverse blade. Because I haven't jumped down the pit and gotten him one.
Haven't gotten me one.
She rubbed her face again. She shut down the preflight, walked down the ramp, and locked the Tanngrisnir.
Stared upwards in the docking bay. "I am the daughter of Ariadne Parnell."
Nothing happened.
She shook her head. Squared her shoulders. Spoke louder. "I am the daughter of Ariadne Kore. I am the last daughter of Colchis. And I want command of this station."
There was a click and a hum that made her hold her breath. But nothing else happened. She sunk down to the rock. It hurt against her sore knees.
"Please? Give me something?" she said, her voice cracking.
Track lighting turned on, illuminating the paths to the blast doors that had dropped on either side of the docking bay. She followed one to the exterior entrance, put her hands on it. "Open. Please."
There was a pause like something was thinking about it. Then the door lifted and she saw the surface of Colchis for the first time. She stepped outside into a deep rift valley. It was dark and cold and looking up she could see stars and small local flying creatures swooping through the night. It looked lovely.
Last chance. Steal Riddick's ship and run.
She stepped back. Followed the shining path across the docking bay to the interior doors. Checked her pockets. The shiv was there, for all the good it would do her. Her console. And a heavy coin she couldn't remember why she had. She'd left Abu's message chip on Riddick's ship.
She put her hands on the interior blast door. She asked it to open.
The wind from the door blew Dahl and Logan's playing cards all over the hall. They both stood, drawing their guns smoothly. Jack put up her hands. "I got the doors open," she said, somewhat inanely.
"Riddick with you?" Logan asked, her voice hard.
Oh shit, she thought. What do they know? She swallowed hard, looked down. "No. I haven't – is he – is he here?" She didn't have to fake the crack in her voice.
Something passed between the two mercenaries. "Hands behind your head," Logan ordered, cold. "Lace your fingers." Jack complied slowly, feeling sick and lost. Logan twisted her wrists to the small of her back and cuffed them with something unyielding. She did a move that dropped Jack to her sore knees hard on the grit and gravel of the tunnel floor. "Press your forehead on the ground." Awkwardly, Jack complied. Logan leaned down, tapped a heavy gun against the back of Jack's head. "Don't. Move."
She could hear them enter the dock and run a search pattern. She rolled her shoulders. The position already hurt.
Whatever they were looking for, they didn't find it. Logan's boots were in front of her eyes. "How do we close the exterior door?"
"I don't think you can," Jack said. "I think I have to. But I'll need my hands. What's going on? Is Riddick - is Riddick here?" Her voice cracked again.
Logan grunted, yanked Jack back up. "Let's go."
Doc-in-the-Box says I'm fine. Clear it ain't doing a psych profile. Was half intending to work out, since I gotta maintain my physique if I wanna keep the girl, but something makes me head back to the control room. Pick up installing cable where Jack left off two nights ago. Miss her so much I ache.
Smell them coming before I see them. Carefully put down the tools I'm using, stand, stretch my fingers out, and roll my shoulders. Toombs gave me a stunner. Wish I had one of the blasters I took from Audhumla, but I've been worried the mercs would recognize them. Doc Nara looks at me. "You okay?"
"Yeah." I say. "Just gettin' the kinks out." Just in case now's the time I get to kill them all.
Fry's there, because of course she is, sitting on a beach chair in the corner in her ridiculous golf outfit under a sunlamp sipping from her thermos full of mojitos. "You're never gonna get the kinks out, killer. Just accept what you are and get enthusiastic consent first."
Logan pushes Jack into the room, her hands cuffed behind her back and her face dirty. I can smell blood but can't see any. She's been crying. She still won't look at me.
Toombs rocks back and very deliberately puts down his console. Folds his arms. "Will you look at that," he says.
Logan gives me a nod. "You were right. She came back on her own."
"So why she got the cuffs on?" I ask.
"She's now gotten away from all of you boys," Logan says. "Figure I should take better care."
"Merciful Hestia," Nara says. "Jack, you scared the hell out of me. Again."
Nara, she'll look at. "I'm sorry," Jack said. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Were you trying to run away?" Nara asks. "I just learned there's a black cover arrest warrant out for you. You would not have gotten far."
Fry takes a big sip out of the thermos. "Want some of my mojito?" she asks me. "It's really minty." Try to ignore her.
Jack shakes her head. "No - no. We needed the nanites. Didn't want to lose the chance." She takes a deep breath and tries to square her shoulders. Cuffs are too tight. "I couldn't leave you all to die locked up here."
Look down. "Toombs said you kicked the ladder away," Nara says.
"Smart girl," Fry says. "She'll go far."
"I didn't mean to," Jack says. Know she's lying. She kicked that thing right at me and she kicked it hard. "I got the doors open. We can get the nanites back; build an interface."
"You really think that's what she wants to do at this point?" Fry says. "I think she's got a plan. And I doubt it involves building intricate machinery." I glare at her.
"Here's the problem," Toombs says. He pushes back from the table and stalks towards Jack. "You should have taken transpo-guy and me with you, for your own safety. The fact you didn't has me doubtin' your sincerity here." Now Jack looks down. He waits a beat, then keeps going. "You get communications back, who you gonna call? You get control of this system, whatcha gonna do with it? Here's my worry: you get control, use that control to kill us all, and call Riddick for a ride outta here."
"Bloody fucking Ereshkigal, you think that's my plan?" Jack says. She's mad. "I want to save the world. I'm not a killer and I don't have Riddick's number."
Toombs nods. "Plausible. Real glad you came back, darlin'," he grins, fingering the control unit. "Still gotta do something about you crawling away. Gotta," he licks his lips, "reinforce how bad an idea that was."
"Don't, Toombs," I say, softly. "She coulda hoofed it. Woulda been inconvenient getting her back. Don't punish her for doing the right thing."
Jack flickers me a look. Lot of grief and anger in that look. Maybe a little love. Maybe I just want there to be love. Something in that look makes me check my pockets.
The message chip. She got it. She watched it. Maybe even the parts I didn't watch. She was gone long enough.
Think about the parts I did watch. Swallow hard.
Fry laughs at me. "Maybe you should have shown it to her like she asked instead of dragging her on a nonconsensual bondage sex romp. Couples really should talk more."
"Hm." Toombs says. "Maybe you're right. But my palms feel hairy. You know what my hairy palms mean?"
Logan snorts and even Dahl rolls his eyes. He sails on, shameless. "That means the mark's near. I think you ran because you knew that, either to him or from him. So, what exactly do you know?" He advances on her slowly. Logan's a pro; she drops back. So, belatedly, does Dahl. They've got the room covered.
"Oooh," says Fry. "The right question at last. This is getting good."
Jack shakes her head. "I don't - I don't have his number." She looks down. Then she looks up, angry. "Do you really think I'm dumb enough to run from him? And if I could call him to come rescue me, don't you think I would have done it last time you kidnapped me?"
Toombs slowly pulls out his black case with the truth drugs. "I think you're holding something back, darlin'."
Fry takes another big slurp out of her minty, minty thermos. Jack swallows hard. Toombs pulls out his black case again. "Mr. Toombs, what's that?" the Doc asks.
"Something that will help her tell the truth," he says. "Trouble is, it'll leave her useless the rest of the day, so I'm hoping I don't gotta use it. Of course, she's supposed to rest today anyway so maybe it's for the best."
"Oooooooh," Fry whispers. She now has a plate full of tacos. "The tension rises! Does she roll on you, helpless from the drugs coursing in her veins? Can she resist the siren call of telling the truth about what a monumental asshat you are?"
Jesus fuck, I wish she was elsewhere.
"Shiva's tears," Jack whispers. She's got tears in her eyes too. All her rage ain't getting those cuffs off and she's gonna start bawling again soon. I want to comfort her. I want her in my lap, crying those helpless tears she cried when she was afraid Abu would send her back to those fuckers on Mercer. And I also really wanna know what she's gonna say.
"You asshole." She looks down. "You're right about one thing. I thought about running." Tears are spilling down her cheeks. Toombs brushes some away with his thumb. She recoils back like his fingers burn. "I hate being tied up." Her voice is rough. She tries to wipe her face on her own shoulder. "I fucking hate the cuffs. I really fucking hate the collar." She looks at me and she's crying now, helplessly. "And I hate that you think it's" she fights for the right word "- attractive."
Toombs pulls out a bandana and wipes her face. "Not going to lie. It is kinda hot, kid."
That makes her mad again. "Wearing it is like getting raped over and over again," she snaps. "I know you think that's hot too. I know you're getting off thinking about him fucking me. I hate that. I hate that so much."
He shakes his head slowly. "Been thinkin' on that for years, darlin'. Since we got all distracted on Polyphemus. Did Riddick have his evil way with you already?"
"No, you cow-fucking-asshole." Then she slumps. "Not - not when I was a little girl." She swallows, stares at the ground. Cranes around to look at Logan. "But you're right. Riddick takes what he wants and if he decides that's me after all these years, he will rape me as soon as he wants it and I don't. And if he thinks this fucking collar is hot," her voice goes so bitter it makes my stomach hurt, "like you assholes seem to, he might never let me take it off. He might get off on it marking me as his - this innocent victim that he has to protect from all the other terrible people in the galaxy. Like I'm still that little kid sidekick I used to be, only fuckable. My loving foster father set it up so Riddick Balder Riddick gets to do whatever he wants to me and gets to feel good about it. And him wanting to feel good about it is my best option for me and my world living out the year."
She takes a deep shuddering breath. "So, yeah, I thought about running. Gamed it all out. But the Necromongers are going to kill everyone we love if we don't stop them. The day I got home after the last time you kidnapped me, I took my oath as a citizen. I swore I would help build a better world and fucking show up when called. I have to be here now to do that. I can't figure anything else out." She looks at us, one by one, like each one of us is a real person. "I fucking hate that you kidnapped me and put this thing around my throat. I want to run so bad it hurts. But I'm not willing to leave anyone to die, not even you assholes."
We're all frozen. Even me. Finally, Toombs nods. "Well, huh." He puts the needle back and closes its black box. "Now that had the ring of truth."
She nods, convulsively. "Please uncuff me," she chokes out. "I really need to blow my nose."
Toombs laughs and nods at Logan. She takes the cuffs off. Grips Jack's shoulder briefly. Hands her a tissue. Jack makes a mighty blow. Logan hands her another tissue.
Fry's gone and she didn't leave the tacos. Nara's glaring daggers at me.