Chapter 14

tabula rasa [ˈˌtäb(y)o͝olə ˈräzə]

NOUN

-an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals; a clean slate.

-the human mind, especially at birth, viewed as having no innate ideas.

He loved hearing her moan when he put his hands on her. Sure, a massage wasn't exactly what he had in mind but she didn't smell like tension and pain anymore and that was the point. Turning her over on her back and continuing the massage in a slightly different direction relaxed her even more and did a lot for his state of mind too.

A bit of aftercare, making sure she wouldn't be uncomfortable when she woke up, and he tugged the quilts over the both of them. Content and warm, River cuddled against him, Riddick considered the question he'd debated asking and decided to go for it, "River, is there a reason you keep putting money in the ship account?"

"Passenger," She mumbled.

"No," He blinked. He'd offered her a position as crew. He remembered it very clearly. "You're crew."

"Thought I was a passenger mostly, only part time crew," She blinked up at him.

"I never said part time. I asked if you wanted to be crew, remember? Wanted you to keep cooking," Riddick frowned thinking back to the conversations. "And Badger offered us the job, I said for you too if you were serious about being crew."

"Didn't think you wanted me as crew," River shook her head. "Except for that one job."

"Okay, granted we haven't exactly been getting paid in pounds of plat but I've been giving you your share of every haul," He shook his head. "And I told Ziza you were crew. What'd you think the coin I've been handing you has been for?"

"Food allowance," She admitted, blushing slightly.

"No," Riddick groaned. "No, that's your money, your share. If you need to shop for food you tell me and I'll pay for it. Comes out of the ship account."

"Misunderstanding," She shook her head.

"Fuck yeah it is," He kissed her. "You're crew. My crew. Yeah?"

"Yeah," She smiled up at him and he couldn't help grinning and kissing her again. Maybe now she'd stop talking about getting a boat of her own. Every time she asked him to look at ships with her he wanted to fuck her into the mattress until she was too tired to go anywhere.

River received regular waves from her brother and mother when they were in the Alliance systems. Riddick always made a point of saying hello to her mother. It seemed like the thing to do since she'd been so wholeheartedly supportive of River staying with him. Regan Tam was something else, Riddick was beginning to think she'd married down. Certainly, Simon and River were more like her than their father.

River got actual letters from her family as well. And a few now and then from her old crew. He'd admit those always made him tense up with how wistful she looked as she read them. But she'd also grin and share bits and pieces of the letters, telling him about how the Pilot and First Mate's child was growing up. How the gun hand had been learning to read and write better and practiced in his letters to her. Those she actually copied and made corrections so she could send them back like she was grading his work. And the man seemed grateful for it. He got to hear about Kaylee and what she was doing with Serenity's engines and how Serenity had gotten another co-pilot, one who they thought might stick this time.

Now and then she'd mention the Captain and another plan gone wrong. She talked about Malcolm Reynolds with such obvious affection. He'd feel his spine tighten with tension and the instant desire (need really) to slide a shiv into the man's sweet spot.

Waves for him were generally to do with business. Badger or Yao Ming, or José Jenkins, and he never got letters. Part of having pretty much no one in the 'verse who knew he was alive or who he really was he guessed. Before River had started sailing with him he could admit the solitude could occasionally grate. But keeping busy had kept him from thinking about it.

So, a wave addressed to him from an unknown address was greeted with no small amount of suspicion. River frowned and began to type rapidly into the cortex. "It looks like…" She tapped the screen. "That seems to be Helion Prime." She slid a thumb drive into the socket and as he watched a program uploaded, "That will trace it and make us very difficult to locate when we open the wave." She pulled the message to the screen in front of her, "Let me answer it. If it's mercs and it's live I might confuse them."

She didn't wait for an answer, tapping the screen to open the message and Riddick bit back a curse as he saw Ziza's tear streaked face. "Ziza," River tapped the screen to clear it. "Are you all right?"

"Mother…" The girl's face crumpled looking much younger than her years. "Some men…"

"We're on our way, hardest burn we can," River promised. "Are you safe?"

"—the house—iend –father's…stay," The wave began to break up distance overcoming River's superior programming. Before she could try to stabilize it, the wave disconnected.

"What's the program say," Riddick forced himself to take deep breaths. The Wrath was pulsing under his skin and he didn't want to find out what it would do to his ship. It was rare he got so pissed off that it became an issue but tears on Ziza's face had done the trick. The only other time he'd had a problem had been when River'd gotten hurt on Osiris. At least then he'd pushed all his energy into taking care of her wound and he hadn't turned into some freaky ass light/energy show.

"She's on Helion Prime, in New Mecca," River's reply came quickly. She gave his chest a thoughtful look but sensibly didn't address the subject, concentrating on the cause rather than the effect. "The wave came from a public terminal. Likely the only one close by." She looked up at him, "We can't disregard the idea that this is a trap for you."

"I know," He nodded. "I figure we land outside the city and go in on the cycle, scout things out around the house and if we have to, we grab Ziza. Things look like they're fine we'll let her know we're there and come back with the mule."

"Sounds like a good plan," River stood and put a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be all right."

Riddick nodded. All he could think of was Jack at that age, full of hero worship and girlish crushes and disappointed hopes. "If anything happens to her like it did to Jack…"

"How fast can we get to Helion Prime from here?" River's gentle hand stroking from his neck to his shoulder. As if she knew her touch was pretty much the only thing that could ground him. He resisted the urge to pull her against his body and breathe in her scent, feel her, the strength of her. No time for that now. After. After. If she was even around… tā mā de niǎo get it together. Ziza needed help. He didn't have time for tā mā de feelings. Especially feelings that only led to disappointment.

"Cells are charged up, so once we get the course chartered, flip the engines to the power cells, and put the ship in ghost mode, can make it in two days," He did the mental calculations.

"I'll get the course charted if you'll get the ship turned over," River offered. "Whoever's done first, starts getting the cryo cuffs set up?"

"Sounds good," He kissed her quickly and forced his mind away from the boat she'd been looking at on the cortex. He'd hoped after their conversation about River being crew that she'd lose interest in finding a boat of her own. But she was still looking, not constantly but looking. And if he started to depend on her being with him… Well… he knew better than to get too attached.

And even as he reminded himself of that simple fact he knew it was too late. What was that old line? She makes hungry where most she satisfies. The more he had her the more he craved her. Craved more than sex. Wanted to know she'd stay with him. To know she'd come back to him if she ever had to leave.

"If wishes and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry fuckin' New Year," He muttered as he entered the engine room and began to process of 'flipping' the boat. Because he already knew she planned to leave. Already knew where her heart lay.

Rare that she felt true fear from Riddick. As ruthlessly controlled as his expressions of emotions were, he still felt profoundly. In some ways he reminded her of old science fiction from Earth That Was, of a spaceship exploring the universe, the final frontier, and a race of elves whose emotions were felt so strongly that they had based an entire religion around controlling them. Logic dictated every decision.

Riddick didn't have quite that level of control, though it was a near thing. He kept himself pretty tightly reined in. That flash of panicky fear had startled her it had been so intense. Brought on by Ziza's tearful face. She'd forgotten every bit of her manners and proper behavior and touched him familiarly, hoping to ease his fear somehow. Thankfully he hadn't seemed to mind.

He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to that little girl. She knew that instinctively. Another child he'd sworn to protect drying… Buddha only knew what he would become in the aftermath of the pain and rage.

Chart the fastest course possible, run the double-check of the cortex just in case she'd missed something. Key in the finalization code and do a quick clean-up of the galley. Riddick strode down the hall from the engine room. "We're set to go," He told her. "Course set?"

"Waiting on your authorization," She nodded. "I'll grab some clothes and get the weapons ready for when we come out of cryo."

"I'm setting us to ghost mode too," He told her as they crossed paths in the galley. "Just in case it is a merc trap."

"Can't say I blame you," River did her best to smile reassuringly as she grabbed her work clothing and weapons. Setting out clothes for Riddick and making sure all the weapons were ready and loaded felt surprisingly domestic. Riddick came in the room as she was straightening the bed and getting the cryo cuffs and drugs ready. "Coming out of cryo the usual way or do we need to skip a few steps," She asked wondering if they should sleep in the work clothing she'd set out.

"We'll need to be on our best game," Riddick began to undress her. "And I know I'm sharper when we've had a few hours to adjust. So… we do things our way, we'll just…up the tempo a bit."

"Sounds like it could be fun," River smiled and began to work on his shirt and belt. "We'll need to set one of the passengers bunks up as a room for her."

"Yeah, I figured the one with the bunkbeds would be good," He nodded. "That way we don't gotta shift all your equipment." He tossed her underwear in the laundry basket and did the same with his own, closing the lid firmly. "Got a wave from Badger while I was finalizing the course. If we can get back to Persephone in two weeks he's got a job for us."

"Will we be back?" She drew the sheets and quilts back and slid into the bed, watching him test and then set the cryo cuff around her arm.

"I think so," Riddick nodded and climbed in behind her, pulling the quilts over the two of them and wrapping the cuff around his upper arm. "Told him if he didn't get a wave from us in a week to pass it on to someone else."

"Hmm…" River snuggled back against his warmth, feeling the pull of the drugs.

"Sleep," He murmured and wrapped his arm around her waist.

The ship came out of cryo at a day's cruising speed from Helion Prime and as usual, Riddick woke before she did. His body over hers, hot mouth on her skin and big hands warming her brought her out of the drugs better than any stimulant she'd ever had. A fast round of bed sport, hydration after and they forced themselves out of bed. Quick hot showers and food.

River cleaned up the galley while Riddick put the boat to hard burn. They'd cover the remaining distance to Helion Prime in a couple of hours which gave her just enough time to do some work on the cortex and determine exactly what had happened.

When Riddick brought the ship down outside the city she showed him the records she'd husked. "It looks like Lajunn went to the market for food, or to trade…they think she was followed back to the house."

"She never did keep her guard up like she should," Riddick muttered. "Trusting too much to being the Imam's widow, 'Madame al-Walid'. They likely came at her when she was unlocking the gate, got her as she was pushing the inner gate open." His emotions flared with pain for a moment and he looked at her, "Ziza?"

"Visiting a friend's house for lessons," River reassured him. "She found her mother's body and went back to call the authorities."

"Then she's at the friend's house?" He was thinking something over very hard.

"No…" She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"We'll start with the house," Riddick decided. "The authorities aren't inclined to take charge of orphans if someone else will house them. New Mecca is still way too screwed up to have government orphanages or anything yet."

"She had to call from a public terminal, so likely they won't have a cortex at home, or it's something limited to schooling children, and educational encyclopedia perhaps," River mused. "If we start at Ziza's home, I can try to Read where she is from there if that isn't where she's staying."

"At least it doesn't seem like a merc trap," Riddick rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's kick on."

"Still want to take the cycle first?" She inquired as she shut the cortex down and slid it into her satchel, slinging it across her body. The scarf she'd draped over her hair and held in place with pins and a wide brimmed hat, wrapped around her lower face and neck protecting her skin and her identity. Riddick's hood obscured his face as he pulled it up though it would likely fall back with the wind in his face. She doubted anyone would be able to see his face considering how fast he drove.

"Yeah I think so," He nodded. "Between the two of us, we'll sniff out any mercs or Feds. If we have to I can take the cycle back while you help her pack up. But I'd rather have the option of a fast exit and not need it."

"Understood," River nodded. "Will endeavor to not…enjoy the back of the bike and being pressed against him so thoroughly as before."

The gleam in his eyes suggested that he was planning a purely recreational cycle trip just for the purpose of teasing her but Riddick nodded again. "Much as I enjoy the feel of you like that…probably for the best."

The motorcycle was still…distracting. At least it was when she was pressed up against her lover. But the trip to Ziza's home took much less time due to the maneuverability of the bike, at least in comparison to the larger mule.

Halfway through the city River began to open her mind, listening for any thoughts of Riddick. Only a few, people who'd survived the Necromongers and remembered him from the meeting with Abu al-Walid before the invasion. One of them was staying with Ziza at her home it seemed.

When she said as much to Riddick he tensed but kept going, slowing the bike when they got to the still ravaged block of houses. He pulled to a halt outside the gate and kept the motor at a low growl while River hopped off and unlocked the gate. She held it open while he climbed off the bike and wheeled it into the courtyard, more quietly than she would have believed before they'd met.

The swing of the inner gate knocked a metal pail from a precarious perch on a rock and River grabbed it before it could hit the ground with a clang. That garnered an approving look from Riddick as he carefully leaned the bike against the wall. Silent as the panther in her mental comparisons he moved across the courtyard and to the wall beside the door. Thankful that she could match him in stealth if not strength River moved towards the door and knocked.

The man who opened it looked vaguely familiar and it took her a moment to place him as one of the monks (priests?) who'd accompanied the Elemental. She'd seen him in Riddick's dreams during cryo. Questioning Riddick as if all of them had a right to answers that Riddick himself didn't have. "Zhì jìng I am River Tam of Osiris," She greeted him politely. "Ziza hailed our ship with the news her mother has passed."

"I do not know your name," The short man regarded her dubiously. "Are you known to Ziza?"

She could see Riddick's face out of the corner of her eye, the grimace of that sensual mouth half hidden by the hood. He recognized the voice just as she had the face and she could tell he was rolling his eyes heavenward and cursing the almighty. "I am," She replied to the man. "My partner and myself were here not long ago. We repaired the roof and walls. Fixed the gate."

"River," Ziza's voice called from the windows above them and River turned to her right to look up at the girl. "I didn't hear the mule."

"Took the cycle," River called back to her. Ziza couldn't fail to see Riddick from her window, standing next to the door out of the stranger's sightlines. "Seemed faster. We wanted to be certain you were all right as quick as we could."

"I'll be right down," The girl nodded.

"We?" The stranger regarded River, his dubious look strengthening to outright challenge.

"We," Riddick had either lost patience or decided continuing to hide his presence wasn't worth it. Possibly a bit of both. He turned from his position against the wall and thanks to the stranger's shorter stature (but then who wasn't shorter than Riddick really?) his glower was easily seen beneath the hood. "My partner and I."

"Lajunn—she could not have… that is… Ziza is but a child—"

River sighed and looked past him to the girl coming down the stairs, "Ziza, my heart grieves with yours. Wǒ duì nǐ de sǔn shī biǎo shì āi dào." She bowed to the girl formally and half smiled when she returned the courtesy.

"Michel, let them in," Ziza said from behind the robed male blocking the door.

That was all the permission River needed, pushing past the stranger and moving towards the girl to hug her tightly. Riddick followed her and knelt beside the slender child, embracing them both and murmuring in the girl's ear.

The newly identified Michel stuttered and protested behind them but at least he shut the door, "This is highly irregular."

"I take it he wasn't aware that you waved us," Riddick inquired of Ziza dryly.

"No, I traded one of my shirts for five minutes use of the public cortex terminal," The girl shook her head.

"What do you want to do," He asked her quietly. "Why'd you wave us?"

"If I stay here…" Ziza hesitated and River saw the future she feared in her mind, married too young so she'd be taken care of. Not mistreated but without any real prospects. A child without family had no one to speak for her or pay a bride price. No one to invest in her future so she'd be educated. Life as an unskilled worker or a wife and mother stretched out before her. Living in a house crowded with other orphaned or abandoned children until she was deemed old enough to care for herself.

It was possible, with determination and intelligence, to rise from such ashes. But it was all too likely that she would end up living that future she feared.

"You ended up in the system," She told Riddick quietly. "Got out via the military, of a sort. Here there is no system. The planet is still rebuilding. Charities try to care for those in need but they are…stretched thin."

His jaw set and he looked at the thirteen-year-old, "If you could do anything. No limits. What would you want?"

"I want to sail with you and River," The reply was so quick she had to have been thinking about it all along. "We can give the house to Michel. He takes care of other children with his wife, but their house is very small."

"She cannot go with you," The small man found his voice. "With a criminal? A murderer?"

"You weren't too proud to drag me here so I could pull your chestnuts out of the fire, deal with the Necromongers for you," Riddick turned from where he knelt to growl at the man. "I seem to recall everyone bein' pretty damned demanding." He pushed his hood back, pushed the goggles over his eyes up and glared, "I was even more of a criminal then."

"No one even acknowledges what he did for you," River added coolly. "He should be lauded. New Mecca still exists. The planet still lives."

"Considering that when I got back to the Basilica Zhylaw was ready to start the final protocol, send those planet killers down and obliterate all life on this rock?" Riddick raised an eyebrow at the flustered priest. "I lost everything to them. Everything. That miracle you kept praying for, someone to stop the Necromongers… well you got it."

"We—you… we don't—"

"I don't want anything from you," Riddick dismissed whatever offer the man might have made with a wave of his hand. "You people just need to remember that when you ask for a miracle that they're rarely free. Everything has a cost. I paid for your planet and every other after that with five years of my life. There are always consequences. Maybe the next time you people want someone to rescue you, remember that."

"That doesn't mean I should let you take an innocent child into a life of crime and debauchery," Michel finally got a complete sentence past his lips.

"Debauchery?" Ziza glanced at River and then at Riddick. "There are only two of you on the ship, right?"

River's lips twitched into a smile and Riddick outright laughed, shaking his head, "Yeah kid, there's only her and me. And you when you come with. Got a bunk all set for you."

"Just need to get you packed," River added quietly.

Fuck, he loved when River speared idiot people with a look. She pulled that scarf back from her face, exposing that perfect white skin and aristocratic Core features and the Michel priest paled. River's introduction took on new meaning when he saw her face. A true Core Lady born and bred with elegance and grace engraved on her bones. To the manner born, the saying went.

He'd seen people try to imitate Core manners. Unless they were like him, practically brainwashed (more than practically to be truthful), something always seemed off. The airs and graces didn't ring true when the language slipped. The language sounded false when it came from a woman without proper posture. Coloration didn't matter so much as the attitude.

The only ones he'd seen that could manage it were trained as Companions. Which was an entirely different animal. They took those men and women in childhood and began training them before they reached the age of eight. Earlier if they could manage it. No matter where they came from, they were Core when the Companion's Guild School was done with them.

"Go on and pack your things," He told the girl. "River will help you."

He watched as the two females disappeared into Ziza's little room, hopefully to begin packing the things that would remind the girl of her childhood. "River," He didn't even have to raise his voice; she turned and smiled at him, "Tell her we'll do any shopping she needs in the Alliance systems."

"She can wear some of my things until then if she needs to," River nodded and grinned as Ziza made a squeaking noise of excitement.

"You cannot simply take her," Michel protested. "She's a citizen of Helion Prime. Of New Mecca."

"Does that change if she chooses to sail with us," Riddick stared at him.

"She's a child! You have no legal right to remove her from her home," The priest lambasted him.

Riddick looked towards the bedroom where he could hear River and Ziza talking quietly, "You able to promise me she'll be safe here? Nothing'll happen to her? She'll grow up successful and happy?" The priest frowned and Riddick shook his head, "See, I listened to Abu once. And I left my little sister in his care. You want to take a guess about what happened?"

"Ziza is not—"

"She's about the same age," He stood and moved towards the kitchen opening the cabinets and evaluating the food supply. Finding it severely wanting. "Doesn't quite hero worship me the way Jack did. But Ziza's got more sense and she had both parents for a good long while. Never knew for sure with Jack." He frowned at the bare cupboards, "But she wants to come with us. I'm not constantly on the run anymore. And I've got a decent life. Ship of my own and steady work, she'd have a room with a locking door, and I'd be able to keep her fed."

"Lajunn—"

He was really tired of arguing and it seemed like mercs weren't going to show up. No one to vent his temper on except those who didn't deserve it, "Lajunn didn't have anything to feed her daughter. Do you see what I've been doing? Opening cabinets and all the food I'm not finding? I've been bringing food and supplies to repair the house for years. River and I were the ones who fixed the second-floor roof."

He ignored the sputtering from the little man behind him and went to the door of Ziza's room, "I'm gonna take the cycle back and bring the mule. You two gonna be all right here?"

River smiled, "We're fine. Go ahead."

"Got an earwig in if you need me?" Why'n the hell was he so worried? She'd hear anyone coming before they got here.

"Earwig, blades, guns, and secret weapon," She winked at him and tapped her temple. "Go, bring the mule. And grab one of the extra bags. Ziza is short on luggage."

"Got it," He pulled his hood up and headed out.

It didn't take him long to get back to The Cutter and swap the cycle for the mule. Michel had followed him out to the courtyard and locked the gate behind him. Likely he thought it would stymie Riddick's return to the house.

Once he might have let that irritate him. But he had other things to spend his energy on. It wasn't as if locking the gate against him would do the little priest any good. Even the bar, meant as a last-ditch defense against intruders, wouldn't do much against the likes of him. Not when he could simply climb over the wall with barely any effort.

An easy leap and his hands grasped the top edge of the eight-inch-thick stone. A flex of his arms, a bit of effort and he pulled himself up to the top. From there, simple to swing his legs over and push off so he cleared the supplies lining the walls of the courtyard and landed in the center of the cobblestones. Three strides and he was at the door, pushing it open and walking past the astonished Michel to Ziza's bedroom. "Hey you two, how's it coming in here?"

Ziza looked up with a smile, "River says there's room for some of my older things?" She pointed at several plush animals with carefully stitched repairs and a rag doll. "I have some of Mother's jewelry as well. And a few of Father's things."

"Anything you want to bring with you, we'll make room for it," Riddick nodded and pulled several nylon duffle bags out of his coat. "Make sure you bring that quilt you showed me last time. It's important to have pieces of your past. Things that help you remember."

River smiled as she took the bags, "Ziza was telling me of how she'd like to gift the house to Michel and his wife, with the proviso that it be used to shelter other orphans." Slender white hands began to place the stuffed toys in the expanded nylon bag with all the care they were due. "I told her that you would help her pack and I would use my cortex to make the arrangements."

"I can do that," He nodded and took the quilt off the bed, folding it up carefully. River smiled and moved into the main room of the house, those cultured tones speaking to the priest, fingers clicking on the keys of the cortex. "If you've got any games or books you might want to pack them." He suggested. "Being in the Black can get dull without a few hobbies."

"You don't just sleep?" Ziza blinked at him in surprise and he realized that she'd likely never even seen a ship like his.

"Alliance systems are close enough together that you don't need cryo," He explained as he helped her pack. "Most ships there don't even have power cells or cryo tubes or cuffs. There aren't a lot like me who go back and forth between the Inner and Outer systems."

"It would take months to get to Helion system without cryo," The girl shook her head. "Don't you get bored?"

"This time we used cryo so we could get here fastest," He shrugged. "But normally, no, we'll work, spar…" He smirked in a manner he realized belatedly was probably inappropriate around a thirteen-year-old as he recalled the last time he and River had sparred. With a kid on board he likely wouldn't be able to bend her over a crate and fuck her anytime he damn well chose. But damned if he'd leave Ziza alone on this rock just because of a little inconvenience.

"Sex," Ziza added with a wry twist to her lips. "Should I stock up on earplugs?"

Riddick laughed and shook his head, "Might not be a bad idea." He admitted. "I don't have any of the rooms soundproofed."

River's chuckle sounded from the other room and she poked her head in, "Sound proofing impedes his ability to hear what happens on his boat." She teased, "But it is a thought, perhaps for Ziza's room."

"For both the passenger quarters if we're gonna do it," He agreed. "We get back on the boat we'll look into how much it costs."

Ziza smiled as she picked up a small wooden chest from her little dresser and brought it over to the bag to be packed. "It would be appreciated."

Riddick grinned as he helped her pack away her father's things. The ceremonial blade he'd carried, the claw pendant and chain, his rings and his books. Her mother's belongings were similarly brief, the chest of jewelry, a small, framed capture of the family and several lengths of silken veils.

"Think we're about done," He looked around thoughtfully and tilted his head when Ziza went to a corner of the room and pushed the dresser back. A stone in the floor was carefully removed and several small bags pulled out from the hollow under it.

"Money and some of the more valuable jewelry," Ziza explained quietly. "In case of a robbery, they would take the chest but leave this."

"Smart," He nodded and helped her put them in the bag with the jewelry chest.

"Ziza," River spoke from the doorway. "All we need is your ident code and authorization to make the transfer final."

Riddick hefted the bags over his shoulders and arm. Sad that a girl's life could come down to three bags, but it wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this. Ziza looked around the room once more and gasped, pulling the drawer of the wardrobe open and reaching up into the opening, pulling out a small leather-bound book which she tucked in her pocket before heading towards the kitchen where River had her cortex open.

He watched as River explained quietly the terms of the gift. That should the house ever be used for anything other than an orphanage or shelter for homeless children the house would revert to Ziza's name and rent would be paid upon it at a rate considered reasonable for the size of the home and neighborhood.

Ziza nodded her understanding and if Michel looked a bit insulted nobody was paying his feelings much attention. Within a few minutes the transfer was done. The girl sighed in relief as River put the cortex back in her satchel. "Can we go now?"

"Absolutely," Riddick nodded. "Let's get the mule loaded up and we'll be on our way."

By the time they got Ziza settled in her room they were in the Black and heading towards the Alliance systems the slow way. River grinned as she cooked. Riddick was getting Ziza's room set up with a cryo cuff so that once they'd had a meal they could flip the boat over and get to Persephone in a couple days rather than six weeks.

He'd shown Ziza the room he said was River's and the girl blinked in confusion but nodded. Then he'd opened the other door on that side of the ship. "This's like an office," He explained. River came to lean against the door frame and looked in curiously. She'd seen portions of it before, Riddick used the doorway to do his exercises but she'd never openly looked. He kept the door shut when he wasn't using it and it had seemed wrong to snoop.

"What're those…" Ziza pointed at several machines. River half smiled; she should have realized what the office was used for.

"That one melts metal, the other extrudes it into thin layers and shapes it," Riddick pointed out the machines in question. "This one over here is a three-dimensional printer, made to work in metal mostly," He pointed at another to the left of the door.

"What do you do with them?" The girl asked in awe, looking around at the shelves of materials.

"Mostly, I make ammunition, shivs, parts for the ship if I have to," Riddick shrugged. "That's part of why it's kept shut. It's on a special system so metal shavings and dust doesn't get into the main processors and mess with the air filters."

"So, if you're in here, knock to get you out," Ziza surmised.

"Use the ships comms too," River pointed at the comm system panel next to the door.

"We'll teach you how to use that once we're closer to Persephone," Riddick told her.

River smiled, "Ever cook with protein before?"

When the girl shook her head Riddick grinned at her, "Whole different experience than real food."

Ziza tilted her head curiously but watched as River kept cooking, frowning in confusion over some of the things being done on the small stove. When Riddick began to set the table, she pitched in and she ate with evidence of enjoying the chicken-like food.

River shook her head when Riddick made as if to begin cleaning up, "I'll do it. You get Ziza settled in with the cryo cuff. You're the best at it."

That didn't take long and Riddick came back out with an odd look on his face. "She's all set."

"Just about done here," The Reader nodded. "She's all right?"

"A little emotional about her mother still, can't say that's really a surprise," Her lover shook his head. "Just… trying to figure out the logistics you know?" When she tilted her head at him, Riddick continued, "Half the jobs we pull are smuggling, illegal salvage or outright theft. And lately the other half are outright assassinations. Though we're pretty much done with them unless the Parliament starts up with the stupid again. We generally have some legitimate cargo but not all the time."

"Ah…and Ziza is the daughter of an Imam and a very…strict mother," River shut the cleaner and set it to start. "Well, we can try to keep her ignorant of it… But she'll catch on eventually."

"Yeah," Riddick nodded as he went up to the bridge. "Sent Badger a wave, let him know we want the job."

"Play it by ear," River suggested thoughtfully. "Let her ask the questions. And don't lie when she does."

"Hmm…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's hope she's a little more flexible morally than her parents."

Author's Note: Sooo… anyone see this coming? As with any new element introduced into a situation we'll see some changes as a result.

Chinese Translation:

tā mā de niǎo (goddamn it /lit. 'His mother's dick')

tā mā de (fucking)

Zhì jìng (to greet / to pay respects to)

Wǒ duì nǐ de sǔn shī biǎo shì āi dào (my condolences for your loss/ I mourn your loss)

Quote Sources:

She makes hungry where most she satisfies. – Antony and Cleopatra – William Shakespeare

To the manner born – Hamlet – William Shakespeare