(Revised 05.06.2022)


Nova had seen Riddick start to pull out a bone shiv but felt too weak to do anything.

'Holy hell. What did he do to me?' Nova thought, dropping down to her hands and knees as slowly and quietly as someone who felt like they were about to faint, could.

Johns offered Fry one of Paris' spirits.

"I probably shouldn't do this. It dehydrates you even more." Fry said, accepting it.

"You know, you could have stayed back at the ship. If we don't find water, you know what happens." Johns stated.

"I wanted to get away." Fry responded.

"I've never seen a captain so ready to leave her ship." Johns said.

"I think we should keep moving." Fry said, getting to her feet.

"If that was me, I might have touched the handle." Johns said. Fry gave no response. "This stays between you and me, Carolyn. I promise." He finished.

Riddick got closer to the back of Fry's neck.

"I'm not your captain." Fry said.

Riddick got even closer.

"During landing when things were at their worst… Owens was at his best. …He's the one that stopped the docking pilot from dumping the main cabin." Fry continued.

Riddick started backing off a bit.

"The passengers." Fry finished.

"And the docking pilot being…?" Johns said.

Riddick took the shiv and cut some of Fry's hair. Her silence revealed everything.

'She was going to dump us to save herself?' Nova thought, in shock

Feeling more nauseas, disgust and anger for Fry started building in Nova's stomach.

"I guess I'm more glad to be here than I thought." Johns said, putting his hat on Fry's head.

Riddick had started smelling the hair he took from Fry, seeming to collect her scent. Nova was lying on her back now. Having to keep processing everything was giving her a headache, making her feel dizzy, and draining more of her energy.

"She was going to kill everyone to save herself." Nova said, whispering to no one.

Hot, angry tears starting to stream down both sides of Nova's face. Riddick came to lie down beside her.

"Don't take it too personally, kid. Any one of us in her position could've easily done the same." Riddick said.

"But she said someone named, Owens, stopped her. I honestly want to kill her, myself." Nova said, frustrated.

Riddick gave Nova a once over before speaking.

"You already look like you're dying. You got some kind of condition? Too much stress?" Riddick asked.

"Oh, don't act all innocent. You did something to me. I know you did." Nova accused, glaring daggers at Riddick.

Riddick got on his hands and knees so he could hover over Nova. He used the top of his head to push her hat off, and lifted his goggles to look her in the eyes unobstructed.

"Trust me, if I did something to you, you'd be shaking in a different way. Convulsing even." Riddick said, with a sly smirk.

"You're such a creep." Nova said, closing her eyes.

It seemed like the right thing to do until the whole planet felt like it was spinning faster than before, making Nova gag.

"Hey. Hey!" Riddick said, trying to get Nova to sit up. "What's wrong? Is there a way to stop this?" He asked, urgency and concern in his voice.

"I don't know. I don't think I've ever felt this way before." Nova said.

"Rhea!" Johns called out for Nova.

"Hey! Rhea! Is that your name?" Riddick asked.

Nova nodded weakly and started trying to slowly crawl away from Riddick.

"What the hell are you doing?" Riddick loudly whispered.

"Go. I'm going to call out to him to come get me." Nova said, barely louder than a whisper.

"Are you even capable?" Riddick asked incredulously.

"I can muster it." Nova said, trying to reassure Riddick.

Nova used all her remaining energy to call out to Johns. It had become a sad game of Marco Polo before he managed to find her.

"What the hell happened to you!?" Johns asked.

All Nova could do was pant heavily until passing out.


Nova woke with a start to the feeling of drowning. One of Imam's acolytes had brought her water to drink. Shazza had caught her up on everything that happened while she was out. The crew had managed to stumble upon a camp where they found a water source, and a skiff that was in decent condition. It still needed some patching up but they could use it to get off the planet. While they had been looking for scrap metal a survivor from the crash had found them, but it was short lived because Zeke had thought the man was Riddick and shot him on sight, killing him. He had tried to make it right by burying the man, but while he was doing so he was killed, himself.

"That's awful." Nova said.

"Yeah, that piece of shit, Riddick, did it." Shazza said.

"What? But why would he–?" Nova started, before Shazza cut her off.

"A monster like that doesn't need a reason. He kills to kill. That's it." Shazza said, looking furious and disgusted. "We've got him locked up so he can't hurt anyone else. I kicked him real good! I did!" She proclaimed.

Nova had gone to the hole where they said Zeke had been killed. The site was gruesome but she had to see it for herself, had to make sure they were right. The body of the other survivor had been buried elsewhere; she could still pick up its faint scent from earlier. She picked up the scent of fresh blood and something she had never smelled before. She also noticed that down in the hole was a smaller hole.

"Why would he need a smaller hole in the hole?" Nova questioned out loud, to no one.

Nova was contemplating jumping down into it but she didn't want to be covered in the leftover gore. At the same time she thought she heard shifting around coming from farther down in the hole, maybe even some kind of chirping. She was brought out of her thoughts when someone grabbed her shoulder, startling her. She turned around to see Fry.

"How are you feeling? We were really worried about you." Fry said.

Part of Nova wanted to spit directly into Fry's face, but she held off on it.

"I'm doing better. It may have just been heat exhaustion." Nova reassured Fry. "Listen, I don't think, Riddick, did this. Something about this hole isn't right." She said.

"What do you mean?" Fry questioned.

"I want to see, Riddick!" Nova demanded.