DISCLAIMERS!!! YOU MUST READ THESE FIRST
Title: Jack B. Badd Part Five: And The Sky, Full of Stars
Author: Daryn
Fandom: Pitch Black
Pairing: Jack/Riddick (eventually)
Rating: PG-13 for a few curse words
Email: dmunster@hotmail.com
Series/Sequel: This is part five in the saga of Jack
Web Page: http://ddraven.tripod.com/pitchblack/
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, but damn I wish I did.
Warnings: Jack is a boy. Read 'Disclaimers' page for more info
Notes: Jack's POV. This is the story of Jack's life with emphasis on his experiences on the planet in Pitch Black. There is no sex, yet. Eventually Jack and Riddick will get groovy though.
Summary: Years later Jack narrates what happened to him and the other survivors immediately after their escape from the Planet.
I've taken some time away from recounting my story. The intense experience of reliving that time (days? Who knows how long we were on that planet) had exhausted me. I resume now from our departure in the skiff.
We traveled in silence. Imam prayed. Who knows what Riddick though about - I never asked.
I suppose that during the hours it took for us to reach the Sol-Track Shipping Lanes I must have been rationalizing away everything that had happened so that I could move on. Kids can be amazingly resilient sometimes.
At one point I almost started to speak, but I hated to break our silence. Instead I squeezed Riddick's hand. He looked at me. I didn't quite grin. You've probably had a moment when your face was so gloomy that you can change it to an almost-grin and then it looks like you've just grinned. Anyway, that's what I did.
And that's what Riddick did, and rubbed his thumb along the back of my hand gently.
"Almost there," he said.
"I'm hungry," I burst out, just having realized it myself. Imam chuckled once. Riddick glanced back. "Yeah, me too," he put in.
We finished the first leg of that journey in silence.
The shipping lane came into view. If you've never been on the shipping lanes... well, I can't imagine anyone not having been on them so never mind. Riddick cruised the skiff along until we found a break-pod and we stopped there.
Com-links were opened and our emergency sigs and lights were on. I wasn't worried about getting picked up or not. There was no reason to worry about that. A ship would come by and pick us up.
I was worried, however, about who would pick us up. Sometimes pirates or slavers faked a breakdown in order to attack merchant ships. Sometimes pirates or slavers picked up breakdowns. Of course there was always the fact that Riddick was there and would probably protect us from anyone trying to hurt us... but then again, Riddick wasn't predictable.
Then there was the problem of food - would whoever picked us up feed us? Would we be able to rest on their ship?
Riddick unstrapped himself and laid down on the ship's floor.
"How's your leg?" I asked, realizing that I'd forgotten his injury.
"Stiff," he answered brusquely. "But it'll do for now," he added.
"You should get some rest also," Imam told me. I didn't hesitate. I threw myself on the floor next to Riddick. I lay on my stomach, resting my head on my arms, looking at the back of the skiff.
I closed my eyes, thinking that it would take me forever to fall asleep.
I jumped. I had heard something. I had. I looked around frantically. I was sitting up, supported by my arms which were... on Riddick's stomach.
"Oh," I said, sitting back, "Sorry." "Hmmm," Riddick grunted softly, but I saw him put his shiv back in his belt. Imam was dozing in his seat.
I had been asleep for hours. I rubbed my eyes and decided that I probably wouldn't be able to sleep anymore. I flopped back down, scooted my back up against Riddick's side and closed my eyes.
No dreams. I hadn't had a nightmare. You were lucky, I thought, too tired to dream this time, but there are probably plenty of nightmares in your future.
Just then our signal got picked up. Imam ran over to pick it up while I helped Riddick get up.
"So what's your story?" a woman's voice came over the com.
"We need a jump ride, can't go much further in this thing," Riddick answered almost pleasantly.
"How many folks in there?" she asked after a pause.
"Three."
Another pause. No doubt whoever it was and whatever their ultimate plans for us were, the decision to take us on was being made.
"Ok," her voice came back, "Can you steer over to our dock?"
"No problem."
"Who are they?" I asked.
"It's an old klunker," Riddick replied. "If it's pirates or slavers they can't be very good."
"But..." I was beginning to panic a little bit.
"I mean it's an old klunker that really is old, not a fancy one looking old for show."
I almost asked how he knew this but decided that there were more important concerns. "What do we call you?" "Uncle Rick will probably work fine," he chuckled. I smiled. "Rick," Imam repeated, "And you?" Imam turned to me. "Jackie?" Riddick asked.
"If I'm Jackie then you can be Uncle Dick," I said.
Riddick laughed as he pulled into the larger ship's dock. "It's Jack," I went on, "And um... it'd be better if you guys treated me like a guy here, Ok?" Imam gave me a look. "Hey, it's a safety issue," I said, trying not to sound as desperate as I felt.
"Good thought," Riddick put in as he shut the skiff down. "Go with it," he said to Imam, "it's his decision really anyway." It took all my willpower to not smile like an idiot.
"Then you should know my name also," Imam said, "Imam is my title, but my name is Abu-al-Walid. You may call me Imam if you wish but I want to make the distinction clear."
"Cool," I said as the CLEAR sign went on. We could exit the skiff.
The rear door opened. "You first," Riddick urged me ahead. Crap, I thought. I slowly walked down the platform and came to a stop at the bottom.
I looked around. No one. "Hello?" I called out. Imam walked up behind me. A large door opened.
A woman with steel-gray hair and eyes to match stood there holding a huge gun. I put up my hands. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Riddick join us.
The woman approached us. She stood there in front of us while a group of about ten guys with guns ran onto the skiff. Her eyes skimmed over me, rested briefly on Riddick and then locked on Imam. He returned her gaze calmly.
The gunmen returned. One whispered in the woman's ear. She handed him the large gun. She smiled at me and Riddick, ignoring Imam. "Come," she beckoned.
I slowly lowered my hands. We trotted along after the woman. Riddick clapped me on the shoulder and grinned. Imam just kept staring ahead at the woman. I was wondering what he was thinking when we reached a large room with a table in the center and the woman turned to us.
"What's your name?" she asked me. "Jack," I said. "And you?" she turned to Riddick. "Rick," he answered mildly. She nodded.
I glanced at Imam and figured out what must be happening. We must have been picked up by a travel ship for some kind of religious sect that obviously didn't dig... whatever Imam was. I eventually learned that Imam was a Chrislam and that these folks, whose denomination I will not name here, had a bit of a prejudice against them.
We were given food then: the woman handed me a tray of some kind of leftovers and I started eating as fast as I could. "Slow down," Riddick said as he pulled my hands away from the food while I chewed. I stopped swallowing the food whole after that. Riddick ate too but Imam just stared at the woman and she just stared back at him.
I handed Imam part of a sandwich. He took it and slowly began to eat it.
"Ok," said the woman, "Your story." She pointed at me. "Me?" I wiped my mouth and looked at Riddick. He shrugged. I stared at the food for a minute then I looked at a spot on the wall just over the woman's left shoulder.
"We've been on the planet and there were these things and they were killing people so we got out," I said, stuttering a little for effect. I started to eat again.
The woman stared at us for a while. "The two of you are related?" she asked, pointing to me and Riddick. I nodded. She looked expectantly at me. "He's my uncle," I said.
She pushed a button on the table and a bunch of people filed in, staring at us. I assumed that it was the crew or the religious leaders. I kept eating while they talked to Riddick about where they were going, where they would drop us off, where we would stay and all that.
They had a spare cabin where we could stay and a doctor who led Riddick off to check out his leg. A younger man came up to me. "Come on, I'll take you to your cabin," he said.
I stood up and said "Come on" to Imam. I wasn't sure what they intended to do with him but he came with me.
"There's a shower here," the man stopped and pointed, "Your cabin is right there. It's unlocked. You can program your palms on it." He paused and grinned at me, "After a shower maybe?"
I looked down. My clothes reeked. I grinned back. "Yeah..." I said. "I'll come back to check on you then," he replied and left us.
I looked to the showers. Single stalls with clothes cleaners in the main room. Hmmm.... I turned to Imam. "Why do they ignore you?" I asked. He looked a little angry but a bit sad also.
"There are many faiths which have long opposed the joining of the Christian and Islamic faiths into Chrislam," he said, "And..." His voice trailed off and he sighed. "I'm just very tired, Jack," he shook his head, "So much death and destruction. You know those boys were very special to me... and they had a family who may never know what has happened to them."
I patted his arm and wished I could do more to help him. "I'm sorry," I whispered, "It's only a few weeks... and... we'll be Ok..." He patted my head. "Now," he said, "I think we both are in need of a cleansing."
He headed into a stall, not bothering to put his robes in the washer. I stripped to my shorts and undershirt. After making certain that there were no stains on my pants I threw it all in a washer and went into a stall.
I washed myself and my underclothes there in the shower. I feel like I must have been in there for hours. The showers must not have been segregated cuz they kept tampons in the cabinets there.
That was the best and worst shower of my life. I never needed a shower as badly as I needed one then and I've never needed one that badly since. It felt so good to wash away the dirt and blood of that planet. But I was also painfully aware that I was alive to enjoy that shower while many others were not.
I dried my underthings on the hair dryer, put them on and pulled my toasty clothes from the washer.
"Imam?" I said.
"Yes?"
"I'm going to the cabin. See you there?"
"Yes."
I felt vaguely that I ought to stick around and not leave Imam alone on this ship full of people who might hurt him, but no one was around when I walked out of the shower. I opened the cabin door. Number 310.
It was a small room with two beds, a chair, and a table. Very sterile-feeling. I programmed my palm to the door. Now I was the only one who could open it. In theory. When the others got back I showed them how to put their palms on too.
Riddick's leg looked much better but he didn't seem to want to talk about anything. He looked at us, put a finger to his lips, pointed to his ear and swiveled his head around. My assumption was that there were listening devices in the rooms. I don't know for certain if that was the case, but in any case, we never really talked while we were in that cabin for those two weeks.
The young guy came back later (Riddick had time to shower) and took us to the ship's mess hall. It seemed to be their lunch break. While we ate, the woman who had first met us came over and sat down next to Imam, across from me.
"My name is Dell," she said to me. "Hi," I grinned at her over my enormous plate of food. "We have a vid and game room, I can show you where it is when you're done." I nodded enthusiastically.
Then Dell turned to Imam and said, "We also have a library. I can show you there when you're done." I was floored. I didn't think they'd ever even notice him. He nodded curtly and looked away.
We continued to eat. Imam paused at one point and said quietly to me, "Jack, are you... all right?" He had caught me off-guard and I felt tears well up in my eyes. I looked down at the plate of food and felt like throwing it up. I pushed it away from me.
"Jack. Jack." Imam patted my back. "It was not your fault. None of it. It was all in the hands of Allah. You must never blame yourself." I let the words wash over me. "Thank you." I managed to say.
Riddick went with me to the vid and game room. It wasn't much, mostly mild games and puzzles, news vids and epics. Definitely looked like a religious group's rec room.
Dell and Imam went to the library. I didn't know then, but those two weeks the two of them went to the library every day and had "long religious debates" Imam said. Riddick and I had a theory that they had known each other long ago and used to be in love but had parted ways and were now reunited.
Creating the story of Imam and Dell was one of many games we played during that trip. We played the hell out of the few games there. After a while we got some of the crew to join in and soon we had a tournament going on one particular game.
It was called Jungle Madness. I liked it because it was like the complete opposite of everything there on the planet -- jungles instead of deserts and all that.
I came in third place in the tournament overall. Riddick came in fifth. He thought it was hysterically funny when I got really into the game but he never had to see his own face get really serious while he tried to beat the big fat jungle warthogs.
After the tournament had ended we stopped going tot he game room. There hadn't been anything on the news vids about our ship. So we moved on to the workout room. Riddick taught me how to use the equipment.
"Come on, you just have to... like that" was probably the sentence I heard more than anything that last week. Riddick was a one man show with all that stuff in that room -- more entertaining than any vid.
We were three days from whatever our drop off point was. That night I sat on my bunk. Imam read a book in the chair and Riddick was changing the bandage on his leg.
"What're we doing when we get there?" I asked, trying my damnedest to pretend like I hadn't been wanting to ask it for a week and a half.
Riddick didn't look up. Imam did. "New Mecca," he said, but then he hesitated. "Most likely. For me," he added.
"Well..." I started to say. I paused and rethought my words. "I don't know if I'd like New Mecca." I looked at Riddick.
"Jack," he said. I think it was the first time he'd ever said my name. "Be a good boy and let me figure it out." He smiled at me like I'd been an obnoxious kid. He stood up and put his hands on his hips.
I mockingly narrowed my eyes. Then I reached for my pillow as fast as I could and hurled it at him. Like lightening he had grabbed the pillow and suddenly I was squealing and fending Riddick off as he tickled me to within an inch of my life.
"ACK!" I yelped and tried to jump to the other bed but he caught me over his shoulder and started to turn in circles. I laughed so hard I think I was in hysterics. I could hear Imam laughing too and that made me really happy cuz I couldn't even remember the last time he had really smiled.
Finally Riddick flipped me onto my back on my bunk. He sat dizzily on the other bed, still grinning.
"Ok," I gasped, "Ok, Uncle Rick. You figure it out. Have your people call my people."
He pulled off his goggles and winked at me. "You better go through puberty soon or the next time you scream like that I'm gunna go deaf." I stuck my tongue out at him.
Imam said, "Enough excitement for tonight?" "Whew, yeah," I conceded. 'Uncle Rick' came over to the bed and tucked me in. Before taking the chair (we were rotating bed and chair sleeping situations) he bent down and whispered in my ear, "Seriously, we'll talk when we're off this thing."
"Night," I said. I didn't fall asleep for hours.
They unloaded the skiff onto a minidock at the port. We wouldn't be able to move it until we paid the small docking fee. Or, in thirty days the dock would be awarded possession.
I stretched my arms out and took a look around. Signs and ad screens were everywhere. I turned to see Riddick talking to Imam. Dell was supervising some of the crew who were unloading two trunks.
Imam put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey," I said, not sure if this was our farewell or what.
"I am going with Dell."
I tried to wrap my brain around that one. I had been expecting him to tell me that he was going to New Mecca and that I should go with him or that I shouldn't stay with Riddick or something.
"What? You converted?"
"No," he laughed.
"Then... she did?"
"We have reached an understanding and wish to attempt to live together..."
He looked over at Dell. She smiled at me. "Wow," I smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Well, best of luck to you, dude." I gave him a hug and held him close. "I won't forget you." "And I shall remember you." He patted my face and then turned to take a few steps toward where Dell waited.
He paused and turned back. "Jack. Be careful, child," he said to me softly. Then he called out "Thank you" as he waved to Riddick. Riddick waved back. "Bye!" I yelled after him. I watched them walk away.
I was beginning to panic a little. I was losing Imam now too. True, he was still alive and was apparently looking forward to some kind of happy future, but still... What if Riddick left me somewhere? Or sold me to slavers?
Fuck it, I thought, I have to trust someone and he's all I have right now.
Riddick was standing behind me. "Ok," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. I felt like crying. I turned around. Riddick was looking after Imam. I think. Then he slowly turned his head to look at me.
"Let's go find us a buyer for this thing," he pointed toward the skiff. I skipped after him. He found a callbox and made a few calls, then we settled down to wait for his buyer.
"What'll we do after we sell the skiff?" I asked, kicking my feet along the floor. "We'll skip town," Riddick said from where he leaned on the wall.
That was the smartest thing to do, I knew that. If we were being tracked, and that was possible, we'd have to disappear. Well, Riddick would have to disappear. My gut was adding "and me" every time I thought "Riddick" though.
"So," Riddick said thoughtfully, looking at me, "Maybe we should have us a little girl talk."
Crap. Not that again. Every time I tried to talk about it I felt like I sounded silly.
I looked away at an ad screen. "No little girl to talk about."
"So you're telling me that you're not a girl."
"Not... really."
"So you were just pretending really hard to be bleeding back there."
"No."
"So. What?"
"Well, I've just... always... I was a boy then they told me I wasn't but I still thought of myself as..."
I gulped and searched for words. "I tried to be a girl, Ok? I tried. And I know it sounds like I'm... like I just want to be a boy cuz it's easier but that's not it."
"So what is it?" He didn't sound hostile or anything. He just sounded curious and interested. I was feeling a bit more comfortable about it now.
"It's just me. It's who I am."
He was still looking at me intently. I was startled to suddenly notice that I was the center of Riddick's attention. Me. Whoever or whatever I may or may not be, he was standing there talking to me, interested in who I was. And maybe this meant that I would be able to stay with him. Would it last? I didn't know.
"You know, you can be a girl and go out with girls."
"Huh?"
Oh yeah. I had forgotten the conversation with my school principal. It felt like a thousand years ago. Ten lifetimes ago.
"Oh wait, I see. No, it's not like that."
"You don't like girls?"
"Well, I don't know. Not especially."
"Then you like... other... boys?"
I bit my lip coyly and rolled my eyes. He threw up his hands, "Heavens! Lordy me. I got me a girl... fag... boy... thing over here!" He smiled. I did too.
The buyer showed up. We ended up with a couple thousand credits. That was good since I couldn't touch my old account. It had probably expired anyway.
As we left the money machine with our fortune Riddick asked "So you're really serious about the boy thing?" "Hell yes," I answered happily.
He looked thoughtful again. I think Riddick had only a few different discernible expressions and those were only noticeable to someone who watched him really really closely for a long time.
"I might know someone..." his voice trailed off. I nodded, not sure what to say. So I followed him to another dock. He had me stand on a bench while he made arrangements to get us on a ship. I didn't take my eyes off of him for a second. No point in getting left behind because I was too careless.
He beckoned to me. I hopped down and ran over.
We passed a rather uneventful voyage to the Earth Four system in the belly of a large cargo ship. We talked a lot and bounced around the compartments.
Sometimes Riddick would answer my questions. Sometimes he would talk, sometimes he would run around with me and goof off. Other times we would sit in mutual silence.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Maybe I could call you Rid in public instead of Rick."
"Hm."
"Do you mind me talking?"
"No."
"Well if you do, just say so."
"....."
"You know I'm really glad we're sticking together. I don't have any family or nothing."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I had a mother but they put me in a carehome when I was like five. I had a really cool brother there. His name was Peter. But then I got sent off to a school."
I paused.
"Me and Peter used to play soldiers..." Riddick snorted. "Played soldiers," he growled. I just watched him. "I played soldier once," he continued, "Wouldn't do it again." I tried to imagine Riddick as a soldier. I figured he must have been in the Wailing Wars. No wonder he didn't think too much of playing soldier. I hated the Wailing War vids.
"What school did you get sent to?"
"This girls school." I shrugged.
"Not a charm school?"
"I don't think I'd have stuck it out so long if it had been a charm school. I'm not very charming."
"So you were just running away."
"Yeah... like you."
"But I got caught."
"But you got away."
"....."
"I had this idea that if I could just get... away... from the school... that... Cuz I thought... Well. It doesn't matter cuz you can see where I've ended up." I smiled.
Riddick chuckled. "I thought that if I got away from school..." I waited for him to finish. When he didn't I asked, "You got sent to a school?" "Probably something like what you were in at the girls school. Only I was 'crazy' with these 'sane' people... around me all the time..."
Then we arrived.