Chapter 2 - Riddick
Riddick rubbed a callused hand over his face, releasing a sigh as his small ship docked with the station. He'd been holding his breath that the codes he'd stolen would work long enough to get refueled and resupplied. Looked like, for once, his luck was going to hold out. Doing the final system shutdown, he left the cockpit and went to his quarters to get cleaned up before going to the docking office to fill out the necessary paperwork.
Orion Station was pretty new; it hadn't had time to get seedy like most other deep space stations. He looked at himself in the mirror, a rueful smile touching his mouth, and just knew he'd stick out like a sore thumb. But maybe the low population of criminal elements on the station would work for him instead of against him. Maybe, just this once, he'd stay lucky and no one would recognize him. He just had to make it through this fuel stop. A new mining colony had opened in the Orion sector and they were in such desperate need for miners that they didn't ask many questions. If he could make it there he'd be home free. At least for a while.
It had been 13 years since the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner. 13 years since the death of Johns. For a while, he guessed, everyone assumed he was dead too and no one bothered looking for him. After leaving Jack and Imam, he was able to take a job on a mining colony in the Valerion sector. It had been hard, backbreaking work, but no one asked too many questions and his eyes weren't so out of place. There were even one or two old timers, career miners, who had a shine job just like his.
Everyone knew him as John Jackson and no one got in his face there. Oh, he'd had one or two pissing contests with some of the wannabes, but nothing he couldn't handle and after he'd shown them they weren't the baddest dogs in the pen, they'd left him alone. In the end, though, it had been his own stupidity that had led to his downfall.
During the first four years he mined on Caspari 1, he didn't let himself get close to anyone. He was always better alone, anyway. Easier to watch his back if he didn't have to worry about watching someone else's. At least that's what he always told himself when the tear streaked face of a 12 year old, possibly the only person alive in the universe who cared if he lived or died, popped unwanted into his head. He sometimes wondered what had happened to her with Imam. He knew the holy man would take care of her, if she'd let him. He hoped she had.
Doing the lone wolf thing worked for him. That was until he saw one of the new kids getting trounced by one of the wannabes and stepped in to stop it. The guy doing the pounding was Case Lockhart, the one that Riddick himself had put in his place. Apparently Lockhart had decided to start looking for smaller prey. Normally, Riddick might not have said anything, but something about the newbie reminded him of Jack. Maybe it was the too loose clothes or the stupid hat the kid was wearing, or maybe it was just the twerp's cocky attitude. Either way, he couldn't stand by and watch him get the shit kicked out of him. It hadn't taken much to pull the other guy off and show him the error of his ways and before he knew it he had a new best friend. Whether he wanted one or not.
Danny was barely 17, tall and lanky; 5'11" and 125 lbs soaking wet. He was a good kid who'd had a bad life. *Well join the club,* Riddick had thought once, some of the old bitterness coming back. No matter what he did, he couldn't get the kid to leave him alone. It was like having a shadow. It was almost funny. After a while he got used to him, he actually started liking the stupid jokes he always told. Maybe it wasn't so bad letting someone get close after all. Or maybe it was. It always amazed Riddick how one moment could change your life forever.
Caspari 1 had two things of note on the barren surface. The mining colony and the small city next to it. The city was really nothing more than a handful of stores, bars and brothels, but what more did they really need? You picked up your paycheck at the office and took the transport over to the city to spend it. Riddick was just like every other man. He liked women and he liked to drink so he spent most of his free time at one of the bars that offered both.
Riddick could still remember the night his life on Caspari changed. It had been three weeks since the miners had been given a night off. Everyone's tempers were high. They all needed to blow off some steam. The bars were crowded, and the brothels were full. There were more than the normal amount of barfights, but nothing security couldn't handle. That is until Lockhart made his fatal mistake.
Danny had insisted on tagging along with Riddick to the bar he frequented most often. Most times the mousy little kid would spend his money at the small general store, putting money into the underused arcade games or playing on one of the public use computers. He wasn't much into the party scene and Riddick figured that was probably a good thing since most of the women there would probably chew him up and spit him out. But, against his better judgment, he took Danny along.
Riddick hadn't wasted any time finding Monica. He had money in his pocket and an itch for more company than his right hand. Sitting Danny down at the bar and telling him to stay there, he'd paid the bartender 20 credits to keep an eye on the kid while he was indisposed. Most of the guys were too busy with other pursuits to care about the gawky kid so Riddick figured he'd be OK for a while without him. He realized later he'd been thinking with the wrong head.
Danny did not heed Riddick's advice to stay put at the bar, instead deciding to see if he could snooker any money out of the drunks in the bar playing some pool. If there was one thing his old man had taught him it was how to play pool. He was just collecting his latest winnings when a very drunk Lockhart came cruising into the bar, demanding whiskey. Danny knew the man didn't like him, and he didn't see any need for trouble, so he started to go. Unfortunately, some of his 'opponents' weren't quite so eager to see him go, and after the tussle began, Lockhart was happy to help the others put Danny right back into his place.
Riddick was just starting to have a good time when he heard the fight start. He started to ignore it, in fact Monica begged him to ignore it, holding him back as he pulled back on his pants and stepped into his boots. When he finally got back down to the bar, there was a large ring of people standing around. He pushed his way through them and that's when he saw a very shocked Lockhart standing over a very dead Danny. Everyone insisted it had been an accident, but Riddick wasn't listening. A red haze of rage had filled him and all he wanted was his hands around Lockhart's neck.
Later, Riddick couldn't even remember where the knife had come from. All he could remember was Lockhart pleading for his life and the feel of his blood, warm and slick on his hands as he plunged the knife deep into his back. The sweet spot. This time he didn't miss. In the ensuing havoc, Riddick managed to steal a transport and get off the planet, Lockhart's blood still on his hands. Before morning everyone knew who he really was, and Richard B. Riddick was back on the top of every merc's shit list.
That had been the better part of 8 years ago. Riddick couldn't even remember how many names he'd had or how many systems he'd been through since then. Everywhere he went, it seemed, someone was out for him. He'd die before he went back to the slam again, though he'd prefer it didn't come to that. He lived his life knowing that no place was safe. Every time he went into a bar, every time he was with a woman, every time he went to the fucking bathroom he had to watch over his shoulder. At the ripe old age of 43 he felt old, and tired, and what he really wanted more than anything else was to be able to sleep without having to keep one eye open.
"C'mon, old man," he said to himself as he exited the ship, "let's see if you can keep your no good ass out of trouble today."
Riddick rubbed a callused hand over his face, releasing a sigh as his small ship docked with the station. He'd been holding his breath that the codes he'd stolen would work long enough to get refueled and resupplied. Looked like, for once, his luck was going to hold out. Doing the final system shutdown, he left the cockpit and went to his quarters to get cleaned up before going to the docking office to fill out the necessary paperwork.
Orion Station was pretty new; it hadn't had time to get seedy like most other deep space stations. He looked at himself in the mirror, a rueful smile touching his mouth, and just knew he'd stick out like a sore thumb. But maybe the low population of criminal elements on the station would work for him instead of against him. Maybe, just this once, he'd stay lucky and no one would recognize him. He just had to make it through this fuel stop. A new mining colony had opened in the Orion sector and they were in such desperate need for miners that they didn't ask many questions. If he could make it there he'd be home free. At least for a while.
It had been 13 years since the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner. 13 years since the death of Johns. For a while, he guessed, everyone assumed he was dead too and no one bothered looking for him. After leaving Jack and Imam, he was able to take a job on a mining colony in the Valerion sector. It had been hard, backbreaking work, but no one asked too many questions and his eyes weren't so out of place. There were even one or two old timers, career miners, who had a shine job just like his.
Everyone knew him as John Jackson and no one got in his face there. Oh, he'd had one or two pissing contests with some of the wannabes, but nothing he couldn't handle and after he'd shown them they weren't the baddest dogs in the pen, they'd left him alone. In the end, though, it had been his own stupidity that had led to his downfall.
During the first four years he mined on Caspari 1, he didn't let himself get close to anyone. He was always better alone, anyway. Easier to watch his back if he didn't have to worry about watching someone else's. At least that's what he always told himself when the tear streaked face of a 12 year old, possibly the only person alive in the universe who cared if he lived or died, popped unwanted into his head. He sometimes wondered what had happened to her with Imam. He knew the holy man would take care of her, if she'd let him. He hoped she had.
Doing the lone wolf thing worked for him. That was until he saw one of the new kids getting trounced by one of the wannabes and stepped in to stop it. The guy doing the pounding was Case Lockhart, the one that Riddick himself had put in his place. Apparently Lockhart had decided to start looking for smaller prey. Normally, Riddick might not have said anything, but something about the newbie reminded him of Jack. Maybe it was the too loose clothes or the stupid hat the kid was wearing, or maybe it was just the twerp's cocky attitude. Either way, he couldn't stand by and watch him get the shit kicked out of him. It hadn't taken much to pull the other guy off and show him the error of his ways and before he knew it he had a new best friend. Whether he wanted one or not.
Danny was barely 17, tall and lanky; 5'11" and 125 lbs soaking wet. He was a good kid who'd had a bad life. *Well join the club,* Riddick had thought once, some of the old bitterness coming back. No matter what he did, he couldn't get the kid to leave him alone. It was like having a shadow. It was almost funny. After a while he got used to him, he actually started liking the stupid jokes he always told. Maybe it wasn't so bad letting someone get close after all. Or maybe it was. It always amazed Riddick how one moment could change your life forever.
Caspari 1 had two things of note on the barren surface. The mining colony and the small city next to it. The city was really nothing more than a handful of stores, bars and brothels, but what more did they really need? You picked up your paycheck at the office and took the transport over to the city to spend it. Riddick was just like every other man. He liked women and he liked to drink so he spent most of his free time at one of the bars that offered both.
Riddick could still remember the night his life on Caspari changed. It had been three weeks since the miners had been given a night off. Everyone's tempers were high. They all needed to blow off some steam. The bars were crowded, and the brothels were full. There were more than the normal amount of barfights, but nothing security couldn't handle. That is until Lockhart made his fatal mistake.
Danny had insisted on tagging along with Riddick to the bar he frequented most often. Most times the mousy little kid would spend his money at the small general store, putting money into the underused arcade games or playing on one of the public use computers. He wasn't much into the party scene and Riddick figured that was probably a good thing since most of the women there would probably chew him up and spit him out. But, against his better judgment, he took Danny along.
Riddick hadn't wasted any time finding Monica. He had money in his pocket and an itch for more company than his right hand. Sitting Danny down at the bar and telling him to stay there, he'd paid the bartender 20 credits to keep an eye on the kid while he was indisposed. Most of the guys were too busy with other pursuits to care about the gawky kid so Riddick figured he'd be OK for a while without him. He realized later he'd been thinking with the wrong head.
Danny did not heed Riddick's advice to stay put at the bar, instead deciding to see if he could snooker any money out of the drunks in the bar playing some pool. If there was one thing his old man had taught him it was how to play pool. He was just collecting his latest winnings when a very drunk Lockhart came cruising into the bar, demanding whiskey. Danny knew the man didn't like him, and he didn't see any need for trouble, so he started to go. Unfortunately, some of his 'opponents' weren't quite so eager to see him go, and after the tussle began, Lockhart was happy to help the others put Danny right back into his place.
Riddick was just starting to have a good time when he heard the fight start. He started to ignore it, in fact Monica begged him to ignore it, holding him back as he pulled back on his pants and stepped into his boots. When he finally got back down to the bar, there was a large ring of people standing around. He pushed his way through them and that's when he saw a very shocked Lockhart standing over a very dead Danny. Everyone insisted it had been an accident, but Riddick wasn't listening. A red haze of rage had filled him and all he wanted was his hands around Lockhart's neck.
Later, Riddick couldn't even remember where the knife had come from. All he could remember was Lockhart pleading for his life and the feel of his blood, warm and slick on his hands as he plunged the knife deep into his back. The sweet spot. This time he didn't miss. In the ensuing havoc, Riddick managed to steal a transport and get off the planet, Lockhart's blood still on his hands. Before morning everyone knew who he really was, and Richard B. Riddick was back on the top of every merc's shit list.
That had been the better part of 8 years ago. Riddick couldn't even remember how many names he'd had or how many systems he'd been through since then. Everywhere he went, it seemed, someone was out for him. He'd die before he went back to the slam again, though he'd prefer it didn't come to that. He lived his life knowing that no place was safe. Every time he went into a bar, every time he was with a woman, every time he went to the fucking bathroom he had to watch over his shoulder. At the ripe old age of 43 he felt old, and tired, and what he really wanted more than anything else was to be able to sleep without having to keep one eye open.
"C'mon, old man," he said to himself as he exited the ship, "let's see if you can keep your no good ass out of trouble today."