Chapter 21 - Fight and Flight
Taking a deep breath, Jack slipped out the door and onto the docks. It seemed like it had been forever since she'd followed Riddick through that same door, not just five days. It took so little time for things to go to hell in a hand basket.
It was easier than she thought to slip in, unnoticed, with the other dockhands. Everyone was too busy watching Gordon lead his prisoner through the door. The security guard had stepped through the airlock to fend off some reporters so he was on the station side. Jack smiled to herself, everything was going perfectly. All she had to do now was cross the twenty- five or so feet between her and the main emergency switch. Keeping watch out of the corner of her eye, she slowly made her way across the floor, trying not to draw any attention. Twenty feet, fifteen, ten, five, she was almost there.
"Hey!" a rough male voice said behind her. "What are you doing there?"
Fear blossomed through her, sending adrenaline coursing through her veins. Without taking time to think, she lunged for the large, red emergency switch, grabbing hold with both hands and pulling down.
"You stupid kid!" The man ran up behind her, pushing her away from the switch and to the floor, but it was too late. The white lights illuminating the docks were suddenly replaced by red and a klaxon echoed through the open space. A disembodied, female voice spoke calmly. "All personnel to saferoom immediately. Repeat, all personnel to saferoom immediately. Dock purge to begin in three minutes." The dock purge emergency switch was a safety measure to be used in the event of a chemical spill or some other dangerous situation that required the docks to be exposed to the vacuum of space. With any luck she and Riddick would be on the Persephone before that happened.
A heavy hand fell on her shoulder and yanked her up off the floor. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The man pulled her up and dragged her with him over to the override panel. "You're going to have hell to pay, kid. I'll make sure you never work here again." He tried punching in code after code to no avail. The disembodied voice spoke again. "Dock purge eminent in two minutes, all personnel to safe area immediately."
Jack's fear was gone now, replaced by a sort of exhilaration. So far so good. The airlock doors were sealed now with the security officer on the outside and her, Riddick, and Gordon on the inside. With the exception of them and the man standing next to her, everyone else had already started running toward the saferoom. Spurred on by the urgency of the Klaxon, Jack pulled herself away from the man, drawing the pulse pistol out of her waistband. "I'd suggest you get to that saferoom," she said quietly.
Eyes widening in his face, the man glanced over his shoulder and saw his co- workers running toward the saferoom. Holding his hands up, he started backing slowly away. "Whatever you say, lady." He backed away a few feet before turning to run toward the door.
Gordon increased his pace toward the Persephone, frowning as the computerized voice informed them there was one minute forty-five seconds until dock purge. "What the fuck is going on?"
Unable to resist the obvious smartassed reply, Riddick smiled slightly. "Sounds like a dock purge to me."
The merc shoved Riddick forward, causing the larger man to stumble slightly as his leg manacles limited his stride. "Keep your mouth shut, asshole, or I'll find something to keep you quiet."
Riddick stopped in his tracks, a low growl in his throat. *Just you wait you pompous little prick.*
"Move it, Riddick." Gordon pushed the barrel of his gun painfully against Riddick's spine. "Bounty says you gotta be alive to get the mil, doesn't say a damn thing about you being able to walk."
Jack took that moment to step out of the shadows, leveling her pistol at Gordon. The man was so intent on his prisoner that he didn't even hear her. But Riddick did. There was a look of surprise in his eyes as he saw her standing there, but she could only spare him a quick glance, her focus needed to be on Gordon right now. "Let him go and I might let you live." She hoped her voice didn't betray the sudden dread pooling in her stomach. What if Gordon decided to pull the trigger? Riddick would be either dead or paralyzed for life. She prayed her luck would hold, and his greed would hold out.
Gordon was startled for a moment, shifting his attention to the newcomer. For a second he didn't seem sure whether he should point the gun at Jack or Riddick. After a moment, though, he decided Riddick was the bigger risk. A smug smile crossed his face. "You won't shoot me, because I'll shoot Riddick and then where'd you be? He'd be dead. What good would that do you?"
Surprised that her hand didn't waver, she managed to keep the gun steady as she aimed it for his head. "I think Riddick would rather be dead than go back to prison." It was a bluff she hoped the merc wouldn't see through.
*What the hell is she doing?* Riddick thought, tensing slightly to be ready to move quickly if he needed to. *She's going to get us both killed.* He didn't really believe she had it in her to actually shoot the merc, and if you don't intend to shoot you shouldn't point a gun at someone. He silently willed her to back down.
From the corner of her eye she could see Riddick staring intently at her, but she couldn't take her eyes off Gordon for even a second, couldn't drop her guard. "So what is it? You let him go and walk or," she gestured meaningfully with her gun.
Narrowing his eyes at her, Gordon weighed his options. *I can beat her,* he thought, a smile crossing his face. "How about option three?" Swinging the gun out from behind Riddick's back, he pointed it toward Jack.
Without thinking and without hesitation, Jack pulled the trigger. She watched Gordon's smile disappear from his face as the back of his skull exploded in a spatter of red against the gray wall and his body crumpled at Riddick's feet.
Riddick looked down at the fallen body, stunned. He never would have believed that Jack would shoot someone, never would have believed that she could have killed someone without a second thought. It just wasn't in her nature. At least, he'd thought it wasn't. "Holy shit, Jack. Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" But then he looked at her and saw the fear and surprise on her face. He'd seen the look before on young soldiers after they'd shot someone for the first time. The shock, the self-loathing. No, Jack wasn't a killer, or she hadn't been until today. "Jack. Jack! C'mon, Kid, snap out of it."
Jack was numb, she'd just killed a man, pulled the trigger and sprayed his brains all over the wall. *Oh, my God.* She was vaguely aware of Riddick talking to her. Lowering the gun to her side, she tore her eyes away from the gory scene. "What?"
"We don't have time for you to have a nervous breakdown out here," he barked. "There's just a minute left until the dock purge. You need to get the keys to these things out of his vest pocket so we can get the hell out of here before we're blown out into space."
"What?" She asked, panic in her voice. She didn't want to have to touch the body of the man she'd just killed.
Riddick moved so that his face was close to hers, so that all she could see were his eyes. "Listen to me," he said harshly. He didn't have time to coddle her. If she was a big enough girl to shoot a man, then she was a big enough girl to face that fact. "You have to get the keys, Jack. NOW!"
She responded to the urgency in his voice, focusing on her task. *Have to get the keys to get Riddick free, then we leave, then we leave.* She chanted the words like a mantra as she dropped down beside Gordon, trying to avoid the blood, trying to avoid looking at his face. With shaking hands, she pawed through the pockets of his vest until she found the keys. Not bothering to stand up, she turned and began fumbling with the locks on the ankle manacles. One undone, then the other.
"Dock purge in thirty seconds. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight."
"C'mon, Jack. Forget the rest, we'll get 'em on the ship. We gotta go NOW!" Waiting until he was sure Jack was up and moving, Riddick started running toward the Persephone, Jack close behind.
Suddenly, the Klaxon and the countdown stopped, the lights becoming once more white. The disembodied voice spoke again. "Dock purge terminated. Dock purge terminated."
"Shit!" Jack swore, pushing forward. Someone must have managed to override the purge from the Dock master's office. Turning back, she saw a familiar face staring back at her, cold rage radiating from him as he raised his hand. She realized a split second later that he was holding a gun. Turning back toward the Persephone, she ran as fast as she could. She thought she felt something hit her from behind, and stumbled against the railing.
"Jack! Come on!" Riddick barked. Unable to punch in the code himself, he'd have to wait until Jack got up the gangway.
*Gotta move, gotta move,* she told herself. Pulling herself up on the railing, she stumbled forward before regaining her footing. Her lungs felt like they were on fire from the strain of running and her heart was about to burst from the blood pumping wildly through it, but other than that she just felt numb. Out of breath, she made it to the top of the gangway and punched in the code, closing the airlock door behind them and locking it down.
"Hurry up and get these things off me so we can get the hell out of here." Riddick kept his back to her so she could unlock the restraints. Hands still shaking, Jack managed to unlock the wrist manacles and the restraint bar before she dropped the keys. Riddick ran for the flight deck, ignoring the pain screaming through his arms as the feeling gradually came back. He stretched his arms trying to work out some of the kinks and dropped down into the pilot's seat, strapping himself in. "Jack! Hurry up and get strapped in because I'm kicking this big bitch in the ass as soon as she gets warmed up."
Making her way down the dark corridor to the flight deck, Jack stripped off her backpack and dropped into the co-pilot's seat, pulling the straps tightly over her shoulders. Pulling her pack into her lap, she dug out her hand held computer and flipped it open.
"What're you doin'?" he asked, flipping the last of the switches that would ready them for launch.
"Just a little insurance," she said quietly. She could feel the engines pulsing to life deep in the ship. It had been so long since she'd been on a ship, she missed it, it was a good feeling. The only part she didn't like was takeoff. She braced herself for the pull as they left the station's artificial gravity and the moment of weightlessness before the ship's grav system took over. Once they were away from the station, she typed in a series of codes and the station behind them went completely dark.
Riddick frowned as he maneuvered the ship around to set it up for a starjump. "What did you do? Kill the whole station?" he didn't like the harshness in his voice.
"NO!" *I'm not a mass murderer for Christ's sake,* She sighed heavily, leaning her head back against the seat. "All I did was shut down the exterior systems. Nothing will be able to launch until they repair the damage. It'll be at least a day or two before any ships can leave the station." The adrenaline of the situation was starting to wear off and she was starting to feel very tired, very cold, and she couldn't stop shivering.
*Pretty damn smart, Kid,* he thought, punching the numbers into the computer that would take them to their star jump, though he didn't speak the words aloud. He was still thinking things over. His admiration and respect for Jack grew to new levels. Not only had she planned this in less than a day and executed it beautifully, but she had also faced down a man with a gun. Scared as she was, she came through when it had mattered. And she'd done it for him. He alternately wanted to kiss her to thank her for putting herself on the line for him and shake her really hard for throwing her life away. Just now he was leaning toward the shaking.
Taking a deep breath, Jack slipped out the door and onto the docks. It seemed like it had been forever since she'd followed Riddick through that same door, not just five days. It took so little time for things to go to hell in a hand basket.
It was easier than she thought to slip in, unnoticed, with the other dockhands. Everyone was too busy watching Gordon lead his prisoner through the door. The security guard had stepped through the airlock to fend off some reporters so he was on the station side. Jack smiled to herself, everything was going perfectly. All she had to do now was cross the twenty- five or so feet between her and the main emergency switch. Keeping watch out of the corner of her eye, she slowly made her way across the floor, trying not to draw any attention. Twenty feet, fifteen, ten, five, she was almost there.
"Hey!" a rough male voice said behind her. "What are you doing there?"
Fear blossomed through her, sending adrenaline coursing through her veins. Without taking time to think, she lunged for the large, red emergency switch, grabbing hold with both hands and pulling down.
"You stupid kid!" The man ran up behind her, pushing her away from the switch and to the floor, but it was too late. The white lights illuminating the docks were suddenly replaced by red and a klaxon echoed through the open space. A disembodied, female voice spoke calmly. "All personnel to saferoom immediately. Repeat, all personnel to saferoom immediately. Dock purge to begin in three minutes." The dock purge emergency switch was a safety measure to be used in the event of a chemical spill or some other dangerous situation that required the docks to be exposed to the vacuum of space. With any luck she and Riddick would be on the Persephone before that happened.
A heavy hand fell on her shoulder and yanked her up off the floor. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The man pulled her up and dragged her with him over to the override panel. "You're going to have hell to pay, kid. I'll make sure you never work here again." He tried punching in code after code to no avail. The disembodied voice spoke again. "Dock purge eminent in two minutes, all personnel to safe area immediately."
Jack's fear was gone now, replaced by a sort of exhilaration. So far so good. The airlock doors were sealed now with the security officer on the outside and her, Riddick, and Gordon on the inside. With the exception of them and the man standing next to her, everyone else had already started running toward the saferoom. Spurred on by the urgency of the Klaxon, Jack pulled herself away from the man, drawing the pulse pistol out of her waistband. "I'd suggest you get to that saferoom," she said quietly.
Eyes widening in his face, the man glanced over his shoulder and saw his co- workers running toward the saferoom. Holding his hands up, he started backing slowly away. "Whatever you say, lady." He backed away a few feet before turning to run toward the door.
Gordon increased his pace toward the Persephone, frowning as the computerized voice informed them there was one minute forty-five seconds until dock purge. "What the fuck is going on?"
Unable to resist the obvious smartassed reply, Riddick smiled slightly. "Sounds like a dock purge to me."
The merc shoved Riddick forward, causing the larger man to stumble slightly as his leg manacles limited his stride. "Keep your mouth shut, asshole, or I'll find something to keep you quiet."
Riddick stopped in his tracks, a low growl in his throat. *Just you wait you pompous little prick.*
"Move it, Riddick." Gordon pushed the barrel of his gun painfully against Riddick's spine. "Bounty says you gotta be alive to get the mil, doesn't say a damn thing about you being able to walk."
Jack took that moment to step out of the shadows, leveling her pistol at Gordon. The man was so intent on his prisoner that he didn't even hear her. But Riddick did. There was a look of surprise in his eyes as he saw her standing there, but she could only spare him a quick glance, her focus needed to be on Gordon right now. "Let him go and I might let you live." She hoped her voice didn't betray the sudden dread pooling in her stomach. What if Gordon decided to pull the trigger? Riddick would be either dead or paralyzed for life. She prayed her luck would hold, and his greed would hold out.
Gordon was startled for a moment, shifting his attention to the newcomer. For a second he didn't seem sure whether he should point the gun at Jack or Riddick. After a moment, though, he decided Riddick was the bigger risk. A smug smile crossed his face. "You won't shoot me, because I'll shoot Riddick and then where'd you be? He'd be dead. What good would that do you?"
Surprised that her hand didn't waver, she managed to keep the gun steady as she aimed it for his head. "I think Riddick would rather be dead than go back to prison." It was a bluff she hoped the merc wouldn't see through.
*What the hell is she doing?* Riddick thought, tensing slightly to be ready to move quickly if he needed to. *She's going to get us both killed.* He didn't really believe she had it in her to actually shoot the merc, and if you don't intend to shoot you shouldn't point a gun at someone. He silently willed her to back down.
From the corner of her eye she could see Riddick staring intently at her, but she couldn't take her eyes off Gordon for even a second, couldn't drop her guard. "So what is it? You let him go and walk or," she gestured meaningfully with her gun.
Narrowing his eyes at her, Gordon weighed his options. *I can beat her,* he thought, a smile crossing his face. "How about option three?" Swinging the gun out from behind Riddick's back, he pointed it toward Jack.
Without thinking and without hesitation, Jack pulled the trigger. She watched Gordon's smile disappear from his face as the back of his skull exploded in a spatter of red against the gray wall and his body crumpled at Riddick's feet.
Riddick looked down at the fallen body, stunned. He never would have believed that Jack would shoot someone, never would have believed that she could have killed someone without a second thought. It just wasn't in her nature. At least, he'd thought it wasn't. "Holy shit, Jack. Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" But then he looked at her and saw the fear and surprise on her face. He'd seen the look before on young soldiers after they'd shot someone for the first time. The shock, the self-loathing. No, Jack wasn't a killer, or she hadn't been until today. "Jack. Jack! C'mon, Kid, snap out of it."
Jack was numb, she'd just killed a man, pulled the trigger and sprayed his brains all over the wall. *Oh, my God.* She was vaguely aware of Riddick talking to her. Lowering the gun to her side, she tore her eyes away from the gory scene. "What?"
"We don't have time for you to have a nervous breakdown out here," he barked. "There's just a minute left until the dock purge. You need to get the keys to these things out of his vest pocket so we can get the hell out of here before we're blown out into space."
"What?" She asked, panic in her voice. She didn't want to have to touch the body of the man she'd just killed.
Riddick moved so that his face was close to hers, so that all she could see were his eyes. "Listen to me," he said harshly. He didn't have time to coddle her. If she was a big enough girl to shoot a man, then she was a big enough girl to face that fact. "You have to get the keys, Jack. NOW!"
She responded to the urgency in his voice, focusing on her task. *Have to get the keys to get Riddick free, then we leave, then we leave.* She chanted the words like a mantra as she dropped down beside Gordon, trying to avoid the blood, trying to avoid looking at his face. With shaking hands, she pawed through the pockets of his vest until she found the keys. Not bothering to stand up, she turned and began fumbling with the locks on the ankle manacles. One undone, then the other.
"Dock purge in thirty seconds. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight."
"C'mon, Jack. Forget the rest, we'll get 'em on the ship. We gotta go NOW!" Waiting until he was sure Jack was up and moving, Riddick started running toward the Persephone, Jack close behind.
Suddenly, the Klaxon and the countdown stopped, the lights becoming once more white. The disembodied voice spoke again. "Dock purge terminated. Dock purge terminated."
"Shit!" Jack swore, pushing forward. Someone must have managed to override the purge from the Dock master's office. Turning back, she saw a familiar face staring back at her, cold rage radiating from him as he raised his hand. She realized a split second later that he was holding a gun. Turning back toward the Persephone, she ran as fast as she could. She thought she felt something hit her from behind, and stumbled against the railing.
"Jack! Come on!" Riddick barked. Unable to punch in the code himself, he'd have to wait until Jack got up the gangway.
*Gotta move, gotta move,* she told herself. Pulling herself up on the railing, she stumbled forward before regaining her footing. Her lungs felt like they were on fire from the strain of running and her heart was about to burst from the blood pumping wildly through it, but other than that she just felt numb. Out of breath, she made it to the top of the gangway and punched in the code, closing the airlock door behind them and locking it down.
"Hurry up and get these things off me so we can get the hell out of here." Riddick kept his back to her so she could unlock the restraints. Hands still shaking, Jack managed to unlock the wrist manacles and the restraint bar before she dropped the keys. Riddick ran for the flight deck, ignoring the pain screaming through his arms as the feeling gradually came back. He stretched his arms trying to work out some of the kinks and dropped down into the pilot's seat, strapping himself in. "Jack! Hurry up and get strapped in because I'm kicking this big bitch in the ass as soon as she gets warmed up."
Making her way down the dark corridor to the flight deck, Jack stripped off her backpack and dropped into the co-pilot's seat, pulling the straps tightly over her shoulders. Pulling her pack into her lap, she dug out her hand held computer and flipped it open.
"What're you doin'?" he asked, flipping the last of the switches that would ready them for launch.
"Just a little insurance," she said quietly. She could feel the engines pulsing to life deep in the ship. It had been so long since she'd been on a ship, she missed it, it was a good feeling. The only part she didn't like was takeoff. She braced herself for the pull as they left the station's artificial gravity and the moment of weightlessness before the ship's grav system took over. Once they were away from the station, she typed in a series of codes and the station behind them went completely dark.
Riddick frowned as he maneuvered the ship around to set it up for a starjump. "What did you do? Kill the whole station?" he didn't like the harshness in his voice.
"NO!" *I'm not a mass murderer for Christ's sake,* She sighed heavily, leaning her head back against the seat. "All I did was shut down the exterior systems. Nothing will be able to launch until they repair the damage. It'll be at least a day or two before any ships can leave the station." The adrenaline of the situation was starting to wear off and she was starting to feel very tired, very cold, and she couldn't stop shivering.
*Pretty damn smart, Kid,* he thought, punching the numbers into the computer that would take them to their star jump, though he didn't speak the words aloud. He was still thinking things over. His admiration and respect for Jack grew to new levels. Not only had she planned this in less than a day and executed it beautifully, but she had also faced down a man with a gun. Scared as she was, she came through when it had mattered. And she'd done it for him. He alternately wanted to kiss her to thank her for putting herself on the line for him and shake her really hard for throwing her life away. Just now he was leaning toward the shaking.