Eric picked up the book Skye had tossed on the table and began flipping through the pages.
"Where'd you get this?" he asked.
"I did a little exploring on the lower levels and it was in one of the rooms," she explained.
"So, Skye. What is it that's here now?" Raven asked ignoring the conversation Eric was having with Skye.
"I didn't see it but judging by the sound it… it could probably wipe out the entire crew all by itself. But it's not by itself. And from what I read," she pointed to Eric, "I believe I hit the nail right on the head."
"Yea you did," Eric said. "Check this out." Everyone gathered around to see the file. "Subject #97 shows potential in intelligence, speed, and mobility. Rate growth: 30 days," he read. "Now look." As he flipped through the pages Riddick stepped up next to Skye and slipped an arm around her waist. He could feel the tension she was feeling and he only wished she had asked him to go with her to the lower levels. Something down there freaked her out and it bothered him that she went alone.
"Subject #186 has tripled its levels in intelligence, speed, and mobility," he paused for a second, reading the page, "but growth rate increased to 45 days."
"So the better they make it, the longer it takes to actually make," Kyle said thoughtfully.
"Exactly." Eric shut the book and ran a hand through his hair. "What do you make of all this, Riddick?" Riddick kept his tone low and even as he spoke.
"I think we need to get ahead of these assholes. We need to know what they know. Even if it is just to give us some leverage over them." Eric nodded his head and looked to Skye.
"Skye, you've been out enough so I'll go wander around, see what I can see," Eric said standing up and walking to the door. "Go about your normal business but keep your eyes and ears open," he added before disappearing through the door.
Skye moved to the bedroom door to check on Jack while the others sat there, thinking in silence. Before she stepped in the room she looked back at Riddick, standing where she had left him. She gave him a small smile, which he didn't return this time. Their situation wasn't looking too wonderful right now and Riddick watched the smile fade from her face, as she understood what he was feeling.
Jack was asleep on the bed with the baby cradled in her arms, dressed in a pair of sweats that Raven had loaned her. Skye crouched down beside the bed and looked at both of them, at how the baby looked even more like Jack than before. They both slept peacefully, their love for each other keeping them safe and warm.
Skye brushed her hand over Jack's face and she immediately woke, startled at the presence in her room. When her eyes focused on who was with her, she smiled.
"Skye," she said, sleepily.
"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Skye asked. Jack looked down at her baby and her smile grew wider.
"I feel a lot better, tired though. They said I should be completely healed in a few days," she said.
"Only a few days?"
"Yea, the procedure they used on me allows my body to heal faster…or something like that."
"Is there anything you need? Anything I can get for you?" Skye asked. Jack found Skye's hand and squeezed it.
"Raven brought me something to eat earlier so I'm okay. I just need to sleep." Skye smile and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead and then the baby's.
"Well, if you need something just holler, I'll be in the next room," she said, standing back up.
"I will. Thanks." Skye retreated silently from the room and nearly jumped out of her skin when she ran into Riddick who was standing right outside the door.
"You scared me," she said.
"How's she doing?" he asked quietly.
"She's okay. I think she's falling right into motherhood very nicely," she said taking hold of his forearm and running her fingers down to his wrist and back up, feeling safe in his presence but she also felt a kind of coldness radiating off him. Riddick looked on, un-phased so Skye stopped and stepped around him. She took a seat at the table and slid the book over the slick surface to sit in front of her. After swallowing down her disgust, she opened the book and started reading through the experiments.
Riddick didn't mean to come off cold the way he did but it was critical for him to stay focused. But as he looked at her, the way she propped her chin in her hand, the serious look on her face as she read, and the way she absently licked her lips, got him hard. 'Down boy' he thought, 'Now's not the time'.
He decided to join her at the table and when she looked up she smiled again, but the smile never reached her eyes. She looked sad and as he tuned in to her feelings, he felt her pain, her fear. He had no idea what happened down there but he did know that it was eating at her more than she let on. She was strong and he knew it but it didn't stop him from reaching out and taking her hand and she squeezed it gratefully.
************************************************************************
Eric wasn't gone too long and when he came back he looked panicked.
"We are in deep shit," he said as soon as he walked through the door. The others became instantly attentive.
"What?" Riddick's deep voice echoed through the room.
"Okay, I'm down in the loading bay just checkin' things out. Not too many people were down there so I try to look inconspicuous. Anyway, there's a group of people that just docked so I move a little closer, you know, just curious." Riddick could feel Skye's impatience with Eric's rambling so he squeezed her hand. "They start talkin' with Captain Garret, basic conversation crap but I don't hear it all. Then I catch the Captain saying, 'Yea the girl's here and so is the baby."
"What!" Skye cut in sharply.
"The guys that docked are from Bi-Lines," Eric said softly, "we were set up."
"Set up?" Raven jumped up. "Why?" Eric took a deep breath before continuing.
"Those experiments, as we all read, were lacking in the growth department. And as we know, Bi-Lines came up with Estamyathine which accelerates growth as Jack's baby has proven." Skye couldn't breathe as everything Eric said fell into place. "So, Captain Garret negotiated with Bi-Lines to get their drug."
"Wait, wait, wait," Kyle cut in, waving his hands in the air. "If they negotiated, why were we sent in to steal it?" 'Very good question' Riddick thought even though he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"We weren't. We were sent in to steal Deliatactin, the bio-chemical weapon they were getting ready to use. But someone on the inside switched them out so we ended up with Estamyathine."
"Someone on the inside?" Kyle asked.
"That's why it was too easy," Skye said as it all became clear. "They were expecting us and they wanted us to succeed."
"But that doesn't explain why we were hired to steal it," Kyle said, bringing back his original question.
"Liability, Kyle. It's all about liability. If these experiments ever come under question, Bi-Lines will no longer be held liable for any problems that drug causes because it was stolen," Eric explained. Skye ran her hands over her eyes trying to block out everything.
"What about Marisphere and Captain Garret?" Raven asked.
"Marisphere is a competitor and no where in their records do they have that drug listed. The first thing to pop up in anyone's head would be that Marisphere stole the drug," he paused making sure he had their attention. "Without witnesses…"
"You mean us," Riddick said.
"Yes, us. Without us, there's no proof." As the reality of the situation came into light, the tension in the room increased drastically.
"Shit!" Skye yelled out in frustration, getting out her chair and pacing aimlessly around the room.
"You're right," Raven said calmly. "We're in deep shit." Riddick's mind was sent into overdrive and he felt the blood in his veins heat up as adrenaline surged through them.
"We gotta get outta here," Riddick said standing up. "Eric, grab the communicators from your room, everyone else, pack up your shit, Skye you stay here with Jack until we're ready for take off. I'm gonna go check Eric's ship. There's no way in hell it needed three days of work." As he instructed the group it all started making sense to him. Delay our departure until Bi-Lines shows up to verify the drug is the right drug…then take us out. Not gonna happen. Not if he could help it.
When Eric got back with the comm units, Riddick grabbed one of them and headed for the door. Skye saw he was about to leave and ran to catch up to him. Grabbing his arm, she turned him to her.
"Hey," she said quietly. Riddick moved his goggles to his forehead, his eyes flashing over her. "Be careful," she finished, looking into his glowing eyes. He ran his fingers over her cheek and gently grasped her chin, pulling her into a long deep kiss that stirred up butterflies in her stomach.
Skye felt a little dizzy from the kiss and barely noticed that Riddick had stopped and was walking through the door. All was quiet behind her as the team watched the exchange with interest. Very few people got to see this side of Riddick. When Skye turned back to the group they all jumped as if they were caught staring and began scrambling to their rooms to pack up the gear, ready their weapons and meet at the ship. Skye never noticed, her focus was drawn to the taste Riddick had left on her lips. Raven stepped past Skye un-noticed and went to the room Skye was sharing with Riddick to get their stuff, which wasn't much. They all had left most of their things on the ship.
Skye snapped herself out of her daze and walked quickly to Jack's door. She felt nervous as she stepped through the door. She didn't want to alarm Jack in her condition but she didn't really have a choice.
Jack was still asleep on the bed with her baby and Skye looked at them for a minute, trying to figure out how she should approach the situation. Taking a deep breath, she shook Jack gently.
"Jack, honey. I need you to wake up," she said just above a whisper.
"What's goin' on?" she asked sleepily
"We'll be leaving soon," she answered as she helped Jack sit up.
"Really?"
"Yea, so let's make sure you're all ready. Okay?" Skye looked around the room before continuing. "Do you have anything to pack up for Carrie?" Jack pointed to the other side of the room.
"The nurse gave me that bag full of a lot of cool stuff for Carrie." Skye walked over to the bag, biting her tongue as angry thoughts ran through her head. 'Yea, a lot of cool stuff because after they get rid of us…they'll get it all back'.
"Is this all you have?" she asked as she looked through the clothes and the no doubt expensive supplies.
"Uh-huh. My stuff is still on the ship. Well, the hospital gown and the clothes I borrowed are. You didn't find me with much." Skye smiled.
"Can you walk or should one of the guys carry you?"
"Well," she said slowly as she put her feet on the floor and set Carrie down on the bed. "I think I can walk," she started but stopped as she watched Skye going over the room. "Skye, what's wrong?" Skye stopped moving and just stared at Jack. "Is it bad?" she asked quietly. Skye shifted uncomfortable before answering her.
"Um…I'm not sure how bad it is," Skye answered as truthfully as she could.
"But it is bad, right?" Skye nodded slowly. Jack looked down at the baby and straightened its clothes with shaky hands. "So, what do we do?"
"Riddick's checking the ship and the others are heading there now to pack it up. We just sit tight until they come get us." Skye sat beside Jack and put her arm around the girl's small shoulders. "Jack?" Skye waited until she met her eyes. Jack looked so grown up but her eyes gave her away, her youth and inexperience showing through. "It's Riddick out there." Jack nodded. "One way or another…he'll get us out of here."
Skye knew he could and would help them all but what scared her was what they were going to have to go through to get to that 'one way or another'.
They both jumped when they heard the buzzer from the front door.
"Maybe that's them," Jack said hopefully.
"Maybe," Skye replied skeptically. "Stay here. I'll find out." Skye moved quietly to the front door and hit the view screen. What she saw shocked her to the point of freezing her. 'What the hell is he doing here?' she asked herself as she reached for lock release. The man standing on the other side was human confirmation of the image she saw on the screen.
"Captain Moore?" Her Captain back on Aliason Station, standing at her door confused her as a dark cloud of settled over her brain. "What are you doing here?" she asked a little hoarsely.
"It's good to see you again, Skye." His smile, which came off totally fake, made her shiver in disgust. "As for why I'm here," he said, stepping forward making her take a step back. "I'm here to collect my pay." The dark cloud of confusion lifted as fast as it had settled and intense fear stabbed through her gut as she figured it out. It was so hard for her to believe that he was in on it too. Skye had known Captain Moore for years and not once had she ever caught a glimpse of pure evil that she was now seeing as he smiled at her.
She was in trouble. Jack was in trouble. Hell, they all were in trouble but she wasn't sure what she should do next.
"Why are you doing this?" Skye asked.
"Let's just say it's decent pay. But that's just for me letting them borrow you. What I get for giving you to them is so much it's obscene." Skye began shaking but she wasn't sure if it was from anger or fear. He knew what kind of power she had and she was afraid he would sell her out as soon as he got the opportunity. If only she had followed her instincts the moment he tested her years ago, not been so trusting, she might have seen all this coming.
The comm unit was on the table behind her and Jack was in her room but could she make to the table, send out a warning and get to Jack before the Captain seized her? These thoughts raced through her mind with the few advance and retreat steps she and the Captain took.
Skye's breathing came fast and hard as she made a decision but behind Captain Moore, two very large men stepped through the door and she wavered in her verdict. Unsure of what consequences her actions would cause, she felt she had to try something, anything. She assumed they wouldn't kill her because then, she would be useless to those the Captain was selling her off to.
Judging the distance to the table with her 'sense' didn't provide any relief but she turned and ran for it anyway, barely making the connection of the electrical snap with the sudden pain in her shoulder.
Skye grasped the earpiece just as Captain Moore zapped her with an electronic pulse rifle rendering her unconscious. Elation had filled her mind as her fingers wrapped around her only chance for help but it had only lasted a split second as her mind shut off and her body hit the table and she fell to the floor.