I'm back!! Almost finished! Plans for a sequel are already in progress.mwa
ha ha.I hope you enjoy. Please keep reviewing, even though it appears only
TWO people read anymore.oh well. thanks to you both!
Chapter 11
Alex watched Johns as he moved out of sight around a rock, carrying the flare. There was no desire to follow him, just yet. She saw a dangerous glint in his eyes when he found out about Jack. Turning around, she found that everyone was staring at her and at Carolyn. Alex looked at Carolyn, who was still staring at where Johns had been. Carolyn put her head down, and then her body stiffened with what could be resolve. She turned around to face the rest of the group, purpose in her eyes. There was no trace of the self-loathing of before. With one hand grasp from Alex, Carolyn had once again resumed her position as leader. But she was slightly more hesitant.
"All right. We can do this. Let's get moving." She picked up her torch that had fallen onto the ground.
Imam picked up the line from the sled, and Alex, after a glance at the other boy, picked up the line as well. They saw the green light from the flare ahead of them, slowly disappating, and set off to follow it. The sled was heavy, and muscles unused to heavy pulling felt strain. But the muscles were there, and used to endurance. Alex grit her teeth and set to it.
The group pulling the sled came around the rock, to see Johns walking with Riddick ahead of them. They were talking together in low voices, too low for Alex to hear. She was incredibly surprised that of all people, the two of them, were conversing. They hated each other, Alex was sure of that. But they were probably the two strongest among them, she admitted to herself ruefully. Much as she considered herself able-bodied, she would quickly tire in a contest of strength with either of them. A twinge of fear suddenly struck her, apart from the dull and general fear of what was around them. If Riddick and Johns decided to plot together, to perhaps leave the rest of them on this planet, she couldn't fight against both of them. Johns she had alienated because she didn't trust him or like him, and because he had made the enormous mistake of doubting her skills. But with Riddick, she had at least kept the door open.
She remembered Riddick's ploy to see where she stood, before at the settlement. It seemed so long ago. Alex was pretty sure she had surprised him, by his laughter, humorless as it may have been. And he had helped her up, when she was so gripped by terror at the sight of Shazza dying that she couldn't move. Johns she could figure out, mostly. But Riddick continued to be an enigma. He is a killer. The thought came unbidden, but a reality check in this twisted eternal night. Once you kill another human, a part of you changes. He is capable of leaving you here, Alex thought. All of you. She looked around at the group she had found herself a part of. Found herself wanting to protect. What was it about her experience that changed her, pushed down the walls that small bit?
Jack's voice snapped her back to the present. "What are they doin' up there?" she asked Carolyn in a small voice. Alex cursed inwardly for her lack of attention, and glanced around, the nightvision in her glasses hampered by the lights of the torches. As well as she could tell, there were no creatures around them.
"They're talking about the canyon I suppose," Imam mused, "how to get us through." Alex silently disagreed. She was sure that they must be talking about another deal, something that would make sure Johns and Riddick would survive, and if they lost one of the others, no big deal. She tried harder to make out what they were saying with no success.
Alex realized that they must be entering the boneyard, as they made their way towards one of the enormous rib bones from some long-dead creature. Johns and Riddick ducked under it, still talking. Riddick suddenly turned and peered at the rest of the group, then turned back. All Alex could make out was something about "your eye." She was beginning to get a very bad feeling. The look Riddick had turned on them was weighing, considering.
She heard Carolyn come up behind Imam, and urge him to slow down. "Just a little more space between us and them," Carolyn said warily. Wise move, Alex thought. They had to get to the skiff, but perhaps a little more space between them and the two men would make it easier to run if they suddenly turned on them. Alex slowed her pace to match Imam's, feeling grateful for the slight rest for her arms.
Suddenly, Riddick and Johns stopped, and Riddick turned to face Johns. Alex stopped, staring at them, and put her arms out to prevent anyone from walking past her. This could be it. But instead of the two of them advancing on the group pulling the sled, Riddick spun, knocking the flare out of Johns' hand. Shit! Alex screamed inwardly. They're going to kill each other. She knew that their mutual hatred would have to come to a head eventually, but it looked like they weren't going to make some twisted alliance to get out of there. Riddick had grabbed Johns' gun, and as Johns blocked it Riddick fired.
"Leave the sled, let's move!" Carolyn shouted, turning to run in the opposite direction. Alex hesitated for a moment, reluctant to leave the power cells, their ticket out of here. But they all had to get away from the fight, and couldn't pull the sled fast enough. She threw down the rope and started running after the rest of them, hearing shots fired behind her as Carolyn shouted for them to run.
She caught up with the group, illuminated by the meager light they had from the torches. It was enough, she thought, she hoped. Glancing around, she still couldn't see any of the creatures. A brief flash of puzzlement went through her, and then she heard another gunshot and ran a little faster. She didn't know for sure who would come out the best in a fight between them, but if Johns didn't shoot Riddick right away, she had her money on Riddick to win. She gulped. And kill Johns.
She thought they were running towards the ship, but couldn't be sure. She caught up to Carolyn. "Where are we going?!" she gasped. Even with her body, strong from all the martial arts and forms, the low oxygen atmosphere made it feel like she had run a marathon.
"To the ship," Carolyn got out, also breathing heavily. "Which-which way is it?" she asked.
Alex scanned the landscape around them. It looked mostly the same. She wished she would have paid better attention when going through it the first time, but the creatures clustered around them had distracted her. Far in the distance she saw the chimney formations. "That way," she pointed, "I think." Carolyn changed their direction slightly, angling towards them. One last gunshot spurred them on for a few seconds, then the atmosphere took its toll on them.
They slowed and turned around after a few minutes, not hearing any signs of pursuit, nor any more gunshots. Alex looked back at the others, her glasses picking up no trace of the flare's green light behind them. The noises in the night grew more frequent, but she could still see no creatures around them. Not like before.
Carolyn turned in the ship's direction to begin running and screamed in surprise as she ran into Riddick, who had silently gone around them. Even Alex had missed him somehow. She drew her sword carefully, as the group closed, backing away from Riddick, who stood there unconcerned.
"Back to the ship, huh?" He looked at them levelly. "Just huddle together until the lights burn out."
"Get away from us," Carolyn whispered.
"Till you can't see what's eating you!" Riddick continued, "that the big plan?" His voice mocked them. Alex felt the sting of the truth. In the heat of the moment, she had just wanted to get away from the two fighters, who could both kill her, and the rest of them. But now, she realized that two had been whittled down to one. Riddick was left. The lesser of two evils.
"Where is Johns," Imam asked.
Riddick looked at him, into his eyes. "Which half?" he said in a hushed voice. Jack gasped, in front of Alex, and started backing away.
"We're gonna lose everybody out here," Jack said, her voice shaking. She turned around and looked past Alex, back towards where they had come from. To where Johns' body might be lying. The ominous sounds of the creatures came out of the darkness.
"He died fast, and if we have any choice about it that's the way we should all go out," Riddick said, walking towards Jack. His voice seemed softer, somehow, as if he was trying to comfort Jack. She stared into the darkness, tears forming in her eyes. Alex watched as Riddick came to stand behind Jack. "Don't you cry for Johns," he told her, "Don't you dare." He walked off into the dark, back towards the sled, but as he passed Alex he looked her straight in the eye. It was the first time she had locked gazes with him without his goggles on, and she was glad that this time, she had the shaded glasses on to protect her eyes. His gaze was unnerving, shined eyes not withstanding. Her sword was still up, but she was relaxed as she watched him. He passed her and looked away, walking into the darkness, and Alex sheathed her sword. Carolyn walked after him, back towards the power cells on the sled.
She saw Jack bow her head and wipe away the tears from her eyes. It wasn't because she liked Johns, Alex thought, but because everyone was dying on this hunk of rock. Alex was scared too. They had a plan, and now they were minus one of the strong, yet untrustworthy, members of their group. Now the option might be to try and make the skiff without him, without the gun, but how many would make it?
They had reached the power cells, but all of them seemed to have the spirit pulled out of them. Alex went away from the group by herself, as it seemed safe, and she wanted to just be alone with her thoughts. No creatures around, for a while at least. As she went around a stone, she heard Imam suggest that they all pray together. She was glad she had left, then. Praying and Alex did not agree. She squatted and leaned back onto the rock with a sigh, the temporary illusion of some sort of security allowing the urgent need of before to hold off.
Alex lay against the still-warm stone, listening to the night. She couldn't see any creatures around her, but stuck her sword in the loose soil beside her. She thought about the group. Again, she wondered why she had allowed some walls to be pulled down, why she had felt like she belonged with them. A kinship, even, especially to Carolyn and Jack. And Riddick. He was the puzzle to figure out, and try as she might she couldn't find his motivations for acting how he did. Why does a man who is a killer, and acts as if he only wants to scare the rest of them, willing to take them to safety, to work together? She closed her eyes briefly, as her thoughts spun. A footstep caused her to whirl, and then relax as she saw it was Imam coming over to her.
"Do you wish to pray together?" he asked her, coming down to kneel in the sand next to her.
She let out her breath, slightly amused at the irony of the situation. Praying. "You see, God and I don't really get along," she said, smiling. If she smiled then it helped, helped her to not think about the why.
"God is always there for us, God always loves us," he replied simply.
"Yeah, well, God wasn't always there for me. I thought he was, but I was wrong." She had this conversation with herself a million times. She was once strong in her faith. Before.
Imam sighed. "Why is it that you think he was not there for you?" he asked, his dark eyes burning holes in her. She stared at him. He was an honest man. A good man. She looked down. She had not told anyone in this time what had happened to her. Once it sunk in that she could have no revenge, no respite from the frustration she felt, she could do nothing but push it behind her, and just deal with the pain.
Alex looked up at him. It would be sharing the burden, wouldn't it? She bit her lip, considering. Why not, she thought. I might even die on this planet and then who would remember me? A confessional, almost.
"Because I'm three hundred and twenty four years old. Well preserved, don't you think?" she said with a twist to her lips. She saw his surprise when she told him her age. She pulled the sword from the ground and laid it on her knees. As she reverently ran her fingers along the characters on it, taking care not to touch the mysteriously always-sharp edge, she told him her story.
"I was twenty-three, deep in debt. And lost," she broke off, remembering the face once again. She quelled it, and continued with a sigh. "There was an ad, an application, for an experiment. Five hundred thousand dollars to participate in an experiment. One of two people. The experiment involved a year of physical training, followed by one month," she stopped again, taking a deep breath, "one month of an experimental cryotube freeze." She laughed once. "I woke up three hundred years later, still twenty-four, and everything, EVERYTHING I ever knew was gone." She felt the tears forming in her eyes, but reached inside her for the core of steel, and the walls, she knew had to be there. Her emotions under control, she continued. "The long-term experiment that they never told me about. I got the money from those bastards, and since they make all the cryo-equipment in the known worlds they were virtually untouchable" She looked at him for the first time since beginning her story, the bewilderment on his face easy to read.
She didn't know what possessed her to bring down her walls for those few minutes. Perhaps it was the aura of the holy man. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand and continued. "All I had to survive was the money, and the skills I had picked up during the training. I found this," she paused, stretching out the sword in front of her. She smiled. "I found this and it is the only thing besides myself I can trust." She sighed. "So now you see how I cannot believe that God was there for me. He took away everything I ever loved and replaced it with a world I cannot hope to be happy in. Now you see why I cannot pray to this God, or any other. God is dead to me, so is everyone else" As she finished she leaned her head back against the rock, then looked over at Imam. His face betrayed an intense sorrow, but she didn't know if it was for her story or her lack of faith.
Imam sighed. "Even though you think he does not care for you, or that he is dead, he is still there, my child." Alex winced at the 'my child', but after a moment considered that it was only natural, for this semi-priest to call her a child. Say what he might, God was not there for her.
"I only wish that he will take from you the pain you have inside," he said, softly, and laid a hand on her shoulder, his brown eyes staring into her green ones. Now she felt her emotions tearing at the wall and tears threatened to form anew, not for her pain or her lack of faith, but for the compassion and the warmth she received from this total stranger. She closed her eyes. No one had touched her in friendship in so long. The emotions welled up, wanting to release her from these walls, to feel happiness and kindness. But she put those under control, too. Don't open up, and it won't hurt later, she told herself. Her hands tightened on the grip of the sword, then relaxed and opened her eyes again.
She smiled briefly, and then whispered, "Thank you," to him. He nodded, satisfied, and then got up, moving over towards where the power cells were on the sled. Alex put her head down, distracted enough for the moment to miss seeing Riddick's form go back behind the rock ten feet away, where he had been silently listening.
Chapter 11
Alex watched Johns as he moved out of sight around a rock, carrying the flare. There was no desire to follow him, just yet. She saw a dangerous glint in his eyes when he found out about Jack. Turning around, she found that everyone was staring at her and at Carolyn. Alex looked at Carolyn, who was still staring at where Johns had been. Carolyn put her head down, and then her body stiffened with what could be resolve. She turned around to face the rest of the group, purpose in her eyes. There was no trace of the self-loathing of before. With one hand grasp from Alex, Carolyn had once again resumed her position as leader. But she was slightly more hesitant.
"All right. We can do this. Let's get moving." She picked up her torch that had fallen onto the ground.
Imam picked up the line from the sled, and Alex, after a glance at the other boy, picked up the line as well. They saw the green light from the flare ahead of them, slowly disappating, and set off to follow it. The sled was heavy, and muscles unused to heavy pulling felt strain. But the muscles were there, and used to endurance. Alex grit her teeth and set to it.
The group pulling the sled came around the rock, to see Johns walking with Riddick ahead of them. They were talking together in low voices, too low for Alex to hear. She was incredibly surprised that of all people, the two of them, were conversing. They hated each other, Alex was sure of that. But they were probably the two strongest among them, she admitted to herself ruefully. Much as she considered herself able-bodied, she would quickly tire in a contest of strength with either of them. A twinge of fear suddenly struck her, apart from the dull and general fear of what was around them. If Riddick and Johns decided to plot together, to perhaps leave the rest of them on this planet, she couldn't fight against both of them. Johns she had alienated because she didn't trust him or like him, and because he had made the enormous mistake of doubting her skills. But with Riddick, she had at least kept the door open.
She remembered Riddick's ploy to see where she stood, before at the settlement. It seemed so long ago. Alex was pretty sure she had surprised him, by his laughter, humorless as it may have been. And he had helped her up, when she was so gripped by terror at the sight of Shazza dying that she couldn't move. Johns she could figure out, mostly. But Riddick continued to be an enigma. He is a killer. The thought came unbidden, but a reality check in this twisted eternal night. Once you kill another human, a part of you changes. He is capable of leaving you here, Alex thought. All of you. She looked around at the group she had found herself a part of. Found herself wanting to protect. What was it about her experience that changed her, pushed down the walls that small bit?
Jack's voice snapped her back to the present. "What are they doin' up there?" she asked Carolyn in a small voice. Alex cursed inwardly for her lack of attention, and glanced around, the nightvision in her glasses hampered by the lights of the torches. As well as she could tell, there were no creatures around them.
"They're talking about the canyon I suppose," Imam mused, "how to get us through." Alex silently disagreed. She was sure that they must be talking about another deal, something that would make sure Johns and Riddick would survive, and if they lost one of the others, no big deal. She tried harder to make out what they were saying with no success.
Alex realized that they must be entering the boneyard, as they made their way towards one of the enormous rib bones from some long-dead creature. Johns and Riddick ducked under it, still talking. Riddick suddenly turned and peered at the rest of the group, then turned back. All Alex could make out was something about "your eye." She was beginning to get a very bad feeling. The look Riddick had turned on them was weighing, considering.
She heard Carolyn come up behind Imam, and urge him to slow down. "Just a little more space between us and them," Carolyn said warily. Wise move, Alex thought. They had to get to the skiff, but perhaps a little more space between them and the two men would make it easier to run if they suddenly turned on them. Alex slowed her pace to match Imam's, feeling grateful for the slight rest for her arms.
Suddenly, Riddick and Johns stopped, and Riddick turned to face Johns. Alex stopped, staring at them, and put her arms out to prevent anyone from walking past her. This could be it. But instead of the two of them advancing on the group pulling the sled, Riddick spun, knocking the flare out of Johns' hand. Shit! Alex screamed inwardly. They're going to kill each other. She knew that their mutual hatred would have to come to a head eventually, but it looked like they weren't going to make some twisted alliance to get out of there. Riddick had grabbed Johns' gun, and as Johns blocked it Riddick fired.
"Leave the sled, let's move!" Carolyn shouted, turning to run in the opposite direction. Alex hesitated for a moment, reluctant to leave the power cells, their ticket out of here. But they all had to get away from the fight, and couldn't pull the sled fast enough. She threw down the rope and started running after the rest of them, hearing shots fired behind her as Carolyn shouted for them to run.
She caught up with the group, illuminated by the meager light they had from the torches. It was enough, she thought, she hoped. Glancing around, she still couldn't see any of the creatures. A brief flash of puzzlement went through her, and then she heard another gunshot and ran a little faster. She didn't know for sure who would come out the best in a fight between them, but if Johns didn't shoot Riddick right away, she had her money on Riddick to win. She gulped. And kill Johns.
She thought they were running towards the ship, but couldn't be sure. She caught up to Carolyn. "Where are we going?!" she gasped. Even with her body, strong from all the martial arts and forms, the low oxygen atmosphere made it feel like she had run a marathon.
"To the ship," Carolyn got out, also breathing heavily. "Which-which way is it?" she asked.
Alex scanned the landscape around them. It looked mostly the same. She wished she would have paid better attention when going through it the first time, but the creatures clustered around them had distracted her. Far in the distance she saw the chimney formations. "That way," she pointed, "I think." Carolyn changed their direction slightly, angling towards them. One last gunshot spurred them on for a few seconds, then the atmosphere took its toll on them.
They slowed and turned around after a few minutes, not hearing any signs of pursuit, nor any more gunshots. Alex looked back at the others, her glasses picking up no trace of the flare's green light behind them. The noises in the night grew more frequent, but she could still see no creatures around them. Not like before.
Carolyn turned in the ship's direction to begin running and screamed in surprise as she ran into Riddick, who had silently gone around them. Even Alex had missed him somehow. She drew her sword carefully, as the group closed, backing away from Riddick, who stood there unconcerned.
"Back to the ship, huh?" He looked at them levelly. "Just huddle together until the lights burn out."
"Get away from us," Carolyn whispered.
"Till you can't see what's eating you!" Riddick continued, "that the big plan?" His voice mocked them. Alex felt the sting of the truth. In the heat of the moment, she had just wanted to get away from the two fighters, who could both kill her, and the rest of them. But now, she realized that two had been whittled down to one. Riddick was left. The lesser of two evils.
"Where is Johns," Imam asked.
Riddick looked at him, into his eyes. "Which half?" he said in a hushed voice. Jack gasped, in front of Alex, and started backing away.
"We're gonna lose everybody out here," Jack said, her voice shaking. She turned around and looked past Alex, back towards where they had come from. To where Johns' body might be lying. The ominous sounds of the creatures came out of the darkness.
"He died fast, and if we have any choice about it that's the way we should all go out," Riddick said, walking towards Jack. His voice seemed softer, somehow, as if he was trying to comfort Jack. She stared into the darkness, tears forming in her eyes. Alex watched as Riddick came to stand behind Jack. "Don't you cry for Johns," he told her, "Don't you dare." He walked off into the dark, back towards the sled, but as he passed Alex he looked her straight in the eye. It was the first time she had locked gazes with him without his goggles on, and she was glad that this time, she had the shaded glasses on to protect her eyes. His gaze was unnerving, shined eyes not withstanding. Her sword was still up, but she was relaxed as she watched him. He passed her and looked away, walking into the darkness, and Alex sheathed her sword. Carolyn walked after him, back towards the power cells on the sled.
She saw Jack bow her head and wipe away the tears from her eyes. It wasn't because she liked Johns, Alex thought, but because everyone was dying on this hunk of rock. Alex was scared too. They had a plan, and now they were minus one of the strong, yet untrustworthy, members of their group. Now the option might be to try and make the skiff without him, without the gun, but how many would make it?
They had reached the power cells, but all of them seemed to have the spirit pulled out of them. Alex went away from the group by herself, as it seemed safe, and she wanted to just be alone with her thoughts. No creatures around, for a while at least. As she went around a stone, she heard Imam suggest that they all pray together. She was glad she had left, then. Praying and Alex did not agree. She squatted and leaned back onto the rock with a sigh, the temporary illusion of some sort of security allowing the urgent need of before to hold off.
Alex lay against the still-warm stone, listening to the night. She couldn't see any creatures around her, but stuck her sword in the loose soil beside her. She thought about the group. Again, she wondered why she had allowed some walls to be pulled down, why she had felt like she belonged with them. A kinship, even, especially to Carolyn and Jack. And Riddick. He was the puzzle to figure out, and try as she might she couldn't find his motivations for acting how he did. Why does a man who is a killer, and acts as if he only wants to scare the rest of them, willing to take them to safety, to work together? She closed her eyes briefly, as her thoughts spun. A footstep caused her to whirl, and then relax as she saw it was Imam coming over to her.
"Do you wish to pray together?" he asked her, coming down to kneel in the sand next to her.
She let out her breath, slightly amused at the irony of the situation. Praying. "You see, God and I don't really get along," she said, smiling. If she smiled then it helped, helped her to not think about the why.
"God is always there for us, God always loves us," he replied simply.
"Yeah, well, God wasn't always there for me. I thought he was, but I was wrong." She had this conversation with herself a million times. She was once strong in her faith. Before.
Imam sighed. "Why is it that you think he was not there for you?" he asked, his dark eyes burning holes in her. She stared at him. He was an honest man. A good man. She looked down. She had not told anyone in this time what had happened to her. Once it sunk in that she could have no revenge, no respite from the frustration she felt, she could do nothing but push it behind her, and just deal with the pain.
Alex looked up at him. It would be sharing the burden, wouldn't it? She bit her lip, considering. Why not, she thought. I might even die on this planet and then who would remember me? A confessional, almost.
"Because I'm three hundred and twenty four years old. Well preserved, don't you think?" she said with a twist to her lips. She saw his surprise when she told him her age. She pulled the sword from the ground and laid it on her knees. As she reverently ran her fingers along the characters on it, taking care not to touch the mysteriously always-sharp edge, she told him her story.
"I was twenty-three, deep in debt. And lost," she broke off, remembering the face once again. She quelled it, and continued with a sigh. "There was an ad, an application, for an experiment. Five hundred thousand dollars to participate in an experiment. One of two people. The experiment involved a year of physical training, followed by one month," she stopped again, taking a deep breath, "one month of an experimental cryotube freeze." She laughed once. "I woke up three hundred years later, still twenty-four, and everything, EVERYTHING I ever knew was gone." She felt the tears forming in her eyes, but reached inside her for the core of steel, and the walls, she knew had to be there. Her emotions under control, she continued. "The long-term experiment that they never told me about. I got the money from those bastards, and since they make all the cryo-equipment in the known worlds they were virtually untouchable" She looked at him for the first time since beginning her story, the bewilderment on his face easy to read.
She didn't know what possessed her to bring down her walls for those few minutes. Perhaps it was the aura of the holy man. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand and continued. "All I had to survive was the money, and the skills I had picked up during the training. I found this," she paused, stretching out the sword in front of her. She smiled. "I found this and it is the only thing besides myself I can trust." She sighed. "So now you see how I cannot believe that God was there for me. He took away everything I ever loved and replaced it with a world I cannot hope to be happy in. Now you see why I cannot pray to this God, or any other. God is dead to me, so is everyone else" As she finished she leaned her head back against the rock, then looked over at Imam. His face betrayed an intense sorrow, but she didn't know if it was for her story or her lack of faith.
Imam sighed. "Even though you think he does not care for you, or that he is dead, he is still there, my child." Alex winced at the 'my child', but after a moment considered that it was only natural, for this semi-priest to call her a child. Say what he might, God was not there for her.
"I only wish that he will take from you the pain you have inside," he said, softly, and laid a hand on her shoulder, his brown eyes staring into her green ones. Now she felt her emotions tearing at the wall and tears threatened to form anew, not for her pain or her lack of faith, but for the compassion and the warmth she received from this total stranger. She closed her eyes. No one had touched her in friendship in so long. The emotions welled up, wanting to release her from these walls, to feel happiness and kindness. But she put those under control, too. Don't open up, and it won't hurt later, she told herself. Her hands tightened on the grip of the sword, then relaxed and opened her eyes again.
She smiled briefly, and then whispered, "Thank you," to him. He nodded, satisfied, and then got up, moving over towards where the power cells were on the sled. Alex put her head down, distracted enough for the moment to miss seeing Riddick's form go back behind the rock ten feet away, where he had been silently listening.