Notes: Okay, I've kept you in suspense long enough. This is the last
chapter, thank you for reading my fanfiction!
Chapter 13 - In the end, it doesn't even matter
As she followed through with the sword, the creature's stump of a tail lashed out at her face as it flew backwards, knocking off her glasses. Everything was black. She saw nothing. The only sounds Alex heard was the thud of Carolyn's body as it hit the ground, and another scream. Alex stopped and regained her balance, her entire body shaking. When the scream stopped as she took a breath, she realized it was herself.
"Not for me!" Alex heard Riddick's voice coming from somewhere off to her right. But Alex could only look down at Carolyn, stunned at what she had done.
Carolyn lay on her back and stared up at the sky, her breath coming quickly. From the pain, Alex thought, it must hurt somewhere. She dropped her sword and collapsed onto her knees next to Carolyn, then grabbed her hand, clasping it with both of her own. Everything would be all right. She had saved her.
"It's all right, Carolyn," she said, softly, smiling as Carolyn's eyes focused on her face. "It's going to be okay."
Carolyn gripped her hand tightly, eyes wild. Then she arched her back and gasped. Only then did Alex look down at Carolyn's body, where the creature had stabbed her. Her mouth went dry. There was three inches of the severed tail sticking out the other side of Carolyn's upper abdomen. It had gone right through her body like paper. Blood now started gushing out of the wound, welling up around the tail. There was no way Carolyn could live through her taking it out. A slow, sickening feeling rose up in her stomach. And then she knew. She knew that Carolyn was not going to make it.
"No," Alex said softly, "No, it will be all right," she denied it, and felt her entire body twist up inside. "I saved you, no, it will be all right!" she said. Carolyn only groaned in response.
Alex felt her face swell, felt tears in her eyes. She blinked, and the tears ran down her face to mingle with the raindrops. "You're going to live, damn it Carolyn. I'm not going to let you die here!" she said forcefully, shouting the last words out. Carolyn led them, and was braver than all of them put together. Alex was the one who deserved to die, not Carolyn. Carolyn had to get them out of here. She had to live, she had sacrificed so much of her own needs before the others.
Carolyn screamed in pain, squeezing Alex's hand with a grip of iron. "God.oh god.it hurts." she murmured, her eyes tightly closed. As if she could ward off the pain. The wound started bleeding more. It must have hit a major blood vessel.
"No, you've got to live," Alex repeated softly, almost sobbing, grasping her hand and staring into Carolyn's face. The walls were gone. That this woman, so unselfish, would die for the rest of them, was too much for the walls. Raw emotion overwhelmed Alex, and tears coursed unhindered down her cheeks. She had not cried so in such a long time. Deep down inside her she knew that in spite of that all, Carolyn would not live.
Carolyn inhaled deeply, a groan coming out of her, and looked down at her own abdomen. She screamed, in pain, in denial, in frustration. And in her eyes, as well, Alex could see her realize that the pain would be too much, this time. Alex squeezed her hand harder. Carolyn looked up at her, a slow insight dawning on her face. "You've got to," she began, but stopped as she coughed violently. When she continued there was blood in her mouth.
"You've got to go. You've got to take care of them, leave me here," she finished, then gritted her teeth and contorted her spine, writhing in pain and moaning.
Alex was shocked. "Me?! No, no you're going to make it, Carolyn Fry, you've got to," she said, panicking. But Carolyn's eyes looked up at her. Eyes of a woman resolved to her end. She knew she was dying, but always the leader. She was still determined to pass on her responsibility. Her body was wracked with the pain from her wound, but with all her effort she pulled herself up, slightly, so she was looking Alex right in the face.
"Take care of them!" she got out through clenched teeth, her blue eyes burning into Alex's green ones, then she fell back down to lie in the mud.
Alex paused, stunned. She didn't want that, not even close. But Carolyn, who gave so much to others, who came back for them, wanted her to do it. The thoughts of Jack and Imam back on the ship, and of Riddick lying somewhere in the dark, flashed through her mind. They needed her. Don't let anyone in, the voice whispered in her mind, and it won't hurt. The walls threatened to come back. But this time, she would have to let them in. To be there for them. The same surging she had felt before, when she knew she had to help Carolyn, compelled her now. "I-I will." It almost killed her that this woman, who seemed to have such a heart and thought for others, that this woman was dying in front of her.
Carolyn started to breathe quickly and shallowly. "You must do it," she gasped, her eyes becoming unfocused. "Leave me!"
Alex leaned in closer, so Carolyn could see her face. "I promise, I will take care of them," she got out, and meant it with every bone in her body.
Carolyn coughed up blood again, and her grip on Alex's hand started to weaken. "I'm cold," she whispered.
The world did not exist for the next few moments, it was only Alex, kneeling beside Carolyn, holding her hand as her breathing got slower and slower. It took an eternity.
Carolyn let out one last breath, and then her eyes glazed over. Her hand started to slip from Alex's grasp, but she held it, and bent over it, in silent prayer to whatever was out there. Give me the strength, she pleaded, the strength. She swallowed, and looked at Carolyn's face one last time. Their leader. And then she sensed something. In the cold rain and mud, she felt the flame burst to life within her. She had promised. She must take care of them. And at the heart of the flame was her, a core of steel. Yes, I can do this, she thought.
She gently laid Carolyn's hand to rest on her chest, and then turned to pick up her sword from the mud. She rose slowly, holding the sword in front of her. "I swear, Carolyn," she said to the body in front of her, "I swear I'll do it." She had a purpose, now. Wiping the tears off of her face, she felt strength running through her. In what was only a minute or two, she had this purpose, this meaning thrust upon her, and yet it fit. She sheathed her sword, and turned, to look for Riddick, one of the ones she had sworn to take care of.
She found him only ten feet away, behind a container that had blocked his view. He had grasped onto the corner of the container and with all his strength struggled to get up, muttering, "not for me." Alex squelched through the mud towards him and when he heard her, he looked up through the curtain of rain. A wild, pained look in his eyes was slowly replaced by recognition. She crouched down beside him
"I cut her down, but," she paused, the emotional anguish threatening to come again, "but it was too late. So now, I'm going to help you instead." He looked at her, sorrow on his face. An unfamiliar emotion on Riddick's hard face. She reached out a hand, and he took it. "Come on," she said, and then breathed in sharply as she took in the numerous cuts on his body. She moved her body so that she could bear him, and groaned as she was able to lift him off the ground, so that they were both standing with Alex under Riddick's arm, Riddick leaning on Alex. Supporting Riddick's massive frame with her body, she walked in the direction of the ship as fast as she could, still aware that there were creatures around them.
They made their way towards the skiff without speaking, looking around in case any other creatures appeared. But none came. None had found them, yet. As they got closer, Riddick's legs gave out on him and he started to fall. Alex braced herself and used all her strength to pull him up again.
"No, Riddick, we've got to keep going. Come on, get up," she told him, staring straight ahead as he looked at her, then grunted with the pain and effort as he got his legs underneath him again and started walking. She could think of nothing but her purpose. Get to the ship. Take care of them. Leave this place.
They staggered into the light from the ship, and a shocked Jack and Imam ran towards them. Imam saw Riddick's cuts and, without a word, went around to Riddick's other side and helped Alex carry him to the ship. Jack looked up at Alex with frightened eyes.
"Is Fry-?" Jack trailed off, leaving it unsaid. Alex nodded, trying not to remember the woman who had died in front of her. Purpose.
"Let's get ready to go," she said. She and Imam eased Riddick onto the bench in the side of the skiff, where he sat, his head resting on his hands. Alex turned and walked to the rear of the ship, looking for some sort of button that would close the ramp. She found the dial, and switched it to "close." Leaning against the back of the ship, she closed her eyes in gratitude as the ramp finally closed on the hellhole planet. We made it. We're alive.
Behind her, she heard signs of movement, and turned to see Riddick make his way over to the pilot seat and drop himself into it. He quickly started switching on the engines, preparing for takeoff. Good thing he was still able to do it, she thought idly, because I would have no idea. She almost laughed, at that. How ironic it would have been to live only to be unable to fly the skiff to safety.
She suddenly became aware of a throbbing pain on her forehead, above her eye, and reached up with her hand to feel it. A shallow cut, from the creature's tail, from her one moment where she thought she would save Carolyn, was all that remained. She wiped away the blood which was starting to drip into her eye, and looked into the cabin. Imam and Jack were sitting on opposite benches towards the back of the skiff. Riddick continued to prepare the engines for flight as rain beat down onto the glass in front of him. Imam pulled out his prayer beads and ran them through his fingers, a pensive look on his face.
"So much prayer to make up for," he said quietly, "I scarcely know where to begin."
Jack looked at Imam, then Alex, then Riddick. "I know where I'd start," she said grimly.
Alex walked over to take a seat on the bench next to Imam in silence, thinking of all those they had left behind. She sighed, and looking down at the floor, put her head onto her hands as the interior and exterior lights came on. Light. They were safe. It would be all right. Riddick could fly them out of here.
The vibration from the engines intensified. They must be almost ready to take off, Alex thought. All she could feel was relief. But then the engines died back down, and as Alex snapped her head up, wondering what was wrong, she saw Riddick switching off the interior and exterior lights.
"What is it?!" she asked urgently.
"Riddick, what are you doing?" said Jack at the same time.
He remained silent. A thousand thoughts rushed through Alex's mind. Something was wrong with the ship. He couldn't get them off the planet. What was he doing?! They heard banging on the metal hull outside. Alex shivered. The creatures must be right outside, getting ready to attack the ship. The scraping sounds continued all around them.
"Can we just get the hell out of here now?!" Jack whispered. Alex had her hand to her sword and started to get up to move towards the entrance at the back. "We can't leave," came Riddick's voice as he peered back at Jack, his eyes shining in the dark of the ship. The sight of a creature landing on the front window startled Alex, and she heard Jack's breath catch, too. Riddick slowly turned his head back to look out the window levelly. "Without saying good night," he finished, pushing the engines to full power in one movement. The impact knocked Alex back into her seat as the ship took off, creatures crashing into the window as they moved into the atmosphere. The blast from the engines must have incinerated the ones behind them, she thought, getting their just desserts. Good night. She felt almost glad, but then she remembered what they left behind.
The small ship made its way out of the planet's atmosphere, and Alex looked forward, through the window, to see the stars. She smiled, a sad, tiny smile, at her first time seeing the view of the stars and planets around them. Jack clambered up front to the seat beside Riddick and strapped herself in.
"Lotta questions, whoever we run into," she said, looking at Riddick. "Could even be a merc ship. So what the hell do we tell them about you?" Jack's seeming innocence sometimes had Alex off guard when she asked smart questions. Alex herself hadn't even thought of that, but it was a good point. Riddick was certainly not a character that would be safe from mercs, or anyone else who wanted to turn him in. She definitely would not be one of those people.
Riddick pondered the question for a moment, then slowly turned to Jack. "Tell them Riddick's dead," he said, staring into her eyes. "He died somewhere on that planet." He turned back to face forward, and glanced at Alex, then Imam in their reflections in the glass. In his eyes, there was something, something she couldn't put a finger on. Something had changed. There was a little more in him that was human. Yes, perhaps the escaped convict, murderer, had died on that planet. But what would happen to him now, she didn't know.
_____
Two months later, Alex stood on the docking platform of the space station. After catching a ride on a shipping vessel, they had finally arrived at a major station, and now they were going their separate ways. Every hour on that ship Alex had thought of her promise. She had talked to Jack and Imam, and they were going with Alex, to a planet yet unknown. Make out some sort of living. But Riddick, she had by some means known, wanted to go away by himself. Her promise had been fulfilled in part by bringing him to the ship in the first place, but he wasn't really the kind that needed taking care of.
Alex stood, Jack and Imam at her sides, as they gathered the items had bought that week for the trip. The announcement came over the speaker system, "All passengers of the Creande, boarding will commence at gate 244." That was their ship.
"Goodbye, Mr. Riddick," Imam said, nodding, then turned to walk towards the boarding ramp in the crowd. Jack smiled up at him shyly, whispered, "Bye, Riddick," then swiftly turned and ran to catch up to Imam.
Alex picked up her small bag, and turned to face Riddick. She had suspected that Carolyn had stopped him from leaving them on that rock of a planet, somehow she had stopped him. And when she did, whatever she did, had put a spark of something new into him. His humanity, perhaps? She did not know. Alex was leaving Riddick as much of a mystery as she had found him.
"Goodbye," she said, looking at his goggles, where she thought his eyes might be.
"Goodbye," he rumbled in return, his face still deadly serious.
Alex nodded, and turned towards the boarding ramp. "Take care," she muttered under her breath. She was sure that he would. She was also sure that this was not the last she would see of Richard B. Riddick.
Chapter 13 - In the end, it doesn't even matter
As she followed through with the sword, the creature's stump of a tail lashed out at her face as it flew backwards, knocking off her glasses. Everything was black. She saw nothing. The only sounds Alex heard was the thud of Carolyn's body as it hit the ground, and another scream. Alex stopped and regained her balance, her entire body shaking. When the scream stopped as she took a breath, she realized it was herself.
"Not for me!" Alex heard Riddick's voice coming from somewhere off to her right. But Alex could only look down at Carolyn, stunned at what she had done.
Carolyn lay on her back and stared up at the sky, her breath coming quickly. From the pain, Alex thought, it must hurt somewhere. She dropped her sword and collapsed onto her knees next to Carolyn, then grabbed her hand, clasping it with both of her own. Everything would be all right. She had saved her.
"It's all right, Carolyn," she said, softly, smiling as Carolyn's eyes focused on her face. "It's going to be okay."
Carolyn gripped her hand tightly, eyes wild. Then she arched her back and gasped. Only then did Alex look down at Carolyn's body, where the creature had stabbed her. Her mouth went dry. There was three inches of the severed tail sticking out the other side of Carolyn's upper abdomen. It had gone right through her body like paper. Blood now started gushing out of the wound, welling up around the tail. There was no way Carolyn could live through her taking it out. A slow, sickening feeling rose up in her stomach. And then she knew. She knew that Carolyn was not going to make it.
"No," Alex said softly, "No, it will be all right," she denied it, and felt her entire body twist up inside. "I saved you, no, it will be all right!" she said. Carolyn only groaned in response.
Alex felt her face swell, felt tears in her eyes. She blinked, and the tears ran down her face to mingle with the raindrops. "You're going to live, damn it Carolyn. I'm not going to let you die here!" she said forcefully, shouting the last words out. Carolyn led them, and was braver than all of them put together. Alex was the one who deserved to die, not Carolyn. Carolyn had to get them out of here. She had to live, she had sacrificed so much of her own needs before the others.
Carolyn screamed in pain, squeezing Alex's hand with a grip of iron. "God.oh god.it hurts." she murmured, her eyes tightly closed. As if she could ward off the pain. The wound started bleeding more. It must have hit a major blood vessel.
"No, you've got to live," Alex repeated softly, almost sobbing, grasping her hand and staring into Carolyn's face. The walls were gone. That this woman, so unselfish, would die for the rest of them, was too much for the walls. Raw emotion overwhelmed Alex, and tears coursed unhindered down her cheeks. She had not cried so in such a long time. Deep down inside her she knew that in spite of that all, Carolyn would not live.
Carolyn inhaled deeply, a groan coming out of her, and looked down at her own abdomen. She screamed, in pain, in denial, in frustration. And in her eyes, as well, Alex could see her realize that the pain would be too much, this time. Alex squeezed her hand harder. Carolyn looked up at her, a slow insight dawning on her face. "You've got to," she began, but stopped as she coughed violently. When she continued there was blood in her mouth.
"You've got to go. You've got to take care of them, leave me here," she finished, then gritted her teeth and contorted her spine, writhing in pain and moaning.
Alex was shocked. "Me?! No, no you're going to make it, Carolyn Fry, you've got to," she said, panicking. But Carolyn's eyes looked up at her. Eyes of a woman resolved to her end. She knew she was dying, but always the leader. She was still determined to pass on her responsibility. Her body was wracked with the pain from her wound, but with all her effort she pulled herself up, slightly, so she was looking Alex right in the face.
"Take care of them!" she got out through clenched teeth, her blue eyes burning into Alex's green ones, then she fell back down to lie in the mud.
Alex paused, stunned. She didn't want that, not even close. But Carolyn, who gave so much to others, who came back for them, wanted her to do it. The thoughts of Jack and Imam back on the ship, and of Riddick lying somewhere in the dark, flashed through her mind. They needed her. Don't let anyone in, the voice whispered in her mind, and it won't hurt. The walls threatened to come back. But this time, she would have to let them in. To be there for them. The same surging she had felt before, when she knew she had to help Carolyn, compelled her now. "I-I will." It almost killed her that this woman, who seemed to have such a heart and thought for others, that this woman was dying in front of her.
Carolyn started to breathe quickly and shallowly. "You must do it," she gasped, her eyes becoming unfocused. "Leave me!"
Alex leaned in closer, so Carolyn could see her face. "I promise, I will take care of them," she got out, and meant it with every bone in her body.
Carolyn coughed up blood again, and her grip on Alex's hand started to weaken. "I'm cold," she whispered.
The world did not exist for the next few moments, it was only Alex, kneeling beside Carolyn, holding her hand as her breathing got slower and slower. It took an eternity.
Carolyn let out one last breath, and then her eyes glazed over. Her hand started to slip from Alex's grasp, but she held it, and bent over it, in silent prayer to whatever was out there. Give me the strength, she pleaded, the strength. She swallowed, and looked at Carolyn's face one last time. Their leader. And then she sensed something. In the cold rain and mud, she felt the flame burst to life within her. She had promised. She must take care of them. And at the heart of the flame was her, a core of steel. Yes, I can do this, she thought.
She gently laid Carolyn's hand to rest on her chest, and then turned to pick up her sword from the mud. She rose slowly, holding the sword in front of her. "I swear, Carolyn," she said to the body in front of her, "I swear I'll do it." She had a purpose, now. Wiping the tears off of her face, she felt strength running through her. In what was only a minute or two, she had this purpose, this meaning thrust upon her, and yet it fit. She sheathed her sword, and turned, to look for Riddick, one of the ones she had sworn to take care of.
She found him only ten feet away, behind a container that had blocked his view. He had grasped onto the corner of the container and with all his strength struggled to get up, muttering, "not for me." Alex squelched through the mud towards him and when he heard her, he looked up through the curtain of rain. A wild, pained look in his eyes was slowly replaced by recognition. She crouched down beside him
"I cut her down, but," she paused, the emotional anguish threatening to come again, "but it was too late. So now, I'm going to help you instead." He looked at her, sorrow on his face. An unfamiliar emotion on Riddick's hard face. She reached out a hand, and he took it. "Come on," she said, and then breathed in sharply as she took in the numerous cuts on his body. She moved her body so that she could bear him, and groaned as she was able to lift him off the ground, so that they were both standing with Alex under Riddick's arm, Riddick leaning on Alex. Supporting Riddick's massive frame with her body, she walked in the direction of the ship as fast as she could, still aware that there were creatures around them.
They made their way towards the skiff without speaking, looking around in case any other creatures appeared. But none came. None had found them, yet. As they got closer, Riddick's legs gave out on him and he started to fall. Alex braced herself and used all her strength to pull him up again.
"No, Riddick, we've got to keep going. Come on, get up," she told him, staring straight ahead as he looked at her, then grunted with the pain and effort as he got his legs underneath him again and started walking. She could think of nothing but her purpose. Get to the ship. Take care of them. Leave this place.
They staggered into the light from the ship, and a shocked Jack and Imam ran towards them. Imam saw Riddick's cuts and, without a word, went around to Riddick's other side and helped Alex carry him to the ship. Jack looked up at Alex with frightened eyes.
"Is Fry-?" Jack trailed off, leaving it unsaid. Alex nodded, trying not to remember the woman who had died in front of her. Purpose.
"Let's get ready to go," she said. She and Imam eased Riddick onto the bench in the side of the skiff, where he sat, his head resting on his hands. Alex turned and walked to the rear of the ship, looking for some sort of button that would close the ramp. She found the dial, and switched it to "close." Leaning against the back of the ship, she closed her eyes in gratitude as the ramp finally closed on the hellhole planet. We made it. We're alive.
Behind her, she heard signs of movement, and turned to see Riddick make his way over to the pilot seat and drop himself into it. He quickly started switching on the engines, preparing for takeoff. Good thing he was still able to do it, she thought idly, because I would have no idea. She almost laughed, at that. How ironic it would have been to live only to be unable to fly the skiff to safety.
She suddenly became aware of a throbbing pain on her forehead, above her eye, and reached up with her hand to feel it. A shallow cut, from the creature's tail, from her one moment where she thought she would save Carolyn, was all that remained. She wiped away the blood which was starting to drip into her eye, and looked into the cabin. Imam and Jack were sitting on opposite benches towards the back of the skiff. Riddick continued to prepare the engines for flight as rain beat down onto the glass in front of him. Imam pulled out his prayer beads and ran them through his fingers, a pensive look on his face.
"So much prayer to make up for," he said quietly, "I scarcely know where to begin."
Jack looked at Imam, then Alex, then Riddick. "I know where I'd start," she said grimly.
Alex walked over to take a seat on the bench next to Imam in silence, thinking of all those they had left behind. She sighed, and looking down at the floor, put her head onto her hands as the interior and exterior lights came on. Light. They were safe. It would be all right. Riddick could fly them out of here.
The vibration from the engines intensified. They must be almost ready to take off, Alex thought. All she could feel was relief. But then the engines died back down, and as Alex snapped her head up, wondering what was wrong, she saw Riddick switching off the interior and exterior lights.
"What is it?!" she asked urgently.
"Riddick, what are you doing?" said Jack at the same time.
He remained silent. A thousand thoughts rushed through Alex's mind. Something was wrong with the ship. He couldn't get them off the planet. What was he doing?! They heard banging on the metal hull outside. Alex shivered. The creatures must be right outside, getting ready to attack the ship. The scraping sounds continued all around them.
"Can we just get the hell out of here now?!" Jack whispered. Alex had her hand to her sword and started to get up to move towards the entrance at the back. "We can't leave," came Riddick's voice as he peered back at Jack, his eyes shining in the dark of the ship. The sight of a creature landing on the front window startled Alex, and she heard Jack's breath catch, too. Riddick slowly turned his head back to look out the window levelly. "Without saying good night," he finished, pushing the engines to full power in one movement. The impact knocked Alex back into her seat as the ship took off, creatures crashing into the window as they moved into the atmosphere. The blast from the engines must have incinerated the ones behind them, she thought, getting their just desserts. Good night. She felt almost glad, but then she remembered what they left behind.
The small ship made its way out of the planet's atmosphere, and Alex looked forward, through the window, to see the stars. She smiled, a sad, tiny smile, at her first time seeing the view of the stars and planets around them. Jack clambered up front to the seat beside Riddick and strapped herself in.
"Lotta questions, whoever we run into," she said, looking at Riddick. "Could even be a merc ship. So what the hell do we tell them about you?" Jack's seeming innocence sometimes had Alex off guard when she asked smart questions. Alex herself hadn't even thought of that, but it was a good point. Riddick was certainly not a character that would be safe from mercs, or anyone else who wanted to turn him in. She definitely would not be one of those people.
Riddick pondered the question for a moment, then slowly turned to Jack. "Tell them Riddick's dead," he said, staring into her eyes. "He died somewhere on that planet." He turned back to face forward, and glanced at Alex, then Imam in their reflections in the glass. In his eyes, there was something, something she couldn't put a finger on. Something had changed. There was a little more in him that was human. Yes, perhaps the escaped convict, murderer, had died on that planet. But what would happen to him now, she didn't know.
_____
Two months later, Alex stood on the docking platform of the space station. After catching a ride on a shipping vessel, they had finally arrived at a major station, and now they were going their separate ways. Every hour on that ship Alex had thought of her promise. She had talked to Jack and Imam, and they were going with Alex, to a planet yet unknown. Make out some sort of living. But Riddick, she had by some means known, wanted to go away by himself. Her promise had been fulfilled in part by bringing him to the ship in the first place, but he wasn't really the kind that needed taking care of.
Alex stood, Jack and Imam at her sides, as they gathered the items had bought that week for the trip. The announcement came over the speaker system, "All passengers of the Creande, boarding will commence at gate 244." That was their ship.
"Goodbye, Mr. Riddick," Imam said, nodding, then turned to walk towards the boarding ramp in the crowd. Jack smiled up at him shyly, whispered, "Bye, Riddick," then swiftly turned and ran to catch up to Imam.
Alex picked up her small bag, and turned to face Riddick. She had suspected that Carolyn had stopped him from leaving them on that rock of a planet, somehow she had stopped him. And when she did, whatever she did, had put a spark of something new into him. His humanity, perhaps? She did not know. Alex was leaving Riddick as much of a mystery as she had found him.
"Goodbye," she said, looking at his goggles, where she thought his eyes might be.
"Goodbye," he rumbled in return, his face still deadly serious.
Alex nodded, and turned towards the boarding ramp. "Take care," she muttered under her breath. She was sure that he would. She was also sure that this was not the last she would see of Richard B. Riddick.