Author's Note: Yeah, well, I didn't get but one or two reviews on the last chapter and I'm thinking about ending this prematurely b/c I don't even know if anyone's really reading this story…so, go ahead and enjoy this one. Bye!
Chapter Five, Goodbyes
The Neidet Dawne wasn't exactly the best ship money could buy, but it was clean and it was respectable, and that was all that I needed. It's not like I would see the ship very much anyway, considering I'd be in cryo sleep most of the time. Besides, I had used the bigger portion of my money on equipment for the planet; guns, rations, light, vehicle.
Riddick currently stood behind me and to the side, arms crossed, expression closed. The few passengers that dared to be on this flight veered from the area we stood in and the crew or captain had yet to appear and speak with us.
I was using the vidcall to speak with Imam, who had just appeared.
"Hello, Imam." I greeted him, somewhat guiltily…I knew he wished me not to go through with this and yet I was despite his objections.
"Audrey…" He said nodding with a smile. Imam was the only one who could get away with calling me Audrey, much less Jacqueline.
"We're about to leave for T2, Imam. I wanted to say goodbye, in case…" I trailed off, not wanting to say the obvious. I watched Imam's smile fade and his eyes flit to Riddick behind me. The expression on his face changed to something harder, more stern.
"Mr. Riddick, I see time has found you well."
I turned to look at Riddick as he replied, watching the black gloss of his goggles glint in the light. "As well as I could be."
Imam frowned. "I asked Audrey not to go on this foolish quest. What God has ordained, will be…we should not try to change that."
I bit my tongue at the old words. That point he had brought up once had been his only argument against my going…the only one he had told me, anyhow. And now he was telling Riddick.
"I figure Jack's not to keen on authority." Riddick rumbled, glancing at me.
I frowned at them both. "You both know why I'm going…There's no stopping me."
"No, there's not." Riddick replied, a smirk catching on his lips.
Imam sighed, glancing back at me though he continued to speak to Riddick. "I pray that you will keep her safe, Mr. Riddick."
"She's a big girl, holy man."
"Yes, she
is. But those things are bigger."
Riddick just smiled wider,
shrugging.
I stepped in front of Riddick, cutting off most of Imam's view from the other man. I didn't like them talking about me as if I wasn't there. "Imam…I'll be careful. You know that. Now, please, just let it go."
Imam's dark eyes met my own. He had never gotten ES and when I asked why, he just replied that with his darker eyes, he did not have as much problems as I would have. And that he was used to it. I thought it was just a load of bullshit and he'd go blind any day now.
"Audrey…you're like a daughter to me. I do not wish to lose you."
"I know, Imam. I know."
"Mr. Riddick, bring her back to me."
I heard him shift behind me, but I didn't look back and he didn't reply.
"Goodbye, Imam."
Imam placed a hand against the screen, and I mimicked him. "Goodbye, Audrey. May God keep you both safe." Imam glanced away from me to Riddick and nodded.
The screen flickered and closed. I sighed, letting my hand drop to my side. I turned to Riddick to gauge what his reaction to my little sendoff, but he said naught a word about it. He just stood and stared at me, and I looked back, not flinching.
"Ma'am? Sir?" A voice interrupted us.
We both turned to look at the tall man who had spoken. He was impeccably clean, flight suit pressed and every button in place. His hair was a light blonde, but already streaking with gray and his eyes were a watery green. His face had laugh lines around the eyes and mouth, yet he gave off a natural air of professionalism.
He startled slightly as he noticed my eyes. I think he would have startled more if he had seen Riddick's, of who's was hidden.
"Yes?"
"Would one of you happen to be Jack al-Walid?"
I stepped forward slightly. "That would be me."
"Alright. Very good. I am Captain Danner." He turned, motioning with his hand. "Follow me, please."
We did, listening to him as he explained some things and led us down several long hallways.
"I normally wouldn't accept a job like this, but for the exorbitant price you paid, I went against my own rules. Your equipment and vehicle will be taken down to the planet by skiff first. After my crew has returned, you will be awakened and will follow down to the drop site." He stopped at a closed door and opened it, gesturing us ahead of him. It was the cryo chamber. Several other passengers were already either being helped into a cryo tube or already in and asleep, faces slack and eyes closed.
He led us over to two opened and empty tubes, moving us inside. I stepped up into it, leaning against the slight tilt of the tube and watched him move away for a moment. He came back with silver object, shaped almost like a gun, except for the mouthpiece on the end of it.
He placed it to my lips and asked me to breathe in. I did, inhaling the red mist into my lungs as he pulled the trigger on it. He gripped the back of my neck and moved the CG gun below my jaw and pressed it firmly to the flesh there.
"On the count, breathe out. One…two…three." I did as he said, and exhaled quickly. The needle attached to the mouthpiece pierced my skin, and pumped the silverish liquid into my body. The Captain's grip on my neck tightened as my head snapped back against the headrest.
I squeezed my eyes shut against the fiery stinging that was traveling up and then down my body. My fists clenched and I felt my form go rigid. I wanted to whip my head from side to side but could not, the Captain's grip too strong.
Eventually, just a few seconds later, though what seemed like hours, the pain began to flee and I started to relax. When I was sure I could move without the jabbing sensations, I nodded at Captain Danner and he moved to do Riddick.
I stood there, grateful for the lean of the tube; for I knew I wouldn't have been able to stand if it hadn't been there. I felt the effects of the VapAir mist still working on opening my airways better and I took a deep breath. Without the mist, the mercurial liquid, known as Trisomna, would have blocked off my ability to draw oxygen into my lungs and I would have suffocated.
The reason why we all had to take Trisomna? Well, Trisomna worked through our body and began the shutdown process, which would allow us to become more susceptible to the cryogas they pumped into the tubes after they were sealed. The VapAir stayed and recirculated in our bodies, waiting for the release gas that would "bring us back to life" right before we exited the tubes so it could reactivate and allow us to breathe.
A rather complicated process, but it was better than waking up years older and not knowing why. That had happened a lot back when cryo had first started being used in commercial and private ships. People would "go to sleep" young and in their twenties and would wake up past middle age.
There had most definitely been a whole lot of lawsuits over the matter.
But not anymore, VapAir and Trisomna had worked well for the past hundred and fourteen years…and it would continue to do so.
"Alright. All done." That was the Captain. I opened eyes that I hadn't known had closed again and looked at him almost drowsily. "Now, as agreed to before hand, you'll both be finding your own ways off planet. After I drop you, you're on your own." I saw him move away for a moment, and then he was back in my line of sight. He stepped closer to me and raised a small light to my eyes, pulling back my slack eyelids and checking my eyes for any broken blood vessels that would signal a bad batch of Trisomna. I must have not had any problems because he stepped back and had both hands on his hips.
He looked at me and then, I assumed, Riddick. "Any questions?"
I heard silence from Riddick's side, so I replied, voice scratchy from Trisomna caused locked muscles, "No. No questions."
He smiled then. "Good. Well, ma'am, sir, I hope you enjoy your trip." He reached up and pulled down the tube cover over me. He put the safety locks on and then straightened and rapped on the clear cover.
I looked up at him and heard his muffled, "Have a good sleep."
I nodded, struggling a bit with the movement. I watched him reach up and push the button that would release the cryogas. The metal above my head clinked and then I felt the slight brush of air as the gas entered.
I had just barely a moment to think how glad I was to be on my way and with Riddick no less, before my eyes closed and I could not open them again.
It was always like this in cryo…you always had maybe a minute before your body went into deep freeze, your limbs felt so heavy and yet you could still think.
For a moment, I wished I would dream of something…of home with Imam, of just being with Riddick, but like they always say…You don't dream in cryo.
You just exist…and wait.
