The crash of the ship entering New Mecca's atmosphere woke Jack up with a start. This time though, she hadn't come-to screaming and punching.

'A step in the right direction,' she thought.

Riddick was moving swiftly about the front of the ship, punching buttons, letting out soft curses when switches stuck. He stepped lightly despite the wound in his leg. Imam was standing near Jack, holding on to a bar over the bunk she had been sleeping on.

Finally, after a few more bumps and some quick decisions from Riddick, the ship landed and the airlock opened with a whoosh. Imam was frantic with energy, waiting to get into some friendly sunlight. Sunlight that hid no monsters behind it. He stepped from one foot to the other, anxious to stand upon his native soil.

When the airlock door had set down upon the ground, Imam walked quickly from the ship and immediately knelt down to pray. Jack followed slowly, with Riddick in tow.

Abruptly, she stopped walking. Everything that she wouldn't let herself feel during that whole time on that planet swirled together inside of her. Sadness, wonder, awe, fear. They all mixed together with the one emotion that took up most of her energy now. Rage. She hated herself. She hated that planet and everything that was on it. She hated him. He made her look like a fool. A child.

She recognized what he had done for her and for Imam. What sacrafices he had made. What he had learned and kept, and what he had left behind on that horrible planet. But that gave him no right to treat her like a child. If she had had a moment to actually contemplate her feelings, she would have realized that Riddick wasn't actually the target for her rage. She was just angry that, since running away, this was the first time she hadn't been able to take care of herself.

Riddick spoke from behind her. "Go help Imam get some supplies from the ship, Jack."

Instead of obeying, Jack stood her ground. She was insistant that he realize how he had been treating her.

"Did you hear me?" he growled, closer to her than he had been before.

Oh yes, she had heard him. Him and his orders. 'Go do this Jack' or 'Go get this Jack'. Just like her father. Her father, a man who should have been killed at her birth. Destroyed before he could ruin her life and-

Riddick placed his hand on Jack's shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Don't touch me," she growled in a voice not her own. She turned slowly on her heels, her face tilted upwards. Her eyes caught his and, for once, held the gaze. Jack couldn't see his eyes but she was sure that he was surprized just the same. She was finally standing up for herself. She was tired of taking orders. That was why she had run away in the first place. Well, that and to escape her father.

Without waiting for a reaction, she began walking again, leaving him behind to think whatever he was going to think. He didn't hold her back. Everything he had ever told her didn't matter. He was nothing. Where did he get off intimidating her? Almost everything he had done for her meant nothing at that moment.

Some part of her knew that all the stress she had undergone was building up inside of her, changing her. But it was too hard to fight it. She was angry that they had to die, and she had to take her anger out on somebody. Riddick was a prime target at the moment, and it felt good just to let out her aggression. Not that she blamed him. Jack knew though that, between Imam and Riddick, Riddick would know why she was suddenly so angry. And even if he didn't know, well so what? Imam would be bothered greatly by her outburst of feeling, whereas Riddick probably wouldn't. So let him deal with it.

The feeling slowly faded as she drew nearer to Imam, who was still kneeling in the sand. Standing a little bit behind him to give him some privacy, Jack surveyed their surroundings. A few buildings dotted the horizon straight ahead but, from the looks of it, Jack thought it was probably some two-bit town. They had landed in some sort of desert. She suddenly longed for the city, a friendlier habitat. Well, SHE considered it to be friendlier.

She casually looked down at Imam and watched him perform his ending rituals to his prayer session. As he was standing up, Jack glanced over her shoulder to the ship.