Chapter 19
She stood in the small kitchen, leaning against the counter as she slowly consumed a nutrition bar. Growing up, she'd hated the damn things, but after slop anything was a delicacy. This time, she heard his socked feet pad past the hallway and stop in the kitchen doorway. She didn't glance up, instead returning to her thoughts as he rummaged through the refrigerator and cabinets, finally settling on a glass of water. Takeoff had been much smoother than she'd anticipated, and her faith in his choice of spacecraft strengthened. Slightly.
"Nutrition bar?" he asked quietly. She shrugged, looking down at the half-eaten bar in her hands. "You spent how much on food and you're eating a god damn nutrition bar?" Another shrug. He sighed. "Seriously." She glanced up at him quickly. "What do you want me to call you?"
"You're still stuck on that, huh?" He only looked at her. She reached out for her can of soda on the counter next to her and took a long, burning gulp. "Dakota, Kody, Bitch, Whore." She shrugged. "Whatever." He shook his head. "I'm the only other person on this ship, so if you yell 'hey you' I'll know you're referring to me."
"I said I was sorry."
"I know," she said, meeting his eyes again.
"I didn't mean it."
"I know."
"Any of it."
"I know," she said before taking another bite of the bar. "Chill." He sighed, eyeing her as he took another drink of water. She eyed him back as she swigged more of the soda before finishing off the bar and tossing the wrapper. "So what now?"
"What do you mean, 'what now'?" he asked quietly. She picked up her soda can and sat at the table across from him.
"Where are we going? What are we going to do? How are we going to make money? Are we going to get new papers? What's the plan?" she ticked off, running a finger around the rim of the can.
"I don't know yet."
"You don't know where we're going right now?" she asked, arching a brow as he shook his head. "Well, I'd like to stop by the old apartment and pick up a few things before they do."
"They."
"Company," she said with a sigh. "Once they find out I'm gone, that's the first place they'll look."
"And you want to risk running into them because…?"
"I have to pick up a few things before they do."
"Awful secretive, aren't we?" She didn't answer. "Where?"
"Pomodora," she said quietly.
"On Castia?" he asked. A small nod. "Shit."
"What?" she asked quickly.
"You have any idea what their air security is like?" She shrugged. "It's a fucking fortress, Sarge." She glanced up at him sharply. "Uh, Dakota." She granted him a small smile, but it didn't last.
"Don't worry about it," she said quietly. His eyebrow rose. "Just trust me."
"Trust you."
"Yeah." Her eyes held his confidently, and he held his hands up.
"Okay," he said warily. "Hope you know what you're doing."
"Just settle into orbit and we'll make contact at 10 pm their time, not a minute sooner." His eyebrow rose but he didn't question her. She stood and headed down the hallway, disappearing into her room.
"Unidentified craft, please identify yourself for clearance." Riddick eyed the com and glanced over at Sarge sitting in the navigator's chair. He reached out slowly, but she beat him to it, so he continued his approach.
"This is the Stargazer. Who am I speaking with?"
"This is Tim Holland, Castia Traffic Security." She grinned.
"Timmy, darling. Do be a doll and instruct us to the proper docking bay."
"Corbett?" Riddick's eyes darted over to Sarge, but she had a huge smile on her face. "That you?"
"Just give me permission, Timmy."
"Granted. Get your ass down here," the com crackled. "Dock A100. I'll meet you out there." She replaced the hand unit and nodded for Riddick to start the descent.
"I take it you know him?" he asked.
"Old Ranger buds," she explained. "Why do you think I had the timing down to a science?" The craft was silent as he landed and taxied to their assigned dock. She undid her harness and stood, stretching lazily with a groan. After ducking into her room, she led him down to the asphalt and over to a sizeable man now approaching them.
"I don't fucking believe it," Tim said, a grin now spreading over his face. She returned the smile, jogging toward him, their paths meeting in a tight embrace. "Who's this?" he asked, nodding at Riddick as Sarge pulled away.
"A friend." His eyebrows rose, but he only nodded.
"Tim," he said, sticking out his hand. Riddick shook it, but didn't speak.
"Look," Sarge said quickly. "Can't stay long. I have to run by the apartment and pick up some stuff before we head back out."
"Already cleaned it out," Tim said with a shrug.
"You're shittin' me. When?" Sarge asked.
"Couple weeks ago. I knew something up when a set of Company ships pulled in with pre-landing clearance." Sarge swore. "I'm pretty sure it was just superficial. You should be okay."
"They're gone then?" she asked. Tim nodded, and she let out a relieved sigh, shifting the backpack slung over her shoulder. "How much longer is your shift?"
"An hour." She nodded.
"I'll meet you at Rocky's in an hour and a half."
"Sure thing," Tim said, giving her another short hug before heading back up to the watch tower.
"What the hell was that all about?" Riddick asked once Tim was out of earshot.
"He's a friend of mine, Riddick. Don't worry about it."
"We'll see what you say when you find yourself against a wall with a group of Company monkeys lined up with tazers and concussion guns."
"Calm down," she groaned. "He's not gonna turn us in." Riddick shook his head, speeding up his steps to hurry her. "He saved my ass a dozen times in the Rangers. He's like a brother to me." She stopped, grabbing Riddick by the elbow to stop him as well. "I trust him. Completely."
"Whatever you say," Riddick relented. "Your call." She sighed, resuming her steps as she shook her head. She led him down a maze of dark alleys and streets, finally stopping in front of a high rise.
"We'll have to go in the back way," she instructed, pointing at a fire escape. He nodded, assessing the building. The fire escape was relatively hidden from street traffic, the building adjacent lacking windows. She shifted the bag on her shoulder to pull the second strap over her shoulder, tightening the straps before free climbing the ledges in the brick wall to reach the fire ladder. Riddick followed suit, and she led him up several flights of metal stairs before pausing under an access window. He paused on the level below her, watching her peer into the apartment. "Stay here," she instructed. He nodded, watching her wrestle with the window before it finally gave and she disappeared inside. The longer she took, the more nervous he became. Shoulda stayed on the ground, he scolded himself, holding his breath as someone walked by below him. Just as he was about to climb back down, she reappeared, closing the window before starting down the series of ladders.
"Get it?" She nodded. Whatever the fuck the 'it' is that was so fucking important, he added mentally. Back through a maze of alleys and streets. "So am I going back to the ship or what?"
"You can come to Rocky's if you want to," she said with a shrug.
"What is it?"
"Bar." He nodded. Might as well. I could use a drink. "Nothing fancy. Just a bar."
"And you're okay with going out in public," he pressed. She stopped walking in the middle of the street, turning to him.
"Why do you think air traffic control is so tight here?" she asked.
"Never really thought about it," he said with a shrug.
"Okay, think about this," she pushed. "Company ships are an oddity here. Everyone notices when Company's in town, and everyone knows something's up when they show up. Why do you think that would be?" Riddick glanced over her shoulder at a man walking down the street wearing a huge smirk. She turned as well, waving at the man, who nodded back to her.
"You know him?"
"No, I don't know him," she snapped.
"What is this, a mining colony?" She smirked. He'd noticed the man's shine, too.
"No, it's not a fucking mining colony."
"I'm not following," Riddick said slowly.
"What do you know about Castia?"
"It's got tight security." What the fuck is she playing at?
"Pomodora is the only remaining convict colony in the charted universe, Riddick. Castia used to be a prison planet, but there were too many escapes, so they just let it go. Cut off contact for a while until they figured out the convicts were colonizing. Charted it and started rumors it was a high-security Company mining colony to keep people from migrating when they were in trouble and needed to lay low." Riddick's eyebrow rose. "There's more Company patrols now than there were fifteen years ago, but people don't mess around here. Company comes in, people notice. They make people think it's monitored tightly, but it's the people here that do the monitoring, not Company. Unless something major is going on, Company stays the fuck away."
"What's with all the talk about Company?" Sarge's eyes shifted over Riddick's shoulder, and he turned. Tim appeared out of a shadowy alley, a bemused expression playing on his face.
"Riddick's just uptight," Sarge groaned, rolling her eyes.
"Riddick, huh?" Tim asked. "Thought you looked familiar." Sarge smiled, wrapping an arm around Tim's waist.
"Why don't we cut the chat and get some food," she suggested, giving Tim a light squeeze. "I'm starving."
"So tell me something." Riddick's eyes met Tim's, and Sarge lifted her beer to her lips, waiting for Tim's question. "How the fuck did you get hooked up with her?"
"Not by choice, I can tell you that much," Riddick said, leaning back in his chair as Tim chuckled. Sarge only scowled.
"They threw him in with me at the big A," she answered.
"Oo," Tim started. "I heard a nasty rumor you got transferred there." She shrugged. "Didn't believe it."
"Well, start believing, Timmy," she said quietly.
"Butcher Bay wasn't good enough for you, huh?" Riddick snickered. "Yeah, I heard they couldn't hold you," Tim said, nodding at Riddick. "But Corbett here is a bit more accepting of punishment."
"Like hell I am," she snapped. "Didn't have the fucking resources."
"And you did at Asphyxia, huh?" She cringed, and Tim's face reflected his concern. "Talk, Corbett." Riddick's eyes shifted to Sarge, who was now leaning over her beer.
"This ain't hacking it," she said quietly, picking up the mug of beer and setting it back down on the table.
"Got it," Tim said, standing and walking back over to the bar. Riddick watched her, but she didn't look up at him. Tim returned a few moments later, three shot glasses in one hand and a fifth of whiskey in the other. "That better?" She reached out for a glass and the bottle with a grin.
"Much," she quipped. "Thanks."
"Sure." Tim cleared his throat and glanced at Riddick, who shrugged, taking the bottle Sarge held out to him and pouring himself a shot. She threw hers back without even the slightest cringe and set the glass down, spinning it around on the table between her fingers. "You were saying?" Tim pressed.
"I got transferred because the good warden of a new prison found out I was in with the boys at Butcher Bay," she said quietly, taking the bottle from Tim for another shot. She's gonna be drunk before the food gets here at that pace, Riddick thought with a slight smirk.
"Okay, so the warden at Asphyxia wanted some inmates," Tim guessed. "Why you?" Definitely gonna be drunk, Riddick thought.
"You know who the warden there is?" she asked slowly. Tim shook his head, and she sighed, still spinning the glass. "Anders."
"Shit." She nodded. "Your uncle?" Another nod. "Hell."
"Yup," she said, pouring yet another shot.
"Easy, Corbett," Tim warned. She glared at him, eyes already getting fuzzy.
"If I have my way, one of you is gonna be carrying me home," she drawled, her speech showing the first signs of slight impairment.
"You got out, though," Tim said. "You got away, and now it's over."
"It'll never be over," she answered quietly. "Not until he's dead." The waitress appeared out of nowhere, setting down their plates and disappearing again. Sarge played with her fries for a few moments of unsettled silence before finally attacking. They ate in silence, Riddick and Tim exchanging glances while the other was watching Sarge eat.
"So is she okay?" Tim asked, glancing at Riddick.
"Looks like she's passed out to me," Riddick said, reaching across the table to poke at her.
"That's not what I meant."
"I don't know," Riddick said with a sigh. "Seems like it, but she doesn't exactly strike me as the type to wear her heart on her sleeve."
"So what's your story?" Riddick's eyebrow rose. "My guess is you could have gotten out without her," Tim said with a nod toward the sleeping woman in the seat across from him.
"She had the map." Tim just looked at him, waiting for more, and Riddick sighed, leaning his elbows on the table as he rubbed his eyes. "Anders had a bad habit of snatching her out of the cell. She saw the floor plans on his desk."
"Nice to know someone with a photographic memory, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess," Riddick said, glancing over at Sarge again. "Too bad it had to be under those circumstances."
"Yeah," Tim said with a nod. "But you got her out." Riddick didn't reply. "Don't get pissed off or anything," Tim continued slowly, "but from everything I heard you were a one-man act." Riddick nodded.
"I was." He didn't offer more, but Tim didn't ask. What the hell. "You heard about the Hunter-Gratzner?" Tim nodded. "Three of us got out." Tim's brown eyes widened. "Docking pilot talked me into going back for the other two and…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "I don't know what happened. There was something about her that… Fuck, I don't know."
"Changed you."
"Yeah, I guess. It ended up being me, a holy man, and a kid. The kid was taken with me, so I let her tag along for a while." He sighed, reaching out for the whiskey. "Got to the point where I felt bad for making her live in the dirt with me, so I sent her on her way to a better life." Tim listened, glancing at Sarge every now and then. "The more I tried to move on and go back to my old life, the more I missed her. So I tracked her down and tried to make things right again, but…" He threw back the shot, and filled up the glass again, not continuing until he'd downed it as well. "Fuck. Shit happened and she got caught in the crossfire. They hauled me in, and I met Sarge." He cleared his throat. "Uh, Dakota. Kody. Corbett. Whatever." Tim's eyebrow rose, and Riddick chuckled. "She doesn't want me to call her Sarge any more, but I never really knew her by anything else." Tim chuckled.
"Yeah, she's still pissed about that dishonorable discharge. Gives the right impression in prison for people to leave her alone, but she hates it." Riddick didn't reply. "We should probably get her back." Riddick glanced at Sarge, who was still conked out.
"Yeah, you're probably right."
"Which room is hers?" Tim asked from the hallway. Riddick stood in the kitchen, pondering whether or not he really wanted water.
"First door on the right," he called back. Tim appeared in the kitchen a few moments later.
"You know, you guys are more than welcome to come back here whenever. She knows when I'll be at the tower." Riddick nodded, and Tim looked over at his shoulder toward the row of rooms. "Anything happens to her…"
"I'll let you know," Riddick finished, sticking out a hand. Tim smiled slightly, returning the handshake before leaving the ship. Riddick rubbed his forehead and gave up on the water, trudging down the hallway. He paused in Sarge's doorway, leaning against the frame. She was sprawled on the bed, hair a mess, clothes twisted, and snoring quietly. He chuckled, shaking his head before closing the door to her room and retiring to his own.