Chapter 5
Riddick collapsed onto his stomach, watching the sheets poof under his weight as he fell onto the bed. His chest heaved, sweat beading on his forehead, and he had to chuckle as he glanced around the room. A shake of the head, and he dropped it to the mattress under him, consciously slowing his breathing. It'd been a long time since he'd had the opportunity to go on a rampage like that, and the state of his living quarters reflected that. It was a mess. Broken vases, shattered glass, pillows ripped open, the feathers still floating in the air. He snickered and rolled onto his back. A knocking at the door brought him to his feet, instantly on alert. Soundlessly, he closed the distance to the comm unit next to the door and punched the green button. He sighed and pulled open the door.
"Holy shit. What happened, sir?" the technician asked, eyes wide as he glanced around the room. The guy was young – probably too young to be worried about his reputation, judging from his ease at addressing the 'Lord Marshall' so casually.
"I threw a fit," Riddick snapped. "What the fuck do you want?"
"Oh, um, I'm here the remove the cameras as requested, sir," he said quickly, eyes still darting over the mess Riddick had made.
"Don't call me 'sir'," Riddick ordered. The guy's eyebrow rose. Eh, what the hell? Riddick thought. "Makes me feel old," he said with a shrug. The technician chuckled and nodded.
"Should I call up for the maintenance crew?" he asked, setting his toolbox on the floor and opening it, rummaging through.
"Yeah, do that," Riddick relented. Hey, I don't wanna clean it up. Kinda convenient to have room service. Have to remember that in case I need to kill someone and make a mess.
"You want all the cameras out? They're all accessible through your comm unit, so if you want to leave a couple for your own security, I can lock them out of the security station so no one else can see them."
"I'm not too worried about it," Riddick. Can't hurt to spread the word my room's vulnerable. Might actually have a reason to kill someone that way. "Just leave the one outside the door so I can see who's bothering me." The techie nodded, adding a small smirk that piqued Riddick's interest, but he didn't ask. "I got a question for you."
"Sure thing," the techie said, nodding quickly as he got to work. Riddick had predicted most of the places the cameras were hidden, but there were a few he'd not thought of.
"Am I the only one that can get into my room?" The tech glanced up at him. "I noticed it has a palm lock. Anyone else's prints cleared or just mine?"
"Well, the head of maintenance is cleared, but we can change that if you want us to," he said with a shrug. "Or put it on approval so it's only cleared when you approve it from the inside."
"Do that," Riddick ordered. Another nod from the tech. "What's your name by the way?"
"I'm just a tech."
"I know that," Riddick sighed. "What's your name?"
"Daniel."
"Well, Daniel," Riddick continued, "Is there a gym or dojo or something on this massive piece of shit?" Daniel's eyebrow rose. "Someplace I can work out instead of tearing up my room every time I have a bad day?" The boy smiled a bit and nodded.
"You can call up a map of the entire armada," he explained. "It's searchable, so if you don't want to go room by room, that might be the best way." Riddick nodded. "And it's continually updated so if anyone gets transferred or promoted it's always correct," Daniel added. Good to know, Riddick thought, but he only nodded. "You're not like the other Lord Marshall," Daniel commented quietly.
"Why's that?"
"He broke my jaw my first day." Riddick's eyebrow rose. "He'd called up because one of his cameras wasn't responding and took it out on me. You're actually kinda cool." Riddick couldn't help but grin. This kid could prove useful.
"How long you been working tech?"
"Five years," Daniel said with a shrug. "Started when I was ten, and that's only because I kept hacking into the system." Riddick chuckled. Sounded like Jack. His smile fell. "Figured they could let me work against them or for them, so they hired me."
"So you work for them, huh?" Riddick wasn't one for small talk – he asked the questions he wanted answers to for future reference. The pause in Daniel's working gave him away. "Don't worry kid. I'm not like other Lord Marshall's remember?" Daniel nodded. "So you work for them?"
"Most days." The boy dared a glance at Riddick, and a smirk grew into a grin reflecting that of the dark, thick man staring back at him. Daniel just wasn't sure whether it was a creepy or knowing grin. He'd start watching his back just in case.
"I might just call on you one of these days, Daniel," Riddick crooned. "See just how good you are."
"I don't want any trouble," Daniel started. "Most of the stuff I do is harmless. Just exploration and shit. Nothing serious. I don't ever learn anything."
"You might want to start," Riddick said slowly. Daniel's face paled. "There are a lot of people on this ship who don't like me much, and I'd greatly appreciate any heads up you could give me." Daniel nodded vigorously. After all, if the Lord Marshall gives you permission, you have good reason to be snooping. "Just don't get caught." Daniel nodded again, hiding a grin behind his work. Riddick wandered into a different room, and Daniel's work started seeming like less of a chore to him.
Sevic's eyes were swollen and bloodshot. She rubbed at them, hoping to alleviate some of the itchiness, but it didn't do anything but make it worse. A heavy sigh. She rolled onto her other side and curled back up into a ball, sleep drifting just out of reach.
God, life is boring when there's nothing to do but sleep.
Would you rather Riddick summon you again?
No.
Then quit complaining.
She chuckled in spite of herself and rolled off the bed, landing silently on her feet before standing and shuffling to her meager bathroom. Her eyes avoided the mirror as she undressed, and she concentrated instead on drawing her bath, full of scented bubbles. That was one thing she considered a perk of the job – whores were supposed to be alluring, so they had all the scents and lotions they could ever want, and even had the luxury of requesting what they wanted. She inhaled deeply through her nose, trying to imagine what a jasmine flower looked like just based on its smell. They didn't grow where she'd lived before this hell of a ship, so she had no idea. She did imagine, though, that they were a vivid yellow color, with dark green leaves that had scalloped, lacy edges. A tall shrub, bursting with flowers that bloomed year-round. Her eyes fluttered closed, the imaginary flowers consuming her thoughts. Every now and again her mental image of the plant would change, more fitting to what the scent seemed to look like in her eyes. A small smile played on her lips as she soaked the tension away, one of the few moments she truly lost herself in this place.
She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but was rudely awakened by a harsh pounding at the door, nearly drowning herself she was so startled. After a few moments to orient herself, she swore, standing to reach for a towel.
"Just a minute," she called, swearing quietly with every movement she made. She wrapped her heavy robe around her and crossed her arms around her waist to hold it shut, not caring the water in her hair was dripping all over the floor. Her face fell as the door jerked open to reveal the same two servants as the day before. She stared at them for a moment, but they just stared back expectantly, so she nodded. "Give me a minute." They didn't deny her, so she shut the door and dressed quickly, toweling her hair as dry as she could and shaking it out, hoping it would make due well enough to be considered fixed. The keys to her door were deposited into her pocket and she took the cloak, cold fingers arranging the hood over her head before following them down the darkened hallway and back into the world she hated so much. And I'd just gotten to a good point in my day, she thought bitterly, biting back a sigh. The door to the Lord Marshall's suite was closed behind her and, once again, she just stood there.
"Cameras are gone," she heard him say. She lifted her head, but didn't remove the cloak.
"Why did you ask me here?" she asked coldly. He was seated on the bench at the foot of the giant bed, leaning forward on his elbows, looking up at her from under furrowed eyebrows.
"I said the cameras are gone. You can relax," he repeated, his voice hinting a bit of amusement.
"And I asked why you called me here," she retorted.
"Answers," he said flatly. The anger fell from her face, replaced with a sheepish blankness. "Take off your cloak," Riddick suggested gently. "Chill out."
"I'm fine," she returned flatly. He shrugged and stood. She was amazed at how silently such a large man could move, but she didn't comment.
"Just so you know," he said, his back turned to her, "none of you will be punished for anything anymore, unless it's a serious offense."
"What's considered a serious offense?"
"Killing someone, I guess," he said with a shrug.
"Being sent away?" she asked timidly. He turned the smirk that once resided on his features replaced with one slightly sympathetic. She couldn't really read him; she'd never met anyone so expressionless, and it bothered her.
"No, not being sent away, and not failing to enjoy your task, and not completing your task to your client's liking, either," Riddick said slowly, handing a glass out to her. She shook her head, and he shrugged, drinking it himself instead. "So tell me something." His eyes were still on her, but she didn't respond, so he continued: "How did you know there were cameras in my rooms?"
"Common sense."
"Don't lie to me," he said firmly without biting at her. She took a breath and paused.
"Being in the Lords' rooms has its advantages at times," she said slowly.
"You've been doing some recon then," he inferred.
"When it's suited me, yes," she said with a small shrug.
"I really wish you'd take that cloak off," Riddick said with a small smile. She glanced up at him but didn't return the smile.
"I really wish you'd not taken me away from my bath," she retorted. He blinked quickly, but it was the only indication he gave that she'd surprised him with that remark. Instead, he drained the glass in his hand and turned. She assumed he was refilling it, and when he turned back to her, she saw she'd been right. "May I make a suggestion?" He nodded. "Don't drink when you're around them." His eyebrow rose. "Alcohol makes the tongue loose. They capitalize on that."
"You say 'they' like you're not one of them," he noted, watching her over the rim of his glass as he took another smaller sip.
"I'm not." Once again, he was unphased.
"How much have you learned when it suited you?"
"Nothing you'd be interested in," she said flatly, turning to wander around the room, taking in the large paintings, which had just received new glass paneling after his little tirade.
"You might be surprised." She paused slightly, but didn't continue.
"What do you know about Dame Vaako?"
"She's a snake," Sevic said quietly.
"Is she a threat?"
"To you? Probably not," she answered with a shrug. "She'd only be a threat to you if she got her husband on her side again, and after the stunt with the previous Lord Marshall, he's bound to be more wary of her little plans." Riddick nodded. Good to know.
"What about to you?" She paused again, her hand lingering above a small plant she was just reaching out to touch.
"Don't worry about me."
"I'm not," Riddick said slowly. "But answer me anyway."
"Not really. Lord Vaako doesn't call for me often, and it's usually when she's preoccupied with something else, so as far as I know she's clueless."
"Who did call for you often?"
"That's none of your business," she said coolly, her answer picking up right where his question left of, as though it were all a part of the same breath.
"List of enemies, Sevic. I need to know who I need to watch out for."
"It's not my fault you've claimed me for your own," she said quickly. "You should have thought about that before you ordered me untouchable."
"I'm not worried about them coming after me." Her eyes met his, and she forced herself to hold them there. "They know what I'm capable of."
"You shouldn't underestimate a woman who has nothing to lose." Her eyebrow was slightly arched, daring him to counter her, but he didn't. He'd pry for that later.
"Are you hungry?" he asked, pointing at the comm unit. She shook her head. "You sure?" A small nod. He shrugged and walked over to the unit, calling up a menu and ordering. She sat on the small chair next to the bathroom doorway and folded her hands in her lap. The conversation was put on pause until after the food was delivered.
