AN: Ok, so after months of waiting at the edge of your seats. (I wish right?) I give you, the new and improved Dawn of Remorse. It's not what I had before, but you're stuck with it. So read and review, and make this all worth while, even if all you say is that it's not worth my time, I'll still take it as a compliment.
Disclaimer: No I don't own any characters from PB or COR (I'm just borrowing), everything else is MINE.
Chapter Two: Twisted Truth
"You want to know where Riddick is?" She asked feeling deflated, Eric had been bugging her since he'd signed on three months after her as to what had happened to her that turned her so off talk of Riddick, he had avoided talking directly to her about it, but enjoyed rubbing her nose in rumors he'd heard and watching her reaction. Now she was tired of hearing his bullshitting lies, tired of doubting her heart, which told her he was still alive. She needed to talk to Imam; she needed her fears to be refuted.
"Riddick's dead you ass hole, he has been for a long time." Jack said as she spun away from Eric and walked back through the ship to the control cabin.
"You sure about that?" Eric called chuckling to himself at the fact that his idea of a joke had dug so deep.
Jack stopped her fast paced retreat abruptly, and then took a deep breath to try and calm a sudden blaze of anger before turning back around to face Eric. "You know Eric;" Jack said icily, "There are some things you don't ever want to see face to face and one of those things is your intestines." She stated as she twirled her shiv out in front of her before sticking it into the waistband of her pants and continuing back to the control room.
Once Jack was safely seated in her Nav Chair she let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Shit." She swore softly, "How could I be so stupid? That's just what he wanted, he just wanted the satisfaction of pissing me off, and I fell for it!" Jacks self directed tirade did little to make her feel better, but it made her better understand the danger being around Eric could pose. She couldn't get the captain to fire him, but something needed to be done. Eric was causing old fears to come to the surface again.
...
"When you're done daydreaming Jack, maybe you can bring us in from space dock?" Aden Christiansen, the Captain of the Glory Gold asked as he sat down in his chair behind her and strapped himself in. Jack shook her head of her thoughts, and then began the docking process. The Crew had already made sure that the cargo was strapped in securely, and then strapped themselves in for the usually turbulent ride through Galeria 4's atmosphere. After more than a bump or two on the way in through the atmosphere of the planet, Jack let out a heavy sigh. Landing the big ship always made her somewhat uneasy, there was always a niggling fear in the back of her mind that she wouldn't actually be able to land the big crate and they'd all end up pancaking it on the surface. After Aden unstrapped himself from his seat in the control room he climbed up into the small area where the docking controls were located. He patted her lightly on the shoulder as he bent over the nav chair and flicked on an intercom switch.
"Alright get this thing unloaded; I want all the cargo on the tarmac by the time the port inspectors get here. All crew not unloading, should report to the control room for debriefing." Aden said before switching off the intercom and standing back as Jack unharnessed and climbed out of her seat.
"You could have done that in the control room Cap." Jack said.
"I realize that, but I wanted to talk to you about you and your little threat against Eric." He said as he straightened in the cramped space. His golden head just brushed one of the control boxes mounted near the access ladder as he leaned one shoulder against the metal bulkhead beside him, telling Jack that he would be there as long as it took to get a straight answer out of her.
"I'm not about to defend my actions when I had every right to put him in his place. The fact that he shows me no respect is ignored by everyone, and then when it comes time for him to own up for what he's done, he tattles like a five year old about something I did."
"You've threatened other members of the crew, Jack. This is something that is regular with you." Aden said his face full of concern.
"What are you saying, Cap?" Jack asked her voice filled with confusion.
"I'm saying this is your stop. I'm paying you and then you're on your own till we come back next month. If you're still around, you can come back, till then you're on leave."
"Who's taking over?" Jack asked, hurt and anger filling her voice. "Mendleson? Fuck it Cap, Mendleson barely knows the basics!" She yelled.
"As I recall you weren't all that great when you started either." Aden flung back as his anger began to rise. "Regardless of whom my new navigation officer is, you are still out of control, and I don't want where you start going for blood to be on my decks."
"Cap, please, you can't do this." Jack said the pain evident in her voice as her throat began to close up. "Cap, this is all I have, what am I supposed to do now?"
"The glory gold will be here again in one month. You have until then to get your anger in check." With that the captain made his way down the ladder and into the control room.
Jack could feel the walls closing in as her panic filled her, after a few minutes fragments of the conversation began to wend their way to her ears.
"...Cap, after we leave, who'll take over?" one of the female crewies asked.
"Mendleson... green, I'll have Eric landing... next months run." Captain Aden said.
"Eric, sir... decision?" another male officer asked.
With that Jack felt the anger at the unjustness of it all boiling up within her. Gritting her teeth she growled out her anger while her hands fisted at her sides and she began to kick the bulkhead next to her in earnest. Letting out a strangled scream she barreled down the ladder and landed heavily. Sending a dark look in both the captain and Eric's direction she made her way toward the storage compartment. Once there she had one of the loaders help her with her small crate of possessions then with one last look back at the ship, walked a cross the tarmac towards the Galera 4 customs office. Once through with her crate of meager possessions, Jack placed sent an interplanetary to message to Helion Prime, where Imam was staying in New Mecca.