Secrets
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; just more expansive than the suite she had shared for so many years with Lord Ferrin. She pushed all thoughts of him and his apparent death aside. She couldn't grieve safely here. Survival first, he had taught her. She wasn't sure how long her cover would withstand intense scrutiny of this stranger and now she had nowhere else to hide. She either needed a new protector or to finally escape this ship. This Riddick might offer her one of those chances, if she could trust him.
Right now she wasn't sure she could trust these rooms. It was unlikely anyone had time to bug them or that the previous Lord Marshal would have allowed such a thing when he was alive. But would he himself have had surveillance? And could it be accessed from outside these rooms? She couldn't really be sure without her gadgets, stashed in her suite.
Still, she looked in all the usual places a camera would be most useful. Talking to walls for so many years was such an excellent cover for this kind of search. When she had completed a full circuit of the suite with no obvious, but a few possible, targets, she found the Riddick just scrubbing his face roughly with both hands. He seemed utterly drained and that made him look dangerous and cold.
"Hungry now?" She piped her little girl voice and he started as if he had forgotten she was there, or at least hadn't expected her to address him. Good, she thought to herself. Either way, he had taken her presence for granted, she had become invisible to him, just as she had to the 'Mongers.
But when he squinted at her for a second or two too long she was suddenly unsure of that. Then she realized he still had his blue lenses up, that was strange. She let herself become a mask of concern.
"Lights bright?" She asked and naturally the lights brightened at her command and he had to stop staring at her as he shaded his eyes with one hand.
"Oh!" She exclaimed as if surprised. "Lights dim. Lights dim." The Riddick took his hand away. "Lights dim." She said again. Now the room was murky and he dropped his hand entirely. Strange that he kept his blue lenses up, but he appeared more comfortable now.
"Hungry now?" She repeated but more softly, as if the dark begged for whispering. Sometimes she just wanted to laugh at herself for the obviously childish behavior that was her camouflage and since it was also sometimes in character she would indulge herself and laugh out loud. She fretted briefly that she might actually go mad pretending to be insane all the time. But she pushed those thoughts away too. For now she wouldn't laugh, playing the part of the concerned little girl in the woman's body.
"You belonged to the Purifier?" He asked slowly, and his low voice sounded menacing even in a simple question. She wondered if he modulated his tone and timing for just that effect, but she mentally shrugged it off. Not everyone needed to mask themselves as she did.
"I belong to Lord Ferrin." Min stuttered.
"Hmnn." Riddick responded. "How long?" The Riddick was following her every move with his eyes. Damn.
"Long time…" Min used a sing gong voice. This was going backwards. She didn't want to talk about herself.
"Liked little girls, did he?" Riddick's scorn was palpable. That was interesting, usually the reaction was titillation. The 'Mongers liked dirt, the dirtier the better. It gave them a sense of power.
"I'm not little, silly!" She laughed too loud for the quiet room. But he didn't cringe at her little girl reaction. He was studying her. Not good. Min stood and swung her arms and found the walls more interesting than she had before. He didn't dismiss her actions like a 'Monger would. 'Mongers didn't have children of their own and didn't like her distracting actions. They tended to glaze their eyes over her and nod smugly to each other about Lord Ferrin's peculiarities. But the Riddick was still studying her and it made her nervous. Damn. Damn. Damn.
"Where is he?" She smiled vacantly.
"He's dead." The Riddick's words dropped on her like stones, though she knew it already. She let her face change slowly, letting it match the dark pit her stomach had just dropped into. She let her brows come together in confusion that she actually felt but couldn't express before.
"Dead?" A tiny lost voice. She could let herself feel tiny and lost for a moment before she had to push it all away again. Before she could escape back into the vacancy of her character.
The Riddick was studying her, she knew, but it didn't matter. For a moment she could express what she felt, for a moment she wasn't false. Before real grief could get a grip on her and strip away her self-control she blanked her mind.
"You keep what you kill," she parroted in a flat voice and she saw the tiniest flick of muscles in his jaw. Not quite a cringe but something she would have to dig for later. Something that wasn't right, something he was hiding?
Character, Min, character, she reminded herself. What's the right reaction for this mentally challenged character you wear like armor? Min's face dropped from the horror and shock of the moment to a mask of sadness. "No good, no good," she repeated quietly to herself and turned away from him. She would find her private place to cry out her anguish later, where prying eyes wouldn't see. For now she needed to survive the moment with her mask intact. She hadn't really believed Dame Vaako, or it hadn't sunk in until this man's cold reality faced her.
This man to whom she now 'belonged', this Furyan who killed her Ferrin, might be her only chance to escape. Had Ferrin known that when he volunteered for the Lord Marshal's mission?
The Riddick stood and said something. Min had to drag her rushing thoughts back to the now. He'd said something about food: a good enough distraction for her simpleton self. Min sniffed and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand.
"Hungry now?" she said in a tiny voice and risked a glance at him. He actually looked a little concerned! Min was caught off guard and tears welled up unexpectedly. She bit her tongue and let the pain hold her in the now.
"Hungry now." She repeated and moved towards a console. "Hungry now." She said more firmly and called up a menu.
The Riddick followed and glanced at it over her shoulder but either wasn't inclined to offer an opinion or wasn't familiar with the dishes. Min chose a variety of meat and vegetable rolls and sauces to dip them in; simple and filling and entirely in character. She could hardly be expected to order a prime cut and crustaceans. Damn, her mind was wandering again.
"MinFerrin." The Riddick had to repeat himself to get her attention. She turned slowly to look at him.
"I said, how long before the food comes?"
Min shrugged and let her eyes wander away from his face. "Cooks… cook." She said simply.
"Is there anything to drink around here or do we have to wait for the cooks to cook that up too?"
Min's eyes wandered towards the suite's bar. Riddick followed her look and started opening and sniffing at bottles.
"I wonder if the classy stuff gives you the same hangover the cheap stuff does?" He said and took a long drink out of a bottle. Min knew he wasn't really talking to her but she wandered over towards him and looked on passively. She really needed to know more about him. Drunks were not only mildly amusing; they tended to talk too much.
The Riddick took down a stunning crystal goblet, muted in the darkened room, and poured something amber into it.
"Drink up." He told her and his voice carried a note of challenge. The sneak! Min thought. But she never got drunk and her simple-minded alter ego had no reason to like the stuff. He wouldn't find out more about her than she would him this way.
Min brought the glass up to her face and smelled it. She pinched her features into a grimace and said, "Smells funny."
"Don't drink, huh?" He was studying her again. Had she given something away or was he just this suspicious of everyone? She made a face and shook her head no and returned the glass to the bar.
The Riddick took another swig and, bottle in hand, began to finally examine his surroundings. This time Min did not follow. He was examining the art and frescos on the walls more obviously than she had.
Apparently he had the same thought as she when, again, seemingly talking to himself he said, "You could hide eyes and ears anywhere in this place."
Min stayed mute. Her persona would have no idea what he meant. But he turned and looked at her deliberately again, cocking his head as if waiting for an answer.
Damn. Damn. Damn. She thought; she must have given herself away somewhere. But she kept her face as blank and stupid as possible. Or perhaps Dame Vaako's uncharacteristically foolish play had made him suspicious of her.
Getting no response from her, the Riddick continued his lone tour of the lavish suite while Min stood quietly where he'd left her. He seemed to pause in all the same places she had, as if he knew instinctively what areas could be best covered by a single camera. Curious skill, she thought.
But if there were cameras, they were no more visible to him than they had been to her more familiar eyes. His blue lenses wouldn't be any help either. She needed her devices, back in her suite, to be sure. She wondered again about his eyes.
"There's something not quite right about you." The Riddick spoke from across the room with his back to her. "Something I can't figure."
This startled Min to her bones. She had given herself away somehow. How? She remained silent.
"I saw you watching that security code. The tech was trying to keep everyone else from seeing it but he wasn't paying any attention to you." He turned to look at her again with those shining eyes.
Damn it. Damn it all to hell, she thought.
"And you wander around this place talking to the scenery in exactly the same places I would look for hidden cameras."
Min felt the blood drain from her face and a flutter of panic in her stomach. She thought about how she might escape this room. But it didn't matter if he had seen through her. After years of successfully hiding in plain sight this stranger had seen through her in less than an hour.
"And Dame Vaako obviously hoped to have you poison me. But she doesn't know me that well. And then you went and tripped her up. That was interesting."
"Clumsy." Was all Min could whisper.
"What was that?" He practically jumped on her comment.
"Clumsy." She repeated in a whisper. There was no use denying that the usually more subtle Dame Vaako had been rushing with that stunt.
The Riddick approached her, bottle still in hand nearly empty, but not the least bit drunk. "And you conveniently belonged to the only other Furyan I've ever met."
Min looked up at this.
"So who are you really?" He was nearly on top of her but he rocked back on his heels as if it was all some colossal joke.
"I am MinFerrin," she began in her little girl voice but he leaped, producing a knife which he held at her throat. Min had seen it coming, had seen his muscles flex for the strike, but her persona bound her to do nothing except wait for it to come.
"I asked you who you are really." He menaced. "Not just the Purifier's sex toy. That clumsy," he paused using her word, "act in the throne room was to get me to trust you so you could kill me later."
"I can't kill you." Min whispered. She wasn't afraid yet. He was still fishing.
"Did you know Ferrin was a Furyan?"
"Yes," she whispered again, eyes darting to where the nearest camera might be.
He caught the movement but a tightening of his facial muscles told her he didn't care.
"Who else knew? Vaako?"
"No," she whispered. "No one."
"The Lord Marshal?"
Now Min's jaw tightened a moment before she answered. "He knew about everything," she paused. "Almost everything."
"So I'm part of some grand plan to kill the Lord Marshal?"
Min almost laughed in his face. Grand plan? The man was definitely paranoid.
"No," she whispered, still loathe to reveal herself but certain it was now the only way to get the knife off her throat. She had to prove herself quickly.
"He didn't know about me." She whispered and hoped to hell there were no bugs. Her brows came together in momentary concentration and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again they were the same glittering blue as Riddick's.