Mythos and Mayhem

Min had time to think back on that pleasant hour they'd spent with her cats a week or so later. She had been trapped for hours in the vent egress they'd used to get into the cats' lair while servants cleaned the nighttime kennel. She couldn't climb down the back way with a broken arm.

Her Ferrin did not teach her enough! Not enough to face a pissed off fighting man, a Furyan, in a locked room anyway! Riddick had obviously held back because he had been curious about her those first hours. This first captain to get transferred to the flagship obviously had not. He thought she was another mole.

Min took a deep breath and clenched her teeth at the pain. Broken ribs too maybe? Great.

Things had been going well enough.

They had been revealing her eyes to some of the lower ranks, and the rumors had been what she expected. No one thought she was a Furyan, they thought she was possessed, by Riddick. She had been quiet and meek still but had dropped the little girl who talks to walls bit. The Lords weren't sure what to make of the change Riddick had brought about in her. They were hearing the rumors too but Min hadn't revealed her eyes to any of them yet.

Until they got to Crematoria.

Riddick had wanted to fetch the cats himself but Min was worried there had been time for alliances to form and someone might try for a coup.

The planet wasn't more than a large rock. It barely had any spin, allowing the dark side to freeze before the sun, (a similar class to Fury's sun, Zemma noted) ignited its liquid natural gas surface into a raging inferno. The core was liquid, dense with heavy metals and had a fast moving internal spin that gave it enough gravity to hold its minor atmosphere. And created a thin but mostly stable crust that kept the core from lighting those liquid gases on the dark side... In other words it was a nice big bomb.

The Lords might consider it their duty to get rid of Riddick since he was hacking apart their beloved religion a piece at a time. Crack the core on the dark side of the planet and you might get a catastrophic chain reaction that turned that rock into a lovely blue ball of gas. The Lords could squabble over leadership later.

There was no talk of sending Min to fetch the cats. Riddick had told her of his experiences there. She had sense enough to see the difference between a prison full of women and children and one full of hardened criminals.

Sending troops to fetch the cats didn't have the same effect as seeing their leader walk out with dangerous animals walking benignly at his side. It was good for the mythos.

So Min had taken Riddick's place on the bridge of the flag ship, dressed not in her normal drab gray utility clothes but in a similar manner to Riddick. Black on black, visible weapons and his recent acquisition, a black hooded cloak. Riddick had asked her if she wanted to shave her head too. She had politely declined with a few choice words in Furyan.

On the bridge she had raised her hooded head revealing her blue eyes and stood like a sentinel. She gave what little orders she had to in a voice pitched low, trying to mimic Riddick's cadence. She pinned every member of the crew with her eyes. If necessary she was to shoot anyone who moved too slowly but it wasn't necessary. The bridge crew had already heard the rumors, and would spread even more now. The few Lord Commanders in attendance were too astonished by finally seeing evidence of the reports to do more than go through their normal motions.

Only Lady Vaako seemed un-rattled.

But then, First Commander Vaako was going down to the planet with Riddick.

Min had wished she had an excuse to shoot Dame Vaako. She wasn't experienced with guns, but Riddick had shown her how to use it and figured it was close enough quarters to not miss... much.

But the performance had the desired effect. Or perhaps the Lords were still circling each other... and the Vaakos. Either way, they had pulled it off. The cats followed Riddick readily to their new enclosure on board. More grist for the rumor mill since the cats had Riddick's same blue quicksilver eyes.

Mab had been delighted, as they were both unmated females; he could mate them both though they would never allow another male to touch them. A quirk of pair bonding in the big cats, a strong male could reproduce himself many times over but inbreeding would never naturally take place since the females were so picky and would never mate another male once they chose one. Nor had a harder time of it and lost her place as Queen. But they eventually left her alone in one corner of the enclosure where she licked her wounds.

Min wondered if it would make her feel better to have Nor lick her wounds.

You're getting delirious, girl, you cannot stay here all day and you cant get back to the suite without being seen.

I'm not a girl anymore, she warned the voice.

Don't change the subject, what are you going to do NOW?

I'll think of something if you would just shut up.

You're going to have to just crawl out of this hole and walk.

It wouldn't be good for the Myth, Min insisted.

Making Riddick look invulnerable and omniscient doesn't make you either of those things!

It's all show, she retorted. I'm sure he's had his ass kicked before.

You're doing quite a bit to make a show of him but what about you?

Shush.

You're still just a vacant eyed lackey.

Shush.

How are you going to be Lord Marshal hiding behind him when he decides it's time to get back to his old life? Are you going to go back to your old life?

Damn it all to hell, I said shut up!

The clanging of the enclosure doors broke Min's cycling thoughts. The attendants were feeding the cats and preparing to leave for the night. She would go visit with Nor and think of something.

Nor!

Min felt her pains less now that she had an idea.

It wouldn't be her old life with Nor at her side.

She could go back to her suite.

It was time to start making her own myth.