And A New Game
Zemma wasn't very familiar with this end of the ship. She seldom had reason to travel to the barracks. They were closer to the engines here and the noise was nearly deafening compared to fifteen stories up where the Lord's suites existed. Zemma twitched up her lenses and looked around for any telltale sign of the missing Chemist. The scrubbers and filters were good enough to keep the dust from settling thickly anywhere and there was none on the catwalk itself.
Jack was walking along the red-lit walkway staring up and down at the cavernous space filled with pipes and assorted machinery.
"Think he's still hiding in here?" Jack asked.
"No. Just need to figure out where he left." Zemma walked along footbridge, tracing the connections and thinking about where they let out. She wasn't paying any attention to Jack.
"Don't fall!" Jack gave a playful push.
Zemma rounded on her. "What is your problem, girl!"
Jack's eyes rounded in mock surprise. "I was just kidding. What's your fucking problem?"
Zemma took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Jack, I…"
"Fuck you!"
That was strange, even for Jack.
"You think you can just brush me off!"
"Jack…"
"We had something, before you ever knew anything about him, and now you think you can just brush me off; treat me like a child!"
Oh.
"He wouldn't see me as a kid if it weren't for you!" Jack was shouting, unnecessarily, over the noise.
Sorry, kiddo, he never stopped seeing you as a youngster in his mind. He sacrificed for the child. He never imagined the woman she would grow into.
Like my Ferrin; Riddick never considered life beyond the moment.
Zemma wished she could explain to Jack.
"Jack…"
"Don't you even start your condescending crap with me."
"Jack!"
Jack stopped and glared.
"You don't have to like me. I know you weren't expecting me…"
"Patronizing…" Jack's mouth was a thin line and her eyebrows arched as if to say 'I told ya so.'
Zemma sighed. Jack was right. But Zemma didn't know how to amend it.
"Jack, I'm sorry your parents died and…"
"What do you know about my parents? Huh? Nothing! Riddick was a better role model than they could ever be!"
That made Zemma pause. Had the girl misspoken? Did she mean to make her parents sound alive now? Riddick said they crashed - few survivors. The cleric was supposed to take care of the girl.
Zemma kept her face still. Time for some careful digging.
"I know Riddick feels like a father to you."
Let's see how the girl reacts to that.
Jack waved Zemma's words off and turned to look out into the darkness, gripping the rail of the walkway tightly.
Distance.
Dig deeper.
"Riddick just wanted what was best for you; to give you a chance at life. I'm sure your mother would have understood."
Jack's head turned sharply at the mention of her mother.
Sore spot, still. Interesting.
Jack's eyes blazed, then filled up with tears. "Don't you talk about my mother."
Anger, and defensiveness. Handle that topic with care.
"I don't know anything about her except that her child is a survivor, and lucky enough to have been befriended by a man like Riddick." Zemma hoped her voice conveyed the genuiness of her words.
Jack's tears never spilled, her armor was tight there. Years of hard love and experience.
"He left me." Jack said simply.
"He left you safe." Zemma knew it was an old argument but wanted to keep her talking. She thought about what Riddick had said about God. An alien concept to Zemma, but she understood the emotion behind it.
"He regrets it now you know." Zemma tried, and waited a few minutes for it to sink in.
"I needed him more than he knew." Jack finally responded.
"Why, Jack? You were safe."
"I'll never be safe."
Zemma didn't think that cryptic admission was metaphoric. It was Now. There really was something Riddick didn't know about this girl. Something important.
"Jack…" Zemma started.
Jack's defenses snapped up. Her eyes became hard and wary. The mask of a criminal to keep her safe from…
what…?
From an authority.
Crime was safer than safety. Distant father. Protective of her mother. But she said Riddick was a better role model than her parents: plural and Now.
"Why are you afraid of your parents, Jack?"
Little direct there, Zem. You'll scare her off that way.
But Jack held Zemma's blue eyed gaze levelly. She tossed her head arrogantly and turned away, mumbling something quietly under her breath.
Zemma's hearing was quite good, even over the noise of the engines. Jack's words sent a chill through Zemma, and her mind whirling over the possibilities. Jack's parents were rich and powerful and alive… and looking for her. Zemma was sure of it.
Because Jack had said, "I'm a bigger payday than Riddick will ever be."