Lifeline

Chapter 24

Riddick glanced around nonchalantly as he walked by the clinic. The parking lot was full, as it probably always was, judging from the neighborhood. It made sense, really, Marie working in one of the worst parts of one of the largest towns on this planet. She'd have the knowledge of how to treat just about any kind of battle injury, just from working in the med bay where he'd met her. He continued around the block, slipping into an alley that dumped him out just outside the parking lot. He'd wait here for a while.

Every female that walked by was closely scrutinized. He'd never seen her, but he'd know her when he finally did. At least, he hoped so. The sky grew lighter, and he was growing impatient. He was well aware Chikage would be waiting up for him, though Jack would be fast asleep, and he refused to leave until he spotted Marie. He reached for the mobile he'd shoved in his back pocket and stopped, his eyes narrowing as a short woman slipped out the clinic's side door. He watched her as she fished through her pocket for her keys, watching the wind blow dark curls in her face. He'd expected her to be larger than she was – evidently she'd lost weight since then. Now, she was rather slim, her skin pale but smooth, save the shallow crow's feet around her eyes and smile lines around her lips. Her scrubs moved just the way he'd envisioned, just listening to her walk through the operation center around him, and over all, he wasn't too surprised. As she unlocked her door, she paused, glancing around the lot as though she knew she was being watched. Her eyes focused on the alley he'd hidden himself in, and she shook her head, her lips moving as she talked to herself, climbing into the car. She sat there for a while, head resting on the steering wheel, and he couldn't help but smile. Rough day at work, huh Marie? Bet it's nothing like old times, he thought. A moment later, he memorized her vehicle ID tag as she drove away, backing deeper into the alley before turning and heading back to the port.

---

Riddick sighed, rubbing his forehead as he headed into the kitchen, feeling her eyes on him as he opened the fridge.

"Any luck?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, twisting the cap off a bottle of water. "I'm gonna talk to her tomorrow." Her eyebrow rose.

"That soon?" she asked, watching his throat contract as he swallowed half the bottle down.

"I don't want her to start getting the feeling she's being watched," he said with a shrug. She cocked her head to the side.

"How's it going to happen?"

"You two are going to stay here. Don't leave tomorrow at all." Chikage nodded slowly, eyeing him. "It was still pretty dark when she left, so I'll just break into her car and wait until she starts driving."

"So she can go straight to the security station?"

"She won't." He sounded too confident for her to even seriously consider arguing, so she just nodded again. "Can you set up my mobile to record everything."

"Yeah. No problem." She paused, thinking for a moment. "You want me to send a surveillance camera with you?"

"You have some?"

"I can modify one of the darts," she said with a shrug.

"How long will that take?"

"Couple hours, maybe." He pondered, finally nodding. "Yeah, I can record all of it that way. Just put it in the ceiling corner on the passenger's side."

"Any reason?" he asked with a bemused smile.

"You'll get her face that way. The whole car, actually," Chikage explained. "That way you can run the tape back and try to figure out if she's lying based on her expressions."

"I can do that without a camera, Chi."

"If we have to go to the IGC with it, though, it'll be more convincing if there's something a behaviorist can verify." She gave him a one-shouldered shrug.

"Yeah, I guess." He took another smaller sip of water. "I don't plan on going to the IGC with this though."

"Never know," Chi said quietly. "Might come in handy one day." He nodded thoughtfully. "You look tired."

"I am."

"Go to sleep," she suggested. He nodded, starting toward the bedroom. He turned just outside the bedroom door and turned back to her.

"Coming?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm gonna start working on that camera tomorrow." He shrugged. "If you're making me stay here all day tomorrow, I want to sleep in." A wide grin, and he disappeared. She sighed, draining the last of her tea and stood to retrieve a surveillance dart and collection of tools from her backpack in the cockpit.

---

Marie Bournet stifled a yawn, wiggling her fingers at the desk attendant as she drew her keys from her pocket. She hummed a tune to herself quietly as she walked out to the car, the exhaustion from a harder than usual day's work bearing down on her. All she wanted right now was a bath and a long, uninterrupted nap. She collapsed into the driver's seat, groaning as she leaned to pull the door shut, and heaved a sigh, swearing at the steering wheel. Another yawn appeared as she jammed the key in the ignition, twisting to start the engine, and shifted gears to drive away. Her eyes were so tired and focused on the road in front of her she didn't notice the figure righting itself in the rear view mirror.

"Rough day?" Marie's eyes widened as she gasped, the car nearly swerving off the road. She squealed as the tire jumped the curb, the whole vehicle shaking as she got it back on the pavement with a loud colorful word. A deep chuckle vibrated through her seat.

"What the fuck?!" she finally managed. Her foot started to move toward the brake, but his voice stopped her.

"Don't stop. Just keep driving until I tell you otherwise." She nodded, gulping down the lump in her throat. "You get the cops and I'll kill you slowly," he warned. Another jerky nod, and he sat back in the seat, the hood pulled over his head still hiding his face.

"What do you want?" she stammered.

"I just want to talk to you, Marie," he said quietly.

"Marie?" The man looked up sharply, and the fear multiplied, filling her stomach with butterflies on speed. "No one's called me that for years, I…" she trailed off, shaking her head as she forced herself to slow her words down and swallow. "Who are you?" He gave her no response. "How did you find me?"

"Well, you made the mistake of finding work as soon as Company got rid of you." Her eyes grew wider, if it was possible, and she was spending more time staring up at the rear view mirror than at the road. "You changed your name, but there weren't many transfers that flawless, especially with your level of expertise, nurse." She blinked a few times. "Watch the road." She nodded, turning her attention back to driving.

"Where are we going?" she asked quietly.

"Nowhere. Just drive." A small nod. "Tell me about the Evanis program." She sighed, shaking her head slightly.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked weakly.

"I need answers Marie." His voice held a warning tone that didn't settle well with her, and she swallowed thickly again. "Start talking. I'm not the kind of guy you want to piss off." She nodded, glancing up at the shadow in the mirror quickly.

"The Evanis program was terminated a year before I transferred." She paused, looking up at him again.

"Go on."

"Company wanted to engineer the perfect soldier. That's what we tried to do, but the project failed."

"Failed how?"

"First, we couldn't get the subjects to survive the treatment," she said, her eyes glazing over, voice becoming detached. "In the second phase, we couldn't get them to survive past the treatment. They'd die a few days after the transfusion was complete, and we couldn't study the results." She paused, shivering. "The IGC got wind and didn't approve, and we were prepared to terminate the project, but Company moved us to an old base on Kygon 12, where the main medical facility used to be. We figured the IGC had been convinced the project was sensible. None of us had the slightest idea we were working illegitimately."

"The project, Marie," he pressed.

"I told you, it was meant to create the perfect soldier."

"How?" She sighed, glancing up at him once more.

"Blood was extracted and infused with a vector containing amino acids and protease. It reconstructed the genetic code to modify the subject, making him stronger, faster, more intelligent, and more trainable."

"What about sensory improvements?"

"That was a side effect," she said, shaking her head slightly. "It wasn't intentional, but it was an interesting addition to the modifications."

"Continue."

"That's it," she said slowly. "That's all the project was meant to do."

"Tell me about the ERPC's." Another surprised glance.

"Like I said, the entire first phase expired," she said slowly, turning down a narrow street. "There were three phases all together." A quiet sigh. "I know of only one candidate who made it through the third, but I don't know his status at this point."

"Who?"

"What's it matter."

"God damn, it Marie."

"His name was Richard," she said quickly. "That's all I know."

"You didn't get a last name."

"No."

"Bullshit!" he bellowed, making her jump.

"I swear, that's all I know. Dr. Stevens was the one who knew their identities. I knew first names and serial numbers, that's all." He leaned back in the seat, considering that.

"The paperwork at the lab had full names," he said quietly.

"You went there?"

"You had access to the files, Marie. Why didn't you ever look?"

"I didn't want to know," she spluttered, her hands visibly shaking. She felt his eyes on her, and licked her lips nervously. "If they had full names, they were too human for me to continue. I couldn't know and continue the project."

"Stop the car." She pulled to the curb and slowed, the brakes squealing slightly as she stopped. "Assuming this Richard is still alive, do you have any reason to believe he would have any medical problems, and I mean anything?"

"I don't know. The project was terminated before the follow-ups got to the long-term impact stages." He nodded slowly. "Who are you?"

"You disappoint me," he said with a low chuckle. "After all these years, Marie." She shook her head, still not understanding. "How long were those needles?"

"Which?"

"The ones in the arms. For the transfusion."

"Seven inches," she whispered.

"I figured as much." Her eyes narrowed. "Always knew you were different from the rest of them Marie," he said quietly.

"Richard?" Utter disbelief. She turned quickly, clinging to the top edge of the front bench seat. "God, Richard?" As he pulled the hood back, her lip trembled, her large blue eyes focusing on liquid silver. Her eyes closed, and she lowered her head to rest on the back of the seat, shaking her head. "A part of me wished you were dead," she mumbled. "I hoped you'd never have to learn any of this."

"Tad bit of guilt, huh?" Her head rose, and her brow furled before her face crumpled, the tears almost breaking before she took a deep breath and calmed down.

"You need to come in to the clinic tomorrow," she said quickly. "I want to run some tests and find out—"

"No," he interjected, shaking his head with a menacing glare. "No more tests, no more experiments, nothing."

"You need to know what kind of effect this has had on you, Richard. Something could have happened and you would have no idea until it was too late, if it could be stopped at all."

"What are you saying?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm saying we never found out the long-term impact on the body, Richard," she snapped. "Please…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "Let me make this right by making sure you're okay."

"I feel fine," he stated.

"That doesn't mean anything and you know it as well as I do." He sighed. "Be at the clinic at 3500 tomorrow. We shouldn't be busy then. I can get someone to cover for my regular duties." He glared at her for a moment. "Please, Richard." She was begging. He hadn't expected her to beg to help him find out what he desperately felt like he needed to know.

"There's a girl," he started, suddenly having to swallow. "Company kidnapped her and there's no telling what they did to her while she was there." Marie's brow crinkled. "I want her checked out too." A slow nod.

"There's several people there I can trust."

"No," Riddick said firmly. "You. Only you." She agreed, then reached toward him. His eyes followed her hand, closing for a moment as her fingers slid over his cheek. His fingers found the door latch, and he was gone, leaving her staring after him as he walked away briskly.