Lifeline
Chapter 36
Riddick woke with a start, Chikage's scream echoing through the nearly empty holding area. Keys jangled as the security guard ran down the corridor, and Riddick turned on his other side, reaching through the bars to gently shake her.
"Chi," he whispered, shaking her harder. She whimpered, her face scrunched as she trembled. "Chikage, wake up."
"What the fuck is going on?" the guard demanded, his shock stick drawn and powered up.
"She's having a nightmare," Riddick growled. "Go back to your doughnuts."
"You better watch your mouth, boy."
"And you better get the fuck out of here," Riddick snapped, tearing his eyes away from her long enough to glare. The guard lingered for a moment, looking Chikage over quickly to make sure Riddick hadn't harmed her and tried to cover up. Seeing no marks on her, other than the ones her handcuffs had made, he scowled at Riddick and walked away. "Chikage. Wake up," he repeated, shaking her nearly enough to make the bed frame smack against the bars between them. She started, sitting up and nearly dislocating his elbow, still jammed between two cell bars. He grunted, and she turned to him, wide-eyed.
"What?"
"You were having a bad dream," he said, pulling his arm back into his own cell. She sighed, shaking her head as she lay back down, rubbing her hands over her arms to rid her skin of goose bumps. "The chains?" She nodded, draping a forearm over her eyes.
"I'm okay now, thanks," she whispered. "Go back to sleep." She lifted her arm, raising up slightly as his fingers closed around hers. Her eyes flitted up to his face, but his eyes were closed. She squeezed his hand gently, smiling as he did the same, and drifted off again.
---
"Now ain't that cute?" Riddick opened his eyes, staring at Chikage for a moment before retracting his arm from her cell and sitting up, stretching lazily.
"Breakfast already?" he asked gruffily. "I don't smell any coffee."
"Don't be a smartass," the guard said flatly. "Get your girlfriend up. The Council's ready to see you." His eyebrow rose, and he turned to Chikage, but she was already sitting up, cracking her neck. "Come on," he pushed. "Move it. They're not going to wait forever."
"What, I don't get to brush my teeth before we go?" Chikage snorted, standing and stretching.
"Yeah, yeah. Arms through the opening," the guard said, waving at the rectangular hold in the cell door. They heard chains rattle, and Chikage sighed, placing her hands on her hips.
"No spikes this time," Riddick said firmly.
"Nope," the guard said, holding the bindings up for them to see. Riddick glanced at Chikage quickly, the color already drained from her face.
"Just take me. Then bring me back here and we'll go from there," he suggested, watching Chikage look at him sharply.
"I'm fine," she insisted, suppressing the anxiety and sticking her arms through the opening. Her eyes locked with Riddick's, holding them as the guard slapped the cuffs on, checking them before going to Riddick's door. He did the same, his gaze still trained on Chikage, another guard appearing to help this guard take them up to the hearing room. The walk was silent, as was the elevator ride. Two more guards were outside the elevator to take them into the hearing room, and Mason stood outside the door, looking like he'd not slept in days.
"Are you two okay?" Mason asked quickly.
"Just peachy," Chikage quipped, rattling her chains for emphasis. Riddick snickered, shaking his head, and they were pushed into the hearing room, the two prisoners locked to the floor again before the guards exited and the Council members filed in.
The room was silent for a solid five minutes as the Council members looked over their notes, none of the witnesses looking at each other, just straight ahead at the chief Council member. Finally, he snapped his folder shut and folded his hands over it, leaning forward.
"We've looked over the evidence presented, and I must say, Mr. Mason," he paused, glancing first at Riddick, then Chikage. They each arched a brow as though choreographed. "You've surprised every one of us."
"How so, your honor?" Mason stammered. Chikage fought from rolling her eyes. The man was just too easily intimidated.
"Well, for one thing, it takes some courage to bring an issue before the Council unsolicited." Mason visibly gulped. "And for another, the amount of support you were able to get together."
"With all due respect, sir," Mason interjected, "I couldn't have done it without Mr. Riddick and Ms. Pierce." The chief member gave him a hard stare.
"And Ms. Bournet, am I correct?" Mason paused, then gave a small nod. "She came before us in a separate hearing yesterday, just to inform you," he continued. A thoughtful pause, meant to make the witnesses nervous, and it only worked on the supposedly seasoned one, Mason. "Her testimony in addition to the three of you speaking before us proved quite persuasive," he said, sounding impressed. "We've reached a decision," he finally said, sitting back in his chair. "Ms. Pierce is to be exonerated fully and completely for her crimes. She will be tagged for probation for the duration of three years, with full rights to movement without previous approval. Once a year, she will return to Ergon for a complete physical, to be performed by Ms. Bournet, and should she fail to do so, her exoneration will be revoked and the mercenaries will be out in full force to find her and return her to us for judgment." Chikage's jaw clenched, but she remained quiet. "As for you, Mr. Riddick," he continued, leaning his elbows on the table. "You shall return to Slam 154 to be imprisoned for an amount of time not to exceed two years, and will be paroled, should the board approve, after an amount of time no less than one year. You will be given the benefit of the doubt and placed on the first level, and I'm sure you're aware of the nature of that part of the prison," he paused at Riddick's grin. Chikage stared at him, horrified at the decision being read. "However, even one incident and you shall be thrown in the bowels of the prison and serve out the remainder of each and every sentence ever handed down to you by a judiciary authority under the IGC's authority."
"Your honor…" Mason trailed off as the chief member turned to him. "I believe Mr. Riddick has proven himself to be trustworthy and greatly appreciative of the Council's agreeing to hear his case," he stammered, his voice strengthening as he continued. "I feel it's in the Council's best interest, sir, to provide him with the same opportunity as Ms. Pierce has been presented with in order to compensate him for the trouble Company has caused him."
"In the Council's best interest how, exactly?" the chief asked, narrowing his eyes at Mason. Mason glanced at Chikage, then Riddick, before turning back to the chief.
"Well, sir, Mr. Riddick wouldn't have had to endure the experimental procedures in the first place if the IGC had investigated the legitimacy of Company's compliance to cease the experiments in the first place, sir." Riddick stared openly at Mason. "We've proven that said experiments are the source of his deviant behavior, and subsequently he's shown he can control himself. I'm sure if the Council granted him the same respect he's granted the Council, insofar as he's followed the correct channels by which to bring the incidents to the Council's attention, he will agree to comply with the rules of his probation, should they follow the same guidelines as that which has been granted Ms. Pierce." Mason stopped, taking in a deep breath to replace the air lost in the wordy summation of his argument. The chief's eyebrow rose.
"Are you blackmailing me, Mr. Mason?"
"No, sir," Mason answered quickly and firmly. "I'm merely bringing it to the attention of the Council that Mr. Riddick has proven himself worthy of the justice so readily awarded his colleague," he continued, turning to Chikage.
"Mr. Mason," another Council member piped up. She glanced quickly at the chief Councilman before turning back to Mason. "Would you mind leaving us with Mr. Riddick and Ms. Pierce?"
"I'd rather not," he said, then thinking quickly, added "respectfully." The Councilwoman cocked her head to the side and sat back.
"Very well. I'd like to offer a compromise," she continued. "If Mr. Chief Councilman agrees, I would be willing to allow Mr. Riddick and Ms. Pierce to split the term recommended for Mr. Riddick, to be served at Slam 154 Level One. If either of you is denied parole, the other is as well. You will be shown the same strictness aforementioned by my superior Council member, meaning, Mr. Riddick and Ms. Pierce, one incident and you both serve the remainder of Mr. Riddick's sentences deemed by the IGC to be legitimate."
"No," Riddick said quickly. Chikage glanced at him.
"Riddick—" she started.
"No," he repeated, more firmly this time, unwilling to meet her eyes.
"The choice is yours to make," the chief Council member said, standing. "You will be given two hours to discuss it until the Council reconvenes." With that, the panel left, Riddick, Chikage, and Mason still standing there. No guards entered to unshackle them.
"It would be a shorter term, Riddick," Mason said quietly.
"I said no," he snapped, staring at Mason. This time, Mason didn't look away, evidently drawing some self-confidence from getting the Council to reconsider their original decision. "She's not going to a fucking slam," he continued, nodding at Chikage without looking at her.
"What about Jack, then?" she asked. "You really want to leave her for two years; leave both of us for two years?" Riddick blinked quickly, finally turning his eyes on the woman now straining against her chains. "If we both serve the time, it'll go faster. A year tops."
"And what's Jack gonna do in the mean time?" Riddick snapped, his forehead creasing. "A year's a long fucking time for a fourteen year old girl, Chi."
"You told her to stay at Imam's until we came to get her," Chikage said. "Mason can send word to Imam what happened and Jack will know we didn't forget about her."
"She won't stay with him that long," Riddick said, shaking his head.
"Yes," Chikage insisted, "she will."
"Chikage, I need to know she's okay. If you stay with her, I'll know she'll be taken care of, even if something happens to me there." Chikage's eyebrow rose. "If we're both in there, neither one of us can promise to get back to her because we won't even know if we'll be alive the next minute."
"What are you saying? What's with level one of slam 154?"
"It's the solitary section of a triple maximum prison," Mason explained. "Inmates are given cells and allowed to roam during certain hours, otherwise locked down."
"And you don't have a door to close unless you're locked down," Riddick said firmly. "They'll put you on a separate cell block and we'll have different roaming hours."
"We've handled worse."
"Riddick, I can pick up Jack and take her to Marie," Mason offered. "If she knows what's happening, she may be more likely to stay with Marie if she won't stay with Imam."
"She won't stay with anyone," Riddick said quietly, shaking his head.
"Then why not cut the time in half and be able to track her down sooner?" Chikage asked. Riddick sighed, gripping the podium in front of him as he hung his head, his chains clinking as he moved. "Listen. We make a promise to each other that nothing happens and we'll both be out of there in six months. That's a hell of a lot better than me trying to keep her roped in for a year or more."
"And you're not worried this is a fucking setup just like the line about us having temporary immunity during the hearing?" Riddick suddenly yelled, raising his head to glare at her.
"If we don't go before a parole board in six months, we get the fuck out of 154, find Jack, and hunker down somewhere," Chikage said firmly. "But something tells me we've got two people on the outside that won't let them fuck us over like that." Mason nodded, turning back to Riddick, who stared straight at Chikage. A minute passed, then two, and Riddick finally nodded.
---
"Richard B. Riddick. You understand the nature of this hearing?" Riddick nodded, his eyes shifting between the three people seated at a beat up table, shifting slightly in the metal chair he'd taken.
"I do," he said quietly.
"And you understand the nature of the agreement you're being held to?" the parole board member continued.
"Yes, ma'am," he said respectfully. She nodded toward the man seated between her and the third board member, the man leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table.
"Your associate, one Chikage Pierce, has already appeared before this board, and this board has made a ruling." He paused to ruffle through the papers in front of him, finally stopping and looking up at Riddick. "Mr. Riddick, you've served seven months in solitary confinement with only one incident. According to my records, the prison judiciary board found that incident to be self-defense on your part, with little injury done to the other inmate involved." Riddick nodded.
"That's right," he said quietly.
"You wanna tell me about that?" Riddick heaved a sigh, shifting in his seat, the chain securing his arms giving a metallic, almost musical series of clinks.
"Alarm sounded for roaming hours," Riddick started, "I didn't really feel like walking around, so I just stayed in my cell." He shook his head a little. "Just thinking." He faded for a moment, recalling the incident, then snapped out of it, raising his eyes to the panel of parole board members before him. "Anyway, guy comes in and starts talking shit, and I told him I didn't have a problem with him as long as he got out of my cell." The female board member nodded, silently urging him to continue. He licked his lips, shaking his head. "He pulled a shiv on me and I got him to the ground and held him there until the guards showed up. Then I backed off and let the guards rough me up until they were happy, and then I went back to thinkin'," he finished with a shrug.
"What were you thinking about?" the female board member asked. He glanced at her sharply, mostly on instinct. "If I may ask," she amended, adding a small smile.
"I was thinking about the fifteen year old girl that's waiting for me to get out of prison and finish training her to be a pilot. I was thinking about how much I let her down to get the fuckin' bounty off my head so we could live a normal life. I was thinking about the woman in a cell block somewhere down the hallway that I haven't seen in seven months, wondering if she was still alive and in one piece or if some asshole got to her when I wasn't there to protect her. I was thinking about what I was going to do when I finally got out of this shit hole and got back to the closest thing to family I've ever known and realized I don't have a fucking clue." The three board members blinked in unison. "But I'll figure it out when I get there." The middle panel member cleared his throat and nodded.
"We've discussed your file and the behavior we've witnessed in the seven months you've been here, Mr. Riddick," he said quietly. "The board has ruled that your parole shall be granted, and, as per agreement, we will submit our results to the InterGalactic Council for review."
"And Chikage?" Riddick pressed.
"It's not your concern for now, Mr. Riddick," he said firmly.
"Not my concern?!" Riddick started to stand, but the sound of a shock stick powering up made him stop. "Jesus Christ," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head with a sardonic grin.
"We expect a ruling from the IGC within the week, and you will be notified of the status of your parole once the ruling goes through the proper channels," the woman said. Riddick stood as the guard approached him, staring over his shoulder at the board members as he was led out of the room and back to his cell.
---
Chikage opened the box containing her personal effects and dressed quickly, inhaling deeply as she lifted her trench coat to her nose. She loved the smell of leather more than anything, and she closed her eyes, smiling slightly as she sniffed again. She pulled on her boots, her eyes darkening as the orange prison jumpsuit caught her attention, leaving them behind without another glance as the guard opened the door for her. The port lobby was empty, and she stood at the window, staring out at the crew running around to ready the ship that would take them back to Ergon, where the cruiser hopefully remained. The air shifted, and she turned, her brows furrowing as she tried to control her emotions. Finally she gave up, closing the distance between them and wrapping him in a crushing hug, her lips claiming his desperately. She felt him smile against her, his arms winding tightly around her back. Tears spilled onto her cheeks as she opened her eyes, and he brushed them away quickly, nodding toward the door.
"What do you say we get outta here?" She nodded, and his arm stayed wrapped securely around her waist as they walked to the awaiting ship.
---
Jack looked up at her doorway and smiled, turning her attention back to the book in her lap. She turned the page, glancing up again as Imam walked to the chair next to the door, settling into it with a sigh.
"It's been seven months, Jack," he said quietly. Her smile fell, and she shut the book. "Almost eight, actually."
"He's coming back, Imam," she insisted, staring at the cover of the book. "He promised he would."
"I know he did, child," Imam sighed, leaning back in his chair. "And I know he asked that you stay here with me until he returned, but I never expected you would."
"I promised him," she said simply, adding in a small shrug as though it were no big deal.
"But you are not happy here," Imam continued. "I can tell that as easily as one tells night from day." He heaved a sigh. "All I wish is for your happiness. If you would like to go, you may. I do not mean to keep you here against your will."
"Imam, I'm staying because it'll be easier for Riddick to find me if I do. You remember what happened last time I left after you told me you wanted me to be happy and I wasn't happy here." Imam nodded solemnly. "I'm staying until Riddick finds me."
"I've made your favorite for dinner." Jack smiled. Imam always changed the subject when he got too uncomfortable. "It's getting cold." He stood, leaving the room, and she shook her head, setting the book aside as she stood, letting out a groan as she stretched. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, staring down at the massive spread Imam had laid with more care than usual.
"Holy shit, Imam," she quipped.
"Language, child," Imam chided, glancing at her sternly as he set a pitcher of water on the table. "Sit." She grinned, shaking her head as she walked toward the table.
"There's no way the two of us are going to eat all this," she continued, pulling out a chair and flopping into it. "You better have room in the fridge for all the leftovers."
"Something tells me there won't be any." Jack twisted quickly in her chair, nearly making herself dizzy. A figure stood against the wall, the face shadowed by the cloak hood pulled over his head.
"Riddick?" The hood pulled back, and Chikage smiled. Jack's eyebrow rose, and her eyes shifted as Chikage nodded to her left, Riddick stepping into the light from the darkened study. In an instant, Jack leaped from her chair, almost knocking Riddick over. Imam chuckled, pulling out a chair for Chikage. Riddick pried himself from Jack's grasp, tousling her hair as he walked her to the table, taking the seat between Jack and Chikage, across from Imam.
"Told you I'd come back," he said quietly, elbowing Jack gently. She beamed up at him, and Imam cleared his throat. "Go ahead, holy man," Riddick said with a nod. Imam smiled, turning to Chikage before starting his prayer.