Chapter 7 – The Escape
It takes Lina only a few hours of stealthy moves and fast paced walking before she finds a small docking bay.
If anyone ever took notice of her or looked at her suspiciously, she would simply act mad and pretend she's delusional and hopelessly lost.
The ploy works and she is soon right inside a cramped hanger where a small ship is being prepared for departure. The only people in the hanger are the two pilots and three packing staff.
They didn't know what hit them when they finally realized Lina's presence.
In a few hand gestures, Lina was able to trap two of the packing staff between a crate and a wall, render the other man unconscious by flinging a heavy bag at his head, which left her with only the two pilots.
As if propelled by some external force, Lina runs at the first pilot and knocks him out cold with her fist and acts quickly to restrain the second pilot in a clenched arm hold.
This all happened so fast that Lina was able to stop anyone from sounding an alarm. Unfortunately, she did not know about the guard on watch who had sneaked off briefly to relieve himself.
The guard is somewhat shocked at the scene and draws his weapon giving straight aim at Lina.
My head – hurts! Too much too soon but I can't give in now. Must get away before they find me.
The distracting pain in her skull is all the pilot needs to get free and run off. The guard shoots and she remembers hearing the shot, then hitting the floor.
Huh!?
She looks up and realizes Riddick has pushed her clear of the bullet and is now charging at the guard. In one swift movement he climbs up a crate and leaps off it landing on the unsuspecting guard.
The guard struggles until a snap of his neck renders him dead.
He hurries back and drags her onto the ship before she can even utter a word. Forcing her into the co-pilot's chair, Riddick begins the engine warn-up and countdown procedures.
"What are you doing!?" Lina shouts, "We don't have a pilot."
Riddick doesn't even take note of her rambling as he seats himself in the pilot's chair and prepares for take-off.
Just outside, several more guards and other men have gathered from the noise of the gunshot and are causing quiet a ruckus.
Lina grabs the arms of her chair and squeezes. "We're not gonna make it." She states with a slight hint of fear.
Weapons begin shooting at the vessel as it makes its way into the atmosphere. They are clear of the hanger and according to the readings, there are no pursuers.
After relaxing a bit, Lina suddenly punches Riddick on the arm and storms of to the back of the ship.
"What do you think you're doing!" she asks him but continues not expecting a valid answer, "You weren't supposed to follow me – I was trying to protect you! And that guard! You just killed him without giving it a second thought."
Riddick plots a course and switches it to autopilot before getting out of his chair. He walks up to Lina who is so intimidated that she walk backwards and pins herself against the inner hull.
Riddick forcefully kisses her for just a second then leans over her supporting himself with his arm and waits.
"How dare you?" she protests.
"Just thought I'd calm you down." He replies in a relaxed tone, "You seemed a little stressed, besides, you didn't exactly resist."
Lina shoves Riddick out of the way with a little more force than normal, and goes to sit back down in the co-pilot's chair.
Riddick rubs his chest where she had shoved him and goes to join her. "A simple thank you would've been nice." He comments.
Her chair swivels slightly away from his view and she remains quiet.
"Look," he adds, "if it makes you feel any better, I was just using your escape to get off that infested planet."
Nice try but I think we both know that's only a half-truth. I'm so stupid! How could I be so careless!