Chapter 8

Riddick stared out the window, his annoyance growing as Toombs' snores grew louder. Every now and again, leather would groan angrily as the former merc shifted in his seat, adjusting himself in the process. Silver disappeared behind toffee lids, and Riddick let himself fall into his usual catnap. Not fifteen minutes later, a shrill beeping tore through the cabin, startling both occupants.

"What the fuck is that?" Riddick growled, tapping buttons on the console. After playing around for a while, the beeping finally stopped, and they both stared at the monitor as a message patched itself in. A blurry picture appeared, sharpening one pixel at a time, and both men found themselves straining to make out what it was.

"Jesus Christ," Toombs whispered, Kat's face finally coming into view. The picture jumped a little before the video finally straightened itself out and restarted from the beginning.

"Well, Toombs," she said with a wry smile. "I figured you'd follow me anyway. That's why I left so early. You sleep a little too hard." She chuckled a little, but the smile fell quickly, and her eyes sobered. "If you're watching this message, it means something went wrong. I'm taping this just after I took off." She glanced over her shoulder at something quickly before turning back to the camera. "Breaking out of the Nubis system right now. Anyway, this message uploaded along with a modified virus I wrote specifically for a situation like this. You've got a tracer upload on the location of my ship, and until they find the remote in my pocket, a tracer on me. I don't know if they'll think to look for all this shit, but if they try as hard as I think they might, they'll know, so watch your back." She sighed, tucking her hair behind her ears and rubbing her eyes. "You know how much I hate to ask for help, but if you're getting this…" she shook her head. "If you're getting this message then I really need your help." Toombs swallowed thickly. "My best guess is that they'll send Jackson Hayes, Jesse Michaels, and Tara Smith to pick me up wherever I end up being if I don't make it on time. They all work for Ray Spitz. His best. I'm sending this because he sent someone to find me, at any rate." The video glitched for a while, and Riddick swore as he tried to adjust it, finally getting it to come through again. "I'm sending this because he sent someone to find me, at any rate." A small, sad smile passed over her lips quickly, and she took a slow breath, letting it out in a sigh. "I know I said I didn't want you involved because I didn't want you to fuck up your life by spending it with me, but I think now's the time to be honest. I left because I wanted a cavalry. I had a feeling this wasn't going to go smoothly, and I needed us to be separated in case something happened." Another long pause. "I know you're probably really pissed off at me right now, and I know it probably doesn't mean much to you, but I love you." A quick smile. "Make it quick." The transmission fuzzed and then broke off, a small window indicating that a program had been installed and needed permission to run.

"What do you think?" Riddick asked slowly, eyeing the dialogue window.

"Run it," Toombs said. Riddick nodded, and the program opened, showing a screen similar to radar with a yellow light blinking, a smaller red one layered under it. An icon blinked in the corner, and Toombs reached over Riddick's shoulder, receiving a quick glance, and opened it.

Toombs - Quick instructions. Proximity buffer zone is 115 kilometers. Don't come any closer than that or my alarms will go off. No contact. Bring lots of things that go boom. – Kat

"Shit," Toombs whispered, shaking his head.

"Shit is right," Riddick said slowly. "You know anything about Raymond Spitz?"

"More than I want to."

"I know Jackson," Riddick continued. "Met him at Ursa Luna." He chuckled a little, watching Toombs glance at him quickly. "Doesn't like me much." Toombs let out a sarcastic laugh and slid into the navigator's chair.

"So what's the plan?"

"Well, if she was headed to Kygon 3, that's where Ray is. He's the kind of guy that does business face to face." He studied the radar screen for a while, comparing it with his own. "And judging by her position, she's not going to make it. If the three goons are with her, they'll kill her when time's up. What the fuck?" The yellow and red dots disappeared for a moment, reappearing a few systems further out. Riddick's brow furled as it happened again, then a third time. "Jesus Christ, she just triple jumped." Toombs' brow rose as Riddick quickly strapped in. "Get your buckles on," Riddick directed, taking the controls and unlocking manual piloting. "We're following, and it's gonna be bumpy."

"You're fuckin' shittin' me." The pressure of the jump hit Toombs like an anvil, his head instantly pounding. Once the first jump was finished, a smile lit Riddick's face, and he started counting down three minutes before the next. She might be in a big hurry to get somewhere, but he wasn't willing to risk a jump hangover just to follow. "You really get off on this shit, don't you," Toombs groaned.

"What, you don't like starjumps?" Toombs never got the chance to answer, as Riddick hit the second jump. Black spots swam before Toombs' eyes, and he struggled to hold his head up.

---

Kat gritted her teeth, howling as the third jump continued on for what seemed like forever. Luckily for her, the seat Jesse had chosen to sit in had a fickle harness, and Jackson had had to get up to help him figure out how to get it to stay buckled, giving her time to find her remote. She struggled to turn her head to the side, the pressure seeming to increase with each jump, but the smile came easily as she saw Jackson leaning forward, only his harness holding him in his chair. Fucker passed out, she thought with a mental snicker. Puss. An instant later, the weight lifted, and she felt the floating sensation for just a split second.

"You okay back there Jesse?" she called, her voice suddenly hoarse.

"Fuck you, Taylor," he growled. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Where am I supposed to land?"

"Kygon 3," came the reply.

"I know that, fuckhead," she snapped. "It's a big fucking planet. You're gonna have to narrow it down for me."

"You're not gonna make it, so it doesn't really matter, does it?" Jesse huffed, struggling to figure out how to release his harness.

"I'm on the outer edge of the system, Jess," she muttered. "36 hours or so. Just fucking tell me."

"Symalus landing strip." She nodded, programming the location into the ship's computer. "We're really on the outer edge of the system?" he asked after a moment. She only nodded, adjusting a few controls on the console. Finally, he got the damn harness undone, and stood, leaning against the back of her chair. "Jesus."

"Told you," she said, a hint of a pout to her voice. "And you were ready to kill me without even giving me a fucking chance."

"Look, Taylor…"

"It's Kat now," she interjected. "Katrina Marshal."

"Ray's the boss, Kat," he corrected.

"What, he'd rather kill someone than get paid? Stupid fucker if you ask me," she huffed.

"I'll be sure to tell him you said that," Jesse snickered, smiling as she shot him a glare. "Chill. I'm kidding."

"There's a med kit down in the cargo hold," she said flatly. "Go see if there's something to wake Jackson up with." Jesse nodded, disappearing. With Jesse gone and Jackson passed out, she had a few moments to check out her real radar, but was quickly disappointed. There was nothing in range of her 300 kilometer field, meaning if her message was sent and if Toombs got it, he wasn't anywhere close enough to where he needed to be. She quickly switched back to the loop she'd installed as Jesse came back up the stairs, carrying a medical kit. Jackson woke with a lurch and a groan, and Kat had to hold back a laugh.

She knew Ray had filled his port with snipers. She could almost feel their lasers on her, but she knew better than to look around for them. Instead, she stared straight ahead, Jackson holding one elbow and Jesse the other as they steered her toward the compound. A door opened, and she was pushed through it, falling to the floor with a grunt. She popped to her feet, but the door was slammed, and she heard the lock turn.

"FUCK!" She glanced around the room. Nothing. Not even a mattress on the floor. Hell, not even a blanket. She heaved a sigh, thankful they'd not searched her well enough to find the remote she'd dropped into her underwear. With shaky fingers, she pulled it out, sighing in relief as the green light continued to blink. At least it still had service.

She sat there for a while, knees pulled to her chest and arms wrapped around them to hold in as much warmth as she could. Now, she figured it was a good thing her ship's heater hadn't worked well. She'd had to wear heavy cargos, two pairs of socks, her heavy boots, and a thick sweater over her beater, so at least she was slightly protected against the cold. A shiver raked over her, her teeth chattering a little, and she sighed.

Coming into this, she'd known she would be isolated and kept out of the process. It made sense, really. Clients couldn't give any intel if they ever got turned because they didn't have any. Ray was always moving from one compound to the next, one planet to the next. And identity switching wasn't his only means of income. He was probably one of the worst when it came to bad guys. She dropped her head, letting her forehead rest on her knees.

---

"So if we can't get within 115 clicks of her ship, how the fuck are we supposed to get to her?" Toombs asked quietly, hanging onto the rafters of the undercutter as Riddick approached a clearing in a wooded area.

"How much money you got?" Toombs' eyebrow rose slowly, then Riddick snickered, shaking his head. "Ever heard of a fuckin' cab?"

"You're actually just going to pull up on a cab and knock on the fucking door to this asshole's compound?" Toombs snorted.

"We'll take a cab to the nearest town and hike in." Toombs shrugged, flopping into a chair to buckle in. He let his mind wander, images of her dancing in his head and making the time disappear as Riddick set the ship down and hid it in a clump of trees, snapping back to reality as the engines powered down and Riddick's harness clicked as he unbuckled it. "Get two backpacks together. Two days' rations and the rest guns and ammo." Toombs nodded, rifling through his lockers to start packing. A few minutes later, they were on the way to the nearest street.

---

Kat snapped out of her light nap at the click the turning of the lock of her door made, her head nearly hitting the wall she was leaning against at the speed with which she lifted it. She stood slowly, taking a defensive stance as the door swung open to reveal Raymond Spitz, standing in the doorway in a black leather trench coat. An amused smile touched the portion of his lips the scar angling down his face didn't immobilize, and she tensed.

"Easy," he said slowly, adding a soft laugh. Her eyebrow rose.

"Forgive me for being a little pissed off at being throw in a fucking closet the minute I got here," she spat sarcastically. He let out another light laugh, shaking his head as he took a step – just one – into the room. He's gonna leave me here again, she thought quickly, a sudden pang of dread conquering her stomach. She swallowed involuntarily, nearly choking. "So how's everything coming?" she asked, keeping the scowl firmly in place. He shrugged a little.

"It'll take a few days," he said quietly, reaching into an inner pocket of his coat. She watched carefully, noting the smarmy smile working its way to his lips. "In the mean time, I need you to read and sign these using the name you wish to assume," he added, dropping a stack of papers on the floor. "Slide them under the door when you're done." She glanced down at them quickly, her eyes darting back up to his face. He crouched to set a pen on the stack of papers and righted, giving her the once over before backing out of the door. She sighed, dropping her head as it locked behind him. A moment later, eyes still on the door, she picked up the stack of papers and pen, returning to her corner to browse.

---

"Jesus Christ," Riddick whispered, shaking his head as he peered through the bushes. Toombs' eyes narrowed in vain, trying to focus despite the darkness. All he could see was the few areas in the compound that were lighted. A few windows, forms moving in all of them, and a couple outer lights. "I'm guessing she's in there," Riddick continued, pointing toward a slightly isolated building. "No windows, one door, probably locked," he assessed, cocking his head to the side. "I say we wait a while and do some nosing around." Toombs nodded slowly, glancing around the compound some more.

"Think we should stay here?" Toombs asked. Riddick also glanced around, shrugging.

"Guess we'll find out eventually if they do rounds." Toombs snickered, shaking his head as he settled at the base of a tree, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You snore like you did on the ship and I'll kill you in your sleep," Riddick warned, receiving a wary glance. He kept his grin hidden.

---

Kat's eyes ached. She'd gone through half the stack now, and her hand was already starting to cramp. An hour later, she slid the stack under the door, staring at the pen in her hands. It was quickly deposited into her pocket, and she went back to her corner.

---

She opened her eyes slowly, watching three men walk into the room, Ray in tow. One of the men carried a camera, another a blue swatch of material. Her eyebrow rose, head tilting to the side. Ray stepped around from behind his three thugs, hands buried in his pockets.

"Hope you're up for having your picture taken, Katrina," he said, that smarmy smirk back. She made a face at him before rolling her eyes. He nodded at the man with the cloth, and she watched as he taped it to the wall.

"It's crooked," she said with amusement for the glare the man shot her. With a forced smile, she let them take the picture that would become her new ID photo. As the man reached to take the cloth off the wall, she shoved her hands in her pockets, her finger closing around the pen she'd stashed. With lightning speed, she buried it in dude's temple, her foot darting out to catch the advancing man in the balls. He doubled over, and she pulled the pen from the guy's head, holding it like a dagger as she eyed the third thug now approaching her. As she took a step to attack, she found herself on the receiving end of the barrel of Ray's gun, and she tilted her head back a little to keep him from smashing it up her nose. Her arms rose slowly, and he glanced at the bloodied pen, watching it drop with a quiet clatter as her hand opened. Angry eyes stared up at the man holding the gun, narrowed slightly. Ray's eyebrow rose.

"You act like you didn't know you'd be kept separate from the process," he said, his voice low and dangerous.

"I didn't know you'd keep me like a fucking prisoner with barely enough food or water," she spat, her voice strained by the pressure of her leaning her head back so far. "Hell, you didn't even give me a bucket to take a piss in, now did you? No wonder you've got such a shitty reputation." With a grunt, she found herself pressed face first into the wall, Ray's hand on the back of her head grinding her cheek into the rough stucco. She flattened her hands on the wall, trying to push him back and away from her, but he'd braced for it.

"I figured I could trust you with a pen," he growled into her ear.

"I have a tendency to steal pens," she snickered, struggling further only to have him put more pressure on the wall through her body. The breath left her in a groan, and it was a little too hard to draw more to replace it.

"If I didn't have such a high priority on my reputation of following through I'd let my boys here have a little bit of fun before killing you," he ground out. She heard two pairs of boots shuffle behind them and felt the knots in her stomach tighten. "You behave yourself from this point in time until you get your papers in your hand or I'll make sure everyone in the known universe sees you as an example of what not to do while dealing with me." She nodded the best she could, taking in huge gulps of air as he backed away from her. The two thugs stayed behind even after Ray left, and she stood to her full height, her breathing slowly returning to normal.

"What're you gonna do know?" she asked, adding a threatening tone. One of the men twitched up an eyebrow and nodded toward the body. She mirrored the brow and tilted her head to the side, watching the other man stoop to grab the dead man's feet and drag him from the room.

"I'm really hoping you fuck up," the remaining goon grinned. "I've got several ideas for what I'd do to that ass." She let out a growl, narrowing her eyes, and the man only chuckled, shaking his head as he walked out of the room, slamming and locking the door behind him. She heaved a sigh, working her head from side to side, sick pops and cracks echoing off the bare walls. Her eyes lingered on the pool of blood drying to the floor, and a satisfied smile touched her lips before she settled back in her corner, curling into a ball on her side.

---

Riddick reached out, smacking Toombs' leg and shushing him as he woke with a start. He nodded toward the compound and Toombs scanned the compound, eyebrow rising as a man pulled another man's body out of the shack they thought Kat was being kept in. Riddick nodded slowly, and Toombs settled back against the tree.

"She's in there," Riddick said quietly. Toombs nodded, rubbing his eyes.

"She's fucked now," he grumbled, shaking his head.

"Not necessarily," Riddick interjected. "They're not dragging her out, and Ray was holstering a pistol. Pulled it on her, but it was probably just a threat. He probably values his reputation too much to let a deal go bad unless he has no other options." Toombs watched Riddick as Riddick continued to watch the compound. "No, she's still in there, and she's still alive."

"So what's the plan?"

"We wait and see if he gets her papers and then decide," Riddick suggested.

"Fuck the papers," Toombs said quickly. Riddick turned his head to glare. "We don't know if he's even working on it, or if he's planning on killing her later. Letting her feel safe for a while first."

"Ray's the kind of guy that'll kill her slowly. We'll hear it if he starts." Toombs' jaw clenched, and he swallowed thickly. "We wait it out and do what we gotta do." After a moment, Toombs nodded slowly.

---

Kat's tongue darted out to probe the deep cut in her lower lip from being mashed into the wall. Copper filled her mouth, and she swore, spitting blood. The lock turned, and her head snapped up, eyes narrowing as Ray walked back in. She didn't bother standing up. Without a word, he dropped two cards on the ground next to her, along with a thick sealed envelope.

"We're still working on deleting your past. The last time you see anyone is when we come to tell you it's finished."

"And then what?" she asked quietly, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Then you get to take your shitty little cruiser and leave, and we'll be gone shortly after that," he said flatly. "You come back here and you're dead on sight."

"I get it," she said, nodding slowly. "You get the transfer?"

"Luckily for you, every penny," he said with a small smirk. "Sweet dreams."

"Fuck off," she muttered, shifting against the wall. Her ass had been numb for two days now. As soon as the door clicked shut again, she reached out, running her fingers over her new ID cards. She ripped the envelope open, reading her newly created history, satisfied that they were going to the trouble and risk of deleting her penal files as she'd asked. She'd soon be a regular, upstanding citizen. A twisted smile touched her lips.