Chapter Two

"Other buildings weren't secure," Riddick said later as he crouched over the shaft, looking down at the human bones. "So they ran here-"

"Heaviest doors," Amelia murmured from where she stood, far back. She leaned against the nearest wall, hands in her skirt pockets. Shazza and Fry turn to look at her as the younger woman adds,"They thought that they would be safe inside..."

"But they forgot to lock the cellar," Riddick finished and the other two women shuddered in revulsion. Amelia looked over towards Johns as he said, "Whatever the fuck those things were, they seem to stick to darkness. So if we stick to daylight, we should be all right okay? Let's go."

"Twenty-two years ago..." Fry trailed off as she studied the samples.

"What?"

"These coring samples are dated," came the reply. "Last one's twenty-two years ago, this month."

"Okay," Johns exhaled sharply. "Is there something special about that, Carolyn?"

Amelia frowned and looked up. "Are any models of this system around?" she asked and the others looked at her with confusion. She sighed and said, "I can't see it for myself..."

Riddick stepped forward but stopped as Johns beat him to Amelia. He put his hand on the young woman's waist and said, "I'll show you..." all the while sneering at Riddick. The larger man clenched his fists but didn't say a word.

"Thank you," Amelia replied and allowed herself to be led. After she touched the model, she asked, "Can someone...?" Fry stepping forward. As the others watched, Fry moved the model over to twenty-two years and everyone realized at the same time what the problem was.

"Eclipse," Fry murmured in disbelief and Jack went over to her sister, grabbing her hand. Amelia squeezed it reassuringly and smiled as Riddick asked, "You're not afraid of the dark, are you?"

She looked up as Johns and Fry passed her. She frowned as she turned her head, following the sound of their footprints and realized that they were heading towards the skiff. Allowing her sense to expand again, she listened and narrowed her gaze at the conversation. Shaking her head, she got to her feet and turned around.

She stopped at the feel of hard muscle and looked up, smiling slightly. "Just the man I was looking for," she said and added, "Can we walk a bit?"

Riddick raised an eyebrow but obliged, taking her arm. She told him what he'd heard and Riddick snorted in amusement. "Told him to ghost me," he said shaking his head. "Man's too stupid..."

"Don't kill him," Amelia said as she looked upwards. She could feel the heat around them but she didn't care. "Let him be eaten for all I care."

"I'd think you'd be one of those women," Riddick said. "That don't like death."

"I don't," she said looking towards him. "But I'm also a woman who trusts her instincts. And my instincts tell me to trust you and not Johns." She allowed a tiny smile to cross her face. "Tell me, are they wrong?"

Riddick didn't answer and Amelia nodded in satisfaction. "By the way," she said as she walked past him towards the skiff. "I can shave your head."

He frowned but followed. He didn't like to think about how the woman had him whipped. Normally, a woman like Fry would catch his interest...

As she slapped grease onto his head after running her fingers over his face and scalp, he watched Johns leave the skiff. The man was shaking like a leaf and at the sight of Amelia with a shiv in her hand, he glared. Riddick grinned wolfishly as he said, "Bad sign. Shaking like that in this heat."

"I thought," Johns managed. "I said no shivs?"

"It's not one," Amelia replied for Riddick. "It's a personal grooming appliance. I keep it in my pocket."

Riddick's massive shoulders shook slightly as he laughed to himself. After Amelia was done, he slipped off to have a chat with Fry. Amelia finished cleaning off the shiv with a scrap of cloth and didn't look up as Shazza approached, saying, "He's an animal girl."

"And the only one who can get us," Amelia looked towards where the woman stood. "Off this planet alive. I prefer to think of him as an anti-hero."

She called for Jack with a whistle and asked to be led to the sandcat. She sits, primly, and can feel the change in climate. As the others pile in, her sister asks, "Where's Riddick?" and she frowned as Paris said, "Leave him. He wouldn't wait for us."

Riddick landed and Paris jumped, saying shakily, "Thought we'd lost you."

Amelia smiled. As she sat, she felt the vibrations, ducked when she had too, and leaned back against a strong leg. Riddick started and looked down at the tiny woman leaning against him. Trusting him, when she knew what he was? He didn't know what to think...

As they all climb down from the sandcat, Riddick gently carried Amelia to the ground. She smiled in thanks and Jack held onto her hand as they wait for the order to leave.

And then, she heard it.

Squealing, millions of them. She tensed as Jack muttered an oath and asked, "Is it beginning?"

"Yeah," came the shaky reply and she pulled her sister to her, hugging her tightly. Jack buried her face into Amelia's neck and listened to the sounds around her. Amelia gently rubbed her sister's back and said, "Perhaps we should get inside."

"What do you hear?" Jack asked in Celtic and Amelia's face was grim.

"Death," she said honestly.

As the screaming grew louder, Riddick paused at the sight of the creatures and breathed, "Beautiful..."

He looked over at Amelia and Jack, and thought That too... before realizing that they would both be easy prey. Cursing, he said to them, "Move it inside."

Jack obliged pulling her sister along but Amelia paused, looking over her shoulder. She was shoved by someone, she didn't know who, and cursed as Jack's hand left hers. Hearing Paris's scream of "Come on!" she began to walk faster....

"Get down!"

She found herself on her front, Riddick's breath hot in her ear as he presses her into the ground. She allows her to body to relax as the creatures fly above them and feels them move so that she is on top of him, facing upwards. She can feel the vibrations of movement and Riddick says lowly, "Don't move until I tell you."

"Amelia!" her sister screamed from the cargo hold and she shuts her eyes tightly as she listened to screaming, murmured, "Shazza's dead."

Riddick didn't reply merely lifted them off the ground, keeping her in his arms. He took off for the cargo hold and turned at Amelia's murmur of "Wait..." and watched as larger creatures begin to make their appearance.

"What is it Riddick?" Fry asked beside them. "What is it now?"

"Death," Amelia murmured in his arms and Riddick merely said, "Like I said, it ain't me you gotta worry about..." before going inside with Amelia still in his arms. He allowed Jack to fawn over the woman, set her down, and sat down beside her, scowling at the sneer Johns gave him.

"She should've stayed down," Jack whispered to Amelia. "If she only would've stayed down...she'd be okay. She wouldn't have died."

Amelia replied in a language Riddick didn't recognize and touched Jack's cheek with slender fingers. As the others talked, Riddick frowned as Amelia tensed up, calling "Everyone! Shut up!"

The sound of claws scraping above them has Jack hauling Amelia to her feet, a firm grip on her arm. As they went into the next chamber, she whispered, "I want to get out of here..."

Amelia hooked their arms together. "We will," she promised even as she heard the screeching around them. She searched with her hearing and looked up. "Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't move."

Riddick cursed from where he was, blocked from Amelia and Jack. Hassan, the other kid, was dead and as he turned to look for them, a light hit his face. Diving down, he hears a hiss and the sound of bullets.

"Is it alive?" Fry asked as they all gathered around, her flashlight hitting the creature's skin. It immediately began to sizzle, burning and blistering, the stench horrible. Amelia and Jack were still wrapped together and Riddick silently stood behind them, inhaling their smells to reassure himself they were alive.

Amelia allowed herself to relax a fraction as they all gathered in the next compartment. She listened silently, fingers moving in her lap as Fry and Johns argued. Fear, anger, and the whispers made her head ache and she finally said as Johns commented on her sister, "Don't you dare suggest Jack is afraid, Mr. Johns. In fact, I suggest you deal with your own fear of the dark."

"Why don't you," Johns spun to look at her. "Just shut your fucking mouth for two seconds and let me come up with a plan that doesn't involve mass suicide?"

"And if this eclipse is twenty-two years in the making," Amelia snapped. "That means it won't end for a while. I refuse to die here. I won't do it!"

"Is that fucking right?" Johns hissed and drew his gun. Riddick moved easily, blocking him from Amelia and Jack. The gun was at his throat but he didn't flinch as Johns demanded, "Where are you going?"

Amelia felt Jack snicker and smiled as Riddick crouched in front of them. She closed her eyes and pretended not to feel death at their heels.

End Part Two