THE MOTHER LODE BY ABRAXIS

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Chapter 19 - Reunion

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Riddick did the only thing that he could do. He pulled back. As soon as they were a safe distance away, he began explaining the situation to Jenna.

"If they were regular mercs, armed with gages and hand guns, I'd risk it but we can't deal with disrupters and pulse rifles with nothing but blades. I'll also bet the bank that they have night vision goggles, maybe shines. Carrying those weapons they have to be Spec Opps or SO trained and had Forces or Company help to get their equipment on planet. They also have a top of the line com unit and monitoring equipment. We can probably sneak everyone out the back but one squeak from the hack system and they will be reporting it to someone. I'll get what I came for but you won't."

Jenna's answer was a surprise to him.

"Not completely true. The friend of my friend is also my friend. But I would like a little more information before I give up on using that system. There maybe another way around this. First, why would either Galactic or the military be involved with locals?"

Riddick hesitated. Having his decision questioned didn't set well. Then he remembered the remote security screen. Hell, there was no telling what other gadgets she had on that skimmer. Being a fool once a day was enough. It wouldn't hurt to see what she could come up with.

"All I'm sure of is that the SOs are after my friends. Finding me is the only reason they would be after them. But, it doesn't make sense. The military was through with me when I got sent to Slam and the Company doesn't chase escaped cons. Besides, I thought I had covered our tracks after the crash. They shouldn't even know we survived."

"Your friends were on the Hunter-Gratzner, too?"

Riddick suddenly realized that he hadn't told her anything about the crash; the fight to survive, the way they had escaped, Carolyn; nothing about Jack and Imam, not even their names. What surprised him more was that she hadn't asked. She hadn't asked a murdering, escaped con how it was that he survived when everyone else died. Now, she was risking her life for people she knew nothing about for no other reason than his decision that it was necessary. When she saw how bad the situation was, she could just as easily have let him handle the whole thing on his own; have pulled out and waited for Ben to clear the Hole's computer. 'The friend of my friend ....' Well, since when was he her friend? Fuck! She was driving him crazy with this shit.

"Yes."

"Then, it could quite possibly be Galactic. The suit filed for surviving relatives and the insurance companies involved with the cargo shippers is in the billions of credits; not just loss-incurred but punitive as well. The maintenance records for the ship are pretty damning and allowing a 'known murderer' to be transported with 'honest citizens' is another large point in the case. It's not all that important a suit in itself but, if Galactic loses, it will open the doors to nearly a thousand other suits against them that are pending. I'm sure that both Galactic and MMM&P have been running searches on every name on the passenger list for every scrap on information they could get. If either side located your friends, they want their knowledge of what happened that caused the ship to crash. If those men belong to MMM&P, they may be heavily armed against anyone Galactic might send after them but are not a danger themselves. If they belong to Galactic, I doubt that your friends would have survived very long after the initial interrogation."

The idea that it might suddenly be open season on the Company was something that Riddick wanted to know more about. And who or what was MMM&P? But this wasn't the time for that discussion.

"If they located Imam and Jack, they know about me. I stayed here with them for six months before I smuggled myself on to Derius 4. In fact, it's certain that they do. They wouldn't send SOs after a kid and a holy man. Hired mercs would have done the job just as well, cheaper and with no trail back to who hired them. There should be wants out on me again."

"Not if they don't want you to exist until they find out what happened. As I said, your presence aboard the Hunter is a really touchy subject. We need one of those SOs to question. What they do or do not know about you could have a large effect on how we go about creating your new identity."

"SOs don't talk. Not even for somebody as talented as you are at interrogation."

"I'm thinking of someone as talented as Syrus. I can block their com signals with the skimmer's directional antenna; aim a white noise broadcast at their position. No one else will hear it but any signal they try to send won't be able to break through. Then, we need to use a diversion to split them up; something that they will want to check out but not so threatening that they will dig in and hold position instead. Do you know if there are any women in the compound?"

Riddick knew where she was heading. He didn't like it.

"If you're planning on doing something stupid, like running around screaming rape to see who it draws out, it isn't happening! The risk isn't worth what we would get. They're nothing but hired muscle. Their orders will be to either kill Jack and Imam or to take them to someone higher up. All they could tell us is if they're Forces or Company Fixers. Either way, it's the same devil. With what's happening to your Institute, you should know that. If you've got something on the skimmer that will kill them, do it. Otherwise, we do it my way."

He could almost see the wheels turning behind her eyes. And those eyes! Riddick had never experienced shined eyes from this side of the shine for more than the few seconds it took for him and his shiv to dim them forever. Now, with ample time to study Jenna's, he could understand how they could be 'beautiful'. The deciding factor in that was knowing that the person behind them had no intention of killing you. Just another proof that Jenna had no fear of him from the very beginning. That's the way it had been with Jack. Riddick became very curious about what would happen when the two met. He was drawn out of these thoughts by Jenna's reply.

"You left out one possibility. Those men may be working for MMM&P. If that is the case, it would be best to capture both alive. But you're right, of course. We must see to your friends safety before anything else. Let me jam their com so they can't send any warnings if they become suspicious."

As Riddick watched her pluck another gadget off of her belt and begin tapping instructions into it, he had the definite feeling that this discussion wasn't over. He made a partial surrender and began racking his brain for some way to get her what she wanted, two very alive SOs, without letting her take any foolish risks. He was also wondering, again, what in the hell MMM&P was that would make it so important to take these men prisoner if they worked for it.

She finished with the gadget and hooked it back on her belt.

"Their com is blocked."

"What else will that control do?"

"Any function of the skimmer that doesn't require a full keyboard."

"What weapons does it have?"

"Sadly, only a disrupter cannon. A pulse cannon would require so much power that the skimmer couldn't stay airborne. Also, the com can broadcast any energy wave length and modulation that you want but the beam is too wide for it to be much better that the cannon as an anti-personnel weapon. The broadcast blocking their com is probably blocking your friend's system as well."

Riddick sudden had a possible answer to capturing the SOs alive.

"What about light?"

He could see a sadistic smile curve her lips.

"The landing lights can produce enough lumens to burn out their optic nerves at close range. At a lower level it will give them sun spots for hours. They were watching the road and the compound but ignoring the other third of their perimeter. Why don't we sneak up on them as close as we can and see if it works? You really don't want your friends in the skimmer when we do, do you?"

Riddick tried one more time to slow her down.

"What about Jeeter?"

"He should still be unconscious. But just in case.... " She keyed the skimmer control again and then spoke softly. "Jeeter, if you can hear me, there are going to be some fireworks. The skimmer is well armored. Just keep your head down until I unlock the doors."

Oh, that was fucking funny. Not only had she stunned Jeeter, she had locked him in his room. A muffled, angry snort came back across the link and made it even funnier. She must have used the next to lowest setting on the stunner for him to be conscious this soon.

"I don't think he's talking to you any more."

"You think so?" She keyed the control again. "Jeeter, I can either space you for attempted mutiny or I can offer you new eyes so this problem doesn't occur again."

There was a short silence then the link whispered again.

"I'll keep my head down, Lady."

As Riddick watched Jenna finish pre-coding the skimmer for the attack on the command post, he compared her method of command to those of the many officers and non-coms he had known. She came out very near the top of the stack; a perfect combination of "boy do you know how bad you fucked up?" and "we'll fix the problem instead of you ... this time!". It was also completely different from the style she used with him; logic and, when that didn't work, dogged persistence that absolutely exhausted him. Come to think of it, she worked him the same way Jack worked him. With Jack, he could always draw the line and make it stick. With Jenna, he wasn't having much luck at that. Suddenly he wasn't so eager for the two of them to get together.

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Jenna finished programming the skimmer and signaled Riddick to lead the way back to the command post. Once they had slithered into a good position, all she would need to do was hit the execute button on the controller. After that, it would be nothing but a matter of clean-up. She had a problem with that. Killing the others had been necessary; stunners made a very identifiable noise that would have carried the distance between the posts. The SOs were already scheduled for stunning but what of the locals? She really had no stomach for slaughtering blinded men no matter what kind of garbage they might be. She reached out and tugged on Riddick's cloak. When he turned, she put her mouth close to his ear.

"If the locals are blinded, I don't want them killed."

Jesus, what was he doing? He was nibbling on her earlobe! All that macho ego bullshit during hyper and now, in the middle of a night raid where he knew nothing could come of it, he was driving her straight up a wall again?! Just as she was about to utter a few dozen nasty comments about teasing, Riddick gave a soft rumble that was shockingly close to a sigh and abruptly pulled away.

"You take care of the cripples and I'll handle anyone still fighting. But do me a favor, sweet thing. Until this is over, use hand signals."

Ooooh ........ Jenna didn't know if the sudden heat in her cheeks was due to embarrassment at the awful things she had been thinking about him or pleasure that she should have such an effect on him. It just didn't seem possible that someone like him could find her so desirable. She had no doubt that it was nothing but chemistry and lust but why now and with him when never before and no one else. Damn, he was driving her crazy with this stuff.

The attack was a complete success. As soon as they had crawled as close as Riddick would allow, Jenna signaled Riddick to pull his cowl completely over his face. She did the same with her own and, as an extra precaution, slid her arm over his back until her cloak covered both of their heads as well. She tapped the execute and began her count. It seemed to take a little longer than she had anticipated for the skimmer to drop down between the men and the compound. The greeting she had programmed issued from the skimmer's external speakers. A short count of two, Jenna saw a hint of light through the double layer of material and four male voices were screaming in agony.

The hint of light disappeared. Giving Riddick a pat to signal the all clear, Jenna rose and charged the command post. There was one small problem. One of the natives, blind as a bat, was swinging his scimitar around like a razor edged windmill. Jenna drew her Saracen and blocked his blade just as he was about to decapitate one of his own companions. With gentle taps of her blade against his, Jenna lured him away from the group, swept his feet from under him, hit his butt with the stunner as he went down and finally rendered him totally unconscious with a neck hit. She turned to find that Riddick had already stunned the other three and was busy stripping the SOs to their underwear.

"Let Jeeter out and have him start stripping the natives. The two of you can cut their robes into strips and tie everyone up while I see what's going on in the compound. By the way, did I hear right when the skimmer came in? 'Yuuuu Hoooo'?"

"Well, I wanted them to look, not start shooting."

Jenna used the control to unlock the skimmer. Then tried to think of some way to open what was sure to be a very touchy subject.

Ah ....... About the sword thing?"

Oh, God, please don't let him be angry. I've pushed him so far tonight. Don't let it be too far.

"I saw. It was an automatic reflex .. and a good one. I couldn't have stopped him from killing one of them. Ben said you were good with that thing. He was right. You can sign me up for lessons." Then he looked behind her. "Jeeter, help Jenna with this while I check out the compound. Call me when the SOs are ready to load."

As Jenna told Jeeter what they were doing and why, she watched Riddick walk toward the fountained, front courtyard of the compound. She had not noticed before how beautiful it was; a colorful but tasteful garden of Islamic mosaics and pleasantly gurgling and frothing fountains. But for all of that, the only thing that really interested her was Riddick. As he reached the edge of the courtyard, he stopped, pulled off his cloak and waited. The naked expanse of his arms, shoulders and back made her breath catch in her throat.

Then the catch became a hard lump. The double doors of the compound flew open. A beautiful young woman rushed out, her long blond hair streaming behind her as she ran across the courtyard and straight into Riddick's arms.

"I knew you'd come for us. I told him you would."

Jenna turned away so quickly she almost jerked the strip of robe Jeeter was talking from her out of his hand. Even the anguished sobbing, the sound of too long bottled-up fear being uncorked, couldn't make her look back again.

"That one of Barrol's friends?"

Jenna kept tearing strips without looking up. She couldn't stand for Jeeter to see her face. She knew she had to make some answer but couldn't think of what to say nor how to keep her voice steady. Finally she mumbled the very thought she wanted to avoid.

"He said they were 'a holy man and a kid' .. but .... Oh God, I'm being so stupid."

It surprised her when Jeeter reached over and patted her on the knee.

"Oh, not all the way, Lady. She don't look like no kid to me, either. But if you'd ah kept watching, that's just what she is to him. The way he's holding her, it's like Ma held one ah us when we were scared or hurting. Go ahead, look."

The sobs were growing so quiet that Jenna knew if she didn't look soon her chance would pass. She forced herself to do it. Jeeter was right. Riddick had sat down on a bench and the young woman was curled into a tight ball in his lap. Her fisted hands were tucked under her chin and her face pressed tightly against his chest. He was rocking her side to side, gently patting her back and, judging by the movement of his lips, repeating the same calming phrase over and over.

He must have seen the shine of her eyes. He made a wiping motion over his face and then motioned her to come to him. Tearing off two good sized patches of the robe she was stripping, Jenna did just that with one small detour. Stopping at one of the fountains, she wet one of the patches and wrung most of the water out of it before handing it to him. He immediately pried the young woman's face away from his chest and began washing away the tear stains.

"It's been pretty hard on the kid, Jenna. Those animals have had them penned up for over a week."

The young woman pulled the rag away from her face.

"I'm not a kid!" Then her lower lip started quivering. "But maybe I am. Oh, Bro! Everything you taught me and I couldn't figure out anything to do."

Riddick set her off of his lap onto the bench beside him and forced her to take the rag.

"Damn it, Jack. I taught you what you needed to know to break away and run, not take on a fucking army. Now, finish cleaning up. There's someone important I want you to meet."

Jack began scrubbing her face with the rag. Jenna had to do something about that. She patted Jack's hand and tugged at the rag.

"Please, let me freshen that for you."

Jack released the rag. Jenna crossed back to the fountain, wet and wrung it again, waved it to cool it and then folded it into a thick strip. She handed it to Jack with a brief explanation.

"If you lay this across your eyes and refold it whenever it warms up, it will take down the swelling better."

Jack looked at her with a good bit of suspicion.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Jenna, Captain of the 'Hole in the Wall'." Then she leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Riddick has contracted to be my First Officer and teach me how to survive in this big, bad universe. My Second Officer, Jeeter, knows him as Barrol and the rest of my crew know him as First and Jeeter as Second. We all have our little secrets. "

"It sounds like you're planning on taking us with you."

"If that's what you want. If you have someplace on New Mecca where you will be safe, I can take you there just as easily."

"Hell, no! I've been stuck here for four years. This time I go with Bro."

Riddick joined the conversation.

"Don't I have a say in this?"

"No!"

The two women had chorused the word. Jenna thought that Riddick's look of pained resignation was priceless. She just barely managed not to even smile.

"I should have known. Jack will you put that thing on your eyes and tell us what is going on here."

Jack leaned against the back of the bench, placed the wet cloth over her eyes and began talking. Jenna was impressed with the way she cut everything to bare bones; reciting it calmly, clinically; with the same voice and attitude Jenna expected from a good psychiatric assistant. Once past the initial shock, Jack was proving to have strong metal underneath.

"First, there are four of us involved: Mira, Nagia, Imam and myself. Emir Kaseem is dying. Mira, whose bloodline traces back to most of the founding families of New Mecca, was his ward. Sulleman, Kaseem's nephew, wants to be the next Emir and marriage to Mira would cinch his claim. Mira can't stand him. Kaseem refused his suit. Kaseem fell ill and has been get sicker by the day so he made Mira Imam's ward to protect her from Sulleman. Now, Imam is ill and getting worse and we have sets of Sulleman's private thugs keeping us prisoner. The off worlders showed up the third day of the siege. Because of their clothes, I figure mercs planning on torturing Imam and me until they get a clue to where Bro is hiding out. Last little fact: the same physician was treating both Kaseem and Imam until I refused to let him into the compound anymore because Imam always got sicker after his visits instead of better. The only one of us caught in this mess for no good reason is Nagia. She belongs to Mira. Nurse, companion, chaperone, ladies maid .... anything you can think of. Most of the time it's more like Mira belongs to her. But she's ok. I get the feeling she could kick some serious ass if anyone tried to hurt Mira. Was I right about the mercs, Bro?"

"We don't know but we're taking the two here along to have a chat about it. So you want off planet but what about the others?"

"Nagia goes where Mira goes. Mira doesn't talk much but I'm pretty sure she'd like a different kind of life. But that's up to Imam. She's his ward. I think he will order her off planet because there really isn't any place safe from Sulleman on New Mecca. Imam going will be the problem. He was already headed into another depression over the boys. The sicker he gets the worse that gets. He's been into his 'Will of Allah' death chant ever since the siege began. He was even talking about arranging a 'good marriage' for me until the mercs came. Like that's really going to happen while I'm still breathing! You know how he gets Bro. Talking doesn't work. You're just going to have to tie him up and carry him."

"Hey! How about some help out here? These bums are ready to be packed!"

Jeeter's unfamiliar voice shouting out of the dark brought Jack up off of the bench. Her hand was scrambling for something in her sash belt that wasn't there. Neither Riddick nor Jenna attempted to touch her. Seeing that something was disturbing Riddick, Jenna spoke to Jack; making sure that her voice was strong but calm.

"That's Jeeter, my Second Officer. Why don't we go out there so I can introduce you to him properly. I'd like to borrow your system and expertise to help him do some hacking for me."

Like any true hacker, Jack was immediately focused.

"You don't have a hack system on your ship?"

Jenna smiled. The hook was taken; now to set it.

"The Hole has a top of the line hack system but we have a little tarantula problem. We've disabled the hardware but are still working on the programming side. I've been told it's rather difficult to find."

Jack's face was glowing with challenge as she walked with Jenna toward the skimmer.

"Oh, yeah. Nasty. Like trying to find one particular gnat in a swarm. I think I have at least three versions of tarantula search and destroy progs but they keep changing the beast. As soon as we finish your hack, I'll start packing up my system."

Damn! Jenna had just gotten Jack functioning on a, for her, solid base and now she was being forced to jeopardize it. She fiddled with the skimmer control to give herself some time to think about how to deal with the problem: turning on the interior lights, swinging the rear of the skimmer toward the command post and opening the loading hatch. This brought an appreciative gasp from Jack.

"Wow! So that's where all that light came from. It doesn't show on the security scanners at all."

Jenna crossed her fingers, mentally.

"It's electronically invisible when all its shielding is engaged. It's a very sweet little machine but, as you can see, not very big. ... Damn, Jack, this is hard to say. I know how it is going to feel, especially after everything else you've been through. Ben .... he's my little brother the way you're Barrol's little sister ... Losing his system would be like having his heart ripped out." Jenna took a deep breath and continued. "There just isn't going to be room for anything but your data. I promise, swear, that I'll replace every piece of your equipment. If there is something special Ben can rebuild it for you. You'll also have access to the full mainframe of the Hole."

Jenna finished and held her breath. She couldn't force herself to look at Jack. Then she felt a soft touch on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's all right. Equipment is replaceable. It's the data that counts. Besides, it sounds like I'm getting the most fantastic upgrade in the universe. Damn, you're as tall as Bro."

If anyone is out there listening, thankkkk youuuu. Jenna held one foot up in the light so that Jack could see the exaggerated soles of her boots.

"It's a cheat. I was wearing platform shoes when Barrol and I first met and I guess he liked it. When we designed the uniforms, he added them to my boots. Now, let me introduce you to Jeeter."

It took only a few minutes to make the introduction and get Jack headed back to the residence with Jeeter following at a respectful distance. It seemed that he was taking the glare that Riddick had thrown at him very seriously. Jenna was doing her best not to laugh.

"Relax. There are three other people inside and, believe it or not, Jeeter knows how to behave around family. He understands what Jack means to you and would think of insulting her any more than he would me."

All she received for this effort was a deep growl and continued low rumblings for most of the time it took for them to store away the weapons and the SOs in the skimmer. Finally she made another effort to put Riddick's mind on another track.

"Why don't you tell me about the Imam's depressions and their cause. As sick as Jack seems to think he is, I would rather find a way to get him to agree to go with us. Forcing him could worsen his condition."

She turned to find Riddick staring at her, studying her. She couldn't get a single clue from his face as to what he was thinking. Then, his face morphed into a very good impression of a gleeful Lucifer.

"You're going to argue religion with Imam. This I have to see."

"No."

"Yes."

"No. This is going to be hard enough without his having an audience to stiffen his back."

"Yes. He has preached at me, one way or another, for four years. During all that time he never gave me one thing I could grab onto like I could what you said in a few minutes when we were in hyper. Now, I've got the chance to see the two of you go head to head. I.. am.. not.. missing.. that! Now come here."

As he pulled her against him, Jenna managed to get one hand between their faces to block him from kissing her. He didn't say anything, just looked at her questioningly.

"If you're expecting some master level contest of religious philosophies, you are going to be disappointed. I will be using a weak, sick old man's own religious beliefs to manipulate him. It doesn't matter that it is for his own good ..... Shit, what an over-used little bit of rationalization that phrase is. ... As I said, that doesn't matter. It's still manipulation; yoyo-ism at its worst. ... Rick, .. I really, really don't want you to see me that way."

Riddick let go of her long enough to move her arms up and around his neck. Embracing her tightly, once more, he kissed her; a single, gentle, almost chaste kiss. Then, he laid her head on his shoulder.

"Ben told me that you really enjoyed the games I played with the yoyos; taking their own religion, their science, and dusting them with it. Well, sweet thing, this is going to be exactly the same thing because that weak, sick, old man you're talking about is a heavy layer of stubborn over a slab iron core. But I'm putting my money on you. Just don't you go soft on me."

Jenna stood there; content to be wrapped in the heat, the scent, the feel of him; more importantly, wrapped in the aura of his acceptance of her and belief in her. All too soon the magic was broken as Riddick withdrew slightly and spoke.

"We got company coming. It looks like the exodus has begun."