Author's notes:
Apartment assignments;
Jenna Riddick Jeeter Jack Ben xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Jeff Sasha-David
Nagia Syrus Mira Imam Sen xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx
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And NN and Genna - a special gift for both of you.
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THE MOTHER LODE BY ABRAXIS
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Chapter 23 - Let Each Be His Own Judge
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-
Jenna stared at the kneeling Nagia. If the woman expected summary judgement, that wasn't what she was going to get. She also knelt.
"Why?"
Nagia's head tilted up and she shied back at finding Jenna's face so close to her own. A confusion of thought passed behind her golden eyes before she settled on one.
"You are the Captain."
Jenna, satisfied with the mental stimulation her short, undefined question had provided, clarified it.
"No. Why did you poison the Imam and why have you now repented it?"
Nagia's face filled with disbelief. That anyone other than another slave would be interested in the motives of a slave was something completely outside of her experience. Her questioning expression was so intense that Jenna gave her a nod to assure her of the truth of it. Still, it was several moments before she decided to trust it enough to answer.
"I have a daughter. She is only ten years old. Sulleman threatened to sell her to a .......to a ......"
Nagia's head dropped again. She couldn't force herself to finish. And, it really wasn't necessary that she did. There wasn't anyone there who had any doubt as to what the nature of Sulleman's threat had been. Jeeter was looking murderous; another who would now want a personal hand in nailing down the lid of Sulleman's coffin. Syrus, whose Hippocratic Oath was his God, was looking with compassion on this most extreme blasphemer. Syrus didn't have much use for most adults but children never received even a whisper of his nasty temper.
"And if you succeeded?"
Slowly Nagia continued; her voice as hopeless as her posture.
"If I were to do this thing, he promised to free her; to send her to my family."
This raised another question for Jenna.
"Your family? Then you were not born a slave, were you?"
"No. I was sold for my husband's debts. It was he who had trained me in the use of herbs. I was carrying Sissua then. It was only because of the value of my training that I was allowed to keep her with me."
These revelations opened up a great many more questions; most especially how she had come to be in Mira's service from Sulleman's and if she had also been involved with the Emir's illness. However, those questions would wait until later. That Nagia had not been born into her slavery gave Jenna a deeper understanding of the woman. She led Nagia to the second part of her question.
"And now?"
Nagia's hands had been knotted together. Now, she raised one to heavily massage her forehead.
"You have taken Mira out of Sulleman's reach. Whether the Imam dies or not will not give him what he wants. I can only pray that what you have done will so occupy his mind that he will not remember that my Sissua exists."
There was no doubt as to where Nagia's loyalty lay. The only way to insure her further good behavior would be to tie it to the welfare of her daughter. Giving her some hope of being able to do something about that welfare was also the only way to get her off of her knees begging for death to release her from her impossible situation. Jenna had no trouble making her judgement of Nagia. Which was the worse sin: poisoning a stranger or failing to do everything in your power to protect your child. Or any child, for that matter. She stood up.
"That seems a logical possibility. Pawns are often forgotten when the Royal Row attacks. Has it occurred to you, Nagia, that, now that you are free, you no longer need to be a pawn? Your pay as Ship's Pharmacist will be Inner Systems Guild rate; a goodly amount by New Meccan standards. Once we are sure that Sulleman's attention is directed elsewhere, with the help of the Imam's contacts, it might be possible for you to purchase Sissua without Sulleman knowing that it is you who buys her."
"But ............ you can not mean to ................. after what I .............? No! You only torture me with what can not be! You are even crueler that Sulleman! Judge me and be done with it."
Nagia had raised her head and was staring at Jenna defiantly; daring her to take revenge on such a contemptuous slave. Jenna laughed. There was a hard edge to it that made Jeeter look surprised and Syrus give her a nod of understanding.
"Nagia, you have no idea of how cruel I really am. You'll get no judgement from me. Judge yourself. If you think that your Sissua will be better off motherless, then crawl over to those herbs and chew on whatever will give you your easy way out. If you are still willing to face the pain of life and do whatever you can for her, then stand up and start acting like a crewman of the 'Hole In The Wall' should act. But, if you do stand up, I never want to see you on your knees to anyone again. If I do, I'll put you off on the next settled planet we come to!"
Jenna turned to Jeeter.
"I'm going to my quarters to bathe and change uniforms. I suggest that you and First do the same and then join me on the bridge."
Without even glancing at the still kneeling Nagia, Jenna strode out of the BC. What she had done was shock therapy at it's most basic. She would leave it to Syrus to smooth the edges of it and answer all the questions Nagia would need answered. It wasn't until she reached her apartment that she remembered that all the uniforms were still in the bridge lounge. She intercomed the infirmary and left a message requesting that Jeeter and Riddick bring them to the apartment level. Then, she called Ben and requested that he voice code the apartment next to hers for Riddick and the next one for Jeeter and enter 'First' and 'Second' on the id panels of the doors.
When Ben jokingly threatened to change hers to 'Captain', she told him to do just that and to change all the others to the crew position of their occupants. Then, she assigned apartments: the Imam, next to Mr. Sen; Mira, the next; Nagia, on the other side of Syrus from the Imam's; and Jack next to Ben's. Reflecting on the favorable circumstance that she, Mr. Sen, Syrus and Ben had preferred apartments on the other end of the corridor from the trio, she set her outer door to open to Riddick and Jeeter for the delivery of the uniforms. Securing the door of her bathroom behind her, she began to draw a lilac scented bath.
Stripping quickly, she lowered herself into the tub while the water was still tepid and luxuriated in the sensation as it slowly warmed to the upper limit of human tolerance. It was heavenly. What the six hours of sleep had done for her mind, the steaming water now did for her body. At the height of her relaxation, the intercom chimed loudly. Frowning at the interruption but thanking the foresight that had provided a unit close at hand even in the bath, she opened the voice channel. Suddenly, she was at a loss as to how to answer it. After a second's hesitation, she chose the formal mode.
"Captain here."
"Ah yes, my child, and what an excellent one you are. You have more than lived up to my expectations for you."
The self-congratulatory tone of Mr. Sen's voice caused Jenna to smile ruefully.
"Dr. ... Mr. Sen. Am I to assume that you had written my assumption of authority over the ships into your plans before I was even aware of its possibility?"
"There was a high probability of it from the first, my dear. The more deeply you became emotionally involved with the construction and preparation of the ships the greater that probability became. The colony was never your dream of sanctuary; nor should it have been. You were forced into the Institute by circumstance. It wasn't something you chose, like the rest of us, because the world outside was tedious or frightening. But I must say that your outside associations, most particularity with our First and Second Officers, have precipitated it sooner than I expected. Propitious, very propitious. Most especially since it resulted in the acquisition of Mr. Rafferty. Which brings me to the reason for disturbing you. I have a small request. Would it be possible for us to remain here, in close proximity to the availability of Hyper-communication until Ben can re-establish our com abilities?"
Jenna considered this. With the Hole's shielding, their being detected, even by a concentrated search, was highly unlikely. A visual search just wouldn't be something that would be considered. The human race had become too depended on their electronic extensions to think of using their own limited senses. There was also the fact that the last thing anyone would expect, once they discovered that the Imam and Mira had not been transported to some other part of New Mecca, would be for those who had taken them off planet to remain in the New Meccan system. Staying here in hiding was probably a much safer plan than her own had been.
"Have you checked with Ben to see how long it might be before he can do that?"
"Oh yes. He and our new Nav Officer have already located the foreign creature's programming and are ascertaining what information it was to search out and transmit. He assures me that the com will be cleared within two hours. I, however, may need a little longer than that to organize the messages I wish to send and the replies I expect will take a great deal longer to collect. There may be a need for several exchanges of messages. It depends heavily on Ben's report of what information has been compromised. May I recommend that you take a little leisure time. It may be that my inquiries will necessitate another speedy departure when they are completed."
Lying limp as a noodle in her steaming bath, Jenna saw deep wisdom in this last suggestion. Agreeing to Mr. Sen's plan, she contacted both Jeeter and Riddick and advised them that they were off duty until advised otherwise. She then contacted Ben to make arrangements to take Jack and Mira off of his hands and get them settled in and to apologize for the fact that he would get no relief until Mr. Sen and completed his project since no one but Ben could handle the routing necessary to keep anything from being tracked.
She found that she needn't have bothered. Mr. Sen had already assigned Sasha, as Environmental Enhancement Officer, the duty of settling in all the new arrivals and Jack was returning as soon as possible to assist Ben with the transmittal and collection of Mr. Sen's correspondence. It also seemed that they weren't in as bad a position as they had feared. Ben informed her that all the tarantula had been programmed to transmit was their location. Everything else, identities and all, were still secure and operative. They could take an orbit around New Mecca right now as the heavy transport 'The Hole In The Wall' and no one would question their identity. More importantly, all of their secret caches and investments of funds were safe and available.
Jenna didn't want to dampen Ben's enthusiasm so she didn't voice her opinion that she would only be sure things were that good when Mr. Sen confirmed it. Instead, she told him that because of what had occurred on planet she still wanted to keep the ship's security on high alert until Mr. Sen had finished his business and they had time to decide on what future course of action was best. She chit-chatted with Ben for a few more minutes and was about to end the conversation when he said something that surprised and pleased her perhaps even more than the solution of the tarantula.
"You know, Jen, I really thought that you had gone over the edge when you gave Sasha that title and made out like it was such a big deal. But, I was wrong. I've been watching on the security cameras and she's really serious about it. Wait until you see the new paint jobs, furniture and decorations in the common rooms. She's had Jeffie and David working like gang labor re-doing them. Meals on a schedule, too, and she made sure I got a plate from the main dinning hall every one of them. Even brought me a change of clothes and some personal stuff I wanted. And not one attempt to get me to say anything about what was going on with you guys. It may all be an act but it is sure a lot easier to put up with than her old one. How did you know?"
Jenna gave a small chuckle.
"If you will remember Ben, that's my vocation; to know about people. Sasha is a born hostess and social planner. She was a royal bitch because the life we led at the Institute was smothering her, boring her to death. But, if you want her to stay nice, you better attempt to be very complimentary about the things she does. If she starts getting bored again, we'll have the old Sasha back."
"Oh. Don't want that at all. But how many times can she re-do the commons before that happens? You better think up some more ways to keep her busy."
"She'll have a new theme to decorate for every week. I'm hoping that will do for a long time. Call me if anything important happens. Ok?"
"Ok, ah ....... I'm glad you're back, Jen."
"So am I, Benji, so am I."
Jenna switched off the intercom and relaxed back in the tub once more. Well, she had that down time she had been wanting a lot sooner than she had expected to have it. Suddenly she was apprehensive. So far, everything that had happened between her and Riddick had been ....... she searched for the word to express what she was feeling. She finally settled on 'spontaneous'. There had always been some reason, some external purpose for their being together. But now ........ Now, there would be only one reason that either of them would seek out the company of the other. This time there would be nothing to interrupt, nothing to limit what happened. Jenna's heart began to beat wildly but it wasn't excitement, it wasn't arousal; it was fear.
All the things she had read suddenly meant nothing, had no value. What if she wasn't ......... What if he wasn't ........... What if it wasn't ......... Then even worse thoughts. What was she supposed to do? Wait for him to come to her? What if he didn't? Would that mean he didn't want her or that he wanted her to come to him? Had it all been a tease? And if she did go to him? What the hell did you wear to knock on a man's door and ask if he wanted to ......to ...... Oh, God! Why couldn't he have just let it happen while they were in hyper; just let it happen!
When it came to fight or flight, Jenna was definitely the 'fight' type. The adrenalin began pumping. She quickly finished her bath by washing her hair. Jerking herself out of the tub, she toweled herself dry with such vigor that her ivory skin took on a pink tint. Wrapping the towel around her, she flung open the bathroom door and stalked into the bedroom. She was brought up short by the sight that was framed in the doorway to the living room; a broad back and bare arms, revealed by a tank style shirt, a very manly butt and strong muscular legs, covered by taunt black trousers. Riddick was bent over, leaning on his arms, his head invisible behind his body, studying the contents of the console holding the spools of her favorite musical recordings. He spoke without changing position.
"It's your music. What would you like to hear?"
There was something odd in his voice but Jenna was too relieved to have part of her fears disappear to really hear it. She struggled with his question, her mind frantically searching for any music she might have that could be considered suitable to what was about to happen. The only spool number she could remember was that of the melancholy ballads of love, death, magic and fate of the ancient Celts; perhaps because they were her favorites when she needed solace. She blurted it out just to end the silence.
As the haunting notes of the first melody twined around her, Riddick turned, straightened and walked toward her. She took a step back. Her mind fought to find something familiar in the stranger approaching her with the graceful stealth of the hunter.
"You were telling the truth, weren't you? You didn't download my picture."
Even the voice gave her nothing to help. Still deep and rumbling but so cold and hard, like granite against iron.
"No. I didn't."
"Maybe you should have."
Jenna stared at his face; its strong planes, no longer softened by beard or mustache, were made even harder by the snarling smile that twisted his full, sensual lips into thin lines. The skin of his scalp was also clean shaven and revealed the perfect death's-head contours of his skull. The shades he no longer needed hid his eyes as they had the first night they met. His too strong arms reached out. The muscles bulked as he pulled her roughly against him. Standing barefoot, without the equalizing platforms of her boots, he loomed over her. His hand captured her neck; his thumb laying easy but threateningly on her throat.
"Maybe your dreams of 'Rick' wouldn't have been so sweet with this face in them; the face his victims saw just before they died."
Then, Jenna understood.
"I never dreamed about 'Rick'."
Riddick laughed at her; a nasty laugh, full of derision.
"All that fuss and letter writing but no dreams? I think you're lying, sweet thing."
"Oh, there were dreams, all right, but not about 'Rick'. They were about Richard B. Riddick and ....... they weren't about love; they were about combat."
Jenna knew that she had made a solid strike. Riddick's hold on her loosened slightly. The deepening of the lines in his face told her that his eyes had narrowed. His whispered reply was barely louder than a breath.
"What?"
"Combat ........... of the mind. A battle of intellect and will. The ultimate game that the yoyos were never able to provide you with a suitable opponent to play. But you're right ...... "
The loosening of his hold on her had given her arms more freedom. She began to wander her hands along the planes of his sides and chest.
"...... I should have downloaded your pictures. Your body ......."
She increased the pressure of her fingers as she traced the patterns of muscles beneath the silky tank. Her hands moved higher, flexing across his shoulders.
"..... Your face ........"
She moved her hands to massage the tight ropes in his neck. Then, upwards again to caress hard jaw and cheek bones, trace the curves of his ears and finally to stroke the smooth, shorn scalp. Through it all, he stood immobile. His muscles tensed as if to prevent any reaction to her touches.
".... Then, I think, my dreams would have been something very different ....... much sweeter, not less."
Her hands settled; one at the nape of his neck; the other just above, cradling the base of his skull. She subtly urged him to lower his head toward hers. He resisted. Releasing her neck, he snatched the shades off and hurled them aside. His hands closed on her upper arms. His eyes bored into hers; dark-storm eyes that he had allowed her to choose for him.
"How can you ......"
In her mind, Jenna filled in the words he couldn't say.
"You were never ... never ... anything less than human to me."
A moan? A growl? It continued to rumble from him and into her as his lips crushed against hers; as his tongue battered for entry and she welcomed it; as their bodies and minds burned like hell's fires as each fanned the furnace they had created within the other.
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Author's note: No, I am not going to just fade into a sunset or rolling waves or any such thing. I have continued this in a seperate chapter for the benifit (?) of those readers under 17. The next chapter will definitely be 'R' rated. All readers under 17, please skip the next chapter. Nothing instrumental to the plot will be missed just the sex. That said, if I remember what I read in my young teen years correctly, this limitation is patently absurd. But, that's the way it is.
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Apartment assignments;
Jenna Riddick Jeeter Jack Ben xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Jeff Sasha-David
Nagia Syrus Mira Imam Sen xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx
-
And NN and Genna - a special gift for both of you.
-
-
THE MOTHER LODE BY ABRAXIS
-
-
Chapter 23 - Let Each Be His Own Judge
-
-
Jenna stared at the kneeling Nagia. If the woman expected summary judgement, that wasn't what she was going to get. She also knelt.
"Why?"
Nagia's head tilted up and she shied back at finding Jenna's face so close to her own. A confusion of thought passed behind her golden eyes before she settled on one.
"You are the Captain."
Jenna, satisfied with the mental stimulation her short, undefined question had provided, clarified it.
"No. Why did you poison the Imam and why have you now repented it?"
Nagia's face filled with disbelief. That anyone other than another slave would be interested in the motives of a slave was something completely outside of her experience. Her questioning expression was so intense that Jenna gave her a nod to assure her of the truth of it. Still, it was several moments before she decided to trust it enough to answer.
"I have a daughter. She is only ten years old. Sulleman threatened to sell her to a .......to a ......"
Nagia's head dropped again. She couldn't force herself to finish. And, it really wasn't necessary that she did. There wasn't anyone there who had any doubt as to what the nature of Sulleman's threat had been. Jeeter was looking murderous; another who would now want a personal hand in nailing down the lid of Sulleman's coffin. Syrus, whose Hippocratic Oath was his God, was looking with compassion on this most extreme blasphemer. Syrus didn't have much use for most adults but children never received even a whisper of his nasty temper.
"And if you succeeded?"
Slowly Nagia continued; her voice as hopeless as her posture.
"If I were to do this thing, he promised to free her; to send her to my family."
This raised another question for Jenna.
"Your family? Then you were not born a slave, were you?"
"No. I was sold for my husband's debts. It was he who had trained me in the use of herbs. I was carrying Sissua then. It was only because of the value of my training that I was allowed to keep her with me."
These revelations opened up a great many more questions; most especially how she had come to be in Mira's service from Sulleman's and if she had also been involved with the Emir's illness. However, those questions would wait until later. That Nagia had not been born into her slavery gave Jenna a deeper understanding of the woman. She led Nagia to the second part of her question.
"And now?"
Nagia's hands had been knotted together. Now, she raised one to heavily massage her forehead.
"You have taken Mira out of Sulleman's reach. Whether the Imam dies or not will not give him what he wants. I can only pray that what you have done will so occupy his mind that he will not remember that my Sissua exists."
There was no doubt as to where Nagia's loyalty lay. The only way to insure her further good behavior would be to tie it to the welfare of her daughter. Giving her some hope of being able to do something about that welfare was also the only way to get her off of her knees begging for death to release her from her impossible situation. Jenna had no trouble making her judgement of Nagia. Which was the worse sin: poisoning a stranger or failing to do everything in your power to protect your child. Or any child, for that matter. She stood up.
"That seems a logical possibility. Pawns are often forgotten when the Royal Row attacks. Has it occurred to you, Nagia, that, now that you are free, you no longer need to be a pawn? Your pay as Ship's Pharmacist will be Inner Systems Guild rate; a goodly amount by New Meccan standards. Once we are sure that Sulleman's attention is directed elsewhere, with the help of the Imam's contacts, it might be possible for you to purchase Sissua without Sulleman knowing that it is you who buys her."
"But ............ you can not mean to ................. after what I .............? No! You only torture me with what can not be! You are even crueler that Sulleman! Judge me and be done with it."
Nagia had raised her head and was staring at Jenna defiantly; daring her to take revenge on such a contemptuous slave. Jenna laughed. There was a hard edge to it that made Jeeter look surprised and Syrus give her a nod of understanding.
"Nagia, you have no idea of how cruel I really am. You'll get no judgement from me. Judge yourself. If you think that your Sissua will be better off motherless, then crawl over to those herbs and chew on whatever will give you your easy way out. If you are still willing to face the pain of life and do whatever you can for her, then stand up and start acting like a crewman of the 'Hole In The Wall' should act. But, if you do stand up, I never want to see you on your knees to anyone again. If I do, I'll put you off on the next settled planet we come to!"
Jenna turned to Jeeter.
"I'm going to my quarters to bathe and change uniforms. I suggest that you and First do the same and then join me on the bridge."
Without even glancing at the still kneeling Nagia, Jenna strode out of the BC. What she had done was shock therapy at it's most basic. She would leave it to Syrus to smooth the edges of it and answer all the questions Nagia would need answered. It wasn't until she reached her apartment that she remembered that all the uniforms were still in the bridge lounge. She intercomed the infirmary and left a message requesting that Jeeter and Riddick bring them to the apartment level. Then, she called Ben and requested that he voice code the apartment next to hers for Riddick and the next one for Jeeter and enter 'First' and 'Second' on the id panels of the doors.
When Ben jokingly threatened to change hers to 'Captain', she told him to do just that and to change all the others to the crew position of their occupants. Then, she assigned apartments: the Imam, next to Mr. Sen; Mira, the next; Nagia, on the other side of Syrus from the Imam's; and Jack next to Ben's. Reflecting on the favorable circumstance that she, Mr. Sen, Syrus and Ben had preferred apartments on the other end of the corridor from the trio, she set her outer door to open to Riddick and Jeeter for the delivery of the uniforms. Securing the door of her bathroom behind her, she began to draw a lilac scented bath.
Stripping quickly, she lowered herself into the tub while the water was still tepid and luxuriated in the sensation as it slowly warmed to the upper limit of human tolerance. It was heavenly. What the six hours of sleep had done for her mind, the steaming water now did for her body. At the height of her relaxation, the intercom chimed loudly. Frowning at the interruption but thanking the foresight that had provided a unit close at hand even in the bath, she opened the voice channel. Suddenly, she was at a loss as to how to answer it. After a second's hesitation, she chose the formal mode.
"Captain here."
"Ah yes, my child, and what an excellent one you are. You have more than lived up to my expectations for you."
The self-congratulatory tone of Mr. Sen's voice caused Jenna to smile ruefully.
"Dr. ... Mr. Sen. Am I to assume that you had written my assumption of authority over the ships into your plans before I was even aware of its possibility?"
"There was a high probability of it from the first, my dear. The more deeply you became emotionally involved with the construction and preparation of the ships the greater that probability became. The colony was never your dream of sanctuary; nor should it have been. You were forced into the Institute by circumstance. It wasn't something you chose, like the rest of us, because the world outside was tedious or frightening. But I must say that your outside associations, most particularity with our First and Second Officers, have precipitated it sooner than I expected. Propitious, very propitious. Most especially since it resulted in the acquisition of Mr. Rafferty. Which brings me to the reason for disturbing you. I have a small request. Would it be possible for us to remain here, in close proximity to the availability of Hyper-communication until Ben can re-establish our com abilities?"
Jenna considered this. With the Hole's shielding, their being detected, even by a concentrated search, was highly unlikely. A visual search just wouldn't be something that would be considered. The human race had become too depended on their electronic extensions to think of using their own limited senses. There was also the fact that the last thing anyone would expect, once they discovered that the Imam and Mira had not been transported to some other part of New Mecca, would be for those who had taken them off planet to remain in the New Meccan system. Staying here in hiding was probably a much safer plan than her own had been.
"Have you checked with Ben to see how long it might be before he can do that?"
"Oh yes. He and our new Nav Officer have already located the foreign creature's programming and are ascertaining what information it was to search out and transmit. He assures me that the com will be cleared within two hours. I, however, may need a little longer than that to organize the messages I wish to send and the replies I expect will take a great deal longer to collect. There may be a need for several exchanges of messages. It depends heavily on Ben's report of what information has been compromised. May I recommend that you take a little leisure time. It may be that my inquiries will necessitate another speedy departure when they are completed."
Lying limp as a noodle in her steaming bath, Jenna saw deep wisdom in this last suggestion. Agreeing to Mr. Sen's plan, she contacted both Jeeter and Riddick and advised them that they were off duty until advised otherwise. She then contacted Ben to make arrangements to take Jack and Mira off of his hands and get them settled in and to apologize for the fact that he would get no relief until Mr. Sen and completed his project since no one but Ben could handle the routing necessary to keep anything from being tracked.
She found that she needn't have bothered. Mr. Sen had already assigned Sasha, as Environmental Enhancement Officer, the duty of settling in all the new arrivals and Jack was returning as soon as possible to assist Ben with the transmittal and collection of Mr. Sen's correspondence. It also seemed that they weren't in as bad a position as they had feared. Ben informed her that all the tarantula had been programmed to transmit was their location. Everything else, identities and all, were still secure and operative. They could take an orbit around New Mecca right now as the heavy transport 'The Hole In The Wall' and no one would question their identity. More importantly, all of their secret caches and investments of funds were safe and available.
Jenna didn't want to dampen Ben's enthusiasm so she didn't voice her opinion that she would only be sure things were that good when Mr. Sen confirmed it. Instead, she told him that because of what had occurred on planet she still wanted to keep the ship's security on high alert until Mr. Sen had finished his business and they had time to decide on what future course of action was best. She chit-chatted with Ben for a few more minutes and was about to end the conversation when he said something that surprised and pleased her perhaps even more than the solution of the tarantula.
"You know, Jen, I really thought that you had gone over the edge when you gave Sasha that title and made out like it was such a big deal. But, I was wrong. I've been watching on the security cameras and she's really serious about it. Wait until you see the new paint jobs, furniture and decorations in the common rooms. She's had Jeffie and David working like gang labor re-doing them. Meals on a schedule, too, and she made sure I got a plate from the main dinning hall every one of them. Even brought me a change of clothes and some personal stuff I wanted. And not one attempt to get me to say anything about what was going on with you guys. It may all be an act but it is sure a lot easier to put up with than her old one. How did you know?"
Jenna gave a small chuckle.
"If you will remember Ben, that's my vocation; to know about people. Sasha is a born hostess and social planner. She was a royal bitch because the life we led at the Institute was smothering her, boring her to death. But, if you want her to stay nice, you better attempt to be very complimentary about the things she does. If she starts getting bored again, we'll have the old Sasha back."
"Oh. Don't want that at all. But how many times can she re-do the commons before that happens? You better think up some more ways to keep her busy."
"She'll have a new theme to decorate for every week. I'm hoping that will do for a long time. Call me if anything important happens. Ok?"
"Ok, ah ....... I'm glad you're back, Jen."
"So am I, Benji, so am I."
Jenna switched off the intercom and relaxed back in the tub once more. Well, she had that down time she had been wanting a lot sooner than she had expected to have it. Suddenly she was apprehensive. So far, everything that had happened between her and Riddick had been ....... she searched for the word to express what she was feeling. She finally settled on 'spontaneous'. There had always been some reason, some external purpose for their being together. But now ........ Now, there would be only one reason that either of them would seek out the company of the other. This time there would be nothing to interrupt, nothing to limit what happened. Jenna's heart began to beat wildly but it wasn't excitement, it wasn't arousal; it was fear.
All the things she had read suddenly meant nothing, had no value. What if she wasn't ......... What if he wasn't ........... What if it wasn't ......... Then even worse thoughts. What was she supposed to do? Wait for him to come to her? What if he didn't? Would that mean he didn't want her or that he wanted her to come to him? Had it all been a tease? And if she did go to him? What the hell did you wear to knock on a man's door and ask if he wanted to ......to ...... Oh, God! Why couldn't he have just let it happen while they were in hyper; just let it happen!
When it came to fight or flight, Jenna was definitely the 'fight' type. The adrenalin began pumping. She quickly finished her bath by washing her hair. Jerking herself out of the tub, she toweled herself dry with such vigor that her ivory skin took on a pink tint. Wrapping the towel around her, she flung open the bathroom door and stalked into the bedroom. She was brought up short by the sight that was framed in the doorway to the living room; a broad back and bare arms, revealed by a tank style shirt, a very manly butt and strong muscular legs, covered by taunt black trousers. Riddick was bent over, leaning on his arms, his head invisible behind his body, studying the contents of the console holding the spools of her favorite musical recordings. He spoke without changing position.
"It's your music. What would you like to hear?"
There was something odd in his voice but Jenna was too relieved to have part of her fears disappear to really hear it. She struggled with his question, her mind frantically searching for any music she might have that could be considered suitable to what was about to happen. The only spool number she could remember was that of the melancholy ballads of love, death, magic and fate of the ancient Celts; perhaps because they were her favorites when she needed solace. She blurted it out just to end the silence.
As the haunting notes of the first melody twined around her, Riddick turned, straightened and walked toward her. She took a step back. Her mind fought to find something familiar in the stranger approaching her with the graceful stealth of the hunter.
"You were telling the truth, weren't you? You didn't download my picture."
Even the voice gave her nothing to help. Still deep and rumbling but so cold and hard, like granite against iron.
"No. I didn't."
"Maybe you should have."
Jenna stared at his face; its strong planes, no longer softened by beard or mustache, were made even harder by the snarling smile that twisted his full, sensual lips into thin lines. The skin of his scalp was also clean shaven and revealed the perfect death's-head contours of his skull. The shades he no longer needed hid his eyes as they had the first night they met. His too strong arms reached out. The muscles bulked as he pulled her roughly against him. Standing barefoot, without the equalizing platforms of her boots, he loomed over her. His hand captured her neck; his thumb laying easy but threateningly on her throat.
"Maybe your dreams of 'Rick' wouldn't have been so sweet with this face in them; the face his victims saw just before they died."
Then, Jenna understood.
"I never dreamed about 'Rick'."
Riddick laughed at her; a nasty laugh, full of derision.
"All that fuss and letter writing but no dreams? I think you're lying, sweet thing."
"Oh, there were dreams, all right, but not about 'Rick'. They were about Richard B. Riddick and ....... they weren't about love; they were about combat."
Jenna knew that she had made a solid strike. Riddick's hold on her loosened slightly. The deepening of the lines in his face told her that his eyes had narrowed. His whispered reply was barely louder than a breath.
"What?"
"Combat ........... of the mind. A battle of intellect and will. The ultimate game that the yoyos were never able to provide you with a suitable opponent to play. But you're right ...... "
The loosening of his hold on her had given her arms more freedom. She began to wander her hands along the planes of his sides and chest.
"...... I should have downloaded your pictures. Your body ......."
She increased the pressure of her fingers as she traced the patterns of muscles beneath the silky tank. Her hands moved higher, flexing across his shoulders.
"..... Your face ........"
She moved her hands to massage the tight ropes in his neck. Then, upwards again to caress hard jaw and cheek bones, trace the curves of his ears and finally to stroke the smooth, shorn scalp. Through it all, he stood immobile. His muscles tensed as if to prevent any reaction to her touches.
".... Then, I think, my dreams would have been something very different ....... much sweeter, not less."
Her hands settled; one at the nape of his neck; the other just above, cradling the base of his skull. She subtly urged him to lower his head toward hers. He resisted. Releasing her neck, he snatched the shades off and hurled them aside. His hands closed on her upper arms. His eyes bored into hers; dark-storm eyes that he had allowed her to choose for him.
"How can you ......"
In her mind, Jenna filled in the words he couldn't say.
"You were never ... never ... anything less than human to me."
A moan? A growl? It continued to rumble from him and into her as his lips crushed against hers; as his tongue battered for entry and she welcomed it; as their bodies and minds burned like hell's fires as each fanned the furnace they had created within the other.
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Author's note: No, I am not going to just fade into a sunset or rolling waves or any such thing. I have continued this in a seperate chapter for the benifit (?) of those readers under 17. The next chapter will definitely be 'R' rated. All readers under 17, please skip the next chapter. Nothing instrumental to the plot will be missed just the sex. That said, if I remember what I read in my young teen years correctly, this limitation is patently absurd. But, that's the way it is.
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