I NEVER RECEIVED A NOTICE WHEN I POSTED CHAPTER 46. If FF really didn't send out any, PLEASE, PLEASE READ CHAPTER 46 BEFORE YOU READ THIS or you will be totally out of the loop.
AND YES, THIS IS THE EPILOGUE. It has been a wonderful journey for me and I can only hope that it has been the same for my readers. I wish to take this opportunity to thank every one of those that were kind enough to review. Bless you for the encouragement. To those who haven't yet, please do so at least this once, even if only to say hello.
THE MOTHER LODE BY ABRAXIS
Chapter 47 – Epilogue
Captain Djin ah Blakeney sat in the command slot on the bridge of her repaired and refurbished ship, White Cliffs. Sen had managed to soak the Company to the maximum in the judgments against it for the actions of its mercs. Not only had all the original damage been repaired but a great deal more. The central core was now properly fitted for the transport of large numbers of any living creatures, colonist or livestock. All four of her bays contained hyper-capable pod transports, hyper-capable Captain's yachts and planet-side skimmers. She and all of her auxiliary ships had the latest not-available-to-civilians security and com systems and were illegally armed to the teeth.
The Patrol was turning a blind eye to those systems and weapons as well as keeping a close one on the only hyper gate to the colony. The Court was almost certain to wrest control of the Institute away from the current Company and Forces influenced Board of Directors and, should the colony prove viable, allow it to relocate most of its facility housing to Sanctuary. While the Forces had been reined in so tight with heavy scrutiny from dozens of government control groups and oversight committees and a complete reorganization of the high command ranks that they were no longer a threat, no one expected the Company to lie down and roll over like a good little doggy. Once the full wealth and political weight of the Institute was behind the colony, there would be a permanent Patrol base established there to protect the 'brain trust' of the human race. Until then, it was up to the crew of the White Cliffs to see to it that the colonization proceeded and the Company lawyers didn't have any grounds to claim that it was in default of the basic planet development regulations and up for grabs again.
Lifting her attention from the mass of reports that still needed her official sign-off, Jenna watched Jack and Jeeter for a moment as they worked to make the final adjustments on the complicated route they would be taking back to Sanctuary to finish with this round of pick-ups. Both had healed; Jeeter, his one hand still badly disabled, running rings around any two handed man at his console and Jack, the best of the Keller pilots, wearing her scars as the badge of honor that they were. Jack was carrying their first child and it would probably arrive before the White Cliffs finished her run for the colony. But whenever the time came, Jenna would pull the White Cliffs out of any planet orbit she might be in and take her out system because Jack wanted her child born in space and Syrus delivering it.
Jenna tried to turn her attention back to the reports but she already knew that they would be in order, that everything was ready for the White Cliffs to fly free from this planet orbit. Then the irony of that thought darkened her mood. The White Cliffs would never be truly free. She would always be tied to the needs of the colony. The only ship that could ever give Jenna real freedom was the BC, resting in bay #1 with her accompanying yacht and skimmer, now known as the "Bonne Chance" and completely the private property of Djin ah Blakeney with no ties to the colony at all other than service as a pod transport at the discretion of her owner.
Part of the Company's money had been used to give her the hyper-drive controls and navigation systems necessary for exploration of that still very unknown space. Also, though her cargo hold was still pod size, her crew quarters had been expanded and refurbished to a state of luxury comfort for at least a double crew of six and a good number of non-crew dependents, with all the bells and whistles necessary to be completely independent for long periods in deep space.
It would still be quite some time before Jenna would be able to consider turning over her responsibilities as Captain of the White Cliffs to someone else and doing that, or simply enjoying the life of an independent trader, but it was a pleasant thought that that freedom was ready and waiting for her. No, it was more than that. It was the only thing that kept Jenna from stealing a damned ship and becoming an out and out smuggler every time she had to turn the White Cliffs back toward Sanctuary.
The truth was that, while Jenna would honor her responsibilities to the colony, the memories connected to its establishment were just too painful for her to ever be comfortable there, ever make a life there. In fact, the hard doses of reality that she had been forced to swallow since leaving the sheltered life of the Institute had gone a long way toward making her unfit for most types of 'civilized' environments, most especially those with permanent Patrol bases. Except for the few people that still held a place in her heart, the rest of the human race was an interesting place to visit but it wasn't a place that she wanted to live in.
It had been a strange journey for the wide-eyed romantic child/woman that had so confidently spread her wings seeking to escape the stifling confines of the Institute; full of so very many painful lessons about not only the people she had thought that she knew so well, and didn't, but also about herself. One of the most painful of those lessons was the difference between relying on her ability to analyze people to make decisions that would effect a course of treatment and being forced to rely on it to make decisions that would effect her own life, even her soul, perhaps.
Little had she realized just what she was asking for when she had asked Riddick to teach her what she needed to know to survive in the new life she was seeking; how deeply she would become involved in his own search for a new life as well; how enmeshed their separate journeys would become; how high the cost of freedom could be. She hadn't really understood it until she had faced the terror of the last few moments of the confrontation with Sikes.
Over two years had passed since that night but as the memory of it suddenly came flooding back to her it was still as sharp as freshly broken glass.
Her mind had frozen with disbelief, denial when Riddick had so flippantly drawled "… I guess it's time to spit in God's eye in person", dropped the laser into Sikes' lap and then just stood waiting. Perhaps Sikes had been in a similar condition because it had seem like such a very long time passed before his hand finally moved toward the weapon and that movement had released her as well. Reaching for her pendant, she had attempted to speak.
"Ligh …"
"Don't!" Riddick's harsh command had drawn her eyes to his. "You said that whatever I decided was what we would do. Did you lie to me?"
"No." Jenna's throat was as tight now as it had been then and she wondered how she had choked out even that little word.
"Then don't do anything stupid. Not now. Not later."
As Riddick's attention had returned to the Patrol Commander, standing with his laser pointed at Riddick's chest, Jenna had found herself trapped in an internal battle between her promise to trust Riddick and her own panicked desperation to do something, anything, but sit there engulfed in helpless horror.
As the still too strong echoes of that remembered desperation rolled over her, she fought it as she had not been able to do then. Pushing her console aside, she stood. Controlling the urge to pant for breath with nothing but sheer will power and hoping that neither Jack nor Jeeter had noticed her distress, she crossed the bridge with as steady a pace as she could manage and entered the kitchen. Punching up a mug of coffee, she had to set it on the counter, untouched, because her hands were shaking too much to risk sloshing it all down the front of her uniform.
As she stood there, waiting for the temporary palsy to end, the sound of soft footsteps approaching from behind told her that she hadn't made her escape from the bridge unnoticed. Then, strong arms engulfed her, pulling her tight against a massive chest and a deep gravel-honey voice purred in her ear.
"Sikes dropping in to check up on us yesterday brought it all back, didn't it, sweet thing?"
"Yesssss. And as long as he has the official concern for the colony as a cover, we'll have to put up with it. I still think that you should have let me put that little gift from Syrus in his coffee. Syrus swore that it wouldn't kick in until after he was back on his own ship and would be just as undetectable as the stuff in my earrings."
The rumble of Riddick's laughter massaged the last of the tension from her back. "You and Syrus are two of a kind, no patience. I just finished decoding the message from Rafferty. The Court's decision on the Institute is a done deal. The White Cliffs will start relocating it to Sanctuary as soon as we finish this run. Rafferty was so pissed about his people being put on hold that he pounded Sen over the head with his part of their contract until he got proof of another very interesting fact out of Sen to shut him up. Another freighter just like the White Cliffs is already in transit for delivery to the colony to take care of his people. Because of your yoyo talents, we will be assigned to permanent Institute transport duty with at least two Patrol cruisers 'protecting' us at all times."
Jenna started shaking again; no palsy, just righteous rage.
"Son of a bitch! No wonder Sikes was in such a good mood. He and Sen are in bed together on this one."
One of Riddick's large hands moved in calming circles against her belly.
"True, but couldn't you have said that some other way. That's a really ugly picture."
"No uglier than what they are trying to do to us, the bastards!"
"You just need to look at it from a different side, sweet thing. With the Patrol to guard her, the White Cliff's doesn't need a battle proven crew any more. I'd say that it's time to pull our satchels out of the closet and give both Sen and Sikes something to really worry about. You talk it over with Jack and Jeeter and I'll clue Syrus and Archer in. We can all meet for dinner in the infirmary at end-shift to decide on when, where and how. And …" He spun her around and did his best to kiss her breathless before he continued. " … The only worry I want going through that not-quite-genius mind of yours is which direction we are going to point the BC's nose first."
Fin
