Chapter Eight

Jack sat hunched at a computer terminal in the simulation lab of the Helion Advanced Flight Academy (HAFA). It was late, but Jack didn't mind. Earlier, she had shared the lab with several companions, but the others had gradually abandoned their studies for other pursuits, leaving her alone. Jack actually enjoyed the solitude because there were no distractions as she worked.

She and Imam had chosen HAFA from the available schools because it offered an accelerated program that would qualify her as a deep space navigator more quickly than the other options. She was a bit younger than some of the other students, but she wasn't the youngest in the program. That particular credit went to a pair of genius twins, Lisa and Lara Haare, who were ten.

Many of the other students avoided the twins. Shortly after she started at HAFA, Jack had heard someone describe them as 'spooky' because they seemed to communicate with one another without speaking. Jack made friends with them anyway, figuring they couldn't possibly be any more 'spooky' than a certain silver-eyed outlaw. She had found it was well worth the effort.

Unlike many schools for students Jack's age, HAFA did not work on an age-based grade level system. Instead, the school had six 'forms' through which a student could advance at his or her own pace based entirely on ability and merit. Jack had been placed in the second form upon entering the school. In the year and a half that she had attended HAFA, she had completed the second and third forms and was well into the fourth form. She anticipated that she would be able test into fifth form within another couple of months—one reason she had stayed so late that night.

Jack focused on the computer screen in front of her, intent upon the navigation problem she was tackling. It was a tough problem requiring her to plot a safe, shortest-time course through a region with a red giant and a small quantum singularity, but she was almost finished. She was so absorbed in the problem, that she did not notice a tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed boy of about eighteen enter the deserted lab carrying a small white box. He stopped briefly in the doorway and stared at her for a long moment. He then threaded his way stealthily through the rows of computer stations taking great care not to be heard until he was right behind her.

Jack sensed a presence; instinctively, she tensed and stopped working. She heard a movement behind her and simultaneously went into action herself. As the boy thrust the box in front of her and yelled, "Happy Birthday, Jack!", she spun her chair around clockwise, whipped out her right foot sweeping his left leg and then surged forward knocking him backward to the floor. She finally landed straddling him with her hand on his throat. The white box went flying and skidded to a stop several feet away from them.

The boy stared at her a moment in shock, then his face broke into a broad grin. "Well, that'll teach me to try to surprise a pretty girl on her birthday."

Jack looked from the boy to the box and back. "Dammit, Rob Harris, I've told you not to sneak up on me! Are you all right?"

"It's okay, Jack," he said, smirking as he looked significantly at her chest. "It was worth it if only for the view."

Jack glanced down following the line of his eyes. She was wearing a thin tank top with a low-scooped neck. When she had headed to the lab that evening, she had worn a thick sweater over the tank. The sweater now sat beside her computer station where she had discarded it earlier when she got too warm. She now discovered that the tank was more revealing than she had previously realized. Rob was staring at the inner curve of her small breasts, which were exposed by the gaping neck of her shirt as she leaned over him. Suddenly self-conscious, Jack blushed and stood awkwardly. She pressed her left palm against her chest holding the fabric against her skin then offered her other hand to Rob to pull him up.

"You're a fucking pervert," she told him matter-of-factly as she helped him to his feet.

"Nope, I'm a guy," he responded with a grin. "Best get used to it. We make up about half the population."

Jack rolled her eyes and pulled her sweater back on as he retrieved the box. "What's this?" she asked has he proffered it to her.

"Open it."

Cautiously, Jack lifted the lid to reveal four small, rather battered looking cakes. They were the dark brown of devil's food chocolate and bore the letters of her name in a slightly smeared, deep red gel. Rob stepped behind her and peered into the box over her shoulder. She looked back at him in amazement and her voice caught in her throat. "Where'd ya get 'em?" she asked.

"Made 'em. They looked a little better before their unscheduled flight, but I s'pose they'll still eat just fine," he said pleasantly as he dropped an arm around her and gave her a quick squeeze. "Look, I know your actual birthday was last weekend, but you spent it at home so I didn't see you. So… Happy Sixteenth Birthday, Jack."

Jack set the box aside, turned and hugged Rob tightly. "Thank you, Robby. This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me."

The boy hugged her back but gave her a puzzled look. "Cupcakes are one of the 'nicest things' ever?"

"It's not the cupcakes, it's the thought behind them," she told him with a shy grin and a shrug.

As she looked at Rob, his thoughtfulness hit her with an almost physical force. The memory of Riddick holding her on the shuttle charged into her mind unbidden, but then Riddick was never far from her mind. ("I dream of him. It's like he haunts me," she'd admitted to Imam as the family celebrated her birthday the previous weekend. The happiness of the evening had accentuated the void of his absence, and she had poignantly wished the big man could be there as well.) She forcefully pushed the thought of him away then deliberately changed the subject to something less emotionally charged. "Hey! You don't expect me to eat all these by myself do you?"

"Well, I kinda expected you'd share with me," Rob answered with a crooked grin.

"Hell, yes," Jack grabbed one of the small cakes and then shoved the box toward Rob. She sat down and leaned back in her chair. As she bit into the tiny pastry, an expression of sheer delight crossed her face- chocolate with raspberry jam filling. Raspberries were common on Galatea; however, they just didn't grow on Helion Prime, so they were a rare treat. Jack recalled telling Rob that they had been her favorite before she left her homeworld, but she had never expected him to go to such lengths for her. She relished the flavor chewing slowly as she stared at the cupcake in wonderment.

"Damn, girl, if I could only get you to look at me like that," he said noting her spellbound expression. Jack just waggled her eyebrows as she finished the first cake and reached for a second-Robby was always making suggestive comments like that.

Jack had met Rob the day she started at HAFA; he had been her 'orientation guide': a somewhat dubious honor placed on the fifth form students for some reason known only to the administration of the school. Rob had become her closest friend at the school. He had introduced her to the twins as well as several other students who became friends.

He was fond of referring to their little group as the 'Odd Squad', because each of them had some element that distinguished them from the student body at large, most of whom were the children of relatively wealthy, high-ranking individuals from a variety of star systems. Rob himself was the youngest son of one of Helion Prime's senior council members. Jack had once teasingly asked Rob what qualified him to be a member of the Odd Squad when he was so normal. "I'm odd, because I'm normal, but I like you oddballs better than the norms. I guess you'd say, I'm odd cause I wanna be odd," he'd informed her.

In the time she had known him, Rob never seemed to lack for female companionship. He had dated girls his own age from several schools in addition to their own. From what Jack had seen, his tastes ran to curvy girly-girls with large breasts rather than skinny tomboys. As one of the latter, she had fallen into a comfortable 'buddy' relationship with him. He good-naturedly teased her and tossed the occasional off-handed comment her way but she knew he wasn't serious.

Which is fine with me, I don't have time for any romantic shit, she thought with forced determination. Even if his eyes do look like deep water on a summer day… Whoa! Where the hell did that come from? Can't go there, Jackie-girl, he's your best friend.

"You're a good cook," she told him after she finished the final cupcake. She licked delicately at a small smear of raspberry on the corner of her mouth.

His eyes fixed with rapt attention on the tiny pink tip of her tongue that flicked out to recover the stray bit of jam. "You're a good eater," he replied finally. His eyes locked to hers with an intensity that was far from brotherly.

"Rob?" she said after a moment, perplexed by the focus of his gaze. She felt a thrill tingle through her body, He's not interested in ME is he? Don't be silly, Jack!

He looked away, blinked a couple of times and swallowed visibly. He then took a deep breath and exhaled before he turned back. He gave her a grin to defuse the tension and said nonchalantly, "Ya know, I'm gonna have to keep a closer eye on you in the cafeteria from now on. You do much eating like that and someone's gonna jump your bones."

Jack laughed and they both relaxed, but there was still an undercurrent of tension that hadn't been there before. Rob stretched in his chair, with his legs crossed at the ankles, feet propped on an empty desk.

As she finished her homework, he kept up a running banter with her that served to further diminish the remaining awkwardness between them. When she was finally satisfied with her solution, Jack sent the assignment to the instructor, and then packed her gear into a large shoulder bag. Before she could protest, he took the bag from her and swung it to his own shoulder.

"C'mon, I'll walk ya back to the dorm," he said and ambled toward the door to the lab.

Not for the first time, Jack was glad that she had talked Imam into letting her move into the dorm. HAFA was on the opposite side of New Mecca from Imam's house. Had she been living with him, she would have had a long, cross-town shuttle ride confronting her instead of a short, cross-campus walk. At first, she had felt a bit guilty about not staying with him, but Imam was so focused on his new family- especially little Ziza, who had joined them only ten months after the wedding- that Jack quickly decided it was probably best for all of them. Besides, the convenience meant that she could put in a lot more lab time, which meant she would be able to graduate sooner.

"By the way, Jack, where'd you learn that little move you used on me earlier?" Rob asked as they exited the building.

"I've been taking lessons," she said and glanced at him guiltily.

"What? When? In your sleep?" he asked. His voice held genuine shock. "You always seem to either be here studying or at home visiting your family."

"Hey, I spend time with you and the Squad, too," she shot back indignantly.

"Okay, or with me. So when do you have time for martial arts?"

"Um, you know those midweek dinners that Imam 'insisted' I come home for?"

"Yeah…" he agreed cautiously. "That's why you didn't join Jim's study group."

Jack made a face at the mention of Jim. He was Rob's age but was in Jack's form. He'd given her grief when she first started at HAFA and word got round that she was a former runaway. Ever chivalrous, Rob had almost gotten into a fight with him in defense of her 'honor'. His stance had definitely played a role in Rob quickly becoming her closest friend at the school. Of course, after Jack aced the first exam, Jim's mind had suddenly changed about her, and he had started pestering her to join his study group.

"No, I didn't join Jim's study group because he's a hypocritical ass. I made up the dinners so that no one else would invite me to join their group," she told him with another guilty look.

"Huh? Why?"

She spoke very quickly her words tumbling over one another as she tried to explain. "Like I said, I've really been taking these self-defense lessons… It's a new style called Danse de Guerre- Dance of War- that focuses on using explosive attacks for quick takedowns... I found out about it from the school bulletin board."

"Jack, slow down, you're gonna choke."

"Sorry, I lied," she apologized with sincere remorse.

"That's okay, Jack," he reassured her. He stopped and held her shoulders as he looked down at her. "But why didn't you tell me?"

"Cause I didn't tell Imam either," she admitted returning his gaze nervously and clasping her bottom lip in her teeth, nibbling gently.

"Why not?" he asked in a rather distant voice, as his eyes focused on her mouth again. She felt a thrill go through her at his intense regard. Jack saw his throat move as he swallowed then he forced his eyes back to meet hers. He cleared his throat, and in a more attentive voice, he repeated: "Why not?"

"He doesn't approve of violence. I didn't want him to give me any shit, but I had to…," she explained trailing off with a momentary haunted expression. Rob was the only person at the school that she had told about the crash that had brought her and Imam together, although she had left out certain rather large details, like one Richard B. Riddick. Knowing he would understand, she continued: "I needed to do something to make me feel more in control. To get rid of the fucking nightmares."

"I thought you already knew how to fight. That's what you said when I tried to step in with Jim. 'I can take care of myself just fine, Rob Harris,' you said," he grinned at her, raising his voice to a high-pitched falsetto as he imitated her.

"I don't sound like that," she defended. "But what I knew was all wild-kid fighting. Just stuff I'd picked up in the foster homes. Not a real martial art. The Danse classes also focus on meditation and discipline in addition to the actual fighting stuff. That's what I needed to get rid of the dreams."

"I think maybe you just need someone to keep you safe at night," he said cryptically as he stared at her a moment longer. His thumb stroked along her collarbone through the thick weave of her sweater, causing gooseflesh to rise along her arms. Then he abruptly released her shoulders and began walking toward her dorm once more. Jack stood stunned by his final remark. He was several steps away before she finally gave herself a mental shake and hurried to catch up. The tension from earlier had returned in full force, and they walked the rest of the way in electric silence.


Jack was glad she didn't have to make small talk after the encounter. Her mind was spinning at the thought that Rob might think of her as more than just a 'kid-sister' buddy. His comment about keeping her safe, sent images of Rob interposed with Riddick swirling through her head, leaving her feeling confused and flustered. What the hell! Riddick and Rob are nothing alike! Jack thought fiercely, but she knew that wasn't exactly true. They both made her feel safe, if in different ways. And they both gave her a sense of a real connection to another individual in the universe.

Jack couldn't say exactly why, given the short time she'd had with Riddick, but the man had touched her soul in a way that didn't fade over time. She suspected it had to do with the extreme nature of the circumstances under which they had met. After she had recovered from the pain of his leaving her-after she had accepted why he did it-he had become a source of inspiration for her. In light of the fact that he was a convicted killer, she knew that most people would question her sanity if they knew how she felt. Nevertheless, Jack always thought of Riddick when things were difficult. When she needed extra resolve to push through she would concentrate on Riddick-visualizing his face and sardonic grin. He was no "knight in shining-armor" ,or rather "shining-eyes", but his ability to persevere in the face of overwhelming odds gave her strength when she needed it.

She now realized that in many ways, Rob filled a similar place in her heart. When gloominess tried to overwhelm her, she would call Rob's face to mind and it made her feel lighter and happier. Any time something amused her, she wondered what Robby would think of it. Frequently, she would eagerly share it with him the next time she saw him so that they could laugh together. Where Riddick was her strength, Rob was her sense of humor.

And Imam's my fucking conscience. What kind of schizo-freak am I? she thought with amusement bubbling up inside of her. She glanced at Rob walking beside her and smiled inwardly. Guess I probably shouldn't share this particular little joke with him, though. At least not yet.

They reached the entry to her dorm, and Rob turned to face her. Apparently, her smile hadn't been as inward as she had thought, because he cocked his head to the side and asked, "What are you grinning at like that?"

Jack's smile broadened as she looked up at him and she answered honestly, "You, I think."

"Oh really?" he queried as a slow smile stretched at the corners of his mouth and he stepped close to her. He brushed his fingertips along the side of her face then rested his hand on the curve of her neck, brushing his thumb gently back and forth along her jaw line.

"You know, Jack, I never… uh, that is… I, um…" he stammered, at a loss for words. Jack couldn't recall seeing him quite that flustered before. She rested her palm against his chest, and she could feel the quickened pace of his heart.

"Oh, fuck it," he muttered finally. He bent and pressed his lips firmly against hers as he pulled her into his arms. In that moment, Jack felt a sweet, peaceful feeling sweep through her; contentment, that's what it was. She slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him back enthusiastically.


A/N: Sorry about the hiccup on the upload for Chapter 7. I don't know what happened, but several of the paragraphs got kinda scrambled (HUGE Thanks to Whitelite for catching it for me!). If anyone spots something similar, please let me know and I can re-upload the problem chapter. And as always if you have comments on grammar, plot, characterization, anything... I'd love to hear them!