Chapter Twenty
"Jack, wake-up. You're dreaming. It's just a dream."
Jack jerked away from the hand that was gently shaking her shoulder. She gave a deep shuddering sigh as the remnants of the dream faded and then looked at the woman who had awakened her. She immediately recognized her as Kyra, the merc who worked with Toombs.
"Why did you do that?" she demanded.
"Do what?" Kyra asked with a perplexed look.
"Wake me. Why did you wake me up?" Jack sat up and ran her hands through her hair. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them.
"You were having a nightmare. You were crying and you mumbled 'Riddick'. You shouldn't have to relive whatever that monster did to you if it can be helped," Kyra explained with a compassionate expression. She smiled and sat on the bunk beside Jack and rested her hand on Jack's knee. "You're safe here. No one is gonna hurt you on this ship."
The thought briefly occurred to Jack that the woman was just trying to be nice and that she meant well; however, the sense of loss she felt at being abruptly torn away from the dream-Riddick was so intense that Kyra's words only made her angry. She lashed out at the woman: "It just so happens that I was having the first pleasant dream I've had since you and Toombs dumped me in that facility. What the HELL, gave you the idea that I was having a nightmare just because I mumbled Riddick's name? And where to do you get off calling him a monster, merc?"
Jack could tell that her words had hit a nerve in the woman. Kyra drew back her hand and her expression changed from friendly to irritated in an instant. "No call to be rude. I guess you and I just have different sorts of pleasant dreams. I generally don't weep like I lost my best friend in mine."
"I did lose my best friend," Jack shot back. "Or had you forgotten?"
Kyra reeled back as though she'd been physically slapped. She stood and stepped away. Jack saw her take a deep shuddering breath. "I'm sorry," she said quietly and then turned back around. "For everything ." She had expression of extreme remorse that melted Jack's anger.
Jack closed her eyes for a moment and focused on her own breathing while she centered her emotions. When she opened them, Kyra was watching her warily, waiting for Jack to make the next move. Jack shrugged and gave her a weak smile. "Me, too. I guess I'm kind of a bitch when I wake up too quickly."
Kyra grinned. "Don't worry about it. Can we maybe start over? I can even go out and come back in if it'll help. You could pretend that you'd been reading or watching a vid and we can forget about that whole waking-up fiasco."
Jack snickered. "That's okay. Consider it forgotten."
"Good. Cause this wasn't just a social visit. Toombs needs to see you. He has a proposal for you that I sincerely hope you'll accept."
Jack looked at her in confusion. "Proposal? Is that why he put me in here instead of in the deep freeze? Look, I'm not gonna be a merc. If that's his 'proposal', you can go back and tell him right now, that I said no."
"He ain't offering you a job. He can't, because... well... he just can't. Come listen to him before you make up your mind. Hey, if you don't like what he has to say, we can always stick you in cryo like any other prisoner."
Jack blinked at her warily. Kyra was being very nice, but that didn't change the fact that she was a merc. Jack wasn't sure if she could trust her. Johns had been reasonably nice too, in the beginning. But that didn't stop him from trying to sacrifice her to the creatures. Of course, it ain't like I have a lotta choices here.
"Alright, I'll listen to what he has to say," she said firmly and then stood up.
The command meeting had gone very well. Gabe Toombs sat with his feet propped on his desk with a satisfied grin on his face while he waited for Kyra to retrieve their young captive. He had dispatched each of his team to their own duties as they prepped the ship to break orbit and begin their journey.
As he waited, he clicked through the pages of a report on a data reader. Jericho had made good progress on tracing the corporate ties of his unwelcome employers. It was a daunting task given how well they hid their tracks; however, Jericho's talents for navigation and accounting served him well in this sort of search. Toombs was confident that the dark-skinned man would discover the root source of the funds, which seemed to flow almost too freely from their coffers. It simply wasn't possible to transfer that kind of funds without leaving some sort of trail. He wasn't yet sure how he would use that information, but he knew that it would be instrumental in giving him leverage against them. Leverage he needed to counteract the threat they held against his ship.
The door to his office chimed softly and Toombs tossed the reader onto his desk without moving his feet. "It's open."
The door opened admitting Kyra and Jack. Toombs grinned at the pair and gestured to the chairs on the other side of his desk. Kyra returned his grin and curled into one of the proffered seats with comfortable feline grace. Jack seated herself stiffly on the other chair and looked at him warily.
Toombs sat for a moment regarding her. The air of exhaustion around the young woman had eased slightly, but she was still a pale shadow of the girl she should be-the girl she had been before. But Toombs was experienced in evaluating people and this young woman shone with the fire of potential.
Toombs's grin widened as the girl began to fidget under his scrutiny. Finally, giving in to her impatience, she snapped at him: "Did you really have something to say to me? Or did you have Kyra bring me here just to stare at me and grin like a kid with a new toy?"
Yup, definitely fiery, he thought as he glanced at Kyra. She returned his grin and winked in understanding.
"Oh, cut that shit out!" Jack said, rolling her eyes at their silent communication.
He suppressed a laugh and allowed his feet to drop to the deck with a thud, then stood and walked round the desk. He leaned against it and focused on the young woman. "Yes, I have something to say to you. Actually, it's more of an offer I'd like to make."
"Kyra told me you wanted to make me an offer," Jack cut in. Her chin was set defiantly as she locked her gaze with his. "I already told her, I'm not gonna go merc. So if that's your offer, you can forget it."
"Kid, you got the wrong idea about mercs. But that's a discussion for another day. No, I don't plan to offer you a job. What I plan to offer you is a chance."
Jack's defiant expression changed to one of confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"How much do you know about what it's like on the inside?" he queried, studying her face closely to gauge her response.
"Plenty," she said firmly. Toombs quirked an eyebrow at her skeptically, and she added, "Enough."
He grinned at her. "Good, then you know that those cons will eat you alive with the shape you're in. And you know that the guards will most likely let them. Shit, part of the bastards would probably help. What I propose is to help you get back into shape. To have Kyra train you so that you won't be such easy pickings for the predators on the inside."
Jack looked down at her hands and took several deep breaths. Toombs saw small muscles twitch in Jack's jaw as she ground her teeth. She blinked and raised her gaze back to his face. Her eyes flashed with anger and resolve. "I don't need your fucking help. I'll get through it... somehow. It's what I do. It's what I've always done. What does it matter to you, anyway? You're a merc. I'm a payday. You don't have to worry about what happens after you drop me off."
"Look, kid-"
"I told you not to call me that," she interrupted. When she continued, her voice was level and she didn't shout, but the pain in her eyes hit him with a force that anger couldn't have mustered. "You aren't my friend, Toombs. And you aren't my employer. And you aren't gonna be. You're my fucking captor and you're hauling my ass to prison because I was convicted of a murder that you know I didn't commit. So why do you care what happens to me in that place? If I don't last a day, it's no skin off your ass. So why? Why are we even having this little interview? Why not just stick me in cryo like any other prisoner and forget about me?"
"Because I'm responsible, dammit!" he snarled. "Look, I can't bring that boy back. I can't even go to the authorities and tell 'em what I know-"
"Why not?" Jack interjected, her voice rising now as she stood and faced him. Her eyes flashed with green fire and her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "Why are you doing this to me? To save your own ass? Real, fucking noble! Yeah, right, I have the 'wrong idea about mercs'."
"Look, I'm backed as deeply into a corner as you are, Jack ," he thundered back at her putting careful emphasis on her name. "It ain't just my ass I'm worried about! I have no choice but to deliver you to Ursa Luna."
"Oh, yeah. That's right. Aereon threatened your precious ship," Jack said mockingly. "What the hell could she possibly have on your ship? And even if she does have something, God forbid, that you not get to be the high and mighty 'Captain Toombs'. What does my life matter compared to your own self-importance?"
Toombs felt guilty anger rising inside him with each word Jack tossed at him. Fucking, ungrateful brat! This will teach me to try to help her, he thought as he took an involuntary step toward the source of the emotions that were eating at him. Before he could take a second step, Kyra stepped fluidly between them and raised her hands with one open palm facing each of them.
"All right, stop it!" she commanded. "This is pointless and it's getting us nowhere."
She looked at him and he could easily read her plea that he back off. Toombs turned away with a growl and rested his hands on the desktop as he brought his temper under control. This was not going the way he'd imagined it. He took deep breaths as Kyra spoke to Jack in a calm soothing voice.
"He's not just worried about what'll happen to him. He's worried about all the people who work on this ship. About what'll happen to them if Aereon uses the information she has."
"They're a bunch of mercs. Why should I get to be the sacrificial lamb to save their jobs?"
"It's not just their jobs, Jack," Kyra said softly, at which point Toombs turned around sharply. "It's their freedom, possibly even their... our lives."
"Shut up, Kyra," he warned. The command team had all agreed that they would never speak of the circumstances surrounding Toombs's acquisition of the ship. The piracy and mutiny charge carried a mandatory prison term for anyone even associated with a purloined vessel and the death sentence for those who spearheaded any sort of mutinous activity.
Jack regarded him thoughtfully and Toombs could almost see the gears turning in her head as she processed this new bit of information. He knew from her file that she had been studying to be a spacer, so he figured she was familiar with the laws governing ship operation. She confirmed his suspicions with her next question. "You stole this ship?"
Toombs growled again. "Not exactly. You can't steal from the dead."
"Did you kill him? The owner, I mean? For his ship?" Jack asked reluctantly. He saw a minute flicker of fear in her expression.
Toombs glared at Kyra for having broached the subject. The woman shrugged. She nodded toward Jack, encouraging him to share the story. Toombs snorted. Kyra was right, what did he have to lose?
"Her, actually," he corrected. "And no, I didn't kill her. You did."
"What?" Jack gasped, shaking her head in instant denial. Toombs cocked an eyebrow at her but said nothing, waiting to see if she would figure it out. After a moment, he could tell by her expression that her confusion had dissolved into realization. "Chillingsworth."
"Right on the money," he confirmed with a nod of admiration that she had put it together as quickly as she did. His mouth twisted into a wry humorless smile as he related the story. "Originally, I figured Riddick was the one who shot the bitch. Imagine my surprise when I reviewed the security tapes and found out it was a kid.
"So you see, Jack. You are involved in this. You have been from the start... you and Riddick. Way I figure it, Aereon's bunch traced Riddick to that crash and then to this ship. Possibly, one of the crew that I dropped was working for them. At any rate, they know who used to own this ship and they know what happened here. And I don't doubt that they will use it."
"But Chillingsworth was a monster. What she tried to do to Imam and me, it was..." she trailed off and an expression of disgust crossed her face.
"I kinda doubt the authorities will care overmuch about that," he informed her. "Technically, at that point, you were aiding and abetting a known, escaped felon. You are aware of the penalties for piracy and mutiny?"
The young woman had paled as he spoke and the words really sank in. It was an impressive feat, considering how pale she was from her time with Aereon. She met his gaze and nodded mutely in answer to his question.
"Then you know that you'd likely end up in an even worse position that you're already in, if the truth about this ship comes out? And that every person on this ship would also pay the price?"
He paused and she nodded again. Her jade-colored eyes were haunted and she slumped back in her chair.
"I'm sorry, Jack. You seem like a good kid and you don't deserve this shit," he said firmly. "If I thought there was another way out of this fucking mess, I'd take it. Truth is, I'm looking for it. But I haven't found one yet. So, yeah, you have to be the sacrificial lamb."
Kyra leaned forward and grasped Jack's hand in a gesture obviously meant to offer comfort. The girl tensed and Toombs expected her to jerk her hand away, but then she sighed deeply and squeezed Kyra's hand back. When she raised her eyes to meet his gaze, there was a quiet resolve in them. "I accept your offer," she said softly.
