Chapter Twenty-two

The man in front of her—appropriately named Cutter—wove an intricate pattern with his long curved knife. Jack realized that it was a ploy meant to distract her and instead focused on her opponent's other body language. She held the baton loosely but firmly in her right hand and circled warily with Cutter, intent on finding an opening in his defense.

The guy was a good fighter, but Jack suspected that his arrogant confidence in his own skill might just give her the chance she needed to get in a disarm shot. Once she separated him from his knife, she would have the upper hand and should be able to finish the battle quickly.

Suddenly, Cutter dropped his shoulder a fraction of an inch and then lunged forward with the knife. Jack spotted his twitch before the lunge: precisely, the opening that she was waiting for. At the last moment, she neatly sidestepped. Cutter was unable to stop the momentum of his attack. Jack lashed out, striking the pressure point in his elbow with her baton causing his hand to go slack. With her left hand, she grabbed the knife from him and then quickly stepped back.

"Fuck," Cutter snarled, the confidence in his face diminishing.

Jack smiled sweetly without dropping her guard. She was tempted to flutter her eyelashes at him, but she resisted the temptation, thinking that would be pushing things a bit too far. Instead, she pressed her attack.

Jack had a hunch that Cutter would consider the blade now occupying her left hand to be a greater threat than the baton, even though she had already proven the baton's effectiveness. Following her hunch, she feinted with the knife.

As she had expected, her adversary's eyes shifted to her left hand at which point she exploded forward with the baton. Her first blow struck his left knee knocking him slightly off balance. Next, she landed a hard, backhand blow to his right shoulder. She then pivoted on her left foot and kicked him solidly in the chest toppling the man onto his back. Jack moved quickly forward and placed her foot on his chest with the tip of his own blade pressed against his neck.

A thrill of triumph went through her at the fear that sprang to life in the helpless man's eyes. "Surrender," she ordered.

"I yield," he whispered. Jack pressed the knife more firmly against his neck. He winced visibly and spoke more loudly, "I yield."

Jack released Cutter as Kyra walked up. He stood and Jack returned his knife. "No hard feelings?" she asked meeting his eyes.

The man exhaled roughly and then shook his head. "Naw. I ain't gonna hold it against ya. You beat me fair and square. It's my own fault for underestimating you and that damned baton."

"Respect the stick," Jack said, and her mind flashed back to her own initial attitude about the baton. With a grin, she glanced over her shoulder at Kyra who grinned back at her. She turned back to Cutter and extended her hand. "It was a good fight. Thanks for working out with me."

"You're a good fighter, kid," he said and shook her hand. "And non-lethal's a good skill to know. Most marks are worth more if ya can bring 'em in alive. That stick'll serve ya well in this business. I'm guessing your first mission'll be after we make the drop at the prison. For what it's worth, if ya need a partner, I got your back."

Jack realized the man meant to compliment her, but she couldn't stop the sudden wave of irritation and dread that swept through her at Cutter's comment. "Thanks," she said tersely. She released his hand and turned to face Kyra before he could interpret her expression as anything more than 'rookie nerves'.

The other woman upon noting the expression on Jack's face, quickly stepped in to cover for her. "Hit the showers, Jack. Captain wants to talk to you."

"Thanks," Jack silently mouthed and then jogged lightly toward the women's locker room, entering without a backward glance.

Jack turned on the water so that it would get hot while she undressed. After stripping, she stepped under the scalding spray. Toombs had chosen to use real water showers here instead of the sonic units that were in all the crew quarters. Jack was never more thankful for the luxury. She stood letting the needles of water tingle over her skin while she breathed deeply and tried to regain her composure.

The cover story was that she was Kyra's cousin who had signed on as a rookie merc. For weeks, she had simply worked on honing her skills, never allowing herself to think about the what the future held. Cutter's casual mention of the prison had caught Jack completely off guard and had brought home the fact that the journey was almost over.

Jack leaned her head against the cool, brushed steel wall of the shower stall as a wave of sadness swept over her. To her surprise, she discovered that the emotion wasn't just for the life she had left behind on Helion Prime, but also for the life she had begun to build since coming on board the ship.

Good God, I'm gonna miss these people, she realized abruptly, as images of the past few months thrust themselves unbidden into her mind. A single hot tear traced a path down her cheek. Jack scrubbed at her face. What the hell am I doing crying over a bunch of no-good mercs, who stripped me away from my home and murdered Rob? They aren't friends; they're captors. A golden cage is still a fucking CAGE!

At that, Jack's logical side spoke up. That's not fair. They didn't have to help me. It's okay to care for them. Maybe they aren't friends, exactly, but they aren't enemies either. It's okay to miss them.

"Hey Jack! You tryin' to use up all the hot water? You do know it's unlimited cause we use waste reactor heat right?" Kyra's voice called from the locker room, dragging Jack from her reverie. "So quit whatever your doing in there and get your ass out here. I wasn't kidding when I said Toombs wants to talk to you."

Jack shoved herself away from the wall, quickly finished washing, and then hit the lever which turned off the water. She briskly dried herself, then wrapped the towel around her chest.

Kyra was lying down on one of the benches with her left leg raised onto the seat and her right dangling on the floor. She rolled her head toward Jack and grinned as she exited the shower area. "Damn, Jack. I was beginning to think you'd drowned."

"How long was I in there?"

Kyra glanced at her chrono. "Almost half an hour. What the hell were you doing?"

"Sorry. I must have lost track of time," Jack said with a shrug.

Kyra rolled into a sitting position and narrowed her eyes. "You okay?"

Jack was unable to suppress a sigh. "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's—"

"…what I do." Kyra chorused the last bit with her.

"Yeah, so you've said. But if you ever do need to talk, I have ears. And I'm willing to listen."

Jack swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded. "Thanks. But you aren't gonna be around forever. I'll be alright."

"Whatever you say," Kyra agreed quietly. They lapsed into silence, regarding one another. After a moment, Kyra shook off the grim mood that had settled over both women. The woman grinned and the expression seemed only a bit forced. "Now get a move on. Toombs has already buzzed my comm-link twice to ask where we are. If he does it once more, I'm gonna have to shove it up his ass. You don't wanna be responsible for that, now do you?"

"Wellll… as tempting as that is, I suppose not," Jack replied with a half smile, which helped further dissipate the tension between them.


The door to his office chimed just as Toombs was reaching for his comm-link to call Kyra again. "Enter," he barked.

The door slid open, admitting Jack and Kyra. Jack's wet hair, pulled into a ponytail, gave testament that they had come from the locker rooms. An expression of confusion crossed Jack's face as she looked around the room. Her gaze paused briefly on Mare, Jericho and Twitch who had arrived earlier.

"'Bout damn time!" Toombs snapped as the pair claimed the remaining seats in front of his desk. "I was wondering if you two had forgotten how to get here and if maybe I needed to send someone with a map."

"Quit yer bitchin', Toombs," Kyra snipped back at him. "I told you we'd be here as soon as Jack finished up, and we are."

He was working on a good comeback, when Jack spoke up. "What's going on here? If you're having some sort of executive meeting, what the hell am I doing here?"

"Yeah, well, there's a couple of things I needed to talk to you about," Toombs glanced at his crew and then turned his full attention to the young woman, who was frowning suspiciously at him. He picked up hardcopy communiqué from his desk and passed it to her. "We received that this morning."

Jack's eyes scanned the message. Troubled emotions flickered briefly over her face. "They've found Riddick."

"Yeah," he confirmed.

"And you're going after him? Gonna try to bring him in?"

He nodded, still watching her face. He saw small muscles in her jaw tense and her eyes glittered. Then she took control of herself, and an expressionless calm settled over her features.

"Well, I guess you gotta do, what you gotta do," she said coldly. "You said there were a couple of things you needed to talk to me about… What else?"

Toombs scratched idly at his sideburn as he studied the girl, weighing her reaction or lack thereof. He looked round the room at his team. Kyra shifted in her chair, obviously uncomfortable. Twitch fidgeted and refused to meet his gaze. Jericho stood still, his expression, as usual, betraying no emotion. Mare, ever his mentor, met his gaze evenly and nodded slightly to encourage him.

"Ya see, Jack," he began picking his words carefully. "I don't know how closely you've been paying attention to time"

"We're almost there aren't we? To the prison?"

"Yeah, we are."

"How much longer?" she asked.

Toombs was impressed. Somehow, she managed to keep any emotion from slipping into her voice, almost as though she were asking about something completely mundane like the time for dinner. Girl's made of iron, he mused as he studied her for a moment longer before turning to Jericho. "What's your estimate?"

"ETA is 105 standard hours. We'll drop to n-space in 87. Then we just have the trip in-system," the navigator stated flatly, perfectly matching Jack's lack of emotion.

"I appreciate the update, Captain Toombs," Jack said without breaking her icy calm. "Is there anything I need to do to prepare?"

"Dammit, kid! Cut that 'Captain' shit out," Toombs snapped at her as he rose from his desk and paced around it. "You know damned well I don't wanna do this. You've become like part of the family in the past few months."

Obvious skepticism finally broke through the girl's emotional shield. "You have, Jack," Mare said quietly before Toombs could speak. "We've all become very fond of you. I'd like to think the feeling is a least somewhat mutual."

The girl turned to face Mare. "And what if it is? What if I do care about you people and this ship? What does that matter? How does it change anything? You fly off to continue your misbegotten tradeyou know, the one that got me into this situation. And I still go to prison to spend the rest of my life locked away for a crime I didn't commit. How I feel , about any of you, is irrelevant."

The bitterness in her voice struck Toombs. Her hands shook slightly, telling him just how slender was the thread of her control. He squatted in front of her and locked his eyes with hers. "You ain't gonna be there for the rest of your life. That's why I called you here."

"What?"

"We're gonna get ya out, Jack. I promise. I just gotta take care of a couple things, and then we'll get ya out of that dump!"


"You're fucking with me," Jack said but she felt a spark of hope flicker to life in her soul. She looked round the room seeking confirmation from those assembled there. She received nods of reassurance from each of them before, finally, returning her gaze to Toombs. He was grinning smugly at her, obviously very satisfied with himself. "Okay, so you aren't. That just leaves one question… Why?"

"Why, what?" he asked with a puzzled expression. She saw him glance at Kyra who shrugged.

"Why would you do this for me?" Jack elaborated, unable to tamp down the suspicion that rose in her even though she desperately wanted to take his offer at face value. "I've been around mercs before. 'The creed is greed.' There's no money in busting me outta that slam. And it's likely to get you in a major pile of trouble. So, why? What's the angle?"

"That's not fair, Jack," Kyra said in a hurt voice from beside her, but Jack kept stayed focused on Toombs.

"Why would a bunch of mercs be willing to put their own asses on the line for me? And if you are, then why dump me here in the first place?"

Anger clouded his features and Toombs stood and strode away from her. Jack looked around the room. The hurt expressions she received tore at her heart, but they didn't completely dispel the lingering fear that lay there. Her gaze came to rest on Toombs. The uncharacteristic waves of anger coming from him caused her to lean back a bit in her chair to distance herself from his fury.

"Did you just miss that whole 'we care about you, you're part of the family' bullshit? Or the fact that we spent the past six months training your ass so you won't be eaten alive?" he thundered. "What other why do you need?"

"What about the ship? What about the crew? Isn't that why you're bringing me here in the first place? Seems like, busting me out is a hell of a lot more likely to hurt them than simply not bringing me in."

"Jack, you're right," Kyra said. Her voice called Jack's attention away from Toombs's angry presence. The woman had knelt beside her and now took Jack's hand. "That's what he meant when he said he had things to take care of."

"Yeah, Jack. We're gonna get ya out real soon," Twitch piped up from where he sat atop a small metal cabinet. When she looked at him, he grinned furtively and dropped his eyes to his hands, which were fiddling incessantly with a small case. "Your strong and smart. You can handle a little while in the joint till we can get back here, right?"

She glanced around the room. Even Jericho nodded at her and she saw a flash of white against his dark skin as he grinned momentarily. Mare leaned toward her and rested her hand on Jack's shoulder. "We took a vote, my dear. We're going to go turn the crew over and then we'll be back for you."

"What do you mean 'turn the crew over'?" Jack asked, finally allowing the hope to blossom inside her.

"This is a merc crew, Jack," Kyra said in explanation. "Most of 'em don't have any desire to be in on a prison bust."

"Yeah, and…" Jack looked from one face to the next, finally ending with Toombs. His anger seemed to have dissipated as quickly as it arose, and he was now smirking at her.

"And… there's crews and then there's crews ," he said vaguely and waggled his eyebrows.

"Will you quit beating around the bush and tell me what the hell you're talking about?"

"Well, you see, we're considering a change of occupation, that will require a different sort of crew than we've had before," Kyra said with amusement tingeing her voice.

Jack kept her eyes on Toombs who had crossed his arms over his chest with a smug expression. "I always thought I'd make a damn fine pirate if I hadn't gotten into this whole merc business," he said grinning. "What do you think, Jack? Reckon I'll be successful walking the other side of the whole 'legal' line?"

"You'd do that for me?" she asked with shock welling up in her.

In answer, Toombs just grinned and shrugged as though it was no big deal. Mare squeezed Jack's shoulder and she turned to face the woman.

"To some degree, yes, Jack. We are doing this for you. You've become important to all of us. But we're also doing it for ourselves.

"I've been in this business a very long time. Hell, I showed that big lug over there the ropes," Mare said indicating Toombs with a jerk of her head. She paused for a moment with a wistful expression. When she continued, Jack could hear the rancor in her voice. "Things have changed. The people working in the business aren't like they used to be. The system isn't what it use to be either. I won't bore you with all the nasty details. You're probably familiar with some of them already. Believe me when I say, it's time to get out."

Jack sat still for a moment trying to process everything. A voice inside her head insisted that something was wrong; she had missed some important detail. Then she realized. She raised her eyes back to Toombs. She could hear the emotion in her own voice: "What about Riddick?"


A/N: Sorry I didn't update sooner. It's been crazy busy for me at work for the past week or so. Thanks so much for all your support and kind words. They are the most wonderful reward I can imagine for my efforts.