Chapter 1: Jack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack sat next to Riddick waiting for their flight gate to open. Riddick was wearing his usual smug, expressionless public face. Jack looked down at her duffel bag that he had given her for her birthday two days ago. She was now fifteen years old. She was happy, yet sad that this was going to be her last months with Riddick, before she spent three or more years with Imam. Jack was trying to be strong, trying to prove to Riddick that she was a woman now, not a weak child. Maybe if she tried to be tougher, he'd let her stay with him.
Abandoning her depressing thoughts, Jack looked around the space port. Same ol', same ol. Some uniformed monkeys (as Riddick called them), civilians, families, couples, and again more couples. She saw a flash of black through the corner of her eye, and tried desperately to find it again. She spotted the room like Riddick had taught her, and saw it yet again.
It turned out to be a woman, she stood out from everyone else. She was a little bit taller then Jack. She had a bigger frame, dark long hair. What color it was she couldn't tell. She had sunglasses on, that made her look like a movie star tying to be discreet. Jacks eyes went from the woman to her only luggage. A cool tan sued rook sack, that was filled to the hilt, and looked extremely heavy. But the girl carried it like a mini handbag, ever so casually. Her clothes were awesome. Although Jack didn't think of her self as a girly-girl she liked the clothes the woman wore. Vertically ribbed jeans, and a white baby tee that hugged her chest, she wore a wire bra under it. Jack suddenly frowned at her own clothes.
Jack watched the woman move across the platform. She was light on her feet, very smooth. She rolled her hips, and delicately swung her right arm as she walked. Making more then one guy stop and stare, but she didn't seem to notice. Jack counted seven guys.
She was cool. Suddenly she felt a hand hit her leg. "Hey kid?" Riddick said. She was too distracted to answer, as she quickly lost track of the woman. "Jack!" He rumbled, smacking her leg once again. She reluctantly tore her eyes away. "What?" She asked, still distracted. "Get your ass in gear, the gates opening." Riddick replied impatiently. Jack stood, and nodded vacantly. No luck she disappeared. "Jack, let's go!" Riddick commanded. "Yeah...okay, I'm coming." She said with a sigh, as she followed by his side to the gate.
They got through with no problems. Riddick was doing some ship maintenance in exchange for their room and board. It was a lucky brake, that Hocks had pulled for them. Hocks, was Riddick's only real friend. Thanks to him, they had their own apartment. It was simple but nice.
Suddenly Riddick and Jack got stopped by one of Hocks's men. A guy named Tollini. He was small and scared shitless of Riddick. Which was funny to witness Tollini almost wet his pants when he saw him. "Excuse me sir, but the boss wants to see you." Tollini said in a shaken voice, taking a sharp step back. Jack noticed Riddick give his signature, dead-pan, no-shit nod. "This way please." The smaller man said, not meeting their eyes. He led them down a narrow hallway, through a holographic picture, and stopped in front of what looked like a titanium, bullet proof door. Giving it four rhythmic taps, it slid open, to reveal a very stunning control room.
It was all metal, and dimly lit by soft blue panel lights, that to Jacks secret pleasure, made Riddick remove his goggles, to reveal his beautiful shined eyes. That to Jack (besides his gravely voice) was the sexiest thing about him. She caught herself starting to stare so she tried desperately to focus on something else. Although she could stare at him all day long.
In the middle of the room was a matching silver desk, behind it sat Hocks. Hocks was the only man Jack had ever seen that actually dwarfed Riddick. He was also the only other guy she half trusted, even though she didn't show it. Hocks stood at 6' 10'', which was a good 8'' taller then Riddick. He was however considerably older and wiser. No one spoke until Tollini left. Her eyes went to Hocks's right arm, that had the coolest tattoo of a Chinese dragon running the entire length of it. From his shoulder to his wrist. Hocks had long wavy grayish hair, steely cold hazel eyes, and a goatee and moustache that fit him well.
"Hey Riddick Jack. Everything going okay so far?" Hocks asked, looking from Riddick to her. Then back to Riddick, who was casually leaning against the stainless steal railing. The blue lights illuminated his features, making him seem to glow. Jack inwardly melted. Love sick wimp! She thought to herself. "As good as it could get, you?" He said. Hocks shook his head. "Okay. But I got a problem. My niece is traveling to Nebula 10. She has a very healthy bounty. So a merc that was on her tail canceled her room, hoping to catch her." Hocks said. "Now I've momentarily lost track of her." He said blankly. "Humm, must have been a rookie. That was a big gamble." Riddick smirked, shaking his head. "Yeah, turns out it was his second case. But, that's not the point." He paused to look at some papers. "There are no more extra bunks or anything available on my ship. She needs to get to Nebula 10. And safely." Jack could tell Riddick knew what was coming. He had that look of stubbornness, annoyance, and curiosity. But mostly it was stubbornness. Apparently Hocks knew that look too, because he just sighed and said, "Riddick, I've up graded your cabin so that every room has a closet, bathroom, and bed in it. The only common spaces are the living room, work out room, kitchen area, and laundry." He stated. He wasn't pleading, he didn't threaten, he didn't ask, he didn't try to be persuading he just said it in a robotic-like tone. With out any trace of feeling, what so ever.
Jack wished she could do that. But everything she said was filled with so much emotion that everyone could tell what she was feeling. She was intrigued by the situation: Another girl living with her and Riddick for two to three months. A girl with a bounty, she had to be rough to have a bounty. She was Hock's niece so she had to be somewhat cool, and to top it all off she didn't sound very old, the way Hock's was talking about her. Then again, maybe she was just a prissy trouble maker, or was just trying to be tough. She guessed she just had to wait and see what Riddick would decide, she knew he didn't like to be around people, or just a person for that matter, much less a unknown girl who was going to be living with them.
But what did that girl do to get a bounty? "Her name is Minx. If you ever watched the news at night you'd know about her." He said matter-o-factly. Jack knew about her. God! All her old guy pals back on the streets talked about her. They all called her a hottie. Jack didn't know why they thought she was hot, she'd never seen a picture. But Jack secretly wanted to be like her. Not so that her guy friends would think she was hot, but it was because of everything else.
She was able to travel the galaxies without having to pose as a guy, she was tough, and knew how to get what she wanted. She remembered hearing stories about her. How she was only sixteen when she joined an underground team of identity creators and became wealthy by the age of seventeen. Then there was the part about her being an ace at machine guns, lasers, and blades. Not to menton her knack for hacking into computers. Plus, all that stuff about her kicking ass. Now, she wished she were as tough as that. Maybe Riddick would let her stay with him, maybe he might even begin to notice her, if she could just be half that indestructible, half that cool, half that independent. But she knew she wasn't like that.
"I know who she is." Riddick said bluntly, but there was something he wasn't saying. His voice sounded different, lower, slower, just different. She'd never herd his voice like that before. She saw Hocks look at Riddick for a long moment. She felt lost, she didn't understand Riddick or Hocks in that moment. Why were they looking at eachother like that? She had no clue. But apparently they had more then a clue, they had an entire understanding. It was like a silent conversation, that held some form of coded information. She hated feeling blind and utterly ignorant. Eventually the moment passed, she was forever grateful.
Riddick straightened and walked over to Hocks's desk, his back to her. She moved closer to him, but still trying to keep her distance, which was no easy task. "There's just a couple of things" Riddick began, but then suddenly stopped, and turned her, "Hey, Jack mind stepping out for a sec? I need to talk to Hocks." It was a half request, half order. Jack groaned in protest, even though she knew she shouldn't argue. But just when it was getting interesting. He rolled his eyes, then walked over to her, "Go on, I'll be out soon." He said as gently. How could she refuse him when he did that? She couldn't, not when he used that tone voice. Jack nodded heading to the door. She hopped he would do Hocks a favor and help Minx out, for some reason she wanted to know her.
