Chapter Thirteen


Riddick watched as the three predators devoured their listless comrade. Cannibals, he scoffed silently, as if that explained everything.

He crossed his arms in a moment of hesitation. Should he wait around to dispose of the others, or should he split? He decided the former was a waist of energy, all he needed to do was reach the bright hanger and he'd be rid of them. He continued walking backwards, conscientious of the fact that they could turn on him at any moment.

Jack, Imam, Kali, and the whole lot of them took to the hanger at a run. The older woman could only move so fast, so she and her party remained a good deal behind.

C'mon, c'mon, Jack pleaded silently, wishing she could hear Riddick's boot steps thundering up behind them. They were almost within the comforting globe of light emanating from the open doors. So close she found herself stretching for it. Once they were in, Kali grabbed her hand, appending her between the two adults.

Kali drug Jack and Imam onto the waiting shuttle. It was crammed with escapees. Two guards had been waiting for them, alerted to their Secretary's needs by the little button she'd pushed. They held out their hands, beckoning her in. "Close it!" she yelled, even before they were aboard, "Close it!" The men obliged, and as they rushed in, the heavy bay doors began to shut.

"What about Riddick?" Jack asked Imam. He looked away from her to Ms. Rhiannon. "What about Riddick!" she insisted, her voice cracking. Kali ignored her, speaking loudly to a man about distance and time... pure drable.

Jack pulled away from Imam, trying to expel herself from the craft. Imam found his grip again and would not let her go. "No, Imam! He's coming. We can't leave with out him!"

"Have faith in Mr. Riddick," he coed in her ear. "He will find his way."

Riddick was running to beat the band, she could see him now. The flock of night flyers was right on his tail. She bit her lip in frustrated expectation. She glanced at the doors, they were closing too quickly.

He was pumping his arms as hard as he could, raw adrenaline driving his legs. The animals screeched behind him, their wings driving them closer and closer. Just a little further, just a little further. Bam, he broke into the light. The predators pulled back just in time, making a series of disappointed clicks. They did not leave. They surveyed the scene in front of them from the shadows, hoping.

Riddick could see it too, he'd never make it aboard the shuttle. Jack wouldn't believe it. She reached out to him, "Riddick!" He met her, and instead of giving her his hand like he knew she wanted, he handed her his shiv.

The thin opening was becoming a crack, "Stay in New Mecca."

She yelled behind her frantically, "Open the door! He's still out there!" Kali shook her head. She turned back to him, and her mind went blank, she didn't know what to say. She wanted to protest, wanted to hand him his knife back and tell him to stick it you-know-where, wanted to smack Ms. Stuck-Up-Bitch. Instead she quietly whimpered his name. She felt helpless.

He couldn't even admit to himself why he did it, but he made a promise, "I'll find you. I'll-" he set his expression hard, and his tone was firm, "Stay in New Mecca."

Her last cry was cut off by the big shuttle doors sealing.

He pulled his goggles down. So that was it... for now.

And there was still this problem of getting off the planet alive. He threw a few choice words into the air. The skiff. He looked up again, speaking to God, "Fuckin' insulting!" Irony... shit, was that all it was?

As the shuttle launched off, he jogged over to the banged up craft. It was then that he noticed them, the three others stranded just like him. The old woman was staring at him, so he turned his back. Too bad, so sad.

He put his hand on the skiff, then immediately recoiled as if he had been burned. The thing was cursed, or as good as such. He got the distinct impression that it hated him. That it would do everything in its supposedly inanimate power to dispose of him if it could.

He shook his head and deliberately clamped back onto it. It wouldn't do to think such things, paranoia had gotten many a man he knew killed. He ran aboard.

Then, with out a fluid thought as to why, he ran off again. There was another hanger to be had. With other ships that wouldn't remind him of killer aliens, and women dying for him, and kids worshipping him, and holy men trusting him, and change. There was another hanger.

He left the skiff to the disposal of the stranded trio. His good deed for the day.

Back into the teeth. Using the wall to his full advantage, he snuck up on the waiting predators. He heard them squabbling, and peered around the corner to see why. Another was fading fast, and had almost gone completely dark. The other two had turned on it, forcing it to retreat down the hall.

Again, Riddick pulled his shades down and readied himself for a fight. He tensed, preparing to swoop out and around them. Right before he leapt, he stopped. A few feet away lay a discarded flash light. He hurried to it and checked its batteries. It worked. With out hesitation he strung it around his neck, letting it rest between his shoulder blades. If that little trick worked the first time...

He scooted carefully into the hall. The attention of the flyers was immediately grabbed. As soon as they realized he was pulsing with light, they returned to their original dispute. There was only one problem with this. In order to get to the other hanger he needed to back track. Their fight blocked his path.

Riddick turned around, pointing the light on his back at them. They shied away. He began walking backwards into them, his shivs at his side, just in case. He attempted to turn his head over his shoulder to see where he was going, but the light scorched his irises. He was charging blind and couldn't change that. He did the best he could to guide himself, using his hands to gauge the curve of the walls, and thus the hall.

He traveled a long ways, all the way to the fork. Unfortunately, instead of slithering out of the way, the creatures decided to flee down the same corridor he needed to travel, so Riddick was forced to keep up his methodical tracking. He could sense he was drawing near.

For the first time, he made a wish. He wished he'd find a craft still left in the hanger.

Sadly, as soon as he made that wish, life decided to crap on him again.

The bulb in the flash light popped.

As soon as he heard the sound he lashed out with a spinning hook kick. One of the aliens had pounced, flying through the air, aiming for his head. He forced it to the floor. All most feverish, he drove a blade through its neck. Before him was one more. He threw the knife, sending the blade in one side of its head and out the other. Everything was still.

Riddick stopped, rooting himself to the spot. Only his eyes moved, and his ears pricked up. Where was the other one? The dark one? They hadn't killed it, he hadn't passed any remains or stains of blue blood. Then he heard a gentle tapping, like claws on a hard surface. The sound was coming form behind him, and above. He pivoted, one eighty, and scanned the ceiling. Nothing. He heard it again, and rotated back. Nothing. It was playing with him. These predators acted different from the ones on the dark planet. They schemed. They planned. They stalked.

He broke for it, running as fast as he could. The flyer shrieked behind him and took up the chase. He reached the hanger. All was dark.

The lights were on a timer. There was a brief six hour period every day when the hangers shut down and no one was allowed to enter or exit the facility. That period had just begun. Riddick now not only had to find a craft and fly it free, but he also had to make it into the control room and turn on the automatic, launch sensitive doors (The hanger's separate power grid had prevented them from being left open).

Task number one: Find a damn single pilot craft... Before being skewered by the now massive predator.


Authors Note: No, this is not the end of Jack/Riddick interaction, never fear. Yeah, and um, I'm addicted to reviews, so... talk to me, people ;-)