Chapter XI
The Chased and The Chasers
"Jack, I don't know if this is a good idea. We're heading straight towards Bellger territory." Marius said with doubt covering his voice. He was looking at the flight path that Jack had put in on the computer and had been surprised at her choice.
"Don't worry; the guy's dead and the last place they will look for me is in their own territory." Jack reasoned, sounding very calm and relaxed about the entire ordeal. She had informed Marius earlier of her plans to take Riddick on a wild goose chase, if just for revenge.
"You are taking the first hunt of the season through a territory that isn't even ruled! On top of that, it's not just any hunters following us, it's his!" Marius almost spat the last word; he had gotten to view Riddick with disgust, but he knew it was nothing short of jealousy. He almost shrank in his seat when he was on the receiving end of a very suspicious glare from Jack.
"So you've lost faith in me, then." She said quietly, looking back out the front view. Her thoughts were hidden from him but he thought over what she said, not wanting to burst out suddenly. "Do as you wish; the next port we stop down on feel free to leave. You can survive on your own now."
"Jack, No! You can't force me!" He shouted, standing from his seat. He received a cool look from his mentor, who motioned for him to sit back down.
"I'm just giving you the choice that I never had." She said, making Marius frown. How he wished he knew more about her past, but he didn't ask her then. Getting out of the seat again, he left the cockpit, closing the door softly behind him.
Jack glanced at the door and sighed softly to herself, knowing and still hoping that she was doing the right thing. Yet she wasn't deterred from her course; she was doing this to show him that absolutely no one could boss her around. And that no one could call her 'kid' and actually think she was going to still act like one. With her resolves cemented in mind, Jack took the ship off of auto pilot and began to open transmission for a radio signal to Klitengor, another space station that marked the boundaries of Bellger territory.
"Riddick…" Laiker mumbled, letting his head fall to the table. He was exhausted from last night, and getting over a hangover by sitting in a meeting that pertained to the first hunt was far from what he wanted. He noted with anger that Riddick and Rex were the only men on the entire ship that weren't completely hung over or still pissed drunk.
"Don't drool on those plans, Laiker." Riddick said casually, not taking his eyes off of the holographic screen in front of him. With the grace and gentleness that wouldn't be expected from him, Riddick moved the windows within the screen in a different order, determined to find a scent to go on.
"Why do I have to be here?" He asked, watching his leader almost twitch with excitement.
"To torture you." Rex commented, sitting across from the almost sleeping hunter. Riddick growled softly, silencing whatever bickering might have broken out between his two hunters.
"When I find a trail to go on, you can leave." Riddick said, not needing the see the look of triumph that Laiker had. The noise enough told him and he growled again, quieting the smaller man.
"What's the deal on this bitch anyway?" Laiker asked, deciding that if he was going to be in here he should get the best of it so he could spread it through the crew.
"Good to see you actually care," Riddick started, but continued like nothing had happened. "High bounty, from multiple private parties and even a few system governments. Wanted for assassinations and mass murder. Says she is certifiably insane, there is this one encounter that a single survivor wrote down, but he killed himself not long after." Riddick trailed off, looking for that particular window.
Headache almost gone, Laiker sat up; this was no usual hunt.
"He says… 'Never have I seen such…raw…pain. It was like she had been tortured or abused as a child and then snapped, reverting back to barely-human behavior. But there is a method; she kills only men and with a rage that creates a pattern, it leaves an essence behind.'" Riddick stopped there, concentrating on that last sentence.
"Sir?" Rex asked, peering over at his leader.
"Where did she last kill?" He asked, turning his silvered eyes at his hunters. "I need to know where and when." He ordered, muttering the rest of the dialogue to himself as Laiker and Rex scrambled to get to work. Only after ten minutes of quiet typing and sighs did someone finally speak.
"It falls off at Lether. It's a small singular space station that serves as a bridge between our territory and Bellger. Kind of like Nattuck, but better. Not only is it neutral territory, but if any hunter commits a crime there then the Hunter's Legion is called." Laiker supplied, getting a slight glare from the other two men in the room.
"We know what Lether represents and we are well aware of the Hunter's Legion." Rex snapped, making Riddick grin.
"So enlighten us, Rex, what is the Hunter's Legion?" Laiker shot back.
"All the leaders of every significant hunting ring," he glanced at Riddick, "will be called into the Hunter's Legion, a group of elite hunters obviously and if a hunter commits a serious crime, like the one you mentioned, it is called and the Legion judges them."
"Well whoop-di-doo, you're actually smarter then we thought." Laiker muttered, glowering at the monster of a man who had been a nervous wreck just seconds before.
"Back to the matter at hand, children." Riddick was standing and looming over the head of the table, his silver eyes looking impatient. "We go to Lether. I want the fastest flight path to that space station and I want it set in no less than ten minutes." With that he shut off the hologram computer screen and walked out the door, leaving the two hunters to themselves.
"Sure, like it's just so easy to do that in under ten minutes." Laiker grumbled as he stood, stalking out the door, followed by a chuckling Rex who had to duck as he exited the room.
Jack breathed a sigh of relief when she took her ship out of Lether, closing her eyes as she cut off the radio signal from the tower. She had left the 'essence' of her made up killer behind, a scent that only Riddick would pick up on. She had had to be very careful so as not to leave any of her own scent behind, just what she made up.
"Marius?" She called, not getting up from her seat. She slumped a little further in her seat, suddenly feeling very tired. She was about to call him again when he appeared at her side, looking down at with worry.
"You gonna be ok, Jack?" He asked, stepping back as she roughly shoved herself out of her seat, catching her balance on the control board. Catching her breath, she straightened herself and turned and walked to the door.
"Watch the controls; if something happens, get me." She said, leaving the cockpit to Marius. Jack made her way down the hall and into her room, going straight to the bathroom. A shower, some sleep and later some food could fix this.
Marius sat down nervously and watched the various blinking lights, darkened switches, and figures running across screens that must've meant something to Jack but was just a mass of confusion to him. He figured if everything stayed like this it was alright, so he occupied his time by watching the screens, trying to find a pattern of numbers and letters he could follow, but soon discovered that there were also characters, maybe a different alphabet. Grumbling, he stared at the offensive screen and glanced to the other control panels every once in a while.
Jack stepped out of the shower, quickly drying off with a thin towel, shivering as she stepped out of the bathroom and into the cold air of the ship. She smiled slightly as she remember how she had ordered Marius to do some clothing shopping while she spread the trail and he had come back dragging quite a few bags of clothes. He had done a good job, Jack decided as she pulled on a pair of form-fitting black pants and a matching t-shirt, that left nothing to the imagination, but the elastic cloth kept her warm at the same time. Pulling on her boots, she stood and reached for her bugnucks, her hand just pausing over the weapon that sat so innocently on the bedside table.
Jack's eyes snapped open in the darkness of the room, her eyes focusing on Riddick's resting form in front of her. He had her between the wall and himself, her back to the wall. She wished she could take small pleasure in how he firmly held her to his body, but her ears strained to hear a repeat of the sound that had woken her. But instead, a new sound greeted her ears and her entire body tensed.
It was a shrill, screaming sound of metal against metal, like a psychopathic murderer sharpening his weapon before brutally killing his victim. She knew this because she had heard Riddick sharpen his weapons before, but there was something definitely sinister about this. Jack was in shock that Riddick was still resting and, trying not to make any unneeded noise, she buried her face in Riddick's chest and whispered his name into his shirt. To her relief she was replied to with a deep rumbling growl and she pulled away to see his silver eyes watching her smaller form.
From that look she knew he had been hearing it the entire time, but he had to do something about it now that Jack had woken as well. The screeching of the metal had stopped and now he tensed as well, slowly sitting up but keeping Jack completely shielded. He had a shiv in his hand, from where, Jack had no idea but she didn't dare glance around his side to see what was there. In a second they heard a human scream, one of man and Riddick was up in no time, at the window's edge before Jack could even register his movement. After what seemed to last for hours, Riddick turned around and walked back to the bed, where Jack was sitting up, her black hair tumbling about her form.
Pulling out another shiv, he rested it on the night table, its worn silver blade shining in the darkness. She looked up at him, not understanding and he indicated that it was for her to have in case something happened to the one hidden beneath the bed. Biting her lip, she waited until Riddick had settled back into the bed; her eyes not drifting from the shiv on the table until Riddick gently tugged her down. With a shuddering breath, Jack snuggled against him, comforted as one of his hand rested on her back and the other woven into her hair, rubbing her scalp in a soothing manner. Yet the sight of that shiv kept her awake for a few more minutes, almost like a reminder of Riddick's mortality.
Shaking her head, Jack pulled on her bugnucks, tightly pulling and fastening the strap of the glove around her wrists. Arming herself otherwise, she walked out of the bedroom feeling refreshed and hungry. Deciding to check on Marius first, she trotted into the cockpit, almost laughing aloud to see him scowling at the screens. It had taken her a lot of solitary time to figure out what they meant and clearly it was driving him crazy.
"Hungry?" She asked, startling him. Turning around in the seat, he gratefully smiled and stood, walking towards her. He followed her to their 'kitchen' and sat down in one of the chairs, watching her as she moved about.
"Jack?"
"Yeah?" She replied, not looking up. If she had she would've seen intense concern and worry on the young man's face.
"What if he catches up before you planned?" This made her stop and she did glance up at him, but that look of a few seconds ago was long gone.
"Then, I'm screwed. Nah, just kidding, I don't know, I didn't actually think about that. You think he's that good of a hunter?" She asked, seeing him think deeply over the matter.
"No idea, but I guess we'll see." He finally said back, watching as she picked up the two plates and walked to the table, setting one down in front of him. "But if we do end up staying with him, I hope he can cook." He broke a grin when he said this and Jack scowled at him, biting into her sandwich.
Riddick stood at the front of the galley, barely smirking and holding back his joy at the loud cheers of his hunters. He had just informed them of the new hunt and they all seemed as excited as he was. Leaving some final instructions, he left the galley and the noise, heading towards the main control room, where he hoped to be left in peace. As he had wished for, it was empty and he sat down in his chair, watching the stars swim lazily past the ship. He was just quieting down when suddenly a new impossibly loud cheer echoed down the hallway. Shaking his head, Riddick realized he would never be able to break their habit of believing that when there was good news, there was alcohol to be ingested by the gallons. Whether it was vodka, rum, brandy, whiskey, beer or whatever liquor they could find, it was good enough to use for celebrations.
Relaxing into the chair, Riddick kept one shiv out, lightly tapping it on the chair out of habit. The constant source of calming noise let him drift in his thoughts.
This hunt would distract him from his main problem. This problem that was either going through a full head-on attack on his mind, or nagging in the very back and bottom on his head, was named 'Jack'. Did he hate it? No, but it distracted him constantly, whether he thought he saw her flashing eyes in a hunter's eyes or when he heard a particularly vicious curse and he thought it was her. Yet he wasn't going to chase after her now; he had a hunt and she obviously had some thinking to do herself. More to the point, he did as well, but he was and always had been more of an 'action' sort of person, so thinking wasn't high on priority of things he had to do. Speaking of important things, he did have to check the med supplies. Standing up, he sheathed the blade and made his way to the med bay, his nose being assaulted by the strong smell of the alcohol only a few walls and doors away.
Thanks to these reviewers (you guys make my inbox happy):
TotallyRiddickObsessed – I had such a fun time writing that scene with Jack and the forks, spoons and knives. Woo, I really hoped I made some of the readers laugh. That's always nice to know.
ren3017 – Well, wherever you have been I am glad that you have returned. Flashbacks are always so relieving to write, because you can basically write whatever you want. Well, to some extent. I mean, I don't see a flashback involving…who knows…woah, weird story idea just hit me. Imagine Riddick actually being Jack's father? I mean, first off, no way, because J/R is simply eternal but that would be interesting to write. muses
njrd – Hm, indeed he does. I don't know how deep I'm going to write into what Marius thinks, but he is definitely jealous. Thanks for reviewing, I really like how 'Soul Mates' is progressing, by the way.
SueBe – A full copy? I am confused, are you going to print one out or something? Yay! Another one who loved the utensil flashback! Score!
gbmarie – Aw, what a nice review. Makes me happy.
IT – man, you are out of control, don't worry, next one is being written.