Chapter 7: Wait

After eating the protein and vegetable stew Shirah had warmed up, Riddick leaned back in his chair that he had pulled up to the counter to eat, finally letting his muscles relax. The room was lit dimly by candle light so that Riddick could leave his goggles on his forehead.

Shirah watched him as she picked up the one-time-use-only bowls and utensils and they had used for dinner, and threw them into the garbage compactor. Feeling her eyes on him, Riddick looked up as she sat down across the counter. Shirah stared intently into Riddick's eyes, trying to read his emotions. His face remained blank as he gazed back.

"Riddick," Shirah began, "You would be about the age of my lost son…A few months younger of course, but about the same age. I often wondered what he would have been like now. Would he have been like his father, a Furyan Battle Commander? Or would he have been more like me, more interested in the supernatural?" She looked wistfully off into the distance, seeing once more the face of her long lost son. Riddick sat still, watching her as she spoke of her son. She had caught him off guard when she mentioned that he would have been about the same age as her son, it made him wonder about his own past, who were his mother and father? What happened to them? All he knew was what he had been told; he had been found in a liquor store dumpster with his umbilical chord wrapped around his neck. Until recently, he always believed his parents had abandoned him.

"What I am trying to get at is I would like it if we could at least be civil with each other. We are in this together, whether you like it or not. Please, I would like to be your friend; or, at least civil. Can we do that?"

With a slight smirk on his lips he said, "Sure, civil is fine."

Smiling, Shirah spoke again, "Okay then, now that we're 'civil', I would like to ask what you meant when you said that the Necromongers took everything you knew? I know they took you from your parents and planet, but you never knew them." Seeing Riddick stiffen, she said quickly, "Please, I need to know so I can know what to expect from you."

Riddick understood why she would want to know, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it. Something about Shirah made him want to talk however, he didn't know if it was because she reminded him of Imam whom he first told about his past, or if it was because she related to him in a way that could only be described as motherly. Making his decision he said quietly, "About five and a half years ago I left a planet with two people, a holy man named Imam, and a young girl who called herself Jack. I dropped them off on Helion Prime and left to keep the mercs from capturing them. A merc, named Toombs, finally tracked me down and told me I had a bounty on my head that originated from Helion Prime. After I ditched the mercs I went to pay Imam a little visit. He was the only one who knew where I was so he had to be involved with placing the bounty on my head, knowing that I would come to get rid of the bounty and hoping that I would help him with his little problem – the Necros.

"While I was there, the planet was attacked by the Necromongers. Imam was killed. The only man I ever trusted. I ghosted the man who killed him and met the Lord Marshall; I got away. Before he died he told me that Jack had gotten herself sent to Crematoria for killing some people, so I headed there. I found her and fuck if she hadn't grown up. I could hardly recognize her, but she remembered me. Changed her name to Kyra. We escaped the Crematoria slam by running across the surface. When we got to the hanger we were cut off by the Necros. They had followed me from Helion Prime. We fought our way through them but I got a glancing hit from an energy gun. That's when you showed up." He said looking up at her. "Kyra thought I was dead. She went with the Necros instead of staying there to die. I went back to Necropolis to find her, but he killed her when she stabbed him in the back- saving my ass. Again." By this time, Riddick had his head in his hands. "She was everything I knew." His voice began to rise. "I will kill every fuckin' Necromonger for taking her from me."

Shirah respected the pain she heard in his voice. Standing, she walked past him to head upstairs. She paused and lightly touched him on his broad shoulder, then left.

Riddick sat there with his head propped in his hands for a long while. Finally he walked over to the door, sat and propped his back against the wall. Though he tried, he couldn't shake the thoughts of Kyra that ran through his head. Once again, like every other night in the past five years, he fell asleep with her smile on his thoughts.

Riddick didn't wake until mid-morning and when he did it was to the sound of Shirah searching for something to eat. He squinted against the sun that filtered through the front windows of the store, and pulled down his goggles.

"Good morning!" Shirah said brightly.

"You too." He replied, raising his eyebrows slightly. He wasn't used to seeing such a happy face in the morning. At least not since he left Jack and Imam on Helion Prime. "Jack always loved mornings." He remembered.

He walked over toward the door, glanced out and did a visual sweep of the alley way. All clear. He could hear the very soft sounds of people sneaking out of town or searching for food. He couldn't hear the sound of battle anymore. Stepping outside he cautiously headed back toward the tower to see the results of his handiwork. Reaching the roof he squatted down and surveyed the battle field. The larger army had obviously crushed the suddenly leaderless, floundering smaller army during the night. They were now spread out across the field. Riddick could see the soldiers resting, eating and talking amongst themselves. It would only be a matter of time before they would come into the city and make themselves at home. "Good." He thought, standing and heading back to the shop.

As he entered he saw that Shirah had indeed found something to eat and now had two cans of fruit opened. She handed him a disposable fork and asked him what was happening.

Taking the fork, Riddick grabbed an open can of fruit and began to eat. Between bites, he caught her up on everything he thought she needed to know. "The small army that we saw seemed to be all that was left of their Lord Marshal's force. They owned this area. Last night the larger army who was attacking the city wiped them out. They should be setting up shop here soon."

Shirah was shocked and almost dropped her can of fruit. "But we should get out of here then, right? We can't just wait for them to come and kill us!"

Riddick continued to eat, "Just wait." He said.