Chapter 38: Home Again

The day had come when Kyra could no longer hunt or leave her canyon; her world had shrunk to the small canyon valley she was in. She had come to the decision to no longer leave her valley when she had been hunting one of the large lizard-like creatures that roamed the barren wasteland above and had nearly been caught by its pack. She had been unable to move quickly enough after the pack had become aware of her presence and they had attacked. She only escaped when she jumped over the cliff edge into her canyon, just catching a rope she had secured their earlier to enable her to leave at will. She was still battered and bruised from slamming into the cliff face, but she was grateful she had at least been able to spin her body in midair to take the brunt of the beating on her back. Still, she had experienced some light contractions throughout the rest of the day re-enforcing her decision to no longer hunt.

Now she waited; hating her ponderous bulk that made her a prisoner in her own valley. She yearned for the baby's birth and yet dreaded going through it alone. Every inch of her called out for Riddick; she needed his support, his protection and his love as she sat alone watching the days pass by.

Jefferies' crew had acquired a new ship, restocked it and was ready to continue their pursuit. It would take less than a week to get back to planet Sahade and with their new equipment they should be able to track down their quarry while still in orbit, avoiding the need to search the planet on foot and risking getting caught in the freak dust storms. They were ready. Time to catch the bitch.

It had been thirty-nine days since Riddick had set his course towards the planet Sahade; the ship's engines were nearly fried from the high speeds Riddick pushed from them, but he was finally limping into the Konis System - three days early.

Riddick finally slowed the ship down as they entered the system and looked at his nav computer searching for the exact position of planet Sahade. He tweaked his heading slightly and rounded the giant blue sun. Gradually Sahade rose before him; an ugly, dead looking planet; its surface was riddled with canyons and little else. "Shit." Riddick thought, "could Kyra survive on that?"

Only one way to find out; he adjusted the controls and prepared to enter the atmosphere.

He stopped. There, orbiting the planet was another ship. Smaller than his, but well equipped. He did a scan: three adult life-forms aboard; male, probably, given the size of their heat signatures and the ship was giving off a powerful energy field – a tracking scan. They were looking for someone on planet.

Carefully, Riddick changed his course and slid into orbit behind them; always keeping the horizon between them and him, staying hidden in the dark.

Several hours passed as Riddick lurked behind the scanning ship in the darkness, until finally, the scan stopped abruptly and the ship turned; heading into the atmosphere. Riddick calculated their approximate landing site to be at the bottom of a large canyon roughly ten kilometers from another long, narrow canyon. He had been watching the weather on the planet as he followed the other ship and had seen the severe dust storms that ravaged it. Nothing could survive on the surface, so if Kyra was still alive, or if she was even on this planet, she would have to be in one of the canyons scarring the planet's surface.

The other ship was landing in the large, open canyon in hopes that it would be protected from the storms, but Riddick turned instead and landed smoothly near the lip of the long, narrow canyon. If Kyra was here, she wouldn't be in a large, open canyon. It would be safer an enclosed space, like the smaller canyon he had seen nearby. Riddick guessed that was where the crew of the other ship was headed after they landed and everything rested on him getting there first. He wasn't planning on needing his ship anymore anyway.

Riddick stepped out of the ship onto the hot dust that covered the planet's surface. The sun was setting; lengthening the shadows in the canyon. Riddick stood at the edge of the cliff wall, looking down into the growing darkness. Then, turning, he lowered himself over the edge and quickly made his way to the bottom. Without hesitation; he turned to his left and began walking down the canyon.

Jefferies, J, and Rat began unloading their equipment. Added to their usual guns and restraints they had climbing equipment, portable lights and oxygen tanks to help with the heavy atmosphere. After unloading their equipment from the ship, they loaded themselves up with it and began their climb and tedious hike toward the canyon they had seen pinpointed on the scanner. They had been surprised, at first, when they had found many different life-forms on the planet, but the scanner had found only one life-form that read humanoid residing in a smaller canyon about ten kilometers away. "Ready or not, here we come!" J yelled as they pulled themselves out of the canyon, turned on their lights and began closing in on their prey.

Kyra sat on her makeshift bed, eating some dried meat in the flickering light of her fire. Her back was aching and she couldn't do anything to ease it. It had been aching for the last several days, but today it had been worse; a constant throbbing that almost stole her breath away. She adjusted herself again, searching for a comfortable position. Frustrated, she finished her sparse dinner and helped herself to some water she had brought into her cave earlier in the day, trying to wash down the dry, tough meat. Forcing her tired, sore body into movement one more time, she started banking the fire before heading to bed.

Riddick had been walking for nearly an hour when he saw a flickering light bouncing off the canyon walls, coming from what looked like a small valley ahead. It must be from a campfire. His heart pounded in his chest; could it really be her?

As he neared the valley he crouched low and pressed up against the canyon wall, hiding in the shadows. He peered out into the valley and saw a small, shadowy figure hidden in the darkness of a small cave. He could just make out its profile past the bright flames; a small delicate face and thick, curly hair pulled back into a low ponytail. It was her. He stood quickly and moved into the valley.

The fire roared higher as Kyra added the wood, sending sparks into the still night sky. She glanced up; watching them as they made their way upwards and saw something else that caught her eye. There, behind the flames, stood a dark figure. It took a moment for her eyes to focus and her mind to get past her shock and then recognition flooded her. "Riddick!" his name caught in her throat and came out in an unbelieving whisper.

Time seemed to hold still as they looked at each other. Riddick broke the spell first as he walked towards Kyra who was still kneeling next to the fire. Bending, Riddick took hold of both of her hands and gently pulled her to her feet, waiting patiently as she struggled to balance herself and stand up, and then pulled her softly around so his back was to the fire and she was standing in front of him. Now, with the fire behind him, he pulled off his goggles and looked down over her figure. Their eyes met and Kyra could read the question on his hardening face. She looked him straight into his mercury eyes and nodded, then broke the silence for the first time, "they didn't touch me."

Relief flooded over Riddick and his face broke into one of his rare, genuine smiles. He pulled Kyra against him, holding her as though he would never let her go. Kyra leaned against his hard chest, feeling the heat radiating off him and breathing in his scent. Finally, after nearly nine months, they were home