It was still dark outside when Riddick shook Jack's shoulder. "Get a move on it, kid," he ordered casually. Jack sat up a moment later. Riddick had trained her to wake immediately, without any grogginess or stiffness.
After circling the city again, they neared the port. Riddick told her that his employer was going to bring his cargo over in an hour. Riddick didn't want to take any chances, so he told Jack to stay put. Then he lurked away, being only a shadow.
And Jack obeyed. After the yesterday's events she didn't dare to mess up again. Half an hour later she heard the ugliest sound possible – someone shouting: "Die!" Although Jack's instinct told her to go and help Riddick in case he couldn't handle it alone, she didn't act on it. Riddick can take care of everything as long as he doesn't have to protect her too from the immediate danger.
Minutes passed. Jack could hear only her rapid heartbeats and the sound of blood flowing in her ears. It's the darkest right before the dawn, so she couldn't see a thing. The silence was getting on her nerves. Did they kill Riddick? she asked from herself. Suddenly, someone's hands grabbed her shoulders from behind. Jack couldn't waste time to look back; she had to get free first. She struggled to turn. Shiv in her hand was ready to slice whoever it was. Jack got up and turned.
It wasn't Riddick, that's for sure. There were two men looking at her with pure disdain, both holding knives. The younger of the two jumped forward to push her down. Jack turned left and the guy lost his balance for a fraction of a second. Next thing he knew, Jack kicked up her leg and hit his face with the heavy combat boot. The man cried out of pain as his cheekbone broke. Very painful. Without a second thought Jack threw her shiv right into his sleep artery. He fell to the pavement. One down, one to go.
The older man hadn't been fast enough to attack her while Jack was busy killing his friend. Now he let out an angry growl and launched forward. Jack had learned it was always better to fight in silence. Even you're every breath is a signal for your enemy about what you're going to do next, not to mention yelling! Now she was ready to fight his attack.
Jack had used the shiv she usually kept on her belt pocket. She knew the other is still in her boot, but there was no time to take it out. She didn't have a weapon. The older man raised his knife and it was only inches apart from Jack's chest. She held his hand away using only the little strength she had. Jack knew she couldn't hold him back for much longer. So she gritted her teeth and lifted her knee with all she had left. Jack's knee connected with the man's groin and he howled with pain. Jack could see in dark how his eyes rolled back and the man dropped his knife. Serves you right, mister dickhead extraordinaire. Jack didn't hesitate to throw another punch in his face to win some time. She snatched the guy's own knife and with final dose of adrenaline, she stabbed him in his eye. The blade was long and, as it found its way to the man's brain, also deadly.
Jack kept her fighting position. There might be others who want a piece of her. But all she heard was silence. Jack removed her from the younger man's throat. It was so bloody that felt slippery in her hands. She hid it to her belt, took out another shiv from the heel of her boot and armed herself with the first man's knife. Sufficiently well equipped, Jack headed to Mortimer Nova.
Jack didn't feel the least bit bad for using dirty moves in her combat style. Riddick had taught her a lot. One of those things was to know her weaknesses. So what if she didn't have the physical strength of men? She was fast and could use her head too. Jack used the opponent's weaknesses against them. For an example, if the guy had balls then he naturally deserved to be kicked there. Simple!
Jack hid herself behind the neighboring ship much like Riddick had hid himself when she was talking to Lev. Their ship was dark and there weren't any signs of people moving around. Jack was worried for Riddick. Why hadn't he come back to tell her the danger has passed or that they had to leave M Kappa little earlier that planned and without the intended cargo? Could it be that something really did happen to him?
And just as she was thinking about that, Riddick appeared by her side. He was crouching like Jack. They had long ago become skilled at using various hand signals. Now she signed him that she had taken down two men. Riddick nodded to say he understood and then signed for her to wait there until he gets the cargo on board. Jack thought about whether Riddick's so called employer had shown up in the middle of the fight; and if that was true then why it had taken so long for him to come back to her. Mortimer Nova's lights lit up, so she was able to see Riddick opening the doors to the cargo hold. He moved fast and carried some, but dragged most of the huge boxes inside. Then, when he was done, Riddick motioned for Jack to come in.
Jack helped him to lock the doors and both of them ran to the cockpit. Jack strapped herself in and nervously looked at the monitors to see if there was still anyone out there. No, the air was clear. Riddick kept the radio connection with the Tower until they had clearance for take off. Neither of them spoke about what had gone wrong. Finally they were in open space and Riddick inserted the codes for the star jump.
After they had jumped and the artificial gravity kicked in again, Jack unstrapped herself. Riddick was hassling with all the switches, lights and buttons on the console. "Are you ok?" Jack asked.
"Yes. You?"
Jack had to look at herself. She had some blood on her tank top and bare legs, but none of it was her own. "Yes."
Jack waited a little while longer before opening her mouth again. "What was that attack about?"
Riddick didn't look at her, but his voice was thick with anger. "Fucker tried to pull a fast one on me. It went down bloody and I took over the cargo."
"Then what's in the boxes?" she asked puzzled. There was no point to ask how or why Riddick had been tricked. Jack knew that Riddick always had his reasons and she trusted his choices.
"Who knows," he answered, still mainly concentrating on double-crossing whoever might want to follow them.
Jack didn't need to push it further. She went down to the cargo hold to take a look for herself. She flicked on the lights because Riddick wasn't nearby and she didn't want to fall on her ass on the stairs. The cargo hold wasn't nearly full. In the back there were their own boxes with various supplies, safely secured with the net. Near the doors were the many boxes that Riddick had recently ´gained. Jack went forward to have a closer look.
She opened the first box. Then she rushed over and took a look in every single one of them. Guns, a fucking lot of guns. This shipment must be very valuable. And we stole them… Holy shit, they're gonna hunt us down!
"Riddick!" Jack shouted. She ran up to him in a hurry. "Riddick! Guns, all guns!" she told him out of breath.
Riddick frowned. "Figures. I was supposed to take them to a war-zone." He looked up at Jack who was standing near his pilot's seat. "We'll sell them back to them."
This complicated situation made Jack nervous as a poodle in a lion's cage. They had always lived on edge, but this was playing with fire. She was up and fidgeting the whole day, unable to sit still or think of anything but the upcoming battle. And she was sure there would be a huge battle. Because if you steel something valuable from a powerful party X, and then think you're really clever and wanna sell it back to X – who wouldn't want to kill Riddick?
He knew what Jack was going through. Riddick tried to be understanding and all that shit, but could she just fucking stop? "Jack! Go to the dojo and take it out on the punching bag!" he barked from the cockpit to where Jack was in the main room.
"No!" she yelled back just because.
To prove him she is not to be ordered around like a kid, she headed back to the cargo. She took out a range of weapons. Riddick had made her to master any arsenal, but suggested to use shivs or other blades. Loud sound of guns gives away your position. Also you might run out of ammo; then what you'll do?
Now she looked at them and tried them out. Jack found the guns cool and handy. The idea of being face to face with a bulky guy wanting only to kill her wasn't that pleasing. It had happened many times in her young life already, but she still didn't find the thrill of the fight worth it all. She wasn't like Riddick in that way. Jack thought it would be a hell of a lot more fun to kill her enemies from a distance. Then again, how would she be able to hide a gun that big when she was out on the city and needed the protection the most?
Just for the heck of it, she loaded the one she liked the most. Not that the other models sucked, but this one was her front-runner. It was matt silver and small enough to carry under a jacket or to hang on her belt. Since it wasn't that big and could fit only ten bullets the gun was rather light. Jack couldn't understand how it could be used in a war. It was old, without energy-blazes; it wasn't automatic and needed to be recharged after the first minute. Surely they wouldn't miss it there…
The gun in hand, she went to talk to Riddick again. He was still piloting. Seemed like the man had more discipline than Jack would have thought is humanly possible. Wouldn't he want to stretch or something?
"Umm…Riddick?" Jack asked hesitatingly to draw his attention. Riddick didn't say anything, but the way he turned his head only a little bit, showed Jack that he was listening. "I found one really nice gun. And I was wondering if I could keep it," she said much more self-aware.
Riddick looked at her now. He rose from his seat and came closer. "Show it." She did. Riddick quickly examine it and then he asked still keeping the gun: "It's not powerful or useful. Why do you want it?"
Jack looked up at him, but she couldn't come up with any reason she would expect Riddick to agree with. "It's beautiful," she finally said casually and shrugged. But she was fully aware what Riddick will think about this one.
She had been right. Her answer earned a gruff from Riddick as well as a look saying: well aren't you a pathetic silly thing. Riddick said: "In a fight, your opponent might take this from you and use it against you."
"Yeah, but so can happen with shiv!" she enlightened him.
"True, but to use shivs correctly, you have to be skilled. Even a baby can shoot a gun."
Jack knew Riddick was right. Guns weren't useful. She didn't need to have a gun. "But I want it," she finally said in a very begging-like way. Jack immediately hated herself for that. Riddick might treat her like she's a child, but it didn't mean she should act like one!
There was one more gruff from Riddick and then, out of the blue, he almost threw the silvery gun back to Jack's arms. "Keep it, but don't take it out from the ship."
Jack had to give it a little smile. She was happy, in spite of the fact that she could never use it. Even though she didn't like to ask for anything from anyone, she also knew that Riddick had no reason to let her keep the gun just because it's beautiful. Riddick wasn't able to see colors or anything very sharply for the matter. Riddick didn't know what beauty was. And a gun on board can be a real…killer! This all made Riddick's consent hundred times dearer.
"Done!" she told to Riddick's retreating back to let him know she agreed to the terms. Most likely Riddick had never had a doubt that she would not do as he asks. But… At least I'm not going to thank him, Jack thought dryly.
Jack hid the gun on top of her bags and grabbed a new set of clothes. Another pair of shorts, these suitable for workout, and a wifebeater in hand, Jack went to the bathroom to change. She dropped her dirty ones to the washer and stepped out towards the dojo. It wasn't a big room, but a comfortable one. "Lights on, 90 percent!" she ordered. Then she put on some electronical music. Not very loud, but enough to feel the beat.
After the warm-up and wrapping her fists, she turned to the punchbag. Somehow it always purified her to take it out on a helpless piece of leather and whatever the bag was filled with. She worked herself up, muttered curses to the bag and dreamed she could do it all to some man instead. Hand combat wasn't her best trait, so she preferred her shiv to help her out. For her killing someone with the shiv lacked the power and style. Then again – which do you choose – style or your life? Hmm, that's a hard one…
She was covered with sweat by the time she moved on to practicing martial arts. She had a lot of grace, speed and accuracy, so it looked as if she was dancing. After some time she took her shiv and combined using it with everything else she knew. If poets had seen her then, they would have called her the beautiful death. She felt the heart beating too fast, so she figured it was time for the final part of her regular workout.
But before she could start the stretching, Riddick opened the door. His goggles were on. He knew that she always had lights on when she was alone. But he wasn't going to kill the lights either; he wanted to give her a little head start for what he had in mind.
"How about sparring?" he asked. They did that often. Sparring with Riddick served three goals. One – she could see what parts of her fighting skills needed to be worked on a little harder. Two – it gave Jack an actual fighting experience. It's nice and all to know the moves, but if you don't know how to use them in real life, they're worth jack. Three – it gave Riddick an opportunity to see how much Jack had developed and whether she has what it takes to survive.
"Sure," she said. Then she grinned and added: "But you better watch out, old man. I've warmed up and I feel my arms and legs are light today," she joked. As if she could ever beat Riddick. She had tried to do it since the first sparring, but never succeeded. But Jack wasn't a quitter. This might be your lucky day, girl, she mused to herself. And then she suddenly remembered what he had called Riddick – an old man – and had to smile even wider. Old man, my ass.
Riddick took off his combat boots and stepped in the dojo. He didn't comment her warning, just came closer. They started circling, knees bent and arms raised. Jack knew first hand that it would not be a good idea to attack first. If Riddick tries to get a punch in, she could block it and see if she has an opportunity to attack him. If Jack's lucky, he forgets some place open.
He tested her patience by not going for it. He looked right in her eyes, both to see what would be her next move and also to intimidate her. Jack thought that if anyone can handle looking into Riddick's eyes for over a minute, then nothing in the galaxy can scare that person again.
Riddick moved fast. His left foot rose to kick Jack off her feet. She stepped to the side a little and avoided loosing her balance. Right away Riddick's fist flew to her face, but she managed to block it with her right hand. It was time to make her own move. Jack jumped a little closer and tried to land a punch on his neck. Riddick grabbed it and used his hold on her wrist to pull her body closer to throw in another punch. It was almost too late what Jack tried to block his hand. She only managed to push it a little away from her chest and to slower it down. Riddick's fist landed on her left shoulder. It didn't hurt Jack that much because Riddick hadn't used full force in the first place. That was their agreement since the very beginning of training together – Jack won't aim his private parts and he won't hit too hard.
Using their closeness in her advantage, she threw foot in the air to hit the side of Riddick's head. He ducked, but for doing so he had to let go of her wrist. Jack's right arm was free again. Riddick raised his left hand to again as if to punch her from that direction. Jack concentrated on blocking it. Suddenly, Riddick's right foot landed on her side, throwing Jack to the ground. Before she could push herself up, Riddick's knee was on her back holding her down. Jack's left arm was bent up on her back in Riddick's death grip. One more push and her arm would brake or dislocate her shoulder. Jack kept still.
Riddick didn't let her go just yet. "Never look at their hands. Eyes tell you everything you need to know. You know, Jack, the head is in the middle, so you can see the rest of their body at least from the corner of your eye," he said. The final part about the head angered Jack quite a bit. Witty Riddick can kiss my ass! Jack thought.
Riddick released her and they both got up. Jack was frowning, but Riddick's face was again unreadable. "Yeah, well, you had goggles on!" she tried to reason him and maybe get some of her pride back.
"Sore looser," he only said. Jack turned around again to give him a piece of her mind. But she couldn't get a word out – because there was a small smile on his lips.