A/N:Thanks to Robin Moto who has added this story to her (I'm
guessing, but don't shoot me if I'm wrong) favorites list, and to
My Reflection, Robin Moto, and ck16 for the reviews.
This will likely veer from the movie plot at some
point (Ok like this chapter, in fact). If you haven't seen the
movie and want to read a shooting script for it you can find a link
to one in my profile bio. This story uses lines from the shooting
script, the novel, and the extended Director's cut of Pitch Black,
but I have attempted to choose POV characters that are not used in
those sources when I have a choice in the matter.
Riddick and the Doctor won't always see eye to
eye, but Riddick is a smart fellow and knows that he doesn't want
to step on the alien's toes until he knows him better. I'm
certainly hoping that the ideas in Riddick's head are disturbing.
They should be.
Yes, River needs to be in a certain range for the
filtering to be totally effective. It's very possible that she
feels discomfort if the connection is too strained. The Doctor does
have a 'plan' to deal with this. And Simon is very much central
to it.
As to where this might go – One story at a time
please. :-P
500 years in the future, something has prompted humanity to explode out from their home world. Some of those leaving Earth behind view the world as nearly a myth. Others know better. In fleeing Earth-that-Was humanity scattered to the stars across the galactic arm. Lets just imagine then that Blue Sun exists on the opposite side of this galactic arm from the rest of civilized space, and that one ship is taking a ghost run through the long route. Port of Departure: Eavesdown Docks, Persephone. Mixed Sino-Anglo culture. Port of Call: Tangiers-5. Darkside. Mixed Islamic-Anglo culture. Crew complement: Four. Passengers: Forty. Living 'Cargo': Two.
So what happens when a passenger by the name of Dr. Simon Tam and his cargo get on the wrong ship? And just how is this related to the TimeWar?
Doctor Who / Firefly / Riddick X-over.
Features Doctor 9, Pre-"Rose"; Simon and River Tam, Pre-"Serenity" Firefly episode 1 and the cast of Pitch Black…
Doctor Who and the Great Eclipse
Part Thirteen
Bargain
Carolyn Fry had listened to the two men held inside the ship and the strange girl that showed no fear of either of them. She had watched the wispy lass float over and settle against the Doctor, but between he and Riddick, during the course of their tale that placed them both far away from Zeke at the time of his death. While River had not said anything else, it was clear that she trusted these two, felt perfectly at home with them, and thought that the docking pilot should as well. And for some reason the blonde found it very easy to keep her word to Riddick and trust in him.
Once she had heard the entire story from their point of view, she asked River to come with her back outside. The young lady had given her an odd look, stood and took the blonde's hand, and lead Carolyn out to the others. Simon was facing off against Shazza, who had woken up and was pissed about the drug he'd given her, when Fry stepped out into the light. Paris was hanging out near the hull, hunched in the shade, watching them. Jack was glaring at the world in general about something. And Johns was nowhere to be seen. "Red is soaring," River said cryptically.
Now Fry had no experience with this kind of oddness. She gave the dark-haired girl a strange look and noticed that she had the same sort of something in her eyes as the unsusally pale, tall, man chained up inside. She was beginning to think that perhaps both this girl and the mysterious 'Doctor' were readers or worse. That was a scary thought. A murderer, and two psychics that might be trained as assassins… She pushed the idea aside and sent River over to Jack. The docking pilot then walked up to Simon and Shazza; "The story I'm getting places them both far from the scene of the crime when the shots rang out. But the are saying that the remains are in the hole."
"Fine then. I'll be going to find me Zeke. If you don't mind," Shazza ground out.
"Shazza, I'm not so sure that's wise -- " Carolyn started.
"DID I ever ask you? No. I'm goin'. If I find 'im then I'm gonna come back and carve those two up like holiday turkeys, got that, mate?" She stomped off to gather her equipment.
Simon looks at the docking pilot; "I could sedate her again."
"No. No… It's her choice. I just wish I knew what she was thinking sometimes. It's stupid, you know, to go jumping into a situation where someone has died. There's something in that hole, or I've been lied to."
Simon finds himself stating, "Not by the Doctor."
Carolyn feels a chill trickle up her spine. She looks at the dark haired young man. He looks serene and certain. He's positive that the Doctor would tell the truth. Now for some reason she finds that fitting with her own assessment. Freaky, almost as freaky as the lad's sister, in fact. But she can't question her own instincts. They have saved her life too many times to ignore. She sets off after Shazza.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Johns heard the door to the cargo bay slide open with a bang and roused himself enough to not look totally stoned. He could hear two women arguing as one of them rifled through a cargo container, but couldn't be assed enough to pay attention to the words just yet. The buzz it too good still.
It's only as they are leaving and he hears Carolyn say, "At least wait for Johns, Shazza. If something is in there having someone else to pull you out might save your life," that he feels the need to come out from where he's been hiding.
"Hey, what the hell is going on?" he calls as he moves from around the corner.
Shazza is geared up again to go caving he sees, "Gonna find me Zeke." Then she's gone into the sunlight. The docking pilot gives him a worried look and follows Shazza out.
Well, ain't that just grand? Johns sprints the last few feet and spots the two women heading toward the gravesite. From the direction of the hull he spots Jack and the new, weird girl moving to intercept, with the young Doc trailing behind. He shakes his head and moves to catch up with the women. "Hey, I thought we covered this? Don't we already know what happened? Sir-Shiv-a-lot went off on Zeke, buried him on the hill somewhere, got some help to stage this elaborate mind-fuck, and now -- "
"They're sayin' he's in the hole. Not 'somewhere' but right there. I'm findin' me Zeke, marshal." Shazza said in a huff.
"But Shazza, what if they didn't put the bodies there? What if it's something else?"
Johns looked at Fry's pale face; "They got you thinking there's something else out there? No, Carolyn. Riddick killed Zeke."
"I'm not so sure, Johns."
By this point Jack, River, Simon and, surprisingly, Paris have caught up with the others. Johns raises an eyebrow at the audience, and retorts to Fry, "Well, I am sure. Look, murders aside, Riddick belongs in the Asshole Hall of Fame. He loves the jaw-jackin', loves making you afraid, 'cuz that's all he has. And you're playing right into his game."
It's the doc-kid, Simon Tam, who cuts him off, "The Doctor believes that anyone heading into that burrow won't be coming out in one piece."
"And we trust him, why, exactly?" Johns says, rounding on the young man.
Shazza said, with her green eyes flashing, "That's what I wanna know, too. Who is the bastard? He didn't get on at the last stop. Where did he come from?"
Simon opens his mouth and then closes it when River's hand circles around his. The thought of 'because' sounds lame even inside his head before he says it. It's a striking realization to conclude that at some point unmarked and unnoticed the Doctor went from 'foreign' to 'trust with my life' in status. And the Tam scion can't pin down when it happened. Questions aside, he knows that he doesn't care how the man got there or who he is. The mystery of the fellow just seems to fit with who the Doctor is. But it is very dangerous to defend the man in the face of Shazza's anger. Simon swallows, "Right."
Carolyn steps in, "Johns." She says in a warning tone. She can see where the Tam lad is coming from, and is quite scared that he's right. Anyone going into that burrow is facing something very unknown. Something dangerous enough that the Doctor had said, 'I don't think recovering your dead is very wise.' She hadn't given it much thought, but the man must have told Simon or River something along those lines too.
The marshal snorts and turns back to his argument with the bushwhacker as she refocuses on her goal, "Now, I'm gonna find me Zeke. I'll look for the others. But me Zeke is what I have'ta find." She looks at Johns, "Don't matter if Riddick killed 'im or if he ate your pistola because he killed that other man, I still need to find me Zeke."
Direct is not working, so Johns attempts another tatic, "Look, Sharon, I know you love Zeke. But that ground looked none too stable, and I don't want anyone -- "
"Stuff it, Johns. I'm going."
Jack then pipes up, "Hey, I'll go."
"No, Luv. You are staying." Shazza said firmly.
Johns reaches out and catches the bushwhacker by the arm, "Doin' this won't bring him back, Sharon. Riskin' your life won't make your father love you more, or change what's happened. Everyone thought you were smarter than this."
"Fuck off, William. Zeke and me? We made our peace with your kind a long time ago. My family has nothin' to do with it. I owe Zeke's tribe to bring something home. His dreamtime only ends when part of him touches Earth soil again. I don't expect you to understand. Now, outta my way." With that she shoves him off and drops into the grave that is coated in dried rusty brown.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Shazza is not scared. With Zeke gone she only aims to find him again one way or another. She pulls her own light and peers down the narrow opening. She can feel the eyes of the others on her back and doesn't care what they think. If Zeke is in here, she aims to find him.
The passage she worms into is wider as she goes. Her off hand providing support, she manages to get onto all fours so that she is crawling. A little bit father and she finds the shattered handlight that she remembers giving her mate for his last birthday. He'd never part with it and be alive she knows.
The others, still outside, are feeding her cable, as she needs it. The narrow passage begins a climb and above her she detects dusty twilight. Suddenly the passage is no longer short or constricted. She scans around and gains her feet. The ceiling is just tall enough for her to feel like she needs to hunch slightly. A stab of sunlight that leaves the rest of the walls in darkness illuminates the center of the chamber. She shines her handlight along the floor. White shards and wet blackness glitter at her. Bones and bloody Vectran.
It doesn't take her much to realize that this burrow's contours follows the shape of the hill and that the spires above it must provide the entry and exit normally used. And the creatures must be carnivores. Even as she senses that she's not alone, Shazza is determined to find something of Zeke to take out with her. She must not show fear.
She can hear now an inhuman clicking wail that is just at the edge of her hearing. There are leathery noises like bat wings rustling around her. She makes a circuit of the chamber and finally spots what she's been looking for. One of Zeke's boots with his foot still in it. The grief nearly bowls her over. She grabs for it even as the shadows seem to come alive around her. "He's mine! I'm taking this with me. You got the rest, you foul monsters!"
Something strikes out at her and she dodges back into the shaft of sunlight, still clutching Zeke's foot. Around her the entire chamber is a swirling mass of shadowy death. She tucks the bloody boot into her belt and braces herself against the inside walls of the spire, scrambling for some purchase with her booted feet.. Her safety chain suddenly begins tugging her back. Her hands scrape on the rough sandstone leaving faint scrapes of blood as she tries to dig her nails into the sides.
The clicking screech builds until it deafens her. Something catches her foot and cuts into her leg. She kicks and fights, but refuses to scream. At least she'll be with Zeke.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Those on the rope feel it go taunt. Then it loosens, and they begin to pull. What comes out is only part of what went in. It's an uneven slice of torso with a boot stuck into the belt.
There's a beat of stunned silence where no one is even breathing.
"Oh, God..." Fry manages. Her worse fears are realized before her. And somehow she already knew they'd been telling her the truth.
Jack howls like his world has ended and tries to throw himself into the pit. Paris and Simon catch the boy who keeps screeching in grief and tries to claw his way free. Simon makes a guess on the child's weight and gives him half a shot of what he used on Shazza the last time they were up here. Jack goes still like a rag doll. Paris, who goes rather green after, lowers the child to the dirt.
Johns looks at the gristly bit, "We did try to warn her, Carolyn. I say we fill this in and call it done. Maybe Imam can say some words later."
The docking pilot is too numb to reflect on his callous disregard of the loss and picks up one of the shovels. Soon everyone is pushing dirt into the gravesite. All but Jack, who is unconscious, and River, who is sitting on the ground rocking back and forth with a glazed look in her eyes, "Anon. Nix Blaze, Aegis. Anon, Nix Blaze --"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The Doctor has been sitting very still, and quite frankly, Riddick isn't sure that the alien is breathing, even. The look on his face is one that is very pained, so much so that Riddick can see the twist to his features when he dares to look over that direction. He wants to ask if the man is all right, but is sure that he's not, making the question a stupid one. And he hates looking stupid. Then he catches the mumble that tells him the Doctor must be breathing, although focused elsewhere, because there is no mistaking that musical language. It's not human.
Like most things about the fellow, the longer Riddick is exposed to it the more he craves it. So instead of interrupting the faint tones, the con just listens until they are drowned out by the louder sounds of the others returning. 'Like a herd of elephants,' he compares the wave of noise to the previous whispered chanting.
Once the sound of the Doctor's voice is drowned out, Riddick figures that it's stopped. He hears someone being settled down in the cryo-bay and Johns voice, "Gonna be alright?"
Simon answers, "I doubt it. The boy has just lost two people he cared a great deal for. How would you feel in similar circumstances?"
"Guess we'll have to keep a watch on the kid then to make sure he don't slit his wrists." Johns footsteps become louder as he moves into the nav bay where the two men are chained. He steps into the filtered light and blocks it from falling into Riddick's face. The ex-ranger does not move or acknowledge that he's there for a long while. Johns finally says, "So. You were being on the up and up."
"Was it worse than me, Billy? Something else to be scared of?"
"Been told to offer you a deal, Rich. Wanna listen or not?" Johns asks as he eyes the pair over.
"I'm listenin'"
"Fry thinks you should be given a chance, seeing as you told her the truth. Cost us a life to verify it and we could've done without that, but she's the Captain and I'm just a badge, so… you work without the bit and without the chains. That's my concession. But I want no shivs, and you do what I say when I say."
Riddick stares at his blue-eyed devil. But the other voice says, "No, marshal. Richard keeps his shivs, for self defense."
"And just why do you think you have any room here to state your terms?" Johns looks at the Doctor.
The other man gives him a very unnerving smile; "You need us." The 'to survive' part didn't need to be said.
That set Johns on edge. He's not sure which of the two are more dangerous. In his way of thinking, he's got reason to keep the killer alive, but not the other man. He's tempted to just end him now and save himself the trouble. Only he has a distinct feeling that shooting the mysterious man will make Riddick totally uncontrollable. He can't risk that. "Ok, keep your shivs. I can't make you not create them, anyhow."
Now the ex-ranger knows it is his turn to negotiate. The Doctor's gotten him permission to keep a blade, but he needs to know what Johns' plan is. "For what? The honor of goin' back to some asshole of a cell after I've saved your ass, again?" Riddick is glaring now, even though it's painful to do.
"Truth is, Riddick, I'm tired of this head-up shit. Tired of chasing your ass. I wanna be free of you as much as you wanna be free of me."
Riddick gives the man a calculating look; "You'd cut me loose, Boss?"
"I'm thinking you could've died in the crash. If we both make it off this rock I'll pull what ever I need to, to make that happen."
Riddick looks over at the Doctor and noticed that the man's face is hard with a controlled fury that he never wants directed at him. Johns is lying. He shakes his head at the merc, "My recommendation: Do me. Don't take the chance that I'll get shiv-happy on your wannabe ass. It's what I would do if I were you."
But Johns can't see anymore than he could hear. He doesn't realize that his bluff is being called. "If you were me, I'd kill us both. C'mon, you wanna sit at the grown-up table or not?"
"Ghost me, mother-fucker."
Johns face doesn't change, or alter in any way. He says, "Ok." And levels the shotgun, now repaired, and fires.
Two sets of chains slither to the floor. "Want you to remember this moment, Riddick. The way it coulda gone and didn't," Johns states.
Now their eyes meet, drugged blue to keen quicksilver, "Say that again." The Doctor gracefully gets to his feet, his arms trailing half the length of the cable. He's just watching and waiting.
Johns holds out the goggles, "You heard me. Here."
Riddick slowly stands, eyeing the black eyewear. It's his original pair, the better ones meant for using a high-power laser, not the common wielding goggles he had before. Those had busted when he was trying to keep Shazza off him. But he's not about to let Johns get away with his firing a shotgun at close range like that. His shoulders are peppered with tiny fragments and he can feel the pinpricks of blood oozing up through the abraded skin. He reaches for the goggles, and snags the shotgun out of Johns' hands at the same time.
The marshal only sees a blur of movement, before he realizes that he's looking at the twin dark eyes of his own weapon. He throws his hands up into the air. "Hey, easy there."
The look on Riddick's face would make a lesser man shit his pants. It's like facing death. "Fuck you!" The muscles work in the ex-ranger's jaw and his arms are tight, like a soldier's arms. His stance is perfect. The ultimate killer.
Then a large, pale, hairless hand settles on one bronzed, glistening, shoulder. Johns can see that it's like pulling the right wire on a time bomb. The ex-ranger relaxes and his eyes narrow, "Want you to remember this moment." He expertly twists the shotgun so that it comes apart into two pieces, catches the shells as they slide out of the chamber with his fingers, and tosses the empty barrel and stock to the side. He then throws the shells at Johns.
The redhead flinches as the two men walk out of the bay. He hopes Fry knows what she's doin'.