Stalemate

Chapter Two

"You're still thinkin' 'bout that fucker, aren't you?"

Kyra turns to the pilot, Anise, who has a disapproving look etched into her face. A single red eyebrow is arched, waiting expectantly for a reply.

"No," Kyra murmurs. She subconsciously touches the bandage on her neck, staring out at the star-speckled space.

Anise snorts delicately, swerving in her seat to check the controls. She reaches up to flick a switch before sitting lotus-style in her chair, returning her attention to Kyra.

"You," she tells her friend, "are a bad liar."

Kyra rolls her eyes and pulls out the tiny knife, that only a few hours ago had been pressed against her neck, and begins to fiddle with it.

"Ignore whatever Jason and Zeke say. You tried. It didn't work out. Big deal. There're plenty other jobs out there for a nice wad of cashy money."

Kyra looks down at the knife, watching it glint in the subtle light. "I screwed up, Anise."

A quiet lingers for a moment before Anise responds, "Happens to the best of us, Kyra. You think I got this good by never fuckin' up a landing? In school, I tore off a wing of a practice transport ship."

At this, Kyra gives a ghost of a smile, but it fades quickly. "I shouldn't have picked the job," she mutters to herself, but the pilot hears it.

"What'd you mean? For three mil, I'd trade in my big toe." Anise shrugs casually.

Tentatively, she divulges a little more. "I knew him. The job, I mean."

"Really? You knew Richard B. Riddick?" Anise gives her an appraising look. "Ex-boyfriend?" Her tone holds an unabashed curiosity.

"No," Kyra answers with a shake of her head. "God no. I met him a long time ago. I guess you could say he saved my life."

Slightly interested, Anise cocks her eyebrow again. "When did Kyra the badass merc ever need saving?"

Kyra leans back, resting her feet on console. "When I was young and stupid."

Anise laughs loudly. "Babe, we were all young and stupid. What'd you do?" She sinks her body into the chair, waiting for the story.

"A ship crash, actually. He got me and a holy man off the planet," Kyra replies, keeping her face carefully blank.

With a guffaw, the pilot shakes her head at her. "Riddick? A savior? Something tells me there more to that story."

Kyra opens her mouth to deflect her, to hide the truth, to avoid rehashing what happened on the terrifying planet, but she stops when Jason and Zeke stomp into the room.

"We on course?" Jason asks Anise with a surly look that Kyra knows has nothing to do with the pilot.

"Yep," Anise pops the 'p'. "All set for Greenleaf. The cyro-sleep's prepped, too."

Ignoring Kyra, Zeke reaches over her to engage the containers. "They're open," he announces gruffly and leaves the room without another word.

Cyro-sleep.

Even now the words send an icy shiver down her spine. It's her flaw, but when she can, she avoids going under.

Unfortunately, Greenleaf is too far away, and it's easier to succumb to the autopilot and use the cyro-sleep chamber.

It's always the same though. In the last few seconds before everything becomes blissfully dark, she fights it. A buried animalistic instinct urges her to stay awake, but she never does.

"Let's go," Jason's gruff voice breaks through her rumination. He gives her a cold look before holding a hand out to Anise, a gesture of predilection. Anise shoots a look between Jason and Kyra, hesitant to move.

It's that look that kindles Kyra's anger and she stand up, her gazing boring into his. "Something you wanna say to me?"

Jason presses his lips into a slim line, and fury makes his muscles twitch. Without responding, he clomps off to the cyro-chambers.

"Jesus," Anise mutters, and then tries, "he'll get over it." She unfurls herself from her chair and briefly pats Kyra's shoulder. Her slim figure disappears around the corner, fiery hair winking.

A sigh bubbles from her lips as she lolls her neck back, hands on her hips. She doesn't completely blame them for their anger. In their minds, she let a multi-million dollar job slip right through her fingers.

If only they knew, she thinks, acknowledging the irony, she's the one who managed to slip through his fingers.

With her life intact.

But since then, she keeps seeing him, tiny blips of her memory in pieces. His muscles, his neck, his face. Her tiny reflection in his dark goggles.

Thank god, she thinks with relief. No one dreams in cyro-sleep.

Kyra walks down the hall to the cyro-chambers where Zeke is already out, and Anise and Jason are strapped in.

Clearly, from the look in Jason's eyes, he refuses to go under until she's securely fastened. It irks her that in one day the trust has evaporated.

With the utmost composure, Kyra hooks herself up and snaps the straps in place. The chamber encloses her, and she sees Jason, out of the corner of her eye, close his.

In a matter of minutes, her limbs feel like lead weights. Her eyes flutter and a low exhale slips out. She can feel it happening like clockwork. Her mind presses back against the sleep, and she shifts restlessly.

Suddenly, she's back in the cold cave, jagged rock digging into her spine. His body is hovering near hers, his lips at her ear, grazing the skin.

Then, it comes to her, a flash before the black oblivion.

"Remember, you started this. Be ready for next time, Jack."

A/N: let me know what you think!)