Author's notes: apologies for the delay guys. I hope you like the next chapter!
Ch 7: How many knives does it take to kill a Merc?
It was broad daylight, as the midday sun shone down over them. Riddick had his black cloak on, with his hood over his goggled eyes. Jack wore her cargoes, her black Tshirt and a light jacket. They rode through the streets until they reached the shipping docks. When they were there last, it was still dark, in the early hours of the morning. The large bright spotlights over the ships had made the docks look magnanimous, as the lights emphasised how large the ships were. In the daytime there was more to see, more people around, and more repairs and maintenance being done.
Jack looked over at Riddick, who was driving silently. With the cloak on him, she couldn't see him well, but Jack felt so comfortable riding next to Riddick. She felt safe by his side, like it was a natural place to be. Jack looked down at her Tanto. It was hers now; An initiation gift from Riddick. And she wanted to do him proud.
Riddick drove past the docks, taking them to the edge of the marketplace. "Why aren't we going to the docks?" Jack asked, unsure why he stopped the vehicle a fair distance away from the shipping docks.
Riddick stopped the vehicle and turned to face Jack. "You're getting off here. Go through the market. If you haven't seen Tombs there, then you go to the docks and look for him there".
Jack knew she made the deal with Riddick, but she didn't think to realise he's not going to be holding her hand when she looked to complete this task. Jack nodded, tucking her knife into the side of her combat boot. "Where do I meet you?" Jack asked.
Riddick pushed Jack's shoulder, hinting to her to get out of the 4-wheeler. "If you kill the Merc, then meet me at his ship".
Jack took the hint and hopped off the 4-wheeler. "So I've only got today to do this?" Jack asked. Riddick nodded, looking at her through his goggles. "What if I can't find him by tonight?"
Riddick started up the vehicle again. "You know where his ship is. He'll be sleeping in it". And with that, Riddick drove off, leaving Jack at the edge of the marketplace.
Jack watched as Riddick left her, the wheels of the 4-wheeler kicking sand and dust in her face. Jack coughed, trying to clear the dust from her lungs. "Dick."
Riddick had his own plans. Regardless of what happens today, he will be leaving the planet tonight.
He drove the buggy directly to the docks. He parked it into a secluded spot and then unhooked the three bags that were on the back. He slung the bags over his shoulders, prepared to leave the planet with his rations and weapons; man's best friends.
Riddick picked up the three bags and made his way to the docks. He may be a large man, wearing a black cloak on a hot dessert planet, but he was a master at hiding in plain sight.
Riddick knew where Tombs' one-man ship was, so that made it easier for Riddick. He walked in a straight line towards the ship, breathing confidence and danger. No-one was going to ask him what he was doing there.
As Riddick neared Tombs' ship, he walked around the side of it. Riddick wanted to enter but he needed to know if Tombs was inside it first. He would normally just kill Tombs, but he was going to let Jack have a crack at it first.
Riddick walked around the sides of the ship, checking the portholes for any signs of life. As Riddick looped around, he kept one hand on the ship.
When he reached the front of the ship again, he could feel vibrations from the hull through his hand.
Riddick paused and moved backwards to the side of the ship. He stood still, with both hands on the hull, and concentrated. The vibrations were rhythmic; thud, thud, thud. They were the vibrations of footsteps. Someone was in the ship, moving around.
Within seconds, the docking hatch began to open. Riddick remained where he was, at the side of the ship. He watched as Tombs walked away from the ship. The hatch began to close, but Riddick snuck in with the bags before it shut.
Riddick got to know a lot of ships in his lifetime. He can pilot ships in his sleep. So Riddick already knew this ship before he even entered it. He located a console that he could hide his weapons and rations in. He then made his way to the pilot's seat and sat down.
Riddick started up the computer system and ran diagnostics. The ship was running perfectly. And this suited Riddick just fine. There'd be no problems taking off.
Riddick paused. Something was bothering him. Riddick couldn't help but want to know more about the enigma that was Jack.
He turned to a different console and started up the program mercs use to track missing and wanted persons. It was a program sold to mercs that hacks into law-keeper's databases.
Riddick created a new search. He limited the search results to missing or wanted females, aged 14-16, from the planet their ship had taken off from before they crash landed on the planet full of monsters.
He figured Jack was a name similar to that of Jack's real name. So he requested girls with the name starting with J appear first.
Over two hundred girls appeared in the listing. Riddick started to sort through them, looking at the pictures. The girls started looking the same after a while. Most were runaways, some were wanted for murder and such.
After a few minutes, Riddick found her.
Name: Jacqueline McKenzie
Age: 15 + 11months
Details: Legal guardians: Mother Madeline McKenzie (deceased), Father Geoff McKenzie.
Child reported missing. Wanted for assault with a deadly weapon. Father reports that child stabbed him in an unprovoked assault. Child Services report 2 notifications of physical abuse made to them by anonymous reporters, however reports unsubstantiated as father and child not home at both unannounced visits. Case closed, pending more in depth investigation at point of locating missing child.
Riddick looked at the accompanying picture. It looked like a school class photo. Jack looked like she was in a school uniform. She was smiling, but her big eyes were showing that she wasn't smiling because she was happy. It was a fake smile. He'd only known her for days, but he already knew the difference with her. Riddick kept analysing the picture. Jacqueline McKenzie had a head full of long curly brown hair. She looked like a pretty teenage girl.
When Riddick met her, she had her hair cropped short, but then she shaved it all off. Jack had said she tried to pass as a boy so that men didn't hassle her. If she kept her curls then she wouldn't have stood a chance.
Riddick knew Jack had good survival instincts.
He admired that in a woman.
Jack walked through the market. She didn't bother looking in the stalls. She had her eyes on everyone walking through it. She hoped that Tombs would be in the busy crowd. It would be easier to stab him and run in this chaos. No-one would be the wiser.
Jack combed the stalls, aisle after aisle. She couldn't find Tombs anywhere. There were so many people that even if he were there, chances are she wouldn't necessarily bump into him.
Jack then made her way to the shipping docks. She didn't know which one was Tombs' ship, but she was going to see if she could work it out for herself.
This was getting ridiculous. Jack had been wondering around for an hr, looking for Tombs. She went to the shipping docks, and took a guess that his ship was the smaller, single-manned vehicle. Practically the same size as the ship Riddick piloted to take them to New Mecca.
Jack walked to the ship, trying to look in the port holes and windshield. She couldn't see anything. It appeared as though there was no-one in it.
"Hey!" An unknown male voice called out. Jack turned quickly to see a mechanic had approached her. "What are you doing here?" The large man was wearing a grease-stained blue jumpsuit. His tone suggested that he's come across more than a few stowaways lurking around the shipping docks in his time.
Jack put on her sweetest smile, wishing she still had her lovely brown curls so that she can pass better as sweet and presentable. "Who's ship is this?" She asked as sweetly as possible.
The mechanic didn't play into the 'telling the cute teenager everything because she asked nicely'. Instead he replied, "That's none of your business. Get out of here!".
Jack figured that if she were Riddick then Riddick would have gutted the mechanic by now. She wasn't the cold blooded killer he was (yet), so she was going to use her current talents to her advantage. And that was to pretend to be an innocent kid.
"I'm sorry, but I'm asking because my dad is a Merc named Tombs. He comes here once a year to see me for my birthday. He hasn't come see me yet, so I thought I'd see if he's arrived."
The mechanic appeared to buy Jack's story. "Yeah, this is Tombs' ship. But he's been here since yesterday."
Jack pretended to be shocked. "What?! Why hasn't he come see me yet? Do you know where I can find him?" Jack asked, pretending as best she can to be a heartbroken girl who has just realised her father is an asshole.
The mechanic rubbed the back of her head. "Look, I don't want to cause trouble between you and your dad," he said. "I got a daughter too, and she's about your age. I know if I miss her birthday then she'd hate me forever". The mechanic looked around nervously, as if he were looking for Tombs. He then turned back to Jack. "Don't tell anyone that I told you this.. but guys like your dad.. Mercs.. they can usually be found over at the whore house.."
The poor mechanic looked as though he'd just told Jack that her dad is a perverted asshole. If Tombs was her dad then the mechanic's feelings would be justified.
Jack pretended to get upset. "Thanks. I'll go now. Please don't tell him I was here, okay?"
The mechanic nodded. "No problem, kid. Good luck finding your dad".
Jack hurried away and walked in the direction of the whore house. She wasn't sure if there were numerous ones on New Mecca, but she remembered passing one when Riddick took Jack to the black market to purchase weapons. It wasn't too far from the shipping docks, so there was a chance that Tombs was there.
Riddick left the ship. He could have left the planet there and then. The old Riddick would have done this. But Riddick decided to stick to his plan and give Jack a chance to kill Tombs. He was going to give the kid a deadline, as he knows she's a gutless wonder and may never kill Tombs at all.
Riddick drove the 4-wheeler around the market, thinking he'd look for something to eat. He swiped some food, and decided to take the time to sit in the 4-wheeler and eat (keeping one eye on his surroundings, just in case). It was then that he spotted Jack in the crowd. Riddick drove slowly, watching Jack. She was walking across the market, appearing to have a purpose to where she was going. Riddick noticed that her ability to walk through the crowd had improved. She was being pushed around a lot less than when they first walked through the market together. Jack held her head high, and had a scowl on her face. She was thinking hard about where she was going. Riddick wondered if she had located Tombs, so he decided to follow her.
Riddick rode the 4-wheeler just out of sight of Jack. It wasn't hard, as she seemed to be concentrating hard on where she was going. Riddick found that Jack was walking towards the black market that he took her to. Riddick parked the 4 wheeler in a secluded spot and followed her on foot. It was still the middle of the afternoon, so the unsavoury characters weren't out, and stores were mostly closed, due to open as soon as the sun went down. Riddick shouldn't have been surprised that Jack had no idea she was being followed. But then again it reminded him that she was still a 15 year old girl, who shouldn't be following in his footsteps.
Jack stopped just short of the market square, which was an open space that forked into five different market streets. Riddick noticed Jack standing at the corner, leaning against the wall as if she were trying to hide herself from the market square. Riddick neared Jack, hoping he'd see who she's following. He stood close behind her, and leaned over her shoulder to get a look at what she was seeing. Jack had no idea he was standing over her. She was staring at the Whore-house. The two-storey building looked cliché with sexy ladies wearing minimal clothing standing out the front.
As if on cue, Tombs walked out of one of the adjoining streets, and across the market square, straight for the whore-house. "Predictable" Riddick commented, knowing he'd freak Jack out.
As predicted, Jack jumped at the sound of his voice, finding herself ploughing backwards into Riddick's massive chest and stomach. "You scared the Ba-Jesus out of me!" Jack whispered harshly, slapping Riddick across his bulging bicep. Anyone else would have had their neck snapped by now, but there was something humorous Riddick found in seeing Jack trying to assert her dominance.
Jack quickly spun back around to look at the whore house. Tombs was smiling and conversing with one of the barely-dressed ladies. He then put his arm around her and they walked into the whore-house together. Jack was still looking at the building when she asked Riddick, "What's predictable?"
"If you're looking for a Merc in his down time, a whore house is where he'll be. Also handy knowledge if you're looking to kill one when he's not expecting it." Jack tried not to picture Riddick bursting into a bedroom and stabbing a Merc mid-sex act. "You still got your knife?" Riddick asked.
Jack nodded, turning to face Riddick. "Should I go in there?"
Riddick couldn't help but smile at how naive she was. "You can. But I hope you realise that girls enter through the back door. You can't go in the front as a customer." Riddick watched as Jack took a moment to process it.
Jack's eyes widened at the realisation. "You mean I'd have to go in as a.. whore?" She stammered the last words. Riddick nodded silently, finding himself pulling his goggles down off his eyes to rest on his collarbone.
Jack was stunned at the idea of what would need to happen if she wanted to go in there in an attempt to kill Tombs. Jack found that the intimidation of what it took to be as intense as Riddick, kept bringing out poor attempts at humour and dominance in her. And this was no exception. Jack found herself saying "I don't know about having some gross sweaty stranger on top of me.." Jack bit her lip and then looked up at Riddick. Her self-defence mechanism was kicking in without her brain catching up. "You wanna be my first?"
Riddick almost went hard at that moment. Jack admitted that she was a virgin. She was asking him to be her first. Riddick found his animal side kicking back in, as he leaned forward. He leaned over Jack, placing his forearm on the wall over Jack's head.
Jack found herself falling back against the wall. Her brain caught up with what was happening, and her brain played a flash of images of Riddick crushing Jack up against the wall with his own body, Riddick picking Jack up by her legs and wrapping them around his hips. Riddick pressing his lips hard against Jack's.
Riddick could see it in her eyes. She was picturing it too. He found himself inches away from Jack. Their bodies were so close that they could feel the heat radiating off each other. Riddick, despite his animal instincts, stopped as his face was centremeters from Jack's. She was 15, but still had the body of a teenage boy. As it turns out, Jack was a late bloomer.
His silver eyes looked deep into her bright blue ones. Riddick took in a single big breath, taking in Jack's smell. He then said softly, with his deep rumbling voice, "It's an enticing offer.." Riddick then leaned back, "But come find me when you're fully grown."
Jack a slight twinge of rejection at Riddick's comment, however it also got her off the hook of following through on her request. Jack didn't know to respond to it, so she didn't respond at all.
Riddick was now horny as hell. He let in a deep breath and let out a low rumble from the back of his throat. Riddick turned and looked at the whore-house. He then looked over at Jack. "I'm leaving New Mecca tonight. You have 4 hours to kill Tombs or I'm leaving without you." With that, Riddick placed his goggles over his eyes, and started walking towards the whore-house.
Jack realised which direction he was headed in, and grabbed his forearm. "Where are you going?!" Jack whispered anxiously. Riddick looked down at his forearm and then back up at Jack. She smiled sheepishly and removed her hands.
Riddick was never shy when it came to speaking about his sexuality. "I'm horny," he said as a matter of fact. "So I'm going to fuck someone before I leave New Mecca."
Jack wasn't sure how to respond to that, but found she could only ask the only thing that came to mind. "But Tombs is in there!"
"He'll be too busy fucking his brains out to notice who else is there". And with that, Riddick walked over to the whore-house.
Jack retreated back to the brick wall and watched Riddick walk to the whore house. She could see three ladies standing out the front. Jack could see that Riddick's walk over there had caught the attention of the ladies. An Alpha-male was entering the hen-house. Maybe every day they had muscly and dangerous men coming to see them. But maybe not every day that a sexy muscly, dangerous man came to see them. Jack watched as Riddick walked up to one of them, the one with long, dark, curly hair. She nodded and they both walked into the whore-house together.
"Asshole".