CHAPTER NINE
Riddick brought the ship in low, under cover of darkness. He turned off the main engines and the running lights, wanting to attract as little attention as possible from the inhabitants of Antellion Prime. He avoided the heavily guarded landing strip that had been carved out of the rock just beyond the city limits, choosing instead to bring the craft to a grinding, shuddering stop on a small spit of open land on the opposite side of the squalid city.
Antellion Prime was as inhospitable a place as any Riddick had ever encountered, and that included the frozen wasteland of Fresion. The entire planet was comprised of razor-edged juttings of rock that thrust themselves upward seemingly overnight, the result of an overactive planetary core. The geography of the land changed frequently as new mountain ranges appeared and old ones collapsed, sucked back into the planet's center. It made living there treacherous, to say the least. As a result of the constantly shifting ground, the communities that sprung up were hastily and poorly constructed. It was only through trial and error and decades of earthquakes and death, that an area had been discovered that seemed mostly free from the geographical shiftings.
It was here that the city of Viron had been constructed; a veritable warren of crudely constructed shacks and buildings, interspersed by twisting alleyways and tunnels. If a bounty hunter was foolish enough to pursue his quarry through the maze of leaning, groaning buildings, he would be hard-pressed to know which direction to go. The buildings themselves contained numerous holes in their walls that led to more passageways and tunnels, twisting and turning back on themselves so that those unfamiliar with the terrain would soon find themselves hopelessly lost. And if you became lost, there was no hope of ever being found.
Murderers, thieves, rapists, and worse congregated in the flash houses, gin mills, and opium dens that could be found on every corner, waiting to pounce on the unwary. They had no sense of honor; they would willingly cut their own mother's throat if it meant a momentary gain for themselves.
Riddick wasn't worried. He'd handled worse than Antellion Prime had to offer. But there was no question the two females would make it more challenging to get through the city unscathed. The vermin that infested the squalid tenements would flock to them like flies to shit.
After shutting down the auxiliary power, Riddick opened the exit hatch and lowered himself cautiously to the ground, his eyes scanning the area around the craft for any signs of life. His night vision told him there was nobody nearby, although he knew they had only minutes before the entire area would be swarming with looters.
Looking back up into the ship, he stretched his arms upward. "Pick up the pace, Princess, or I'll leave your ass here."
He heard her grunt with effort, and then she lowered the unconscious form of Captain Terran into his waiting arms. He threw the pilot's limp body over his shoulder and raised his free hand to assist the girl to the ground, smiling when she pointedly refused him. She leaped nimbly to the ground beside him.
"So this is the evil Antellion Prime?" she asked, and Riddick heard the doubt in her voice. "Doesn't seem so bad to me."
"Oh yeah? Give it a few minutes." He took her arm, feeling her stiffen. "C'mon, we'll head this way. There's a safe spot in those hills." He jerked his head in the direction of several outcroppings of jagged rock in the distance.
Propelling the girl along beside him, they jogged across the open clearing. Glancing back over his shoulder he saw flickering orange shadows moving swiftly toward the space craft from the outskirts of the city. With his night vision, he could see their body heat. He estimated there were at least two dozen of them, closing in on the area where they had been standing just minutes earlier.
"C'mon, Princess," he growled, increasing his strides. "Move your ass!"
In minutes, they reached the rocky outcropping and Riddick used his free hand to shove the girl up and into the sheltering boulders. Still, they didn't stop. He pushed Kylie ahead of him, steering her through the maze of rocks until they reached a small opening between two enormous outcroppings of stone. It formed a small cave of sorts, and leaning down, Riddick lowered the Captain's limp form into the cramped space. Without pausing, he grabbed the girl's arm and dragged her forward.
"In you go, Princess," he commanded.
As he had known she would, she balked. "No way! I am not crawling into that hole."
"The hell you're not," he said grimly, and forcibly shoved her forward until she tumbled on her hands and knees beside Captain Terran. On all fours, she turned and peered up at him.
"What? Not going to join us?" she asked, softly jeering.
"I'll be back for you," he said. "Keep your mouth shut, unless you want more company than you're willing to handle."
Without waiting for a reply, he put his hands against an enormous boulder that stood just outside the entrance to the makeshift cave, and applied all his strength to it, grunting with the effort it took to roll it in front of the entrance. He heard the girl's startled cry of protest at being shut in, and then there was silence as the rock settled into place, sealing the women into the cave.
Riddick sprinted back toward the ship, keeping low in the shadows. As he had known they would, the looters were swarming over the small craft, stripping it bare and stealing whatever they could carry. He didn't give a shit. They wouldn't live long enough to benefit from their stolen loot.
Circling the ship, Riddick made note of the thieves who had been strategically positioned to protect the perimeter. They were heavily armed. He grinned humorlessly. These were the ones he wanted. In order to reach the heavily guarded landing strip on the other side of Viron, he'd have to negotiate his way through the entire city. With two clueless females in tow. He'd never make it without a little added fire power.
The first guard never knew what hit him. Riddick pounced on him, swiftly and silently, twisting his head in one savage moment that snapped his neck. Quietly, keeping his eyes on the remaining guards, Riddick stripped the man of his automatic weapon and ammunition, slinging the gun over his shoulder and shoving the ammo into the deep pockets of his jersey.
An argument broke out among several of the thieves who were removing electronic equipment from the cockpit of the ship. Riddick kept his eye on the men, and when the confrontation erupted into a deadly gunfight, he used the distraction to swiftly dispatch four more guards, driving his own shiv deep into their backs. He swiftly retrieved their weapons, slinging them over his shoulders until his chest and back were criss-crossed with an accumulation of deadly artillery, ammunition, and a length of chain.
He retrieved several homemade grenades from the pockets of his last victim. They were crudely constructed, but would serve his purpose well. He moved stealthily back toward the ship, blending into the surrounding shadows as if he was a part of them. When he was directly beneath the exit hatch, he silently slid one of the grenades into a gas transfer outlet and then pulled the pin on a second one and rolled it gently into the open hatch of the ship itself. Then, not caring if he was seen, he turned and began sprinting away in the direction of the distant rock formation, arms and legs pumping with a surge of adrenaline. He heard the cries of the men as he was spotted, followed by sporadic gunfire. The ground around him exploded in a series of small, popping sounds as bullets sprayed the rocky terrain. He stopped and turned, dropping to one knee as he brought one of the automatic rifles to his shoulder. He swept the area with gunfire and then flung himself facedown on the ground as the ship suddenly exploded in a white-hot fireball of flame and debris.
He leapt to his feet and began running again as the flaming debris shot around him. He didn't look back as a second explosion rocked the ground beneath him. He settled into an easy jog, the arsenal of weapons he carried bumping against his body with each stride. A glance back over his shoulder revealed a smoldering pile of ruined and twisted metal where the ship had once been. His night vision revealed no sign of life.
Reaching the cave, he rolled the boulder away from the entrance. The girl burst forth as if propelled by some unseen force. She was furious.
"Don't you ever, ever do that to me again," she said, her voice tight with suppressed fury. "Where were you? What was that explosion?"
"That, Princess, was our ship going up in flames, along with a couple dozen criminal elements."
Her eyes widened. "A couple dozen?" Her gaze swept over him, noting the impressive array of weaponry he carried. "Are those from...?"
"From the looters who would have killed us if we'd still been there. Figured I should get something in return for the ship. They did not know who they were fucking with."
Kylie blew out her breath and swiped a hand across her face. "Okay, so now what? You have enough ammo to wipe out half the cons on this planet. What's next?"
Riddick grinned then. Reaching up, he slid one of the guns off his shoulder, and unwound the length of chain he'd slung around his shoulders. Reaching out, he caught he girl by her upper arm and hauled her toward him. Before she could protest, he wound the chain around her slender waist and secured it with a lock that he snapped shut with decisive click.
"What the...?" She looked at him, baffled.
"You're my prisoner, Princess."
He heard her swiftly indrawn breath, and then she tried desperately to shove the length of offending chain from her body, but it was cinched tight around her narrow waist. "Release me this instant," she hissed, her eyes blazing, but Riddick could hear a trace of fear in her voice.
"Relax, Princess," he drawled. "It's for your own good. The only way we're going to get through the city is if the fuckers who live there believe you're mine."
"What do you mean?"
"Nobody is going to fuck with me. You and the pilot...you're something else altogether. They'll want you for themselves; will try to take you from me unless they understand you belong to me. From here on, you're my prisoners and I'm holding you for ransom. Those sick shits won't like it, but they'll understand it. They still might try and take you, but they will not succeed."
"You're crazy," she breathed. "We'll never make it. We'll all be killed."
In response, Riddick leaned down and dragged Captain Terran from the small cave by her ankles. She groaned in protest, but did not open her eyes. As easily as if she weighed no more than a child, Riddick hefted her over one shoulder. Then he wrapped the loose end of chain around his fist, and jerked Kylie forward.
"Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut and do exactly what I tell you to do. Let's go, Princess," he commanded softly, "we've got a lot of ground to cover tonight."