Two: Soldier Boy
Stromberg in the Tannhauser system was newly colonized--newly meaning a scant thirty years ago--and there now was an ongoing insurrection of the colonists versus the Gamma Syndicate. It was a quiet little civil war that meant nothing more to Riddick than a patch of helpful chaos to get lost in. His idea of a vacation paradise. The fact that Gamma had imported some custom-built troops wasn't even a blip on the radar.
A network of cave systems possessed luminous rock formations and hot springs, so Riddick was pretty well set. He'd raided the Gamma base twice now, and he was on his way back to one of his his hidey-holes with fresh supplies when he ran into a firefight.
Lying low was an instinctive reaction--this wasn't his fight!--but when his position was overrun, Riddick popped up, grabbed a plasma rifle from the nearest downed soldier, and started trading fire with the rebels. The grey uniforms worn by Gamma's troops were the all around him, but as the insurgents closed in, there were fewer and fewer grey uniforms and then it was just him and a tall, muscular man with white-blonde hair.
The guy was damn fast--Riddick caught his movements out of the corner of one eye as he grabbed a fresh rifle and sprayed an enemy position with a flashes of electricity. Strong, too--the Gamma trooper had snatched up a full-size plasma cannon---usually a two-man weapon---and great booming bolts of lightning rang out until there was no further resistance.
On his last foray to the base, Riddick had lifted a uniform. That, he realized, probably kept the blonde man from shooting him after their adversaries were dealt with. Instead, the other man was looking him over with care.
Riddick returned the scrutiny. His inadvertant ally was a few centimeters shorter than he was, and probably ten kilos lighter. His muscle mass was less defined, but there was nothing weak about him, especially the directness of his vivid, blue-eyed gaze. His features were attractively sculpted. The fugitive was intrigued. What was the man's motivation for fighting alongside him? The uniform of a friendly, or the fact that together they'd just wiped out a superior force?
When Riddick gave a "follow me" jerk of his head, the Gamma trooper fell in. Once they were upwind of the battleground, Riddick unobtrusively checked out the other man's scent. No remaining traces of aggression, no fear...this guy might be worth cultivating. Leading the way to one of the less accessible caves he'd found, Riddick was pleased to see the other man kept up without difficulty--and without asking questions.
Safely inside the cave, Riddick figured here he was on safe turf--he knew his way around, even in the low-light of the luminous mineral formations, and if he ended up having to off this guy, at least he could do it someplace where the fight wouldn't attract any more takers. He pushed the goggles back on his head and massaged the bridge of his nose. His companion stared at the mercurial silver of Riddick's eyes in frank wonder.
"I have never seen such a remarkable modification before," he said in a curious tone, the first words Riddick heard him speak. "This is something new? Something experimental?"
"What, my eyes? They've always been this way." He was about to say that the nuns in charge of the home where he'd been raised had called it the Mark of the Beast (and had a few choice things to say about his paternity when they thought he wasn't listening), but the other man spoke first.
"I knew you were one of us. Yes, they say, 'It has always been so' and lull us into believing that it will always be so. They do not tell us we have been created only to die." His tone was bitter, and he had an accent Riddick couldn't place.
"Everyone dies," the felon said flatly. "If you're smart and careful and lucky, you last longer."
"No matter." The blonde man shook his head. "You have four years." He spoke with the air of someone breaking terrible news and his blue eyes were grave as he watched for Riddick's reaction.
"Four years?" repeated the fugitive. "Where do you get that from?"
"Our makers do not wish us to know this, but it is in their marketing literature. You and I, and every other Nexus 6 replicant manufactured by the Tyrell Corporation is given a pre-determinted life span of four years."
For a moment, Riddick gawked at the other man, then he threw back his head and gave a hearty laugh.
"I am less amused," said the Gamma warrior grimly.
"Sorry to rain on your parade, whatever your name is, but--"
"Roy Batty," said the self-announced replicant, extending his hand.
"Richard B. Riddick." He accepted the profered hand and shook it. "But I've gotta level with you, Roy--I'm no replicant."
"They have implanted memories," insisted Roy Batty. "To fool us into thinking that we have a past."
"Really? Do they go to this much trouble?" Riddick fished out the docs he'd taken off the last bounty hunter who'd made a grab for him.
Roy studied the information, blue eyes flickering, lips parted as he read the charges, outstanding warrants, and extensive previous criminal history that added up to the life of Richard B. Riddick, wanted dead or alive. "This is you?" he asked incredulously. "You did these things?"
"Most of 'em." Riddick shrugged. "A couple of 'em are bogus, but it's not like anyone's gonna listen to my side of it. And there's plenty of other shit they have no clue about. But look at the dates, big guy."
"Many years," said Batty in a hushed voice. When he looked back up at Riddick, his brilliant eyes were wary.
Riddick leaned back against a thick column of rock. "Like I said..."
"Many of your kind are afraid of us."
"My kind? You're assuming I side with humanity."
Roy glanced at the list of charges again before handing it back to its owner. "Perhaps not."
"Not," agreed Riddick.
Batty stood regarding him. He seemed to be exploring a new thought: the idea that you could be human and still not feel like you were a part of humanity...
Although he'd watched the replicant dispatch quite a few insurgents only an hour ago, he didn't come across as ruthless. Instead, the blonde man seemed vulnerable---his willingness to accompany Riddick and his touching desire to find common ground were weak, Riddick told himself. But that was purely psychological---physiologically, there was nothing weak about him.
Having spent most of his lifetime in gender-segregated institutions, Riddick's sexual experience with other men was considerably greater than his experience with women. Not that he didn't enjoy women---he did---but they were something of a novelty to him, and were, lamentably, more fragile.
Roy Batty, with his smoothly muscled body and blonde good looks, was damned appealing. Whether the guy leaned that way or not was another question...
"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get cleaned up and have something to eat," Riddick announced. As he'd hoped, Batty followed him deeper into the caverns. Riddick moved more slowly than he needed to, since it was clear that the replicant didn't have his visual advantage.
Riddick had never been shy about nudity---another legacy of institutionalization. Batty, too, seemed unconcerned as he shed his filthy uniform.
Riddick admired the view. When they'd both settled into the warm water of one of the springs, Riddick decided on a direct approach. He had a feeling that flirting would go right over this guy's head anyway. "You're a good-looking guy, Roy. Do you get a lot of action?"
"My unit has seen combat eleven times in the last four quarters, which I sustained with minimal damage. Twenty-eight percent--"
"No," Riddick said, grinning. How could a grown man be so naive? Because he awoke fully grown, he reminded himself, right about the time you were in Slam for doing that asshole with the rigged bota game. "I mean, do you have many sexual partners?"
Roy shook his head. "No. My friend Pris does, and she says it is very unpleasant, so I have abstained."
At that, Riddick's mouth opened and closed a couple of times. The guy was perfectly serious. "Unpleasant," he echoed. "Sex?"
"That's what she has told me, yes. Pris has no reason to be untruthful."
"Wait a minute. By any chance, is having sex part of your friend's job description?" At Roy's nod, Riddick rolled his eyes. "Doing it for fun is different from doing it for a living. Trust me on that."
"It remains a moot point, since there are no available females," pointed out Batty.
"All that means is, we have to use our imagination a little more." To illustrate what he was saying, Riddick wrapped his hand around his semi-hard cock and began to stroke it lightly. "Do what feels good," he encouraged the other man.
"I'm not sure I understand the premise of this exercise," said Batty a few minutes later. "What is this supposed to accomplish besides the unequal development of one's dominant arm?"
"Okay, let's try something else," Riddick said when he'd recovered from that question. "Come over here...now lie back where the rock slopes. Spread your legs a little more." The warm water was less than a third of a meter deep in this area, and the contours of the stone gave comfortable back support. A drop-off allowed Riddick room to kneel between the other man's thighs.
Roy gasped as Riddick's mouth decended on his cock. The felon knew what he was doing; within a minute, the replicant had a firm erection and was breathing more rapidly. Riddick smelled increasing pheromones of arousal. "I still...do not...understand," Batty managed to say.
"You will." With that promise, Riddick continued to ply the Gamma warrior with a variety of caresses that made the other man quiver with tension. He'd learned techniques from various partners over the years; now, this was something he could decide to bestow on a lover, rather than being at the mercy of someone demanding it from him.
The replicant made no sound; that Riddick regarded as a challenge to his prowess. He redoubled his efforts, concentrating fiercely on evoking pleasure from the other man. There were no moans of desire, no cries of passion, nothing but tension increasing in Roy's thighs as his breathing grew ever-more ragged. When at last his buttocks rose spontaneously from the stone couch, it was with a sudden uncontrollable jerk of his hips. He was almost silent as he shot his load; there was a low grunt--as if the pleasure was something he was enduring. Riddick's mercurial eyes watched Roy's bright blue ones, questioning, widening as he climaxed, then the lids sank to half-mast. Bitter salt filled his mouth, and he swallowed it hungrily, sucking it and doing his damnedest to coax every drop from the living fountain.
"See? Not exactly torture, was it?" Riddick said when Batty was completely limp. "Far as I know, I never gave a guy his first orgasm before."
"A very intense sensation," Roy replied. He blinked several times. "I will attempt to duplicate it by manual means." Batty wasn't slow, even if he had been kept in the dark about sexuality. "But, in what way do you derive satisfaction?" He studied Riddick's cock as if commiting it to memory. "May I be permitted to do that for you?"
"Sure, if you want to try it. I gotta warn you though--I'm not as quiet as you were."
In a short time after they traded places, Riddick realized that either Roy was shining him on about his lack of experience, or he was one hell of a fast learner. He groaned. Roy glanced up. Paused. "It's okay. I told you, I'm not that quiet. You're doing great. Don't stop." Riddick gave himself over to the exquisite sensations Roy's mouth was creating. It was a luxury to be able to enjoy sex without having to worry about lockdown or getting screwed in another sense of the word.
Batty nodded. Riddick felt him swallow, could tell Roy was breathing through his nose, evenly and without struggling. The blonde head began to nod, slowly, so that his soft palate caressed the head of Riddick's cock. Okay, the replicant would definitely win if they played poker, but at this game, there was no need to be stone-faced. Riddick bared his teeth and sucked in deep breaths as the other man continued to fellate him. "Oh yeah, that's amazing," he complimented Roy. "Ahhh--!" Words failed him. There was only blazing sensation and a desire for the pleasure to last forever.
If only it could...they'd had two stolen days, then Roy announced he had a meet-up scheduled with some of his peers. Riddick accompanied him, curious about the replicants' underground Batty was organizing, and hoping that they could get it on some more when that business was concluded...
