Cody sat on an old thread-bare red and yellow couch in the living space of Le Senata, listening for any sign of life from his partner's quarters. He'd gotten back hours ago, making the decision to wait for Kade to get off his ass and come out of his fortress of solitude. His business partner had a couple screws loose, and bothering him while impaired could turn deadly. Since the two of them reunited to go into business together, hardly anything had changed—except for Kade regaining his ability to speak. Back in the day he couldn't say a word; it still struck Cody as odd to have normal conversations with the guy.
But Kade hadn't lost any of the crazy.
Cody tapped an impatient rhythm on the couch arm, trying to watch some of the local entertainment on TV. A lot of it was in some mix of Common and old Arabic. The translator on the television was busted, and most of the Common replacement words came out of the speakers sounding like static.
Had Kade seriously been out all day? They were supposed to do this job together, and so far Cody had done all the leg work. He'd tracked Dallas Prize to the Casino, knowing his propensity for fast vehicles and that New Mecca, being independent from the Empire, didn't require classic human status from their racers. They also had a lower age limit for driving.
Easy enough to find the kid, harder to extract him. Why did so many people want him? So Dallas crashed a stolen car and a girl died. Grand theft auto and a manslaughter charge on a minor, big whup. No one wanted to deal with that kind of bullshit outside of the planet where it occurred.
Something else was going on here, and if Kade knew anything about it, he stayed too wasted to mention it. The guy never was a conventional professional, but this job had really thrown him. Before leaving to get Dallas, Cody made a decision to cut the kid loose if conflicts arose. Too many things felt off about this whole job.
Then he saw the kid in person and a lot of things clicked into place.
A hiss of air signaled Kade's door opening. Cody didn't bother getting up, hearing the large man trudge into the bathroom. After a minute he heard the shower running.
When Kade came out he wore nothing but a towel around his waist. The two of them didn't put much stock in modesty on a ship so small. Besides, better to see another guy in a towel than to smell him after stomping through the jungle for two weeks.
Kade stood far taller than Cody at a few inches over six feet. He had black hair he still kept in a military cut shaved close to his skull, and his muscles looked like they belonged on a carved statue of a perfect male specimen. Neither of them saw much time planet-side and remained appropriately pale. When they did take shore leave, girls flocked to the former sergeant before settling for his younger, shorter, less impressive sidekick. Cody shuddered to think what his options would look like if Kade didn't have the whole 'suffer alone' gig going on.
Holding onto the tuck in the towel at his hip, Kade took a seat in the gray easy chair at ninety degrees to the couch Cody sat on, careful to not give any unwanted peep shows.
"I guess recovering the kid didn't take," Kade said, rubbing at his still-wet head. Drops of water clung to him everywhere and his skin had turned to goose flesh in the cold ship air.
Cody shrugged, his jaw tightening in irritation. "What can I say? These two man jobs, they're a killer to pull off solo."
Heavy silence hung between them. Kade's shoulders didn't slump in shame, nor did his black eyes flash with anger. "I may have fallen off the wagon, Vale," he said.
"Yeah," Cody said. "For a while now."
"So the Task Force or whoever got him?"
Cody shook his head. "Na, man. A third party. Put in a query, popped back with one Richard Riddick."
Kade blinked, rubbing at one temple. "Say that name again?" The look on his face had turned to consternation--a tightening between his brows. The same look he always got when trying to pull a memory out of a dark place.
"Riddick," Cody began again. "Six-foot one. Bald. Born in--"
"Detroit. Holy fuck," Kade mumbled. "I ran into this guy once--before they modded my memory for the Sharks. Way before, I think."
Cody Vale got recruited nice and easy to join the Tiger Sharks. Captain "Mako' Scott, the platoon leader, personally visited him in prison and extended an invitation. Kade was Shanghaied. Task Force agents beat him nearly to death, he nearly lost his right arm, and they wiped his memory almost completely clean with some brain washing on the side.
Welcome to the Army, son. Hold still while we drill a few holes in your head and remove the portion of your brain that allows you to think for yourself. Classic humans didn't get treated that way. Just the subspecies scum the Army brought in the back door to do the high casualty assignments.
"So how're we classifying him, Kade? Friend? Agent? Merc? Competition?"
Silence from the half-naked sergeant.
Cody raised an eyebrow. "Guy who wants to rip off your balls for banging his wife? He is married to one Jaqueline Riddick."
Kade grunted absently at that last one. "Ya know, I can't remember what happened. I know this guy won't be happy to see me, but the specifics..." Kade motioned to the invisible memory suckers in the space around his head as an explanation. "But fuck me, I think there was a girl."
"Always is," Cody chimed in. "You know, man, I'm starting to think your track record with women is even worse than mine."
That one got him a cold glare from Kade's demon-eyes.
"Just saying. So, assuming we find this guy, and after your balls are still intact--"
The sergeant shook his head. "We'll scope it out, but we'll keep our distance. Riddick's been a civilian for a long time. Odds are good he'll hand the boy over to his mother."
"If Riddick hands the kid over, we don't get paid."
Pressing down on the arms of the chair with both palms, Kade levered himself to his feet. The towel attempted to drop, but he caught it before it slipped too low and started to shuffle back to his room.
"Kade, I'm serious about the money thing. I'm a growing boy. I have needs. I'm so starved for cash, I'd probably take Riddick in myself if he was worth anything."
Sarge laughed out loud at that, turning the corner. "Yeah, you could—if the Empire didn't want you more than most criminals out there. The Army still owes you a court martial and execution, remember?"
"Blow me, Kade."
Kade's head briefly reappeared from around the corner. He'd taken the towel off his waist and wiped at the water on his chest and under his arms. "I outrank you, Vale. I realize we've been AWOL for something like thirteen years, real time, but still..."
"Pfft, fine. Request to be blown, Sergeant!" Cody amended sharply, picking up the remote off the floor and using it to flip channels on the vid screen.
Still laughing, Kade disappeared to his quarters.
Riddick couldn't remember his knuckles ever getting so sore after a round with the bag. Over the past few days, he'd pushed himself far harder than usual in his morning workouts, but in the back of his mind he knew his efforts didn't hold a candle to the regiments he used to force himself through. He knew that, even as he dragged his tired body out of the basement and upstairs for a shower. He had no idea what to do about it, other than keep working.
Early on in life, he'd accepted that some degree of self-loathing came with being Richard B. Riddick; but ever since Dallas Prize had fallen into his lap, those old feelings had started nagging at him with a vengeance. When had he gotten so soft? When had he become so...civilized?
The Riddick who'd died on T2 would've hated the current Richard Riddick with a passion. Hated enough to kill, maybe. Rick hardly knew what that meant anymore—to become angry enough to murder another human. The years in which he'd endured a Seka haze put that part of his life nearly beyond the scope of his memories. When he thought back on it, he felt like he watched someone else doing those things.
He wondered sometimes what would happen if his kids knew. If he and Jack told them about the man he'd once been. Would they believe it?
Rick glanced into Cam's bedroom, finding the dark-haired boy still asleep. He watched his oldest child for a few minutes through the crack in his door—watched the slow rise and fall of Cam's chest. Riddick had watched his son often when Cameron was a baby, and a toddler. Sometimes as a father gazing with wonder at his son. Sometimes as a predator considering potential prey.
More than once, he'd tried to put his mind into the perspective of Richard B. Riddick, escaped convict, murderer. If he'd fathered a child then, before everything that happened, would he have smothered Jack and the baby while they slept? Would he have allowed such a gigantic liability to live?
Johns had made him out to be a monster. He had been. But in spite of the tough talk and posturing, killing never struck him as amusing—unless it was for revenge, like with Johns.
If he'd ever been capable of killing Jack, or Cameron, it probably would've been because, somewhere in his twisted mind, he would've seen it as putting them out of their misery. The last thing Rick ever wanted was someone he gave a damn about to suffer just so some sick fuck could get at him.
Cam and Rachel would never believe it of their father. They wouldn't think him capable of such thoughts. Riddick took a few steps down the hall and stood outside of Dallas' room, knowing without checking that the tightly shut door was locked.
He had a feeling Dallas would believe it. The boy had better survival instincts than his kids. Cam and Rach took after their mother.
Riddick hoped Dallas took after his mother too. He had a bad feeling about what might happen if the kid took after his father, whoever he might've been.
"That's it, right there. That's the star system where my mom met my dad," Rachel said, pointing upward as she and Dallas lay out under the mild New Mecca sky.
He smiled, his teeth almost glowing in the half-moonlight. "You know, I can't actually see it. You've got to tell me about it, not try to show me. My aunt used to do that. She'd try to show me things when I was a kid, and I'd always have to remind her that she had to describe them so I'd know if they were smooth or rough, big or small. When I finally could see, it turned out she'd led me astray on more than one occasion."
She laughed with him, scooting a little closer to his side and shivering. "Weren't you scared, running around the universe on your own?" she asked, finding his body warm and comforting as she slowly slipped one arm across his chest, hugging him tight, her head resting on his shoulder. She studied his face, enamored by his perfectly symmetrical features. For about the millionth time she thanked Allah this handsome boy was blind, so she could stare at him all she wanted.
Dallas half shrugged. "Yeah, it scared me a little. But on the other hand, I finally got to race legally. I know you think I sound crazy, but nothing compares to fast driving. It's just you and the machine on the edge of a blade. Nothing else matters."
Rachel smiled sadly. "That sounds really cool," she said, propping her head up on her fist. "I wish I could get out of this place. I swear I must've been adopted. I love my mom and dad and all, but I'm sick of my brothers and school..."
Dallas' eyebrows knit together. "You don't like school? Why not?" he asked.
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Because it's boring! I hate the girls in my class; and the guys too. They're nothing like me. They pretend to be all righteous and religious, but then they treat kids who are different from them like shit. Then there's Cam. Cam Riddick, the most wonderful boy ever born. Even my teachers love him. He's smart, and handsome, and people fall all over themselves to like him. Even my parents wonder why I don't do as well as him in school. I've always struggled. It's just so stupid!"
Dallas blinked a couple times, his blank eyes staring off at nothing. "You know, Rachel, you shouldn't be afraid of things that are hard for you. The more you struggle, the sweeter it is when you finally get a taste of winning. If you couldn't go to school, I think you'd appreciate it more."
She sighed heavily. "I doubt it. I really do. How would you know anyway? You ran away from it all. You escaped."
Dallas remained silent, turning his head away from her. She immediately regretted her words, seeing how they seemed to repel him. " Dallas? You did run away, right?"
"Yeah, I ran," he said softly. "But I had to quit school a long time ago. Before junior high. They started screening male students in my sector for genetic impurities."
The strength of her reaction to his words startled her. Rachel's heart suddenly jumped up into her throat, and she struggled to breathe around it. "Why?" she asked, in the back of her mind dreading whatever he was trying to tell her. Knowing she probably wouldn't like it.
Dallas shrugged. He couldn't see, but he seemed to sense her change of mood anyway. "You know. For diseases, and for other things," he said, just above a whisper.
The air around them suddenly seemed so still and heavy. Rachel began to pull away from him, needing space, a breeze, anything. "What other things, Dallas? What're you talking about?" she asked, warning in her tone.
"Please don't freak out," he whispered, letting his unnatural black eyes fall shut. His fingers twisted blades of grass, nervously pulling them out of the ground. "Please don't tell your family I'm—not like you." He opened his eyes again, baring their black depths. "I'm not human, Rachel."
Icy fear crawled up her spine and set her hair on end. She couldn't believe it. She'd lived in the same house as this boy for days, and she'd had no idea he was one of them. A non-human. Probably of some species bent on wiping hers from the galaxy. If not, then he still might carry a disease that would kill her family and everyone she knew. Entire colonies had been wiped out by subspecies-born diseases that jumped the gap to infect classic humans.
"I've never hurt anybody," he added quickly. "You've got to believe me, Rach. My family and I are far more scared of humans than you should be of us. We aren't bloodthirsty or insane, like they make us out to be. We've lived among classic humans for years, and they never knew. We try not to bother anyone. We try so hard. But there are things we can't ever overcome."
"Like what?" she asked, trying to soften her tone. She didn't know what to make of this, but the way he pleaded with her sounded so much like a scared little boy. She couldn't hate him. She almost felt the need to protect him.
"Like where we came from. The people who came before us. You've heard of Dominic Conte, haven't you?"
She nodded, thinking she knew where he was going with this. Conte was one of the worst. A beast with no brain, no morals, no humanity. Hearing Dallas' words made her realize that man's legacy would cause non-humans to suffer for generations, because many humans assumed they were all like him.
Dallas bit his lip, brushing his bangs back from his face. She could see him struggling with something internally.
"What is it, Dally?" she prompted softly.
The large youth merely shook his head. "Nothing. He's just a plague to my race—that's all. It doesn't matter."
A male voice interrupted their reverie. "Let me tell you what does matter, dipshit. You, getting your hands the fuck off my sister."
Rachel sat up immediately, turning her head to look at a pissed off Cameron looming over them in the dark. His hands were tight fists at his sides and he looked every inch as imposing as their father. She scowled at him. "Mind your own business, Cam. He wasn't touching me. I just got cold."
"Yeah, well, it seems like you've been getting cold a lot lately, Rach, at awfully convenient times."
Dallas slowly hefted himself from the ground to his feet, walking in the general direction of the Riddicks' back door.
Cam stopped him by placing a hand firmly on his chest, and shoving him back. "Where the hell do you think you're going, half-breed? I'm not done talking to you."
"You don't want to talk to me," Dallas informed him blandly, attempting to walk around him. The older boy shoved him again, this time to the ground.
"I'll talk to whoever I want," Camron growled, angrily eyeing the two of them.
Rachel's hands balled into fists and the steam started to roll off of her. "Quit being such a jerk, Cam! I'm going to tell mom you pushed Dallas down. He's blind, you idiot!"
Dallas quietly regained his footing, going through the motions of dusting himself off and then stood still, like a statue, apparently staring off at nothing. Cam took a step closer to his sister; apparently about to make her eat her words with a sharp retort, but found himself on his ass less than a second later. Rachel couldn't follow the movement, but Dallas popped her brother in the jaw so hard it nearly put him out for the count.
"Found you," Dallas said coldly, before heading up to the house.