A/N: Um. Reviewers: Thanking you! (To quote an unused line from Pitch Black).
And also for the Favorite Story/Story Alert by Chibi of Many Names. :-)
Robin Moto and Chibi of Many Names, your questions are related. According to Riddick Mythos there were four main colonies of Humans apart from Earth: Asylum, Kova, Furya, and Quintessa. I've added Blue Sun to this. Along with Earth that makes six elder worlds. "Amadak" is a term from the Riddick Mythos found in connection with Furya and Aquila (one of the newer 'empire worlds' with a number of colonies of its own). Why does the Doctor use this term for Richard B. Riddick? It has to do with the con's background, and will be revealed in time.
OtherMeWriter and My Reflection how right you are, the Doctor doesn't like her plans one bit. But Antonia doesn't know that yet. The Doctor knows that Chillingsworth knows that he knows, she knows… Wait. Hehe. Someone is the fly and someone is the spider, but who really is who here? How long will it take for the others with the Doctor to drag the connections out of him? Can they? I think you'll just have to read on to find out.
Please notice that there are quite a lot of double triads going on here… To match this pattern I've added "Void" to the elemental listing. Perhaps it's a Gallifreyan truth that others don't realize?

Summary: The Doctor, reeling from the effects of the TimeWar as the last surviving TimeLord, stumbled into a situation he could not ignore when the TARDIS landed him inside a ship that was clearly in trouble. After the rescue, he's left with eight survivors that he must somehow get to safety. But the situation is not as cut and dry as he might like. His people may be gone, but the stamp he's made on the universe is still there, and he finds himself caught in a web spun of the choices he's made in the past…

It's 2517. Something in history has prompted humanity to explode out from their home world. Could the events of 2164 be responsible? Was Earth a myth or was it real? In fleeing Earth-that-Was, humanity scattered to the stars across the galactic arm. Initial survey teams targeted likely planets and systems for habitation and not all of them ended up on the same side of the sector. Blue Sun exists on one side, separated by a patch of 'wild space' filled with exotic binary and triple star systems, from the rest of civilized space.

Few ships brave the route. But luck had it that one ship did. Risking a ghost run, the only contact that the two sides have, the Hunter-Gratzner crashed midway through the journey. Original Port of Departure: Eavesdown Docks, Persephone. Mixed Sino-Anglo culture. Original Port of Call: Tangiers-5. Darkside. Mixed Islamic-Anglo culture. Crew complement: Four. Passengers: Forty. Living 'Cargo': Two. Survivors: Eight plus One

So what happens to Dr. Simon Tam, his brilliant but damaged sister, a convicted murder by the name of Richard B. Riddick, and the other survivors from the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner at planet M-344/G-2 now that they are on their way home? They end up slightly out of their own Time, on a ship filled with living sculptures… And just how is this related to the TimeWar?

A Doctor Who / Firefly / Riddick crossover.

Features Doctor 9, Pre-"Rose"; Simon and River Tam, Pre-"Serenity" Firefly episode 1 and the survivors from Pitch Black: Carolyn Fry, William J. Johns, Imam Abu al'Walid, 'Jack B. Badd', Ali Abdullah, and Richard B. Riddick…

Doctor Who and the Ties that Bind.

Part Five

Diversion

"Destroyer of Worlds? Should I call you Ka Faraq Gatri or Karshtakavaar? Oh yes, I know who you are, -- Doctor."

It was like a blow to the gut, and the Time Lord didn't know if he should sag from the smug tone in that crystal clear voice or if he should rage at it. Mocking him was a very dangerous thing to do. He was getting looks from those around him, ranging from 'what the fuck is she babbling about?' to complete shock of recognition. It was River Tam's hand sliding into his own that finally got him to blink. He'd been standing there like he was frozen long enough to make all of them realize exactly how alien he was. As if they didn't already know that.

Imam was one of those few that knew of the legends about Ka Faraq Gatri. In vivid detail and myriad variations from culture after culture. Helion Prime accepted refugees from all over, many of which brought their own legends with them. Those tales all had elements alike. They spoke of a creature that was like a chameleon, an ever-changing dragon that ate up worlds and systems whole. The first stories told to him about this monster by his forefathers was a warning of what happened to bad little boys who defied God. But to hear the Doctor, the kind and wonderful Doctor, called this and to witness the man's all too telling reaction filled him with a stabbing pain as if his heart was about to be ripped out of his chest. Could it be that in the center of the fable was a grain of the truth? And could it be this man? He gripped the two boys by the shoulders and tried to tell Jack to not ask the questions bubbling out of him at the current moment. For once the boy seemed to understand.

The Tam scion was well educated. Extensively educated, even. Both he and his sister had access to vast libraries that covered the range of human experience going back to ancient times of Earth-that-Was. Karshtakavaar, but of course. It all fit. The visions, the terms River used for the Doctor, his hard choices… yes. He'd never felt safer. He'd never been surer of his decision to take sides with this man to keep him alive. It went beyond saving his sister. For he was a destroyer, yes… but that which he eradicated was pure evil.

Simon looked as if the words didn't surprise him, not nearly as much as it should have, had the lad been clueless. And River too, appeared as though this was expected. She seemed to be providing support for the stern man, their equally pale hands entwined as if it were the most natural thing. Riddick had a blank face. Johns knew that it meant he understood what the babble was about in intimate detail, likely. The marshal looked at Fry who was bewildered as much as he was and then turned to Imam, "Come on, out with it. Spill what you know, Father."

"Bring them in." floated past the foam blocking the passage and ceiling.

"Now is not the time, Billy. We got us a fight to take care of," Riddick told him.

Johns added his scope to his gun. "Point me to the target, Richie. Let's take 'em down."

The first 'target' is a cluster of fire foam canisters sitting just at the edge of the shadows, beyond the wall of foam. Jack had volunteered to scoot them out there, covered with foam and holding onto the Doctor's yo-yo string. Riddick stretched himself out and lined up William's scope, before carefully moving back through the no-gravity environment to take the marshal's feet. He'd absorb the recoil from the blast so that Johns didn't give them away. "Can you see it?"

"Yep, lined up right under the green light. Good job on placement, Jack," the redhead replied. The honey haired kid beamed in pride at the compliment. The marshal went stature-still as his military training kicked in. Now they just had to wait until the first of the mercs moved into range.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The first half of the foremost wave, about six mercs total, moved forward and down, aiming for the red laser target. The one to get the prize would be well rewarded. How much trouble could these smucks really be, with three of them being children? Behind them another eleven men moved into place between the ship's owner and the possible confrontation. Honored rear guard, for the most part. Little did the thirty-six mercs know that this fight was going to be very pernicious. Junner took his place next to his mistress just in case he needed to step into the line of fire. Antonia smiled at him like a cat with cream. She loved violence, the bloodier the better. Win or win… she had hundreds waiting in the wings and could keep up the onslaught for hours if necessary.

They watched as the first six touch down in the outlined square and merge into the shadows of the green emergency lights. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! The fizzing brownish tan-gray that overflows from the passage literally mushrooms out carrying the six mercs with it. Screams of alarm fill the air. The shock wave blows back the other six waiting behind the first, as they boil under the expanding solid 'cloud'. Gradually the substance calms and settles into a sphere floating in the zero gravity chamber. One of the six that has popped the surface pulls a blob of the stuff off his head. He grunts and sniffs the odd tan-gray stuff, "Extinguishing foam?"

The second-in-command suddenly knows how the sensors have been fooled. Alarm spreads through him. This is a trap, and these intruders are not just easy targets, "Fall back! Everyone fall back!"

Those closest to him begin to tighten ranks, hustling away from the sphere. The six caught inside it move to swim away. But this is not water and they have little to push against. One breaks free, but the fellow right next to him falls back inside with a terrified yell as if yanked by a shark. True to expectations, the foam began changing from grayish tan to deep ruby red. First in one spot then in another as something buzzes through the foam and sends a merc on the edge of the room flying in a tumble against the far wall which reveals a blood splat after the stunned man bounces off of it.

Their quarry has guns. The remaining mercs each try to adjust their tactic to cope with the new intel, looking for cover that might deflect bullets. A large bronze hand catches another of the six originally caught in the trap by the belt and tugs him back inside the foam. There's a gurgling screech that marks the spread of his sanguine fluid. Two of the female crack shots off to Junner's right sight in on the location and wait for a reappearance. He swallows, then narrows his eyes, "He has to breathe sometime."

Beside him Antonia calls in another dozen as backup. Her hand on Junner's wrist is enough to tell him that when this is over he'll be making a call to her rooms. Tonight, reward and punishment will be delivered together. Below him the fight takes on another dimension as a face appears in the foam and one of the mercs opens fire on it, not realizing that he's shooting on one of the remaining original six to be trapped inside the bubble. The body breaking free due to the recoil of the blast, trailing drops of blood, is enough to make the others pause. In as many seconds Junner has lost five men, and one is missing. Beside him, his mistress is flushed with the thrill of it. Death of others makes her so very excited. He pushes down his horror and prepares to do her bidding, sending as many to their destruction as it requires capturing this creature and his minions for her.

The voice of the Doctor comes out of the shadows, behind the set-off trap, "That was just a little taste. Are you willing to incur my wrath?"

Tinkling laugher fills the chamber, "This is my game, Doctor. These men, they die for me as I please, knowing that whoever survives will be richer than they could ever dream. You underestimate the power of greed."

"Be that may, Madam. But make me angry and you'll wish you'd never heard of me."

Antonia lifts her head, eyes flashing, "We'll see." She motions for the waiting mercs press on. "There's only eight of you, I can bring to bare a hundred times that."

The response she gets is the body of the last original six pushed out of the foam downward, with the head flinging toward her. It hits the wall above the portal with a splat and bounces off. The dozen guns-for-hire closest to it flinch away at the unspoken message.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor closes his eyes as Richard follows his signal to slit the merc's throat and toss the body aside like garbage. The burn of the War flows hot and close to the surface still, fueling the storm that rages inside him. With the parasite contained, his renewed energy threatens to burst out and wipe all of this, everything, away, from time and space. It's such an enthralling prospect, but he won't risk his charges like that. He can't keep them from fighting, but he will not cause them harm.

Riddick moves like he's hardened to the death, as if he consumes it like a drug. He's at one with the storm in intent. If this bitch wants to throw eight hundred lives at him, or eight thousand even, he'll take them all. He's perched on the edge of the floor, in a crouch, with his shiv, bloodied and ready. Next to him lies Johns; his scope trained on the mercs with the better guns, the clear crack shots. Just like old times. He'll go low; Johns will pick off high. They are just waiting for the signal.

Eyes blazing, Karshtakavaar pulls his sonic screwdriver and alters some settings. He cannot jam the weapons for fear that he'd get William and Carolyn as well, but if Antonia wants to play hardball, he'll give her something equal to his own pain. "You forget, I've earned my name." And with that, the assassin, the killer, and the destroyer set to what they do best.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The first sign that perhaps this is more than a fair fight comes when carefully aimed bullets begin flying through the cover of the foam, expertly picking off the best shots on the field. They can't see their assailant, but he can see them. It seems to be at random, but each is a headshot, not wasting ammo. In rapid succession one, two, three – pause – four, five, six and one right in front of Chillingsworth for good measure fall in a spray of brains and blood. The other mercs, surprised by the sudden pops of heads across the maintenance bay, begin shooting back, although they have no lock or target.

It's during the pause that the bronze and black blur emerges from the foam, cutting into the two closest mercenaries that might have actually had a chance of seeing Johns. His momentum is directed by the strong neckbreaking kick he delivers to a third unlucky individual. He alights on a bit of duct work and gains cover from the few bullets that manage to find his direction. The stop is barely a tick as he aims for the two women that Johns did not eliminate, neatly slicing one's throat, and turning her gun on her partner. He then uses the stock of the weapon to break an approaching merc's jaw before snapping his neck with the second blow.

By the time the others notice that he's there, Riddick has cut another man open to spill his guts into the air where they float like ropes, and strangle the next with them by wrapping the entrails around a throat and pushing the pair in opposite directions. He then stabs a fellow flying at him in the ribs and twists to use him as a block against another that tries to pick him off with a gun. That individual's head explodes indicating that the knife fighter is not alone.

"You certainly know how to make an entrance," Junner says.

The goggled man glances his way, giving him a chilling grin, ducks another gun-for-hire's attempt to hit him with a blunt weapon and pushes off after a merc he sees as more dangerous. The man with the club twists to follow and screams as his hand disappears in haze of red blood drops. That came from another direction. A second shot hits the man in the chest and he goes limp. How many of these people have guns?

Meanwhile the knife fighter has trounced another nest of mercs chopping through a group of four like they are untrained and green. But Junner has another problem when his mistress screams like a banshee. He has to catch her and quickly turn off the implants. His own catch a buzz of the pain but immediately adjust to counter it. "Mistress?"

The personal attack has made her more determined, not less, "I want him, now!"

They have twenty-one men left, and more arriving soon. Screams indicate that the numbers drop to eighteen within the span of a few seconds. He nods at her and turns his attention on removing the fire foam by setting the atmosphere to motion. While he's at it he directs the incoming squad of mercs to go into a different access port and come up from behind. Time to stop using brute force and start using his brain.

The cover slowly drifts away as the atmosphere scrubbers come back on, and Johns finds himself scurrying back into the shadows, with Fry providing cover fire.

"Ah, there you are," says the very tall, lanky man in a white coat with nearly the same complexion. "It looks like you are running out of cover. I've got more men coming up behind you, so you might as well give up now."

"Oh, I don't think so," comes the call back. It's the other male, not the Doctor. Junner finds himself ducking an well-aimed bullet.

"It seems, Doctor, that you have inspired loyalty."

A child dodges forward into the greenish light and pitches a thick sooty smoke bomb out into the air, "That is nothing, scarecrow! They are going to kick your behind so hard --" Something cuts the Arabic boy off. The smoky particles seem resistant to the scrubbers, being spit back out unlike the foam. There must be something that will make them stop. Antonia changes the filtering action of the atmospheric scrubbers and gives Junner a push.

Junner quirks an eyebrow at her. Of course, taking one of the children might make them stop fighting. But not the boy. The crew coming up from the back is using containment weapons, nets and energy fields, to drive the group out into the main bay. Mercs scream around him as the goggled warrior continues to kill them without mercy. The redhead with the scope knocks off several, both in the dozen behind and the remaining few that the knife fighter has failed to reach. The eight are slowly pushed out into the light by the building layers of nets.

Then he sees her, the dark-haired girl. Junner has his target. The weak spot. He pushes off and knocks the slim teen away from the others, sending her to the floor a level below and pinning her there with a booted foot on her arm. The lad that must be her brother yells, "River!" The girl screams in surprise as she hits the floor and puts up the one hand that she can raise. Junner levels his weapon at her forehead, pressing the knifepoint into her skin.

"I think not, little boy." The second in command says. He looks over the group and focuses on the tall, pale, alien looking fellow, "What do you say, Doctor?" The cold dark blue eyes are trained on him, Junner knows. He's watching out of the corner of his eye. Just a moment later the other ten mercs take away the guns from the blonde woman and the redhead when the leather-clad man nods to them. Left then is the knife fighter, who has the very last of the frontal group mercs pinned by the neck to the floor, with his shiv at the ready.

Antonia steps out and stares at the situation, "Get your little savage under control, Ka Faraq Gatri, or I'll have Junner kill the girl." There are fifty bodies floating through the space, quite a body count for three fighters, she has to admit. And she has a feeling that her assoicate being pinned to the floor is not going to make it out of this alive. She signals in another two dozen mercs, now that the ten plus Junner seem to have the majority subdued.

The bronze-skinned man looks back at the man that she's identified as the Doctor with a swift turn of the head. The merc under his bulk hits feebly against his steel-cable like muscled arm. He gets no visible response, but his posture changes, like he's pissed off now, "Call off your lap dog, before his trying to impress you gets him killed."

"Amadak." It's only one word, but it's enough to change everything. Riddick snaps the merc's throat and stands up, letting his blade go, so that it floats in the air. "Now let the girl go."

"You'll have to excuse Junner's excitement. It sometimes makes him a touch… quick. Though I can't say I blame him." She smiles at the captive; "You are quite the prize, Doctor."

The Time Lord glares, "I'm not sure you realize exactly how much risk you are taking on, Madam."

She shrugs, "We might be able to work out some arrangement, say you for your companions. But for the moment, I must insist that you remove your coat, because who knows what you might have at your disposal in those amazing pockets of yours."

"Don't Doctor," says one of the companions, a male match to the girl on the floor.

"Be quiet, Simon."

"The coat, or the girl. Choice is yours." The white-haired woman signals to Junner who makes a show of squeezing down on the trigger.

The Time Lord slipped off the leather jacket revealing he wore a navy blue jumper underneath and handed it over to a waiting merc, "You will regret this, Antonia."

Chillingsworth gave the man a look like he amused her, "Lock them down. We're done here."

Her second raised his gun to reveal a blood drop on River's forehead as even more mercs filed in to carry out the order. He waits until they lift the girl up and haul her away before moving over to his mistress. The captives are all looking pissed off, mostly because they believe perhaps that they could have kept fighting. The muscle-bound knife fighter is slapped in shackles, along with the redhead, the blonde, and the Doctor. The dark skinned priest and children are escorted away under armed guard. Bowing his head Junner says, "My apologies."

Antonia bites her lip and looks at him, moving in very close; "You know how worthless those are to me." She breathes into his ear and then licks it; "You did well." The lick becomes a bite, then a suckle on his earlobe, "People die in this line of work, Junner." She turns his face, "A handful of men? A small price to pay."

He gives her a nod, then asks, "What will you do with them?"

She curls her hand over his coat collar, "Slowly, Junner." He lets her take what she wants from him, even though he'd rather be someplace not with floating bodies and drops of blood while she's doing so. And after she untwines herself from him and straightens his clothes she smiles, "Tonight, you will attend to me. Tomorrow, have the Doctor and his chosen companion, one, brought to the conservatory. I've got something – beautiful – in mind," Antonia then brushes her hand over the mark that makes him hers, "and Junner, unfreeze some more mercs."