III.
After a brief walk they reached the 'Kettle'. It was cramped, noisy and dark inside; wads of smoke made it difficult to see anything and made breathing a challenge. Sara showed her 'whore face' and pushed people not too gently aside to get to the bar. With her eyes she pointed at two men sitting there. "The two over there, they belong to Simmons' crew. We are lucky, they are still looking for company." she whispered in Hope's ear. "But I can't see the other three."
"Doesn't matter. Even better that way." Hope grinned and took Sara's arm. "We'll start with them and look for the others afterwards. Let's give them what they want." But this time they'd get more than they'd asked for.
"Hey guys, you look kind of lonely. Want some company?" Hope followed Sara's lead and snuggled up to the merc. He looked like a toad and smelled like a pig and it cost her quite an effort to do it but she had to keep the goal in mind. The mercs were already half drunk and after another round of shots they all were best friends.
"Hey, ya know whom we caught today? Fucking Richard B. Riddick. We'll be richer than Croesus in a few days. That son of bitch thought he's tougher than we are. Hah, quickly disabused him of that thought!"
Hope and Sara faked admiration. "Nooo, you shitting me, aren't you? YOU caught that Riddick guy? What a shame that we'd missed it. We should celebrate! What about heading off and having some fun? I know a place where it is a little more … private." Sara seduced them.
The merc near Sara nearly drooled and grabbed her waist. "Fucking good idea girl. Let's have one for the road and then we'll blow this place!" That merc gave the word disgusting an entirely new meaning. He ordered another round and lifted his glass "To the biggest payday ever." he drowned it with one big gulp and then smashed the glass on the bar.
No surprise there that the mercs were more than excited at the thought of a free quickie and followed them blindly to the back door and out in the dark alley. Hope couldn't understand what Sara whispered in the merc's ear but he seemed to like it and roared with laughter. She nearly sold them away though when 'her' merc tried to start groping; she had to call up each ounce on self-control to not push his hands away. Her stomach was turning and the urge to kill him on the spot was overwhelming. 'Suck it up, it's for Riddick.'
Their destination was an empty house where the whores brought their customers and thankfully the way there was just short. And luck seemed to stay with them coz nobody else was there at the moment. Hope and Sara took the mercs to different rooms and as soon as Hope was out of sight of the other two she draw her shiv. The merc was too drunk and too agitated to realize what was happening and was nothing more than a dead bundle on the floor a second after they'd entered the room.
Sara had managed the merc standing with his back to the door. He already had his trousers open and his hands on Sara and didn't hear Hope approach; she had slit his throat before he was able to react. For Hope's taste it's been way too easy; it didn't help to cool down the rage burning hot in her. Maybe the other mercs would be more of a challenge.
Two down, three left to go.
They dragged the corpses behind one of the ubiquitous heaps of garbage to be found in the next days and left the house in search of the other three mercs of the 'Equilibrist'. To Hope's relieve Sara wasn't appealed by her killing the mercs, she was just curious.
"Did Riddick teach you how to fight?"
Hope nodded. "In fact he taught me everything I know about surviving out here. I just can hope I did pay enough attention to his lectures."
"And why are you here? I mean on that planet."
"We were supposed to meet someone. But it's been a set-up."
Sara would have loved to ask more questions; Hope was fascinating her. She looked so fragile and kind but had killed the mercs without even batting an eye. And she wasn't only traveling with one of the most wanted convicts of the universe, she had a bounty on her head herself. Sara knew the system well enough to know that a bounty didn't say anything about the character or the actual guiltiness of a person and was curious what Hope was accused of but Hopes tone had made it clear that she didn't want to answer any more questions and so she remained silent.
Sara talked to some of the hookers they met on their way through town but neither of them had seen the mercs since Riddick's capture. Hope had already suspected it but the information from the women confirmed her assumption: the mercs had to be on the ship guarding Riddick. They would be too chicken-livered to leave him with just one guard, even when chained ... after all they knew his reputation.
She wondered for a second why there were no signs that they were still looking for her but maybe that had something to do with the 'malfunction' at the spaceport; the mercs felt confident that nobody would be able to leave the planet and the search for her would not continue until the next morning. Fine for her; they would be far away until then.
Everybody watching Sara and her would see them as two women walking through town in search of company. Both of them were quite pretty and they had to turn down a lot of offers on their way to the spaceport. There was a lot of hustle and bustle there and two women wandering around didn't attract any attention. They reached the 'Equilibrist' and found two of the remaining mercs in front of it, smoking, laughing and sharing a bottle of booze with two just barely dressed women; it seemed as if they were having a really good time.
Sara looked questioningly at Hope. "What now?"
"Do you know the women? We have to lure the mercs away from the ship and it would be easier if the women would play along."
"Sue and Francie; they are friends of mine. I'm sure they wouldn't mind killing the mercs by themselves. Just because they laugh doesn't mean they like them. Mercs are the worst customers of all but you can't be picky if you have to earn your living with that kind of job. If you let them have the money they'll do anything to help you. I can talk to them if you want."
Hope nodded in agreement and took a look around. "And we need a place nearby a little more secluded to take them. I don't want them found until we left the planet."
Sara grinned at Hope; she had tasted blood and was getting into the game. "Leave it all to me!" She had a 'girl talk' with Sue and Francie and they happily agreed to help them. It didn't need a lot of persuasion to get the mercs to a shack nearby; men … mercs or not … were really just too predictable. Hope made short work of the mercs and Sue and Francie were more than content with getting all the money the men had with them without doing anything but looking in another direction. When Hope tried to thank them they just told her that women had to stick together against men; especially if the men were worthless mercs.
Four down, one left to go.
"Sara, I have to go inside the ship. I want you to hide and if neither Riddick nor I are able to get out of it please contact that man and tell him that it's over; he knows what to do. His name is Imam and I think he is possibly the most caring person I've ever met. And Riddick trusts him. Tell him everything and ask him for help; he will provide it anyway. Stay hidden and what ever happens … don't try to help me; you have already done enough for us." She handed her a note with Imams com data. "Or even better go back to your apartment. If something happens nobody can say you are involved. I'll meet you there." She smiled encouragingly at Sara and turned around to approach the ship.
"Hope!" Sara waited for Hope to stop and look back. "I'm not coming with you; I'll better stay here, but thank you for the offer. I wouldn't know where to go and it wouldn't change anything at all. Here I know everything and I have friends. Just be careful, will you?"
Hope paused for a moment. "There is that planet … our home planet. We are still rebuilding everything on it, it's chaotic and you have to like your life frugal if you decide to live there but it will become a great place. You are more than welcome to join us; so if you'll ever change your mind contact Imam and he'll make sure that I'll get the message." She hugged her a last time and vanished into the now unguarded ship.
Sara watched Hope entering the 'Equilibrist' and for the fist time since her husband had died she prayed.
Hope entered the ship cautiously, all her senses on alert. She knew the ship type and it was more than a good guess that they had Riddick already in one of the cryo tubes in the rear section of the ship. She could hear a voice coming out of that direction … the merc was talking to somebody. Most likely Riddick. She could sense him; he was injured but not seriously. And she knew he must have sensed her as well.