VII.
It was early in the morning when they landed on Furya; the sun was barely above the horizon, the shadows still deep and the air still chilly. Hope stood in the open hatch, deeply inhaling the fresh air.
Standing there she was drawn back to memories of their first landing on Furya; after leaving Aereon and her home planet and before starting their search they had spent nearly three weeks on Furya...
She had been excited like a kid when Furya for the first time had appeared on the view screen; a beautiful planet, blue and green, slightly more water surface than land area. It rotated around its axis in 27 hours and with its two moons it orbited a bright sun.
They had taken a low orbit and had rounded the planet several times to get a full scan of it. Other than Aereon's home planet there was nothing boring about Furya. Snow capped mountains alternated with big forests, lakes with deserts, glaciers with oceans, a few inactive volcanoes rounded out the picture. There were several climes on Furya in accordance with the varying landscapes.
Despite all that diversity everything seemed to be in harmony and both of them had felt it the second they had set foot on the planet: Furya was home.
Hope couldn't suppress a smile at the pictures arising in her head ….. they had explored the planet, had landed at several places until they had found the remainders of that village. Both of them had liked the place and they had decided to make it their base for their explorations. They had wandered through the forests and had swum in several lakes and in one of the oceans; they had hunted for their meals and had slept under the stars.
It had been an unbelievable time; Riddick had been relaxed and she had discovered another side on the man of mystery, a side that assured her that staying with Riddick was the best decision she had made in her whole lifetime. If she wouldn't already have loved him she would have fallen for him all over again.
And they had christened each place they had explored … regarding that Riddick indeed had more than broadened her horizons.
When they had climbed up a mountain it had become apparent that she was a natural in free climbing and reaching the top of the nearly vertical cliffside after a phantasmagoric climb she had been excited and aroused to such a degree that she practically had assaulted him. At first he had been surprised about her unusual behavior but then he had just enjoyed her bluntness. She was still a bit surprised about her boldness herself; the things that man tempted her to do … He had let her push him down to the ground, had nothing but complained when she stripped him to the skin before ripping off her own clothes, he had let her have full control and she had more than taken advantage of that occasion. He had tasted so damn good … everywhere. Her mouth watered at that thought.
Her heartbeat quickened remembering their encounter after she had hunted her first prey; he had taught her how to go for it, how to use the wind direction to her advantage, how to read and follow a track and how to kill the prey with her shiv. At first she'd had scruples, she hadn't thought she would be able to kill that deer, but then the excitement of the hunt had gotten to her; she had hunted for their meal and she had been proud about her achievement. And he was too. The look he gave her had made her feel like pray herself, his favorite pray. He had approached her slowly and for each step he had taken towards her she had taken one back, prolonging that erotic hunt until a tree had stopped her retreat. His eyes had never left hers and she had licked her lips knowing what he was up to, had waited for him to come nearer; she had still felt the rush from the hunt and they had collided with undamped passion.
...Hope unconsciously bit her bottom lip, her heartbeat had accelerated considerably and she could feel the heat build up in her; she really had to stop those thoughts. She nearly shrieked when she suddenly felt Riddick's lips on her ear.
"You are sooo playing with fire, babe. If you don't stop having that thoughts I'll drag you back in and everybody will know what we are doing coz I'll make you scream out my name loud enough to get heard on the whole planet."
"Christ, Riddick, stop reading my thoughts! That's scary!" beat red didn't describe her complexion even close.
"I'd say stop thinking that loud would help. And stop smelling that damn sexy." His tongue darted out and licked across her neck to her pulse point. He could feel her pulse beating furiously under his lips. "Damn you taste so good…" he was breathing hard himself by now. He stopped at the crook of her neck, burying his teeth into her flesh, leaving marks on her skin. He could feel her shiver, taste her arousal on her skin. Riddick grinned; he knew he had her there.
Hope had her eyes closed; his caresses sent shivers through her body. She leaned into him and feeling his length pressing hard into her back let her moan in anticipation; maybe getting dragged back in wasn't a bad idea at all.
Nearing voices let Hope open her eyes again and Riddick curse. Fuck his luck with timing; it would be a hell of a long day if he wasn't able to sneak away with her for a while.
They were approached by half a dozen Furyans and a bunch of 'hellhounds'. It was a funny thing with those hounds; most of the prisons used them to contain the convicts and a hellhound would kill each one he could catch. But with Furyans it seemed to be different, there were no aggressions between them. When they landed on Furya for the first time it hadn't taken long until some of them came out of the woods. Hope had been afraid of them at first but had quickly learned that they didn't pose a threat and now she couldn't understand why she ever had feared them.
And if you took a closer look you could see that Riddick's and their eyes seemed to be similar. She had asked him about his eyes but he still refused to tell her the truth about his 'shine job' and she never had believed the 'dig up a doctor and pay him 20 menthol cools' story he had given the others. It was quite a sight seeing Riddick hunkering down in front of one of the hounds and patting it.
The puppy she couldn't resist to spoil and call Pooh jumped up and down in front of her until she lifted him up and scritched his back. "Hey Pooh, did you miss me? You are living up to your name, baby, you are getting fat." she cooed. With a laugh she avoided his big raspy tongue in her face; no misunderstanding there … Pooh adored her. He was too heavy to get carried anymore and so she patted him a last time and set him back on the ground where he started to yelp to get her to carry him again.
Riddick had watched the approaching people for any signs of surprise that they not only had made it back but even more totally unharmed.
Laney hugged Hope with a bright smile on her face. "I'm so glad you are back. Did they come with you? Where are they? Don't keep us in suspense!" Hope was tense and didn't answer immediately and her demeanor caused Laney to take a step back to have a closer look at her, her face full of worry "What happened? I can see that there is something wrong."
Riddick and Hope exchanged a glance. "Round up everybody and let's get together in 30. We have to talk." Riddick answered instead and nodded at Hope. "Come on, babe, let's have a look."
Laney was curious but followed Riddick's orders immediately; she knew he wouldn't give any further information until they were all together.
They went to the room with the only computer equipment they had on Furya. There wasn't much in it yet but Hope had built a com station with a more than up to date interface and the computer not only had access to the net, Hope had made sure that nothing could get traced back to them. They even had some short range sensors that showed them the ships approaching the planet.
Hope was absolutely able to do the researches on her own but Riddick didn't intend to leave her alone not knowing who was after them.
She connected her PADD to the console and started the download; it would be easier to check everything with her own equipment. She looked for a download scheme, checked each call that went in or out. 30 minutes didn't give her much time but she liked the challenge and had no problems with working under time pressure.
20 minutes later one name crystallized: Ronson. He had spent more time at the com station and at the computer than anybody else on Furya. He had tried to make certain that his calls couldn't get traced back and had tried to erase the trail he had left on the computer. He had been careful but not careful enough to fool Hope. All of the others had made a few calls to friends they had left behind and Hope could verify each of those. Only one hasn't used the com station or the computer at all.
Riddick had watched her closely and he could see that she had discovered something. "Who is it?"
Hope turned around to face him. "I'm not sure yet, I have to dig deeper. All I can say by now is that Ronson did some strange things but nothing tells me that he had contacted any mercs. It could be pure chance."
Riddick shook his head. "When something looks like a hound and smells like a hound in 99 it is a hound. Why can't you believe what you see with your own eyes? What must happen that you learn not to trust everybody just because of a nice smile? Or do you think he isn't capable of betrayal coz he has a crush on you? I've seen how he looks at you."
"Riddick!" sometimes she was tempted to choke him. "Not each person being polite has a crush on me. And I'm absolutely sure that especially Ronson …" Hope wasn't able to finish her sentence; Laney had opened the door.
"Hope, Riddick, we are ready when you are."
Hope took her PADD and followed her without another look at Riddick. If she wouldn't have known it better she would have thought that he was … jealous? Nah, not Riddick.
They were all together in the common room and looked expectantly at them. Hope didn't know all of them … some must have arrived after she and Riddick had left Furya. A few were absent: some of them would be on the fields occupied with the fruits and plants they were farming to get autonomous from the support of friends and the Elementals, some of them … those with a ship of their own … in outer space to help with the search for other Furyans.
Except for the newcomers she knew each of them by name but some of them she knew somewhat better …
First there was Laney. They had found her on a farm where she was stuck with watching children. She had been bored out of her mind and was more than happy to go with them. With her 70something years she was the oldest and quickly took an exceptional position among them: history showed that the Furyan alpha couple always was guided by a council of elders and Laney got the job without asking for it.
Then there was David; a married teacher with three kids. His wife was not Furyan but she was comfortable with them and even the hounds liked her and the kids. She loved to cook and bake and was happy to spoil them with absolutely delicious cakes. As for the kids … Furyan genes seemed to be dominant and the kids were as Furyan as their father was.
Philip … a doctor who had to be convinced to go with them. He didn't like the thought of starting from scratch but finally he had decided that they really would need a doctor if they wanted to rebuild Furya. In the meantime he had become quite merged in his new role and had built up a fine adequate sick-bay.
Hope nodded and smiled at Kerry. Kerry was thrilled with the idea of a rebuilt Furya and being an architect would give her good opportunity to leave her mark all over the planet. She was really good at her job and Hope wondered what miracles she had performed with the ruins during their absence.
And finally Tyr and Carlos. Both of them pilots and great warriors, trained with all kinds of weapons and short-range fighting. Nearly as good as Riddick. Nearly. Riddick used to do some sparring with them when they were on the planet but didn't like it when she joined them. Her training was his job … or so he had told her. Hope had let it slide; it wasn't worth an argument. Although she had to admit that that attitude did annoy her somewhat.
Hope stood at Riddick's side and waited for him to begin to speak. His presence dominated the room, made the people look at him in breathless anticipation.