19. Masks
"Is she… in some kind of trouble?" Don asked in his curious, but not wanting to get implicated, voice.
Deak turned back to Don as if he'd forgotten he was there. Min looked on as blankly as possible.
"We just want to make sure she gets back where she belongs." Deak's cold, professional manner barked out, 'None of your damn business. Have a nice day.'
"Well, none of this will delay the ship's departure, will it?" Indignity was creeping back into Don-the-Stranger's voice.
Deak's face calmed into one of placating reassurance before Zemma's eyes, and before he turned back to Don. "We just have a few questions for the Captain of that ship. You should be on your way on time."
Don huffed as if skeptical.
So many masks in this room!
"Was there a boy on board with you?" The officer's question was outwardly casual.
Zemma hoped Don heard the sudden suspicion in it.
"Eh?" Don looked back to Zemma, but seemingly unconcerned. "Some girl. Kept to herself. I didn't notice if she got off at this stop or not." He appeared ready to dismiss the whole mess and leave. "If that's all then?"
"Did you have some complaint?" The man at the front desk asked politely.
Don waved a hand in negation. "Never mind," he said crossly, and left hurriedly.
Deak crossed the room back to Min. "May I see your key-card, please, Min?" His irritation was evident even to Min, who frowned.
"Ben said not to give it to anybody…" Min spoke hesitantly.
Deak took a deep breath. "It's all right, Min. I'm the good guy."
"You'll give it back? You wont tell Ben I gave it to you?"
"Yes, Min."
"Okay," but Min exuded reluctance.
Deak took the card she fished from her pocket to his desk and called the hotel. After giving his credentials, he requested the name of the occupant. Shortly he was typing that info into the computer.
"Captain…uh, D… Bennet Cooper…"
Zemma could have giggled at his automatic deletion of the 'bad word.' She was relieved, at least, that she didn't have to worry about Riddick getting caught cold. Don would warn him now.
"Zem-ma… En-non…Wuh-nee-tah…"
Zemma had never heard someone brutalize her name before.
"Audrey Smith… Donald Wardah…"
He looked over at Min. "Audrey?"
Min looked on blankly. Zemma thought Jack's alias was kinda pretty. She wondered if it was Earth origin.
"Zemma?"
Min smiled, but Zemma cringed inside. It felt very disconcerting to wear a mask, and be called by her real name. She understood now why aliases were useful. Perhaps she should have Don make her a new passport…
"Zemma?" Deak asked again, checking Min's reaction carefully.
Min only smiled at the familiar word.
"Is that your name? Zemma En-on…" he looked back to the computer screen. "Wuh-netta?"
"My name's Min," she started not sochipper as before."That's what Daddy called me." Min looked down as if very sad. Zemma hoped the nickname of a dead father would be enough to cover the passport difference. She glanced up a little, to get a quick read on him. But Deak was nodding as if the revelation was exactly what he was expecting. Zemma sighed inwardly.
"Time to give Ben a call," he told her kindly. "So you can go get dinner."
"And we can get the Fuck back to work," Jensen said sourly from across the room.
Min started to say, "Don't say…" but at Jensen's look she curbed the rest with a sulk.
Riddick hit the off switch when Don was done with his report, only to have the attention signal buzz immediately. He took a deep breath, mentally putting his camouflage back on. Anyone who knew him well, friend or foe, would know D.B. Cooper was really Riddick. But the facade should be enough for some backwater cop who just KNEW Riddick couldn't go without goggles, and just KNEW Riddick wouldn't be captaining a shitty little freighter for piss of a profit.
"Yah." Riddick hit voice only.
"Captain Cooper?"
"Yah."
"My name is Officer Thaddeus Deak. I'm afraid we have one of your passengers down here…"
"Min…" D.B. Cooper sighed as if expecting it. "Is she okay? What did she get into this time?"
"She's fine. We just have some questions…"
"Do I need to bring bail?"
"No, nothing like that."
Don was right; the young cop had taken Min at face value. Well, that might make things easier. But that didn't tell him if Zemma was wearing Min, or the other way around. Don hadn't been sure. Her whole demeanor had stayed consistent he'd said. Riddick decided he would be proud of her, if he didn't have to break that protective shell off her again. Sometimes great shocks could throw a person back into their old defenses… Like Jack.
Riddick could hear the tapping of a keyboard in the background… no doubt looking up their various aliases. If Don did his job right he shouldn't find anything of interest.
"But, she's okay?" D.B. Cooper asked again, as if needing some reassurances before showing up to face the mess.
"She's fine. Hungry though. She missed lunch. I couldn't find a sandwich." This Officer Deak actually sounded sorry. "Can you just clear up your relationship for me?" More than sorry, down right protective.
"She's…" Riddick hadn't about that. He hadn't thought about it in context of Zemma too much, and never expected to have to explain Min.
"Ben saved me," Riddick heard Min pipe up in the background. "After my Daddy died."
"She's my charge," Riddick finished. Later, he'd have to talk to Zemma about keeping lies simple. It would have been better if she were just a passenger on his ship. She had the kernel of truth part down pat. Maybe that was a good sign. Or, maybe not, Min might have seen it as just that: that he'd saved her.
The officer gave 'Captain Cooper' directions to the station and switched off.
Riddick ran rough hands over the stubble on his head and face. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. Jack would have to keep awhile.
Pity. Would have been easier to deal with Jack right now.
Min was restless waiting for 'Ben' to show up. Zemma had to keep a tight rein on her own movements. It was amazing how hard it was to avoid Min's old habits. She didn't need to annoy anyone now. Just sit tight and wait for Riddick to…
…(save)…
…fetch her.
Then what to do about Jack? Besides kick her in the head again…
Riddick didn't know how much Min had said. He had to think up something that would cover any contingency. Later, he'd have to teach Zemma how to lie.
She'd already said he'd saved her after her daddy died. Not too complicated there. But this Deak was feeling protective of her. He might have asked about, or Min might have volunteered, a greater relationship than Hero and Damsel in Distress.
How could he explain sleeping with the girl? She looked old enough, though younger than her actual years. How old was she acting this time? That might make all the difference. Don hadn't said, but then he had no experience with the previous incarnation of Min.
His mind worked the problem. A solution always existed.
He thought about Captain D. B. Cooper… Single, still or again, flying a bunch of junk solo… he'd have needs… but Officer Deak might take offense to that by itself.
What if he wasn't taking advantage of her? How does the mostly noble, but not priestly, Captain manage to meet and seduce the mostly feeble-minded, but not entirely childish, girl?
She was already sexually active…
He'd saved her… From what? After her father died, what became of her?
She'd been taken advantage of…
The not so righteous Captain might have run into her… on the street… might not have noticed her handicap… before he paid the man for her services…
Might have taken her away from that life…
But the relationship had already been consummated…
So fucking complicated. But then also impossible to trace. It might work.
Captain D.B. Cooper walked into the station house, gunless, knifeless, emotionless. Riddick wasn't as creative about his assumed alias' personality. He spotted Zemma sitting at a desk, tongue between her teeth, writing something…
He caught her tiny movement, the glance from the corner of her eye, the soft sigh… of relief? So it was Zemma in there, not Min. For this whole fiasco, at least there was that… Jack hadn't fucked up too much.
He walked up to the front desk, to the uniformed officer, and mentally assessed the fighting caliber of the man. Soft. Peace Officer, he sneered inside, not a War Bringer.
"I'm Cooper. D.B. Cooper. Someone here called me?"
No one glanced up at his name but the man behind the main desk, and a younger officer sitting near Zemma. Probably a good thing no one gets the joke. Zemma's head snapped up as if just realizing his presence there.
"Ben!"
"Captain Cooper…" The youngish officer presented a hand. "I'm Thaddeus Deak."
Riddick had seldom shook hands for any reason other than to intimidate someone, but he took the one offered, and tried to remind himself he was 'Captain Cooper.'
"Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben." Zemma went on happily, and tried to capture his hand. She was staring at him adoringly. "I bought a dress!"
"That's good, Min," he acknowledged her patiently. He wanted to get this over with quick. He wanted to get Zemma as far away from Min and this place as possible.
"I just have a few questions for you, then you both can go. Why don't you come sit down over here…" Deak led the way towards his desk. Zemma was suddenly attached to Riddick's arm.
"I'm hungry, Ben. You said we could go to dinner."
"I know, Min, I know. Just give us a minute, would you?" Cooper, Riddick decided, was a lot nicer than he would be.
Riddick sat stiffly on the edge of the proffered chair, while Zemma stood close, stroking his shoulder with her fingers. He might need that story after all. He definitely needed to teach her to tell simpler lies.
"You said Min is your… charge?" Deak looked skeptical.
"I take care of her." Riddick kept it simple. Cooper kept it civil.
"How did you come to be responsible for her? You aren't related are you?"
Riddick sighed inwardly.
"No. Not related."
"So how did she come to be in your… care?" Deak made 'care' sound chary.
"I took her in." Riddick knew the rules; never give em more than they ask for. They get suspicious when you ramble out too much at once. And Cooper would be a tad defensive about his 'relationship.'
"Where's her actual family?" Deak looked prepared to take notes, as if it was all routine. Riddick took none of it as routine. The cop had become personally involved in this.
"Tried to find them. Dead, I guess."
"You don't know?" Deak's eyebrows rose with his tone of voice.
"She was more or less alone, when I found her." Cooper sounded unconvincing.
"I take it you're not married, then?"
"No," Cooper searched the ceiling for the right thing to say. "Let's just say, she's a member of the crew."
"She's listed on your manifest as a passenger."
"She keeps the place clean, so she's crew."
"So she's… earning… her passage?"
Riddick decided Cooper had taken about as much innuendo as he intended to.
"Why don't you ask me the question that's really on your mind, so we can just get out of here?"
But Deak wasn't going to be hurried. "Why did you let her go out alone? You know she was found in the company of a petty thief. Do you have a boy on board, who might also be… earning his passage? Kid named Jack?"
Deak was watching Riddick carefully. Zemma noticed Jensen actually was too. She could have told him it was nearly impossible to read the man cold, which was a good thing in this case. Riddick looked cold enough to kill, but Min could only look on…
"I don't like what you're implying." Riddick decided Cooper wouldn't catch the worst implication. "You're talking smuggling. My manifest is clean. You wanna inspect my ship too?"
"Hey. I gotta ask."
"It's not the first time she's been taken advantage of at a space port. I've been trying to teach her better. You should have seen her a year ago. Swinging her arms, singing nonsense, chasing butterflies… hell, she talked to walls. It was very…aggravating."
Riddick felt Zemma's fingernails bite into his arm for just a second. Amusement briefly replaced aggravation. He liked that he could tease her and she couldn't respond at all.
"You didn't answer my question. Why did you let her go out alone?"
"She's pretty functional. I thought this was a safe port."
Deak ignored the barb.
"Her papers say Zemma, but she only responds to Min. How do you account for that?" Deak seemed to relish the emotional response he'd gotten from 'Captain Cooper.'
"Hell if I know. She had an alert-tag bracelet that said Zemma Enon W'Neta. But she only says…"
"My name's Min!" Min sounded agitated. "Ben, I bought a dress. Can we go now!"
'Captain Cooper' and Deak looked at each other, Riddick shrugged. Deak seemed to be thinking things over. Jensen, looking on from his desk, hooked a thumb toward the door and mouthed, 'Get 'em the FUCK outta here.'
"Look," Deak leaned into Riddick companionably. "I can see she loves you…" If Deak was looking for another outward emotional response to that, he got none. "And we don't have the facilities to take in someone… with her special needs. So, just explain it to me so I can sleep tonight."
Cooper leaned in and spoke quietly, but matter-of-factly. "I picked her up a year ago… for a little… distraction. You know the drill." He waved a hand, encompassing the whole facility. The moon's economy was based on men like Cooper. "When I paid the guy, she seemed willing enough…"
"I didn't know she was… special, until later… when I tried to talk to her…" 'Captain Cooper' leaned back in the chair. "She didn't like it there. I couldn't leave her with him. I'd made a good profit that run. I …bought her…contract… away from him."
Deak nodded as if understanding.
"I take good care of her. She takes care of the ship." Cooper spread his hands in appeal. "Can we go now? I promised her dinner."
"I'm hungry…"
Deak nodded but didn't stand or indicate Captain Cooper could. "Little advice…"
Riddick was ready to cram this man's advice down his throat. But Cooper waited patiently.
"…Don't let her go out alone. Okay? This moon can be a harsh mistress." The last bit was almost a plea. Something personal floating to the surface. Riddick didn't care as long as he was done here.
He stood. "Get your bag, Min."
"Have a nice dinner," Jensen mumbled sardonically.