A/N: I've shuffled the entire march to the settlement over to this chapter instead of having half of it in the previous one. Upon revision it just seemed to fit better here.
A Passage, 7
Ghost Town.
Jackie finally moved into the sunlight and total chaos as Johns revealed that the decision had been made to move. She did not see Fry, Imam, or Riddick at first. And Johns was being very much like a slave driver over the three pilgrims until she starting helping them. Johns made like it was his idea for her to gather what she could and help them load the sled that Zeke had used to move the bodies over to the grave. In her scrounging she discovered Paris sorting through his liquor for the ones he wanted to take with him and filling yet another brocade shoulder bag. She spotted Imam and Fry working on adapting a bit of netting near the battery bank and wondered what it was for. She found Riddick was packing crates with things that he'd been told they would need, mostly from the bushwhacker's cargo area. Shazza stayed outside with the sled, working with some cable.
The two older boys came into the cargo hold and began hefting up the larger boxes and carrying them outside. Soon the sled was piled high with all types of supplies. Just about everything they could find or salvage that might be useful was loaded up. Most of it was liquor and emergency rations but there were tools, oxygen tanks, and emergency medical supplies too. After the sled was filled everyone scoured the storage hold for things they could carry. All additional bags, packs, and purses were claimed and filled. Jackie found a pair of yellow goggles with dark-lenses, additional emergency protein tablets, some clothing, a tiny Swiss-army-style knife, and a few pieces of jewelry that went into her backpack. Fry and Imam pulled a power-cell and struggled into a hammock-like sling for it. Paris selected some of his smaller but more valuable treasures to take back with him in the hope that the trip would not be a total loss. Shazza handed the harness for pulling the sled over to Riddick before picking up her own bag. Her face was still hard.
The ex-ranger took the cable harness and tried to push out of his mind how much weight was on the sled. Over three times his own he estimated. It was amazing really that so much could be salvaged from the crash ship. Riddick shrugged into the harness with nary a word, falling into pace behind the marching group as they set off toward the settlement. He focused on keeping pace with the others by ignoring the protest of his muscles and the fire in his lungs. The wheezing of the man stumbling in front of him only made it harder to keep his attention on placing one foot another through the stitch in his side that seemed to be the result of Shazza's well aimed kick.
For a while everyone marched in silence. The bushwhacker was still angered. It churned inside as they marched. The hostility inside her was the only think keeping the grief back. But she now had a twinge of guilt that perhaps the killer accused had not done it. That made it just bearable, but not enjoyable, to walk with him free in their midst. "So just like that, he's one of us now?" She questioned Johns finally.
"Now, I didn't say that. But at least this way I don't have to worry about you all going to sleep and not waking up," Johns told her.
Jackie was walking near the back. Near Riddick. But she did not dare say anything to him. He didn't seem to mind her keeping pace with him. In fact he seemed to be ignoring her. Maybe he didn't want to get her into trouble. So they walked together against the azure sunset in muteness until Jackie couldn't stand it any longer. She moved past Fry and Imam and fell into pace with Johns and Shazza. "So, can I talk to him now?" she asked them.
All four adults in unison answered, "No."
Jackie shook her head and moved up to Ali and his brothers, passing Paris in the process. At least she could talk to the boys. Behind her, Paris was struggling to keep place. Even with the breather he was wheezing. And all he was caring was one smallish bag. As he adjusted it the other adults passed him, and Jack heard something kind of slosh out of the bag. "Oh, blast," he mumbled, not realizing for several steps that he'd dropped something. Jack glanced back to see both Paris and Riddick go for the bottle. Jack tugged Ali's sleeve and got him to slow down, just to watch the scene play out. Turning and walking backwards, she grinned as the antique dealer introduced himself, shook the convict's hand and tried to impress the larger man with his knowledge about the contents of the bottle only to have Riddick calmly pop it open and drain the entire full bottle down in one swallow. All Paris could do was look on meekly as the convict discarded the bottle and resumed pulling the sled.
The lay of the land gradually became steeper, the rocky soil making it difficult for everyone to keep his or her feet. The two children found themselves walking just in front of Riddick as Imam glanced back at the struggling man's face. They had reached the hill leading to the bone-yard and the ex-ranger was clearly straining to pull the heavy sled up the incline. Imam must have been moved by his effort, "Can we at least give the man some oxygen?" He asked. Paris had fallen in behind the sled, puffing on his breather like it was a lifeline.
Johns glanced back as Jack said, "I'll do it."
"He's happy just being vertical, leave him alone," Johns scolded. Imam scowled at the tone in the merc's voice. Fry noted the holy man's face and turned enough to look at Jack. Then she saw the difficulty that the sled was posing. Defying Johns she nodded to the youth. Shazza sensed the plot and picked up speed, reaching the top of the hill and moving down the other side. Jackie handed the mouthpiece to Riddick once Shazza and Johns were out of sight. Fry and Imam paused at the crest and waited as Ali and his brothers passed them.
Riddick took a long hit off of Jack's oxygen and looked at Fry. This was totally unexpected but he'd take the kindness where he could get it. Jack he understood, Carolyn he didn't. The docking pilot gave him a curt nod, meeting his goggles with her blue eyes. It was at that moment that the ex-ranger realized how much Johns bothered Fry. Interesting.
Johns called, "What is the hold up?"
The art-dealer reached the sled and passed it as Imam said to the ex-marine, "It is a steep hill, give Paris time to climb it."
Riddick turned away from the docking pilot and nodded to Jack in an attempt to get her to move away from him. Instead once he began to pull the sled, she fell into step again just like she had back at the crash site. Not the brightest thing to do, but he knew why she was doing it and was glad she was there.
Johns reappeared on the crest next to Fry, "Not what I meant," he said to Imam. Then to Jack, "Get your ass away from him!" Riddick let off a nearly inaudible growl deep in his throat directed at his blue-eyed devil as he lowered his head. Carolyn frowned at the Merc's back. She moved up to Fry and Imam. Johns motioned them to go ahead. Jack heard Riddick reach the top. Johns stood by and let him wrestle the sled up, over, and switch-backed down. He fell into place behind him before moving up next to the struggling bent form attached to the sled. Then the ex-marine leaned in and said, "I'm watching your vampire-ass."
The words sent the disguised teen scurrying up to the pilgrims. Ali told Jack that they were almost to the settlement as she caught up with him again. He pointed out the canyon and said that the structures began just on the other side of the hill at the end. The canyon walls and bones gave some relief from the relentless heat that had only slightly abated in the twilight between the setting of the blue sun and the rising of the twin suns just teasing the horizon. Jack could feel Johns' eyes burning a hole in her back. The words 'wanna-be ass' echoed through the youth's brain in Riddick's voice. 'So Johns was a Merc,' she thought. A child-killer, too. And she was on his radar. Yeah, it was stupid…. But she had to keep up the act; so far Johns thought she was a boy. She had to make sure he kept thinking it. She scarcely noticed the distance through the canyon. The sound of the wind over the pre-fab Aluminex buildings was hauntingly similar to the place she'd left behind. Chills ran up her spine as she looked over the townscape from the last ridge. It was all too familiar. Like walking back into one of the mining clusters on Sigma 3, but without the trees or people.
The familiarity of the building type was clear to the ex-ranger too. Thirty years out of date or so, he reckoned. Old stuff even when he was with the company. Being phased out if he recalled correctly. Sigma 3's worker towns were made from recycled mismatched housing from this era. Walking into this settlement was eerie; truly it was a ghost town. He hauled the sled with Johns at his side, breathing down his neck. The group hiked into the center of town where the merc pointed out the communal room, "Unload the sled there." Riddick looked at his tormentor, his face like stone, giving away nothing, and pulled the sled the remaining distance before lifting the harness off his shoulders. Something important was up. He was going to find out what. Paris, Imam, Shazza and Fry were already around the corner and Johns was nearly there too by the time the harness was off. The convict decided to follow, leaving the children to unload the sled. What he saw around the corner made him raise an eyebrow. Now he understood the need for the power cell.
Jack didn't follow right away although she did watch the adults go. Hassan and Suleiman went to work hauling the heavier boxes inside. After a bit Jack joined Ali in lifting some of the lighter stuff. Only once the sled was empty did she head around the corner to find out what the adults were up to. The three brothers were already hard at work on the water unit so she decided not to bother them. Her approach to the Skiff was highlighted by Paris stating, "…Usually I can appreciate antiques, but, uh, this…" She looked at the small ship. Well, it was in better shape than the crash, but not by much.
"A little ratty-assed," Johns agreed as Jack walked up to the ramp.
"Nothing we can't repair as long as the electrical adapts," Fry assured the group. She kneeled down and grabbed the power-cell. They had stood and gawked for almost the entire time it took her to coach the door open. At least the seals were still good which was a nice thing, it would have been a right downer to find this skiff and the door not reseal. If the hull was intact and the power cell could get the engines started they would have a way off this baked and broiled world. In her mind that raised the chances of living quite a bit.
"Not a Star-Jumper," Shazza stated.
Riddick, who was listening quietly, surprised everyone but Jack when he spoke, "Doesn't have to be. Take a two-seater like this back up to the Sol-Track Shipping lanes; stick out a thumb, bound to get picked up. Right, -- Captain?" He was standing in an unassuming position, in the stark sunlight, looking completely comfortable and sure of himself.
Fry looked over at Johns. The question of how much trust they could place in the convict and how much he knew flowed through that look. The she said, "Can I get some help here?" Riddick began to walk forward. Paris and Imam both reached for the power-cell.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Johns stepped between Riddick and the skiff. "Do me a favor, and um, check out those containers over there. See what we got to patch the wings up with."
Both Jackie and Riddick took at as their cue to leave. They went different directions. Riddick made a show of checking the containers before moving further into the town to find out what really happened here. He had a bad feeling that it had to do with the predators that killed Zeke, but he would not state anything to that effect until he had some proof. He followed his nose for his first direction.
Jackie's exploration took her into dusty buildings and dusty rooms filled with all manner of stuff. Way too much stuff. She found a toilet and decided to take care of her long overdue problem. A search turned up sanitary supplies for just the occasion and a couple of boxes of moist wiping cloths too. "Well, so much for waiting until Tangiers," she mumbled. A though hit her. Were there more clothes here? She began to look around for clean underclothes, socks, panties, and shirts… She discovered that at least two of the children here had been near her size. She erred on the side of too big. The bloody stuff she'd leave behind then. It would be good to wear clean clothes next to her skin. She salvaged whatever she could, including a couple of over-shirts and a spare pair of pants. Thankful that she felt cleaner than before even though she did not dare to change her outer clothes, she stuffed the dirty things, including her wet, plastic wrapped bundle, into a drawer and closed it.
She had just turned back to her pack and was unloading it to re-pack the new finds when Riddick opened the door. He too was exploring. Jackie didn't wave; Riddick saw her, even in the dark. He moved over and crouched down across from her, eyeing over her things, noting just as she had that there was too much stuff left here. "Stash your pack on the skiff," he said. Then just as suddenly he had walked out the door, leaving Jackie alone again.
It was after that she found the razor. It was dusty and dulled from time. She blew off what she could and used a wet wipe to clean it the rest of the way. After adding her cap to the pack she began to shave her head. The dull razor pulled as much as it cut. It hurt like all hell, but it would look so stupid to only do half of the job so she sucked back the tears and finished shaving her head. She hoped her scalp was not bleeding anywhere. Her hair had been dirty anyhow, and she could not come up with a better way to keep everyone else guessing. Currently her fear that Johns was beginning to remember her as being the kid with his wallet overrode other concerns. Better to change her appearance while she had an excuse. 'Sides Riddick wouldn't mind, surely. She wiped her head with a wet wipe, hissed at the sting, and picked up her pack. Then she reached for the yellow goggles before opening the door. It was bright out. She put the goggles on and tried again. Better. First thing was to get the pack into the communal room and find the skiff. She began scouting around, getting her bearings. She traced her way back to the main room, spotting the empty sled.
Ali popped through the door, having been chased off by his brothers as being underfoot. Jack walked up and patted his shoulder. "I spotted Riddick off over that way. Let me put this down and we'll go find him, okay?" Ali nodded glad for some exciting thing to do. Soon Jack and Ali were trailing Riddick's investigation. They looked on as Riddick studied the dead gardens, long untended. As he noted broken windows and skylights all with their shutters closed tightly. As he poked through scattered outdoor furniture too heavy to be upended by wind alone, not to mention the roughly strewn and bent or broken dishes and flatware. He picked up a spoon from the soil and studied its warped shape.
More and more the ex-ranger was finding signs of a panic induced flight. The tiny nicks in the metal spoon he held looked to be like smaller versions of the marks in the rib cage back at the bone yard. Faint evidence of water flows marked the edges of the buildings sheltered from the wind. Something made his senses tingle slightly. Still putting the pieces together, Riddick dropped the spoon and scanned around. A glassy glint caught his eye, an object covered with dusty dirt. It was out of place. He'd not seen anything shiny about the soil here. Jackie and Ali had no idea what had caught Riddick's eye, but both were intent on finding out. Riddick reached the item and lifted a crushed hand-light out of the dirt. It was the first and only light he'd seen here. He looked up at the building he was in front of. Very sturdy construction, tarps draped over the roof, bars on the door windows… he noted it all even as he smelled Jackie getting closer. A pair of broken eyeglass frames turned up in the dirt, buried like they sank into a muddy pool.
The flash of light from a broken lens caught her attention. "Come on," Jack whispered to Ali. He nodded and the two children crept around to the back of the building where Riddick was investigating. Jack scaled to the roof, thinking Ali would follow. The soft sounds of Riddick nosing around in the light soil reached Jackie's ears. Then there was a pause followed by the heavy door rattling. 'Of all the buildings here, why is this one locked?' Jackie wondered. She heard the tarp she was behind rustle. She caught her breath.
The convict tried the door. His ears caught the sounds of chain rattling on the other side. Padlocked from the inside? He peered through the dusty window, trying to make out what the building was used for. Lifting his head he noticed some writing. The tarp hid the words "Coring Room." Riddick was pondering that new bit of information when a sharp whistle pierced the air, followed by the sound of a hand slapping a cloth-covered thigh. "C'mon, boy." It was Johns. He whistled again, like a master calling his dog, "You're missing the party." Inwardly the muscular man groaned. Leave it to Johns to keep him on a short leash… Johns did not wait to see if Riddick followed, it was too damn hot out to be standing in the fucking sun.
Jackie was suddenly startled by the tarp flying away at high speed. She found herself looking directly into Riddick's smirking face. He had turned half way towards Johns, but was looking back at Jackie. She could tell that he had known she was there. "C'mon, you're missing the party," he echoed with a teasing bob of the head. Then he turned and followed Johns around the corner.
"Ah, man…." Jackie said to herself as she shook her head. "C'mon, Ali…." She called out. Then she worked herself down to the ground. But Ali had not followed Jack up into the roof. He instead was nosing around the outside of the building and discovered an opening in the panels that made up the walls. He worked his way through the rolled up metal without bothering to notice the evidence of razor sharp talons that had created the gap in the first place… and caught the edge of the tarp with one foot displacing the center of its weight just enough to make it slide slowly. He was so eager to have an adventure that was unique that he boldly explored the large room moving away from the opening without regard for his position in relation to it.
Jackie lightly found her footing and began off after the adults to find Riddick was waiting for her around the corner. They walked back to the common room together, just behind Johns. Riddick brushed a hand over Jackie's buzzed head, but didn't say anything.
Johns didn't look back. The merc already knew that Riddick made points with the kids first. It was a soft spot he could exploit, yet again. The convict never learned. Still, there was something about Jack that was different. Maybe it was the kid's obvious intelligence, or his strength, both physical and mental, which rattled Johns' hold over the perceptions that the others had about the killer. The kid was just too damn convincing, and it was his plunk, spark, hope even, that seemed to keep everyone on his or her toes. Shazza particularly. And he needed the bushwhacker's know how to keep Riddick in line. If he lost Shazza's support then the others would fall quickly. Then he'd have to kill the S.O.B. and take a pay cut. Johns reached the common room and entered.
Riddick was just a moment behind. He entered the common room without pausing and accepted a goblet of water from the bottom of the first pitcher. So it had silt floating in it. It was still water, and these folks were still treating him better than Johns would like. Imam actually looked apologetic about the sediment. For a hoodoo holy man, the fellow was all right in Riddick's book. Maybe it was the simple fact that Imam was not judging him. Maybe it was the fact that Fry's instincts indicated he was a good man. Or maybe it was just plain luck, but Riddick found himself warming to the dark-skinned man. He was not sure he liked that fact. The ex-ranger backed into a connecting room and was struck by the numbers of pictures lining the shelves and the clear volume of scientific data scattered about in there…
Jack stopped at the door, waiting for a moment for Ali to show up. It was hot, and being so close to water, hearing it splashing, made her realize how parched she was. She pushed the door open and went over to the table where the goblets were sitting. There were two left. Pushing up the yellow goggles, she reached past Paris to snag one. He, Johns and Fry noticed the new hair cut at the same time. She stared at them right back, "What?"
"It's the winner of the look-alike contest," Paris joked. Not with Jack but at Jack. It was a mistake as the huntress revealed herself again. Paris knew that look; he met those amber eyes and saw that same intense wild stare that had chilled him before. It was punctuated with a scowl focused directly at him. Shaken, he moved to put distance between himself and Jackie before she bit him. His path took him over to Shazza, "So who were these people, anyway? Miners?"
"Looks like geologists," Shazza held up a good-sized crystal in an examining holder, "You know, an advance party that goes from rock to rock."
Riddick stepped back into the doorway, and his eyes followed the docking pilot's realization that there was just too much stuff here. Way too much. Jack noted it too, and followed his silver gazed over to the troubled blonde. Fry was poking through a cupboard filled with expensive dishes. She paused and looked at her goblet, drained the water and stepped back to the table. "Nice of them to leave so much of their stuff here." She put the goblet down and Johns refilled it, "So, why'd they leave their ship?"
In the uncomfortable silence that followed, Shazza sat down. Finally, Johns topped off his own water and said, "It's not a ship. It's a skiff. Disposable, really."
"Like an emergency life-raft, right?" Paris ventured.
"Sure, " Shazza chimed in; "They likely had a real drop-ship take them off planet--"
"These people didn't leave. Whatever got Zeke, got them. They're all dead." Riddick interrupted her. The pieces were falling into place. It was time to let them all know that something had happened that made the predators come through this settlement with ravenous fury. Could it have been a mining accident? A blood scent? All he had to go on was the fact that Zeke had been working with the dead. Everyone but Jack and Imam glared at him. He put his goggles back on. Exasperated, he continued, "You don't think they left with their clothes on the hooks and pictures on the walls --?"
"Maybe they had weight limits!" Shazza snapped, "You don't know!"
"I know you don't uncrate your fucking emergency skiff unless there's a fucking emergency," he said deadly calm.
"Fuckin' right!" Jack let it slip out before thinking.
"Watch your mouth," Johns wagged a finger Jack's direction.
"He's just stating what we're all thinking," Fry pointed her first comment at Johns but her second was at Riddick, "So, what happened? Where are they?"
But Riddick was watching Imam. And Imam was noticing that there remained an unclaimed goblet. Jack looked at Imam herself and watched him walk over to the window, finally he turned slightly and asked, "Has anyone seen the little one? Ali?"
Riddick's next statement answered both Fry's and Imam's questions and he said it right to Jack as if she knew the answer, "Anyone check the Coring Room?"
A faint scream wafted through the silence…
"Ali?" Imam was alarmed. He turned to the door and ran out. Shazza, Paris, and Fry immediately followed.
Jack made no move until Johns grabbed her shoulder, "Come on." She glanced back to see Riddick calmly moving to the table….
The group nearly tripped over itself in haste to get to the Coring Room door. They faced the same problem that Riddick had when he tried the door. It was chained shut from the inside. Johns ordered everyone back and solved the problem with a couple of shotgun blasts. The doors swung open with a creak like they had been installed wrong and the tendency was for them to be open. The merc, holy man, and docking pilot pressed to the front with Paris, Shazza, and Jackie just behind. Although Johns made her follow the others to the coring room, Fry held her back, placing an arm out and saying "Jack, wait. Wait," after Johns had blown the chain off the door.
Jackie was stunned by a sensation that nearly blindsided her as Imam slipped inside and began exploring the dark dusty room for his missing pilgrim. Alarm bells were going off in her head and she was not aware that she was trying to push past the docking pilot's arm. Her mind filled with screeching urgency to warn the holy man that it was not safe in the shadows where he was searching. Not that she could actually say anything, but it was like she was possessed or something. Imam was well out of sight when a swarm of bat-like creatures forced everyone back through the door. The inhuman, unearthly sounds the horde made as it whirred past the door that Johns pulled shut with a clang implanted themselves in Jackie's soul. He pushed the door back open and stepped through, his shotgun out and ready as the black mass flowed down the drill-shaft. "Imam?" he called loudly.
Fry was behind him, "Imam?" she called out softer, more fearfully. Neither Shazza nor Paris was set on entering the room. Hassan and Suleiman were just as worried about their little brother as Imam and couldn't get in past them. The four of them pressing at the doors forced the teen back even farther. She glanced up at Riddick as he finally joined them, deliberately not putting his neck on the line. Something about his arrival calmed her although she feared the worse. Seconds reached out into years as they waited for some sign from the two company cogs as to if the holy man was still alive in there. Jackie realized that she was not breathing as her ears picked up sounds that Imam was okay. Relief flooded over her at that tiny bit of hope. Could it be that Ali was still alive too? She clung to that thought until Imam let out a dismayed groan. He had found Ali.
Shazza turned and reached to guide Jack away but found Riddick already doing it. The two adults reached a silent understanding over the child's head. There was something very deadly living on this planet. Something worse than Riddick. Jack looked up at Shazza's expression. A million words that could never be spoken flashed across from her to Riddick, a book's worth of a lifetime spent in loving company and gentle ways. Jack looked at Riddick. His face was still impassive, as unmoving as stone. He did not understand what Shazza was trying to say. He had never conversed in such emotions, and all Jack could guess was that her 'oh, my god, I'm so sorry…you did not kill Zeke' was being met with his 'told you so,' but going nowhere.
Off to the side, Paris gagged as Imam moved Ali's tattered body more into view. Hassan and Suleiman pushed forward, rushing through the newly opened gap, and fell to their knees in grief. Fry backed out, her eyes welling up with tears. But Johns merely swung his shotgun up onto his shoulder as looked over the half-eaten remains with professional detachment. Shazza left Jack to Riddick and moved off to find a sheet to cover Ali's body with, her jaw tightening as she did so. Jack found herself being steered the direction Fry was going. Riddick easily caught them up to the docking pilot, as she was not moving quickly. Jack voiced what had to be both of their concern, "Fry, are you okay?" She got a nod and a sniffle in return. Jack reached out and took the blond woman's hand. It seemed like she needed it.
"Ali was your friend, Jack. How are you?" She finally asked.
"In shock. We didn't know each other that well, but yeah, he was my friend." Jack told the truth. She was too numb to cry. 'Why had Ali gone inside that locked room? Neither of us knew what was in there. So, why? It was such a stupid thing to do,' she thought. Riddick guided them both back inside the common room. He filled a glass with water and gave it to Fry. The three of them sat until Shazza re-entered the room looking drawn. Jack looked at her; "Do I even want to know?" She shook her head. The grief was creeping back into her eyes. There would be another funeral, but she'd never have one for Zeke. The four of them sat in silence; each buried in their own thoughts. Jack was thinking that getting out of this alive was gonna be a challenge if the native creatures could kill so fast. It had only taken minutes from the time that they'd heard Ali scream. What if those things were in the rafters of other buildings? And Zeke had been killed just as quickly…
She suddenly felt cold inside. Cold like a shaft of ice was filling the insides of her chest, running down into the root of her spine. She shivered and looked at Fry who was staring into the goblet of half-drunk water, seemingly mesmerized by the colors in the cut crystal. It stamped a melancholy picture that did not ease Jack's internal chill. She looked at Shazza who was staring straight-ahead, not quite crying, not quite dry-eyed, blinking every now and then. Her expression was blank, like she was a hollow shell; she was shattered in the inside and open for the world to see. That did not ease the chill either. Jack looked at Riddick. He was leaning back into the shadows, his goggles up, watching her with his exotic eyes. He was the only one in the room who did not seem lost in his own world. And he was ignoring the two women, leaving them to their thoughts. Jackie wanted to move over to him. To lean in and absorb some of his heat, his confidence. It was like he knew what she was feeling and daring her to act on it. Instead of moving, Jackie caught his eyes with her own and let herself be comforted by the simple fact that he was watching her. Slowly the chill began to recede.
Ultimately, Paris burst into the room. It startled both the docking pilot and the bushwhacker out of whatever worlds they'd slipped into. He crossed between Jack and Riddick unaware that the large man was even in the room. Even as Jack's eyes followed Paris, the ex-ranger stayed statue-still. The antique dealer threw himself into a seat, "My God! That poor boy. He did not deserve that fate," Paris looked at the troublesome youth, "Unlike you." Shazza and Fry shot him looks that were equally brusque.
Jack leapt up; her face twisted in sudden anger and pain, and she stomped out of the room. As the door swung shut Riddick shifted his weight making his seat creak, drawing Paris' attention to the fact that he was in the room. "Now, what did you go and do that for?" Riddick asked him very softly as he moved to follow the child out into the ghost town. The killer paused at the door to put his goggles on. The pale-complexioned fellow swallowed hard.
Someone opened the door and followed her out. Jackie did not slow. She did not look. If it was Paris trying to make amends he could suck up his own shit through a straw. 'How dare he even think to know what was deserved or not?' Hot tears welled up in Jackie's eyes as she broke into a sprint for the building across the complex. Ali had been her friend. It was like a curse. It was worse than the abuse, the care taking of the siblings, and the endless stream of men visiting her mother during the day…. It was worse than the threats...
Johns whistled behind her. 'Riddick must have followed me, but why?' In her state of anger and grief, self-pity and fear, she could hear only the two men's voices, not what was being said. Had she been in any other state-of-mind, she might have been glad that Riddick was behind her. She hit the door ahead in a full sprint, knowing it was unlocked. Then she collapsed into a heap on the dusty floor. Her tears were not for Ali, but Audrey…. The little girl who ran away, who was fading fast into a memory. The years of being the eldest child taking care of other children flooded over her. The fear that she, too, would end up washed up before her time, tired and broken, -- wasted – shook her to her core. Jackie had to purge Audrey. Audrey was weak. She couldn't hack it out here. She was a nice girl, and nice girls got hurt…hurt bad. A fresh round of sobs shook her as she tried to curl into a fetal position on the dirty floor. She tucked her head down by her knees; she had to stifle the noise.
Then she was surrounded by a familiar warm scent. She had not even heard the door open. Strong, bare, muscular arms scooped her up and carried her over to one of the four cots in the room. She shifted only slightly. Jackie was faintly aware of the cot creaking with the weight being settled on it. Her brain recognized the smell only because her mind was too foggy to get in the way. He didn't say anything. He didn't grope. He didn't squeeze. He just sat there, cradling her. Just as he had cradled her before when she was helpless against the face of the world. Back when she was too young to know that the miners were trying to kill her.
Once again she needed him. Even though he feared his own darkness and its intention toward her, Jackie's need overrode his human desire to keep her at a distance. The primitive side of his soul welled up, feeding on her scent, understanding finally that this one precious thing had been hurt beyond her ability to cope. Something inside the darkness began to shift, to change. Something about her need drove deep into the pit that the beast lived in. It ranted and raved about her pain, going though all the stages of grief as it realized that her innocence had been ripped violently away. Yet once it accepted the bundle in his arms was damaged, once it understood that she needed, it became docile and protective. Riddick found his human and animal sides reaching an accord over this one tiny soul. Never had he done that before. His heart ached as the duality merged internally into one creature with one driving thought. Through it all the woman-child in his arms sobbed, unaware of the changes her presence sparked, too focused on her own transformation to notice.
Within the protective cocoon made by Jackie's perception, or lack of it, an internal change took place. Fostered by the reassuring scent, the firm but loose encircling arms, and the self-assured aura radiating off of the man holding her, the damaged, scarred, abused Audrey was able to finish passing into peaceful nothingness. Audrey's forging came from a damaged mold and her character shattered under the new unfamiliar pressures of life in space. Jackie shed whatever shards of her old self that still remained. She took over the skills learned, but assigned the emotions, feelings, and fears to someone now dead. She resolved to learn what she could from this experience, to survive, to emerge re-forged from the fire of this triple sun world with a new razor-sharp edge.
Her internal alterations might have been in response to a different need, not one fully her own, for outside of the pair, frozen in time, watching was another power. It was difficult to awaken the primitive side in the young woman, difficult not because she resisted but because her blood was not pure. The otherworldly power hovered, watching. The fate of existence boiled down to this. It reached into the heart of the damaged half-breed and transfused her with fire, unsure if it would take but desperate to reach the true individual of destiny. If he would not listen then perhaps she would. The unearthly form kneeled in front of the pair, unseen. It focused first on the male of the pair, 'Such darkness dwells behind those luminous eyes. So much pain and anger, yet you won't hear me. Why?' There was no answer forthcoming from his unmoving form. It turned its attention to the child, hurt and shattered, in the man's lap. 'Time for you to assist me. Time for you to become a woman,' It reached into the soul before it, finding that she was already mending, molding herself into a form inspired by the male holding her. The other was pleased. It found the female's primitive side and rooted there. Time was needed to ignite the flame that already burned within the man's veins inside the half-breed female. Given other options it would not have bothered, but there were none.
Unaware of the third party interference, Jackie picked Riddick as her new mold. He lent himself to the task by virtue of being there. He helped salvage her earliest memories and made it possible for her to own those as a tiny treasure. The rest became empty pictures, training films, not part of her life. The constructed parts of her that had been the boy, Jack, flowed away too. Jackie took what worked from the male persona but acknowledged the fact that she was a girl and would always be a girl. If Shazza could be a free settler, and Fry a pilot, why couldn't she be. Suddenly her mother was not the only female role model she had. Both women were tough as nails and sharp as tacks. Jackie could be like that too.
Although it seemed to take a lifetime for the change to happen when everything goes at the speed of thought a lifetime passes in moments. For this task, several lifetimes were needed. Even after Jackie quieted the internal changes continued. Somehow the hints of her own duality displayed earlier was both becoming stronger and accepting what she was. Perhaps the animal inside her sensed that it was needed, perhaps it responded to the scent surrounding her, or perhaps it was the influence of the unknown other channeling into it, giving it strength and allowing it to grow much as love and attention often made the runt of the litter the most powerful survivor… Eventually the primitive being merged its strength with the remaining bits of personality becoming something new. It accepted the name 'Jack' or 'Jackie' as a matter of survival. Peace flowed out from her as the process completed itself.
For a while she was just part of that statue. Solid and strong. Riddick made no move as she stirred. Jackie slowly looked up at him. His goggles were off; his eyes closed, breathing even. He might have been asleep. Except for the tiny motion of his hand slowly circling gently on her back. The touch was so light that Jackie was not bothered by it. Her shift of weight caused him to stop, but his hand stayed on her back. She was aware that perhaps in the silence he was listening to what was happening outside. She followed suit, copying him. Making her own breathing soft and steady. She willed her heart to beat in the slow cadence of his, finding that she had to close her eyes to focus attention on it. She did not see Riddick smile slightly as he felt her doing exactly what he wanted her to do….
The meditation was only the first lesson. Her mind visited places of darkness and light. Of forest and desert. Places above ground and below. And in the darkness below hunger waited with growing impatience. It drove her back into the light. The light was safe. She stayed in the sky, watching the twin stars trace a path across it. Familiar twin stars… She became aware that she had been watching the sky change, as she came out of it. Not any sky, but the sky here. 'Impossible,' she thought. Riddick let her go as she pulled herself up and got to her feet. He was sure she had settled down. Jackie walked over to a shuttered window and cracked it just enough to discover that what she'd seen was very close to how the sky really looked. The shade of the sky told her that the blue sun would be rising soon. Riddick walked up behind her, quiet as a cat. "They will be saying goodbye to Ali soon. You should go," it was not an order, but a strong suggestion. Jackie nodded. She should go. Ali had been Jack's friend. Least she could do was say goodbye. "There are some things I want to teach you, Jack. Important things," Riddick spoke softly but with intensity. Jackie nodded again. She'd take whatever schooling Riddick wanted to give her. All the better to survive out here and for survival she could find no better teacher.
Jackie went into the toilet and got a moist wipe for her face. She cleaned away the spent and dried tears along with sticky sweat. She wiped her head and neck too. She was surprised that Johns had left them alone considering how he'd ordered her away from Riddick half a day before. Then again, she did not know how sneaky Riddick might have been in coming back to this room. And Johns had his own problem, Lady Morphine, to worry about. Jackie saw a flash of her mother getting a fix. Yeah, that was likely what Johns had been up to anyhow. She looked at herself in the dusty mirror. Who was she now? Where did she belong? What could she become? The possibilities were open before her, just as long as she survived this world and its catharsis.
Riddick stood near the window. The others were beginning to move about now that the suns were nearing the horizons. He was unmoving. Watching. Something was different about her, he noted. She moved with a grace she hadn't possessed before. She seemed somehow older, yet… He tore his attention off of her and back to the people outside. He'd keep her here with him if he could stop time, but he couldn't. The clock was ticking on something, and his gut told him they were running out of time very quickly. He had to focus on survival. Had to keep Johns in the dark as long as possible, just to get enough time to convince the others that the merc was the danger. Had to protect her…
She walked out of the washroom. He gave her a curt nod. She understood, 'go first.' Jackie looked at him for moment longer. His face was sheltered, his feelings hidden behind a wall she couldn't see through. His posture was just as closed to her. It was like he was closing back up, pushing her away. She didn't understand why, but somehow it was important to keep playing the boy. She nodded back, pulling out her male persona again and slipping it on like a shield before exiting out into the azure dawn. Riddick watched the change somewhat amazed as the woman he perceived transformed back into a pre-teen boy. He blinked at her back, losing his own shielding for a moment. He wondered what other surprises Jackie had up her sleeve.
Jack emerged from the building feeling refreshed and energized. Her main goal was to say goodbye to Ali, and to that end she looked for the passage on Imam, Hassan, and Suleiman. The three were headed out to the edge of the settlement slowly escorting Ali to a prepared cairn. She fell in behind them. They laid the body inside a shallow depression and began to cover it with rocks. Jackie watched for a moment, then Suleiman handed her a rock and spoke in Arabic. He pointed. She gave him a sad look that indicated she understood and proceeded to help them cover Ali's body. As Imam began to recite prayers for Ali, Paris quietly joined the small gathering. Jackie hardened her face and ignored him. She tried to center her attention on Ali. Paris was not important now. Shazza was right, he was not worth it. Ali had been her friend and now he was gone. The universe would be a darker place without him.
Riddick waited for Jackie to leave. His mind hummed with another familiar sensation, one he grimly brushed aside. He'd been plagued with visions and portent-like dreams most of his life and they had never been pleasant. Usually he could force them away, keep them from coming on. Right now he could care less about the 'destiny' line of it, and he didn't want to know who would die next. That he was having this feeling was indication that he'd make it. So enough of the Universal 'karma' shit. He put his goggles on and walked out the door just in time to see Johns and Shazza heading over to the Coring Room. After noting everyone's location but Fry's, he followed the pair across the compound.
The docking pilot was scouting through the various mining and geological bits of data carefully arranged around the room. If she remembered her history right, the era that this settlement was built was one of rapid expansion and unusually quick profits. A boom era. By the looks of the equipment and belongings still sitting around she guessed that this expedition had been well funded. The samples she'd looked at so far indicated that the company was interested in something deep down here, far below the surface. Most of the core samples were nearly 30 years old but they were arranged in sequence still like whoever was working on them was planning on walking back in at any moment to finish up. Johns and Shazza coming into the room interrupted her. The dark-haired woman said, "They are saying goodbye to Ali…"
The merc interjected, "And they better not be digging another damn grave." Fry watched Shazza give Johns a look that was like green shards of glass. What was it that the bushwhacker knew about him that she wasn't telling?
Carolyn switched from the woman to the blue-eyed man, "No, Johns. They went with a stone cairn. No digging required." Her focus changed again as Riddick walked in. "So, you think the geologists are here somewhere?"
Although he was slightly surprised by the calm and accepting tone in the docking pilot's voice, he didn't show it. The ex-ranger spared her a glance and then looked over at the drill, "Did anyone look down the core shaft?" Riddick walked to the lower level and kneeled down, lifting his goggles. He could the remains just fine. Johns raised an eyebrow and took one percussion flare off his belt. Riddick heard him pop it against his hip and closed his eyes as the hissing green cylinder of light fell down the shaft. The two women behind him seemed equally disturbed by the sight of the picked-clean human bones at the bottom. "Other buildings weren't secure. So they ran here. Heaviest doors. But they forgot to lock the cellar…"
Shazza felt sick. She pulled back away from the sight wrapped up in how wrong she'd been. How could she reach out and make amends? Her last attempt had gotten nowhere. If there was one person left alive that she trusted it would be Jack, and Jack had defended Riddick from the start. Now she wished she had listened sooner, "So that's what happened to my Zeke…" she whispered. Riddick straightened up and began to exit out of the room when she finally added, "And you were there. You saw the entire thing. Trying to kill 'em too?" Not accusing, just asking, softly…
"No, just after his oxygen." The deep voice rumbled from the other side of the drill-shaft. Shazza watched his face. Hints of grief flickered across it. 'So he did care.' She mentally noted. 'Maybe he was trying to rescue Zeke…' Shame welled up inside her threatening to cave in what remained of her shattered shell. She had to do something to make it right.
Johns scowled, "Right."
"Shut up, Johns. I'm not gonna tow your line with you anymore," Shazza stated softly. She walked around the room so that she was besides Riddick, no longer seeing him as a threat, but as a person horribly misjudged. She didn't know why he'd become a killer, or how he ended up in Johns' custody, but none of it mattered. She recognized a kindred soul, struggling to survive in a harsh, uncaring universe. "Here." She handed Riddick her breather. He felt her literally grab his hand and put the device in it, closing his fingers around the cable.
"What? It's broken?" Riddick really didn't know how to take this. Jack accepting him was one thing, but Shazza was a free-lance bounty hunter herself. For her to be turning against Johns was totally out of any expectation Riddick had of her. His first reaction was to toss the offering down to the ground and stare at the green-eyed woman in defiance.
"No, there's a few hits left." Shazza kicked the breather toward the stubborn tanned man in a refusal to pick it back up herself. They stared at each other for a long uncomfortable moment. Finally she realized that she had to resort to plain harsh language, "Actually, you asshole, I'm trying to say that I'm sorry." Behind the goggles Riddick blinked and his face softened.
Johns didn't like this development, not one bit. Riddick's sudden promotion to air-breathing human was bad in itself, that the remaining bushwhacker had done the promoting was a near disaster. He could feel his hold over Riddick slipping fast, "Alright, let's board this up and get the hell gone. Those fuckers seem to stick to darkness, so if we stick to daylight -- "
"Twenty-two years ago…" The docking pilot had gone back to her earlier search and was now at the end of the final existing core sample. She was holding a date card.
"What?" Johns looked at Fry like she was out in left field somewhere.
"These coring samples are dated. And this last one, if Owens' chrono was right, would be twenty-two years ago this month."
Johns was still lost, but the drama was enough to get both Shazza and Riddick to stay. "Something special about that Carolyn?"
"There might be…" The blonde looked at the date on the card again and headed for the door.
As the last of the prayers were given, the last of the tears shed, Jackie had her attention drawn to Fry quickly crossing the compound, trailed by Johns and Shazza. Riddick stopped and motioned for her to follow. Paris also noticed and stood up. The sudden movement drew Imam and the pilgrims along behind the bunch. By the time Jack reached the room, Riddick had entered. Fry was working a mock-up of the solar system they were now in at a faster pace then the machine was meant to go. It clicked over to 20 as Paris walked in, and 21 as Imam did. Fry paused. She looked at everyone before pushing the model over to 22. The entire system lined up. All the suns and all the planets, in a single line, with the one planet they were on in the middle. In the dark. Fry, Shazza, and Johns looked at each other. Jack looked at Riddick, 'What the hell?' she thought. But deep inside, she already knew. Down below, in the darkness, hunger waited… Her heart began doing flip-flops in her chest.
Fry moved the model over to 23, and the planets stayed in position. She swung it back to 22, trying her best not to stand there like a fool with her mouth hanging open. 'Okay don't panic, try this by date…' She cleared her throat, "Imam, can you help me here? Anyone have a working universal chrono?"
Paris was the one who spoke, "I do. Here." He took the tool off his wrist and walked over to the Orrery. "So what is going on? This is set on a 22 year cycle?" He asked about the mock-up.
"It appears so." Imam answered as he helped get the device's inner workings set by date not by cycle. Fry picked a date at random between that of the dated sample and the one indicated on Paris' watch. Imam re-engaged the internal gears and the model swung the planetary system into the correct position. They began rushing time forward again, closer and closer to the current year… and when they reached it Imam began counting backwards to the month… as he reached zero the model once again lined up like clockwork. The holy man glanced around at the stunned faces.
"You're not afraid of the dark, are you?" Riddick's voice cut into the smothering silence. It shook everyone back to the moment. Jackie was shaking so hard she couldn't believe that no one was aware of her knees knocking together.
But the docking pilot wasn't letting them give up, not now. She suddenly realized that if they were gonna survive she had to start being the captain everyone thought she was. Determination pushed back her own fear. Fry looked at Riddick; "Did you find anything to patch the wings with?" Riddick shook his head, and Fry turned to Shazza, "The Sand-Cat? Is it--"
"I'm on it…." Shazza flew out the door.
"Okay. We gotta think." Fry paced the darkened room. Then a light bulb went off in her head, "Imam, there is a roll of Vectran in the crash ship, the stuff we wrapped the bodies in. There should be enough to patch the wings left. Why don't you, Hassan and Suleiman go get it?"
"We can do that." Imam and the boys disappeared.
"Jack?" Fry turned her attention to the boy. Jack nodded. "There are some water bladders in the common room, get those filled and ready to load, okay?" She looked at Riddick and Johns, then said to Riddick, "Help Jack, please?" Johns scowled; Fry ignored him. "Paris, gather food and medical supplies, all you can find." He nodded. She moved to the door and rushed out, heading back to the skiff. "Johns--!" The merc followed her after casting one last disapproving stare Riddick's direction. Fry's voice drifted back to Jack and Riddick, "…. Need those power-cells from the crash ship right away, finish switching over the electrical, do the run-up on the main engines…. Shit—still gotta check the hull--"
Johns said something softly, his voice carrying but the words lost.
"Just get the fucking cells here Johns! What? What's the discussion?" Anger overflowed from Fry's voice.
"Let's get the water," Riddick said softly, drawing Jackie back to their assigned task. She looked at him and moved out into the brightening blue-sun day. It hit her that Riddick had a breather. Shazza did not. She must have found a way to apologize that Riddick understood. Jackie smiled to herself. Johns was losing his stranglehold over how the others perceived Riddick after all. They reached the common room as the three Muslims were stepping out. Riddick nodded at Imam as they passed, rushing to complete a task that would take he and Jackie several hours to finish. Imam's group would be gone longer than that, though. The material they were after was heavy. It would take all three of them just to muscle the roll back to the skiff. Jackie knew that Vectran was used to construct emergency shelters too. It was tough, durable, and nearly indispensable on Sigma 3. Much of the worker housing was patched of the space-age stuff.
They gathered the bladders and moved off to fill them. Riddick left Jackie to the filling, wandering off with concentrated intent. Jackie didn't mind; only on of them could actually fill the bladders anyway. After a quarter of an hour Riddick reappeared, picked up the filled water bags, and moved them off to the best spot for easy loading. Johns had left Fry alone with her work. She merely glanced at the sound of the water sloshing and saw Riddick going back around the corner for more. Jackie looked up at him as he came back and crouched down next to her. Neither of them said anything. He put a hand on her shoulder and walked off again. Over the next three hours Jackie filled, and every 15 minutes or so Riddick came and collected the load of bags and moved them. About two hours in Johns emerged from somewhere and began loading the filled bladders into the skiff. Survival in space, waiting for another ship to find them, depended on them having water and protein tablets. Especially as the skiff lacked Cryo-technology.
Riddick moved to pick up the last of the bladders. Jackie found him looking at her. She raised an eyebrow as he whispered, "Meet me," and gestured with his head off toward the room that she had gone into the day before. "With your pack," he added. Jackie nodded. She slipped into the common room from the back door as Riddick went around the outside with his load.