Heaven's Tears

People were missing. That was the first thing the merc noticed as he rejoined the group. Imam was working, his single remaining pilgrim helping him. Paris was testing material for wicks. So where the fuck was Fry, Jack, and Sir-shiv-a-lot? He asked the holy man as he passed him and got a shrug. Apparently the 'cat needed to have its wheels braced. Like it took 3 of them to find chunks of metal… He shouldered his shotgun and set off to find them. The eerie howling outside made it impossible to hear anything else from more then a few feet away, but he thought he heard Fry's voice. He swept his light into the darkness and spotted her blonde head. "Why the hell are you standing here in the fuckin' dark?" Johns appeared behind Fry. "Are you trying to get your ass eaten?"

Fry turned, "I was looking for you, asshole. Imam needs help with the sand-cat." She stalked off leaving Riddick and Jackie alone.

"Why can't wonder-boy help him?" Johns followed her. Riddick kept completely still until the pair were well out of range.

"Paris is busy, that's why," Fry's fleeting voice answered.

"I wasn't talking about Paris…" the howling overtook the sounds of the conversation, leaving Jack and Riddick alone in the dark. It didn't escape either of them that Fry, in spite of whatever personal fears she held, was once again stepping in to draw Johns off the trail. Richard pulled his savageness back under control, having kept his bargain with it and gotten the answer it wanted. Well, close enough to make it easy to lock it back away. The primitive side had made a point… one that could not be ignored. He desired far more from a woman than he'd ever admitted to himself. For some reason he'd never seen it before now. He was not sure he liked the knowledge of it. He'd likely never find another like her if he let her go. His heart filled with conflict. How could he force her down his path?

She felt him change, like shields sliding into place. Jackie almost wanted to tell him not to lock everything back up. 'What did he show me? Surely not something he lets everyone see.' She felt like crying. That short moment had been special in some very important way, one not fully revealed, and Jackie was lost now, like the rug had been pulled out from under her. Confusion enveloped her soul as she felt Riddick let go of her. "Please, don't leave me," Jackie whispered.

The ex-ranger put some space between them before he heard her shaky plea. He was sure she'd run, but… He shifted back to look at her. Her face was so open, every shred of pain she'd ever felt etched into it. He met her amber eyes with a mask-like expression. He needed her to be strong now. 'See, you are hurting her,' Richard mentally scolded. 'No. She wants,' the beast answered. Her expression tore him up inside. He staunchly took the pain for a moment. She needed him. The internal conflict finally gave way as he shook his head slowly; "We gotta get the rest of the light-tubes together, Jack. You and me. I'm not leaving."

She sniffled and swallowed, "Yeah." It took her a long time to blink back the tears. Riddick grabbed her hand and guided her to the unlit tubes in their section. His touch infused her with strength enough to face whatever might be coming. It was almost as comforting as his holding her had been back in the settlement after Ali died. She decided that now was as good a time as any to tell him about her plan. So while they worked collecting all the fiber optics at that end of the ship, Jackie quietly told Riddick the idea she had to switch his picture and biodata with that of the stranger that Zeke had killed. Physically, the two men were very close. It wouldn't be a difficult swap. He knew that if she had gotten the skills to hack into the guild database on Sigma 3 then likely she could hack into it with Johns' link. Likely Carl Johastein ran a tighter ship and better sealed security than the blue-eyed devil had even thought about. Jackie and Fry amazed Riddick again once he heard that the docking pilot was providing the means to transfer the data the plan required. He doubted that it would work, but hell, it was worth trying to keep the two of them alive for.

It was slow going as they worked their way back to the light. Jackie noticed a slight change in the air as they moved back toward the others. "Ah, there they are now, the Wonder Twins," Johns said with sarcasm. He could sense that there was something different about how the boy reacted to the con. He couldn't say exactly what it was, but there was something. He eyed Jack over, trying to figure out what it was that looked different about him. The boy's eyes… had he been crying? Johns scowled. Riddick gave him a warning look before unloading Jackie's bundles until she could take them off herself. Then he removed his own burden. The difference in the air gnawed at the teen's consciousness demanding her attention. She just couldn't figure it out yet. Her eyes swept over to the muscular man who's face concealed his every thought. But his head tilted to the side, like he noticed it too.

"Stow it, Johns." Fry was just about out of patience with his wisecracks. Both of them were holding a power cell so that Imam could connect it up to the converter already installed in the sand-cat. Jackie sniffed the atmosphere. No, it was more like she tasted it, drank it in, experienced it even. The air was colder, surely. But there was something else, a fresh dirt-like smell. Wet. She looked at Riddick who was watching her. There was no doubt. They both knew. Rain. It was going to rain. The atmosphere must have cooled suddenly enough for all the moisture to be too much to hold. How much time did they have? Minutes, perhaps… Jackie swallowed. Would the open flame work in rain?

Riddick was wondering nearly the same thing. Only he knew that the factor as to if the open flame would work or not depended on how heavy it was raining. His ears caught the first sounds of patters on the metallic hull. Big drops, he noticed. Time the rearrange the plan. A sudden shuddering, colossal, pounding echoed across the upper ceiling amplified by the empty space over their heads. He waited for a second to see if it was a single sheet of heavy rain or a true downpour. The noise didn't stop. He tightened his face slightly as he fought back the feeling that everything was lost. The others were looking up as they listened to the new noise. Well, everyone but Jackie who was watching him and Paris who was walking over like he was the only one to have figured out what was going on, "Um, guys. I think we have another problem." He glanced around at them all and sighed, "It's raining. It's raining hard."

"No shit? Just wonderful." Johns grumbled.

"Mr. Riddick, if this is to work we must shield the rain and the splashes off the power cell. The old cover alone is not tall enough." Imam had seen Riddick's shiv. If anyone could shape metal into the right form for the function necessary, Riddick could. The big man nodded.

"Jack, grab a torch. I need your help."

"Now wait just a fucking minute. Why do you need the kid's help?" Johns lashed out verbally but didn't let go of the cell. He didn't like this. Suddenly Riddick and Jack couldn't be separated. Imam didn't seem to care. Fry, if she was bothered by it, was too busy to worry. Had it been that case that he no longer needed the docking pilot he'd drop the power cell on her fingers just to hurt her, but he required her hands to fly the skiff… Johns mentally figured that all he needed to survive this was Riddick, Fry and himself. So how would he get rid of the sheik? More to the point, how would he off the kid?

Riddick looked at Johns for a heartbeat. Something was not right about his body language. He would not let Johns win again. Not this time. He tossed out an insult meant to sting with its truth, " 'Cause, Johns, your hyped hands shake too goddamn much." Then, as he began to move away, he patted the Arabic youth on the arm, "And Suleiman is gonna put the light on the 'cat. Right, Suleiman?" The pilgrim nodded. "Paris, get your ass in gear and help him. Your reward is that you get to drink what we were gonna burn." The paste-complexioned fellow started out of his despair, and nodded too. Internally, Riddick grunted in satisfaction. Finally people were gelling into a survival unit. Johns scowled at the ex-ranger's back as the large man moved off on his assigned task. Paris looked at the remaining youth, and the two of them begin figuring out something to use the optic cable on the sandcat.

Jackie snagged the second cutting torch off the pile of light that they had gathered. If the homemade lamps weren't gonna work in the rain, they had that much less light. It was a bad sign. She shivered as she followed Riddick's broad back into the worse area of the twisted hull. The light-tubes had not been fully removed here yet but they could see the downpour and only the dim glow separated them from the hunger that circled outside. Riddick carried the clear dome. He hunted for a section of metal that could be worked into a tube of the same size. After nearly giving up, he located what he was looking for. "Torch." Jackie handed it to him. Riddick carved out a perfectly squared section. He shut off the torch and handed it back. "Hand me that bar." He pointed. Jackie fetched it. She watched as he smoothly worked the metal into a self-catching cylinder, holding the torch adjusted just so that the metal could be easily shaped and pounded into position. Then he moved off to find some patching foam, the kind used to seal leaks to keep the ship from sinking should it land in water. Jackie could hear him; it was not so very bad she guessed, to be just a little alone. Riddick made her ache. Not real bad, but hell, he was the only person aside from Shazza that she'd ever felt safe with, and was saying something. He came back to Jackie with a tube of the stuff he'd been looking for in hand. They returned to find the sand-cat had a roof of sorts, one woven of light courtesy of the miles of fiber optics that they had collected.

Fry slid out from under the 'cat, "I got the bottom panel back on, but I'm not sure about the seal. Oh," she stopped as Riddick held up the tube of foam, "That'll work." He tossed it to her. Jackie looked around. Johns was gone again.

Paris rounded up several boxes that he fit over the power cells in the back of the cat. They could at least have seats. The two light units were being bolted into the floor. Riddick verbally cornered the art dealer. "You panic and I'll slit your throat before you exit the vehicle, got it?" The man's eyes grew wide, "Don't make me tie your ass down."

Fry watched. Somehow she felt detached from the situation, like Riddick was not really threatening Paris. "We got the cable, Want it loaded?"

"What? You actually agree with him?" Paris was more than a little alarmed.

Imam offered, "I will sit on him, if you think that will help."

"Sure, Father." Riddick was busy shielding the power cell with it's new, hopefully waterproof, cover. "Don't forget to seal this up here too, captain."

Jackie loaded up the hand-lights. Imam made sure all the breathers had fresh tanks and that all the extra ones were loaded in the 'cat. He looked at Jack and put a reassuring had on the boy's shoulder. It was nearing time to go. Riddick was driving; at least that's how it seemed to everyone. So much so that the underside of the roll-cage over the driver's seat was lined to block the light that would hinder his vision but was so necessary to protect his head. Riddick noted it with a grunt. All or nothing. Fry finished up the sealing job around the seams of the cover. For a second everyone except Johns just stood around the sand-cat. Imam finally said, "I tested it, the engine does run. Mr. Riddick," he paused, "we place our lives in your care, but God will protect us. Shall we pray?"

Riddick looked at him, saying nothing. The holy man took it as an okay. The rest of the group prayed. Jackie looked at Riddick, stealing a glimpse. 'Yeah, if we survive, God'll have nothing to do with it,' she concurred with his silent assessment.

Fry wandered off to find Johns. She located him alone on the upper level wasting his flashlight power by sitting in the dark. He was playing with one if the red shotgun shells, running it through his fingers. She stood on the ladder and looked at him. If there was anyone she wanted to leave behind it would be him, but she vowed that anyone alive when they reached the skiff would get off this rock. Even if she hated them. She watched him as he pondered the potent morsels of Morphine inside the red tube. Their words echoed back to the group. "Are you ready Johns?"

He knew she was there. The opiate had not quite settled in yet. He was getting too accustomed to the stuff. Each spike was lasting a shorter amount of time. Then again, maybe it was stress. He finally raised his head slightly, "Yeah." He had to try to convince her one final time… He'd kill her to keep his bounty money, unless she fell into line with him. "But he just gonna drive us off the first cliff, you realize that don't you?"

Carolyn had made up her mind. She could care less about Johns' opinion of Riddick. They had to survive this somehow, and the man with the luminous quicksilver eyes was their best chance. It was a simple fact that Riddick needed those power cells to leave just as much as she did, so he'd screw himself over to kill them? She really doubted it, but the merc was hyped beyond reason so there was no sense in arguing the point with him, "Look, we're just wasting light here."

"You give him the cells and the ship and he will leave you all out there to die. He'll leave all of you."

The docking pilot blinked at the redheaded man completely flabbergasted. "I don't get it, Johns! What is so goddamn valuable in you life that you're worried about losing? Huh? Is there anything else besides Riddick that you think about? Is there anything at all?" She just couldn't hold it in anymore. The man was obsessed. Johns just looked blankly at her with no reply. She stewed for a instant, turned and began heading back down the ladder before adding, "Besides your next spike--"

Johns fumed until he realized that his shotgun light was all the light he had, that Fry had taken the coil of optic cable down the ladder with her to add to the 'cat. He clenched his jaw, loaded his gun's chamber, and swore under his breath, "It's a death run, bitch. And Riddick is the bellwether."

Fry came back to the group carrying the last coil of optic cabling. She set it inside the 'cat. Riddick had opened the cargo door, revealing the rain. "Check your cuts, these bad-boys know our blood." People scattered to the medkits, including Jackie. Riddick's gaze followed her. He stayed where he was. 'Damn, surely those things can still smell her,' he had to get her through this. He found himself working over what could hide a blood scent. Not damn much. Certainly not what they had. He'd just have to make sure she was shielded. Soon Jackie rejoined him at the door. They looked out at the sheet of water. Johns joined them shortly and realized that Riddick was in fact driving, just by how they'd shielded the light from the front of the 'cat. Riddick steeled himself. If it didn't work all they had were a handful of flashlights and some flares. He looked at everyone, picked up one more box, set it over the cover he'd made, and rumbled, "Load up."

"So we are really gonna do this?" Paris asked. Fry raised an eyebrow at him and nodded. Everyone scrambled for seats. Riddick watched as Jackie settled in between Fry and Imam. Johns, Paris, and Suleiman settled in behind them. Paris found himself in the rear middle position across from Jack. He felt exposed.

Fry zeroed in on his worry. "Just stay inside the 'cat's light, and don't panic. That's all we gotta do to live through this thing." Fry told him sternly. The merc had his firepower and the pilgrim had his faith… but all Paris had was Riddick's threat to keep him still. He forced back his terror and picked up a couple of loops of extra glowing cable that he draped over his body. That, along with a hand light in each sweaty palm, made him feel somewhat safer.

Fry watched him for a moment. She was amazed at how alike Paris and Johns were in spite of their differences. 'Self-obsessed assholes, both of them. Totally staggering,' she thought as she settled into her side seat behind the modified power source for the engine. She glanced over at Riddick who was watching the rain like he was making his own deal with whatever higher power he believed in before walking over and sliding into the driver's seat.

Johns flipped on the light attached to his gauge. Imam and Suleiman pulled out their prayer beads and readied their hand lights. Riddick turned on the sand-cat and guided it out into the rain. He couldn't run it fast, there was too much mud already. And he'd have to locate the cliff of the bone-yard and travel the edge of it to avoid any flash floods. It was a longer route, but likely safer. Jackie and Fry added beams of light to the others that waved out the back and sides of the cat, slicing into the darkness at random. Within seconds everyone was drenched. The inhuman sounds echoed through the night as the glowing vehicle inched its way back to the settlement. Riddick knew the way. Even in the dark, even in the rain, he knew. The 'cat set off away from the crash like a giant, crawling, glowing insect. Fry figured that the trip might take them an hour. A slow count to 4000 would last longer, right? She began a mental count.

The sheet-like precipitation seemed to provide the alien predators with no small measure of protection from the meager greenish blue light that formed a fragile glow around the seven people in the sandcat. The noise was just as relentless. At the edge of the dim circle large hammerheads gyrated barely visible. The sounds were unhinging Paris, slowly working into the man's fragile mind, fraying his nerves. The fact that the creatures kept pace with the sandcat like something was beckoning to them, an exotic siren's song that he couldn't hear, and the pounding rain didn't help matters. His world began to close down on him, reducing itself to pitch black, razor sharp death. Breathing became hard. He was gasping like a fish out of water. The vehicle was moving much too slow… He fought it back, clutching the light in his hands and waving erratically at the largest predator he could glimpse. Riddick had warned him about panicking. His selfishness came to the surface. He looked at Imam and Fry who sat to either side of Jack. The three of them seemed to have far more cover than he did.

Carolyn sat on the passenger side of the 'cat, behind the battery-box. She turned to look out the front away from Paris' accusing stare. The rain danced across the metal surface of the extra shield that Riddick had placed over the plexi-cover. The rain was coming down fast, hard, and steady. She scanned the darkness for any landmarks. Her count had reached 1000. Surely they were getting close to the hills by now? Even with the 'cat going slower because of the mud there should be some sign that they were heading the right direction. So where were the pillar-like formations that they'd come through before the darkness fell? She saw no sign of them. "Riddick? Where are we? Shouldn't we have reached the hills by now?"

Riddick carefully chose his words; slowly answering, "Saw something I didn't like…" the sound of his voice hung in the air. Jackie twisted to look at his face.

Johns leveled his light at the back of Riddick's head. "Such as?" He demanded from the back corner of the 'cat.

"Hard to tell, even for me, sometimes. But it looked like a bunch of those big boys chewing each other's gonads off. Thought we should give it a swerve," the deep voice was surprisingly sensible sounding as it floated through the rain. Jackie nodded. She trusted Riddick to get them there. It was the rest of the group she had doubts about.

The idea that they had to avoid a large blood-frenzy unnerved Paris to the point that he could no longer sit where he was as the hungry creatures from attempted to snag someone out of the sand-cat. If the constant swooping and diving of hatchlings that burned themselves on overexposure was not bad enough, big hammerheads eating each other were definitely more than the art dealer could handle. "Can we switch?" He whined at Fry.

"What?" The docking pilot was shocked that he'd even ask. Switching meant stopping the trek and getting out. "Switch, now? No. I'm not getting out to trade places with you out here." She could see that they were being followed. The largest creatures were staying just on the edge of their light.

"But I don't think I can take anymore of this back here…" All eyes were on him at this point and at least two sets wore looks of disgust. "Just for a few minutes?"

"Shut the fuck up, Paris!" The command came from the driver's seat. "All the positions are the same, so just sit tight or I'll solve the problem in a lethal fashion. Got it?" But the distraction was enough for Riddick to take his eyes off the gloom in front of him for a second too long and by the time he looked back there was a very large hammerhead planting itself in their direct path. "Hold on!" He barely had time to warn everyone before he made a sharp turn around the massive creature throwing everyone to one side. The creature gracefully turned on a limb and let out a swipe with one sharp clawed paw as Johns fired out a warning shot.

Paris nearly leapt out of his seat and into the gloom, but Imam caught his foot. The hammerhead edged closer aiming to make a meal out of someone. Riddick tried to ignore the commotion in the back as he attempted to get them some distance from the very real threat the aggressive creature posed. Johns took aim and fired again into the gloom. The creature let off a horrid wail before rushing the rear of the 'cat and impacting it enough to send the antique dealer cartwheeling out the back. Both of his hand lights shattered on impact. Imam felt Paris' shoe slip from his fingers and hastily joined Jack in holding the cable that was wrapped around the man's body. A terrified sound slobbered out of the darkness as he hit the mud behind the vehicle. Suleiman trained his hand light on Paris' muddy form. Riddick stopped the 'cat and Johns leapt out and fired into the murkiness to scare away the creatures. Instead, the lack of movement from the lighted object caused the hammerheads to press closer. Fry leapt out the side of the cat in spite of the large number of voracious killing machines hovering just beyond the glow. She darted around toward Johns and got a blinding look into the barrel of his shotgun before dropping to her knees and tracking the cable that still connected Paris to the 'cat. "Hang on, Fry's coming." Johns told him.

The art dealer scrambled to his feet. Back at the 'cat another hammerhead swooped over the top of the woven shield of light forcing Imam and Jack flat against the metal soaked bed. Suleiman jerked away from the noise by moving to the side and lost his grip on the light he was carrying. It flew off into the murkiness, bounced and rolled in the mud scattering the hammerheads off on the passenger side of the 'cat. The woven light was holding. Johns spun and fired at the creature as it passed overhead, just missing him. "Paris, down!" Fry ordered as another hammerhead appeared out of the sky heading right for him. Instead of dropping, he turned and looked the direction of the sound made by the creature's leathery wings and got knocked flat on his back in the mud by the impact of it's head against his chest. He let out a gasp as he flew. Johns zeroed on the second creature and fired off two shots in rapid succession… that further spooked Paris into a state of total, unreasoning terror. Perhaps he sensed that Johns was just as bad as the hunger that swirled around him, or perhaps the infernal alien cries of the native creatures had finally, totally broken him. Whatever the reason, Paris ignored Fry and begin to crawl further away from the others. "This can't be happening…It can't be…" he mumbled as he fled away from the manic with the gun.

"Paris! Get back here!" Fry hollered. Riddick pulled his shiv, turned and reached past Jack for the cable in her hand. He'd cut it before he'd let Paris leave them all without light. The merc took up the cable with one hand and began to follow it out into the rain. He had the same idea. Once he reached Fry he fired on the cable severing it. "Johns!" The noise in the darkness was getting to Johns too. He suddenly lost it, firing multiple shots out in the direction Paris was last spotted. "Stop it," Fry screamed as Johns spent too much of his precious ammo on ghost targets, "STOP IT!" The merc finally stopped as the gauge clicked empty.

Paris found himself without light. "This can't be happening… It can't be…" he mumbled like a chant. His glasses were gone. The sounds of heavy wings cut through the rain. He let out a scared wheeze and looked toward the noise; partly aware the creatures were surrounding him and cutting him off from the others. No sooner did that register than did he feel something slice deeply into his back. He arched up as the cable fell away. Morbid curiosity made him reach for the area. His hand came away covered with thick, warm blood. His blood. In spite the precipitation he managed to get his lighter started, and he stared at his hand with the rain slowly washing it down his arm. "Oh, my god," he whispered, "I was supposed to die in France. I never even saw France…" His next thought was to face his killers eye to eye, at least for a moment.

Fry, Johns, and the others saw a fireball of light appear in the wet darkness, marking the antique dealer's final act of defiance. It highlighted a horde of large hammerheads that moved back only slightly. Jackie looked at Riddick as the docking pilot and the merc walked back to the sandcat. "Well, it's good to see you're all okay." Johns said dryly as Fry retook her seat. She noticed that Riddick was still staring intently out toward the sounds of savage feeding.

"Do I even wanna know?" Fry asked. He didn't answer her as he watched a group of adult hammerheads fight over the ravaged body. Once that was gone they turned on each other in a fit of frenzied feeding. Not even maternal instinct applied to these fuckers, he noted as a female snatched a hatchling off her own back and begin gnawing it down. Finally Carolyn had to ask, "What do you see, Riddick?"

"Hunger." Riddick let his hand brush Jack's as he turned back to the task of driving. They had lost 3 hand lights, tens of meters of lighted cable, and Paris. Riddick begin guiding the 'cat along the path he'd walked earlier when he trailed the group to the bone yard. Jackie twisted around to look out the front. She couldn't see much past the sheets of rain. Fry sank down on the floor next to her. Imam began to go over his prayers again. Johns scooted Suleiman over until the two of them were evenly positioned.

Fry had restarted her count at 1000 and was now at 2200. They should have reached the bone yard by now. As she expected, Riddick guided the sand-cat up the hill that marked the beginning of it. The lights were getting dim. "Can we go faster?" she asked Riddick. He shook his head as he eased up and scanned the edges.

Suleiman made a comment in Arabic before Johns confronted the driver, "Wanna tell me what the hell's going on?" Riddick backed the 'cat up and turned to follow the crest toward the canyon. He stopped again. The creatures were fighting up ahead, going through whatever bit of biology that was triggered by the rain. 'Mating, likely. I'm not sure they'd go for us blazing through.' The observation made him rethink the danger of the canyon floor.

"Why did we stop? Are we lost?" Imam leaned over.

"Listen." Riddick stared ahead at the mass of moving, frenzied life ahead of them. How could they not hear the screeching, the head slamming, and the echoing horror of death up ahead of them?

"Do you even know where we are?" Imam demanded.

"Listen!" Riddick ordered. Everyone craned his or her senses out into the darkness. Jackie heard it… sounds of inhuman mating. She looked at the docking pilot whose face slowly registered the noise. '…Like wild dogs fighting for mates…' she thought. Imam heard it now too. His face reflected the new concern that the knowledge brought with it. Johns set his jaw. "Canyon ahead. I need some time to think."

"I think we should go now." Imam replied.

"Oh, I don't know about that." He could smell blood on someone. But who? "That's death row up there, no matter how I approach it." Just then the sound of rushing water eliminated the second option of the canyon floor. "Especially with one of you bleeding."

"What?" Imam looked around.

"What the fuck are you jaw-jacking about. No one's bleeding back here." But someone was. Suleiman had cut his hand when he'd gotten hurled against the sandcat's side and lost his light. Riddick spotted an overhang and eased the 'cat into it. "Why are we stopping?" Johns demanded.

"Check your fucking cuts." Riddick ordered as he shut the cat off and got out.

Imam began looking everyone over. Jack first. The boy was clear. He looked over Fry. She was fine. Then Johns. The merc had no cuts either. Finally he looked at Suleiman. A deep gash ran across his palm. Imam took off his turban and began wrapping the youth's hand with a frown. After waiting a moment, Riddick plucked Jackie out of the vehicle and walked her to the depths of the overhang. Johns followed them. He noticed several large hammerheads alight on the top of the embankment just out of the reach of the dense glow. The predators were not just after Suleiman. He narrowed his eyes and moved to confront the con. "Want to tell me why those fuckers are after the boy, you shit-ball bastard?" He cornered Riddick with the gauge. "What you do, fuck him up the ass, trash-baby?"

"Leave Riddick alone!" Jackie rushed to his defense without thinking. Riddick shuffled Jackie behind him. "Asshole!" Jackie spat at Johns.

Imam, finishing up with Suleiman's hand, and Fry, standing toward the inner edge of the light, were both watching. The docking pilot looked over at the holy man and his pilgrim. This was not good. Had she made a grave mistake? Imam spoke to Suleiman in Arabic softly and set him behind the driver's seat where he'd be the most protected. Then the dark-skinned man moved over to the escalating confrontation between Johns and Riddick sensing that this was a deadly dispute.

Johns leveled his gun on the ex-ranger's chest. "No," Riddick said softly. It was impossible to tell if he was speaking to Jackie or Johns or both.

"Please, this solves nothing," Imam told them in an attempt to defuse the building anger.

"Why then are they after Jack? Huh, you shit-faced mother-fucker! Give me an answer, or I'll ghost you right now!" Johns ignored Imam's plea.

Something inside Jackie cut loose. No way was she going to let Johns kill Riddick. The protectively fierce side of her seethed to the surface. It erupted with a trail of obscenities that by any right would have made a normal 10-year-old's ears bleed. The venom in her voice momentarily stunned Riddick. His own inner beast knew now, though, that she had made her choice and had accepted its overture. The merc didn't even blink at the string of vulgarity coming from the kid that was struggling to rush him in spite the fact that Riddick was holding 'him' back. How did the con manage to inspire such loyalty?

Fry, however, felt like her ears were blistering. Where had Jack learned such foul language? She moved closer to the situation, aiming to assist Riddick in hauling Jack away from the deadly tension that the merc clearly posed. Before she could reach them, Jack twisted, displaying greater agility than anyone thought possible, slipped free from the barrier that Riddick had put up, and threw herself towards Johns. She was going for those ice-blue eyes…

Johns sensed the child moving toward him and whipped out his nightstick from his leg holster. He didn't dare move the gauge from Riddick's chest. The merc raised his black lacquered club to catch Jack before the boy reached him— And discovered that just the sight of the weapon caused the child to recoil against Riddick's legs with the suddenness of being actually hit. He froze with a sadistic grin on his face.

"You better not even be thinking of hitting her with that, Johns…" Riddick voice held a menace that made tough men's blood run cold.

Fry echoed, "Her?" She was floored. She glanced over at Imam to see the same shocked expression she was wearing. Suddenly, the predators on the overhang above them made sense. Jack was menstruating. No wonder Riddick was trying to protect her. Fry moved over behind the two men toward Jack's curled, muddy, form.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Johns was looking at Jackie's twisted form. He wavered a bit with the gauge. Riddick stepped forward, over Jackie, putting her safely behind him. Johns tightened the aim under Riddick's chin.

Riddick stared the Merc down; "Fucking put away the nightstick before I break the hand holding it."

Something finally clicked in Johns mind, Riddick was gonna kill him if he didn't put the club back in its holster never mind the gauge under his chin, "Okay," he backed down, lowering the gauge too.