Subplot :
Finding Serenity .
part 4,
My Sister.
CHAPTER .
Mal nodded, before looking over at the Rich boy. "Mind telling me what all this is about. 'Cause I got a sneaky suspicion, what with him trying to arrest you and all, that fed could have cared less about the man he ended up shootin'. I even find it a might curious he was carrying lethal weaponry, which, I don't have to tell you, The Space Forces just don't do. Not unless they got a reason." The man was clever as well as brave, "Which leads me to believe, you must be pretty dangerous. Or at least, he not all too deeply carin' about bringing you in alive. What is it you got in that case son?"
"Looks like a stasis crate." The preacher walked over, eying the dead man a moment before continuing, "Often used to transport live stock during long cruises... sometimes adapted by slavers to smuggle- well, you get the idea."
"Slavers!" Simon yelped, "You think- that is not what is going on!"
Mal pushed, "Then you might want to enlighten us as to what that might be."
The boy said nothing.
"Fine then." The Captain started to approach the crate, but the boy tried to intercept him.
Suddenly the Mercenary appeared and grabbed hold of the boy. Riddick hadn't even noticed him sneak over. Looks like the Captain wasn't the only exceptional member of this crew.
The Captain opened the crate, all the while the rich boy protesting, before kicking off the lid...
What was inside the crate shocked and disgusted the crew. It was a small girl, a little older then Jack... but couldn't be older then 14... she was curled around herself and... completely naked. She would have to be for the cryogenic chemicals to get into her system.
"Hum?" The Captain eyed.
"Careful Captain." Riddick felt compelled to explain... he rather did like explaining things, "That's a weapon."
Mal looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. Giving the serial killer a silent order to explain.
"Her body has clearly been heavily modded."
"More then your own... Riddick?" Mal eyed him, clearly saying he knew who he was.
Riddick didn't even try to deny it. "I was built together slowly, by underground butchers more then Doctors. This kid... You can tell by the subtle scarring and build. She had most of her body replaced by mods. Alliance issue mods is my guess. They don't even upgrade their Assassins as much as this-"
"I need to check her vitals." The Doctor suddenly spoke up, reminding them all he was still there.
"Oh is that what they call it?" The Captain snarked.
The boy had no sense of self preservation. "She isn't suppose to wake up for another week! The shock-"
The Captain was about to say something, but Riddick beat him to it, "I suppose it could be shocking to wake up and find your entire skeletal structure has been replaced... Did you do this to her?"
Simon opened his mouth, clearly to give a "not answer"... Riddick saw red again. Before the crew could react, Jayne was tossed to the floor and Simon's throat was in Riddick's hand. Holding the boy high in the air as the doc fruitlessly struggled.
"Did you do this to her!?" Riddick demanded.
"I..." The boy tried to force out. Bit hard, considering how tight a grip Riddick had on his throat... but he managed, "I saved her."
Riddick growled, "How would you even know about her, if you weren't involved?"
"Stand down, son," The preacher eyed him. "We can get answers, but not like this."
"How do I know you weren't in on it?" Riddick's eyes glowed, "A stolen Alliance weapon, onboard a shabby ship like this? With a fed... and you... that is one hell of a coincidence."
The Preacher looked into his glowing gray eyes. He opened his mouth, only to be silenced by a blood crackling scream.
The girl had woken up and was frantically looking around, crawling out of the crate and screaming.
The distraction offered Simon the chance to break Riddick's hold. The boy barely paused to gasp for breath, before running to the girl... in that moment, Riddick understood, just who this girl was to him.
"River?" The young Doctor got on his knees, and attempted to calm the girl.
"S-Simon?" the girl stammered, as something clicked in her eyes. "Simon! They talk to me!"
"There gone!" Simon tried to assure her.
"They want me to-" The girl started batting away at invisible Phantoms, "They want me to TALK!" whatever 'they' wanted her to say truly horrified her.
"They're gone!" Simon repeated, "We're safe now, we're safe," He insisted, and the girl visibly relaxed as he reached out and hugged her.
"What is this?" The Captain asked.
Simon hesitantly looked up "This is my sister..."
After Simon gave River something to help her better adjust to the shock of waking up from cryo...
The Crew gathered around the medical bay, watching him work on Riddick's arm.
"Impressive mods," The young Doctor noted, as he dug into the flesh, to remove the various pieces of the shattered bullet. "Most butchers do irreversible damage to the nerves... but yours appear to work in sync with the mods. There is virtually no damage to them... so long as you exclude the bullet. I'll have to reconnect a few... it will hurt... You need to let me..."
"He ain't going to let you dope him Doc," The Captain said, as he walked to the other side of the table. "He don't know us, and he can't risk being unawares now that WE know who he is."
Simon eyed the Captain, without ever looking away from the wound. "Who is he?"
"You first doc?" Mal insisted.
The boy hesitated, but it was only for a moment, before he pulled out another bit of metal and went back in to get the next.
Jack was holding Riddick's hand... and he really wished she wasn't. It was taking everything in him not to crush it as the tools peeled apart his bloody wound. He just gritted his teeth and bared it... he'd been through worse... still it had been a long time since anyone managed to shoot him... he had forgotten what a bitch it was to fix his mods.
"I am very smart." Simon informed, "Top 3 percent of my class at the best medical university in the Terran Empire... genius is the term... so when I tell you my little sister makes me look like an idiot child... I want you to understand my full meaning.
He finally looked away from Reddick's wound to eye his sister, laying asleep on the counter, dressed in a robe donated by a woman Riddick didn't recognize... a woman so beautiful he near forgot his pain at the sight of her... though by the looks the Captain gave her, Riddick assumed she was taken.
She had companion training, based on the way she carried herself... fansy girl like that wouldn't be here unless she was running from something to... or maybe... towards something?
The Woman stopped looking at Simon and turned her eyes towards Riddick. She was skilled, she knew he was reading her... and there goes the poker face... impressive, Riddick couldn't get anything from her now... but she was clearly still reading him... and he was in too much pain to stop her.
"River wasn't only gifted..." Simon continued, almost lost in his own thoughts. "She was a gift. There wasn't anything she couldn't do: Music, art, math, theoretical physics, even-even dance! Nothing didn't come as naturally to her as breathing does to us... she used to be a real brat about it to. She used to-" the boy was lost in a smile until he remembered his audience.
He cleared his throat, "There was a school. A government sponsored Academy. We could have sent her anywhere. We had the money... but she wanted to go... she wanted to learn... she was 11..." just barely old enough to start secondary school, Riddick realized as the Doctor took another piece out, another shard of metal.
The boy soon found the nerve to continue, clearly not liking reliving the horror of the last few years. "For years I couldn't get near her... Then I met some people, part of some underground movement. They told me that she was in danger, that the government was... playing with her brain... If I funded them, they could help me get her out, get us to Persephone, and from their I could take her... wherever..."
Riddick suddenly glared, "How many others did you leave in their... just to get her out?"
Simon eyed him back, "None. The Underground movement got the other girls out and let me part ways with River."
Riddick nodded, "You realize, they could be just as bad as the Empire. Freedom fighters aren't exactly known for their morals. They were probably hoping to use those girls as their own private army, just like the Empire."
By the way the boy paled, he clearly hadn't thought that far ahead.
"Finish your work, Doc." Mal insisted as he turned to leave the infirmary, "Inara." He signalled for the companion to follow him... It didn't take a top 3 percent genius, to guess what they were going to talk about.
