30) Your Boldness Stands Alone Among The Wreck

Carolyn looked at Riddick and took a deep breath, "So I told Mal. About…what I almost did." She was proud of herself for getting it out without taking forever. (One slight pause didn't count.)

"The Hunter Gratzner," He tilted his head to punctuate the question.

"Yeah," She nodded. "Figured…you know, it was time."

"How'd he take it," She guessed Riddick might be trying out the 'ask to be polite' thing he'd seen folks do. He was likely well aware of Mal's reactions to things in general. Then again unless Mal was making noises about throwing her off the boat Riddick might not give a damn about the subtleties. It was hard to tell with Riddick. Unless he was spouting a line of shuō fèi huà to freak people out, or actually had something to say, he tended to keep quiet. Riddick took that old line of 'better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt' pretty serious it seemed. Or it might be something else altogether, more reconnaissance maybe. For all that they were friends (and growing their friendship, weird as that might sound) it was still hard to tell with him.

"Told me a story of his own, reminded me that not keeping people alive isn't the same as killing them," Carolyn shrugged. "And told me if I ever needed to talk I could knock on his door. Didn't care what time it was."

"He's a decent guy," For Riddick, that was high praise. She had the strong impression that Riddick hadn't seen much decency for all that it was supposed to be common. Decent, beautiful and interesting were the three words that always meant you had Riddick's attention. That wasn't necessarily a good thing depending on the situation, but those particular words were like signposts, landmarks, punctuating his interactions. Although Riddick wasn't exactly normal in his consideration of beauty, considering his reaction when he'd first seen the sky sharks burst from those spires in a cloud of wings and hunger.

"I was thinking…we talked about going back there, for salvage, as a way to help out," Carolyn broached the subject she'd had on her mind.

"Yeah," He nodded. "You think now's the time?"

A direct question, now they were getting somewhere. "Seems like it could be. They see the wreck they'll understand why there's only three of us. It's someone seeing the cryo tube you were in that concerns me."

"No early release," He nodded. Well of course he got it. "Well, we said Riddick died on that planet."

"We just keep saying that. No names, just there was a convict being transported and he and the merc in charge of him were killed," Carolyn clarified, and Riddick nodded again.

"I'll check the cortex, see if the eclipse is over yet," He began flicking the buttons. "We actually get salvage; it could pay for those lenses Simon told us about back when we first came aboard."

"Jack still wants an eyeshine," Carolyn nodded. "Haven't been able to talk her out of that one."

"Gotta say, I don't mind it so much if we get the lenses," Riddick looked at her. "But wearing goggles… The last thing Jack needs is something to make her stand out."

"That's what you're known for mostly," She got it. They made him memorable. Less so on the Rim but the closer they got to White Sun the less common men in goggles became. There were thousands of big guys, likely thousands of dangerous men, but narrow it down to big dangerous men with goggles… the number lessened considerably.

It was known that Riddick had an eye shine. That he needed goggles to function in bright light. Get rid of the goggles and his chances of staying out of a slam were much higher.

"How about…we put it to Mal that we want to salvage the wreck, the colony," Carolyn spoke slowly as she worked the idea out in her mind. "So that we can get those lenses. For you definitely; for me and Jack possibly. And anyone else on the crew who'd like them. And after those are paid for the rest of the coin we get goes to Serenity?"

"Seems fair, since we'd burn fuel to get out there," Riddick nodded. "Those antiques of Olgilvie's would fetch a good price. The whiskey too. Kaylee might like the machines…"

"Think we oughta run it by Jack?" Carolyn looked at him. She worried about Jack a lot these days. The girl was still weirdly obsessed with Riddick. She listened to Carolyn and generally did what she was told, respected her. But Riddick's word was like the word of God to her. Jack had noticed Riddick noticing River more lately too. Carolyn had seen the younger girl narrowing her eyes when Riddick flirted with the tiny pilot. Have to keep a good eye on that situation, she reminded herself.

"Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea," Riddick nodded.

"Before bed then," Carolyn agreed.


Jack had been enthusiastic, especially once she learned that they were hoping to finance the lenses for Riddick's eyes, and possibly hers and Carolyn's. Her excitement had dimmed somewhat when Carolyn reminded her that if Simon could do an eyeshine that anyone on the crew could have one too. "Not just us then," She'd looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Trying to get out of the 'us an' them' frame of mind is part of the point of telling them about the wreck," Riddick reminded her. "Doubt Simon'd wanna do surgery on Zoë until after the baby is born, but I can see Mal and River wantin' a shine job. Maybe even Kaylee if she wants to work in the dark without a problem."

"Sure would help if there was engine trouble," Carolyn agreed.

"Yeah, guess I can see that," The younger girl nodded slowly.

"We're going to play it like Riddick was killed, just like he suggested on the skiff," The pilot reminded her quietly. "If someone sees that cryo tube with 'no early release' we say a merc was transporting a convict and they both died after the crash."

"Got it," Jack nodded. "When are we gonna tell 'em?"

"Figured we do it while I've got Mal on the bridge tonight," Carolyn told her. "Then he can think it over and we can all talk about it at dinner tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay," Jack nodded again and yawned. "I'm gonna go to bed." She glanced at Riddick, "If we can get the lenses, that means I can get an eye shine? So, no one can sneak up on me?"

"Yep, if Simon gives the okay that it's safe for you," He nodded slowly. "Without the lenses though, it's not worth it Jackie girl."

"I got that," She nodded and left the room.

Carolyn looked at Riddick, "She's not gonna let that go."

"I know," The big man sighed. "As Mal might say, it gives me an uncomfortableness."

"Mal says she's angry, down to her bones angry," Carolyn murmured. "That concerns me more than a bit."

"Easy to do somethin' stupid when you're angry. Gotta learn to control it before you do," He agreed. She guessed that was something he knew pretty well. "I'm gonna get some sleep myself."

"I'm for the bridge," Carolyn half smiled. "Night Rick."

"Night."


Mal didn't show up more than fifteen minutes early for his shift, and Carolyn obligingly got up and took the co-pilot's seat and waited for him to do his own checks on the system. Everyone had their own way of doing things, but some checks were constant. Course, relative position to the nearest star/planet, if there were any Alliance boats about…

"Somethin' on your mind Carolyn," Mal gave her a smile and she couldn't help smiling back.

"A bit," He always seemed concerned with setting her at ease. She had to wonder if he was like that with everyone in his crew or if it was just her. Or was it because she was female? "Rick and I, and Jack, had a thought…that if we could go back to the place where the Hunter Gratzner crashed, we could salvage valuables, supplies, from the wreck." His expression was open and amiable still and she shrugged, "We'd hoped it would pay for the lenses to make Rick's eyes safe for daylight. Maybe enough that anybody who wants that could get an eye shine and the lenses…" She remembered Riddick's story about how he'd traded cigarettes for his eyes and Jack's reaction. "It would give us an advantage, that I doubt many crews would have."

"Well, we ain't got anythin' pressin'," He rubbed his chin, and she knew he was thinking it over. "The cargo we've got'll do better if we let demand build up a bit. Hell, if we can manage to pull off a hospital job we might not even need to pay for the lenses."

"Figured once I told you about how we crashed, might as well let you see for yourself," She admitted with a shrug.

"How far out is it?" He nodded at the console and Carolyn began to bring up the charts of space past Red Sun planets up on the screens.

"Not too far, maybe a few days past Paquin," She showed him system M344/G and the planet, M6-117. "Three suns so we'll want to rig up some breathing apparatus. Feels like you're a half a lung short."

"I expect between River, Simon and Kaylee we can rig something up," He nodded. "How hard will it be to sell the salvage do you think?"

"Some of its whiskey or wine, some of its antiques," She considered. "Not sure what was in the rest of the containers, but there's a settlement with a water reclamation unit and a lot of solar powered equipment."

His eyes were thoughtful, but Mal nodded, "I'll talk it over with Zoë, see what she thinks. But it sounds like a good idea."

Carolyn smiled, "Our biggest trouble is going to be Jack and her pestering for a shine job once we get those lenses."

"Yeah…I recall Rick wasn't exactly pleased with her enthusiasm," Mal winced.

"I don't think he figured daylight would be something to cause problems when his eyes got done," She said truthfully. "He hates how vulnerable the goggles make him; he doesn't want that for Jack."

"Don't mind sayin' I agree with him," The Captain nodded. "Get some rest…we'll talk about it at dinner tomorrow. That'll give me some time to talk it over with Zoë, let it ruminate in my mind."

Carolyn chuckled pleased she'd anticipated his line of thinking so far, "Will do Mal. See you in the morning." She paused, "You want me to bring you a cup of coffee before I head down?"

"I'm good, thank you," That warm smile did funny things to her insides.


"So, if nobody has any pressing objections, figured we head out to the rock where Carolyn's ship crashed and see what we can scavenge," Mal finished explaining the loose plan, punctuating it with a sip from his glass.

"I'm afraid that I won't be able to join you," Inara said after a moment of quiet. "I'm contracted for a week on Paquin."

"We can drop you there and pick you up on the way back easy enough," Carolyn smiled at her. "Nobody wants to keep you from your work."

"Sure, that don't put any bumps in our road," Mal agreed. "Shouldn't be more than a week to get there and back."

"Six days fourteen hours," River clarified. "Never seen a world with three suns. Interesting."

"Try bright," Riddick shook his head. "And hot as hell."

"We'll need to make certain your goggle lenses are dark enough," Simon frowned thoughtfully. "I'd say hats and scarves would be a good idea as well."

"Well, we've got a day or so until Paquin and then we're headed out there, plenty of time to figure out what we'll need to do," Zoë commented in her dry way. "I expect we'll also want to make sure we've got plenty of room in the bay though."

"Rick, if you'll see about getting that organized, River, Kaylee, you help him," Mal ordered. "Jack, you an' Zoë are my supply sergeants, figure out what we need and when we set down on Paquin we'll fill our stores as best we can."

Simon nodded, "I'll make certain we're well stocked with anti-burn salves and sun block."

The Captain nodded, "Good. Carolyn, you and River lay in the course, then you're with me, and we'll check over the filters and make sure we're set for the dock services."

Carolyn looked at Riddick and took a deep breath. Here's hoping they knew what they were getting into.


Author's Note: So we're on our way back to the wreck… I don't see how that could cause problems at all do you?

Chinese Translations:

shuō fèi huà (to talk nonsense; to bullshit)