Ch 3
Riddick seemed to all but disappear into the shadows behind the storage bins. Shazza would never even know he was there if she couldn’t feel him; he never moved, save once, when he pulled Jack back into the darkness behind him. It was hypnotic to watch the light from the front shield flicker along the length of his arm as he moved, the pale starlight rippled over muscle like water. Shazza doubted many people would really consider Riddick beautiful in the classical sense, the lines were too hard, the steel of his form tempered on the anvil of a brutal existence. He was beautiful in the way all predators were, all sensuality, grace and blinding power; that’s what he was right now, a predator.
Shazza had no doubt that he was a murderer and had killed quite a few people, although she wasn’t about to believe Johns about everything he had told them on the planet. Riddick was a killer, of that there was no doubt, but it wasn’t all he was. His gentleness with Jack, and with her, made him something else entirely. It wasn’t the first time that she wondered about the real circumstances behind those kills.
“Come on Riddick, I can help…” Jack whispered as she tried to edge around Riddick but it was no use, the man had eyes in the back of his head, and knew she was about to move even before she did. His hand clamped on her arm and pulled her in behind him again; the ‘no’ in that gesture very clear. She felt like a little kid, trapped between Shazza and Riddick, and started to get pissed off with herself as she found that deep down inside that made her happy. It wasn’t supposed to make her happy.
Her heart hammered in her chest when she felt something tug against the skiff; there was a hard jerk, and then the skiff was pulled along, probably towards that ship she saw earlier. Jack swallowed against the lump that formed in her throat and took a tiny step closer to Riddick, to rest her hand on his back; she felt safe the moment she did it. Riddick pressed back into her a little, just the tiniest bit, and she could have thrown her arms around him right then and there. She blinked and watched Riddick reach back to touch Shazza’s arm, his fingertips brushed against her and then he looked forward, all business again.
The lump in Jack’s throat turned into a flutter in her belly as she watched. She tried to stay out of their way on the skiff, but it wasn’t easy, there just wasn’t enough room, so she would watch quietly as they stole kisses when they thought she was asleep; most of the time it just made her roll her eyes. Something about that one simple touch seemed to be so much more than every kiss before it, and it choked her up a little; she hadn’t seen much real affection in her life.
Shazza pulled her knife out when Riddick reached back to touch her; she had only ever had to kill once before and the thought that she might have to do it again made her feel ill. She still had nightmares about a drunken man that had attacked her and about his screams as he lay down and died in the mud while she made a run for it. She had hurt people; it would be rare if she hadn’t given the life she had led, but now she waited here in the dark of the skiff to kill whoever came for them. She hadn’t expected that she could be so calm about it, and waited to freeze up or for her hands to shake. What really clinched it, for both Riddick and Shazza, was Jack; if they were unsuccessful, she would be left alone and defenseless. Right now, Jack was forefront in both their minds, to protect Jack, at any cost.
Jack had started to whisper again when the skiff bumped against something solid; they had landed. Somewhere. There were noises from outside; words couldn’t be picked out yet, just the muffled shouts of men and the hollow metallic sound of something against the hull of the skiff. She was excited and terrified at the same time. “Quiet, Jack.” Riddick reached back once more as he said it, this time his hand ran over her shaved head, and she settled instantly at the touch and knew that Riddick would protect her no matter what. Shazza too, they both would. She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat at the thought of them as her parents, and swore to herself to be brave. She grew still as the hatch began to open.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re worried about Tyler, the things’ a piece of shit that somebody probably left out here. I still say we should have just blown the thing out of the sky. I love watching this shit expl….”
Tyler ignored the rest, it wasn’t hard to do. When Andreas got on the topic of explosions he could go on all day. It made the rest of the crew, such as it was, nervous every time he did it though. There had been a few fires, incidents, on board the Odyssey that had the hallmarks of arson written all over them. He let Andreas take the lead, if he liked this so much, he could go first. Tyler felt uncomfortable about this whole thing the moment he saw the skiff and while he didn’t agree with Andreas about what should be done with it, it gave him a bad feeling nonetheless.
Andreas talked non-stop to Tyler while he opened the skiff, and Tyler took a step back from him; he didn’t even look at the hatch as it descended. If it was anyone else Tyler never would have allowed it to happen, hell, he knew if it was anyone else it wouldn’t have happened anyway, but he kept his eyes on the hatch and took a step back from Andreas and never said a word. If something happened and Andreas wasn’t around anymore through fault of his own, Tyler doubted the rest of the crew would object.
Tyler started to run across the main bay before Andreas had even hit the ground, dead; he knew this whole thing felt wrong before the skiff was even pulled in.
Riddick killed him easily, the shiv driven easily to the sweet spot. Andreas didn’t even have time to be surprised as his body collapsed and he quickly bled out on the ramp of the skiff. All he felt was cold, and then he felt nothing else. Riddick had barely pulled the blade out before he set off across the bay to catch Tyler before he made it to the end of the docking bay. He flicked the knife up and held it by the back of the blade as he gauged the distance. In a move so fast it could barely be seen, he threw the knife, and was on top of Tyler as the man hit the ground.
“How many.” Riddick knelt over Tyler’s body, his knee pressed hard into his back, just under where the knife had lodged. From the bloody foam as Tyler tried to speak, Riddick knew he had hit a lung; it didn’t matter, it would be over soon, he just needed an answer. His voice dropped to a deep sensual whisper, the last sound Tyler would ever hear. “I don’t like to repeat myself. How many.” The knife twisted in Tyler’s back, as though to add weight to Riddick’s words, he would not be asked again. He bubbled out the word ‘three’ and breathed his last breath as Riddick twisted the knife and killed him quickly. He was a merc, and deserved worse, but time was a luxury Riddick didn’t have.
Shazza bit her lip to hold back the scream; she would not scream. If she did she might not be able to stop again, and the last thing Riddick needed right now was for her to be hysterical. Jack didn’t need it either. Shazza held her hand over Jack’s mouth until she was sure the girl wouldn’t scream either; then she held onto Jack’s arm and they walked carefully out into the bay.
Riddick heard the two women approach and wiped the blood off the shiv. It wasn’t something he normally cared about, but he didn’t want to upset either one of them. When he stood, he stood between them and the body as he whispered ‘three’ to Shazza. Jack’s face was ashen, but there was steel behind it. Riddick knew suddenly her that a lot of people would underestimate her, to their peril. His hand rested on her shoulder for a moment, and he felt something lurch in him when she didn’t pull away; which is what he feared she would do. Shazza’s face was cold, hard and unreadable; if it weren’t for the white knuckled grip on the bone blade, he would have no idea what she thought at all. “Shazza?…” He didn’t know what he wanted to ask, or how he would ask it, but he needed to know she didn’t just shut him out. The depth of that need hit him hard; it came out of nowhere, much like his pride at Jack’s strength. He needed her to look at him, and know that she didn’t see him any differently. He would have kissed her if he thought they really had the time for it, when she looked at him again. She kept herself cold so she could hold it together, but she didn’t feel cold towards him, that was plain as day when their eyes locked. The flood of relief felt foreign to him but he didn’t want to think about it now. Three more; at least three more, if the merc was to be believed. He touched Shazza’s waist as he slipped in front, and all three of them quickly made their way out of the docking bay.
Shazza pushed Jack into Riddick and spun quickly at the short shout that came from behind her. It was over so fast, as she rammed the bone knife into the man’s chest. She wanted him to fall right away, but he didn’t; he staggered against the wall and stared at the bloom of blood as it spread across his chest and then stared at Shazza, as though he couldn’t quite understand how the two things could be connected. He reached out for a console on the wall. Shazza blinked and tried to logically run through what to do now, but survival had already taken over and her hand whickered out again, and cut the man’s throat as he stretched out for the console. Everything seemed to slow down in her head. She had just killed a man. Her name drifted in the air between them, just a whisper; Riddick’s hands felt so warm on her face. The whisper again; “Are you with me, Shazza…”
Her eyes were the cold glass of shock; she had killed quickly enough which was impressive in itself; two strikes in rapid succession, a wound to the chest and the kill shot across the throat. If she felt the arterial spray that covered her, she didn’t let on. He hid the relief he felt when she finally breathed, her eyes momentarily filled with panic, until she looked at him; ‘trust me’ the unspoken words between them both. “I’m okay, Riddick.” He held her a heartbeat longer just to be sure and watched her eyes the whole time. The kiss was hard and demanding, and his heart raced as his tongue pulled at hers, and just like that he stood in front of her again. His thumb traced over her cheek, and her head cleared. She nodded, and again repeated that she was okay; only then did he turn back down the hall.
Two more, if the merc was to be believed. He shut everything else out and let instinct take over, but it was hard not to think about them, about Shazza and Jack. He knew they were strong, and that they would both hold out for whatever needed to be done. They passed another console and Shazza reached out to touch his arm. “I can kill the lights from here.” Riddick watched Shazza closely; she wasn’t as pale, and whatever shock she was under seemed to have passed. If it was dark she wouldn’t have to see him kill anyone else. He nodded his head and Shazza went to work on the panel.
The panel before her became larger than life as Shazza concentrated on the circuitry. She didn’t have anything else but the bone knife to work with, for which she was thankful; it didn’t conduct, so she didn’t have to be as careful. The dull click was followed by darkness as the lights winked out in succession down the hall. Shazza reached out and took Jack’s hand; neither of them could see anything in the hallway. His lips brushed against her ear and his hand trailed over her side before he kissed her lightly; she hadn’t heard him move, and she definitely didn’t see him. She shuddered at the feel of him; there was something so sensual, so intimate, in the touch, at being kissed like that in the dark.
The merc stumbled out of the darkened kitchen and muttered about the lights, and something about ‘Andreas blowing shit up again’. Riddick grinned as he moved in on the merc; that his cover came from the mistaken belief that one of their own number had been responsible for the lights just made the kill all the sweeter. He covered his mouth so he wouldn’t scream and buried his shiv in the man’s back, at the sweet spot. He was dead before he could make another sound.
Riddick almost felt the tiny click before he heard it and spun, his arm flung out to pull on Shazza’s arm as he pulled her and Jack behind him.
“Hold it right there…Riddick….”
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