Last Dance Redux 30

::THIRTY::

Tried not to hear the knock on the door when it came. Stayed watching her for a moment, the corners of her mouth turned up, in the start of a grin, as we both lay still, and pretended not to hear the door. Knew we couldn’t stay in here forever. I throw some pants on, and answer the door, shielding Jane from view. It’s the kid that handled the comm system. I don’t say anything. He came down here for a reason, better to just find out what it is.

“Sorry. I’ve kept the comm system locked out, but we’re starting to get calls from other military ships, and a request from Franks to let a ship over from the Portugal. I don’t want to do either without Jane’s say-so.”

“Give her a minute, kid.”

“Jenkins.”

He has his hand out, holding a sheaf of papers in the crook of his arm as he does it. Not nervous, like a lot of people would be. Not whistling past the graveyard, trying to get over some fear by just jumping in. “Riddick.” I look back to Jane, getting her pants and boots on. “Let Franks send the ship over, just make sure someone is there to meet it when it comes in.”

“Armed?”

He’s not asking as though the thought shocks him, just a straightforward question. “Armed. Just not showing. If Franks sent it, it’s probably fine.”

“I’ll leave the rest with you.”

He leaves me the stack of paper, with the calls from other military ships in the area. A LOT of calls.

“She’ll be out in a minute.” The kid…Jenkins…nods his head to me before leaving, making his way back to the bridge, as though having a conversation with a mass murderer was an every day occurrence. When you’re used to inspiring fear at the drop of your name, you forget what it is to have a normal conversation with another person. One where their every thought isn’t trying to figure out whether you’re going to kill them or not. Clouds the ability to think clearly, and you end up wondering, after a while, if you’re just talking to yourself. Whether people are saying just what you want them to say. I could get to like this. It’s not living anonymous, it’s something else.

Turn back to Jane, who’s loading ammo into spare clips for a pair of handguns. Finish getting dressed, as she hands one of them to me.

“I don’t have a spare holster for it here, we can pick one up on the way out. It might get nuts here for a while.”

Hers is hanging in a shoulder holster, the extra clips in the pockets of her cargoes. Don’t really like guns. Never did, but I drop it into my pocket anyway. Sitting on the bed with her for a moment, she’s turned towards me, waiting. Like taking a deep breath before jumping. Once we leave this room, we might not have peace and quiet again for a while. People are waiting. We take a moment.

Lean in, holding her hip, cup the back of her neck. The kiss enough to make me forget everything for a while. Her lips, bruised, are fuller, and softer, than before, softening the hard lines of her face. Trace a fingertip over the pulse in her neck, closing my eyes for a moment, feeling the life in her, for just a moment longer. Leave my hand there, our noses just touching. Dropping my hand, to hold hers.

“I’m not leaving you.” Our fingers interlaced, she kisses my knuckles, before standing. Her answer that beautiful smile. A deep breath from her. She doesn’t want to leave here either.

Jenkins is watching over the loading bay, when we get out. You had to know what you were looking for to know he was armed, to spot the two men he had on either side, also armed, and watching. Jane takes it in at a glance. Doesn’t take over. Complete faith in Jenkins, doesn’t doubt him, or ask him to explain himself, just accepts that he’s got it under control. No wonder people here follow her.

The ship from the Portugal docks, a bird a little bigger than the Virago. Franks is standing on the platform, rumpled, splotched in blood. Giving directions to two orderlies, as wounded start to come off the ship. The gurneys move silently down the corridor. Two trips, the bird leaves, and you’d never know anything had happened at all. Four wounded altogether. From the looks of all the tubes, they had some care on the Portugal first. Guess Franks didn’t feel comfortable enough to stay. Plus, there’s Johnson’s leg to take care of. The man’s still out cold, but it’s going to have to be dealt with. And there’s Jane. I’d like Franks to keep an eye on her. Make sure she’s alright.

A nod to Jenkins, who turns and heads back to the bridge, Jane motioning, “two minutes” at him, before walking up beside Franks.

“How bad is it, Franks?”

“The four that came in are shot up pretty badly, I’m not sure whether three of them will make it at all. Their medic sided with the Company, when the mutiny hit. McCormick took a shot to the arm, nothing that’ll kill him though. Between me, and one of the Company men that sided with the military when it hit the fan, we managed to patch up just about everything. Except those four. McCormick says he’d like to come back, to see you again, but he isn’t sure whether the change in management will hold. I guess he’s the captain of the Portugal now. It’s like this on ships all across the system, Jane.”

“I’ve got a stack of hails from neighbouring ships.”

“How far do you expect this to go?” Franks had said that what she knew could bring down the whole Company, if it got out. Didn’t really expect to see that happen, to be honest. She reaches out, squeezing Franks shoulder, before letting him go to the med bay.

“I need to see you, in a little while, Jane. Pull that chip out. It shouldn’t have stayed in as long as it has.”

Chip?

“The Company still needs the military to do a lot of it’s dirty work, still needs a lot of military to run the ships, and hold colonies.”

We’re making our way to the bridge, while she talks, answering the question I had asked earlier. I still haven’t let go of her hand.

“When the Company started taking over the military, they killed a hell of a lot of people to do it. Not surprising, they’ve never exactly been subtle about it, when they wanted something, they killed to get it. Killing, in that way. Killing whole families, wiping out whole towns, saturation bombing. Just to get at one man or two? Just to put a Company man in his place? That’s never going to ring right with the military, Riddick. There’s war, and then there’s this.”

Her voice is quiet, her head dropped a little. Ashamed. I stop her for a moment, in the corridor, before we get to the bridge, before we have to deal with a bunch of people. Let go of her hand, drop it to her waist, pulling her to me for a moment. I wonder how many of those kills they sent her on. That she knew of any of them, enough to send it out in the way she did, tells me she knew it because she did it. Had to do it. Was ordered to do it. And left, was dishonourably discharged, because she wouldn’t do it any longer. The shame of that, of having to do that, is killing her. Maybe it’s been killing her for a while. Franks said she had a deathwish.

“You got out, Jane. You probably could have found an easier way to do it, just escape, and never have them come after you. You could have played it safe. You put yourself at a lot of risk, to get the information you did. You took a lot of pain, for a long time, to see this fucking thing put right.”

Run my hand across the scar on her jaw, she’s looking up at me, before closing her eyes, squeezing them shut tight. Pinching the skin between her eyebrows. Been through a lot in the past little while, it’s taking a toll on her, she’s close to tears. The strain, and the toll her body has already taken, starting to tell on her. She doesn’t back away from it, although no one would blame her if she did. Pull her tight to me. Feel her deep breath letting out against my shoulder. Turn and walk into the bridge.

Jenkins makes a move to get up, when she gets there. Like before, she rests her hand on his shoulder, to get him to stay where he is. Pointing at the comm, for him to open it up. The chatter begins almost immediately. Jane takes the seat next to Jenkins, and I pull a chair over, sitting beside her, her hand in mine again. If anyone notices the intimacy, they don’t say anything about it.

We sit and listen, letting Jenkins’ cool rational voice talk with the new military captains of Company ships. The mutiny went farther than just the Portugal. The signal broadcast and rebroadcast in ever widening circles, as ship after ship, colony after colony, falls under military , rather than Company rule. Maybe not a perfect arrangement, but a hell of a lot better than the previous one.

The Company is falling everywhere, in wider in wider circles. I’m sure they’ll find a way to try to fight back, but, for now, they’re crippled. Without the power of the military to enforce their directives, they couldn’t have become even half as powerful as they were. I don’t know how long we sat there for, listening to the nearly constant stream of calls from ships that had mutinied. Ships in the process of mutinying. A few that had fallen to the Company, but, even then, the names of those ships were passed on, to those that had gone back to the military. I wouldn’t give any Company ship much hope.

No longer just sending hails, farflung ships started sending news. Colonies uprising. Aided now by ships being sent. Jenkins spoke til he was hoarse, had someone bring him water, and continued.

Watch her carefully, as a tear falls. Just one, before she bites her lip, hard enough to bleed. Pinching between her eyebrows, to stop it. Pull her up, my hand on Jenkins shoulder, as I turn to take her out of there.

“I know where to find you if I need to…..”

Just one more thing to do. Walk back to the med bay, looking first to make sure Franks isn’t working on Johnson. She doesn’t need to see that. Johnson is resting, the hollow spot under the sheet, where his leg should have been. It’s dim enough in here that Jane most likely won’t see it. Knowing Jane, she’ll notice anyway. Franks looks tired, but he smiles, at seeing her. At seeing us both, I think. He’s checking her pulse again, asking how she feels after everything she’s gone through today. Tired. Just so tired.

I help her up onto the table, a flicker of unease, remembering not so long ago. Franks must have read me.

“I’m just giving her a local, Riddick. She doesn’t have to get put out for this.”

I can’t watch, as he cuts into her hip, where her scar is. The chip hidden in a place where it could easily be passed off as nothing more than shrapnel. Franks said she had the chip implanted years ago. It’s how they met in the first place. Been meaning to ask that, I guess I don’t have to now. If she died, if the Company killed her, everything the Company had her do. All the kills, all the assassinations. All the atrocities, were going to come out. Not just hers either. She put together a massive amount of files in the years since she’d left. Never told a soul, except for Franks, who kept her secret this entire time, putting his own life at risk to do it.

I pull up a chair, to sit and watch her. So tired. It feels like forever since either of us has slept. Her eyes soften. The slow blink, her hand in mine, kissing my knuckles again. A strange thing to do. Kissing something that’s caused so much hurt.

Undress her slowly, when I get her back to her room, leaving my pants on. If I take them off, I’ll never be able to leave her alone. Right now, all I want is to curl up and sleep with her.

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