“Mercs”
“Can we lift off sooner, Riddick? Do we absolutely have to be fully fueled?”
“Maybe we can get the pump jockeys to move a little faster, we still have an hour before they’re expected to show up. You don’t think he’s going to call anyone, do you?”
“Do YOU think he’s going to call anyone?”
“I think he’s not going to sleep for a week, thinking you’re going to come in his window in the night and kill him in his sleep.”
“You think I shouldn’t have told him that?”
Mischevious grin. “You’ve got a mean streak, Ava.”
“We don’t need to be here when they get here at all, we know where they’re going to be. How low does this thing fly?”
“We could just avoid them altogether”
You’re watching me, that grin.
“They’re mercenaries, Riddick, they’re going to come after us anyways, it might as well be on our terms.”
The two kids out there refueling the ship, look nervously back and forth at each other, when we come right up to them.
“How far from full are we, and how much longer are you going to be?”
You’re not as threatening, they’re just kids, and scared enough already.
“Three quarters, we wanted to go home, so we sped it up.”
“Sped it up?”, I look to Riddick, who went and looked at the gauge, and cranked it over.
“Unhook us when we’re done. Then go home. Don’t come back.”
~~
For once in my life, I can honestly say I’m glad to be on a ship. I never thought I could relax on one before, but, sitting next to you, as you plan for taking us for a four in the morning raid of a mercenary nest, I feel completely at ease.
“We still don’t know how much of what he said was the absolute truth, or if he left anything out.”
“It’ll be alright Ava.”
You just smile at me, as the ship lifts off the ground.
“Nervous?”
“A little. I’m working on it.”
~~
You’ve let your hair down again, the moment you sat down. I don’t know if you even realize you’ve done it. Part of me wants to just make a run for it, but I know you’re right. Better to deal with them now, on the ground, than have to worry about where they might hit us later on, or who they might tell. Skim low over the river, they should be right ahead. Missiles should take care of most of it.
There, ahead, a group of trucks, damn, they’re already on the move. They’re built for this terrain, low to the ground, quick, maneuverable. I’m flying a brick. By the time the missiles lock on, it’s too late. We may end up having to make a run for it, if those trucks make it to the edge of the outpost. They’d have the firepower to be a serious risk.
I peel off, intending to break orbit.
“Circle back, Riddick.”
You’re looking at me, completely calm.
“Go back”
You get up, making for the side, linking up to the harness.
“Ava, no, it’s not important, we’ll catch them later.”
“When? When we’re sleeping? Making love? A week from now? A month from now? I don’t want to be worried about people killing me in my sleep, Riddick. Go back.”
There is no use in arguing with you. You attach the minigun. In a second you will be hovering, in space, the last place I know you want to be, under the wing of a ship.
“I can do this Riddick, I trust you with my life. I won’t be afraid.”
With that, you’re out, already under the wing, and in position.
What else can I do but circle back.