Ch 37
“I had just that thought not too long ago.” It amused Riddick that the merc had come up with the same ‘plan’ for the company men as he had done for the mercs themselves. There was a symmetry in that. It wasn’t so much a plan as a statement of intention; the real plans would come later, when they knew what they faced. That Riddick had started to think in terms of ‘they’ wasn’t lost on him either.
Duncan didn’t let his guard down as Riddick circled him again. If Duncan was anyone else, being stalked in the open like this by Riddick would leave him terrified and unable to function, but Duncan knew how dangerous he was in his own right, armed or not. He didn’t lie to himself about his capabilities, as Bishop had done. If it came down to it, he could very likely kill Riddick, right here. He understood Riddick’s interest in him, and he knew that the reason he was alive right now, was precisely because he could kill Riddick.
“We hit some sort of electrical field when we hit orbit.” Duncan wasn’t asking. He was planning. He needed Riddick; at his side or at least not fighting against him.
They circled again in the rain, slower this time. Riddick didn’t entirely trust the merc, but he did believe that he spoke the absolute truth. In another time and place Riddick would have dismissed the merc, killed him, and worried about whatever came when it came. His thinking had changed since the hammerhead planet, when Imam had sat beside him. If he hadn’t listened to Imam then, been willing to listen, they would all be dead now. So he was willing to listen. “It brought down our ship; I’m guessing a Company ship won’t fare much better.”
“It’ll probably be worse; their ship will be bigger.” Duncan kept his arms out even though the strain and tension made them ache; any sudden movement would end up with him dead and he couldn’t afford to let his guard down. Riddick clearly hadn’t; he continued to slowly circle him, close enough that Duncan knew he would be dead in a heartbeat if Riddick as much as willed it.
Riddick had thought that himself, about the larger ship. A larger ship would normally have the power to pull itself out of the gravity well of a planet, and often the Company would do just that; hover within the atmosphere and let loose with all their drop ships at once, so that they would be protected by the larger ship and its arsenal for a longer period of time. If they did that here, where all the thrust would be a liability rather than an asset, the whole ship could be pulled down at once. “The landing wouldn’t kill them all.” Riddick cocked his head to the side as he got a little closer to Duncan. “How many did it leave you with?”
There was no subtlety in Riddick’s question but he hadn’t intended it to be subtle, Duncan knew. There would be a price to be paid for Riddick’s help and this was a test of that; if Duncan lied, Riddick would know, and would kill him right there and then. Duncan eyed Riddick carefully, he knew that he would answer but he wasn’t going to give Riddick everything and he wouldn’t do it easily. He knew Riddick wouldn’t trust that either.
“We started out with thirty two; Bishop and I, and thirty mercs. Five died in the landing and we had seven injured.” Duncan left out that Bishop had shot one of them himself. “Seven injured. We lost nine in the raid on the village.” Duncan would never have said how many men he was reduced to in other circumstances and his unease came through clearly. “Another merc injured, probably fatally. So, I have five fit men left.”
Riddick had listened intently, his head cocked to the side. “You missed one.”
‘He doesn’t miss a damned thing.’ Duncan had to suppress a smile, and answered Riddick’s implied question. “The medic stayed on the ship.” Duncan normally would never have mentioned that he had a medic either; it was a piece of information that could so easily be used against him as a medic was extremely valuable. He didn’t mention that he didn’t trust all the mercs that were left either, which left him with only four, and only one of those did he really trust. Johns, the technical officer.
Duncan noted that Riddick didn’t offer to reciprocate; to tell Duncan what their losses were or their strengths for that matter. He knew that it was no accident. Riddick would hold what cards he wanted and play them when it suited him to do so, not before.
Riddick held the mercs’ gaze for a moment and then simply nodded, a small snort right behind it. He had looked for lies but didn’t find any, the merc just didn’t like to tell how few men he had left. Seven, maybe eight injured, which would slow them down. Five mercs, six when he included Warfield himself.
Riddick believed that their ship had to be close by. Warfield didn’t look like a man that would come all this way for curiosity. He figured that Warfield had to be thinking the same thing, that Riddick’s base was also close. Riddick knew that he had an advantage however; the Moorglade was mobile, and he didn’t believe that the mercs had anything close to that. High technology didn’t work properly here, it wasn’t reliable, which was an advantage he held not only over Warfield, but over any of the Company that survived.
Riddick let out a short sardonic laugh and pointed at the merc with the tip of the blade he had in his hand. ”So, kill off a few hundred Company men with what, five men? That’s your plan?” Riddick waited for the merc to react. Anger, a laugh of his own, some slight show of embarrassment, but there was nothing. Duncan continued to hold his gaze, humorless. Deadly serious. For not the first time, Riddick found that he was impressed.
“One way or another, that’s exactly what I intend, Riddick. They’re going to lose a lot of men when they come down. Our ships were smaller and more maneuverable, yours more so than mine. Technology doesn’t work here, so they lose that advantage.” Duncan watched Riddick carefully as he listed his points and knew that he had likely considered all of them already. Riddick hadn’t dropped his guard and continued to dissect Duncan with a gaze full of cold intelligence.
“The villagers we faced fought us well, and I doubt they’re all that’s here. The Company isn’t going to care who it kills, and doesn’t recognize neutrality. The villagers would know the land. And they have dogs.” This last caught Riddick’s interest, just the tiniest of movements. It would have been missed if Duncan hadn’t watched him so closely. “I ask for your help, Riddick, but I’ll do it anyway, one way or another.” He closed his eyes as the force of his vision swept over him again. It wasn’t the frigid rain that made him shudder.
Riddick had thought he had smelled dogs. When he had been ‘employed’ by the Company he had hunted with dogs; it was something else that might be useful. Warfield knew it as well, or he wouldn’t have mentioned it. “Don’t know if you were paying attention, merc, but not all those villagers are on the same side.”
Duncan let out a snort of his own, something just shy of laughter. “Yeah, I had kind of noticed that myself. How many?”
Now was the give part of give and take. Duncan had offered three valuable pieces of information so far while Riddick had offered nothing. He wasn’t sure whether Riddick would answer at all, but an answer would be the same as an offer.
Riddick stood quietly and watched him before he decided. “Eight dead, and probably about a dozen more alive somewhere. I don’t know how far it extends beyond that.”
The tension had changed between them. They were still wary, and at any wrong move it could quickly escalate and one of them would be killed. That in itself was an offer. “You think they would side with the Company?”
Riddick had considered that as well, that the Company would use the raiders as rangers which would give them an advantage. “Just more to kill off when the time comes.” Riddick hadn’t said yes yet, and wasn’t sure if he would; he had more to consider than just himself.
Duncan nodded at the noncommittal response. Riddick would give only what he chose to give and not a word more. “Your help.” They stood a little more than a foot apart. Riddick could kill him quickly and cleanly and Duncan stood perfectly still and just watched him, his arms still extended out to the sides.
They stood eye to eye in silence. There was a part of Riddick that wanted to just get it over with, but he remembered that this merc had been the one to save Anna and he had come all this way alone and relatively unarmed to find him. Not to save himself but to save this place. “There’s someone that would like to meet you.” Riddick said and took a step back, pulled the weapon that hung on a harness across his back, its muzzle pointed the way Riddick wanted him to take. “I can always kill you later.”
Duncan cast him a look over his shoulder and burst out laughing, a deep honest laugh that was out of place given the circumstances. Riddick had grinned back at him. There were no hard feelings over being led at gunpoint; he didn’t expect that Riddick would trust him or let his guard down. If Riddick had intended to shoot him he would and there wasn’t much he could do about it. Duncan didn’t think Riddick would shoot him, but he did think he was about to finally meet Theopoulis in person. He was surprised at how pleased that made him.
‘Don’t say I never gave you anything, Theo’ Riddick thought.
—
Theo’s finger itched on the trigger as Duncan Warfield and Riddick entered the circle of light cast by the Moorglade’s deck lights. Warfield had his hands raised, with Riddick behind him, a weapon pointed at his back.
“Don’t shoot, Theo!” Riddick was concerned that Theo would do it anyway. The merc could drop him easily from where he was. Theo’s face was harder than Riddick had ever seen it, his eyes slitted and his mouth a severe slash.
“Why the fuck not!” The sharp bark from the deck from behind the scope of a weapon would make negotiation difficult. Theo’s head snapped to the side to watch Shazza and Jack, both armed, as they joined him on deck. “You shouldn’t be here for this!” They took up places along the railing. Neither of them budged.
Riddick kept the muzzle of his weapon trained on the merc but his eyes were pulled to Shazza. He couldn’t pick out that many colors since he had been shined, but dark blue was close enough to purple that he could see it almost as it was meant to be seen. The merc had noticed her as well and Riddick poked him hard between the shoulder blades with the muzzle. “Keep your fucking eyes off my woman or I’ll blow a hole in you before Theo gets a chance to.”
Duncan focused on a spot in front of him but said nothing, the situation was already tense and a fight over a woman isn’t how he saw this when he started. She was beautiful though, there was no doubt about that, the dress she wore softened all her hard edges. Not completely, just slightly. He didn’t blame Riddick a bit for being territorial.
“We have Company coming, Theo.” Riddick watched Theo lower his weapon just a little and he couldn’t hear him, but read his lips, a silent ‘what?’ He nudged the merc in the back, not as hard this time and spoke quietly so that only the merc could hear. “Better make it good, Warfield.”
Duncan started much as he had with Riddick, and repeated what information he had about the Company ship. As he started to talk about the rudimentary plans that he and Riddick had made, Theo jumped down from the side of the ship to stand about a foot away from him. He didn’t move. In a strange way Theo was even more dangerous than Riddick himself at that moment. He was angry and unpredictable and he might kill Duncan anyway just for the hell of it.
When Duncan looked past the flash of anger, he saw that Theo was a lot like he had pictured him. Clearly Riddick respected Theo, or he would not have led him across the field to meet him, and that respect went both ways. Duncan shot glances at the ship in front of them, being careful not to look at Riddick’s woman, or the child that stood beside her. Both of them had their weapons trained down on him.
Theo eyed him carefully when he told him that he had killed Bishop and why. He had been told so many stories about Warfield and Bishop that it was hard to reconcile what he had been told with what was right in front of him. At that thought he looked over Duncan’s shoulder at Riddick. Theo thought about all he had been told about Riddick; if he had listened to that then, he wouldn’t be here now. Sometimes things weren’t always as they seemed.
It was Riddick that settled it for Theo, with the tiniest of nods. Theo wasn’t entirely happy with it and would have preferred to kill Duncan outright, but the fact that Riddick hadn’t done that very thing had made an impression on him. Riddick believed Duncan; he might not trust him but he believed him. In a little under three days they would have a Company ship to deal with. “Fuck.” It was mutter under his breath.
“Indeed.” Duncan waited for the poke in the back that didn’t come, and continued. “I’ve looked forward to meeting you.” Theo gave him a hard glare in place of a response. Duncan let out another short laugh and waited to see if Riddick would poke him again but he didn’t. “I understand if that’s not mutual. I have several cases of your belongings, from your home. Books, maps, things like that. They made for fascinating reading. Perhaps when this is over it could be arranged that you get them back.”
Theo could feel his anger swell again and Riddick nudged Duncan in the back again. ‘Easy,’ the muttered warning from his lips. Duncan wasn’t entirely sure who it was intended for, but the result was the same. A huff of breath followed by momentary silence from both of them.
Riddick watched the rest of the exchange, not a word spoken between them. Theo pinned Duncan with a hard glare, as though if he looked hard enough he could read every intention there, then he glanced at Riddick once and back at Duncan, and nodded, before he turned on his heel and made his way back onto the deck.
“We’ll meet again in two days. I suppose I don’t have to tell you that any surprise visits before then would be a very bad idea?” Riddick had lowered the muzzle of his weapon as he spoke to Duncan with a touch of dark humor in his voice.
“Two days it is.” Duncan looked out across the field back the way he had came. “Our ship is in the forest, by the riverside. It probably shouldn’t be too hard to spot.” His head tilted to the side and he grinned at Riddick; his ship was a mess. It was the first time that he had revealed the position of his own ship.
“We won’t be here, if you come looking.” Riddick knew that they couldn’t move out in the middle of the storm, but at the first opportunity they would get her off the ground again. He watched as Duncan looked at the ship again, with an air of wonder this time. Riddick wasn’t forthcoming with answers.
“We’ll stick by the forest, until then.” If Duncan had been pleased to finally meet Theo he didn’t have words to express what it was to meet Riddick, especially under the circumstances. He lowered his arms carefully, and extended one towards Riddick, who eyed him warily before he shook it. “Two days.”
“Wait!” Duncan turned and started to make his way back across the field when a call from the deck of the ship stopped him. Riddick again stood next to Theo, with his arm around the dark haired woman’s waist. Theo had a second weapon in his hands and tossed it over the side to him, before taking his position against the ship’s rail. Duncan caught the weapon easily and raised his free hand in acknowledgment before he disappeared into the grass.
“I hope we didn’t just make a hell of a mistake, Riddick.” Theo’s gut roiled at the thought that they would have to work with the merc-hunter. It was an instinctive hatred that was hard to overcome.
“If he’s right about that Company ship we’ll need all the help we can get.”
Theo glanced at Riddick and nodded his agreement. Riddick’s hand possessively spanned the flat plane of Shazza’s belly. He had held her like that from the moment he was back on the ship. Theo couldn’t blame him. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth but he bit it back and turned to look out over the field again, fully alert. “I’ll take the first watch; you two go get some sleep.”
“Thanks, Theo.” Riddick grinned as he half carried Shazza off the deck and back to their cabin.
Copyright © December 2006 xxxevilgrinxxx