HELLO BEAUTIFUL

The mercs walked in awkward silence along the riverside, in much the same way that they had walked out from the ship. Duncan in point with the tech beside him, mercs swept the grass to the side, and Bishop behind, with more mercs behind him. The tension was palpable between all of them; they had been touched in some way as they had crossed the electromagnetic field and were in no way ready to put voice to that yet. There was no way to know how it would be taken by the others.

Bishop stared ahead at the powerful back of Duncan up ahead and seethed, conflicted. He could feel Duncan’s every step before he took it, and watched the muscles in his neck and shoulders ripple as his head swept the area constantly. Watchful, aware. Bishop dropped his eyes to the ground as they swept down the other man’s spine, to his ass. Which was the point Bishop looked at the ground, at the river, at anything rather than admit to himself what he had seen, what he had felt.

He looked up again and shivered as Duncan stopped and dropped to his haunches, his hands ran over the ground in front of him; the signs of a definite path had emerged along the riverside. The tech officer stayed close to Duncan, their knees touched as they looked over the papers again. The stab of jealousy unsettled him, and he jammed it down deep. Duncan looked back at him over his shoulder, and Bishop knew then and there that Duncan knew. That Duncan had always known, and had used it against him for years.

He hated this place with every step he took; he wanted this done, and he wanted off this rock. ‘And then what?’ Back to his spacious corner office at the Mercenary Guild where what he was sure Duncan already knew about him would taunt him? Surrounded by women that would remind him? That would smile in that false way that women had, that saw right through him. They knew, of that he had no doubt, and now Duncan knew as well.

‘Unless Duncan didn’t return at all.’
—

Riddick peered over the bow at the woman below with the rifle; he watched the woman’s hands shake and wondered if she would have the courage to shoot; if she could even hit anything at all. It didn’t matter. His jaw clenched as he watched Shazza, unable to pull her away for fear that the sudden movement would cause the woman below to shoot and he wouldn’t take that risk. Not with Shazza and not with Jack.

He stepped closer to her soundlessly as the woman below lowered the rifle. Shazza remained tense at the bow, only her voice was relaxed, as she convinced the woman that they were no threat to her. Theo stepped closer, his hands raised still, as were his. He didn’t need to look to know that Theo was as angry as he was.

He could feel Shazza jump as she backed away from the bow and right into the hard wall of his chest; he pulled her roughly to him before she could turn around. Jack had already bolted excitedly past them to go below, and he waited until he was sure she was gone before he spoke. “That was the stupidest fucking thing you could ever do, Shazza.” He wanted to shout at her, to shake her.

Shazza felt him tremble just once before his arm locked around her like a steel bar. His voice was cold and cruel and vicious, barely more than a whisper but it carried so much weight that it would have crushed her if she was anyone but who she was. “I’ve been where that woman’s been, Riddick.” She kept her own voice hard and even; she refused to be terrified by him, even though she knew anyone else would be.

Riddick spun her around roughly and caught her by the arm before she could fall. Shazza held her free arm up to silence Riddick before he could get out another word. “She’s scared, with a daughter to protect, and facing men that scare the hell out of her. What were you both going to do? Terrify her some more?”

“She could have shot you…” Shazza watched his face carefully when he said it, and listened to the flicker of fear in his voice; he hid it well but she heard it anyway and knew that no one else would. She turned to look over her shoulder at the woman, who now stood a short distance away, the rifle held uncomfortably.

“I’ve been there Riddick. The difference between her and me is I would have shot you both on sight.” She stayed still in his arms; she knew she couldn’t pull away from him no matter how much she struggled. So she stayed, and watched his face for the slightest sign that he understood. She knew exactly what that woman felt, it didn’t matter that she had never had a child to protect that was hers. There were times when there was no man there to protect her, or the other women and children that lived in whatever settlement she lived in depended on her.

Riddick watched her hard face, the glint of steel in her eyes, and knew that she would have. That she would have shot them both first if she was in the other woman’s position. She would have done it without another thought, without remorse. His cock twitched, his mouth watered and he pulled her a little closer, his lip pulled in to fight the smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth. ‘Fearless.’ His hand eased on the back of her arm but he wasn’t about to let her go yet. So quickly it made her jump, he leaned in and fiercely kissed her neck. She gasped aloud at the bite and then he let her go. “I suppose that if I were to tell you not to do it again?” She didn’t answer, just smirked up at him. “That’s what I thought.”

Theo watched nervously, his eyes darted between Riddick and Shazza, and the woman down on the ground below. Jack came back up on the deck and gave him one more thing to watch. The more he looked at the redheaded woman, the harder it became to watch anyone else. He tore his eyes from her to watch Riddick release Shazza, his hand trace over the skin of her arm, and knew that they would make up soon.

He had overheard them occasionally, it was hard not to in the close quarters they all kept; it was harder to shut them out when they left the ship to be with each other outside, under the moonlight. It made him ache to hear their affection, where once it simply would have annoyed him. There was a time in his life when he would drop into a port, find a brothel and burn away that itch. When he watched Riddick and Shazza, he knew he wanted something else, something he had denied himself. He knew they would make up soon.

They eased over to the rail and, Riddick first, slipped over the side to the grass below. Riddick said nothing when Theo landed in the grass beside him, but looked up at the Moorglade; there was no real way to secure the ship at all. “No one’s going to touch her, Riddick.”

Riddick adjusted his slung weapon and carefully eyed all the sight lines around them. The only danger, it appeared, was from the redheaded woman, and she didn’t look eager to shoot anyone. Her rifle was lowered, and he could see her fear clearly with his enhanced sight. “What makes you so sure?” He was curious; he felt the truth of what Theo had said the moment he had said it, but he asked anyway.

“Because no one else was meant to touch her.” Theo looked him right in the eye as he said it, as though he had said something fantastic and dared Riddick to question him. Riddick let out a deep contemplative hum, and a small nod, but he didn’t add anything further.

“Anna! No!” The woman had her rifle up again but wavered, uncertain, as the young girl ran out from behind her mother. If she shot anything she would just as likely hit her own child. They stood frozen as the child slowed, stuck between them both. Her chin wavered with the start of tears and it wasn’t hard to see that she was terrified.

Her voice shook when she finally managed to speak. “I just…I just wanted to see if it was real….” She looked back at her mother, who had lowered the rifle and stepped forward, her eyes shifted from one to the other and back to her daughter, the whispered word ‘please’ on her lips.

Theo stepped forward, his hands raised, unable to take his eyes from the woman even if he wanted to. “We don’t mean any harm, your daughter’s okay…” His voice soothed, and they eased out of the way of the ship and the young girl, all except Jack.

Anna ran her hands over the side of the Moorglade with the same feeling of awe that had stricken Theo, and Jack watched as she started to cry. “It’s real….” She turned towards Jack as though she hadn’t noticed there was another person there at all. She made a puzzled face as she took in Jack’s shaven head and the mannish clothes. “You’re not a boy…”

Theo hadn’t taken his eyes off the woman since he had touched ground. She was stunning, in a way that scar on her face could never take away. Her fiery red hair was backlit by the last rays of the setting sun, her skin paler than before in her fright. Her eye, the one she had left, was a startling shade of blue that made you almost forget the scar that ran through it. She was so real, in a way he could never understand or put into words. It was how he felt when he had first saw the Moorglade itself; something so improbable, so beautiful, that he was taken aback by its mere existence.

He tore his eyes from her to look back at the ship, at both of the girls as they walked the few short steps to rejoin the others. Anna now stood among them, apart from her mother. Shazza watched the woman’s every move carefully, her own weapon poised. He knew Shazza would shoot her if it came down to Jack’s life, or Riddick’s. He looked to Riddick only to find that Riddick watched him, his head tilted ever so slightly. With the goggles it was so hard to tell, but Theo watched as his eyes shifted to the redhead and back to him again, before he nodded imperceptibly. “If we’re going we should do this now.”

Riddick didn’t like any of this and he would have preferred not to have stopped the ship at all, but what was done was done. If there was a village, as the woman said, they would come for them whether or not they stayed or went. He knew it because it’s what he would do; he would never rest until he had found them. It was strange to think of Imam at that moment but that’s who he thought of. Imam could have taken the safe route and never sat in the dark right next to a chained convict, and then none of them would be here at all. Imam had made the choice, and Riddick had made the choice to accept it. He had changed, or at least he was willing to admit that his methods had changed. He also couldn’t help but notice how Theo looked at the woman, he wasn’t sure Theo would leave so easily.

Riddick stayed a step behind Shazza the entire way as they warily crossed the ground towards the woman, who pointed further ahead to a path. She still seemed unsure, and bit her lip as she cast wary glances back at Riddick, who seemed to terrify her more than anyone else. Riddick listened as Shazza spoke to her; murmured words of comfort that faded into the background, only the feeling of them remained; two women that shared the similar experiences of their life. Theo walked along beside Riddick and stole glances at the woman, Joanne.

Anna skipped alongside Jack and asked her question after question about the ship, their journey, why Jack’s hair was short, why she called herself Jack. Anna seemed to be fascinated with everything about Jack, and every answered question led to more questions. Riddick and Theo shot looks at each other and grinned quietly when Jack ran her hands over her shaved head in frustration, a perfect imitation of Riddick.

Joanne grew increasingly agitated as they got closer to the village. The two men frightened her, and no matter how much comfort she took from Shazza, it didn’t make it any easier. She called out to her daughter, who resented being pulled away from Jack, and insisted that she run ahead to the village.

Riddick tensed and gave Joanne a hard look as the young girl ran ahead and disappeared around a bend in the path. She paled and nearly stumbled but managed to stammer out an explanation. “If they’re surprised there could be shooting…” Her voice broke at the last and her hands fumbled with the rifle, as though she wanted to drop it and bolt herself, to follow her daughter to the relative safety of the village. He watched as Shazza held the woman’s arm to keep her from a fall, and felt a twinge of guilt at her fear, at having frightened her. Not that he could do anything about it; he settled for silence instead, and watched for anything that moved.

Anna ran ahead and the news burst from her at the first person she came across. There weren’t many in the village, it wasn’t like the one further downriver, and the news spread like wildfire. Men came out of their houses, armed, to await the worst and set themselves up around the open square between the buildings. She needed to find her father and ran full out to the end of the square, where she knew he would be found, at the dog kennels with Old Thomas.

Riddick had been under the hard glare of rifle muzzles before, but it wasn’t a thing he could say he had gotten used to. The first instinct was always to bolt for cover. He stepped forward and whispered Shazza’s name, which made the woman beside her jump. Shazza took her hands off her slung weapon and raised them, palm outward, as they walked into the open ground of the square. They were surrounded, and everything in him screamed out to fight, but he listened to the quieter voice. A deeper, more still voice that he knew was Imam’s.

Old Thomas held Anna’s hand and made his way carefully out to the middle of the square. He leaned heavily on his cane occasionally as he listened to her talk non stop about the new people, and more importantly, the ship they had come in on. His mind had reeled, much as Anna’s had done, when she described what she had seen. It couldn’t be, the child had to be mistaken. He knew it was a lie before his thought was even fully formed and pushed it aside; he was too old for lies. He would have thought he was too old for miracles and fairy tales as well, but that was still left to decide.

Riddick and the others stopped in the middle of the square and Riddick edged Shazza over so that she stood in between Theo and himself. Theo did the same with Jack. It was slim defense but defense nonetheless. Joanne turned to face them, and trembled in fear until her husband, Marcus, and Old Thomas came to stand beside her. She let out a short cry as Anna ran over to stand in front of Jack again.

Old Thomas moved slowly, to look at the newcomers in turn, until his eyes settled on Riddick, who still had his hands raised. His bandaged hands. ‘No, it can’t be!’ He stepped forward, closer to Riddick, who stood absolutely still as the elderly man approached. He looked to be nearly ninety but Riddick knew that one signal from this old man would have them all shot dead, so he stayed still and let him approach. He tensed only when the old man touched his arm, and pulled slightly so that he would lower it.

Old Thomas ran his hands over the bandages and looked up at Riddick again when he tensed, before he pulled the bandages free to see the wounds. The rope burns. He held them for a moment and just stared, before he looked up into Riddick’s goggled eyes. “Rider.” A whispered word between them, a word with far more weight than it should have had. Old Thomas stood back and looked around at the armed men around the square and his voice gained a strength that was out of place with his frail form. “He’s the Rider!”
—

Duncan spotted the village before any of the others and held his hand up to get the others to stop. His palm faced down and the mercs dropped into low crouches to hide from view in the long grass. Bishop strode forward, his awkwardness gone with a target in sight, an end to this job a little closer. The village was a collection of low houses, no more than ten, built of the same pale green wood that they had found in the forest. He held his hand up for silence, which annoyed Bishop, and closed his eyes to better listen. The wind whipped against the grass as the storm behind them grew, but he could pick out a word, some sort of conversation. It wasn’t clear.

He stood finally and turned to face Bishop who shrank before him for a fraction of a second before anger blazed deep in his eyes. Duncan saw hate for him there, for the first time in all these long years, and it almost made him smile. He took another step towards Bishop and felt him tense as he leaned in to whisper in his ear that he would circle the village first, alone. When he stepped back he watched Bishop work the idea over in his mind before he nodded, and knew that he would have to be very careful around Bishop until this was done.

He regretted that he had to leave the tech officer by himself, he would have preferred if things had gone another way. Would Bishop kill him while he was gone? There was no way to be sure, but he knew that he would make Bishop pay for it if he did, and with a glance at the tech officer and a hard glare at Bishop, he let Bishop know it too. He trusted Johns to the hand of fate, and hoped that Bishop would have the sense to keep him alive until he, Bishop, had what he wanted from him.

He avoided the path, and set off at a lope through the long grass, his head would peek over the tops occasionally as he spiraled his way around the village in a concentric circle. The musky scent of animals came across the grass at him and he made a point to stay downwind; the last thing he needed was to be chased by dogs, or whatever passed for dogs here. He mused by the side of one of the buildings; everywhere he had ever been, every planet, the people that lived there sought the comfort of dogs. It didn’t matter how far across the universe people came, the dogs always came with them, in some form. This place was no different, so he stayed downwind and edged closer as tattered conversation got a little louder.

He peeked around the corner of a rain barrel set under an eave and watched a group of people talk in the middle of an otherwise empty square. The gunmen all around weren’t hard to spot and he guessed that they intended to be seen. Seven people stood in the centre of the square. Theopoulis was the first man he set eyes on, which didn’t surprise him; he was the target after all. Two women, two children, a very old man; and someone that changed the game considerably.

Richard B. Riddick.

Copyright © November 2006 xxxevilgrinxxx