Title: Interchange
Author: Minx
Fandom: Pitch Black
Pairing: Riddick/Fry
Rating: NC-17 for graphic violence.
Disclaimer: The Characters of Pitch Black are copyright to USA Films. There is no infringment intended by the use of them in this story. I claim none of those characters.
Chapter 7 (Chapter 1-2, 3-4, 5-6)
It was a strange sensation holding hands with someone you couldn't see. Fry pulled her hand back and bent down and peered through the hole in the wall.
She steeled herself. This was a conversation she was desperate to have, but also really wanted to avoid.
"Nikki?"
"Yeah," the dark haired woman replied, still grinning.
"How 'are' you?" Fry asked.
Fry watched as Nikki shrugged and frowned a little. "Same as you… I suppose."
She's being so brave .Fry chewed her bottom lip, and then said. "I think he's doing it to you rather than doing it to me cos he thinks it will keep me in line, I had hoped by being more submissive he would leave you alone, but I know he goes to you night after night cos I can hear him and ....I don't know what else to do...." she nervously rubbed a hand across her forehead.
Nikki blinked and looked puzzled. "I erm..."
Fry sighed, Nikki was making a hard subject even harder to get through.
"Nikki, I have been lying awake every night, I can hear what he has been doing to you."
"Oh, can you? "Nikki replied looking down at the floor. Fry couldn't see her whole face through the hole and the dim light in the room, but her discomfort was obvious.
"He does get a bit loud occasionally, not surprised you can hear."
Fry could feel the tears beginning to form behind her eyes. It was her turn to blink and try and remain composed. It was Nikki Riddick was fucking not her.
"Nikki, it's hard to rape someone quietly," Fry's tone was as gentle and as understanding as she could possibly be.
Nikki blanched. "NO...that's not what he's been doing," realization dawning. "He talks to me. He thinks I look like a girl he knew a long time ago. He touches me and kisses me and well..." she struggled for the words, "I think he kind of idolized her. Worshipped her, put her on a pedestal type thing." Nikki frowned, it was hard for Fry to see any facial expression through the hole in the wall but her present one was very evident.
She blinked rapidly and said," It's been scary, I just played along, I didn't know what else to do." She looked up at Fry again, "It seemed like the safe option."
Fry sat back on her heels, her rage at boiling point.
He's been playing me again."You thought he was hurting me?" Nikki asked. "Crap, I'm sorry. No, he's just been touching me he's never tried anything else."
Fry sat silently thinking. Enough was enough. She wasn't going to play his mind games anymore.
She looked up at Nikki and said," I want to stop him from taking this ship. Will you help me?"
"Yes," said Nikki without hesitation.
Fry grinned, "Good, I have a plan."
As hard as Fry tried to vary her sleeping position, she always ended up on her stomach. Therefore when Riddick came to wake her every morning he always poked her with his boot in the same spot. There was quite a nice bruise developing just under her left breast, it matched the other ones all over her body.
She rolled over and stood up, walked straight to the door and out into the corridor unbidden. Riddick followed and as soon as he had unlocked Nikki's door she walked in and woke her and they set off quickly to the engine room. Fry slowed her pace; if they were being just a little too enthusiastic then Riddick would pick something up if they weren't careful.
Arriving at the engine room, they all moved to their familiar positions. The girls picked their tools, and stood waiting for instructions. They never moved until Riddick told them too.
Fry had a pretty good idea where they would be going though. They had managed to complete ten rams so far...the next one would be eleven. Riddick was nothing if not predictably logical when it came to getting this work done. It was the only time she had been able to second guess him.
Try second guessing me you fuck! Fry was already thinking about how good it would be not to get a boot in her ribs every morning. How nice it would be to have enough to eat, and eat real food too, which she knew was in the galley. How nice it would be to have conversation with Nikki face to face. How nice it would be to find a habitable planet to land on and.....run away screaming from all this!Fry inhaled deeply. The tension in her body was rising.
All we need is for you to take the bait.Fry realized she was staring at Riddick. He frowned, but turned to collect the barrel of hydraulic fluid he needed, and she swiftly looked away. She shot a furtive glance at Nikki.
They trooped down the service shaft. Not even the knowledge that they were about to embark on at least two sweat filled hours could reduce the spring in Fry's step.
She could hear Riddick rolling the barrel behind them.
We're gonna fuck you, we're gonna fuck you!The childish chant helped to push away the fears she had with the plan...if it went wrong there would be no reprieve...he would kill them.
Riddick inhaled hard. He concentrated hard on the slate air rushing through his airways. There was something different this morning. Fry smelt different, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
He narrowly missed trapping his hand between the wall and the barrel he was rolling. He returned his full attention to his task. Maybe he was just getting tired. It was bound to happen, he wasn't superhuman. They'd been doing this for five days, it was starting to take it's toll.
There were only five rams left. Then he could relax a bit. Lock them up till he needed them maybe he would have some fun with Nikki first. She was expendable. He was planning to finally fuck her. His restraint he been incredible, Nikki was almost as beautiful as Terri had been, and he'd loved Terri more than anything. It hadn't been fair when they had taken her away; he hadn't really hurt her, they had over reacted.
Riddick winced as his fingers caught on the wall.
Shit! Concentrate you prick!He silently admonished himself. He was getting tired. He had to push these bitches and get these fucking things fixed.
They arrived at the right place in the shaft and Riddick righted the barrel of fluid and twisted it across the floor so they could pump it into the ram.
He walked back across the corridor and leaned against the wall rubbing his squashed fingers.
He looked up and watched the women settle themselves to the task. He desperately wanted to yawn but knew it would be a sign of weakness that Fry would pick up on. She had been noticeably quieter since he had started his little charade with Nikki. He had wanted Fry to think he was abusing her...apparently it had worked. He'd found it a laugh making enough noise in Nikki's room each night to convince her that he was fucking her. Each morning he would see the anger flash in Fry's eyes and then she would quickly smother it. She now believed him capable and was acting accordingly.
Riddick grinned to himself as he watched the women labor away. He picked at the torn skin on his fingers and returned to his thoughts on what he was going to do once he reached his final destination. First he would get completely fucking drunk, maybe score some decent dope and then...hmmm...girls. Lots of girls, enough to fuck for a week solid. He could hardly contain his excitement.
First he would have to find Jo-Neal though. His partner had the money stashed and he couldn't do anything with out the money. Find him; get his share then he could make himself a little more comfortable.
"Ahhhhh!" Nikki's piercing scream brought his attention back to the present. He blinked and straightened up from his comfortable slouch against the wall.
"What?" he said.
"She's got her fingers caught, I can't free her hand, I can't lift the ratchet I'm not strong enough!" Fry sounded desperate, " Riddick please?"
Riddick raised an eyebrow. Fry said please to him? It must be serious!
He stepped across, Fry moved out of the way and he walked around Nikki whose hand seemed to be completely inside the mechanism. How the hell did she manage that?
That was his last thought before Fry whacked him across the back of the head with the biggest wrench she could find.
Riddick groaned and dropped to the floor with an almighty thud.
Fry stood over Riddick's still form and raised the wrench again. She was shaking all over. She gritted her teeth and started to bring the wrench down to smash against Riddick's' skull.
But she couldn’t do it the wrench swooped down in an arc and clanged against the floor almost catching an ear. The reverberation up the shaft of the tool jarred her arms. She dropped it and wiped the tears that had escaped from her eyes. She couldn't do it. She had to but she couldn't.
She looked at Nikki who had managed to extricate her 'trapped' hand all by herself. She stared back at her, fear in her eyes.
"Tie him up?" she said.
Fry nodded glad that the decision had been taken from her.
They pulled his arms behind his back and using plastic cable ties secured his hands and feet. They then looped more ties around the three inch thick stanchion of the ram that came out of the floor and attached him to that.
Fry was crying the whole time. The adrenaline that had been rushing through her body was now gone. She was terrified he would wake up before they got him secured.
I want to stop him from ever waking up again.But she knew she couldn't. When she'd gone down and lain still she'd wanted to cheer. Her hatred of him temporarily satiated. All she had to do was hit him again and he would be gone forever. Fuck the man was a killer!
She knew why she couldn't.
As a child her father had once hit a deer that had rushed out onto the road. After the shock of the initial impact her father had slewed the car to a stop. He stepped out cursing the animal and inspecting the damage to his vehicle. Carolyn had also climbed out, but her thoughts were for the wounded animal that was now lay only a few yards away, thrashing around in its death throes.
Her father had said nothing but 'hurumphed' his annoyance and said, "Back in the car Carolyn."
She'd obeyed. She had knelt up in the passenger seat, her small hands clinging to the headrest and watched as her father had taken a wheel brace from the trunk of the car, walked the few yards to the terrified animal and smashed its head to a bloody pulp. Carolyn had been unable to tear her eyes away and watched the whole episode with a sick fascination, barely aware of the rising bile in her throat and scrambling from the car just in time to vomit her breakfast all over the grass verge.
As she had stood over Riddick wrench in hand, the images had returned to her in glorious technicolor. She wanted Riddick dead. Desperately so, but her humanity wouldn't let her.
Taking one last look at Riddick to reassure herself that he was really tied up, she turned and followed Nikki down the shaft.>
"What are we going to do with him when he wakes up?" Nikki asked. She had been silent the entire time they'd been tying him. Fry knew she could see her dilemma and was grateful for the woman's quiet understanding.
"I hope by the time he wakes up we should be well on our way to a habitable planet. He can stay there till we reach help."
Fry was furious with herself for not being able to kill Riddick.
I am so weak.
That’s what her father had said after she had climbed back in the car.
"It was only a deer Carolyn! You're so weak and pathetic."
Fry's feelings for her father had never changed over the incident from that day to this.
"Let's go to the flight deck and work out a new course." Fry smiled and tried to push away the feelings of self-loathing.
"Can we go to the galley first and get some real food?" Nikki asked.
"Sure." Fry didn't think she was up to eating just yet, but a good cup of coffee would certainly be welcome.
Chapter 8
Riddick woke slowly. He was very cold and had no feeling in his shoulders and arms. For one brief second he thought he was in slam once again; languishing in the darkest depths of solitary confinement, ignored and forgotten. Then it all came flooding back.
Arrggghhhhhh!!"FRY!!" he yelled out, "FRY. YOU ARE A DEAD WOMAN!!"
He breathed hard, sucking in air trying to ease the pounding in his head that the shouting had ignited. He opened his eyes, not that it made any difference to the amount of light piercing his retinas. It was pitch black in the service shaft. He assumed he was still in the service shaft, he could smell the awful stench of the hydraulic fluid mingling with oil and axle grease. The surface he was laying on was hard and metallic. He struggled to a sitting position and rolled his head trying to introduce some feeling to his shoulders and arms, this action released a wave of dizzying nausea. He must have been unconscious for a long time for his body to have become this numb.
Realization dawned that the women would have had ample time to change course. All his carefully laid plans would have been ruined. His rage began to build and soon would reach boiling point. Ignoring the pain in his body he pulled against the ties around his wrists. He could feel the plastic stretch and cut into his skin, trickles of blood began to seep down his arms and coat his hands. He pulled again, the muscles in his upper arms screaming at him to stop.
The plastic cable ties gave with a resounding snap, and his arms flew out sideways. He grunted with pain and slowly rotated his shoulders{;} they were agony. He reached for his ankles feeling the ties around them and then attached to the stanchion of the hydraulic ram. He gently reached round to the waistband of his pants and released a small shiv from its carefully concealed hiding place. Each of his movements was slow and methodical as his circulation in his arms gradually returned. He cut himself free and sat for a few moments. He lifted his bloody wrist to his mouth and licked at the wetness on his skin. He needed to be calm and cool about his next moves, consider his options and plan accordingly.
Fuck that, I'm gonna fucking kill them bothHis exhausted and battered body was now working on pure adrenaline. Grabbing the stanchion he pulled himself to his feet and waited for his head to stop spinning, reaching around he tenderly touched the huge lump on the back of his skull. Fuck it was huge. What did she hit him with? He took a step forwards and his foot clanged against the answer. He bent down to pick up the object, wincing at the dizziness the change of height induced. It was a wrench Fry had whacked him with a wrench.
Fucking bitch.He hefted the weight of the wrench, sliding his hand up the shaft, adjusting it to fit comfortably. He took a moment to orientate himself. The rams were on the right therefore, the exit to the shaft was behind him. He turned and began walking up the shaft, instinctively ducking at the intersections. He walked steadily. He wanted to run, to find them and lay waste to their bodies. But he didn't, he conserved his energy and walked. He reached the engine room, marched through it and out in to the corridor that connected with the main thoroughfare of the ship.
I'm gonna enjoy killing both of you.Riddick was unconsciously stretching his stride. He urgently needed to reach the flight deck. He assumed that’s where they would be. If not he'd systematically work his way through every room in the ship until he found them. At least on the flight deck he could re-set his own course again. He stomped through the corridors, uncaring as to whether they could hear him coming to get them or not. No more games, no more chances, this was it.
He turned the shiv over and over in his hand, flipping it back and forth, toying with the sharp blade. It kept catching his hands, creating new gashes, which released more blood into the palms of his hands to mingle with the sticky wetness between his fingers.
His breathing was now deep and regular again, his muscles had relaxed and his mind stilled, he was in killing mode. He came to the last bend of the narrow corridor and turned to see the doorway of the flight deck. He focused through it to try and see if they were there. A slow smirk crossed his lips, Nikki was right in front of him; directly through the doorway leaning across a console.
He almost ran the last few yards and stormed into the flight deck. He crossed the distance between the doorway and her in seconds. Grasped her hair yanked it back and drew the shiv neatly across her throat. She didn't even have time to scream. Not that she could've anyway with her larynx severed. Blood erupted from the gash in her neck as Riddick bent her back wards to look into his eyes. She registered shock, terror and despair in a few fleeting seconds, then the blood loss began to kick in. She sagged at the knees as her heart ran out of blood to pump around her body; most of it being on the floor and over Riddick. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and then licked the residue; his blood mixed with hers.
A taste I'll never get tired of. Riddick became aware of a shadow just behind and to the right of him...Fry!He stood still enjoying the sight of Nikki struggling to live, Fry could wait just for a few moments. He knew she would only last a few seconds more; she didn't know and continued to gasp, struggle and flail in a futile fashion. Riddick was bored with her now and released her hair and she flopped to the floor, a spent force.
He spun on his heel...but Fry was gone. Where did she go? He must be concussed from the bang on the head; he wouldn't normally lose someone.
He looked around slowly; there was a gap in between two consoles over to his right. She must be in there. He walked slowly over to it, all the while using his peripheral vision to make sure she wasn't going to try and jump him. She had got him once like that, just after he had killed the Captain, the first day of his freedom on the HG. That seemed like a very long time ago.
"Carolyn, I know you're in there."
He bent down and peered between the two consoles. They were very close together and there was no way Riddick could get between them. But the gap was empty. No Fry. Riddick frowned, where could she be? The flight deck wasn't that large, he was puzzled. He turned slowly scanning the entire room, trying to spot anything that would give him an idea where she was. No clues.
Never mind lets sort the navigation out, get back onto my course.Killing Nikki had satisfied the immediate bloodlust Riddick had felt. He was relaxed now; he'd had his fix. As he stepped over her body to reach the computer he needed, he didn't even give her a second glance.
He was still alert and aware of everything going on around him as he settled down to alter the coordinates and work out how much time he had lost. The calculations were not hard but more tiresome and they took Riddick some time in his tired state.
They must have been slow choosing where to go...we've only lost eighteen hours. So that means I have five rams to fix in around 5 days...a bit less.Riddick exhaled. That was going to be close. He was tired, concussed, and had to do the work on his own now. Then pilot the ship, in a dangerous maneuver. Crap!
His mood was beginning to darken again. He should've killed Fry with the Captain; bitch had been nothing but trouble. He reached back and rubbed his hand with exquisite tenderness over the lump on the back of his head. He could feel the clot of blood just under the skin, he reckoned it must be the size of his fist.
BITCH, BITCH, BITCH!!He pushed his self up and away from the console growling. Then stopped, he leaned over to the life support controls. He turned off all the power to the heat and light in the ship.
We do this on my terms Fry. I'm coming to get you, no place to run no place you can hide from me.In the dark he would have a huge advantage and he was starting at the top and front of the ship. That would make his search easier. He thought about where she would go. He thought as he walked, striding down the corridor his footsteps keeping in sync with the pounding in the back of his head.
He paused at each doorway opening the door, stepping into the room, looking around, searching any place in the room that Fry could conceal herself. Satisfied he hadn't missed he closed the door and moved on. The process was slow but every minute longer was another minute that it gave Riddick time to think about what he would do to her. It was also another minute, he assumed, that she was pissing herself, knowing he was going to get her eventually.
After nearly two hours of searching he had covered a dozen rooms, two service shafts and the living quarters. He was moving towards the cryo-chamber. He suddenly realized where she was hiding.
He rounded the corner to the chamber and stepped into the doorway, his bulk filling it. He listened to the hiss and hum of the tubes keeping their occupants alive.
Come out come out where ever you are!!He began to walk down in between the rows of tubes. There were four empty ones...Fry's own, Nikki's, Mitchell's and Johns, which stood next to his own. Fry wouldn't hide in Riddick's one because of its special release mechanisms. So she would be in one of the others. His pace quickened. Pulling his blood crusted shiv from his waistband, he licked his lips he was so close to getting her.
He reached Johns tube. The Perspex front was covered in condensation. He whipped open the door. It was empty. He moved on to the next one...Nikki's. More condensation, he pulled open the door, but this one was also empty. He was starting to feel pissed off. He almost sprinted to the crew's tubes. Mitchell's and Fry's own, they both looked dark inside. He pulled the doors open on both at the same time, nearly wrenching them off their hinges.
Nothing!!
"FUCK!"
Riddick breathed hard. Then the smell hit him. Only he would have picked it up. Any scavenger animal would also have recognized it, the smell of flesh beginning to decompose, a creature recently dead, its body fluids seeping out. Riddick sniffed hard, and then he smiled.
Damn, Fry, you're so smart I almost like you!LShe had killed one of the passengers, removed the corpse from their tube and taken their place. She must have stashed the body some where behind the tubes, in the mass of tubes, connections and cryo attachments. It was warm in the service areas, the machines looking after the sleepers gave off heat. The warmth would speed up decomposition.
He walked to a gap in the row and around behind the tubes. He squinted into the darkness. Lying crumpled in a heap a few feet down was a body, female from the smell. Riddick cast his mind back top when he had been choosing a helper for Fry. The body had dark hair. Had to be around Fry's size or she wouldn't have been able to move her. Riddick knew there were two choices. He ducked under some life-support tubes that lead into the nearest tube, then moved back out in between the rows again. He orientated himself he needed tube fourteen and tube twenty-seven. He walked to fourteen and looked through the Perspex, no condensation. This tube hadn't been disturbed. The occupant was silently asleep.
So it must be twenty-seven. Riddick walked slowly now. Savoring the moment of the capture, he enjoyed it almost as much as the moment of the kill.
As he approached the tube he could see the tell tale signs of a little condensation. The tube had been opened recently. He lifted his hand and wiped the front quickly then leered through the perspex at its occupant.
Fry looked back at him, her face a mask of shock.
She shoved the door hard sending him unexpectedly tumbling to the floor. He regained his footing quickly and lurched after her as she ran up the aisle between the tubes. He caught her heel and wrapped his fingers around her slender ankle and jerking her hard back towards him. She lost her footing and nearly lost a finger as she tried to grip onto the metal grating of the floor.
Riddick put his shiv between his teeth and used both hands to haul her in, his fingers biting deep into her flesh. He spun her around and grabbed her round the throat.
He didn't say anything to her. There was nothing to be said. Fry felt otherwise.
"You need me." she uttered.
Riddick smiled, "No I don't Carolyn, I have still have Owens."
"No, I cut his life support."
Riddick arched an eyebrow. Had she really? That's unexpected, and extremely clever.
He turned and dragged her with him as he walked to Owens cryo-tube.
She had been telling the truth. The tube was dark and all the read outs showed he had flat-lined an hour or more ago.
"Very clever," Riddick pursed his lips. She stopped struggling against him, seemingly convinced that she was safe.
"Tell me, what do you need to pilot a ship Carolyn?" Riddick stared into her eyes, he was enjoying every second of this.
She frowned not understanding the question.
"Well, I'll tell you shall I? All you need is two hands Carolyn, just two hands." He paused in between each word.
Fry swallowed hard understanding the implication of his statement.
"The rest of your body is surplus to requirements." He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Expendable."
With out another word he dragged her out of the cryo-chamber and out into the corridor and hit her. He hauled her to her feet and hit her again, feeling her ribs pop under his knuckles. He pulled her up once more knowing her ribs must be agony. He caught her across the chin with a left hook and then stood looking down at her as she panted and gasped while cradling her chest.
He picked her up by her throat, pinning her up against the wall. She dangled in his hand like an aged rag doll. He tore her shirt off her body, exposing her shoulders. He would leave his mark now, other wise how else would they identify her killer if they ever found the body. He pushed up against her crushing her ribs. She screamed and then he bit her on the shoulder, his teeth sinking into the soft skin at the join of her neck and back. His mouth filled with her warm blood and he lapped and sucked at it.
Fry had gone completely limp in his hand. He released her and she fell to the floor. The urge to fuck her and kill her was almost over whelming, but he did need her.
He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her limp form down the corridor to the engine room. She could hang in his old restraints while he finished repairing the rams.
Only five days till T2, he had to work fast, he looked down at Fry's unconscious form.
Five days then you die!
Chapter 9
Riddick slumped to the floor and tipped the remainder of the bottle of water over his head. Its coldness felt good as it trickled down his neck and back, washing away the sweat and grime. He really needed a shower but there wasn't time.
He had been flat out for five days, fixing the rams, maintaining the ships course, nursing his aching head, and keeping Fry alive.
He was completely exhausted. He tiredly opened his eyes and stared across the engine room at Fry's inert body. He'd beaten her too hard. He was sure she had internal bleeding. She was pale, weak and had been pissing blood for the last two days. He'd be a complete fucking idiot if he got to a few hours from T2 and she died.
He crawled across the floor and put his hand to her neck trying to feel for a pulse. It was there; faint but there. The bruises from his fingers were clearly visible, as were the crusted scabs over his bite mark on her neck.
She stirred feverishly and mumbled. He tipped a little water into her mouth; enough to wet her lips. Her tongue snaked out and licked the dampness.
"You want more?" Riddick asked.
"Umm..," Fry's eyes stayed closed and her voice was no more than a whisper, her throat was so swollen Riddick assumed her voice box was damaged.
At least she can't scream no more.Riddick grabbed another water bottle off the table. He gently tipped it to wards her, most of the water missed her mouth by a mile but some went in and she slurped it thirstily.
Riddick sat back on his haunches. Things had not really gone according to plan but now he was near the end.
Just a few more hours then he would be into the Anilo system, take one of the escape pods to his planet of choice and disappear. What happened to the HG was not his concern. Someone would find it floating in space, dead engines and deader cargo. Who gave a fuck, he sure didn't! He rubbed his hand over his face. He needed to get to the flight deck, and he needed to take Fry too. One last effort.
With barely an hour to spare they were on the flight deck. Fry tied to her chair, not that she was in any fit state to try and run. Her torso had been chained to the chair with only he arms left free to so she could fly the ship.
It had occurred to Riddick that she might not cooperate. She may just refuse to pilot it and force them to crash. It was hard to decide whether she would do this or not. Since he'd beaten her she had lost her 'fight'. Her spark had gone. But it wasn't a complacent admission of failure, more a defiant acceptance of the inevitable. Riddick couldn't read her. He wondered if her injuries were just too severe for him to see past them.
Riddick had beaten plenty of people in his time. But Fry was only the third woman, not that he felt guilty about that. Gender to him was irrelevant. A person was a person, with strengths and weaknesses. The fact that most women were weaker than him was not a presumption based on sexism just a fact. A fact he could use to his advantage.
The difference between Fry and the other two was that Fry was still alive. Only just. He needed her that way for another forty-two minutes.
"Pre-maneuver checks?" he asked her. Fry looked up at him through her swollen eyelids and nodded.
Riddick didn't comment further as she began to check the controls in front of her.
She's gonna play ball.He walked over to another chair and settled his aching body. He knew he was showing her his weaknesses but frankly didn't care less. She was so fucked up he didn't believe he could stop him now. The HG was his ship, he'd fought hard for it and Fry had put up a brave defiance but she had lost. He admired her she was a lot tougher than many who had opposed him.
They sat in silence as she slowly checked each system for its operational effectiveness. After many long minutes, far longer than most pre-maneuver checks to account for her physical state, she sat back.
"Ready?" Riddick asked, she nodded in reply, then closed her eyes and appeared to doze. Riddick sighed heavily. The anticipation was a killer.
A proximity alarm sounded waking both him and Fry. They both stirred quickly, Riddick was surprised at himself that he had dozed off. Fry pulled herself as far forwards as she could but the restraints were clearly hurting her. She looked across to him and mouthed 'untie me'.
Riddick stood and in a manner not befitting his thirty-three years, shuffled across to her. It felt like every bone in his body was on fire, the exhaustion and tiredness seeping into every pore of his being. He couldn't see her doing anything to harm him now. He loosened the straps around her body, his tired fingers wrestling with the knots.
When she was free she could pull herself into a more upright position, making it easier to control the ship. She pulled herself up much further than she needed to she could now reach across the console completely, and perched on the edge of her seat. Riddick assumed that the position was easier on her ribs.
He watched as she started the countdown to entering the planets gravity field. Then she could raise the rams at just the right time and the ship would skim across the surface of the atmosphere like a smooth pebble across water.
Riddick braced himself as the computer generated voice reached '...ten, nine, eight, seven…'.
Fry had sat right back in her chair and turned to grin at him. Riddick blinked. What was she doing?
"I've decided I don't fancy piloting today, "she stretched and yawned, wincing slightly at the pull on her ribs. "I'm too tired."
"What the fuck....?" Riddick strode over to her. "Take the controls now!" He roared at her.
"No," came her simple answer.>/P>
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of her chair and yelled as a piece of glass shaped like a dagger sliced across his fingers. That’s what she had been doing reaching across the console; she had a fucking weapon! Not that it would do her any good. He grabbed her with his other hand and threw her to the floor. Any tiny feelings of compassion for her had now completely evaporated.
"Fuck you. I'll fly the fucking ship myself!"
Riddick didn't care whether this was insanity talking or not, he was done with her. He pressed the controls to raise the rams, the countdown was well passed zero, by several seconds. The rams began to rise in pairs, he watched them register on the read out, one pair, two pairs, three then 'error…error' the warning sounded.
Riddick frantically pressed the engage switch but nothing was working. The rams were jammed. He stabbed at the other switches, and then flicked the screen up switch. The shielding rolled down to show the brilliant glare of the atmosphere as the HG started to plough through it rather than skim across.
"NO...NO...NO!" yelled Riddick. He looked at Fry who was grinning broadly at the orange/red colors now lighting up the screen.
"What did you do you bitch?" he was still pushing buttons and trying to make the ship comply.
Fry raised her rasping voice over the roaring noise of the descent onto the planet.
"It amazing what you can do with a few glass fragments, motor gears really don't like them do they...causes all sorts of fuck ups with the mechanism. I've been dropping a few bits into each ram as we went. Figured I'd either have you subdued by now and we'd never need to raise them or....we'd die together."
Riddick snarled at her, his lips peeling back from his teeth and he glared at her. He couldn't believe she had fucked him. Then his expression changed.
He stood blinking. At a loss what to do next, never in his whole life had he felt this way.
The fog cleared and his first thought was to kill her. Then the ship lurched and his next thought was to save himself.
Purge the ship; lighten the load.Riddick's piloting skills were basic at best but even he knew that he needed to stop the ship from hitting the planet in a dead drop. He could feel Fry's eyes on him, now she was watching his every move. He swung around and pulled the release handle.
"NO..." Fry's yell was much too late. The ship lurched again as nearly half its weight fell away into the atmosphere. "NO!" she yelled again and dragged herself towards Riddick and tried to stab at him with her makeshift knife. She caught his thigh and he easily pushed her away, sending her spinning across the floor to land in a crumpled heap on the far side of the room.
Riddick grasped the steering column and pulled hard trying to raise the nose of the ship. The vibration through the column was incredible but as he felt the nose come up it lessened somewhat. The altimeter showed their height now in hundreds of feet not miles and Riddick licked his lips and felt as though he had regained some control, he might even be able to land the ship.
Fry made on last final effort to stop him by literally landing on his lap.
She slashed at him with the glass and caught him again on the side of the face before he seized her wrists she leaned forwards and tried to bite him. He fought off her blows and her snapping teeth. He was about to throw her off him when the view screen exploded in wards showering them with glass, sparks from the fuselage and debris.
They both shielded themselves with their arms as best they could...then the ship hit the dirt and it all went pitch black.
The End.
(Chapter 1-2, 3-4, 5-6)
Written by Minx