Chapter 37; Pursuit
It had taken him awhile, but Garritt finally located Audrey.
Audrey. Jack. Whatever she was calling herself.
He’d put a mountain of hurt on a few people and finally located her. By strange luck, he wasn’t more than a few hours from her.
Garritt smiled and ran a hand through his brown hair.
Luck was his buddy the past few weeks, keeping him from being caught for all the crimes he’d been committing. He was through being Paul Darrin now that the man‘s body had been found. The man’s identity had served its usefulness in getting the courts to give him legal guardianship of Audrey Holmes, but now that the body had been found....
He set course, then moved into the back to fix a sandwich.
Garritt didn’t think of himself as a bad person; simply one who did what was needed to survive. He was surviving, that was all. Taking the girl Jack would ensure his chances of survival. Her powers would add to his, and when he began to slaughter all the fucking arrogant Ancients, her powers would make him as powerful as they were.
The game would be even.
He’d thought he had an ally in that bitch, but what did she do? She betrayed him by giving the girl to Riddick. Jeez. Richard B. Riddick of all people. The man was little more than an animal. All he had going for him was that fight or flight instinct the prison shrinks had commented on in lengthy essays. He was just a human and would always be a human. Riddick didn’t deserve to have the girl.
Quickly, he made a sandwich from stale bread and lunchmeat, scraping the fuzz of mold off the lunchmeat and scarfing down the make-shift meal.
Garritt returned to the front.
His thoughts turned to his past.
He’d been a teenager when he’d learned his mother had been a plaything for an Ancient and the result of her time with them had been him. He was a halfling; half human, half Ancient.
With the powers of the Ancients, he could be unstoppable. Why had none of them ever thought of toying with humans before? Why hadn’t they used their powers to do whatever they wanted? What human could stop them?
Propping his feet on a console, Garritt leaned his head back and stared at the stars.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was a girl that looked very much like Jack who let herself into the Persephone, but it was the Ancient who appeared after the ramp had shut.
She looked around.
She was in a hallway. To her immediate left was a hallway and to her right was the short hall that led to the ships controls. The doors both directions were shut. A little in front of her and to the left was an open door, through which she could see a bathroom. Beyond that doorway, the hall curved sharply left and she strode to the bend and glanced down it.
The door at the end was open.
"Lights." She said using Jack’s voice.
The primary lighting system activated with a gentle click, then a hum.
She had no fear of anyone seeing her. From her place as observer within both Jack and Riddick’s minds, she knew they were still occupied with one another and unaware that she was near. She smiled softly, hearing the endearments they murmured as they discovered how much closer and intimate the mind-link made their lovemaking. They could speak of their love and never have to say it out loud. The headaches would fade away completely now that they were attuned to one another. As for her presence in their minds...Melyna would be linked to both of them until she, or they died. She could tune in to their thoughts and speak directly to them if she wished, but it was a one-way connection; they couldn’t do the same with her.
She explored the Persephone, the place Riddick and Jack called their home and thought about her people.
Her people were a divided one. There were two definite factions in existence. One that wanted to live fairly peacefully, and another that wanted chaos. It was an age old problem, and one that had often divided humanity.
Ancients and Dark Ones.
Long ago, they’d been one people, simply called Ancients for their long lives and strange powers, but as they grew as a people and gained knowledge, a split happened and sides were taken. The faction that wanted peace became known as Ancients and the ones wanting chaos became known as Dark Ones.
A war started. It wasn’t big to begin with, simply small skirmishes spread out across the galaxy, but then the Dark Ones became ambitious and arrogant and the very nature of their powers and form changed.
The Ancients kept their original shape-shifting, powerful form, but the Dark Ones turned their powers to enslaving humanity through symbiosis, turning the human bodies into something to be worn and discarded at whim. They became adept at hiding within humans. The humans who’d been taken as hosts rarely survived the physical and emotional trauma when the Dark Ones would leave their body.
Only once was a human known to have survived and lived.
Garritt’s mother. She’d been taken by a Dark One and gone after Rothgar, the leader of the Ancient army. Hiding her nature, heaven’s knew how, she’d seduced Rothgar while he was in human form until her host had been impregnated....
Melyna took a deep, calming breath.
The Dark Ones that wanted chaos had been fought in a long, bloody battle that had killed off over three fourths of the people on both sides. They’d been subdued, the few Dark Ones left banished to a planet with three suns; a planet that would offer no humans for them to use as hosts. The only life form remaining there were bat-like creatures that were impervious to the symbiotic process. It had been hoped the Dark Ones would all die off.
Ancients had decided to ignore humanity. After all, humans had never learned to distinguish between Ancients and Dark Ones and lumped them all together as Ancients. Why should they bother with a people who couldn’t be bothered to learn how to distinguish the one from the other? They’d decided collectively on the issue, yet there were some, like Melyna, who were strangely drawn to humans and marked them for special purpose.....
Melyna knew the Dark Ones hadn’t died out, not after seeing the woman for herself and hearing what Susan Fry had to say. She’d listened carefully with Riddick and Jack’s ears and heard all about the time on T2 and the message Susan had gotten.
Carolyn Fry could not have survived for five years on that planet, but a Carolyn with a Dark One nestled inside her could have. With humans being vulnerable to the bat-creatures, the Dark One would have wrapped the woman in a cocoon and taken it’s time healing her. Once the eclipse was over, it’d break the cocoon open and leave.
That could wait, however, until Garritt was taken care of. Garritt was the more active threat at the moment.
Melyna moved into the bedroom. There were clothes thrown over a chair, women’s clothes, and all the sorts of girl things human females collected were tossed in a case attached to the wall above one dresser. She touched the brush with a finger, sniffed the perfume with a puzzled frown and picked up the box she’d crafted for Jack. Inside it was a stack of pictures of Riddick. Most seemed to be of him sleeping and Melyna smiled a little.
They were well matched.
They would be perfect Guardians.
With a shake of her head, Melyna went into the control area and disabled communications.
Nothing would get through to them and nothing could be sent.
~~~~~~~~~~
There was plenty of time for Marc to daydream about Jack once Carolyn had checked their course and okayed it. He roamed the corridors of the ship hearing Jack’s voice and catching glimpses of her, always just going around the corner, and although he followed, she kept ahead of him.
Soon, he’d catch her.
She’d forget about Riddick and be his mate.
That’s how Carolyn promised him it would be.
Jack had once told him that promises were forever.
Carolyn had promised him Jack.
She had.
Soon, it’d be true.
Chapter 38: The Hunters and the Hunted
The ship was easy to break into, surprisingly so. Garritt walked around inside the Persephone, poking into cupboards and rifling through drawers. He sniffed Jack’s perfume bottles, flipped through a drawing tablet with odd looking creatures sketched on the first few pages and sneered at a sketch of Riddick in the buff. The puzzle box was a puzzle for him; stubbornly refusing to open and he turned his attention to the dresser, looking through Jack’s underwear drawer without even one lewd thought tripping through his brain.
The tattoo-like mark, like the one he’d carved into Alexa’s stomach, that had been on Garritt’s arm since birth itched and absently, he scratched at it, fingernails digging into the flesh and drawing blood. He wiped his hand on his pants leg as he shoved the drawer shut with his elbow. A trickle of blood ran down his arm, tiny droplets dripping and staining the floor by the dresser. He was unconcerned with it; the self-inflicted scratch would heal as the others had healed.
Going to the main hallway, he bent and lifted the hatch leading to the cargo hold. It would be the perfect place to hide, he decided. Garritt climbed down into the darkness, closing the hatch above his head.
It was in a much lighter mood that Alexa and Skye returned to the apartment after their visit to Imam in the hospital. Doctors had assured Skye that her husband was making a remarkable full recovery. Imam’s injuries should have been fatal, yet he lived and was gaining strength. Soon, he‘d be able to go home. Skye seemed to be refreshed at the news, her manner once more sunny, save for the occasional quick thoughtful frown.
Alexa seated herself before the vidscreen and tapped in the necessary codes. "I’m gonna call Jack now, Skye." The screen stayed dark, then an error message flashed. "What the fuck?" Alexa retried the codes, watching her fingers this time as she tapped them in.
"Alexa, did I just hear you use Jack’s favorite cuss word?" Skye crossed the room to stand behind the girl.
"Yeah. Sorry." Another error message flashed. "This thing isn’t working." She sat back with an impatient sigh and again punched in the codes, her lips set in a thin line. Once more an error message flashed. "Dammit!"
"Calm down. Check the settings."
Alexa obliged, bringing up the settings and looking them over. "Everything’s fine on our end."
Reaching around her, Skye punched in the codes herself.
Looking at the error message that flashed, Alexa turned to Skye. "So what’s this mean?" She bit her lip.
Skye shrugged. "Well, it looks like it’s going to them but not connecting...." She swallowed hard and smiled. "They’re okay, Alexa. I’ll bet they’re just off the ship."
Alexa nodded. "Yeah. Sure." She stood and started for the hallway, then turned back. "Have you heard from Marc yet?"
A flicker of worry crossed Skye’s features. "Not yet. He’s training though, Alexa, specialized training. We were told he was in deep space and the message wouldn‘t get to him until after his training."
"I’m family though. I’d think they would have let him come back at least for mom and dad’s funeral and to make arrangements for me. Why wouldn’t they? And..." She paused. "If he’s so far out, how come it only took a few days for him to get there? The trip out to the Edge, where Marc said all specialized training takes place, should take him weeks. He couldn’t be there already, so he must be in transit. He couldn’t have even started his training yet...." Alexa frowned. "Unless there’s a training facility near here. They could have gotten him here. They just don’t want to."
"Why would the military do that?"
"Why wouldn’t they? I’m just a girl, Skye. I’m no one of importance to them." Alexa moved towards her room, leaving Skye to ponder the points she’d brought up.
The air inside the ship was stale from being closed up, but Jack drew in a deep breath nonetheless.
*God, this place feels like home!*
Jack imagined the ship was welcoming her, as the lights and the life support systems came on, the stale air recycling. She took her bag into the bedroom and set it on the bed, unzipping it.
She began to unpack, putting away clothes and toiletries as she listened to Riddick in the front, readying the ship for take-off. When her clothes were put away, she went in search of his bag, finding it on the floor by where the entrance ramp folded down. Taking it up, she turned back towards the bedroom, her glance finding him in the cockpit as she passed the short hallway leading there. He was bent over one console, tight rear outlined nicely by the pants he wore.
She resisted the urge to walk in and run her hands over those outlined curves, not because he wouldn’t enjoy her doing so, but because he was clearing them for departure. With a smile, Jack returned to the bedroom and put Riddick’s clothes away. As she slid the last shirt into a drawer, she felt the unmistakable lurch of the ship taking off.
Riddick was a good pilot, with smooth takeoffs and landings, but there was always that definite lurching feel of the ship taking off. Jack got a dropping sensation in her stomach for a few seconds before normalcy returned. She waited for Riddick as the ship climbed and straightened with a slight tug upon leaving gravity. When he didn’t come back to her, she went to him.
He held out his hand, motioning to her. "Come here."
Jack sat on his lap, gaze looking out at the stars. There was a big ship in the distance, coming closer.
*Home huh?*
It took her a second to realize he’d heard her think the Persephone was home. Jack pressed her forehead to his. *Well, it does feel like home.*
*You like having a home with me, Jack?*
*Yes.* A faint blush crept across her cheeks, and Riddick’s hand came up, fingers sliding into her hair.
*I’ve never had a real home before.*
She drew back enough to look into his eyes. *Never?*
*Never in any wild imagining could anyone think of the Slam as home, Jack.*
Her lips formed an ‘o’.
*You want this to be our home? We could settle somewhere if you want.*
*As long as you’re there, I don’t care.* Jack snuggled against him, putting her head on his shoulder.
*That’s what I thought you’d say.*
They watched the big ship coming closer.
Carolyn gave out an unholy crow of triumph, red lips standing out on a face that was pale, yet the picture of glowing health. "Look at them Marc! They’re waiting for us. Jack’s there; waiting for you to take her and for me...the magnificent Riddick. Get ready." She tossed her head and laughed, arms spreading wide.
On one console, lights flashed, indicating transmissions gone unanswered, but neither Carolyn nor Marc paid the lights any attention.
Marc’s eyes fixed on the tiny ship coming towards them, his lips turning up in a grin. His gaze was burning, intent and more than slightly unhinged. Licking his lips, he moved closer to Carolyn, staring out the glass.
Jack.
Marc crossed his arms, arms that were more muscular than they’d been the last time he’d seen Jack, his breath quickening.
Jack.
He imagined her beside him, her lithe body naked and arms reached out for him.
I’m coming for you, he thought, stepping back to his console.
Melyna stood behind Jack and Riddick, keeping herself shadowed to their gazes, watching the approaching ship with them. When the ship was close enough to hail, she leaned down, her lips at Riddick’s ear.
Beware false friends.
Now, she bent beside Jack, whispering in her ear.
Change course now.
Jack sat up; her brow turned down in a frown. "Change our course."
Riddick eased her from his lap. "Why?"
Her frown turned puzzled. "I don’t know. I just think we should...."
He nodded. "Good enough for me."
Change course. Now. Before it’s too late.
Melyna whispered in Riddick’s ear just after Jack spoke. As Riddick plotted a new course, Melyna faded away.
Carolyn was all set to hail the Persephone, when the ship turned smoothly and shot away. Anger made her pale skin flush nearly purple. "Marc!" Her voice was choked, spittle dribbling down her chin.
Glancing up from his console, he stared at her, blinking several times before the image of Jack naked and compliant faded before his eyes. "Pursuit course plotted, Carolyn."
"Then follow them."
Marc did as he was told, his thoughts returning to Jack and the things he had planned for her.
In the cargo hold of the Persephone, Garritt made his way to the hatch and started up the steps.