< I would also like to thank Bitten for her help and encouragement.>
Chapter 44; Death Comes
At first, there was darkness all around her, a viscous, sticky darkness that she swam with great difficulty through. It slid along her limbs, sucking at her, but in gradual degrees, the darkness began to slide away. The part of the creature that was Carolyn woke fully, pushing at the blackness. There was a light, she felt it, an end to her prison.
Too much fucking darkness, Carolyn thought willing her eyes to open. Images were blurry, the eyes of her body already open. She could hear her own voice, or rather the voice coming from her lips, and see two figures before her. Confusion settled on her. Where was she? Who was she talking to?
An awareness shot through her, complete awareness of being in her body and yet not in control in the slightest facet. It was like being a passenger instead of the driver, her thought or force of will couldn’t move her arms and legs, although she tried, and her lips kept moving without her to use them. It was a frightening revelation, and one she hated. Before, when she’d woken, she’d only had a brief glimpse of her fate. Now, it was thrashed home on her. Her greatest fear had become her fate.
*No. God no. I can’t live like this for the rest of my life.*
But what makes you think you’re living at all, her thoughts continued. What makes you think you aren’t dead and your body is being used by some parasitic creature?
It couldn’t be that. She wasn’t dead. Her body was breathing. She may not be able to move, but she could feel the weight of the limbs, the rise and fall of her breast in breath, and her heart pumping. She could hear her voice. For God’s sake, how could a dead woman talk? It couldn’t be that, so it must be something else. Something else entirely.
She was swimming up from the last vestiges of that dark place, the veil over her vision lifting, the scene before her snapping to clarity in a painful fraction of a second. It was Riddick and Jack before her, both looking more than a little worse for the wear. At least...she assumed the young woman was Jack; the facial features were right, what one might expect for the girl to have aged like. Her eyes though....
*Her eyes are glowing. How beautifully strange.*
The young woman was in her underwear, her honey blond hair long and flowing over her shoulders in a tangled mass. Tension crackled about them, her and Riddick both, a sense of extreme urgency almost like a fog creeping in the air. They were anxious about something. But what? And what could she do to help them?
Carolyn looked from her own eyes and plotted to overthrow the creature that had taken her over.
~~~~~~~~~~
In the barest twitch of an eye, the Carolyn creature leapt, ending the strained silence between the three. A skittering, spider quickness defined her movements. Jack had a second to react, the woman’s freezing cold hands wrapping about her throat in a grip that was vice-like. The passing of the precious seconds before the ship was to self-destruct beat a tattoo in her brain, seconds booming, keeping that time. She knew this fight was crucial to their survival. She’d either beat the creature or die trying.
Both women fell backwards, Jack struggling to raise her knee into the Fry-things stomach to flip her while wheezing breaths to keep from blacking out. She saw Riddick’s hands reach out, a fraction too late to pull the creature from her, then returned her attention to the fight.
Her mind focused on the task at hand as Fry rolled them. Bony fingers clenched at her throat, Jack gasping, lungs straining to draw in air. If Fry managed to hit her voice box, it would be over. No! She couldn’t allow that to happen. Not after what she’d been through already. She was not going to die!
“Die, die, die...” Fry’s voice murmured in guttural tone over and over.
Energy infused Jack, the tingling that had held her in check earlier returning. All thoughts of failure flew away in a rush. There was only Fry, only what she had to do to survive. Survival of the fittest. She was fit, so why shouldn’t she be the survivor? Bring it on. A long time ago, she’d have been too scared of the strange writhings on the woman’s skin to touch her, but there was no hesitation in her now. Jack quite trying to loose the talons at her neck and grasped Fry's wrists, gripping as tight as she could and twisting. The flush of rage, pure, unadulterated hatred, distorted Fry’s features as she realized Jack was stronger than she looked.
In gradual degrees, the pressure on Jack’s throat eased, Fry’s grip forced to slacken when there was a sharp crack in her left wrist. She gave a howl, Jack finally getting the leverage to both throw her and gain free breaths.
~~~~~~~~~~
The quickness that was a part of Carolyn infected Jack, or so it looked to Riddick, who found himself rooted to the spot, as though unseen hands held him there. Jack was evenly matching the thing Carolyn had become. Their bodies rolled across the carcass and gore strewn floor, heedless of that sticky, staining mess.
Prep the ship. Do it now. Prep the ship.
Riddick took several steps back, towards the Persephone. He couldn’t leave Jack. Could he? There didn’t seem to be much else he could do though. This was her fight. Carolyn had made it clear that Jack was the object of her rage. Still. Wouldn't it feel too much like leaving her?
You’re not leaving her. You’re prepping the ship while she ties up loose ends.
The voice inside his head made sense and he made his way up the ramp and into the ship. If he didn’t get the ship prepped, they’d never make it off the ship in time.
~~~~~~~~~~
With movements that felt a natural part of her, Jack fought the Fry creature, her arms countering the blows that came her way, her legs kicking up. She moved in an easy and free grace, as though well rehearsed in this final dance between them. Survive. That was all she had to do now.
Fry crouched in a defensive stance, her teeth bared in a low growl. If possible, the silver marking on her skin became more agitated in their writhing, until the woman’s body appeared to be giving off a low light. Jack growled back. “You’re an abomination.”
They circled. Something flickered in the things eyes, the body twitching in violent spasms. Jack moved carefully. Something, she sensed, was wrong with Fry, something more than just being that creature.
*Prepping.*
That one word repeated in Riddick’s voice in her mind. He trusted her to do this. That knowledge gave her the confidence to make the next move.
~~~~~~~~~~
Carolyn hated fighting like this, hated that it was her hands that were at the girl’s throat, that it was her body slamming into her. No. It wasn’t going to end this way. It wasn’t going to be her that killed Jack. Firm in her resolve, she began the inner climb up to where the creature housed it’s consciousness inside her.
~~~~~~~~~~
The beads of sweat that dotted Admiral Kirby's brow were growing larger as General Sharpe watched. It was fascinating to watch the man trying to suppress his panic under a guise of normalcy. Sharpe imagined he could hear the man’s heart beating near to bursting. He couldn’t, of course. But the path of his thoughts kept him occupied while they waited for information on the Osiris. There was little info to hear, save the vessel was in self-destruct and the safeguards Theta Riss could have stopped it with were disabled and unfixable.
How had the ship disappeared like it had? As far as he knew, there was no such fanciful thing as ‘cloaking’, so logically, it had to have been somewhere. Where though? That was yet another question he had to the growing list of questions in his mind. And Black Death. What the hell did that phrase mean? It was almost a certainty to him that the fate of the Osiris was tied up in the words. Kirby was equally nervous on the two subjects, nervous enough that Sharpe knew he could eventually find a connection.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to see Kirby heading for the door. “Admiral? Where are you going?” The man was striding across the floor, steps eating up the space between the consoles and the doorway.
Kirby whirled, face contorted and nearly purple with emotion. “To my office, General. Do you have any objections if I wait there for a report?” His eyes narrowed, as though he thought there would be objections.
A tiny misgiving tickled the back of Sharpe’s mind, but it wasn’t an odd thing for Kirby to do, so he gave a consenting shake of his head. “I’ll join you shortly.”
And then the door slid shut and he again perused the map on the wall.
~~~~~~~~~~
The halls were blessedly deserted, every man manning his post since the Osiris had re-appeared. Stopping for a brief moment in his quarters, Admiral Kirby sent a signal to every member of his main staff. Those who could leave their posts without suspicion would join him at the docking bays and those who couldn’t would disappear as quickly as they could in the following hours. The escape route was planned and everything was ready.
General Sharpe wouldn’t get his curiosity about Black Death solved today.
His grin was feral as he began to lock down every intersecting corridor he passed, making it next to impossible for Sharpe’s team to follow quickly if he‘d been found out already. His own team would take other ways to the docking bay.
As he took the lift down to the lowest deck, he wondered if getting involved in the mission had been such a good idea. Oh sure, it would have been a glorious day when the experiments on the soldiers had finally produced the perfect Elite team. His career would have soured to greater heights when his part was known, but now....With the aborting words spoken, the program would have to be started anew. All the hard work of the past ten years; the fitting of the Osiris with state of the art technology and medical equipment, the intricacies involved in finding funds and backers, and even the recruits themselves, were soon to be gone. The technology and people on the ship would be gone in a matter of minutes, if that long, and he was sure the backers and funding would shy away until the program could be restarted without anyone being the wiser.
‘Black Death’ was the code phrase for a plan of action in case the Osiris was compromised or suspected to be such. Those words ensured that the evidence of the experiments on the Osiris, including the men themselves, would be destroyed. Plans of escape for all involved were to be carried out. Kirby would disappear for awhile, until someone could take care of the nosy General Sharpe and his team. It could be months or years, but the mission would be back on track soon.
He entered the bay to find his staff waiting and the ship prepped. Once on the ship, he settled into a chair on the bridge. “Release the gas into the station.” There were no protestations as the gas was released, the occupants of Theta Riss quickly overcome and asleep at their posts. Satisfied, Kirby gave the order to leave and the little ship undocked, flying quickly away from the station and to the prearranged safe point.
~~~~~~~~~~
Seven hours after Admiral Kirby had left the bridge of the Theta Riss, General Sharpe came to, along with the rest of the crew. His curses fairly turned the air blue about him. Admiral Kirby hadn’t seen the last of him, that he vowed, the gleam of the hunt in his eyes as he stalked to Kirby’s office to look for clues as to where the man had gone off to. Someone would be hiding Kirby, somewhere. Him and the rest of his staff. If there was ever a time they came face to face again, Kirby would answer for that day, and for the lives of all those that had died on the Osiris. Sharpe made that promise to himself.
~~~~~~~~~~
Carolyn reached her goal, and found a nightmare.
The creature within her was insane, of that she had no doubt. The image of it she faced was her own, yet bizarrely disfigured by silver markings. It grinned at her, teeth sharp and pointed. It took delight in hurting Jack, just as it took delight in hurting the woman it held trapped inside. No more. She wasn’t going to face the darkness again.
Through her eyes, she saw Jack and the determination on the young woman’s face. She was holding her own and pushing her opponent back, her kicks and punches hard and certain. Carolyn knew, from the twinges she felt at each hit, that the creature was losing. Feeling was starting to come back into her body, as though control was lessening. She’d only have a split second, if one at all, if she was going to do anything.
I can do this, she thought.
Carolyn ignored her fear of the darkness and rushed at the creature.
~~~~~~~~~~
It all came down to control. That was what was winning the fight. It wasn’t skill or strength, but control. Jack had control. She allowed herself a tiny smile as the Fry creature began to bleed. Every fraction of a second’s pause was time enough for her to strike.
She could hear the Persephone in the background, a barely there noise as she concentrated. It was prepped and ready, the engines whining ever so slightly. Time slowed, the seconds passing like minutes. She kicked, leg lashing upward at the creature.
Fry’s eyes cleared, the eerie white film bleeding into nothing, revealing the woman within. Her head tossed back, baring the smooth white throat. Jack’s kick struck her there, instead of the face where it would have hit. The film returned, then cleared, then returned in her eyes, Fry staggering back, hands clutching at her throat. Blood spilled from bright red lips.
The light of rage and life left her face, and the form of Carolyn Fry fell to the floor in a graceless heap.
Jack turned and sprinted to the Persephone, the ramp shutting as she moved on it. Riddick piloted the ship out; she could feel them moving, hear the screech as the sides of the Persephone scraped the bay doors. She hugged the floor as the Osiris blew up, shockwaves rocking them. Anything not held down, including herself, rolled across the floor. Jack gulped in air.
*I'm alive.*
She’d scarcely stood when her belly was gripped by cramps and nausea. The sensation was becoming old now after the past hours and she staggered into the bathroom, ignoring the tremors as she drew a bath.
*Go with it. Just go with it. Don’t let it take you over. Ride it. Isn’t that what Riddick says to do?*
Mechanically, she added bubble bath to the water and stood staring down at it.
*Oh my God, I killed! I killed someone!*
Jack turned her head to see her reflection in the mirror. Large eyes stared back at her, eyes that were still glowing and filled with tears. With a cry of anguish, she closed off her mind from Riddick.
~~~~~~~~~~
The return home, for Melyna, was always filled with a sense of urgency. Once upon a time, that urgency wouldn’t have been present, yet ever since the Dark Ones had been imprisoned, her people had known the day would eventually come when they’d need allies in the outside. She, and others like her, had begun to search for those to call friends in the coming times.
Occasionally in their search, they’d brought vessels through to a twilight place in existence. Melyna was livid to find that the Osiris had been in such a place, as had the Persephone. Her people had brought the two ships there for a short while, while the battle had begun between Riddick, Jack and the Dark One. It had been their barrier that had stopped the Persephone from fleeing the Dark One.
She ran to the meeting chamber, flinging open the doors to find all her faction, and then some, gathered. “What have you done!” She yelled, lowering her hood.
The others were silent for long moments, until one figure came towards her. “We thought it best to confine the ships. Why are you angry, Melyna? The two you chose were successful. It seems you were right about the girl. She does possess natural powers.”
“It’s plain you’ve no knowledge of humans, Gallus. That other vessel was missed. Did you even think before you whisked it through?” He had the grace to look ashamed of himself.
“It worked out for the best though. The Guardians are safe....”
“They haven’t been asked.” Now she was the one under angry gazes. What had happened that she’d been unaware of? She’d been so busy trying to help Jack and Riddick that she’d ignored everything else. “Gallus?”
His eyes lowered, a heavy sigh coming from him. “The Dark Ones are escaping. Several ships landed on T2 an hour ago. The Dark Ones have taken over nearly half the crews already. One ship has lifted off.” He gave a helpless shrug. “It has begun and we need those Guardians at our side.”
After all Jack and Riddick had just been through, she’d hoped to let them heal for a few weeks, or even months, but it couldn’t be that way. A sadness welled in her chest as she nodded. “Very well. Bring them.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Am I a bad person, Jack thought, her back against the wall of the bathroom, tiles warm along the icy flesh of her back. She knew she should grab some towels to wrap around her. Even the silky robe hanging from the brass hook would be an improvement over her gore splattered underwear.
The bath water she’d ran was getting cold, bubbles disappearing into watery oblivion, yet she couldn’t get herself up, out of her underwear and into it, despite the knowledge of what, exactly, was streaking her skin. Jack felt disconnected from herself, as though the body sitting and shivering on the bathroom floor was not her own; she was simply a visitor passing through.
Shock. It had to be shock, she decided almost clinically.
Am I a bad person? Am I, she wondered, shaking hands going through her hair again and again, snagging through sticky tangles and yanking through them, heedless of the snips of pain the action caused. Outside the door, Riddick prowled with restless steps, his pacing footfalls loud and measured. He was waiting, she knew, for some sign that she was okay.
Why not let him back in her mind? Why not take the comfort he was pushing at her in waves?
She could hear snatches of the thoughts in his mind, for she’d only closed her connection to him; his thoughts still reached her. His reasoning, Jack knew, was that the steady drone of his voice in her head would calm her, keep the hysteria from overtaking her. Somewhere after she’d shut off the water to the tub, she’d closed off his thoughts, unable to handle the influx of another's thoughts into her own pain-filled and disturbing ones.
Was she a bad person? That was the most troubled of her thoughts. She’d killed Marc, then Fry. No, no, no! Neither one had been the person they’d been, all true empathy gone and only selfish desires remaining. Although, in the end, Marc’s true self had surfaced, for that last gasping breath of a drowning man. What of Fry? In the final seconds of their fight, when it had become apparent that Jack was stronger by far, those strange blank eyes of Fry’s had cleared. Had the creature let Fry know she was going to die? Had Fry been in that creature at all? Had it only been using a soulless body?
With a sob, Jack let the walls she’d erected in her mind crumble down into dust and blow away under the persistent wind of Riddick’s thoughts.
*Am I a bad person?*
*No, honey. You’re a very good one. What gave you the idea you aren’t?*
“I killed them!” Her voice broke twice as she screamed the words, her hands slapping the floor in a quick rhythm, bruising already bruised and tender flesh.
“It was self defense, Jack.”
“Not Marc, Riddick. Not Marc.” Guilt was drowning her, wave after frothy, churning wave pulling her under a sea of self-doubt.
“He was fucked in the head. It was you or him. You know that.” The guttural tones of his voice were a rock to hang on to, the calm voice of reason and sanity.
In a swift movement, she rolled onto her hands and knees, ignoring the nausea that still sloshed in her belly. Crawling the few feet to the door, Jack released the lock and opened it. “For sure, Riddick? Do know it for sure?” She stared up at him, trusting him to help her sort this out.
~~~~~~~~~~
She’d been through hell and back and looked it, big blue eyes staring up at him from her position on the floor, her lithe body covered in that bloody sludge from the floor of the Osiris. That gore streaked nearly every exposed surface of her skin.
“Yes. You know it.” Crouching down, Riddick smoothed the matted blond curls from her forehead. “In your heart, you know it. He wasn’t any good anymore.”
“What do I tell Alexa?”
“Just that he was dead. It won’t do her any good to know what he’d become.” A swift glance showed him that the tub was filled and waiting. At least she’d gotten that far before shock took her. “Now let’s get you cleaned up.”
Her nod was a bare tilt of her head. Her teeth chattered slightly as he helped her to stand and strip off the foul pieces of cloth. Riddick bathed her with gentle strokes when her hands wouldn’t move without shaking, washing her as he would a new born babe. Once she was standing, shivering from cold air on her water warmed body, he wrapped the thickest, softest towel he could find about her and carried her to their bad.
He only left her for a moment; to take a quick swipe at his own body with a washcloth. until the shock had passed, he wouldn’t leave her for very long. There were no words spoken between them, their thoughts subdued as they both drifted off into the sleep of the emotionally and physically exhausted.
~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn’t surprising to him that she remained somewhat quiet when they woke after a long sleep. Shock could do that to a person, make them think about things they’d taken for granted.
*At least she hasn’t retreated into herself again. That’d be a fuckin’ problem and a half. Shit, for awhile I was afraid I’d lost her, her mind shutting down like that---*
He took a deep breath and glanced askance at her as he fastened his pants. She was slipping on a loose peasant shirt and pants that slung low on her hips. He watched her tuck the shirt in. There was the strangest expression on her face, like she was deep in contemplation of some profound idea.
*She’s fine. No worries. Don’t get yourself all twisted over this---*
“You know the biggest problem...“ She looked over her shoulder at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes, “...with having a telepathic link with another person? How do you know you’re not crazy when you ask a question and get an answer?” Her grin was a shadow of her former grins, but wonderfully there nonetheless. “I’m fine, Riddick. I’m just...I think I’ve aged about fifty years in a few days. It’s gonna take time to get used to all these thoughts.” Jack went to the door. “Where’d you head us? Anywhere special?”
He shook his head and shrugged on a shirt. “No. I got us out and put us on auto.”
“Mmm.” Her head cocked. “Let’s get some food. I’m famished. Starving. Hungry.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Their breakfast hour should have been a leisured one, a recuperating moment after the trauma of the past few days, yet no sooner had they washed the dishes, then Riddick detected a slowing of the ship. It was only a tiny degree of change, yet one he felt in every pore of his body. He made his way to the cockpit, Jack following.
*What is it?*
*Not sure. Feels like our speed dropped. Let me check....*
He looked over the panels, questions rising within him, like why did the instruments show nothing out of the ordinary?
*Tell me this isn’t the other shoe dropping, Riddick.*
“It’s not the other shoe.” Even as the words came out of his mouth, they were tossed about the cockpit, the Persephone slamming to a halt, easing forward in slow motion and pushing forward like it had been shot from a canon. When they had caught their breath, Jack sat up and rolled her eyes.
“What was that you just said? ‘Not the second....’Fuck me, Riddick!” Her eyes were trained on the front glass, doe wide, her mouth open. Jack gave a disbelieving shake of her head. “No fucking way.”
He followed her gaze and had to blink several times to get his mind around what he was seeing. “Baby, we sure as hell aren’t in Kansas anymore.” Gone were the shimmers of the stars in inky black. They’d been replaced by a red glimmers in a sea of fluid silver, like hot sparks in molten silver. The Persephone kept course; the passage into wherever they’d gone hadn’t stopped any of the systems. With a sudden click, their course changed and one red, glowing star became a large looming planet before them.
The Persephone descended.
~~~~~~~~~~
The atmosphere was Earth-like, although the terrain was strange. Cinnamon earth stretched out, a thick forest of bright yellow trees standing outside the glass in the cockpit several feet away. Through the glass, they could see a parade of white and gray robed figures wending their way towards them. Riddick stood, and Jack glanced at him.
“What do we do?”
“We greet whoever they are.” He held out his hands, beckoned her with a twitch of his fingers. “I don’t think we’re in danger from them, Jack. I don’t get that feeling. But since I didn’t pilot us here, I'm assuming they might have.”
There were no other questions in his thoughts that she heard, nothing he was hiding or trying to keep from her. The link between them was strong and steady and very wide open. She placed her hands in his and let him lead her to the ramp. It lowered, and the fragrance of honeysuckle perfumed the air about them. The temperature was warm, not too hot or cold; perfect for them. Jack found the sky bright enough that she could see, yet not so bright that she had to squint. A quick look at Riddick showed he was perfectly content without his goggles.
The figures came to them, making lines that curved about the Persephone in a half-circle. One by one, they threw back the hoods covering their heads, Jack gasping. Each face was astoundingly beautiful, glowing with a soft, radiant and shimmering light. A warmth slid up her, encasing her like a warm bath. Jack stepped onto the ground, finding it spongy beneath her boot clad feet. Riddick stood behind her, a comforting presence at her back. By his place there and his silence, it seemed he was giving her leave to speak for them, so she did.
Okay Jack, ask away. “Where are we?”
The woman at the center front moved forward. “You are in Presia, another...layer of the galaxy. This is our home. Originally.”
“What do you want?” Her voice sounded so loud and clear, a strong, authoritative tone.
The woman came closer, arms held out, palms facing them and fingertips turned to the ground. “I am Melyna. And what we want is the two of you.”
Riddick’s hands gripped her waist, keeping her from backing up, his voice in her mind reassuring her that he still didn’t feel any danger from the people. She took long slow breaths, fighting the urge to pant and increase that glimmer of panic in her chest. “You can’t have us.”
Lips curved into smiles and Melyna tilted her head. “But we do have you, Jack. You’ve both been marked by my own hand. Riddick’s mark is years old and your is only weeks. The mark given to you has opened the channel to your own powers, those natural in you that have laid dormant.”
“Powers?” Her hands crept up to her neck, where the choker had become a part of her. She’d known she was changing and grown to accept the changes. How much more was there?
“Yes, the choker. I’d hoped your powers would open up and the choker allowed it to happen.” The woman was joyful, the radiance on her face increasing until Jack had to squint. “You tapped into them earlier. That quickness...it’s natural. You’re a force to be reckoned with Jack, and you can share that with Riddick.”
“Why would I do that? What do you get?”
“We get two Guardians. The prison couldn’t hold the Dark Ones forever. A faction of us knew that.”
“Dark Ones?” Riddick’s deep voice interrupted, a curious lilt to the words. Jack had the peculiar sensation that he’d heard something of this at some other time.
“The creature in Carolyn Fry’s body. When she was taken, they sensed their time to return to the outside was near. They were right. Ships have landed on T2 and more have been taken. More creatures like Fry are out there right now, waging war on us and humankind. They will take those they want and kill the rest until they are the only ones left.” She paused. “I marked you and him Jack, for that natural power in you is the power of an Ancient in a full blooded human. You haven’t spent lifetimes hiding from what is there as most of us have done. You know what’s out there and you’ve fought it. You won; you and Riddick. You both have the ability to head the army for the second war that is beginning. Just share your blood with him through a cut and the power will even out between you....”
Jack pushed Riddick back, up the ramp, using all of her strength to budge him. “No! I won’t get involved in someone else’s war. This doesn’t concern me, or Riddick....” Why couldn’t there ever be a happily ever after? Why did everything have to get all screwed to hell just when she thought her world was settling down? “We refuse.”
“And your answer, Riddick?”
The creatures were raising their hoods, turning one by one from them and striding away, until only the one was left, alone at the bottom of the ramp. The silence was broken by the mournful howling of wind in the weird yellow treetops. Riddick sighed and began to back up the ramp the last final steps into the Persephone.
“You heard her...Ancient. I have to respect her wishes. However much I might feel your need....” The sky began to darken. “We refuse your offer to guardian.”
No one tried to stop them and the Persephone glided through the strange barrier with the same pull and push as before, their course straightening. Jack plopped into the co-pilots chair and looked up at Riddick. His silver shined eyes stared back. “What?” He looked her up and down, then shook his head, fingers moving on the panels. “You think I should have accepted? You think I spoke too hastily? What?” He still didn’t answer, the link in their minds growing narrower as he closed off what he didn’t want her to hear. That closure irritated her. He was getting good quickly at hiding a part of him. “Will you fucking answer me?”
His tongue flicked out, ran along his lower lip, and his head tilted back for a second before he looked askance at her. “Yes, Jack, I do think you were hasty. There are wars and then there are wars, and knowing what we do about Carolyn makes me think this war is one that needs all the help it can get.”
“What, has Big Evil become Mr. Compassion all of a sudden?”
“No. But how would you like Skye to be taken over? Or Imam? Or Alexa even? All your surrogate family turned against you? If what they said is true, it could happen. Who knows how quick they take a host?” Wide shoulders lifted in a shrug. “All I think is that you should have listened and not been so hot to say ‘no’.”
Jack snorted. “I’m gonna go read.” Getting up, she hurried from the cockpit before he could stop her. Maybe she should have listened. Maybe she should have even said yes, but what about what she wanted; the peaceful time alone with Riddick to love and be loved? How often did she get what she wanted?
*All the time. I get what I want most of the fucking time.*
She slid to the floor by the bedroom door, back braced against the wall. She’d gotten so many of her wants in her life, from a new life to the love of her life. How many people were going to lose their lives, or their family to the creatures? Riddick was right. How fast would the plague of the Dark Ones spread? How fast would planets be eaten up by them, and people enslaved?
Questions filled her mind, over and over in circles, the agony of decision taking her over. The Ancient, Melyna, did she still have hope that they’d agree? What would it do to Melyna to be wrong?
Jack laid her head on her knees and wept.
~~~~~~~~~~
She’d been crying for hours, agonizing over the possible fates of billions of people they’d likely never meet. When the decision was firm in her mind, he somehow wasn’t surprised by it. He waited for her to come to him; to verbally speak the words, and she did come, slim and strangely pure in the plain white nightgown she’d changed into. In her right hand, she carried a knife from the kitchen.
“A lot of people will die, won’t they?”
Riddick nodded. That was an understatement. Humanity would be obliterated if it went as the Ancients intimated it would. “A lot of people die every day.”
Jack knelt before him, taking his hands and drawing the sharp blade over his palms. He willed himself not to react at the stinging kiss of the knife. Blood welled up as she cut her own palms. “But they’ll die before their times, won’t they?” She was staring at their hands as though the answer was there in their blood and she was uncertain it was the right one.
“Could be.” He agreed, nodding amiably. “But could be they were meant to die anyway.”
She gave a tiny choking laugh. “Why can’t it be easy? Why can’t it ever be straight black and white instead of these damn shades of gray?”
“Life isn’t like that. There are only those shades. Everything ends up gray.”
“Yeah.” Her eyes glinted, big sapphire gems. “As long as we’re together....” She edged his hands up until their palms were facing, blood dripping down their nearly touching skin in slow rivulets. “Then I can bear this. Promise me you won’t leave me.”
“This is forever, honey. I promise.”
Her hands clasped his, their blood mingling and a tingling taking him over, Jack’s power traveling along his skin in a silver sheen. He could feel it taking hold of him, a piece of her settling inside him. They were one, two yet a single person, and it felt right.
“Forever.” Jack smiled a soft smile. “I like the sound of that.” Her lips brushed his in a kiss that sealed them together.
~~~~~~~~~~
In a space between time, Melyna smiled and rushed to reassure her people, while somewhere in the vastness of the empty shipping lanes near T2, the last of the Dark Ones fled their prison in stolen bodies.
The End