Back To The Night
Author: Mickey
Summary: The continuing story of Riddick after the events of Pitch Black.
Chapter 1
The skiff rounded out of the darkness of the planet. Bright light drenched
the cabin. Riddick reached for his goggles and slowly put them on. Jack
and Imam sat in the far back of the cabin. Sleep had overtaken them, quickly.
As he looked at them, he could hardly believe the events of the last 24
hours. Had it only been that long? It seemed as if a lifetime had passed.
Maybe it had. What had happen? He faced forward and turned the skiff away
from the three suns, the suns that had surrounded the planet that had changed
everything. His reflective eyes focused on the darkness of space. Strange,
this darkness was calming, quiet, and somehow uncertain, unlike the darkness
they had just survived.
"Not for me," he muttered quietly.
Why? Why did she do that? She could have saved herself and the others. She could have left him there. He would have. He searched the far reaches of his once hardened heart.
"Would I have left her?" he asked the darkness. He knew the answer, "No."
She died saving him. Why? He wasn't worth saving. His hand slowly came to his goggles and pulled them down around his neck. It was that moment he realized a single tear escaped his eye. He quickly and angrily wiped it away. He didn't cry. Riddick didn't cry.
"Tell them Riddick's dead," he remembered telling Jack, "He died somewhere on that planet." Why would he cry? He was alive and he was free. But she was dead. It had never bothered him to be around death or even be the cause, so why should this? He waited for death every chance he got. He even prayed for it. Every time he escaped, he'd hoped that this would be the time Johns would forget that he was worth twice as much alive and just kill him. But his greatest tormentor knew it would be merciful to just kill him. All this time that was what Riddick had prayed for...Death. Now, as his whole life stood before him, so uncertain, all he wanted was to live. But, how?
Noise from the back of the cabin made him instinctively grab for his makeshift knife. Imam stood there, hands up.
"Sorry," Riddick said, "Habits are hard to break."
"No, it is I who am sorry. I should know not sneak up on you after all that has happen." There was a long silence between them. It was finally broken with the inevitable question.
"What now, Mr. Riddick?" Imam asked already knowing the answer.
"I wish I knew, Holy Man."
"No one has to know who you are. Your identity is safe with the girl and myself."
"I know that," he replied," Unfortunately it won't be that simple."
"Why is that?," Imam asked confused, "Johns is dead, he can no longer hurt you."
"Hurt has nothing to do with it," he retorted quickly realizing he had shouted his eyes went to the floor as he ran his hands over his shaven head. His eyes stayed focused on the floor as Imam spoke.
"What she did for you was give you a chance. She gave you the chance to be the man I see in you. She saw it too. She could have left you... I wanted her to, but she didn't, Mr. Riddick. Don't waste the life she has given you."
"I didn't ask her to. I was going to leave you all there. I was going to leave you and the girl there. How does that make you feel about me now, Father?"
"It makes me feel good," he said as Riddick finally looked into his eyes, "I know you feel a guilt knowing that she gave something that you were not willing to give." Riddick stared forward.
"It doesn't matter that you were going to leave us there or not. The truly important question is would you leave us there now? Knowing what you know?" Riddick closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
"No," he said.
"Then she gave herself for a true purpose. For you."
Knowing Riddick was done talking, Imam returned to the back of the skiff. Now he could only sit and stare. He'd only taken life; he's never been given one. He put the skiff on autopilot. He realized how tired he was and how much his leg hurt. Sleep, he thought, that's what I need. He closed his eyes and he saw her face. Did she know before they killed her? Did she know by the look in his eyes that Riddick died the moment that creature pierced her body? Please, let her have known. He thought of Imam's God. Let her have known. Sleep finally began to overtake him. Darkness spread over his mind.
"Not for me."
Chapter 2
Teeth, eyes, screaming, flashing lights, and blood. These sights and sounds were everywhere. Riddick thrashed at them trying anything to make them go away. The sounds were piercing as he put his hands over his ears trying to block the noise. He felt something jabbing into his chest... it was one of the creatures. They'd gotten him after all. He stared at the creature in disbelief. It began to thrash its head trying to tear him in two. Riddick yelled out in frustration. Shaking him, shaking him...
"Riddick!" Jack screamed while shaking the dreaming mans shoulders, "Wake up!"
Riddick's eyes flipped open. He had a wild look, a look Jack had never seen on Riddick's face before.... Fear. It took a few seconds but Jack finally came into focus. The once invincible convict sat in the cockpit shaking like a child.
"Are you all right, Mr. Riddick?", Imam asked.
"I'm fine," he replied coldly. He waited a minute to gather himself and continued, "What's going on? Why did you wake me?"
"There is a ship coming in very quickly. I thought you might want to make communications with them," the Holy man answered.
Riddick focused on the radar screen. "Do we have any idea what kind of ship it is?"
"No, but they have been trying to hail us."
"Well, let's see what they want." Riddick began flipping switches. He wanted to hear them before he spoke to them. The voices came in loud and clear.
"Calling unidentified emergency escape craft. This is the salvage ship Rena Falcon. Do you have an emergency?"
Jack looked at Riddick, "What do you think?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. A salvage ship would be a good place for me to disappear."
He became aware that they wanted to know if they would be safe as well. "I'm sure they can help you both get back on your way to wherever you were going."
"Calling unidentified emergency escape craft. This is the salvage ship Rena Falcon. Do you copy?"
Riddick picked up the headset and put it on. "Rena Falcon, we copy."
"Nice to hear that," a faceless woman replied. "State your name and condition."
"We're in need of transport to the nearest shipping station. Can you assist?"
"Affirmative. What happened?"
"Crash. 40+ casualties. Three survivors."
"Copy that. We are closing in on your position. E.T.A. fifteen minutes."
"Roger that. Please have medical standing by."
"Copy. Are the injuries extensive?"
"Negative," he replied looking at his own leg, "Nothing that some sleep couldn't cure." He thought briefly of the nightmare he had been awakened from.
"We copy that. We will resume contact when we're ready for docking, Mr..."
"Richards. Bryan Richards."
"Copy Mr. Richards. See you soon."
The communications link was cut off. They all looked at each other.
"It's going to be okay, isn't it?" Jack asked.
"Yes," Imam said putting his arm around Jack's shoulders, "Thanks to you, Mr. Riddick."
Riddick stared at him with his steely eyes. "We'll see."
Imam tried to ignore his doubtful tone. He turned his attention to Jack.
"For you, my little one, I will make sure you are well taken care of on New Mecca. There are families there who will treat you as their own and show you a wonderful world where you can be yourself and be loved."
"I don't want to go to New Mecca," Jack said quietly. She moved forward to Riddick and put her hand on his shoulder. "I want to go with you."
He put his hand on hers and looked squarely in her eyes. "You can't go with me."
"Why?"
"There are more reasons than you can count. First of all being, I don't even know where I'M going. At least with the priest, you'll have a home. Second, what makes you think I want you around? You'll just slow me down. You're just a little girl and I don't like to play with dolls."
Jack's face began to melt with the onslaught of tears. She thought he'd cared about her. She really thought she had found a place to belong. She backed slowly away to where Imam stood. He comforted her the best he could.
"It is for the better that you come with me. His life is not that of which you should be a part of."
She wiped her face and whispered. "I'll never feel safe again."
Riddick closed his eyes. Her whisper had reached his ears. Her words cut through him more painfully than any dream or any Slam. He sat in rigid silence as the salvage ship closed in. An icy feeling suddenly came over him. Why were they out this far? A salvage ship in a ghost lane. Why? Salvage ships usually stay within the regular shipping lanes where there is more traffic, more to salvage. There's nothing out here but us. Nothing out here but the Hunter G.
"I got a bad feeling about this," he said quietly to himself. With that, the Rena Falcon hailed.
"Mr. Richards, do you copy?"
"I copy."
"Ready your passengers for docking procedure."
"Roger, initiating docking sequence."
"Copy.... Hold on, it gets a little bit bumpy."
Riddick turned to face the others. "Hold onto something." Everyone grabbed a hold and waited.
"Docking complete in 5.... 4.... 3.... 2...1...." the faceless voice counted. The small skiff shook for a moment and then all was quiet. "Docking complete. Welcome to the Rena Falcon."
Riddick unlatched his harness and stood up. The pain in his leg was worse than he had thought. He fell to the floor.
"Riddick!", Jack called out. She knelt beside him. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," he said looking into her eyes. Her worry was genuine. "Just help me up."
They stood up just as the back of the skiff opened up. There stood about twenty men. Some in masks, some in uniforms, some in civilian clothes. They didn't look friendly. Riddick limped forward and disembarked first. A man came forward to meet him. The two stood for a moment, almost sizing each other up. The man put his hand out.
"Captain Michael T. Falcon," he said.
"Bryan C. Richards," Riddick replied shaking the captains hand. "Permission to come aboard?"
"Granted. What the Hell happened to you?"
"Long story. I'll tell you about it another time. Right now, we could use a little rest."
"Of course," the captain said motioning to some of the masked men. "Take our guests to our guest quarters. Make sure they are looked at by the first medical officer."
The men nodded their hooded heads. "Mr. Richards, you and your group are my guests. I would like you all to join me for dinner this evening and tell us all what happen to you."
"We'll be there."
"Gentleman, until this evening," he swiftly turned taking half of the men with him. The hooded men stood waiting. The biggest man spoke. "Mr. Richards, this way."
He spoke with a voice box. Riddick's alarms went off in his head. Pirates and mercs commonly used voice boxes. He turned to Imam and Jack. They just stared back at him. He turned back to the men.
"Let's go," Riddick said.
The men turned and began to lead them down a hallway. Riddick began sizing everything up. He memorized every turn, every elevator shaft, and every smell. Something isn't right, Riddick thought to himself. I can feel it. They stopped at a door. The lead man opened the door.
"Mr. Richards, this is your quarters. Rest and the first medical officer will be with you," he motioned toward the door.
Riddick limped to the door. Just inside the door he turned to look at Imam and Jack. His eyes met theirs. He tried to memorize their faces as if he might never see them again.
"We will see you at dinner, Mr. Richards," Imam said.
"Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite," said Jack.
Riddick put up a small grin. He wanted to shout, 'Something's wrong! We have to get out of here!' But he knew that would be the end of all.
"See you at dinner," Riddick said.
Just as he finished the door came down fast and hard. He stood both hands against it. Solid steel. There were no controls for opening it on his side. He was right. They were meant to stay right where they put them. Riddick turned to look at his room. At that moment he knew. The darkness was about to return.