Morph

Chapter 5: The Job

Chief Carmine beckoned me early in the morning. I go into his huge, dully decorated office, expecting to be yelled at for the night before. He tells me to take a seat and I comply. There's a file on hisk ask and he's reading through it. I take this time to look around his office; plaques of honor adorn the walls along with certificates, diplomas, etc. A picture frame on his desk catches my attention. It's sitting sideways so it makes it a little difficult to see, but its a girl about my age, her features are a little hard to make out. *Probably his daughter * his voice make my eyes dart back to him.

"Off Ric Richards, I need your expertise in a case" he's fiddling with a chip, passing it from finger to finger. "Here, maybe this will clear things up" he inserts the chip into the computer, a small screen rises from his desk. A picture of Saia comes up and all her stats are laid out.
Her estimated age is 26 years old. Race is Kyie. Wanted in 3 galaxies. "As you can see Richards, this woman is wanted for not only pirating, but for counterfeiting, ID theft, attempted murder and murder in more than one galaxy. The child she came here with is illegal, she has no license to have children, and therefore the child will remain in our custody for the moment. There is one thing I need you to do for me" *Here it comes * " We need to bring in her husband" he types something in and another picture comes up ~ my eyes widen and my heart jumps to my throat. "His name is Ryan, I believe he could be Richard B. Riddick's kin" everything else he says doesn't matter to me now, looking at that picture, made by blood boil. I'm still so steamed at him but yet my heart still loves him *Damn him * The Chief knows there's no need to explain about Riddick, many people believed him to be a myth but anyone with military knowledge knows he's quite real. And now the Chief has an itch he needs to scratch, if there is any possibility that Riddick is alive, it would be the event of a decade. Alertuld uld be put in place, the Corporation would again put out a price on his head, and Mercs will start tracking his ass down.

"OK, so why not give this to one of your trained Mercs, I mean they have more knowledge in that department than me, I'm just a flight officer" I don't want this job, nope I cant, there's no way.

"Nyla listen to me" *Shit he called me by my name* "In the past four and half years you've shown me more skill and knowledge than most of my veterans here. There is no one else I would send out to do this job, of course I wouldn't send you alone, you'd go with Smith and would have full access to all weapons, ship and credits you need. Please think about it" he leans back on his leather chair waiting for my decision *Well, I guess I could sleep on it *

"I'll get back to you first thing tomorrow morning Sir" he seems content with that. I salute and leave his office, the picture of Ryan or whatever his name is engraved in my head. *Could that be Riddick? He would never be so careless as to let the Corporation get this close to him. And if it is him, then how does Saia and the child fit in? * A thought pops in my head and I feel nauseous, I stop and lean on the wall for a second. No wonder the Chief seemed so interested in the child; he could be Riddick's... son! Oh my God! Is Saia his wife? I close my eyes, trying not to think of that. My eyes sting and I'm caught off guard by a sob. Why did it hurt so much? I start running towards the living quarters. My thoughts drift to the past.

~~~~ The first planet we visited was Nayarit; more of a waste zone than anything else. Riddick had some people he could do some business with there. His credit account was running low and we needed to begin our way to the Clarendon systems. There we would be set. Federation has no influence on the planets there. Everyday I ventured out with him, he took mostly bag jobs for sh, no, not the most decent job but it paid well. He made sure I occupied myself, I took interest in computers, some of his associates had kids my age so I kind of hung out with them until Riddick returned from his 'Job'. They taught me so much, like another language where you learn the curse words first, I started learning to hack into security systems, and then I learned the basics. We went from stealing identities to breaking into peoples credit accounts and transferring them into our own bogus accounts. Riddick was proud of me, his own little scam artist. Of course I found ways to help him as well. Soon after we had enough money to ship out of that rock, with a brand new ship too, it turns out Riddick is very good at persuading people, especially with their lives. ~~~~

I run smack dab into a cadet, the impact sends me flying backwards and I land on my ass * That's gonna leave a mark * She lifts me up and asks me if I'm alright, but I just keep running. I need to talk to someone. Keeping Riddick a secret has been the hardest thing for me to do. I mean who would believe me anyway ~ Deacon. If I take this job, he'll be partner and secrets are never a good thing to keep on a mission, it may cost you your life. Entering my room I head straight to the bathroom and I almost don't make it to the john. * EEWWW * I wash my face with cold water and head back out.

To be continued...