Morph

Chapter 8: Confessions

The mission is strictly classified. The Corporation wants Ryan alive; if he were indeed Riddick's kin, then they would want him for questioning. *Riddick's kin, yeah right * I would never tell them that it's Riddick himself, it's a street code, you never rat out. However Riddick owes me, a lot. Aboard the Maddox, Deacon and I travel into the Terzago system. It takes us about a week to arrive. Riddick has a jump-start, not that it would help him much. There's no doubt in my mind that Riddick has changed the Death Row's name by now, so there's no point in trying to locate it by title. Inside this system, there is a planet called Remora and that's were he'd be: a planet that shelters all races and species.

"Nyla, how can you be so sure they're on this planet? I mean there are about 15 or more planets in this system alone." Deacon sends a message to Remora, requesting clearance to enter.

I sit next to him and sigh "Let's say I have a hunch." He looks at me frowns, then smiles.

"Command center to Maddox, you have clearance to enter the Remora space station."

Once we dock, I tell Deacon I'm going to stock up on some supplies. I head towards Tunix town. I almost forgot how beautiful it is here. The city is very modern and busy, which is why Riddick always came here. The perfect place to hide, looking for him here would be like looking for a needle in a haystack ~ it would be for the corporation anyway. I walk to the nearest rental station; we would need a hovercraft for the days we would be here. The Corporation offered to give us a military one, but that would attract too much attention. I pick up some food, water, ammo and head back to the Maddox.

Deacon is inside the ships small dojo, boxing, working up a sweat ~ he's nervous. * Maybe this isn't the best time to tell him we're after the most dangerous man in the galaxy, Richard B. Riddick. * I scoff at my own thought. Deacon stops his brutal assault on the bag and looks at me.

"What?" he takes his gloves off.

"Maybe you should get out of the ship for a while, come on I'll show you around." I throw him a canteen with water. We take turns taking a shower. I dress in a green halter-top that matches my eyes and a black leather skirt that's low on my hips showing my pelvic bone. Deacon comes out wearing a blue tank top, black jeans and with these shinny blue shoes. I stare at him with a raised eyebrow and grin.

He looks down at my feet and with a laugh says "Oh yeah, I like your cowgirl boots too"

I look down at my boots, "Hey! I'll have you know they're trendy, yet I can kick ass in them too" we both laugh and head into town. We come across what looks like a club, immediately the name catches my attention 'Darkness Falls' ~ bingo! I pull Deacon by the arm and we head inside.

This place lives up to its name. The music is blasting; Deacon has a huge smile on his face and yells in my ear "We have to go on more missions like this!" I smile.
A dimly lit hallway leads to a huge bar that is shaped in a semi-circle. Smoke floats atop the floor, giving you a feeling of walking on clouds. The place is partly crowded; all sorts of people are on the dance floor. The music is blaring, a techno beat is playing and hands are in the air. Laser lights cut through the smoke filled air.

"I'm gonna get us a drink." Deacon says, squeezing my side. I spot an empty table that rests on a slightly raised floor, making the dance floor look more viewable ~ I move towards it and sit. A few minutes later I spot Deacon on the dance floor with soedheedhead, *So much for my drink... men. * I chuckle to myself. Waving my hand in the air, I catch the attention of a young male host. I order my drink and stare at the crowd. I hear something like a whisper, calling me in my mind and I look up from my drink. From across the dance floor a pair of eyes stare at me. I notice, but act as if I don't. Casually I glance at him, he smiles at me ~ I smile back. He's stunning! Dark hair, dark eyes and he has style! *I just might get lucky, tonight. * Finishing my drink, I decide it's time to play. I make my way to the center of the dance floor. As if on cue, a hypnotic beat begins to play and the lights match the tempo, I lose myself. A hand comes up on my hip from behind pulling me close; I don't even break my rhythm. He moves his hands up and down my exposed back, sending shivers all over my body. Now I can feel his breath on my neck as he comes in close to whisper in my ear.

"Dancing with danger?" the voice is low and raspy. My eyes open wide as realization hits me. *How could I be that stupid! * I try to turn around and look at him but he keeps me in place. Eyeing around the crowd, I try to find Deacon *There he is. * Still dancing with the redhead. His hand goes inside my skirt and to the inside of my thigh *Shit * he finds my gun. "Oh yeah, you definitely like danger."

"You should know, you taught me not to fear it." He twists me around to look at him. The disguise he's wearing suits him. Now we're face to face, but we keep dancing. Neither one of us wants to attract attention to ourselves. With my hands behind him, I hit my comm unit, alerting Deacon. *Look at your wrist, Deacon. * I plea. Riddick would never hurt me, at least that's what I keep telling myself.

"So you became a Merc, how ironic." he looks around, before we stop dancing and concentrates back on me.

"Nothing personal Riddick." I proudly say with a smirk *Touche. * He cups my face and stares deeply into my eyes with a look of repent ~ I tremble.

"Gotta go, Jack, see you soon cowgirl" he turns and strides out the door. I just stand there looking at him, spellbound ~ my thoughts are interrupted as Deacon grabs my arm.

"Hey, you OK? I just got your alert." behind him the redhead waits for him. I can hear Deacon and the music in the background. One memory floods my mind.

~~~~~~ Nayarit was a very hot planet. That day, I'd woken up with a huge headache. My back was stuck to the sheets, sweat covered my clothes and hair. I got up from my bed and headed to Riddick's room, but he was already gone. He'd told me of one last job he had to do, before we left to the Clarendon System. Psyched for the trip all my belongings were already packed. All I had to do now was wait ~ and I did. Riddick was gone all day, something very unusual for him. Usually he'd be done with a job in only a few hours. By 1900 hours my heart was pounding and my nails were almost down to a stub. He walked in a little after that. His face was pale and he was sweating profusely. I remember him telling me that it was because of the heat, but at night the temperature cooled down, anyway I bought the story at the time. After I asked him what took him so long he just smiled and told me that he had to say goodbye to some old friends ~ Right! Riddick didn't have friends. He disappeared into the foyer. While he was gone I grabbed my hand held and looked over our destination root and checklist making sure we had everything we needed for our trip. When he returned he had two glasses in his hand. I smiled and gave him a look.

"Let's toast" he sat across from me and handed me a glass.

"OK? What for?" my eyebrows quirked.

"For the brand new lives that await us. No more running, no more scamming. You deserve better than that kid. Promise me that you'll never be like me." His eyes penetrate into my soul.

Something in his eyes scared me at that moment. "Riddick..."

"Just promise me Jack" his voice was low and stern.

With a knot in my throat I managed to say, "I promise" I knew he was planning something * He won't leave me here... would he? * I'd thought at the time.

"Is everything OK, Riddick?" I asked. He gave me the warmest smile I'd seen, stood up and held me in his arms. Maybe it was the moment, but I could have sworn I heard him sniffle. My eyelids begin to feel heavy and my vision becomes blurry.

"Riddick?" my eyes close and I body becomes limp.

The last thing I remember him saying was "Sorry Jack"

When I woke up my head felt like a brick, all his things were gone and I was surrounded by men in black. ~~~~~~


The world around me comes back in focus. Struggling with my words I say, "I'm fine... I'm out of here." I drag my feet across the dance floor *He called me cowgirl * maybe it was the boots, but something tells me there's more to it. Deacon calls for me but I keep my pace, I hear him tell the redhead he'll call her and catches up with me.

"Wait up Nyla, what happened in there, did someone mess with you? Because if they did..." my own laugh startles me. Abruptly I stop and grab him by the shoulders.

"We need to talk.\s tis time to tell him about Riddick.

To be continued...