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Sight Unseen	By : ehiltebe Category: M through R > Pitch Black Views: 2323 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Riddick, Pitch Black, or any of the characters from that universe, nor am I making any money off this. All I have is Eileen...

Chapter List
- 7
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- 9
Sight Unseen

A Chronicles of Riddick Alternate Universe

Chapter Eight

(Toombs)

Well rested, Toombs strode into th’ control room, feelin’ good about himself. Eve, Meeko, an’ Crash trailed behind him, their entrance makin’ th’ warden look up.

“Good news first.” Th’ phrase told th’ merc that they had bad news, too. “Talked things over with my amigos here. We’ll cut you in for eight hundred fifty K.”

Hot damn. That would make his total share from th’ trio over a quarter million. Gabriel grinned, rubbin’ his hands together in anticipation.

“Well, all right. What’s th’ bad news, they closed th’ local whorehouse?” He laughed at his own joke. As if anyone would set up a brothel on this miserable rock.

“No.” Douruba’s clipped reply sobered him. “The bad news is worse than that.” Only then did Toombs notice th’ guard pullin’ papers out of th’ safe an’ stuffin’ ‘em into a bag. “Our pilot, he saw this. It crossed a shipping lane.” A slim reader slapped against his stomach, an’ he quickly zoomed in on th’ delicately purple nebula.

Oh, hell. One o’ them funky-ass ships. Poker face on; gonna hafta bluff my way outta this.

“Any… idea what this might be?”

“Never saw nothin’ like it.”

“That ship charts back to Helion Prime.” Th’ warden walked over t’ one of th’ guards. “You know, Anatoli’s got a nose for trouble. And he thinks trouble follows you.”

“Look, we dusted our tracks an’ got th’ hell outta there.” Gabriel’s mind raced, tryin’ t’ think of a way t’ get t’ th’ undercutter an’ get off-planet before th’ freaks arrived… an’ how t’ make sure Douruba an’ his boys didn’t get t’ th’ vessel first. “There is no way we didn’t lose ‘em.”

“Them?”

Oops.

“These are my prisoners. Mine. Nobody else’s. An’ I want my money now.” He tensed, wishin’ he hadn’t buckled th’ security flaps over his holsters.

“So, you stole prisoners…” Th’ warden got up in his face, managin’ t’ loom despite his short stature. “From Them!?”

Toombs’ fist caught th’ smaller man on th’ chin, sendin’ him reelin’ backwards. Guns came out all around, an’ th’ bullets started flyin’. Only one spot in th’ room would keep him from bein’ hit.

He dove through th’ hole in th’ floor, gloves smokin’ around th’ cable as he tried t’ stop his descent.

(Lyra)

The gunshots echoing down from the control room and the accompanying flashes of light drew attention quickly among the Pit’s residents. No one, it appeared, had bothered to reel up the cable that had brought us down, let alone plug the hole in the floor. And when the curly-haired asshole came sliding down, I couldn’t help but cackle.

“Shoulda taken th’ money, Toombs.” Rick shook his head and ‘tsk’ed through a big grin. The merc had managed to stop almost level with the broad ledge we’d found, looking like a toddler who’d just had all his favorite toys taken away.

Something exploded overhead, and then the noise subsided quickly. Familiar hands settled on my hip, and I smirked at our former captor.

“Here comes company!”

“No!” The bounty hunter protested as my lover lifted me easily. “Riddick! Nooo!” I sailed over the gap, catching Toombs’ vest and beginning my climb.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” I told the scumbag. “‘Cause you’ll never get this close t’ me again.” Once I got a few meters up by twisting the cable around my feet and reaching higher, then repeating, the cable swung again as Rick followed me.

Two strobing blue lights and random showers of sparks provided the only light in the control room as I boosted myself over the edge of the hole. Four men lay in the immediate area, deathly still, including Toombs’ pilot and his other male flunky. I began examining the remaining functional controls, looking for the one that would unlock the gate barring the stairs down into the Pit.

My mate hauled himself up as I found the switch, and Kyra led the group that came through the door. Guv all but trod on her heels, probably realizing that our jailbreak could happen any minute now. Other prisoners stared at the wreckage left behind from the firefight.

“Mercs,” one observed. “Some guards here, but this can’t be all of ‘em.” Guv immediately took charge of his people.

“Check the slots in the back. And be careful.”

“Don’t bother.” I stopped, halfway to the limp figure of the female bounty hunter. Rick casually dropped a heavy vid screen. “Guards ain’t there. They figured out th’ Necros are comin’ for us.” He made a small gesture toward me, and I resisted the urge to squirm under the sudden attention. “Plan was t’ clean th’ bank, ghost th’ mercs, break wide through th’ tunnel.” One of his steel-toed boots nudged a wide-barreled weapon on the floor. “An’ then somebody got a lucky shot off with this rocket launcher here an’ took out th’ sled.” Others winced with me. “Guards took off on foot, but rigged th’ door so no one could follow. They’ll take th’ one ship in th’ hangar, an’ leave everyone else here t’ die.”

Toombs grunted, struggling up the cable. With his head and shoulders above the hole’s edge, he glared.

“How come you know all this shit? You weren’t even here!”

“Because,” I hissed, turning toward him, “It was our Plan A.” Then I nodded at my sister. “Sit on ‘im for a few, would ya?” She grinned, fisting one hand in his hair and forcing him to go where she wanted.

I returned my attention to the woman, Eve. Her torso leaned against a rocky wall, arms and legs akimbo. She still breathed, barely; my backplate, though flexible, didn’t fit her and hadn’t prevented what I thought might be a broken spine. I crouched and began unbuckling the armor without bothering to be gentle. She stirred.

“Y’ gonna kill me now?” Her voice only got a tiny bit above a whisper. I sat back on my heels, considering.

“I think maybe that decision should be made by th’ one you were mackin’ on.” I glanced at my lover, and he shrugged indifferently. “Or not.” With a sigh, I thought. Judging by the fact that she still breathed, one of her thoracic vertebra must have given way, but one of the upper ones to sever the nerves controlling her arms.

Fuck knows none of the people who stay here are gonna want to care for a quadriplegic. Especially one that was a merc. I made my decision.

“If ya want it over fast, I c’n do that an’ make it relatively painless. You’re not gonna walk or use your hands again without treatment at a civilized hospital, an’ it’d take years, even then. Up t’ you.” She closed her eyes, moisture gathering at the inner corners, then looked back up at me.

“Now, please.” With a nod, I drew a leaf-shaped blade. A quick thrust at the base of her skull finished it, and her body went completely limp. Then I completed the adjustment of the straps on my backplate, checked that Dextra and Sinistra didn’t stick in their sheathes any more than they ought to, and stood.

A muted, snarling howl drew my attention to a pair of heavy, barred doors. I knew what had to be in there. When I smirked and tilted my head toward the portal, Kyra sniggered evilly, dragging Toombs along as I began removing the poles inserted through the handles. The gleeful light in her green eyes prompted me to raise an eyebrow.

“Three different species in th’ kennel,” she explained. “Some small, vicious things they haven’t put in th’ Pit while I’ve been here. Th’ others are bigger—”

“Canids and felinoids with scales instead of fur? An’ they get along with each other?”

“You’ve met, then?”

“Oh yeah.” I chuckled. “Th’ kitten, cub, whatever was… rather happy t’ see me.” She snorted in amusement and pulled open one door. Against the barrage of animal cries, I whistled sharply. Two sets of voices went silent, leaving only hostile, canvas-tearing sounds.

Each wall’s cages held a different species, with a vacant spot in the middle of each group. Slim, weasel-like shapes twisted around each other on the far wall, but the occupants of the side slots sat quietly and watched us with sliver gazes. A quick count told me that taking them would cram the undercutter full, but I wouldn’t abandon them, and I knew they’d behave around other humans as long as Rick or I stayed close.

“Keys’re on th’ left.” I grabbed them; my sister must have spent more than a little time here, to know such things offhand. “Bugged th’ hell outta th’ guards that slottin’ me up actually relaxed me.” I snorted, looking for the key to the rear vacancy.

“Nobody tryin’ t’ jump ya in here.”

“Yup.” She popped the ‘p’ emphatically. I unlocked the door and let Kyra shove the merc inside, head first. She followed it up with a boot to the ass before slamming the gate closed and engaging the lock. The weasel-things tried to reach through the bars on either side with clawed paws.

“Tell me, Toombs.” I crouched, raising my shades so that, with only two aging bulbs in the room and both of them behind me, my eyes changed. He huddled against the rock at his back. “What did you do with my ship?”

“I don’t—”

“Don’t try to bullshit me, Gabriel. Where. Is. My. Ship?”

“Primary mining facility in Helion’s asteroid belt,” he grumbled.

“Good.” I stood, grinning savagely. “Wonder how long it’s gonna take those things t’ get t’ you?” He whimpered as I began to flip through the remaining keys.

“Whatcha lookin’ for?” The brunette peered at me curiously.

“Keys t’ th’ other pens.” I tried one on the lock holding the youngest canid, but it didn’t fit. So I switched to another. “We’re not leavin’ these boys an’ girls here for further exploitation.”

“Uhm… they’ve kinda left me alone most of th’ time, a little harassment, but anyone else…” My sister shrugged, giving me an odd stare.

“Kyra, look at ‘em.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose, then tapped the orbital bone around one eye. She drew a sharp breath.

“Th’ shine.” She blinked, then smacked her forehead. “God. I feel stupid for not recognizin’ it.”

“Don’t worry about it; big facial difference.” The next key clicked, and the puppy bounded out, briefly licking each of us on an elbow before trotting toward the control room. The sound of panicked reactions put a grin on my face as I released the eight other canids, and all nine of the felinoids.

“How the hell did you do this?” Guv waved his hand at the animals as Kyra and I rejoined the group of prisoners. One felinoid bumped his elbow, demanding attention.

“Like he said,” I responded, jerking a thumb at my man’s back. “It’s an animal thing. They’ll behave.” I traded looks with Rick. Since the tunnel was a no-go, preparations needed to be made for our dawn run. “Anybody who’s goin’ with us, you’ll need water, rope… coats.” The big thermometer hit fifty below. “Let’s move, people.” Guv and four others ducked into what I suspected was the guards’ quarters, My sister turned to follow, but my hand on her shoulder made her pause. “Stick close t’ Rick out there, let me play rear guard.” She nodded before she went through the door.

Five minutes later, with everyone back in the control room, my mate pushed a large lever forward. The giant screws creaked, then turned more freely. The thermometer neared zero.

“What is this?”

“What is he thinking?”

“Once th’ sun comes up, we won’t last five minutes…”

“Five minutes? We ain’t gonna last thirty seconds out there. It’ll light you up like a match!” This came from a stringy older guy. Pessimist.

“Twenty-nine point four kilometers t’ th’ hangar. Thirty-two point two klick buffer zone.” Rick looked over his shoulder as he spoke. “Do th’ math.”

“Thirty klicks over that terrain?” someone else asked as heavy metal shutters pulled away from the windows. Using a piece of debris, I started knocking glass out of the shattered pane’s frame.

“It’s moving in the right direction.” The bearded convict peered outside. “We could make it. Stay behind the night, ahead of the sun.”

“There’s gonna be one speed,” my lover warned. “Mine. If ya can’t keep up, don’t steep up. You’ll just die.” One man looked at his face for a moment, then handed a coil of rope and a water pack to Guv.

Wordlessly, seven humans and eighteen scaled animals climbed out the window and started across the lava fields. The prison’s shutters closed with a dull thud behind us. No turning back. My own breathing thundered in my ears, the vibration from my feet hitting rock traveling up my bones.

After a kilometer or so, rough hills turned into a maze of ravines. I heard Kyra call Rick’s name and figured she’d lost sight of him among the twists and turns. He appeared like a ghost, shedding his coat and straddling the crevice, hands extended toward her. I shrugged out of the purloined duster that my sister had handed me, just like the others; it was getting warm enough that we didn’t need the extra layers any longer.

(Riddick)

We enter an ash-clouded area, an’ I duck through lace-like domes of cooled lava. Gray ‘snow’ covers everythin’ an’ keeps fallin’, streakin’ my skin with black an’ givin’ th’ area a deceptively peaceful look. I scan th’ terrain as I move.

There. Another hatch, like th’ one I saw open just before we hit th’ cracks. This one’s still closed, an’ I jump onto its roof. I tie one appropriated maulstick head to a couple meters of rope. I start swingin’ it, buildin’ up momentum.

A trio of latches around th’ hatch lid pop open, and I feel machinery raisin’ th’ metal. End of th’ rope in my left hand, right one a meter further down, stretchin’ th’ material tight between ‘em. Voila, homemade flail.

“No more run for you.” Sounds like one of th’ asswipes who’d been so eager t’ have their way with my girls yesterday—yesterday by normal clocks, not this fuckin’ place’s rhythms. Killin’ him’s gonna be even sweeter than I expected.

“Hey, where’s the big one?” That’s my cue, an’ th’ heavy, spiked head goes crashin’ through th’ gap. I grin savagely when I hear someone fall inside. Then th’ other guards in th’ hatch start shootin’.

One of th’ prisoners takes a bullet t’ th’ chest, an’ the kid whips out a pistol in response. Lyra, further back, unlimbers an assault rifle as well—fuck if I know where she found it—an’ I clear th’ hell outta there. Friendly fire ain’t. Lead ricochets off th’ heat-roughened metal, an’ from my new vantage point I see another head vanish. Th’ thirty-centimeter opening shifts again, narrowin’.

But Kyra doesn’t stop. She unloads th’ whole damn magazine as she runs, then kicks at th’ closed hatch. I grab her shoulder, turnin’ her back toward our destination.

“What th’ fuck was that?” I let the acid into my voice. “You don’t care whether you live or die?”

“As long as I take some o’ them with me, not really.” That earns her a swat t’ th’ head, an’ I ignore her glare.

“Better fuckin’ rethink that before your sister finds out.” I jump down to a thick rock bridge, th’ heat from th’ exposed river of lava below makin’ me sweat. “Keep movin’.”

(Lyra)

This is gonna be a problem.

I sipped from the hose attached to the water pouch on my back and resisted the urge to just leave the out-of-shape inmate behind. I could scale the cliff faster, but rear guard means rear guard.

Even the smallest of our scaly friends, a canid half the size of the others, was having no difficulty with the terrain, bounding from the top of one sulfur-coated column to the next one up. The light yellow of the palisade hadn’t come into view until we’d gotten nearly two-thirds of the journey behind us, and it had soaked up what lead time we had on the sunrise. It didn’t help that the rock formations had the bubbled-smooth surface of glass, either.

“Lyra…” my mate called. He’d nearly gotten to the top.

“What?!”

“Get that ass movin’!”

Shit. Shit! Forget fuckin’ rear guard!

I passed the other man, climbing as fast as I could find foot- and hand-holds and not looking behind me. As worried as Rick sounded, it had to be bad.

Ten meters remained between me and the top when the searing-hot light hit. Ducking into a shaded space behind a pillar, I reached for one hand-hold, then another, pulling my hand back immediately. The rocks had already become too hot to touch, even with the leather gloves Kyra had scrounged up. A rumbling noise reached my ears, and I slumped in defeat.

“Rick?”

(Riddick)

“I love you.” Th’ resignation in my woman’s voice, an’ th’ tremor that tells me she’s fightin’ tears, rips at me. She thinks her luck’s just run out.

I refuse t’ lose ya, sugar. Ain’t nothin’ gonna stand in my way.

Not even th’ volatile temperature differential boilin’ toward th’ cliff.

“One speed,” th’ man Kyra calls Guv reminds me.

“Not with Lyra,” she snipes back without hesitation. She smacks him, lighter than I got her earlier. “Don’t even think about abandonin’ her.”

“Your rope. Gimme your rope.” A plan comes together in my mind. Th’ one pillar that stuck up half a meter higher than th’ others in th’ wall, th’ lower ledge I saw while I was climbin’… “And your water, all of it!” Th’ kid doesn’t even pause. “Now!” Th’ other two convicts surrender their equipment reluctantly.

“Want us t’ wait for ya?”

“No, Kyra.” I start tyin’ one end of th’ longest rope. “Get t’ th’ hangar, stay in th’ mountain’s shadow.” Th’ scaly puppy slinks toward me, ears flattened an’ tail between his legs. “Go with ‘em. Anybody else is fair game,” I tell him, givin’ his head a rub. Then I turn back t’ th’ other three humans. “Run.” Only th’ girl moves. “Go!” Th’ men finally obey me.

I pour what’s left of th’ three water packs over myself, makin’ sure everything gets wet. Then a quick guesstimate of how far down Lyra was when she got stuck, th’ distance I needed t’ reach th’ lower break in th’ cliff. Swallowin’, I wrap th’ rope around my hand an’ take a deep breath.

Here I come, baby, ready or not.

Burstin’ from cover, I charge toward an’ then past th’ pillar, castin’ th’ loop over th’ projection. Th’ instant I reach th’ limit of th’ cable, I hurl myself over th’ edge. Th’ light an’ th’ heat bombard me as I extend my left arm.

(Kyra)

“Are you fuckin’ nuts, Guv? Askin’ Rick t’ leave Lyra t’ die?” Thanks to the exercise she’d gotten in the Pit, scolding the older man as she ran didn’t leave her short of breath at all. “Shit, they went through black hell just gettin’ together in th’ first place!”

“Wha… Whaddya mean?” he panted back at her.

“Ship crashed. Desert planet. Three suns. An eclipse that only happens once every twenty-two years. Echolocatin’ damned flyin’ carnivores starved for flesh. ‘S when they met… an’ when I met ‘em, too. Long story short, ya don’t mess with Lyra anymore than ya mess with Riddick.”

“Riddick?!” He glanced back for a half-second. “You mean to tell me that’s Riddick back there?”

“Yeah, seven prior escapes didn’t ring a bell? Jesus… Whatever ya do, don’t try t’ separate ‘em.” With that, she bent all her attention to where she was going, trusting the couple that had become her siblings to get through, whatever it took.

(Lyra)

Being snatched out of the shadowed crevice shocked the hell out of me. But I knew the shape and strength of the arm around my waist and clung tightly. A moment of near-weightlessness, and then we tumbled along hot but still-shaded ground. I heard the leading edge of the temperature differential crash against the cliff like surf.

Steam rose from his skin as Rick stood and extended a hand toward me. I stifled a sob of relief and used the leverage to press a quick kiss to his lips before he could really react. He squeezed my hand in silent reply, then pushed me further away from the cliff. I took the hint and headed ‘west’.

We’d nearly reached the last hill before the tarmac when the puppy charged us, closely followed by the kitten/cub. Each of us fondly ruffled a set of ears, then followed the pair to a crevice where Kyra, Guv, and the third convict—I didn’t even know his name—crouched. The other creatures were either prowling around, their coats blending right into the rock, or draped over raised spots. Not high enough to be seen over the hill, though.

“I figure we got three, maybe four minutes before th’ sun hits us, burns out this whole valley.” My adopted sister pulled back her thick curls and tied them out of the way. She opened her mouth again, only to close it without a word at Rick’s raised finger. The other two shot very wary looks at him.

“Hear that?” he asked. A distinctive thrum reached my ears. I wriggled up the slope on my belly, followed by both of them, and peeked over the crest. A sleek, dark ship rose into the air, having deposited a swarm of Necromongers that included the black-haired commander—helmet under his arm—the pale blond—as decked-out as he’d been in New Mecca—and three of the masked, hunched creatures. We slid back down the hill.

“Lemme guess,” Kyra asked dryly when we’d rejoined the other men. “Necros?” I nodded. “Damn. I hate not bein’ th’ bad guys.” She pulled another pistol from its spot at the small of her back and started to stand.

“Wait.” My mate’s command worked on her, but Guv and Whatshisname shifted restlessly. “Just wait.”

“Ellen.” The bearded man fiddled with his ring, as if checking that it was still there. “Her name was Ellen. I never really forgot.”

“Then let’s all get off this rock so ya c’n go find her, huh?” He smiled a bit at my encouragement. It seemed likely that he’d have a chance at an actual life once we freed ourselves.

Heavy footsteps came toward us, making my muscles tighten in anticipation of an attack. A metallic screech was accompanied, I presumed, by the opening of the hangar doors. The unseen soldiers paused, then changed direction as all hell broke loose.

“Kyra, remember that favorite game o’ yours?” I grinned as Rick spoke. The two of them played frequently on the Den’s simulation system—a gift from the former sergeants who’d trained him, then me, and then Kyra in short bursts whenever we visited Icarus Station. Their scores were rather impressive, and their creativity gory, but interesting.

“‘Who’s Th’ Better Killer?’” A broad, vicious grin stretched across both their faces.

“Let’s play.” They led the way, all five of us charging over the hill to smash into the Necromongers’ rear flank. The armored men were so surprised that three died before they could react to the new threat. The fight became a blur; thrust, parry, sidestep, lunge, duck, kick… We barreled into the middle of the furball, leaving dead bodies in our wake. One step, one kill.

And our scaly friends took their own huge toll on the enemy. The hunched things went first, being the weakest foes. Swinging paws tore faceguards off helmets, their extended claws ravaging the exposed flesh. My sister linked hands with my partner, the spikes on her boots coming out as he swung her around. One went into a Necromonger’s face, and Rick released her to kill someone else while Kyra freed her feet. A felinoid clamped its jaws down on a helmet in mid-leap, its velocity snapping the neck of the soldier that had begun approaching her from behind.

Suddenly, as my lover grappled hand-to-hand with a Necro, one of the enemy’s odd guns discharged, hitting both men. Caught by less of the blast, Rick flew through the air, hitting the grooved runway like a rag doll. A canid slammed into the dark-haired commander who’d fired, darting away as the man it had toppled lunged toward it with incredible speed.

For a moment, I wondered who was screaming, then realized that the tormented sound came from my own mouth. My man struggled to get upright. A Necromonger took advantage of my distraction, tackling me. Having knocked my head against a stone, I slit his throat in a daze and wobbled toward the tarmac.

“So, you can kneel.” The soldier in charge, a gun in either hand, slowly approached Rick. Kyra burst from cover, crossing the runway and knifing two Necros as she passed them.

“Get up, Riddick, get up!” she urged. He rose further, knees still on the ground but the rest of him nearly vertical. I took another unsteady step, head spinning.

Everything appeared to slow, then stopped, people frozen in the middle of movements. Red-pink unfurled behind the commander and spread, fighters vanishing from sight as it covered them. The black-haired man seemed to morph into Shirah, who stepped closer to my mate.

“I think you know now.” Her smile promised vengeance. “I think you know who tore Furya apart.” Her hand covered her heart, starting to glow as it had during my dream so long ago; it felt like years had passed since then. “This mark carries the anger of an entire race. But it’s going to hurt.” Then she touched his chest, and the blue light spread from her handprint as Crematoria sprang back into existence around us.

Rick shook like a leaf in the wind as the visible energy illuminated the blood vessels under his skin. The Necromonger commander hesitated briefly, then took another step. Light erupted from my lover in an explosive wave, throwing armored men as much as ten meters.

Before I blacked out, I realized that the ornamented blond had barely reacted, putting up a hand and swaying as it passed him.

(Niklas)

He whistled internally as the young Riddick’s use of the Wrath wreaked havoc on Vaako and his picked troops. The blazing white dwarf star at the center of the system crept further up the mountain. The rising temperature made him uncomfortable, which meant that the soldiers were probably broiling in their armor.

The frigate arrived, warning system hooting as it hovered just behind the ridge on the ‘west’ side of the landing strip. Leading perhaps ten survivors, Vaako scrambled up the slope. The last two paused at the top, then dragged another person into the ship with them.

As soon as the vessel banked away, Niklas sprang into action, grabbing one of Riddick’s arms to drag him into the shelter of the open hangar. To his surprise, a barely-weaned scale-wolf pup took hold of the massive man’s other arm with gentle jaws, making the task much easier. A pair of adult spine-cats began moving the young Veruna woman, followed by a half-grown cub, while a massive scale-wolf—female, he believed—brought along a raggedly-dressed man. A mixed bag of a dozen more of the creatures followed.

Thank the Lady, both totem species had escaped their home-world’s virtual destruction in enough numbers to have a bit of a gene pool. It seemed like a miracle. How many other native Furyan breeds survived?

Sure that the Alphas were safe from the extreme heat of the coming day, he closed the doors, leaving only a hand-width gap. Then Niklas began removing the symbols of his Necromonger rank.

(Lyra)

I awoke quickly, blinking at the stone ceiling. How had I gotten inside? A rumbling purr and a damp nose against my arm quickly answered my first thought. One of the felinoids sat at my side, front paws tucked under its chest as its tail tapped lightly against the floor.

On my other side, Rick snapped into consciousness, scrambling to his feet. I sat up more slowly to look around the hangar, noticing the narrow slit between the doors, the scaled animals lounging about, and the blond Necro standing at the undercutter’s bow. Not a single sign of…

“Kyra.” As usual, my mate’s mind ran on a track parallel to my own. I stood, eyes on the stranger.

“I was supposed to deliver a message to you, if Vaako failed to kill you.” A final piece of the ornate metal he’d worn joined its fellows on the ship’s hull. “A message from the Lord Marshal himself. He tells you to stay away from Helion, stay away from him, and in return, you’ll be hunted no more.” His gray eyes gleamed wickedly to match his growing smirk. “But Vaako will most likely report that you are dead. So this is your chance. Your chance to do what no one has ever done.”

Rick’s hand shot out, grasping the much slighter man’s shoulder. Between the pale skin going nearly white and the trembling of the almost delicate hand that he raised, I knew the man’s collarbone could snap at any moment. But the Necro managed to open his coat and expose a section of his chest.

“We all began as something else.”

An increasingly familiar handprint glowed over his heart, answered by the marks Shirah had given us. My lover released the other Furyan as abruptly as he’d taken hold of him. It took him a moment to regain some equilibrium.

“Th’ girl.” The blond turned to me attentively. “Where will they take her?” He sighed, eyes dropping.

“He will do to her what he tried to do to me.”

Shit. Dammit, sis, don’t let them get to you. Don’t give up.

An image of her, terribly pale, hair pulled back severely, green eyes clouded, and dressed in black flashed through my mind. One of my throwing knives slammed into a crate so hard that it rocked.

“Easy.” Rick put an arm around me. “We got her outta here. New Mecca’s a cakewalk.” Shrugging off the attempt to calm me, I started pacing.

“Goddamn that fucker Toombs. He couldn’t’a left th’ Den near here, so now we can’t beat ‘em back t’ Helion!” I didn’t know if she could hold out for the month or so that the trip would take. And if my sister thought we’d died…

“The Necromonger in me warns you not to go back.” I glared at the slender man, and he flashed a lopsided grin. “The Furyan in me hopes you won’t listen.” The ornamental dagger that had killed Irgun appeared in his hand, and he let it fall. “God knows, I’ve dreamed of it.”

“Then why th’ fuck haven’t you done something about it before now?” I snapped.

“Forgive me, my lady.” He bowed his head. “I am only an Omega; Zhylaw would have swatted me like a fly if I had attempted a physical attack. And his preventative measures against poison are impenetrable. If what I have… overheard recently is true, my lord may be the only person who can kill the Lord Marshal.” The blond man turned his eyes to my mate.

“I’m nobody’s fuckin’ lord.”

“Your father was the last Chief Alpha of the Pack Council, as close to royalty as our people come.”

“History lesson can wait, boys,” I cut in sharply. “Every minute we dick around here is another minute those Necros have t’ work on Kyra.” Rick grunted, turning toward the undercutter’s hatch. The young canid that seemed so fond of him picked up the pierce-work blade and followed, tail wagging. Granted, we’d have to wait for sunset before we could actually launch, but my patience was hanging by a very thin thread.

“I’ve done… unbelievable things in the name of a faith that was never my own,” the stranger murmured, hanging his head. A stirring near the tunnel doors drew both his attention and mine. “What are we to do with him?”

“Ohhhh, my head.” Guv hauled himself upright with the help of a couple of crates, a spectacular bruise already forming on his temple.

(Guv)

As his head cleared, he looked around the hangar. Eighteen years since he’d been here, and it hadn’t changed much aside from the contents. But that was the part that troubled him.

He hadn’t expected any guards, but only three other humans shared the area with him. Lyra and Riddick were there, but Kyra wasn’t. And if they’d been willing to get caught and brought to Crematoria to find her, they wouldn’t have left her outside.

And if these Necros were hunting them, why was one with them and not bleeding onto the floor?

The hellhounds, at least, hadn’t taken any casualties. They sprawled over crates and across the floor, one even on top of the small spacecraft. Another kept one of his legs pinned underneath a forepaw.

“I hate bloody concussions.” His tongue felt thick as he spoke, garbling his words a bit. But Ceryll didn’t try to stand just yet, because he didn’t want to sick up all over the floor. “So damned confused.”

“Get used t’ it,” Riddick growled. “Fuckin’ Necros turnin’ everythin’ sideways. Gotta mess with everyone else instead of mindin’ their own damned business.”

“Indeed,” the pale, lean man in the black coat replied. “They claim they are saving all humanity from themselves as they destroy everything in their path. Zhylaw must be stopped.”

“I said later.” The woman Ceryll knew only as Lyra hefted a crate and headed for the undercutter. “Stock th’ damn ship, then you c’n talk about history an’ what we’re gonna do when we get t’ Helion Prime.” The stranger gave her a slight bow before turning to open a different container and inspect the contents.

“Ellen… She had family there, last I knew, might have been living with them.” Would she have moved on with her life, found someone else? Or would she still be waiting for him to get out?

“Once we’ve taken care of business, I’d be willin’ t’ help you find her. If she survived th’ invasion.” The woman reemerged without her previous burden, gently pushing away a juvenile hellhound with apparently enthusiastic friendly intentions. “Sit tight for now. Don’t want you aggravatin’ that concussion an’ makin’ it worse.”

With a nod, he leaned back against the wall, carefully observing the other three. This was bound to be interesting, and the mention of history intrigued him. What did the Necromonger have in common with the couple to make them allies, even if it seemed to be an uncomfortable alliance at present?

He liked puzzles, and this looked to be a complicated one.
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