Morph

Chapter 9: Gotcha!


After I tell Deacon about Riddick, the look on his face is kind of humorous. He's staring dumbfounded, with his mouth hanging open as if to say something but no words come out.

"Deacon? Did you hear anything I said?" I ask waving my hand across his face.

His mouth closes and he swallows hard. "Yeah, uhm so what's your plan?" he shakes his head, still trying to let the information sink in. Slowly I run down my plan to him. I know this planet pretty well and there are only a few locations where Riddick would frequent.

Inside the Maddox we begin preparing ourselves for the ground search. There's a beep coming from the message center and Deacon answers it. The Chief asks him a question and he repeats it for me to hear.

"Have we made contact yet?" He looks at me wide eyed and I shake my head "Negative Sir, not yet, we're preparing for a ground search." He looks intently into space, wrapped up in the conversation before finishing up "But Sir... Will do Sir." He switches off " We were just ordered to bring in the child only, Saia and Ry... Riddick are to be executed immediately."
My jaw tightens and my breathing hardens.

"That wasn't the deal!" I frown, Deacon stays silent, he's waiting for my decision. Whatever my answer is he would go with it. Sometimes his loyalty astounds me.

Our first day of searching didn't go very well. Neither did the second. On the third we enter this small town of Rezia. It's located just outside Tunix, but seems a world apart. The city is dark, dirty and run down, as if time stopped for this little town. The streets remind me of an old horror movie I saw once, with garbage and debris scattered all over the place.

Immediately after exiting the hovercraft, my senses go berserk. * Thanks again, Riddick * he'd taught me how to fine tune my senses and differentiate smells a long time ago. With guns in hand, Deacon and I cautiously walk in the middle of the street ~ its quiet... very quiet. Riddick is definitely close.
Deacon nudges me on the side with the gun; I look and spot Saia coming out of a brothel. *GOTCHA* Immediately we take cover behind a dumpster. Saia walks out with a black bag in hand; I stop breathing almost expecting to see Riddick with her, but no sign of him as she makes her way down the street.

Slightly, I nod my head towards Deacon for us to follow her. Keeping a safe distance from her, we arrive at a small building. She enters through the big swiveling front doors. We follow cautiously. I catch a glimpse of her as she enters an old elevator shaft and closes the gate. Deacon looks intently at the numbers rising at the top of the elevator doors until they stop at 5.

"Fifth floor, let's go"we begin to climb the stairs in two's. By the time we reach the 5th floor to take a peep down the hallway, she's gone.

Deacon puts his gun down and sighs "Now what?" Just when I'm about to give up, there it is ~ an open door. He sees it too. I signal with my hand to move in. He goes in first, gun drawn, he takes the left-hand side of the apartment. Behind him, I enter and go to my right. The kitchen is the first room I enter ~ clean! Doesn't surprise me at all. Riddick is a clean freak, believe it or not. I reach the back door, it's made of glass but I can see no one on what looks like a terrace. Stepping 'outside' I realize the scenery is digitized to look like a lake ~ breathtaking. Straight away I feel eyes on me. I turn around slowly and Saia is staring at me ~ unarmed.

"They're not here." She sits on a bench and seems very calm.

"Where is he, Saia? I need to take him in." I do a good job in keeping a straight face. However she doesn't buy it.

"So is this the part where you try to kill me and take my son?" I take a seat across from her and sigh. There's no point in lying to her; she can read my thoughts anyway.

"I'm not killing anyone, Saia. But my orders are to take Jason back to headquarters. The decision to take Riddick in, is mine." She gives me a sad smile.

"He did it for your own good, you must see that Jack." She leans forward as if trying to make me understand.

Frustrated with her mind reading game, I answer angrily "Get... out... of my head!" I stand up, but she continues.

"I'm not inside your head, darling. Riddick's told me everything about you." I stop and turn to her.

"He's told you about me?" I can't believe how fragile my voice sounds.

She nods " He cares for you more than you know." By this time Deacon finds us, his gun is still drawn and I tell him it's OK. Deacon sees we are in a conversation and goes by the door as look out.

"Uhm, when did you guys get...you know?" her smile is wide and she giggles.

"No, no, no, honey. Sit down and let me explain."


Riddick POV


Jason's running around laughing and enjoying himself. That's what being a kid should be about. I never knew this kind of life, carefree days, fun filled trips, an adoring mother... love. I'd come close to it once, but my fear was stronger than my need for it... Jack. I hadn't realized how much I missed her until I saw her again. She's grown up, that's for sure. The other night at the club, when I held her that close to me, it took all of my self control not take her on the dance floor. She'll never forgive me, I'm sure of that now. After I saw the look in her eyes, the look of pure anger and hatred. Then again she helped me save Jason's life and escape ~ Why? After I left her all alone, to fend for herself on that planet. Now she's planning on taking me in. How much you've grown Jackie, I'm proud of you. Don't blame her for hating me. But if I hadn't left when I did, she'd be dead. How could I live with that? The thought of anything bad happening to her gives me a feeling that I've never felt in my life ~ scary.

"I'm hungry" Jasons' voice breaks my thoughts. I smile at him and nod.

"Alright, kid, let's go home and eat"

To be continued...