Sight Unseen

Sight Unseen

 

A Chronicles of Riddick Alternate Universe

 

Chapter Two

 

“Making final approach now.”  I tucked a short-range earbug into place as Jack’s announcement came over the ship’s intercom, then settled my shades and donned the headgear that went with the rest of my ‘really heavy’ winter wear.  With my usual shipboard attire of tank top and cargo pants underneath, it made for a lot of layers, but I preferred it to being cold.

And if any planet with an atmosphere humans could breathe qualified as truly cold, UV-6 did.  It wasn’t the sort of place where we usually made transfers, but some things needed to stay frozen all the way to the end of their journey.  Our standard contract gave us the right to inspect the cargo before it officially changed hands, and to cancel the deal without penalty if it didn’t pass our acceptable criteria.

 

We didn’t transport contraband, period.  It would only invite trouble we definitely didn’t need.

 

“You guys sure you don’t want me an’ th’ Den closer?”  My sister’s voice sounded worried.  “Two klicks on th’ kinda terrain I’m seein’ out there could be tough, even for you.”

 

“Stay outta sight with th’ hatches locked ‘til you get our signal.  Understood?”  My mate tugged my scarf up over the end of my nose with a little smile as he spoke.

 

“Yeah, Rick, I get it.”  There was definitely a pout in that response.  Still, the seventeen-year-old set our ship down on the snow as gently as a feather before cycling both doors of the airlock open.  Frigid wind blasted inside, and we hurried out to minimize the temperature change in our home.

 

“You read me, kiddo?”  Healthy paranoia kept us from using names on the easily-intercepted short-range com bands.  In the case of an emergency, of course, Jack and I used our pseudonyms.

 

“Loud an’ clear, sis.  Gimme a shout as soon as ya need me; I don’t like not havin’ th’ line-of-sight, but ya said th’ other side of that big outcroppin’, so I’m goin’.”  All sealed up, the Wanderers’ Den kicked up a cloud of powder, then zipped away above the fingerprint-like crevasse field.

 

And once the ship disappeared, we waited.

 

My com chirped at the time specified by the client, but I saw no one and nothing besides us.  They had tem more minutes before we beat feet.  I started fidgeting, not fond of late customers.

 

The air whistling around the barbs warned me just in time, and the vicious catch-net missed by centimeters as I spun.  A small gray ship shimmered into view, banking toward us so that the gunners suspended on its two arms could aim at us properly.  I bolted for the crevasse field just a couple of steps behind Rick.

 

“We got trouble, kiddo!”  No reply came through the earbug.  “Kyra?!”  One hour and one merc had taught us a harsh lesson, though he’d died without getting a word out of her.  “Answer me, Kyra!”

 

“I’m sorry, Kyra’s out of commission for a while.  Can I take a message?”  The mocking male voice made my blood run cold and my legs move faster.  The switch from solid ground to leaping from one ridge to the next barely slowed me.

 

How the hell did they get the locks open?

 

Fucking bounty hunters had set a trap for us, and we’d walked into it fat, dumb, and happy, despite our precautions.

 

We made a beeline for the rocks between us and the Den.

 

(Toombs)

 

“Linin’ ‘em up for ya.  Port-side shot comin’ up.  Steady, here we go.”  He’d been tryin’ t’ track down Riddick and his two girls for five years, an’ now he’d finally caught up.  “Steady…”  Mack already had th’ younger one an’ their ship, an’ would make like a ghost ‘til it was all over.

 

For a moment, both targets were clear.

 

“Take it!  Take it!”  Too slow.  Christ, the idiots he had t’ deal with anymore.  A catch-net shot out, but its barbs only struck snow.  “Take the shot!”  Damn.  They were faster than he’d thought, an’ Riddick’s bitch seemed t’ know where th’ webs would land th’ moment th’ trigger was pulled.  They hit solid ground again, headed for a tall, narrow canyon.

 

“Shit!  Toombs, we’re runnin’ outta road!”

 

“Shut up!  I got it!  Again!”  Another net whizzed out, an’ this time one of th’ sharpened metal shafts caught Big Evil’s calf.  Th’ woman skidded t’ a halt, blades in her hands that looked almost, but not quite, like th’ ones she’d had aboard th’ Kubla Khan.  Riddick paused t’ yank th’ barb out, then seemed t’ look straight at Toombs before tiltin’ his head toward th’ dark gap in th’ rocks.  Then he an’ his bitch darted into it an’ vanished.

 

“Riddick…” the curly-haired merc muttered t’ himself.

 

“I don’t know, Toombs.  Looks kinda tight.”  Tags looked over from his sling.

 

“Not from where I’m sittin’.”  He grinned.  “This’s th’ biggest payday ever.”  One finger turned on th’ versatile craft’s exterior lights.  “So throw on a fresh pair of panties.  Let’s get this right.”  He eased inside, directin’ th’ beams t’ sweep th’ walls.  For several minutes, only th’ sounds of th’ undercutter broke th’ silence.

 

“Three meters clearance to port, one an’ a half to starboard.”  Th’ kid kept his voice level, at least.  “Got a choke point comin’ up.”  Somethin’ thumped.  “What th’ shit was that?”

 

“Tags, you got anything?”  When th’ experienced gunner didn’t respond, Gabriel started t’ worry.  “Tags?”  Continued silence made him turn a spotlight on th’ man’s position.

 

Th’ net gun swung freely, muzzle down, an’ th’ harness behind it dangled.  He quickly checked th’ port position, but its harness had apparently gone with Grayden, shorn off near where it connected t’ th’ arm.

 

“Jesus.”  Th’ youngest member of th’ team sounded ready t’ piss himself.  “They just ghosted two guys, an’ I never even heard ‘em.”  Th’ more experienced merc gritted his teeth.  Things like this happened, especially when you hunted two of th’ most dangerous people in th’ known universe.  “Whaddya think, Toombs?  I mean, maybe we oughtta just…”

 

“I think you’re my new gunner,” he snarled.  “Grab a gat, an’ stay on top of ‘em this time.”  A touch opened th’ port-side hatch of th’ Flattery C-19, an’ th’ kid shakily grabbed a small net gun before crouchin’ in th’ doorway.  Moments later, he screamed, th’ sound fadin’ quickly as he fell further an’ further from th’ craft.  Gabriel switched it into hover mode an’ turned th’ pilot’s chair so he could get out.  He froze before his ass even left th’ paddin’.

 

“You made three mistakes.”  Th’ voice of th’ parka-clad figure crouched under th’ hot-seat’s lights sent shivers down his spine.  He’d never actually come this close t’ Riddick before, an’ he seemed even bigger than th’ data on him indicated.

 

“First, you took th’ job.”  Th’ second voice snapped his focus t’ th’ opened hatch.  Th’ broad leaned against th’ jamb, arms crossed, any expression hidden by th’ cold-gear on her face.  “Second, you came light.”

 

“A four-man crew for us?  Fuckin’ insultin’.”

 

“Granted, your fifth boy got Kyra an’ our ship, but he’ll find that his hands’re full with just one of ‘em.  But both?”  Th’ unholy glee in her chuckle did not sound encouragin’.  She pushed off th’ hull and stalked closer as th’ big con did th’ same, their silent approach cornerin’ him in th’ pilot’s couch.

 

“But th’ worst mistake you made…”  Before Riddick could finish his sentence, Toombs lunged t’ his left, reachin’ for…

 

“Empty gun rack.”  His hand slapped smooth metal as th’ pair spoke in unison.

 

Damn.

 

“Tell me, Toombs.”  He was shoved into a jump seat as th’ woman crouched next t’ him.  “How much are they offerin’ for us?”

 

“One mil.”  Th’ dagger that sliced through his pants an’ pricked his knee made no sound at all.

 

“How.  Much?”  Gabriel would be damned if he showed it, but Big Evil’s snarl terrified him.

 

“Okay, okay.  One point five for you.”  He nodded in th’ direction of th’ larger man.  “Two if I got you both, alive only.”

 

“What slam pays one point five for one con?!”

 

“Private party.”  Rrrriiiip.  Th’ blade tore through his trousers, all th’ way t’ th’ crotch.  “Hey, hey, hey, hey!  Guy, guy!  That’s what th’ sheet said!”

 

“What planet.”  He’d never admit that th’ broad’s hiss scared him even more than her partner’s open rage.

 

“Helion Prime.”  Th’ blade moved away, an’ he started t’ get up.

 

“Whoa, where you goin’?  Last question.”  Th’ bounty hunter looked up at th’ man he’d been trackin’.  “An’ you’d better get this one right, merc.  Whose ship is this?”

 

“Mine?”

 

(Eileen)

 

While Rick pitched the scumbag out the hatch, I leaned over the pilot’s couch to check the undercutter’s files.  The bounty sheet came up quickly, confirming Toombs’ reluctant confession.  And Helion Prime could only mean one person we knew.

 

“Shoulda left that fuckin’ imam somewhere along th’ way,” I groused.  We’d saved his life, not just once, but at least twice, and Abu repaid us with this.  “Thought priests were supposed t’ be trustworthy.

 

“That would be why I only trust you, Kyra, an’ Cartwright.”  The growl in my ear sent pleasant shivers down my spine, and I leaned back into my mate’s solid chest.  Sometimes, like now, his paranoia was more than justified.  I let him slide into the seat, then held onto the back of it as the small ship zipped toward open air.  It shuddered a couple of times as rock walls tore off the extended arms.

 

We circled the peak three times, all of the boat’s sensors active, but caught no trace of our own vessel.  I snarled to myself.  Most of our resources had been sunk into the Den ; used to upgrade the hyper engines, equip and stock a full machine shop, keep the training room furnished with top-of-the-line exercise and simulation equipment, plus the creature comforts that turned the ship into home.  At least the both of us already wore our favorite blades and a variety of lighter weapons.

 

“Holy man’s gonna regret this,” Rick rumbled.  “Be th’ last time he messes with our pack.”  We rose through the frigid atmosphere.  Once he’d plotted and locked in the course for Helion Prime, my lover took the seat beside me, lacing his fingers with mine before the undercutter’s lousy cryo took over.

 

It would take us a month to get to the desert-covered planet.  I devoutly hoped that, wherever that asshole Toombs decided to take Jack—no, Kyra, we’d have to remember to use our pseudonyms—someone would have heard about it by the time we made landfall.

 

Otherwise, the curly-haired merc would find out how it felt to be hunted.