False Dawn

It seemed the streets, the nightlife on Tiborne 1 never really died down. It might reach a lull at the deepest point of the night, but it never really shut down.

By Jack's chrono it was nearly four o'clock in the morning, well past the busiest time of night. She walked down the alley to the street that Riddick had forced her to walk calmly across. Then the street had been bustling, now, it was nearly dead. One cruiser passed, the occupant looking nearly to be asleep behind the wheel. Under an awning on the other side of the street a scantily dressed woman stood smoking a cigarette and looking for one last trick of the night.

Jack crossed the street, head down to keep the rain out. The alley was as dark and wet as it had been when Riddick led her through. There was no memory for her of what path they had taken to or from Chip's that day. She was just walking, half hoping she'd run across something familiar in a strange city, half knowing she was on a ghost hunt.

An hour later she stopped under the awning of a small dark shop with a closed sign in the front window. She wondered why the businesses closed at all, since there was really no difference between day and night. She stood and looked at the alleys branching off the street, seemingly between every building. The one directly across from her had a strange shadow at the one corner. She walked across mostly out of boredom, and gasped when she saw there was an alcove in the wall there.

Had this been the alcove they had stood in that day when they were fleeing from the men chasing them? She really had no idea. She knew if it was, that he'd turned right into this alley, so she turned and walked left, going the way they would have been coming from that day. Another hour passed, and the city was slowly coming to life in the pre-nonexistent dawn hours. Jack had to smile at her own actions as she stepped up to a door at the back of a long alley.

It could be the same one they had entered that day, but she honestly doubted it. She'd walked past other dark doors in the past two hours, but this one made her want to knock. With knife in hand, and the gun carefully concealed in her waistband ready to go, she lifted her hand and knocked.

Nothing happened. She shook her head at her own wishful thinking. What had she expected to happen? The door to open and there would be Riddick? Boy, she was really losing it. But still she waited, remembering how large the room within was, if she was right. Nothing.

She shook her head and turned to walk away.

"Who is it?"

Jack nearly gasped at the whispered words from behind the door. She pulled her knife again, ready to slash anything that moved in that moment. Fear coursed through her, and she realized how stupid she had been to come down here, to be wandering the dark streets at all. No one would come save her, no one even knew where she was.

"Who's there?" came the whispered question again and she almost ran.

But she stayed. Who the hell knew why she stayed there, but she did. "Jack," she said in a clear voice, sounding horribly loud to her.

"Who?"

"I came before, more than a year ago. We left in a hurry."

The door swung open, and sure as shit, there was the smelly, dirty little man. "I was wondering if you'd come back. Kinda wasted some creds on me."

Jack stepped in when he indicated for her to. The door swung shut and she was in darkness. She almost smiled with the poignant way she missed Riddick right then. The last time she'd entered this door she hadn't even been aware of the darkness. Riddick had been there to lead her through, like he had always been.

"Where's your man?" Chip asked as he led the way out of the short hall and across the large room.

"You know what happened. Why are you asking?"

He shrugged and grinned, though she could barely tell in the gloomy darkness with only the bit of light from his room lighting the way. She almost chuckled to think that if she got lost in the dark she could just follow the smell.

His rooms had been rearranged some. She could see that some of the equipment was new.

"Fuckers about trashed the place on their way though, but I rebuilt."

She nodded, her eyes scanning the room like Riddick's had done so many months before. "I'm sorry that happened."

He grinned, the glow from the multiple monitors lighting his face. "I bet you are. News had ya down for dead. Bet Riddick was fucked-up mad."

Jack just glanced at him, not really wishing to discuss what had happened, but not really knowing what she wanted either.

The silence grew and Chip shuffled uncomfortably. "So you want the disk?"

Jack frowned, her head coming around to look at him. "Disk?"

His brows rose like he was dealing with an idiot, "You paid me for information. I might be late, but I got it."

"What exactly did you get?"

He shrugged, "Anything and everything. Was just going after Riddick related stuff first, figured that why you's here. But then after everythin' that happened I went out from there. Lotsa Riddick's stuff was well guarded and one thing would lead to 'nother. So I just took it all. Got stuff bout you too." He was grinning, as he held out the disk in its clear protective case.

"I bet you do," she whispered roughly, slowly reaching out for the disk, not really wanting all that information. Not wanting to finally know.

When he released it into her grasp he turned away to move some things around on his desk, obviously uncomfortable with her. "Jus be careful what you use that in. It could still be traced, but I got out most of the worms."

"Do you have a system here?" she asked.

He grabbed up a thin portable, "Here. Take this. It's old, but it'll work, and it's secure."

Jack hesitantly took the laptop, "Are you sure?"

He nodded and smiled that horrible smile, "For what you gave me I could buy a thousand of those. Take it and get! Didn't much like your last visit."

She smiled, "Me neither, Chip. Me neither." She tucked the laptop under her arm and shoved the disk inside her jacket, the last dry place she had. "Thanks."

He nodded, "Just take care of dat. You might not be thankin' me when you're done."

She turned and left, half feeling like she should be climbing out the bathroom window.

The alley was just as dark and wet as when she had left it. She'd kept her bearings as she'd walked from the docking pad. It didn't take her near as long to get back.

Trow was standing in the cargo bay as she walked through feeling cold and wet and tired. She felt his eyes on her until she was out of sight. They were scheduled to take off again at fifteen hundred, after they'd loaded a shipment from one of the locals. She had some time to sleep, and clean up, before she would be needed in the cargo bay.

Setting the portable and disk carefully on her bed she quickly changed clothes and, then, once she was dry, climbed onto the bed and powered the laptop. Handling the disk like it was made of fine porcelain she set it in the disk tray and waited.

The Chem Industries logo flashed on the screen, followed by a quick recorded green 'Access Granted'. Then she was looking at dozens of files, all with names she didn't want to read. One at the top was named 'Richard', and she clicked on it and started to read.