Treacherous

For forty hours the hulls of the Necromonger ships had been sparkling with the hits of surface-to-air missiles. Little damage was sustained to the nearly impregnable titanium alloy the warships were protected with.

So far there had been few outright battles. In the first few hours dozens of aircraft fighters had been sent to intercept them, but the Necromongers were experienced in aggression, and firefights.

Riddick stood strong and silent on the command deck above the hall of the Necropolis, not a whole unlike the statue they’d made of him. He had portals to show the action outside and officers at their stations kept him informed of anything. They were on full alert, but just waiting.

Bell sat on the floor in the Quasi grotto. She didn’t know if the Quasis would help or hinder her search, but it was a risk she was willing to take.

The planet below her was bigger in size than Earth, and there were many populated cities, some built below the surface. Somewhere down there were her kids and she had to find them. So the entire armada was cruising just below black space, crisscrossing the planet at key spots.

The option of an outright invasion was feasible, but risky. In a head to head fight between the UDMC and the ‘Mongers it wasn’t certain who the victor would be. Plus there was the chance the children or other innocents would be harmed in the fight.

It had been hours since Bell had moved from her position, hoping to make some tiny connection between her and her sons. So far there had been nothing. Maybe they weren’t even on this planet. Had Militia moved them before they’d arrived?

She was losing hope, and consciousness. Sleep had been impossible as they’d gotten this close to their goal, and exhaustion was making her feel weak, and useless, and angry.

Sympathy. A mental touch and she looked up to see Riddick in the doorway. Tears welled into her eyes at the look on his face, and the thoughts coming from him. He wanted her to quit. She was shaking her head without the suggestion being voiced.

“Come sit with me,” she whispered, wiping at her eyes.

He moved forward, looking uncomfortable. “Maybe they’re not here.”

“What if they are?”

He didn’t answer and she knew she had him. Leaving would mean abandoning the children.

Not to break character, Riddick just crouched beside her. She smiled, trying to imagine him cross-legged like she was. But she wanted him closer. She needed him to lean on, and she might just mean it literally.

A hand on his arm and it was like an electric shock. Not the static electricity from dry weather, this was stronger, a meeting of forces.

“Riddick,” she whispered, awed by the strength she felt. But she could see that he felt it too. That wariness he showed anything new that he didn’t understand, and she didn’t blame him. This surging force between them had the potential to be dangerous, maybe even to them.

A whisper of something brushed her senses and she closed her eyes.

Riddick had remained silent, but now he spoke, almost absently. “Just like the echoes I heard.”

Bell gasped, “What? What did you hear? When?”

His look was distant, like he was only half paying attention to her. “Before you came. Heard echoes that sounded like someone scared.” He shrugged.

Bell rose to her knees in a lunge that had Riddick pulling back. Of course! They were of his blood too! His gift was more practiced than hers, and stronger for it. Her hands closed on his face, holding him, and making him look ready to hurt her. “Can you hear them now?”

It was a few seconds before he closed his eyes, like he had to remind himself that he didn’t have to kill her. Just seconds later he nodded. “They’re here.”

“Where, Riddick? Can you see them?”

His jaw tightened beneath her touch. She knew he didn’t like this, but at the moment she couldn’t care less. He was her link. He was her savior, and her children’s.

“North of here. Compound. Underground.” He shook his head, frowning. “Same compound, but separated. Little one’s in pain. Boys are angry.”

Bell was practically sobbing. “Can you talk to them?”

His eyes snapped open. Narrowed silver pools. Surprise. “I’ve never tried communicating with this.” Aggravation at his ignorance of his abilities. Then she was feeling his concern at seeing her reaction. She wrapped her arms around him, thankful that he let her. This was the closest she’d gotten to being able to help her children. She wanted to lend her aid if she could.

“You have to me,” she whispered.

Understanding. “They don’t know me.”

Bell smiled, feeling his emotions, his worries. “They’ve never met you, but they know who you are.”

He went still. A second later she lost touch with him, his apparition seeming to disappear, but she knew the truth. He was reaching out to them, trying to convey a message.

For long minutes he didn’t move. Bell continued to kneel before him, knowing he was nearly out of his body.

Finally she felt him stir and she pulled back to see that he was smiling. “What? What is it?”

“Kid’s are tough.”

She grinned, wanting to jump up and down. “They’re little pieces of us.”

He stood and she moved with him, wanting him to tell her more.

Riddick was barely outside the doors of the grotto when he started yelling orders. Their course was changed, bearing north. Up the steps two at a time, and he was stopping at the mercury table. Instantly a three dimensional topographic map of the area they were over formed. He studied it, moving it without effort, until he nodded, “There.”

The mercury dropped as he turned away, its purpose done. He moved to the navigation officer and gave them the coordinates.

Bell hung back, too anxious to hope. Were they really zeroing in on her kids? Were they really going to get them back for her?

Riddick’s head cocked and he turned to her. A moment of stillness and then he nodded, his apparition sweeping over her comfortingly, then he was striding to the railing. “VAAKO!”

**Aurora: Hey, thanks for all that wonderful feedback. Love hearing that you actually like what I'm writing, and absotively love hearing your take on it! Thanks much!

**Dee: Hey, girl, glad to see I could sway you towards on ofc. I understand your reservations. Lot of bad original characters out there. Even want some good reading give me a holler, I've hunted down the best ofc's, and a few OMC'S!! I'm a bit concerned about your interest in Jack. You're still early, and we won't see her again until chapter 44-45, but it's not a good encounter. Hope that doesn't scare you off entirely. Happy to have you reading, and just remember, it's Riddick we love, Jack's just an extra. Thanks for the feedback, hon!!