Treacherous

Bell took Ramsay to the armory before she took him to the kids. Didn’t want him having to leave them once he was there. As a synthetic he already had superior strength and integral weaponry, but having a visible weapon may make a difference.

When Ramsay entered Thea screamed and ran at him. Bell took a step back and watched the reunion.

Synthetics had been around for a long time, maybe hundreds of years. It wasn’t common to see them. They were expensive and so were only used when necessary. Or they were invisible. Human-like to the point of being indistinguishable in a crowd. A person could encounter a synthetic and never know it.

She had heard that in the early years there was a lot of controversy on the specifics. A robot with self-recognizing AI and the ability to form emotion-like bonds with those around it was so close to human it was scary. There were behavioral inhibitors enforced, and monitoring, thus Militia getting involved in every synthetic created. Androids weren’t allowed to hurt humans, except in defense of another human. Any counter programming would cause system malfunctions. So it just wasn’t done.

So in a way she could see Riddick’s argument. Ramsay might be a synthetic, but he was in essence a father. Thea had two fathers. And right now there was just one she was screaming to see. Was part of Riddick’s reservation based on that? That these children, his children would prefer an android to him? That hurt her to even think of it and she made a mental note to talk to Ramsay about it, and maybe even Riddick. If he wanted a place in these children’s hearts and was going to be bothered by them caring about someone else, then he needed to show up a bit more.

“Can you stay, Ram?” Weis was asking. The man sat on the floor with all three of them crowded around him, or on him.

“Forever, buddy,” he said with a fond smile.

Bell went to talk to the girls. They looked a bit bothered by this new visitor. A few minutes of discussion. None of them had ever dealt with a synthetic and looked at him differently after they learned. Veron actually looked interested. Bell decided to wait a bit to let the girl know he was sexually capable. Didn’t need them fornicating in the same room with her kids.

A few hours with the kids. It was the best way to distract her, and them, from what lay ahead. Ramsay wanted to lay them down for naps, and even lay with them. It had been how the boys had first been able to sleep alone, or at least without her. It had continued again with Thea. Bell left them to it, knowing they were still getting used to being reunited.

Riddick’s apparition was always a beacon to her. The ship was small enough or contained enough that she felt him constantly unless she just blocked him out. She wasn’t able to read anything, just his presence, or more precisely his continued existence.

But now there was a change in it. She wasn’t able to detect what was different, but it was blatant that something had. So with nothing better to do, she moved towards him through the ship.

On the command deck, he turned to her just as her head peeked above the top step.

“This is going to be interesting.”

She frowned and looked around. What the hell was he talking about? Everyone looked to be doing their normal activities, the vid screen and floor portals were off. But then he nodded to a communications officer.

The vid lit up to show a face she’d only ever seen on a vid, like on news programs. Charles Rafferty, director and head administrator of the Universal Defense Militia Corps. He was about the most powerful man in the universe. Well, after Riddick.

This wasn’t gonna be a social call. Guess it was time to negotiate.

He saw them at the same second they saw him. There was the double-blink of recognition and then a nice long moment of silence.

“Well, this explains a few things.”

Bell smiled. That was an understatement.

Rafferty continued, “When my envoy didn’t return I thought they were overstaying their welcome. Then some of my test subjects go missing.”

“Test subjects?!” Bell yelled. How dare he call her kids his projects!

Riddick raised a hand palm out, stopping her. Vaako stepped up beside her, not forcing her back, but his hand gripping her upper arm would keep her from moving forward and included the threat of him removing her bodily.

Lips thinned into a frown as he watched Bell’s outburst, then softening into a smile to look back at Riddick. “I see now there was some validity to the prophecy.”

Riddick shrugged, “It could’ve gone either way.”

He nodded, clearly not interested in the ‘how’s. “I am looking to make you a deal here. I don’t want those giant spikes sticking out of my planet, so what is it that you want?”

“What are you offering?” Riddick asked.

A considering face, “You have an army now and if I was correct about the Necromonger’s appreciation of valuable artifacts, then it isn’t command or money I could interest you in.” He glanced at Bell, “You have your whore and a pick of any Necromonger, so a woman isn’t something you need. Conceivably the only thing I could interest you in is having your name back.”

Riddick gave a considering nod, “Clear my record?”

Rafferty smiled, sickly pleased with the power he held, “I can make it so Riddick never existed if you want. You’d be a free man, no bounty, no mercs.”

Riddick looked to be considering it. His thoughts were unclear, but he seemed interested. Was it the whole conversation he was thinking on or was it the offer?

“And for what? To be an assassin or an experiment?”

The man looked confused for a second then smiled slowly, “You misunderstand. My interest is no longer in you. I offer your freedom only in trade. I want the twins.”

Bell’s mouth gaped, Riddick nodded as if he’d expected it.

“If you wanted some of my offspring so badly why’d you wait so long? You had the DNA. Cloning’s been around for a while. Why’d you steal little kids?”

“You don’t think we tried? We wanted a Riddick from the cradle, preferably from the womb. Engineered, taught, controlled, trained. But it is impossible. We couldn’t have a new Riddick with her.” He sneered her name with palpable distaste.

Riddick turned to look a Bell, then slowly back up at the vid. “She ain’t the first chick I fucked.”

Bell gasped at his rudeness. He was so going to pay for this.

“Not the first ‘chick’.” Rafferty quoted this word as if it was beneath him to utter. “She was the first Furyan.”

“Got my own birth control, huh?” Riddick said softly.

“You ain’t kiddin’, buddy,” Rafferty laughed. “Seeing as how most of your kind were killed off thirty years ago and the only female Furyans we could find were too old to consider offering a healthy donor. You found the one woman that could bear your children. It was about a one in bazillion chance.”

Bell was grinning. How strange was that?

“So why’d you dump her off?”

Rafferty shrugged one shoulder, not in the least caring about the poor treatment. “We had the twins. She was useless without you.”

“You had the DNA,” Riddick argued.

The guy shook his head, “You don’t understand. We had the twins. We were hoping for one and she bred us twins. Since the mutant race colonized a nasty little planet called Furya, there has only been one other recorded case of multiple births. Their strength was legendary. If they could be properly trained they could be superhuman, beyond anything that has ever been seen.”

“They’re little kids,” Bell argued, hating hearing him speak of innocent children with such avarice.

“Kids to you, maybe.” He glanced off screen, then looked back. “Do you remember Koven and Kelver?”

Riddick turned slowly to look at Bell, his eyes intent, hers wide. Who hadn’t heard of those two infamous men? They had supposedly been agent assassins. It would have been around the time she and Riddick had only been children. There were documentaries attempting to prove or disprove if they’d even existed. ‘Men or Myths’ had been the headlines. The question was never answered to any real degree, just more speculation added.

“I can see you do remember.” The guy nodded approvingly, “They were bigger than Area 51 in its day. Never enough evidence.” He shook his head with mocking sadness. “But you probably guessed it. Not only were they real, they were Furyan twins. The only other set before you two fornicated on some dust ball planet.”

“Is this supposed to be convincing us to hand them over?” Bell asked.

He shrugged, “I don’t care about Teos. My flight is scheduled for within the hour. I’ll be declared dead in the wreckage and you’ll get your day in the sun. Taking out the evil Militia, uncovering all its corruption.” He smiled, showing that he thought the whole thing was amusing. “I want those kids! I know you took that android, so maybe someday if you ever turn him on I can find them through him. You have them guarded well enough now, but it won’t always be so.”

A cold chill wrapped around Bell’s heart and she looked at Riddick to see his reaction. They’d never stop hunting her children? Riddick’s expression hadn’t changed, but Bell had to wonder, especially with the doubt cast on Ramsay now.

Rafferty pulled back from the vid, obviously readying to leave the premises. “Just keep my offer in mind, Riddick. I know you aren’t the family type.” His look at Bell was condescending at best. “Bring her along even if you tire of her. We can harvest her eggs. We can bring Furyans back, make them a formidable race once again.”

Bell scowled, but the vid screen went blank.

“That arrogant fucking asshole!”

Riddick turned his head to look at her, “Tell me what you really think.”