Faith in the Darkness

"Unidentified craft, you've entered New Meccan air space. State your identity and cargo."



Faith was jolted to full awareness by the man's voice. It echoed through the ship as he repeated the order and she sat up, looking around. She was alone in the room. Faith slid out of bed, grabbing Riddick's shirt off the floor. She was still buttoning it when she walked into the control room to see Riddick sitting at the console, the lights in the ship unusually bright.



"New Mecca, this is captain William Cavanaugh of the Golden Harvest. I'm not carrying any cargo at this time," he said, a drawling accent.



Faith raised an eyebrow at the way he manipulated his voice and he grinned.



"Any passengers aboard?" the voice over the radio asked.



"Just my wife," he said. Faith made a face, but said nothing. He'd told her days ago that he'd set up false identities for both of them. Naming her as his wife seemed the safest way to go, for both of them.



"Very good, Golden Harvest, you're cleared for docking. What's your purpose in New Mecca?" The voice sounded much friendlier now that he knew captain Cavanaugh had a wife.



"We're picking up my sister," Riddick said. Faith stared at him, curiously. He'd never said anything before about a sister, just that he had business in a place called New Mecca. She didn't even hear the last words that came over the radio. She was too busy watching Riddick.



As soon as he turned the radio off, she spun his chair around and straddled his lap. He leaned back and looked at her, his eyes unreadable behind the dark goggles.



"So, what about this sister of yours? Is she the business you have to attend to?"



"Jack. I left her here, seven years ago, in the care of a man I trusted. Got word not too long ago that she's been in some kind of trouble. I'd just headed out when you dropped into my lap." There was something in his voice when he said the name Jack, something that spoke of a bond that went deeper than blood.



"She's not your sister, is she?"



"Close enough. Some things are more important than genetics." His hands, resting on her bare knees, slid up her thighs and under the shirt and Faith shivered. She couldn't see his eyes, but she could feel his gaze on her. "Much as I hate to say it, you should get dressed. We'll be docking in a few minutes. Once we get down there, we'll get you some different clothes, something that won't stand out quite so much."



He was blatantly trying to change the subject and she let him. She could wait to find out more about this Jack person. Sliding off Riddick's lap, she made her way back to his cabin to get dressed.



~*~



"I trusted one man, Imam. I trusted you to keep her safe. Did I make a mistake?"



Riddick's voice was low, dangerous and Faith raised her eyebrow at the man in the flowing robes. He just looked back, calmly, with dark eyes. There was something in those eyes that unnerved her, some inner peace that Faith could never understand. They'd gone to Imam's house after stopping in at a shop and picking up some clothes for Faith. Imam's unnerving gaze moved from Faith to Riddick and there was a note of regret in his voice when he spoke.



"She changed after you left, Riddick. You were everything to her and after you were gone, she wanted nothing more than to go after you. She ran away less than a year after we arrived. There was trouble. Many men died and they put a bounty on her head. She went to prison almost a year ago."



"Where is she?" Riddick growled.



"I was told of a world where the sun was so hot that nothing could survive there," Imam said, in even tones.



"Crematoria." The word held a note of certainty, finality and Faith looked at Riddick, curiously. If he felt her gaze on him, he didn't acknowledge it. There was a long moment of silence before he spoke again. "Faith, let's go. We're off this rock in the next hour."



He didn't look at Imam again, just walked out the front door and Faith kept pace with him. She glanced sideways at his face every so often, but his expression never changed, remaining unreadable.



"I guess I don't have to ask where we're going. Crematoria," she said, watching him. He didn't answer and she continued. "Didn't exactly sound like a weekend getaway. What is it?"



"No daylight Slam, completely underground. Maximum security, supposedly impossible to escape from." His words were clipped, but she ignored the tension in his voice.



"And your Jack got herself locked up there? A jailbreak then, I take it. Sounds like fun." He didn't answer and she shrugged, following him back to the docking station.



~*~



As soon as they were cleared to launch, Faith stood up from the copilot's chair. Riddick was ordering the lights to twenty percent.



"How long until we get to Crematoria?"



"About eighteen hours," he said, lifting his goggles away from his eyes.



"Good. I'm gonna get some sleep, then I'm taking a shower and changing into some different clothes." He said nothing, just nodded.



~*~



Her new clothes were different, but comfortable. As it turned out, young adults these days could dress just about any way they wanted, as long as it was extreme. A lot of the clothes she'd seen in the shop hadn't looked very different than the stuff twentieth-century teenagers had worn. She'd picked out a few pairs of pants, some shirts, underclothes and a pair of shorts for training in.



The pants she pulled on after her shower were silver vinyl, snug as a second skin and shimmering like mercury when she moved. The tank top was synthetic cotton, form-fitting and cropped a good three inches above her navel. Her own boots had fit in just fine, so she'd kept them.



When she felt the jolt of the ship landing, Faith flicked a glance at the mirror and had a moment to wonder what Riddick would think of her new outfit.



~*~



"Don't look much like a merc, do you?" he asked, surveying her attire.



She raised an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to?"



"You're the lucky merc who managed to take down Big Evil and you're bringing him in to collect the bounty," he informed her.



"Did I now? Well, good for me. How, pray tell, did I manage this?"



"I'm sure you'll think of something. Don't change, by the way. The more distracted they are, the better." He was opening a small cupboard under the console as he spoke, searching for something.



"Gee, that's what I always wanted to be, a distraction." Her words dripped with sarcasm, but Riddick didn't answer. When he turned around and stood up, he was holding what could only be a futuristic version of handcuffs, along with a few contraptions she wasn't sure she wanted to identify. "Lemme guess, I get to figure out how to strap you into all these nifty little gadgets."



"I'll show you how," he said, opening the restraints and wrapping one cuff around his wrist.



"Sure you will," she muttered, stepping forward to help him.



With his instructions, she chained his wrists at a painful angle behind his back. She cuffed his ankles together, leaving just enough slack between them to walk. It sent a shiver through her and she remembered her own arrest, the ugly orange jumpsuit, the chains on her wrists and ankles. Taking a breath and shaking off the memory, she pulled the blindfold over his eyes, leaving his goggles in place. The bit was the last piece and she flinched when she tightened the buckles down on it. Riddick gave no sign of a reaction other than the subtle tensing of his muscles. He looked well and truly contained, but she had a feeling he was far from being helpless. She took a deep breath and opened the ship door, guiding Riddick down the ramp, toward the tunnel that would lead them to Jack.



~*~