Forgotten Past: Chapter Fifteen-Finally

*

One Year Five Months Earlier

*

“Status report.”

Carolyn glanced up. “Oh, thanks, Antwone.” She reached out for it and
he placed the folder into her hands. It was thick and she hoped it was all
good news.

Antwone flashed a smile at her then left the room, leaving her to go over
the reports. Everything was in good working order. The crew was full,
profits were up two-hundred percent from the previous year. A few of
her crew did separate jobs as bounty hunters or hired themselves out
for tracking down people. The mercenary, killer/hunter for hire bit paid
nicely, as well. It made a lot of her crew financially independent from
her, so that meant extra profits.

Creed Xander had the largest, most prosperous crew in the known
galaxy. Open trade routes with the Company gave her an easy come go
relationship with them as well. And if one of their ships just happened
to get hit by The Charmer, the new name of Carolyn’s battle cruiser,
the Company turned a blind eye and pretended nothing had happened.

The only thing Carolyn had trouble coping with was her spotted
memory. The insanity that had taken over her after the crash of the
Hunter-Gratzner had taken its toll, and she had trouble remembering
who she’d been with. If there had even been anyone else. Even her
name was slightly strange to her.

When Bruce had brought her back to the space station she hadn’t been
able to tell him her name. When she’d made up Creed Xander, it had
been for her own benefit as well as his.

That explained the fact that Creed Xander was burned into her right
shoulder. She’d never be able to forget her name again. It also gave her
an edge. A woman that could burn something into her body was not to
be messed with. The shine job added to the aura of danger she held
herself in.

Most of her crew had shine jobs. It wasn’t a requirement, but it was
recommended. It separated them from other crews and people, as well
as making them almost unstoppable on a raid.

The first thing Moe and Winter took out with the rest of the entrance
crew was the lights and back up energy system, leaving only oxygen
tanks working to keep the ship inhabitable. Those were cut off from the
power cells when they left, leaving the crew that still lived on the
attacked ship without air or power. Unless they were picked up within a
few hours, they were dead.

With the main and backup power systems off-line, the ship would be
thrown into complete dark. Carolyn’s crew was able to move freely
about the ship without being detected, except for their glowing eyes.

But Carolyn had ulterior motives to shining her eyes. The dark terrified
her. What you can’t see can kill you, she knew that first hand. The pitch
black had almost gotten her, and she had the scars to prove it.

So the stats were good. All in the positive. The only down side in
Carolyn’s life was she didn’t completely know who she was or what she
was looking for. But she was getting close. She could feel it.

*

Three Months Earlier

*

“The Company is sick of playing by your rules, Xander.”

Creed stared down the Rangers standing before her chair, and lifted a
slim blonde brow. Carolyn no longer existed, she’d been lost three years
ago. “Really,” she drawled.

“Yes, really. You play both sides of the law. Your side, and the side of
the Company. You make deals with us, then you go back and take out a
freighter and all its crew, stealing the cargo and selling it on the black
market. It is no longer expectable.”

“What about my crew? Are you going to attack my ship?” Creed’s first
worry was her crew. The second, her ship, The Charmer.

The Ranger speaking to her directly shook his head in the negative.
“No. We don’t feel your crew or cruiser are a threat without you at the
helm.”

Creed fought the urge to smirk at the man. Antwone was just as good at
taking care of business as she was, and now the Company had made a
very powerful enemy. Especially if they did anything to her.

“So what’s the plan, pal?” Creed demanded, crossing her legs and
hooking her hair behind her ears.

“Now, we lock you up until we find out what to do with you. You’re
going to a maximum security prison.”

This wasn’t exactly the sort of news Creed wanted to hear.

*

One Month Two Weeks Later

*

“Did it work?”

“I don’t know. Check her.”

Creed blinked sleepily at the man. “Who are you?” she croaked weakly
and he back handed her across the face.

Her head snapped back and she bared her teeth menacingly. “Do you
know who you are?” he demanded, holding his hand up threateningly.

She struggled to remember. Did she know who she was? No, and trying
to figure it out hurt like hell. She shook her head wearily. “No... I
can’t... What’s going on?”

“Spray her again and we’ll dump her. If she ever figures out who she is,
it’ll be to late. This stuff is great.”

A nasty smelling gas was sprayed in Creed’s face and it felt like her
brain was contracting as she inhaled, struggling to breathe through the
fog. Then everything went black.

*

Present

*

Carolyn didn’t look up at Riddick as she finished her story and took a
few calming breaths.

“What was in the spray can?”

Her head snapped up. “Spray can?”

“You said they sprayed something in your face that made you lose your
memory. What was in it?” Riddick questioned.

She shook her head... “I don’t know, I have all my memory back, except
for those few moments when they sprayed me with... whatever that stuff
was. I wish I knew what it was, that I could harness it.” Carolyn closed
her eyes and dipped her head. “I have to find out.” But then she lifted
her head again and looked him straight in the eye, glowing silver
meeting glowing silver. “So, that’s how I got here, but I have to go find
my crew now, Riddick. I need to leave.”

“That’s some tale, Carolyn. But how do you know where your crew is,
how to contact them?”

Carolyn smiled wickedly. “Trust me, it can be done. And stop calling
me Carolyn. Carolyn died three years ago. You watched her die. Those
creatures ate her.”

Riddick sighed and leaned back in his chair. Carolyn’s tale had been a
long one. Three years long, to be exact.

“So where does that leave us?” Riddick asked finally.

Carolyn shrugged. “No where, Riddick. There never was an us, and
there never will be. You’re a con, I’m a fugitive and a pirate. I have to
find my crew and you have to find Jack. My bet is she took off on a
freighter. Check the air/spaceport records. My bet is there’s a Jack B.
Badd registered as a crew member on board a freighter somewhere. I
gotta go.”

Carolyn stood up and turned for the door, but Riddick was on her
before she could even reach for the knob.

“You were looking for me,” he growled in her ear.

Carolyn froze. “How would you know? And if I was, I guess I found
you. Now let me go, Riddick.”

Riddick turned Carolyn to face him and pulled her body flush against
his. “Tell me there isn’t something between us, some bond, and I will.”

Carolyn locked her eyes with Riddick’s and opened her mouth to tell
him to leave her alone. That nothing was between them but the past.
Her mouth opened but no sound came out. She shut it then tried again.
“You scare me, Riddick,” she whispered finally, her voice rough.

“This time, that’s not what I want to hear. Tell me!” He shook her
slightly and her head whipped back on her neck.

“Why are you doing this! I can’t be what you want anymore! Carolyn is
dead!” she shouted in his face. “I’m not her! I’m Creed!”

“I know you’re Carolyn. You’re in there, dammit. Tell me!”

“I can’t! There is something between us, and you know it as well as me.
Is that what you want to hear? Did I tell you what you want?” She was
still shouting.

“Yes,” he growled and covered her mouth with his, doing what he’d
wanted to do all those years ago. “Unrestrained,” he growled as she
responded to his kiss, moving her lips beneath his.

Riddick moved his mouth over hers, tasting her before parting her lips
with his tongue and feeling the textures of her mouth from the inside.

Carolyn moaned into Riddick’s mouth. “Finally.”

***

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