Forgotten Past: Chapter Twenty Seven-Beginning of the End

“C’mon, hon. Let’s get you outta here.” Martina slid an arm behind
Sleke’s shoulders and another under her knees, picking her up easily
and carrying her away from the mend chamber.

Her face and lips were pale and she laid limply against his chest, her
hair dragging on the metal floor.

When he had her situated on a padded examining table in the next
room she moaned and opened her eyes. The bright orange was a
startling contrast to her pale skin, and she weakly brushed a clump of
hair out of her face.

“How do you feel?” he asked, checking her vitals then moving her leg
around a bit.

Sleke groaned and closed her eyes again. “Stupid.”

Martina raised a dark brow. “Stupid? What for?” he queried.

“For wrapping my tail around my leg then breaking it.”’

“That was my fault. I didn’t even think to strap down the tail.” He
pressed a cold stethoscope to her chest and she let out a hiss. “Sorry,”
he mumbled, and breathed on the cold metal. “Better?” he asked,
pressing it to the skin over her heart again.

Sleke nodded. “Water,” she croaked.

He walked to a sink in the corner of the room and filled a paper cup
from the tap. She took it and drank it greedily.

“That’s better,” she murmured and let the empty cup fall to the floor.

Martina picked it up and threw it in the waste basket next to the sink.
“Don’t litter,” he reprimanded and she bared her teeth.

“We’re getting out of here, Sleke,” he said, finally done checking her
over.

She laid quietly for a moment then turned her head to look at him as he
seated himself in a chair next to her bed.

“Getting out of here?” she questioned. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll lay it out for you. This whole mutation thing wasn’t supposed to
work out the way it did. The Company has taken it to far and I want
out. You want to find your sister, right? Well, we’ll ditch this crap and
find your sister. I’m hooking up with the resistance. This is to much.
The Company needs to go down, and the resistance is going to do it. I
want to be on the winning team. The right team.”

“That’s some speech, Doctor Do-right. And how do you propose we get
out of here, exactly?” Sleke asked, masking her interest.

“Easy. We walk out like we own the place. Don’t worry about it.”
Martina leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. “I
have to copy all the mutation files onto disk then crash the system. It
will only take me an hour, then we’ll disappear. I’ve got a ship ready.
You game?”

“Damn straight, I’m game. I think I have most my memory back, and I
know what I have to do. I have to do what I set out to do before all this
happened to me. I have to take down the Company.”

“Good. I’ll get started and you get your things together. Can you
walk?” Martina asked, standing up and reaching for her hand.

Sleke took it and forced herself to her feet. Her legs were a little shaky
under her weight, but she steadied herself with a hand on the examining
table and shook her hair away from her face. “Yeah. Meet back here in
an hour?”

Martina nodded. “In an hour. See ya then.”

Sleke walked past him and out the door and he returned to the research
lab, pulling up all the files he had on the aluthium alloy mutation
process.

The mini disks filled up quickly and by the time he was done he had
forty of them in a case. When all his research and observation records
had been copied he began going through all the systems in the lab and
erasing all the records.

The process was taking to long and he began crashing the computers
and causing all information to be lost. Now they wouldn’t have
anything on the way of any medical research.

The Company kept all the computers throughout their bases on a
common network. If all the computers in his med. lab crashed, then all
the other computers throughout the Company ranks would crash as
well. The common network kept all the bases linked as far as
information went, but they hadn’t planned for a crash attempt from the
inside.

Marina grinned. All aluthium information, all med. information for
that matter, would be lost. If any computers outside HQ were on the
same network as these lab computers, they’d go down as well.

“Good,” he growled under his breath just as Sleke entered the lab, a
duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

Martina lifted his head to say something but the words got stuck in his
throat as he caught sight of Sleke.

“Your hair,” he finally managed.

Sleke ran a hand through the short spikes. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll
all be back in a week.”

“A week?” he questioned, finally regaining himself a bit.

“Yeah. I cut it a month ago, when you were out doing something. It was
back by the time you got back. We going or what?”

Martina shook himself. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

He led her through the quiet quarters of Company HQ until they got to
the docking bay. They stood before a good sized cruiser and he opened
the hatch, gesturing for her to proceed him inside.

Sleke stepped in and nodded. “This is nice. Is it yours?”

“Yeah. Company salary isn’t half bad when you help make almost half
of their money with your research. Let’s go.”

Martina sat in the pilot’s seat and fired up the engines. The ship roared
to life and Sleke dropped into the seat next to his, strapping herself in.

He followed suit and then they were leaving the docking bay. The stars
were bright and Sleke eyed them appreciatively. She hadn’t flown in a
ship for a long time. It was comforting.

“So, where to?” she questioned, unbuckling her harness.

“Alta10. That’s where the last battle between the Company and the
resistance was fought. There should be some resistance cruisers still in
the area. I’ll make contact and see if we can get picked up.”

“Sounds good. How far is it?”

“About a day’s ride, so we won’t have to go into cryo. I’ll put this on
auto pilot and we’ll be there in no time.”

“Great.”

~~~

“Bruce, there’s a cruiser approaching us. They’re trying to make
contact.”

Bruce turned to Miranda and nodded. “Put them on the view screen.”

“Roger.”

The face of a man appeared on the screen. He had dark hair tied back
low and dark eyes. “Is this a resistance group?” the man questioned.

Bruce nodded. “Yes. What is your business here?” Bruce cut the feed to
the man’s ship and turned to Jarod. “Contact Reed and Creed. They’ve
probably noticed this guy already, but he might be working with the
Company.”

Jarod nodded and left the room.

Bruce turned back to the screen and turned the transmission back on.

“My name is David Martina and until recently I was working with the
Company. I think - ,” he trailed off when Bruce’s face went hard and he
reached to cut the feed completely.

“No, wait. I have some information I think the resistance could use and
I want out of the Company. They’ve gone to far and need to be stopped.
Me and my passenger are unarmed. If you’ll just let us on board, I’ll
show you what I’ve got.”

Jarod came back in the room. “Creed says her crew already spotted
this guy and have been watching him for a while from the other side of
the battle site. Reed’s off our starboard side and has seen him as well.
They think you should let him board.”

Bruce nodded and turned back to the screen. “All right, Martina. But if
you try and pull anything, or we find out you’re still with the Company,
we’ll eject you into space and you’ll die a very nasty death.
Understood?”

“Understood. Transmission out.”

It only took a few moments for the relatively small ship to land in the
battle cruiser’s docking bay and Martina was led into the conference
room where Bruce was waiting.

Bruce stuck out his hand and shook Martina’s, eyeing the strange
woman behind him. She was normal height, but her eyes were bright
orange and her shoulder length hair was a strange striped combination
of black and silver blonde.

“I’m Bruce Levake,” Bruce said.

“David Martina. This is Sl... Eden Fry,” Martina answered, shaking
Bruce’s offered hand and gesturing to Sleke with his free hand.

Sleke reached out and shook Bruce’s hand, eyeing him warily. “Call me
Sleke.”

That’s when Bruce noticed the tail. “You’ve been mutated,” he
murmured.

Sleke and Martina’s eyes went wide. “You know of the mutation?”
Martina demanded.

“There are three resistance battle cruisers in the area and one of them
has a mutated prisoner. A frog type. The captain of that ship has been
exposed to the mutation as well, but not in the way you’re used to, I’m
sure,” Bruce answered. “Both crews will be docking with us
momentarily.”

“Then I’ll just wait until then to give you the details so I only have to
tell the tale once.”

“That’s fine. You two wait here and I’ll be back when the cruisers dock
with us.” Bruce turned and left without another word.

“Charming,” Sleke murmured when Bruce was gone and the door was
shut behind him.

“Very. Let’s sit.” Martina indicated the chairs around the long table
and Sleke sat, Martina across from her.

“I hope they don’t launch us in to outer space,” Sleke said thoughtfully.

“Well, I wasn’t lying. They have no reason to. That would suck, though,
wouldn’t it?”

Sleke laughed. “Yes. That would definitely suck. I wonder if Carolyn is
working with the resistance?”

“I don’t have a clue. Last record of your sister said she crashed on some
desolate planet and was never heard from again. The wreckage of the
ship she was working on was recovered, but no survivors were ever
found, except for some Muslin holy man on New Mecca, and he refused
to report what happened down on the planet they crashed on.” Martina
shook his head. “Tale tells that some mass murderer was on board
when it went down. They think he killed all the other survivors, and
then was killed himself.”

“You think he got Carolyn?” Sleke questioned, leaning her elbows on
the table.

“I don’t know. Perhaps. It doesn’t make sense, though, that the holy
man wouldn’t talk. He refused to say anything about the other
passengers or the murderer. I think his name was Richard... Riddick.
Yeah. That was it. Richard Riddick.”

“Richard? That’s not the sort of name most killers have.”

Martina shrugged. “Guess names don’t mean everything.”

“Guess not.”

There was a shudder and then another and Martina gripped the table.
“Docking?” he questioned.

“Probably,” Sleke answered.

“Your hair is growing back,” he commented as they waited for Bruce to
come back.

Sleke ran her hands through the strands. “I told you. It’s growing
faster than it did last time, though. Oh well, it always stops at the length
it was before. No big deal.”

The door opened and Bruce stepped in, followed by a number of other
people. Four men and a woman stepped in behind him and Martina and
Sleke stood, coming around the table to greet the people before them.

Before anyone could speak, the woman shoved through the men to
stand before Sleke.

Sleke’s eyes connected with the woman’s and she froze. “Carolyn...” she
breathed.

Carolyn had known that Eden was there from Bruce’s description. It
had matched Riddick’s description of Eden from his dream perfectly.
And now there she was, scant inches away.

“Eden, you’re alive,” Carolyn finally managed around the rapidly
swelling ball of emotion clogging her throat.

Riddick moved to stand behind Carolyn and rested a hand on her
shoulder. He’d known it was Carolyn’s sister, as well. Now he didn’t
know what he could do for Carolyn other than stand by her.

The two women regarded each other silently, eyes wide and searching.
Martina reached for Sleke’s hand and her fingers clutched his tightly.

“Sleke,” he murmured, and she turned to face him.

“She’s my sister,” Sleke said and turned back to face Carolyn.
“Carolyn, I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”

Carolyn felt ready to explode. Her head was pounding and her heart
was beating a wild tempo. She could feel Riddick’s strong presence by
her side and that reassured her slightly.

She’d prayed that she’d see Eden again, and soon, but she hadn’t
known what she would do should they meet again. This wasn’t anything
like what she would have pictured. The two of them, staring at each
other.

“Eden,” Carolyn said finally. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

The other men weren’t moving, sensing unresolved emotions between
the two women, but Martina finally stepped forward, breaking the
tension.

“This has got to be bad timing,” he began, “but there are some things I
think everyone in this room should know. I don’t know exactly what the
story between you two is, but I think it should be resolved later, after I
explain the situation.”

Carolyn snapped out of her daze and turned to face Martina. “Uh,
yeah. You’re right. Eden and I can handle this later.”

Sleke nodded and allowed Martina to lead her to a seat as Carolyn
moved to the other side of the table, Riddick close to her side.

Riddick sat and rested a hand on Carolyn’s thigh and she covered his
hand with her own, leaning toward him slightly. Her long blonde hair
was braided and hung over her shoulder and she tossed it behind her
with her free hand.

Now what? she thought. Eden is alive and obviously mutated like me.
What the hell is going on here? And who’s Martina? Where does he fit
in with Eden?

Sleke was watching her sister, her eyes wide as Martina sat beside her.

Riddick’s eyes followed Martina. “What the hell is going on here?” he
demanded, the first one to break the tense silence.

“I’ll start,” Martina answered quietly.

“Okay... I started working for the Company about ten years ago at
Company HQ. They had me working on the different properties of
aluthium alloy and that’s when I discovered that it could be used to
mutate DNA.

“At first it was just testing on criminals. Murderers, child molesters,
and other unsavory sorts. But when the Company started bringing me
people that were merely inconveniences I started to feel my conscience
nag at me. Sleke here was the last. I haven’t done any mutation since,
but I kept up with the research.

“Most test subjects don’t come out so well. The frog guy Bruce told me
about was one of the better ones. A few people come out all right. Sleke
was the best one yet. The Company wanted to know what it was about
her that made her so compatible with the mutation. Then I discovered
she had a sister and they wanted me to find her.

“Since I’d already decided not to do anymore dirty work for the
Company, I left. Sleke didn’t have her memory from the mutation and
it took some work to get her back what little she has now. She wanted to
find her sister and I wanted to take down the Company. Finding a
resistance group was the best way I could think of. When I heard of the
battle here at Alta10, I knew this would be the best place to look.”

“Okay. You’ve found us,” Bruce said, leaning forward. “I think we’ll
let Creed and Sleke figure out this little family thing later. What I want
to know is what information do you have for us?”

“Right,” Martina answered, and stood, reaching into his pocket.
Riddick rested his hand on his blade, but didn’t make a move to get up,
so Martina continued to search his pockets. He finally came up with a
small case and opened it, revealing a number of small computer disks.

“This is all my information on aluthium alloy. Before I left I copied
everything I could and then crashed every computer in the lab. It was
the only one at the complex so they won’t have any more information
on it. That should weaken the Company at least a little.

“Do you got a computer I can bring this up on?”

Bruce nodded and pointed to a console in the corner.

“Great. I’ll just hook this up.”

Martina picked a labeled disk from the pack and slid it into the
computer and brought up the view screen on the table. “Everything is
here,” he said. “I was working on a reversal for the mutation, but I
couldn’t do it. It seems that the mutation is permanent. I suppose
surgery of some sort could fix some of the changes, but for most, like
the frog guy, there isn’t a lot that could be done. Sleke could get her tail
removed, and maybe the claws, but a few of the other changes would
remain the same.”

“What about me?” Carolyn asked, expanding her wings and then lifting
her left hand to show her set of retractable claws. “No reversal for me
either?”

“Things like that might be removable. Any other changes?” Martina
questioned.

“Lights, Bruce?” Carolyn asked, and Bruce turned the lights off.
Carolyn removed her dark glasses, exposing the strange black/blue
glow of her eyes. Riddick removed his goggles, letting his eyes breathe.

“I can’t think of anything that would change that back,” Martina
answered finally.

“My blood is blue, as well,” Carolyn said, placing the dark glasses on
the table before her. Bruce left the lights off and Martina sat again.

“You’re eyes shined?” he questioned Riddick and he nodded slightly,
placing his goggles beside Carolyn glasses.

“How’d you get mutated?” Sleke asked Carolyn.

Carolyn sighed. “Uh, yeah. Okay. Before the whole pirate bit, I was a
pilot for a shipping company. The ship crashed and we, Riddick and I
and a few other survivors, were stranded on a hell hole of a planet. I
almost got killed and some blood of one of the creatures on the planet
must have mixed with mine.

“The Company didn’t like the way I was living my life and decided to
erase my memory with a little aluthium spray in the face. It must have
mixed with the blood still in my system and here I am now. I think the
blood of the creatures itself had some sort of mutation properties of its
own, though, because things happened to me before. My senses became
sharper, I became stronger, and my hair grew a lot faster.”

“It’s a good thing we found you before the Company did,” Martina
said. “If they found out there’s a creature out there with blood that
mixes well with human DNA and the aluthium and has mutational
properties of its own, you could be in danger, as well as the rest of the
universe.”

Carolyn nodded. “I thought of that. I’m glad you two showed up.
Maybe we can figure out something, or you can.”

Martina nodded. “If you have a place where I can work, I can get
started on figuring something out. It would help to have a blood sample
from you, though, as well.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

Riddick took in everything, his mind racing over what he’d learned.
The Company didn’t have a very good handle on the mutation and that
was to the advantage of the resistance. And if Martina really had erased
all the computer files, that was even better. Without those they’d
probably never get back up to where they were before, especially if
Martina was the only one working on it.

“Were you the only one working on the mutation?” Riddick asked.

Martina nodded. “Yeah. A general, Munroe, he was always hounding
me to get to work, but he didn’t know DNA from his own ass, so he
won’t have a clue what to do now that all the information I’d had is
gone.”

“That’s good news for us,” Reed said, speaking up for the first time.

“Definitely. I can get started on my research again right away, if
everyone is okay with that.” Martina stood and stretched, and Sleke
followed, her eyes still on Carolyn.

“How ‘bout some introductions,” Jarod asked.

“Right,” Bruce answered, as if just remembering that Martina and
Sleke didn’t know anyone. “You all know who you are, introduce
yourselves.”

“Creed,” Carolyn said first. She didn’t mind that Riddick called her
Carolyn, but to everyone else she was still Creed Xander.

“Reed O’Dell. I’m the leader of the resistance group Ahsatan.”

“Mark Reimers, Reed’s advisor.”

“Jarod Verheul, Bruce’s advisor under Nylorac.”

“David Martina,” Martina said in answer to the introductions, noting
that the man with Sleke’s sister didn’t offer his name. “Who are you?”
he asked the man pointedly.

Riddick raised a brow, but decided to answer. “Riddick,” he answered
quietly, not offering any information other than that.

Martina turned to face Sleke. She lifted slim brows questioningly. They
were both wondering if he was the same Riddick they’d been talking
about earlier.

“Sleke,” Sleke finally offered. “Human guinea pig.”

“Okay. I suppose everyone has something to do, so everyone can go,”
Bruce said, also standing. “Creed, I think we’ll all have to talk later,
don’t you?”

Carolyn nodded, standing. “Yeah, Bruce. I’ll meet you and Reed in here
at 1200 hours tomorrow. Good for you?”

“Great,” Bruce said and Reed nodded, heading for the docking bay to
board his own ship, Mark following him.

Riddick stood next to Carolyn, his hand on the small of her back. “You
okay?” he questioned quietly.

“Yeah,” she whispered back and leaned into him. She was a bit
overwhelmed, but she’d be okay.

“Me and you need to talk,” she said, lifting her eyes to Sleke’s.

“Definitely,” Sleke answered. “Lead the way.”

Carolyn put her glasses on and Riddick pulled his goggles over his eyes
again. Bruce turned on the lights so the rest of the people could see and
Carolyn turned to face him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Bruce nodded. “Yeah. See ya then. I’ll bet you’re going to show up,” he
said to Riddick.

“I’ll be here, but I know the story all ready,” Riddick answered, and
began to move with Carolyn towards the door.

Martina and Sleke followed close behind and they all boarded The
Charmer at the docking bay. Carolyn led them to the command dock
and gave her orders to move the ship back to the other side of the
remains of the Alta10 space station.

“No problem, Creed,” Jesse Allard answered, and the ship’s engines
came to life and they were quickly moving towards their hiding place
among the debris.

“Have there been any sightings of Company battle cruisers?” Carolyn
asked, moving to stand next to Tatum.

Tatum nodded. “Yeah. We’ve got two, but the stealth is working. They
haven’t spotted us. They’re on the other side of that asteroid belt over
there,” she pointed to a foggy band on the radar screen.

“Good. Tell Ahsatan and Nylorac to keep their shields up. Our
movement earlier might have alerted them to our presence and we
don’t want them finding us just yet.”

“You got it.”

“C’mon,” Carolyn said to Martina and Sleke and began leading them to
the medical deck. She’d introduce Martina to Craig Starr so the two of
them could get to work on the aluthium alloy.

“This is going to be a long night,” Riddick murmured in her ear and she
felt comforted by his warm breath on her skin.

“I’m going to talk to Sleke and then I’ll call you, okay? You’ll come
down, right?”

Riddick nodded. “Yes. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay. See ya.” Carolyn turned to Sleke as Riddick walked away.
“C’mon, Eden. We need to talk.”

***

Back to Menu