Future Shock: Chapter Six-New Tokyo (2 Month's - P.B.)
Riddick had seen worse than New Tokyo in his short, violent thirty year
lifetime. The
old satellite station, one of the oldest still functioning in the galaxy point
in fact, was a
big hulking object, cobbled together from numerous derelict orbital outposts and
ships,
was left to quietly orbit the dead sun of the Raab system. Inside was a massive
city
inhabited mostly by smugglers, swindlers and outsiders hoping to make a quick
buck
on the many travelers who passed through daily, their destinations being bigger
and
better places. Store and sleazy motel fronts lit up in flashy neon and other
such gaudy
markers while the bars and taverns chose to remain anonymous. Scantily clad
girls
called to Riddick as he passed them by on the ‘street’ searching for the
perfect place to
disappear in to for a while. He picked a dive and entered, allowing the crowd of
moving
body parts to swallow him up. He made his way to the bar.
“Ranger or merc,” a sweet voice asked and Riddick turned to see a round
faced girl
lost in a mess of curly back hair. She was smiling at him and her body language
was
undeniable, but she didn’t seem like the other cheap come-on girls who
frequented
stations like this. Something about her was different, more dangerous. Riddick
liked
that. “Ranger or merc?” she repeated and Riddick replied ‘neither’.
“Just passing
through then? I am too. Rachel Connors but everyone calls me Raye. And you
are?” No
answer. “The strong silent type, eh? So tell me, big sexy, what are you
wearing those
sunglasses for? Shine job? Interesting. Interesting and very rare. I thought
they only
did that in slam.” She shrugged, “No matter. Let me buy you a drink and
we’ll see what
happens after that.”
Quietly, Raye slipped out of bed, glancing backwards at Riddick cautiously and
squinting against the dark gloom of the small dirty motel room to make sure she
hadn’t
woken him. He lay on his back, the sheet crumpled at his waist, naked above and
below that, one arm draped casually over his forehead and eyes, the other
resting on
the now empty space on the bed where Raye had been only moments before. Content
in the fact the he was still indeed asleep, she crept into the bathroom guided
only by
the red flashing of the neon sign just outside the room’s only window. She
closed the
door behind her securely before daring to turn on the green nightlight.
In the dim glow, she snapped her wrist taskmaster onto her slender arm and
dialed it
online. “Get me William Johns,” she whispered into it in a voice so small it
was in
danger of getting lost in her throat before it even left her mouth,
“connection 252,
security 7.” She waited impatiently as the computer found the connection and
displayed
Johns’ image on the tiny viewscreen. “Johns, I think I found your boy. Give
me a while
with him. I’ll make him trust me, then I’ll deliver him right to you.”
Date: 2 yrs. + P.B.
“I got the parts I needed,” Raye announced, wiping her hands on her pants as
she
approached Riddick who was sitting calmly in the docking bay near the Lucky
Lady.
“Cost me a pretty cred, but they’re worth it. I’ll get them installed and
we can get out of
her by the end of the standard day.” She shifted uncomfortably. “Always
hated this
place.”
Riddick stood and, placing his hands on her shoulders, drew her forward and
kissed
her on the forehead. “Bad memories,” he confirmed. “I’m gonna get
something to eat
while you work here. I’ll be back.”
He left the docking bay and made his way across the crowded ‘streets’ of
busy New
Tokyo. He spotted the Iyysh captain, Ellis, who was haggling with a local, most
likely
trying to negotiate the sale of a new vessel. Paulo noticed Riddick, brightening
up as
she was obviously bored by the tedious workings of buyers and salesmen
etiquette,
and waved to him, catching Ellis’ attention who then waved as well.
“My friend,” the Iyysh smiled, dismissing the man he’d been doing business
with and
walking towards Riddick. “My comrade in arms. Come let me buy you a hot meal
in
gratitude of what you and your lovely companion have done for us!”
For a moment, a figure passed into Riddick’s line of sight in the distance.
Tall and
gaunt and handsome, with a scar running diagonally from his brow to the corner
of his
mouth, he was as pretty as a youth but with a bitter, experienced glare that
only came
with age. Riddick shivered as the ghost passed through the crowd and was gone.
“You’ve gone pale now, Mr. Riddick, “Ellis observed. “Are you quite all
right?” Riddick
shrugged, not wishing to discuss it.
Riddick had lost his appetite. Everything was coming down around him. Familiar
names, long since forgotten and buried, were beginning to resurface: Jade,
Steerpike,
Fry. He thought of the name Ellis had mentioned, John Damien, and pondered over
why it had sounded so familiar. When he’d finished picking at his meal, he
said his
good-byes and good lucks and ordered a lunch to take away for Raye.
“Wow. How uncharacteristically thoughtful of others that was of you,” she
laughed,
looking down at the paper food container. Riddick commented that he was learning
and
Raye smiled at him, acknowledging the effort. “I’ve gotten most of the
repairs done. The
sooner we leave this place the better.” Riddick responded only with a barely
audible
grunt. Raye frowned. “Is it sunny where you are?” she asked lightly, then
smiled and
shook her head at the irony of her tease, her black curly hair bouncing loose of
its
restraint. “No, it wouldn’t be, would it? What are you thinking about?”
He shrugged and, bowing his head, rubbed the palm of his hand across the short
back
stubble ontop his otherwise smooth, bald scalp. “Need a shave,” he told her,
not
knowing what else to tell her. He didn’t even know where to begin. Ha had
lived for so
long in his own head, solitary, alone for as long as he could remember, he
wasn’t
exactly at ease with communication. He was aware of the fact the Raye felt and
expressed things in bursts of color. But Riddick smoldered inside, burning
deeply and
constantly, and such things were not easily put into words.
Raye just nodded thoughtfully and told him, “You don’t have to learn
everything right
away. Come on, let’s get going.”
* * *