Gyn Wolf's Story: Chapter Thirteen-Final Mistake
Alec landed on Dres in the late afternoon hours, just before
twilight was getting ready to descend upon the planet.
Large mining machinery could be heard in use not far away and he spotted a fancy
ship close by. A Hydro-quad 650. He’d been looking for one of those for years.
“Look at that ‘quad,” his partner, Ken Reigns, breathed. “That’s
sweet!”
Alec flashed the younger man a grin. “Yeah. If I can find who owns it, maybe I’ll
buy it off them.”
“I think *I’ll* buy it off them!” Ken exclaimed.
“Like you could afford it, kid,” Alec scoffed. “We gotta find Riddick now,
so no more joking.”
They headed for the supply shop and Alec felt more than a little unnerved as he
faced another set of freaky eyes and a big man. “I’m looking for a big guy.
Riddick. You seen him?” he questioned the shop keeper.
The man eyed him warily before saying anything. “I see a lot of big guys
around here, mister,” the man said slowly.
“This guy’s hard to miss though. Shaved head, always wearing dark goggles?”
Alec pressed.
The man just shrugged and turned away from him when a young boy with a shaved
head and goggles entered the shop. His face was dirty and watery tracks cleared
paths down his face.
“Hey, Jack,” the big man behind the counter called to the kid.
The boy turned to the man and smiled broadly, pushing the goggles away from his
face. “Hey, Austin,” he said. “You got anything to drink? I’m broke, but
you know I’m good for it.”
The man he’d called Austin reached beneath the counter and the sound of
clanking ice filled Alec’s ears. Austin pulled out a soda and handed it to the
kid, who took it gladly and popped the top.
“Thanks, Austin. I gotta get back to work, but I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
Austin smiled at the kid named Jack when he left before turning back to Alec.
“Why aren’t you gone yet?” he questioned darkly, and Alec twitched
nervously when the man reached for something Alec doubted was a soda beneath the
counter.
“Uh, cute kid. He been here long?” Alec questioned, trying to get the man to
ease up.
“She. And yeah, about eight months now. What’s it to you? After a little
bald kid, too, merc?”
Alec straightened. “How’d you know I was a merc?”
Austin sneered. “Do I look that stupid to you? Merc is practically tattooed
across your damn forehead.”
Alec frowned at Austin. “In any case, no, I’m not after the kid, although
there’s a strange resemblance between, did you say her? and Riddick.”
The man just shrugged and picked up a book.
With a contemptuous curl of his lip, Alec led Ken out of the store. Maybe some
of the local miners would be more inclined to talk. He’d pay for any recent
news on Riddick.
Austin, in the meantime, was watching Alec leave when he jumped to his feet.
He ran over to the Hydro-quad and pounded on the hatch door. “Gyn! GYN! Open
the door, girl!”
Gyn stumbled into her clothes as she crossed to the hatch door and punched the
red button. It lowered and she spotted Austin looking red faced and worried.
“What’s going on, Austin?” she asked, shoving a lock of short blonde hair
off her forehead. She rubbed her eyes and watched him curiously.
“Some merc is after Riddick, so you had better get off this rock quick. He saw
Jack, too. Said there was a strange resemblance between her and Riddick. You
gotta get outta here!”
Suddenly Gyn was fully alert. “Damn! Thanks, Austin. I owe you one. Could you
notify Craig Malloy? He’s over in D-Block. The green hut. Tell him the merc is
here and he should head back to X-14 if he doesn’t want to mess with the guy.”
Austin nodded curtly and jogged over towards the direction of D-Block. The
sections of the colony were in blocks. Hers and Riddick’s hut was in B-Block,
but the store was in A, so if the merc found out where they’d been staying he’d
be a ways off still.
Gyn hustled back towards Riddick, who had heard the conversation and was just
pulling on his last boot. He tossed Gyn hers, along with some socks and she
pulled them on as fast as she could.
“We have to get those powercells. We have enough to take off, but we’re
gonna have to stop somewhere else and fill up the others if they aren’t done
yet,” Riddick said, pulling on his goggles.
Gyn tugged hers on as well and they headed to the back of Austin’s store,
where the trickle charger was.
Gyn began unhooking the cells. They were all done, thankfully, and they began
dragging them back to the ship. Riddick held a cell under each arm and another
in each hand. Gyn hefted the last two up on her shoulders and they made it back
to the ship quickly.
They shoved the powercells into place and they were just getting ready to take
off when there was a pounding on the hatch. Gyn shot Riddick a questioning look
and he nodded.
He went out back and opened the door. Outside stood two men, and one was holding
a gun to Jack’s head.
“Richard B. Riddick, you’re coming with me,” the man holding Jack said.
“Riddick! He’s gonna kill me!” Jack cried. The terror in Jack’s eyes
clawed at him and he was torn between wanting to help the kid and the urge to
just leave. It was his usual plan to leave behind anyone who couldn’t be of
service to him, and helping the kid wasn’t in his best
interests.
But then he didn’t have to choose anymore, because Gyn had climbed out the
second hatch and was now standing behind the merc. His partner was dead. Gyn had
shoved her shiv into his back and then jumped up behind the merc.
“Let the kid go,” she hissed.
Riddick saw that her teeth were fully bared and had lengthened considerably.
There was a threat in her voice that no one could miss.
“You don’t know what you’re doin’, lady,” the merc hissed back.
A low, threatening growl erupted from her and she pressed the blade so deep into
his throat blood began to trickle down his neck. “I’m not going to tell you
again.”
The merc let go of Jack, and she rushed to Riddick, who pushed her behind his
back and into the ship.
“Start the ship, Riddick,” Gyn commanded. “Jack, you’re coming with us.”
Jack fought not to jump up and down, and she wanted to see what Gyn was going to
do to the merc who’d said his name was Alec, but Riddick dragged her with him
towards the front of the ship.
“Riddick! What’s she gonna do to the merc?” Jack asked as Riddick sat at
the controls and began starting the ship up.
“I think she’s going to kill him, kid,” he answered.
~~~
Gyn turned the merc around so he could see his partner. “I’m going to do
that to you,” she whispered in his ear.
Alec stared at Ken. The younger man’s eyes were wide with surprise and his
mouth was open as if he’d tried to scream just before the woman had killed
him.
“I let the kid go. You don’t have to kill me,” he insisted weakly.
“Ah, but I do. Because now you’ve seen me, and you’ll come after both me
and Riddick now. I can’t let that happen. You made a big mistake grabbing the
kid though. I don’t usually have the urge to rip someone’s throat out with
my teeth, but with you I think I might make an exception.” She shoved the merc
away from her, spinning him around to face her at the same time.
His eyes locked on her face and then she jumped on him, shoving the blade deep
into his chest. The man’s blue gaze widened as he stared at her, and she
twisted the blade, shoving it a bit deeper.
Then, with an inhuman growl, she used one long, canine tooth to rip open his
jugular. The spray of hot blood touched her tongue and she brought it deep into
her mouth.
The merc grabbed his neck with both hands and Gyn brought her foot up between
them and placed her boot against his stomach so she could shove him away.
Gyn watched the merc fall to the hard ground as she swiped at her mouth with the
back of her hand that was still clutching the shiv Then she boarded her ship,
hit the hatch button and watched Dres disappear in a cloud of dust.