Forgotten Past: Chapter Ten-Pieces of the Past

“We found her!” Steve came rushing into the central control room, holding a sheet of paper in his hand.

Reed swung around and stared at him. “You found Creed?” he questioned sharply.

Steve nodded. “Yeah. She’s in New Orleans, Louisiana, Earth. No one knows how she got there, but one of our guys spotted her. And you’re not going to believe who else he found.”

Reed waited for Steve to continue. “Well?” he barked impatiently when Steve didn’t continue.

Steve jumped. “Oh, right. Richard B. Riddick. The Company screwed that guy over big time. If we could get him on our team, and Creed, too, we’d be set to *really* do some damage!” Steve was practically ready to explode with enthusiasm.

Reed stepped forward, grinning at the younger man. He was only about eighteen and eager to do damage to the Company after they blew up the mining colony he’d lived at with his family. “You’ve done good, Steve. I’m proud of you.”

A wide grin broke out over Steve’s face and he stuffed the sheet of paper into Reed’s hand before taking off in the direction of the cafeteria to tell the rest of the crew.

Reed’s division of resistance fighters included people from all walks of life. Muslims sick of praying and finally wanting to make something happen themselves. Rangers sick of taking crap from the Company. Minors who had lost family, and a number of other sorts. They had honest money makers to pirates to cons. There was always room for more, as long as they wanted to kick Company ass.

Division Ahsatan now had the pilot they needed. And if they could get Creed to talk some of her crew into helping, they’d have the best group of pilots in the known universe. Riddick would help, too. The Company obviously had it in for him and he for it.

The man was known for his intelligence and lethal skills. He could be a major asset to Ahsatan.

Reed stalked over to the star charts and looked up the coordinates to Earth, and more importantly, New Orleans. When a coarse was charted with his pilots, Reed got ready to give orders. He headed for the announcement board and addressed the whole complex via intercom.

“All right, people,” he began. “We’ve found Creed Xander and now we gonna find her. Since this is a full scale operation, we’re taking all volunteers. I’ll understand if you don’t want to go on this mission, because we have to be in cryo-sleep for three weeks and take a main trade rout to get from here to Earth. If you’re planning on coming on this mission, pack accordingly and meet me in the forum at 0500 hours tomorrow morning. You’ll find direction on your sub screens in your rooms. That is all, and thank you.” Reed turned off the intercom and sat down hard in a padded chair.

Reed’s main advisor clapped him on the shoulder. “The resistance will win, Reed. It has to.”

Reed nodded and stared out the window at Mars’ red landscape and the series of buildings on the surface. “I hope you’re right, Mark. I really do.”

~~~

Riddick felt like he couldn’t breathe. The blood drained from his face and he felt weak all over, like his muscles had turned to wet noodles. Carolyn knelt in the dirt, having fallen to her knees, staring up at him.

“Hey! Who the hell are you?” Riddick snapped to when the man with Carolyn grabbed his arm and pulled Riddick around to face him.

“Tremonti,” he managed, still staring at Carolyn, who looked shocked and speechless.

“Tremonti? How the hell do you know Creed? And why’d you call her Carolyn?” Austin demanded. He was beginning to feel worried. When Riddick didn’t look like he was going to talk, he dropped to his knees beside Creed and clasped her shoulders. “Creed? Creed, honey, are you okay?”

Creed blinked at Austin from behind her goggles. “Austin?” she choked. “I know him, I think.” She looked up at Riddick. “Tremonti? No, that’s not your name. Who are you?”

Riddick didn’t know what was going on. Carolyn was dead, or at least he’d thought so. He’d thought she was dead for three long years. She looked different. No older, but different. Her hair was long and braided and she wore welding goggles, like his own. Leather cloves hung out one hip pocket and he wondered if she was a welder at the site. What was she doing at the site? Everything was a mess in his head and he stumbled back away from the two people to try and clear his head.

“Don’t you know me?” he asked her.

Creed shook her head. He’d called her Carolyn, and it was familiar, but it still didn’t make sense in her head. “I don’t understand, who are you?” she asked again.

Riddick shook his head. She didn’t know him? This was madness. “Carolyn? You know me,” he finally managed to say.

She shook her head. “No. I can’t remember. Carolyn... you keep calling me that. I’m Creed. Carolyn... I can’t remember!” Creed pushed to her feet and stumbled against the trailer. “No... I have.. I have to... I gotta go.” Creed shoved away from the trailer and pushed between a stunned Riddick and confused Austin.

What was going on? She demanded the answers from her fogged memory and got nothing but blurred images and jumbled voices. The man, Tremonti, was so familiar, but she didn’t understand why. And her name, was it Carolyn or Creed? Who was she? Carolyn ran for all she was worth, pushing herself. Her boots thudded on the concrete sidewalks and then the cobblestone as she rushed through the French Quarter towards the shelter. It was her sanctuary.

People stood in her path and she slammed into them, often knocking them and herself over. Then she’d stumble back to her feet, deaf to the curses and cries echoing behind her.

Her chest burned and her legs throbbed, but still she ran until she smashed into the heavy wooden doors of the shelter. The old wood creaked from the abuse and she pushed open the right door and stepped inside the air-conditioned depths. A few people were eating lunch there and she passed them, ignoring their curious looks and rushing up the stairs. When she got in her room she tore off the dark goggles and threw them to the floor.

Carolyn’s face felt wet and she reached up and touched her face. Tears. Why was she crying? Silver eyes, rain, her voice, holding some heavy weight against her, and stumbling through the dark. Those monsters from her nightmares.

She fell onto the bed, sobs racking her frame as she rocked herself back and forth, arms wrapped around herself as if to hold herself in. She felt like she’d explode into a million tiny pieces and this was the only way she could hold herself together.

Carolyn squeezed her eyes shut and continued to rock back and forth on the bed. Faces swam behind her eyelids and she tried to focus on them. One was the man from the construction site. It grinned at her wickedly, then it changed. Anguish contorted his rugged features and rain ran down his face and into his glowing silver eyes. Shined eyes. Dangerous eyes. Beautiful eyes.

Carolyn’s eyes snapped open. He was who she’d been looking for, and she couldn’t remember his name. It wasn’t Tremonti. And nothing fit yet. It was still a blur. It seemed like something had happened and she’d forgotten so much. It didn’t make sense. Why couldn’t she put the pieces together? At least she remembered one person who might know who she was. Maybe now she could get some answers. Maybe now she could figure out who she really was.

~~~

Riddick stared after Carolyn. She didn’t remember him and now she’d left him, again. But she wasn’t dead. That meant something, that meant that maybe he... he didn’t know, but it meant something and he was going to find out what, but first, he had to find Carolyn.

“Where’d she go?” he demanded of the man she’d called Austin.

The man blinked at him, still dazed, then frowned. “Why the hell should I tell you? She obviously doesn’t want to talk to you, otherwise she wouldn’t have taken off like that.”

A dangerous air came over him and Austin suddenly felt that this wasn’t a man he’d like to mess with. “Where did she go?” Riddick repeated in a low voice.

“The shelter house at the north edge of the French Quarter. You can’t miss it. Biggest brick building there,” Austin answered quickly.

Riddick rushed off in Carolyn’s direction. The edge of the quarter was three miles away and Riddick was sure Carolyn had run the entire way.
People were picking themselves off the sidewalks as he ran past, probably having been knocked over when Carolyn bowled on by.

When he arrived at the shelter the wooden green doors were tightly closed and he jogged up the worn steps to push the door open. It creaked slightly on its hinges and a few curious faces turned to him.

Riddick bared his teeth in a feral grin and they looked away quickly. He stepped up to a man eating a sandwich. “I’m looking for a blonde woman,” he growled.

The man shrugged and gestured to the three women in the room, all blonde. “No,” Riddick growled. “She’s got a long blonde braid, gray pants, welding goggles. She just came in.”

The man pointed to the stairs. “She went up there. I’d watch out though, Creed’s a pirate with amnesia. Not the sort to mess with.”

Riddick froze. “What do you mean, she’s got amnesia?” he demanded.

“Sly found her. Said she lost her memory. And everyone knows who Creed Xander is. Listen, mister, Creed ran up those stairs in a mighty big hurry. You want answers? Talk to her,” and the man turned back to his lunch.

Riddick cursed under his breath and rushed up the stairs, throwing open doors as he went. The last door was at the end and he grabbed the knob and threw it open as well. It slammed into the wall and he stepped inside to find Carolyn sitting on the edge of the bed, sobbing.

“Carolyn?” he questioned, stepping in front of her.

Carolyn looked up. It was Riddick. He took in a sharp breath when he saw her eyes, glowing silver in the darkened room. “I knew Tremonti was the wrong name,” she murmured. “Riddick.”

***

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