Forgotten Past: Chapter Seventeen-Bad Business

“This is serious business. The new found properties of aluthium alloy
are important to the Company. After its discovery, aluthium was cheap,
and used mainly as a substitute for our original metals. It was easy to
find, molded quickly, and was sufficient for the building of parts and
ships.

“After a battle with a resistance group, a battle cruiser made entirely of
aluthium was found almost indestructible. The blasts from the enemy’s
elecracanons left mere scorch marks on the ship’s hull.” General
Munroe addressed the group of two thousand Rangers readying
themselves for the apparent battle at hand.

“But we’ve discovered something else. Extensive testing of this metal
has shown it has many different uses. Mixed with the correct chemicals,
it can be used for other purposes. First, we discovered that if inhaled in
a liquid form, aluthium causes severe amnesia.

“Because killing some of our enemies would result in more problems
than anything else, we’ve discovered that spraying an enemy leader in
the face then dumping them off, without their memory, we can get rid
of them and the problem.” He held up a spray can for the crowd to see.
It was magnified on the enlarged holoscreen behind him so the entire
gathering could see it clearly.

“This metal is still in the labs, getting tested for other uses, but we’ve
found that if injected into the actual blood stream and mixed with
certain animal DNA, it causes severe mutation of the body, acute
amnesia, and depending on the subject, other reactions are pending.”

He turned and began clicking through a number of pictures of some of
the test subjects. Horrible mutations were evident, while others merely
took on strange animalistic qualities. There was a picture of one
woman, who looked almost completely normal, except for a few choice
characteristics.

Her hair hung down to lay on the floor, its color that of white gold with
black stripes running through it. A long tail was wrapped around her
ankles, the same color of her hair and much like that of a large cat’s in
form. Her hands looked almost like claws, the fingers elongated, with
retractable claws. She beckoned to the camera with one long claw
sadistically, her lips curled in a twisted parody of a grin, revealing
sharp pointed canines.

“This was our best subject. She took the mutation better than any
others, but we can’t figure out why. Extensive testing shows that her
DNA is normal, like the rest of the subjects. The mystery still plagues
us, but we will find out what components caused such a perfect
specimen.”

More photos ensued, some with disturbing results. “As you can see,
certain types of animals just don’t mix well with human DNA strands,
while others, like the woman before, work quite well. We find that
canines and felines work best. Reptiles have mixed results, fowl as well,
but large animals, such as horses, swine, and other large game such as
that do not mix well.” Munroe clicked through a few photos to stop on a
man with a elongated nose, coarse whiskers and horrifying claws,
strapped down to a metal table. “This man was crossed with the
aluthium and the DNA of a rat. Apparently, rodents are also a bad
cross.”

A few Rangers in the crowd shivered violently, while some had already
been forced to leave the room from nausea. The sight of the
human/creatures was more than some people could bare.

“This is what we’re after, people. Mistakes will not be tolerated. You
will all be assigned to different freighters taking off from here
tomorrow at 0700 hours. Two hundred freighters are going out, so be
prepared for attacks. Inform your crew of what you learned today, and
everything should go smoothly.” Munroe clicked off the view screen. He
turned to address the crowd once more. “That is all. You are
dismissed.”

~~~

“You said your crew was large, but I had no idea you meant this large.
And this cruiser, it’s one of the largest I’ve seen. And you stole it?”
Riddick had been questioning Carolyn on her ship, crew, and other
information for the past three hours.

“There are three hundred and thirty-four crew members on board.
We’re at an all time high, as it is. No fatalities among crew in the last
year, so I’d say we’re doing pretty good.”

Riddick nodded. “I’d say so.” He stopped as Carolyn turned to him and
leaned back against the wall. “Now what? You’ve been floating along
side this freighter since we docked. You ready to load?”

Carolyn closed her eyes for a moment before looking him full in the eye.
“We go to a briefing in five minutes, so I can see what the original plan
was and work with my crew. It took this long to make sure everyone
was in cryo-sleep, check the floor plan of the freighter, and get some
other important info.” She checked her watch. “Speaking of that
briefing, we better get going.”

Carolyn turned to head back down the corridor but Riddick snagged
her arm and pulled her back before pressing her tight to the wall. Her
eyes widened and her head reared back slightly. She raised a
questioning brow and he grinned at her wolfishly. Riddick lowered his
head very slowly, keeping his body flush with hers, and took her mouth
with his, brushing his lips against hers.

He pulled back and she opened stunned eyes, not having expected such
tenderness from a man like him. Riddick grinned again, wanting to
keep her guessing, then turned away and headed in the direction of the
conference room.

Carolyn trailed slowly behind Riddick, her fingers against her lips
where they’d touched his. When he’d grinned at her like that, she’d
expected passion, a hot fierce kiss. Not that brush of butterfly wings on
her lips. She grinned. There was so much to Riddick she still didn’t
understand. He was still so much a mystery to her. She loved it.

~~~

“We board here,” Antwone began, jumping straight to the point. That’s
why Carolyn had chosen him, no beating around the bush. Just straight
facts and a sharp wit and intelligence. He pointed to the starboard side
of the freighter.

The holographic image magnified to show the starboard side of the
ship. “Computer, show scenario.” The hologram added in The
Charmer, and twisted around to show the space between the two ships.
The Charmer’s boarding arm slid out and locked over the hatch on the
freighter.

The image shifted to a x-ray view, showing a human figure working on
the airlock and then the door opening, allowing the crew to slip inside
the freighter, undetected.

“Moe and Winter, as usual, will down the power, cutting all lights and
security systems. We want to be in and out of here as fast as possible, so
we’ll be leaving the life support systems on. That way, none of the crew
will wake up from cryo-sleep. They’ll keep headin’ for Jupiter, never
knowing they were nabbed.

“When the lights go out, the rest of the team heads in.” Antwone turned
to Carolyn. “Any questions, Creed?”

Carolyn shook her head no before she caught Riddick’s sharp look.
“One. We’ve got someone on board we need to bring off with us.” She
turned to Moe, the more experienced of the crew when it came to the
system checks. “Can it be done? If she’s in cryo, can you get her out
without waking the others?”

Moe nodded. “Oh, yeah. These freighters put all the tubes on individual
monitoring systems, instead of one big circuit. I’ll just reprogram hers
and pull her out. The others won’t even know.”

Riddick nodded curtly. “Good.”

The plan commenced immediately, as everyone grabbed their gear and
headed for the airlock. The arm extended across the distance
separating the two ships before the air compression light turned on and
a loud hiss issued from the door.

Moe punched in the excess code and the wheel on the door spun,
unlocking the mechanism and the door pushed open slightly. Moe
shoved it open completely and him and Winter disappeared inside the
arm, then another hiss came from the other door.

The crew of The Charmer waited patiently for the word to enter the
freighter. Five minutes passed before Winter’s warm voice floated
along the arm to their ears. “Ready,” it said, cueing their entrance.

Carolyn waved everyone ahead of her before trailing in behind Riddick.
They headed for the cargo hold first, and a collective gasp rose from the
group. It was way more than they’d expected, but they’d have to open
up a larger hatch to get the boxes onto The Charmer. Carolyn waved
Moe and Winter off to find the larger hatch, directing them to have the
ship moved if necessary.

“Get moving, people,” Carolyn directed, and Riddick watched as
Carolyn’s crew jumped into action.

Hovapads were inserted beneath the crates and then directed down into
the corridor by remote control.

It took less than two hours to get the whole load moved to the hatch Moe
and Winter had located, then loaded onto The Charmer. Carolyn took
Moe and Riddick back into the conference room and she called up the
floor plan again.

“Find the cryo-chambers,” she told the computer, and it zoomed in on a
number of rooms, ten in total. She called in ten more people and
directed them to find the rooms.

Riddick told them what they were looking for. “Young girl, eighteen,
long dark hair.”

The crew looked to Carolyn and she nodded, sending them off. They
followed behind quickly and once again boarded the freighter.

Carolyn lead them down a number of confusing twists and turns, the
plans of the ship locked in her mind. She almost passed the room, but
Riddick grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.

They slid into the room and regarded the crew members sleeping in
their cryo-tubes. No sign of Jack. They continued their search when
Carolyn’s comlink buzzed on, demanding their attention. “Down this
way! We think we’ve found her, Creed!”

Riddick in the lead, Carolyn and Moe followed the directions to a
chamber with ten tubes, eight of them empty. The other two were
occupied by two badly beaten and tightly restrained people. Jack was
one of them.

Riddick leapt forward and pressed his palms to the glass. Jack’s face
was a mass of dark bruises and tangled hair. Her black lashes laid
against her beaten cheeks and he clenched his jaw.

There was a crunch and Carolyn’s voice carried a curse to his ears as
she examined what she’d stepped on. A pair of dark wraparound
sunglasses. Jack’s. Carolyn held them up and Riddick took them from
her fingers, slipping them into his hip pocket.

“Get her out of there,” he growled in a dangerous whisper. Moe stepped
forward and began working on the controls.

There was a hiss and white gas swirled out around their feet before the
door lifted up. The pressure system off, Jack slumped out of the tube
and Riddick caught her. She opened her eyes to stare at him, and
grinned sleepily.

“Big Evil to the rescue,” she murmured.

Riddick’s lips pulled back in a snarl. “Shut up.” His heart twisted
slightly when Jack’s face fell, but he ignored the pang, telling himself
she deserved bad treatment for disappearing like she had.

He turned towards the door, ready to leave when Jack stopped him.
“No! Get him out!” she pointed to the other tube before dropping her
arm weakly.

Carolyn turned to the tube, examining the bound boy within. He looked
about nineteen or twenty, and his unruly hair fell over his bruised face.
“Why?” she questioned Jack.

“Because he’s one of the good guys. Just trust me, okay?” Her voice was
weak and pleading, begging Carolyn to release the boy.

The urge to drop Jack was strong when she mentioned trust, but
Riddick restrained himself as Carolyn gave Moe the go-ahead to unlock
the boy.

The boy fell out of the cryo-chamber and Moe slung him over his
shoulder. Carolyn eyed Jack as they left the room, calling to the others
over her comlink to head back for The Charmer.

Jack hadn’t recognized her, she realized. She was so out of it, Carolyn
was surprised the girl had recognized Riddick.

Back on the ship, Jack and the boy were rushed to the medical deck to
be examined. Internal injuries were evident in the boy, but nothing a
mend chamber couldn’t fix. Jack was in slightly better condition.

“Is she okay?” Riddick questioned Carolyn as she left Jack and the boy.

Carolyn shrugged and crossed her arms across her chest, ignoring the
blonde shock of hair that fell over her face. “Compared to what?”

Riddick turned and walked into a small room with a few chairs inside.
He sat down hard and Carolyn seated herself across from him. He
reached forward and pushed the hair from her face and her mouth
twisted slightly.

“What’s your opinion?”

“Ah, hell, Riddick. What do I think? I think she’s going to make it. No
internal bleeding. My biggest concern is her shoulders. They were
dislocated, probably from being strung up to high.” She leaned back
into her chair and away from him.

Riddick noticed the physical distance she put between them and leaned
back as well. The lights were off in the room and he pulled off his
goggles. Most the ship was dark, with the exception of a few rooms to be
considerate of the people that didn’t have shined eyes.

Carolyn already had her dark glasses off and her silver orbs glowed at
him like welcoming beacons. He resisted the urge to tangle his hands in
her hair, instead crossing his arms tightly across his broad chest.

It looked like Carolyn was about to say more when a loud droning
sound echoed off the walls and a red light spun to life on the wall,
flashing an alarm.

Carolyn shot up from her seat and hit the com button before barking
into the receiver, “What the hell is going on?”

“Creed!” a shaken voice cried over the com. “We’re being attacked!”

“Have their been any transmissions? What do they want?”

The door to the room slid open and Carolyn looked at Riddick, who’s
face had drawn into a tight mask of hate. She turned slowly and found
herself staring down the business end of a elecrablaster.

“You ever seen one of these?” a voice asked and Carolyn raised her
eyes to the familiar face. “The shock that will rock your body will throw
you into convulsions. Your eyes will fry first, then you’ll shake so hard
you’ll snap your own back.”

Riddick stepped forward menacingly, holding his blade in one hand and
a blaster in the other. A voice from behind froze him in his tracks,
bringing his head around to confront something of not all human nature.
“Don’t move,” it commanded in a slimy voice.

The green face before him was flat and completely devoid of hair. Long
webbed fingers clasped another of the elecrablasters tightly, one finger
resting lightly on the trigger.

Carolyn sighed and her head lowered slightly. How could she have
misjudged someone so terribly? “There’s no way you’ll get off The
Charmer. You know that.” Taking on Carolyn was bad business,
especially if you were into living. She turned cold, hard eyes on her most
trusted confident before speaking again, “What do you want,
Antwone?”

***

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