Forgotten Past: Chapter Twenty One-Change Is Incomplete
“What’s that smell?” Carolyn mumbled sleepily as she opened her eyes
to the darkened room. The backs of her hands hurt, but didn’t itch like
they had the previous day.
She touched the skin tentatively and her fingers came away wet and
sticky, covered in something warm. She raised her fingers to her face
and sniffed them delicately. Copperish, but different from normal
blood.
Carolyn flipped her hand over and examined what the itching had come
from. And now the question was finally answered, and Carolyn’s
emotions were a jumbled mess of horror and fascination. It hadn’t been
what she was expecting at all.
Four tiny white nubs were sticking out of each hand, directly where her
knuckles bent. Carolyn touched them tentatively, examining them
curiously. A sudden thought entered her mind and the claws shot out,
extending to be close to four inches long. She gasped, surprised, then
thought about retracting them. The slid back to become the four tiny
nubs again.
So that’s how Riddick found her, extending and retracting her claws.
He froze in the doorway and Carolyn lifted her head slowly to stare at
him through slightly glowing blue eyes.
“Claws,” she whispered, and held up her hands, extending the claws
slowly then retracting them again.
The only visible result of the claws were the white nubs and the bones
on the backs of her hands were more prominent through the skin.
Riddick sat down slowly on the edge of the bunk beside Carolyn and
took the hand closest to him in his. He held up her hand for closer
inspection, touching the white nubs on her knuckles gently.
“When did this happen?” he questioned, turning his eyes to hers.
Carolyn pulled her hand from his before answering. “I woke up with
them. I wonder...” she trailed off and extended each claw separately,
doing different combinations. “They’re all separate, like fingers,” she
murmured as they both watched her change the length of the claws.
“Where do they go when you retract them?” Riddick wondered.
“I think there are slits in the bones of my fingers that they retract into,”
Carolyn answered, continuing to move the claws around. She flipped
her hand palm up and touched the skin. She could feel bumps beneath
the surface. “Down here somewhere,” she muttered.
Riddick touched one gently. “Bone, do you think?”
Carolyn nodded. “Yeah, I’d suppose so. Explains why my hands itched,
don’t it? These things were trying to get through.” She sighed. “This is
freakin’ me out, Riddick. The eyes, blood, claws... It could be worse.
But what’s next? Scales? Fur? What?”
Still feeling the claws, Riddick clenched his jaw. “You got me, darlin’.
You could even get wings.”
She jerked her hand away and stood, bringing the sheet with her.
“Don’t even joke about that, Riddick.”
Riddick watched her back retreating into the tiny lavatory as he
answered, “Who says I’m joking?”
~~~
“We’re receiving a transmission, Bruce,” Miranda Hardwick stated as
the signal flickered on her view screen.
“Who is it?” Bruce demanded immediately.
“A battle cruiser. Company brand, but the signal reads it as something
else.”
“What’s the name of the cruiser?”
“The Charmer. You know it?”
Bruce shook his head. “No, but I bet I know who owns it. Put them on
the view screen.”
The view screen flipped on and a familiar face stared grimly at Bruce.
“Hey, Bruce,” Carolyn started, her stomach clenching. She hadn’t
talked to Bruce since the day she’d left Nylorac HQ.
Bruce felt his breath clog in his throat. He’d figured it was Creed that
owned The Charmer, but he was still surprised. “Creed. It’s been a
while,” he said, sounding cooler than he felt.
Carolyn didn’t react. Instead, she opted to get down to business.
“Rumor has it you’re after a shipment of aluthium.”
A muscle in Bruce’s jaw jumped and he clenched his teeth together.
“Who told you that?” he demanded in a deadly soft voice.
“Your errand boy. You really shouldn’t be sending kids out to do this
stuff. It’s dangerous work.” Carolyn turned away from the screen for a
minute and Bruce heard her call out, “Eddie! Get over here!”
His heart jumped as Eddie Hoff’s boyish face came into view. It was
greatly improved from the beating he’d gotten, but still littered with
faded yellow bruises and scabbed over cuts. “Eddie! What did they do
to you over there?”
“Cool it, Levake. I didn’t do this. The boys on that Company freighter
found out he was workin’ for a resistance organization and tried to beat
some answers out of him. I’m proud to say your boy held up, didn’t ya,
Eddie?”
Bruce watched Eddie show a bright grin to Carolyn and nod
enthusiastically. The boy turned to the screen and waved. “Hey, Bruce!
Creed’s got the aluthium! She had someone on board the freighter,
too.”
Bruce put on a bright smile for the kid when a feminine voice called
Eddie’s name and he turned. “Be right there, Jack,” he called over his
shoulder. Eddie waved again then went out of view of the screen.
“Jack?” Bruce questioned as Carolyn turned back to the screen.
“Yeah. Another piece of my past. But as Eddie was saying, I’ve got the
aluthium and some information you might be interest in. We’re going to
intercept you in about three hours, so let me air dock with you.”
Carolyn watched for Bruce’s reaction and wondered if he trusted her.
Bruce wasn’t sure if he should trust her. He knew her, true, but he also
knew that Creed Xander was one bad ass of a pirate. He thought about
it for a moment, hesitating before giving a curt nod. “All right. We’ll air
dock with you. You keeping all the aluthium?” He had to know. He’d
been in cryo-sleep two weeks for the stuff.
Carolyn nodded. “I only need a small portion. I’ll give the rest to you.”
Bruce opened his mouth to say something, but Carolyn silenced him.
“No, I don’t want anything in return. I’m a different person, Bruce.
You can trust me. I’ll see you in a few hours. This is The Charmer, over
and out.”
The transmission feed was cut and Carolyn’s face disappeared from the
view screen. Bruce wondered about her comment on trusting her. Also,
what was this new information on aluthium?
To many questions were running through Bruce’s head as he left the
com room, Miranda’s “see ya later” fell on his deaf ears as he continued
down the corridor.
Hadn’t Reed said Creed was on Earth? Where the aluthium was? How
the hell did she get up here? To many questions, Bruce told himself
silently. To many questions, and not enough answers.
~~~
“We air dock with Nylorac-One in ten minutes, Creed.” Carolyn lifted
her head sleepily. Her emotions were on the rampage and she couldn’t
get them under control.
Fear, fascination, loathing for what she might be turning into. It was a
raging mess and she didn’t know if she’d be able to handle it for much
longer. “Yeah. Okay. Take it easy. I’m going to my quarters. I’ll be
back in twenty.” She stood up and left the main deck, slamming into
Riddick as she rounded the corner.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, attempting to push past him.
Riddick stopped her with a hand on her upper arm. “What’s
happening?”
“Air dock with that resistance cruiser in ten minutes. My
recommendation, get out of sight. Never know how these ex-Ranger
types might react to you.”
“I am the ex-Ranger type, Carolyn. And so’s most your crew. I’ll take
care of myself. Where are you going?”
“My quarters. I’ll be out in twenty.”
Riddick watched as Carolyn stalked away on silent feet, once more
noticing her movements had become more fluent, smoother. Riddick
could feel it. The change is incomplete, he told himself, and fear for
Carolyn and what she was becoming froze his heart.
~~~
“Can you figure out what caused Sleke to take the mutation so well?”
Munroe demanded of Martina as he came into the lab.
Dr. Martina shook his head, continuing to pound away on the computer
keyboard in front of him. “No, but I did find something you might be
interested in.”
“And what’s that?” General Munroe questioned sarcastically.
Martina picked a picture off his desk and turned around, holding it up
for Munroe to see. “She’s got a sister.”
Munroe reached out and took the picture. “Excellent,” he murmured.
“Send out a team to find this Carolyn Fry.”
***