A Dark Horizon (PB2): Chapter Four- Night Encounter
Jack had fallen asleep finally after repeatedly insisting that she was
not even tired, Iman was saying his evening prayers off by himself in a quiet
cornor of the settlemant and Riddick was wide awake. He knew if he fell asleep,
the nightmares would come again as the ghost of what had happened down there on
that lost planet loomed heavily over him. It made its wraith like appearence
whenever he closed his eyes, and tonight it was stronger than ever. He was
restless and began to resent the thick walls of his sleep quarters as a prison
instead of a shelter. He went for a walk in the chill night air. He passed a
dome shaped building and overheard voices through an open door. He paused to
listen. It was Morgan and Linus in the middle of a heated conversation. Whether
or not they were arguing he could not tell, but thier speech patterns were
violent, aggressive. They were whispering, or trying to, and Riddick couldn't
quite make out what they were saying. "...tell them... nothing...
dangerous," was all he could hear of Morgan's side of the debate. Linus
replied with a sharp 'no' and said something about protecting themselves.
Riddick melted into the shadows, leaning in closer to better eavesdrop, when
suddenly his cover was blown.
"Having trouble sleeping?" Cassandra asked, startling him
with her presence. She giggled at his reaction and Riddick couldn't help but
notice how light she seemed now, how alive. "That's a sign of a haunted
heart,...either that or extreme dementia. I don't know you that well, so I
couldn't really make a proper diagnosis. Or perhaps," she added
seductively, "you're not used to sleeping alone. I could help you with
that."
"You talking as a professional now, doc?" he asked with a sly
grin but realized quickly she was serious when she did not answer, did not
smile. Something stirred inside of Riddick again, as it had in her office
earlier, and he moved towards her, taking her face in his hand. But something
seemed wrong, something he couldn't explain. She seemed odd, cold, distant. He
hesitated. She felt him withdraw and frowned.
"What's wrong? Johns?" she asked innocently. A little too
innocently. A distraction, this whole thing was a distraction to draw him away
from the conversation inside the dome building. Reality hit him like a blow to
the stomach. No, not Cassandra. She was an innocent, not capable of such deciet.
One of them must have put her up to this, there could be no other explination.
"Go to bed," he said coldly, brushing her cheek with his
fingertips as he pulled away. He left and Cassandra was alone, stunned. Linus,
all of a sudden aware of her presence, stuck his head out the door and glared at
her. She looked lost, disoriented.
"What's going on?" he asked, narrowing his eyes
suspiciously. And when she didn't answer, "What happened? Was Johns with
you? Talk to me, Cass!" Suddenly brushing past Linus, Morgan appeared and
took Cassandra's arm, dragging her roughly back to her sleeping quarters.
"Come on," he said sharply, "time for bed!"