The young girl walked down the steel corridor. It was early, around three, so she hadn't run into any of the passengers. She hadn't even seen any of the night security men. That was a good thing, if she did run into them, they'd ask her why she was out of her quarters at this time. And what would she tell them? Surely not the truth.

She turned around a corner and stopped in front of a door. She reached into her pocket and retrieved a small metal card. She slid it through a slot and waited for the green light. It came, and she pushed the door-open button. With a soft whisk, the door slid out of the way and the girl stepped into the room.

"Lights." She said softly. They blinked on to reveal a large, very muscular man with a shaved head sitting on the girls' bed.

"Hey Riddick." She mumbled, not looking up from untying her boots.

"Not surprised?" his voice was like thunder.

"Actually, yea, it just doesn't show." She smirked.

"Get it done?" he asked. She unbuckled her belt.

"Yea, it's right under the vent near the communications officer's station."

"Lemme have the ear piece." He stood and walked toward her, his hand opened.

"You could say please." She reached into a drawer and handed him the earpiece and receiver.

"Goodnight Jackie." Riddick said over his shoulder as he opened the door and walked out.

"Nite." The girl walked into the bathroom and washed her face. She looked into the mirror after she toweled her face dry. She was an attractive sixteen-year-old. Didn't look like a criminal at all. She had brown eyes that held innocence in them, despite what she had done in her life. Her careless brown hair hung straight, going a little past her shoulders. She was petite, with light skin. Her long legs made running easy, and her small frame disguised her strength. She was agile and very physically fit, which was good for escaping. On her right arm, she had a scar from a bullet that had grazed her.

She walked back into the bedchamber of her quarters. She slid her pants off, then her shirt. She replaced it with a light tank top for sleeping. Then she climbed into the bed and rolled over.

"Lights off." She muttered.

In the next quarters over, Riddick was finding the right frequency for the tap that Jackie had hidden on the bridge. Really, he wouldn't be able to hear much right now, as all the crew members were asleep and the ship was on autopilot until about six. Still, he could hear the whirring of the computers, so he knew Jackie had set it up right.

The two had come aboard the ship three days before. Riddick had gotten a job on it working maintenance and repairs. He had said Jackie was his niece. Being that he was an escaped murderer accompanied by a wanted thief, Riddick had gotten Jackie to set up a tap on the bridge, in case any one stumbled upon their true identities.

Once he made sure the frequency was set, he took out the ear piece and put it and the receiver in one of his drawers. He took off his boots, followed by his pants and shirt. Barely clothed, he got on his bed and pulled the covers back. He lay down and pulled the thin sheet over his legs. He then took off a pair of black goggles and set them on a nearby table. His metallic, shined eyes scanned the room once before they closed. He slept.

The next morning, around seven, an automatic buzzer went off in Riddick's room. He sighed and rolled over. Time for maintenance men to get up and make their rounds for the morning. He got up out of bed, and made his way towards his shower, shedding his tight, black boxers in the process. He hit a button on the side of the stall and hot water came spurting through the shower head.

He let the water coarse over him, waking him up. When he had washed himself clean, he turned the water off and stepped out of the stall. He went back to the bedchamber, grabbed his goggles, and got dressed in his uniform. Dark blue carpenter pants, a white tee shirt, and a dark blue button up shirt to go over. He pulled his boots on and headed towards his kitchen. He punched a code into his auto-chef and after a brief beeping, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and a glass of orange juice appeared in the box. Earth food was his preference. He didn't care for the few foreign planet foods he had tried. Especially not the mucus-like bowls of liquids from Delta Austra. That had made him sick just from the look of it. Really, he had tried quite a few different cuisines while en route to the Harbinger X, the ship he now worked.

After escaping that black planet where he'd lost Carolyn...Carolyn. He thought of her from time to time. He wasn't sure if he missed her, for he'd never missed anyone or anything before. He had admired many of her qualities.

An annoying hum broke his thoughts. A message was coming in.

"Bryans!" It was the head of Riddick's department, Lt. Jones. "Bryans! Are you there!" Riddick smiled at the fake name. He walked to the message screen.

"Yeah?"

"I need to see you in my office for some info on you. Get here, but don't rush."

"Alright."

"Jones out." And his image disappeared. Jones was an alright guy, friendly, but strict at times. Riddick didn't mind him, not yet anyway. He went back to the bathroom to shave. It didn't take long. When he was finished, he headed out the door, locking it. He turned and walked over to Jackie's room. Maybe she'd be up. He knocked. No response. 'Lazy.' He thought, and half-smiled. He headed down the corridor to go meet Jones.

He passed a few other of the maintenance and security men. Not many of the passengers were out and about in the morning, and if they were, they'd be in the exercise or paradise rooms. Not down in the lower levels. The lower levels were living quarters for the crew and workers. There were a few shared kitchens and exercise rooms, but not much for commercial passengers to look at.

The Harbinger X was a commercial passenger transport. It only took distances that were short enough to avoid cryo-sleep. Normally, trips took about a week or two. And the ship was well equipped to keep the passengers happy in those time periods. The shop was a class F transport, and had eighteen levels. The top two being the bridge, engine rooms, torpedo, weapon rooms, and the shield generator. The next four levels were passenger quarters. Then came five levels of various entertainment rooms and activities. In these were included an exercise room, a hologram movie theater, two paradise rooms, about twelve hologram chambers, and a few other things. After entertainment came the lower seven levels. Four of which were crew and workers' quarters. The final three levels were used for storage, docking, and escape ship loading.

Riddick arrived on the first of the lower seven levels and walked a short distance to Jones' office. He knocked. The door slid open.

"That you Bryans?" Jones' voice came from behind a bar.

"Yes sir." Riddick looked around.

The office was rather small. Two rooms, one of which was a bathroom. The office itself contained a message board, a desk and chairs, and a bar. Behind the desk was a wall to wall window, revealing the black vacuum of space.

"You needed information, sir?" Riddick walked toward the bar.

"Oh don't call me sir, Bryans. Jones is fine." The lieutenant stood up from behind the bar, a bottle of Alvgarian liquor in his hand.

"Drink?" He grabbed two glasses before Riddick could answer.

"Sure." He said anyway.

"Have a seat man!" Jones smiled and handed him the glass. They walked over to the desk and sat. Jones tapped his computer screen and a background information resume appeared, it was partially filled out.

"Computer, enter everything as it is said." The machine clicked and a cursor appeared at the first blank.

"Alright, what's your full name?" Jones started.

"Jeffrey Bryans." Riddick answered, he'd made up false information the night before he'd arrived on the Harbinger.

"Age?"

"Twenty-nine."

"Planet of birth?"

"Alphedatine."

"Past job experience?"

"Fuel minor on Dietre 9."

"Any family on board with you?"

"My niece."

"Her parents?"

"Dead."

"Her age?"

"Sixteen."

"Any criminal record? On you, that is." Riddick smiled.

"Certainly not."

"Alright Bryans, I'll enter everything else I need, from your work resume."

"Okay then." Riddick finished his drink and set the glass on the table.

"I'll be seeing you around then." He walked toward the door.

"Yea, good day Bryans." Jones didn't look up from his computer screen. Riddick left the room and looked at his watch. Nine-thirty already, he was late. He went to go check his assigned area. Storage sector six. All he had to do was make sure the wiring and everything was alright. Maintenance men didn't have to do much, just check their sectors every now and then, that and fix damages or problems when they came. Other than that, they just hung around and did whatever some one needed them to do when they needed it.

Station check times were assigned and announced by a buzzer. The intercom system notified them when help was needed, and the nearby men reported to the area. Since they didn't do much, they didn't get paid much, only about forty-five credits a week.

Riddick finished his sector check and decided to go see if Jackie was up yet. He rode up a few levels and found his door, and right beside it, hers. He knocked.

"Hold on!" So, she was awake. The door slid open, revealing Jackie wearing a brown jumper dress, with a tan spandex shirt underneath. Her hair was swept up in a ponytail and she was wearing tan boots.

"Cute get-up." Riddick smiled as he walked past her and straight for her kitchen.

"Please, have some of my food! Wouldn't want you to eat your own!" Jackie shook her head and hit the button to shut the door.

"I just want some water." He answered from the kitchen. Jackie laid down on the bed, and purposefully hiked her dress up so it revealed her panties from certain angles. Ones Riddick was sure to assume. He walked out of the kitchen with a bottle of water; he had taken his over-shirt off. He looked at her, sprawled out on the bed.

"Fix your dress, I can see straight up it." He rolled his eyes, but she couldn't see him do it because of the goggles.

"Good." She smiled seductively and rolled off the bed onto her feet.

"You look good in that uniform.but you'd look even better without it on." She was still smiling, but now she licked her lips.

"Bye kid. See ya later." Riddick was irritated; he turned and walked out of the door before she could get any closer to him. He walked back to his room and unlocked it. He walked in and sat down on the bed. His head lowered until it rested in his hands. He thought about what had just happened.

Jackie had admired Riddick since the first time she had seen him, on that godforsaken planet, Riddick knew that. But lately she'd been acting different, like she just had. He'd figured she had a crush on him, but not a big enough one that she'd make sexual advances on him. He pushed the thought out of his head so he could get some more sleep before his next station check, since he'd only gotten a few hours worth the night before.

Jackie didn't get it. Riddick had taken her with him instead of letting Imam take her to New Mecca. That was about a month ago. After they'd gotten off that deadly planet, they were aboard the skiff only a few days before the cargo ship found them. It took them to Blue Flare, a vacation planet where it was dropping off supplies. She and Riddick weren't there long, they got transports from planet to planet, until he had applied for a job on the Harbinger X, and gotten it. They had traveled to Delta Austra, where they docked the Harbinger. That was four days ago.

In that entire month, Riddick had taught Jackie survival tips and how to not get caught, and if she did, how to escape. He taught her to fight, and in the process, they'd become friends. It was all during the teachings that Jackie had noticed how hot Riddick was. He had a rock hard ass and nice muscles. She loved his metallic eyes and his hard, gruff voice. She wanted him.bad. But all her advances were in vain. He showed no interest in her like that. She kept telling herself that he was just scared of wanting some one, of wanting her. After all that time, he had to want her!! He had to. She'd just have to make him show it. Somehow she would.

He awakened to the sound of the eleven-thirty maintenance sector check buzzer. Not a lot of sleep, but he felt better. He had dreamt of her again. He had seen those eyes looking straight into his, accepting him as human. And then she had smiled and laughed. And he did too. She told him that things were alright, that everything was alright. And then she had hugged him. But before he could hug her back, she pulled back and walked away from him.

He had had the same dream many times before. Many times. And he was left with the same feeling every time. That everything really was alright. Or that it would be.

In all his thinking, Riddick found himself at his storage sector before he realized he had even stepped out of his room. He did his system check quickly. When he was finished, it was noon. The passengers would definitely be active by now. He decided to go up top to see if anything needed to be done, and to get a feel for the ship.

He got into the transport shaft and hit a few buttons. He came out on one of the middle passenger quarters decks. He walked up and down the halls. A few passengers asked him for directions, some asked about the layout of the shop. Easy questions. He answered all of them with no problem. After walking all the hallways on all of the decks, he was getting hungry and headed for the transport shaft.

Already in it was another crewmember. He read her nametag. Robbins. Judging from her rank on her chest, he figured she worked on one of the two top levels. She eyed him warily, as though she was threatened by his size. She had right to be. The massive man easily dwarfed the petite young woman. She got off a deck before him.

A second later, he got off. He went straight to his door. After unlocking it, he walked in and headed straight for his kitchen. He got a hamburger out of the auto-chef. Walking back to the bedchamber, he stopped in the doorway. There was a slip of paper on the floor. It had been pushed under the door, probably. He walked over to it and picked it up. He glanced around the room before reading:

Riddick,
I need help with something. When you get in, come to my room.
Jackie

'Oh God kid. This had better not be a setup.' He thought as he dropped the letter in the trash-shoot. He walked out his door.

Riddick knocked on Jackie's door. He waited for a moment before the door slid open. Inside, it was completely dark. He walked in and the door shut behind him. He heard it lock.

"Alright Jackie, what do you need?" From somewhere in the dark came her voice.

"You." And suddenly there was a hand sliding up his back. Riddick took his goggles off and turned around.

Jackie was in nothing but her bra and panties. Both were lace and see through. Riddick sighed, "Stop Jackie."

"Why? I know you want me." She stepped toward him and leaned close, trying to kiss him. He stepped back and turned toward her bed. He was seriously annoyed.

"I do not want you, Jackie. I only want you to stop, right now." He growled. He grabbed the top blanket from her bed, turned around, walked toward her and wrapped her in the blanket.

She ran her fingers slowly down his chest to his pants. She tried to unzip them. He grabbed her wrist.

"Don't." he pushed her hand away and stepped around her.

"Unlock the door."

"No, not until I get what I want." She smiled. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she whispered in his ear.

"And I want you, inside of me." That was enough. Riddick spun around quickly, taking hold of both her wrists. He backed her up until she was against the bed. He pushed her one more time, forcing her to sit. She looked up at him.

"Don't do this, you're sixteen." He looked her straight in the eyes.

"So?" she interrupted, trying to stand up. He pushed her back, this time with more force, sending her backward on the bed.

"Man, Riddick! That hurt! What's your goddamn problem?" she was getting frustrated.

"The way you're acting." He snarled. He stood up straight, menacingly staring at her.

"Where's the fucking key?" he demanded. Jackie didn't want him to get really mad.

"On the damn table." She rolled her eyes trying to act like she didn't care that he was leaving. Riddick turned, grabbed the key, unlocked the door and tossed the key back over his shoulder as he walked out. As the door closed, he heard Jackie.

"Shit!" she cried. And the door was shut. Riddick went back to his room.

He walked in the door and as soon as he heard it shut, he turned around and slammed his fist into it. There was a cracking sound. He winced and held his now broken hand in his other.

"Damn." He mumbled. It didn't hurt, he was just frustrated. Now Jackie might take the tap out of the bridge. And then where would he be? And, he was worried about what Jackie herself would do. Really, it wouldn't affect him, but he had brought the girl here, so he somewhat felt responsible for her. She really was a sweet kid when she wasn't acting stupid like she just had.

He sighed and headed back out to go to the med-lab on his level. He paused for a moment outside of Jackie's room.

Silence.

Maybe she had gone some where. He started walking again. Soon he was at the med-lab. He walked in. A small-framed man came up to him.

"Yes?" he smiled. Riddick held his broken hand up.

"Needs fixing." He stated.

"Oh! What happened?" he led Riddick to a seat connected to a small box.

"Accident, dropped a storage box on it." He lied.

"Well, it'll be good as new in a few minutes, just place it in the box."

Riddick did as he said. Lights on top of the box blinked in a pattern. After about three minutes, the cube beeped. Riddick pulled his newly mended hand out of the container. He flexed his fingers. The hand was fine. The man came up to him, holding a bottle.

"Sometimes mended bones ache for a little while. If yours starts, take two of these. If after about half and hour, the hand still hurts, come back and see me." He handed Riddick the bottle of pills and smiled. Riddick thanked him and headed for the door. He figured he might as well go back to his cabin and see what people on the bridge were doing.

Jackie was furious, but only at herself.

"God damnit!" she yelled. 'How could I have been that fucking stupid?' she asked herself. She was pacing back and forth in her bedroom. She was scared that Riddick would never talk to her or trust her again. Her mind was reeling. What to do? Definitely not talk to him for a few days. That would be a bad idea. She needed something to do so she decided to go to one of the exercise rooms.

Riddick had been listening to the tap for only a few minutes. So far, not much. Just the usual unimportant chatter about what's to be unloaded and loaded at the next stop, people asking if the captain could sign different things and confirm others. Riddick wanted to know where the next stop was, and when they would stop there. Then, suddenly, his answers might be coming. Another ship was hailing them.

"Bring it up, Leighson." The captain said. There was a blip and another voice.

"Hello Captain Watson. This is Fredericks aboard the Utopia. Where are you headed?" Riddick could head everything perfectly over the earpiece.

Watson answered, "We are to arrive at Aleeo 5 in about three days. Why do you ask?"

"My ship just came from there. The planet is in a very dangerous state. A big percentage of the youngsters have become rebels. Fighting all the laws put on them, you know, the curfews and age limits and all."

"Yes, I know of the restrictions."

"Well, like I said, the teenagers and other affected persons are rebelling, and doing so violently. Nearly all ships landing or loading there are being attacked. My own ship was put under heavy fire, though we suffered minor damages because we were warned to put our shields up before loading. I suggest you do the same and take other precautions as well."

"We certainly will," Watson answered, "and I thank you very much for the warning. I'm sure it will help."

Fredericks' voice came through the earpiece again. "Yes it will. A few of the less armed ships were blown up completely. Good luck Watson."

"Thank you, sir. Watson out." Another blip and Riddick know the hailing frequency was closed. He took the earpiece out and put it way. The ship was gonna be in trouble, and what if Jackie tried to run away while they were loading? She'd most definitely be killed. This could be bad.

The next three days passed quietly. Jackie didn't try to talk to Riddick. She would have on the third day, but decided against it when Riddick shot her a warning glance as she approached him. She decided he now hated her. So she would run away from this ship when they landed. It wouldn't be long. She waited in her quarters. All her things were thrown into a single shoulder bag, as she didn't have much. The Harbinger would dock on the nearby planet within an hour. And then she'd start all over.

Riddick was anticipating the landing on Aleeo 5 with a feeling of dread. As aggravating as Jackie was, he didn't want anything to happen to her. She had admired him for what he was, a murderer. He didn't know what to do. If she wanted to leave, he wouldn't stop her, but he was worried about the consequences.

A ring shot through the ship. They were docking. Riddicks' kitchen window had the perfect view of the loading area, so he could see everyone who got on and off the Harbinger. So far, only loading crew. A few cartons were unloaded, and some passengers got off. No rebels yet.

Riddick had that thought too soon. No sooner had it processed, than about seven young teenagers, heavily armed, jumped out from behind some boxes. They started yelling and pointed their guns at the nearest crew members. Before the crew could even run, they were shot. Three fell dead; the rest writhed in pain on the ground. The rebels made their way to the ship, hiding behind boxes and various objects. Another group was approaching the ship; they were carrying bombs under their arms.

Nearby the Harbinger, a few passengers that were either getting on or off the ship were huddled in a group, eyes wide with fear. The rebels were approaching them slowly. Riddick scanned the passengers. No Jackie. The passengers cringed as the rebels screamed something at them. They lay down on the ground and the rebels stood over them.

Suddenly another passenger came running from the loading ramp. A bag was slung over her shoulder. Riddick recognized the bag. It was Jackie. Riddick's muscles tensed. He should've stopped her. Now all he could do was watch and hope.

Jackie was almost behind a box when one of the rebels took aim and fired. Riddick's hoping was in vain. She was hit.

Now Jackie lay on the ground, her back up. She was hit between her shoulder blades. Blood soaked her clothes. Riddick squeezed his eyes shut.

When he opened them, he could see that Jackie was crying. Her arm was behind her back, feeling. She pulled it back to her face and, at seeing it covered in blood, she cried out, loudly. An older rebel came up behind her and took aim. Jackie tried to look at him, but before she could, he shot her again, in the back of the head. Her blood pooled out around her limp body.

Riddick didn't cry. But he did feel a great deal of remorse, regret, and pain. It was his fault. He felt so horrible. He couldn't understand why, he had killed so many people before. He hadn't even killed Jackie, but he felt like he was the reason for her death.

He didn't have much time to think about it then, though. After a few more minutes, the other rebel pack had gotten to the ship and was in the process of planting bombs on the Harbinger. He felt the ship start to take off. 'They must be doing an emergency start.' He thought. If they got up soon enough, the vacuum caused by the open docking doors while in take off would suck the bombs out.

It must have worked, because after they had been in flight for about ten minutes, nothing exploded and the docking area was closed off. Riddick went into his bed chamber and got out the receiver and earpiece. He paused for a moment as he remembered that Jackie had planted the tap. He shook his head, as to shake the thought of Jackie out. Placing the earpiece in, he turned the receiver on. He heard static for a moment, then Captain Watson's voice.

"Casualties?" A woman answered.

"Four of our loading crew were killed, as were three security men and our docking pilot. We failed to load and unload the proper passengers, two of which were also killed."

"Shit. Find out their identities and send the proper notifications to family members. Do a scan on the computers of all nearby available docking pilots. We can make do without a few loading crew and security people, but we need a docking pilot as soon as possible."

"Yes sir." Footsteps. It would only be a few minutes until the computer check was finished. Riddick waited, listening patiently.

After a few minutes, he heard the bridge doors open and the footsteps return.

"The dead crew and passengers were: Daniel Truthers-loading crew, Jack Jennovin-loading crew, Felicia McDaniels- loading crew, Harry Creed-loading crew, Willy Fields-security, Mina Stars-security, Alex Goldman-security. Passengers Mike Berrings and Jackie.it just says Jackie. And of course Jenna, the docking pilot."

"That's just too bad. I know most of the crew and they were all good people. Let's be sure to pray for them, alright?" Riddick sensed true sincerity in Watson's voice. Another person joined the conversation,

"Um, excuse me, sir?" a young man, it sounded like.

"Yes? What is it?"

"The computer check results are back, sir."

"And?" Watson sounded annoyed.

"It only came up with one nearby available docking pilot. But.." Watson interrupted,

"But what man?!? Where is the person?"

The young man cleared his throat, "Uh, she's on the medical rehab planet of Healing Rays. She's on medication due to an attack she recently suffered, but she should be fine, sir."

"Alright, we'll take her. Message the planet. Wait a minute, what's her name?" Riddick heard rustling papers.

"Um, er, .oh yes. Carolyn Fry, sir." Riddick dropped the receiver, and his jaw. No, it couldn't be the same Carolyn, not his Carolyn.

His mind was racing. Could it be that now, when he had thought he'd lost all the people that had ever cared for him, that he was getting one back? He picked the receiver up off the floor. He had to know when they'd be picking her up. Hopefully he hadn't missed it. The captain was in mid-sentence,

"..is about six hours from here. Reset a course for Healing Rays. You got the message through?" Some one answered,

"Yes, sir. She should be packing her things now."

"Alright then. We'll have a smaller transport pick her up in six hours then." That was all Riddick needed to know. And it gave him the perfect setup. When the transport got back, he'd help unload it, and see if it was his Carolyn. All he could do now was wait.

About six hours later, he was a nervous, crazy mess. He's spent the entire time in his quarters, pacing, at times trying to sit still. He was so anxious to see if it was her. To see if it was the same girl with piercing eyes and blonde hair. With that beautifully curved body that was small, and yet strong enough to knock him off his feet. He wanted to hear if it was that same pleasing voice. So badly he wanted to know if it was her! He couldn't wait any longer. He headed out his door, towards the transport shaft. He lowered to the level on which she'd be arriving. A few other people were there, but it was only loading and maintenance men. "Hey there! What are you doing here?" One of the other maintenance men hollered at him.

"Just here to help unload things from the transport, I got messaged to do so." He replied calmly.

"Alright."

They waited, but didn't have to for very long. The transport landed in the hanger. Riddick's breath caught in his chest. It was only when another maintenance man tapped him on the shoulder that he remembered where he was. The doors of the transport opened, but no one stepped out just yet. Riddick hustled up the ramp and into the small ship. He had to be sure that he saw her face, but she didn't see his. If it was his Carolyn, and she recognized him, that could lead to some bad outcomes. It would be for the best if she didn't get the chance to recognize him.

Guarded Trust (Part 3)

He leaned over and grabbed a large box from the floor, just as a woman's frame came into the doorway to the cockpit. Riddick acted like he was having trouble picking up the box, to buy time to get a better look. His heart stopped. It was her.

She walked on by, not paying attention to him. He unloaded one box and snuck off to his quarters.

Back in his room, he immediately grabbed the receiver and earpiece from it's resting place. He hurriedly put the thing in place and waited in great anticipation. He heard the bridge doors open and more than one set of footsteps.

A young woman's voice, "Sir? Carolyn Fry is here."

"Really? Oh yes, hello Miss Fry, or is it Misses?" Riddick held his breath.

That voice he had so long waited to hear came over the tap, "Just Miss, sir." Riddick let his breath out slowly.

Captain Watson briefed her, or started to, "We had a run-in with some rebels on Aleeo 5-"

Carolyn interrupted, "I know, sir."

"How?"

"Well, sir, I was living on a nearby planet, so I know all about the rebels, sir."

"Oh yes," Watson sighed, "uh, what were you doing on Healing Rays, anyway?"

Riddick wanted to know that himself.

Carolyn cleared her throat, "Well sir, I was docking pilot on the Russian vessel Hunter Gratzna, as you know, the ship was somehow knocked out of our shipping lane and crashed into a foreign planet. Most of the forty commercial passengers were killed in the crash. Those who survived didn't do so for long. Vicious, nocturnal, man-eating aliens inhabited the planet, and since we were caught in an eclipse, all but four of us were killed. We were on our way to an escape skiff that we'd found, when one of us was injured. I went back to get him, and an alien stabbed me through the stomach. I fought it so hard and moved too much for the thing to keep a hold on me. I fell to the ground and crawled into a settlement building. I was there, alone and bleeding for what seemed an eternity. I blacked in and out of consciousness. I remember being picked up and taken to a ship. The next time I woke up, I was on Healing Rays. I stayed there until now getting better and on medication. That's all I remember."

"Sounds like you've had a hard time. You said you were on the Hunter Gratzna? Wasn't that vessel carrying Richard B. Riddick? What happened to him?" It was silent for a moment.

"I honestly don't know. He didn't die, I don't think."

"Hmm, quite a reward on that one. I'd like to be the one to catch him." Riddick laughed. 'If only you knew, Captain.' He thought. He laughed again, then concentrated on listening.

"Well Captain, I'm tired, where are my quarters?" Carolyn asked.

"Oh yes. Uh, third crew level, room seventeen. We would have put you on the first crew level, but since we didn't load or unload properly on Aleeo 5, we've got a few more people than expected on board. You understand."

Fry answered, "Yes, and it's quite alright. Thank you, sir. And if you'll excuse me, I'll go get settled."

"Of course." Riddick heard footsteps. He dropped the earpiece and receiver. Opening his door, he scanned it for the number. Sixteen. What crew level was he on? He thought. The third. His eyes widened as he realized.Carolyn was going to be right next to him. Oh shit.

For a few days, Riddick kept a low profile. He only left his room when he had work to do. Many nights, he pressed up against the wall closest to Fry's room and just listened. After a lot of thought, he'd decided to have a run-in with her, just to see what would happen. He set it up in his mind. He would wait and listen until he knew Fry was leaving her room. Then he would go out too, and pretend to lock his door. When Fry walked behind him, he would act like he was done and back up, running into her in the process. Then, he didn't know what would happen.

Finally, the day came. Riddick was listening through the wall, when he heard Fry's message board come on. Fry answered. It was the Captain; he wanted her to report to the bridge. Riddick got ready. He heard her walking and went out his own door. He positioned himself so she wouldn't be able to see his face when she came out of her door. Soon, he heard her door open. He fiddled with his key. She started walking. Now! He backed up and knocked into her, just a planned.

"Oh! Excuse me!" she said. Riddick turned around to look her straight in the eyes. A look of fear crossed her face. She gasped.

"Oh my God." She whispered, and backed up slowly. Then she started running down the corridor, towards the transport shaft. Riddick started to follow, but thought of different plan.

Carolyn was hesitant to go back through the hall. What if he was there? Maybe it wasn't even him. But she'd recognized him. It had been Riddick. She slowly walked down the hall. No Riddick. She opened her door. Once inside, she put her key down.

"Lights." She muttered. She looked up and started to scream. Riddick had expected that and was ready for it. He rushed forward and slapped his hand over her mouth, silencing her.

Fry was filled with fear. What if he tried to kill her? She started to struggle and thrash around. Riddick swung his leg behind hers, and pushed her shoulders back, still holding one hand over her mouth. Before she knew what happened, she was on the floor, on her back, with Riddick on top of her. She began to cry. She was trembling, obviously terrified. Riddick did not want to scare her.

"Shh...I'm not going to hurt you, Carolyn." His voice was soft and sincere. She calmed down a little. He looked at her for a moment, and then he took his goggles off.

Looking into her eyes, he said, "I'm going to take my hand off your mouth, do not scream. Alright?" Fry nodded. She was still crying. He moved his hand. Her lip trembled.

Before she said anything, he spoke "I know what happened to you on that rock. I know why you're here, I know everything. I have a tap on the bridge. I've known for a while." He paused and sighed.

"I thought you were dead." Fry clearly got angry. She tried to push him off of her.

"You left me! I went back and tried to save you! And when I got stabbed, you just let me slip away. Didn't even try. Damnit Riddick! What do you want?" She was raising her voice. He was shocked. He hadn't expected that.

'I.I.I'm sorry. I didn't think you were alive when the thing pulled you away. I'm sorry."

"Riddick doesn't apologize," she snapped, "he's not human. He couldn't do that." She started struggling, hitting him. The comment agitated him. She was getting to be more of a hassle now that she was mad. He'd have to scare her again. And he had an idea of what to do.

"Get the fuck off me!" Fry yelled. Riddick smiled.

"I don't know Carolyn, I kinda like this position. And it's been a while since I saw you, how bout we.get to know each other better?" He ran his hand up her leg, up her side, and up her shirt. She started crying again. In a whisper, she pleaded,

"No, oh God no, please Riddick."

"How's this for human?" he licked her neck, up to her mouth. His hand was further up her shirt, fooling with her bra. He ran images through his mind. He started to actually get turned on.

Carolyn was still begging him to stop. She turned her face away and squeezed her eyes shut. Riddick grabbed her head, turned it toward him and gruffly demanded,

"Open your eyes, look at me." She did as he said, not wanting to get him mad.

"Feel how human I am." he grabbed one of her legs, pushing it out so they were parted. He pushed his erection up between her legs. She could feel the heat through his pants and hers.

"Oh God. Riddick please no." she sobbed.

He grinned, menacingly. "Alright Carolyn. But don't think this is the end. I'll come and finish what I started here. I can promise that, so be ready." He made a kissy face before getting up and walking towards the door. On the way there, he noticed her room key. He grabbed it and turned to face her, smiling. "I'll take this." And he laughed. Fry was sitting up, and when she heard him, she opened her mouth to scream, but she was crying too hard and no sound came out. Riddick left.

Once back in his cabin, Riddick ran a hand over his shaved head. He set Carolyn's room key in the back of one of his drawers. He lay down on his bed. She was so beautiful, and he actually didn't even have to try to get aroused by her. She could easily do that for him, just by being her. He liked the feel of her body under his. He had liked it even back on that dark planet, when she had come to get more light for Imam and Jackie. He'd been with women before, whores and jailhouse chics, but it was always just sex. Nothing special. But Riddick knew that it would be different with Carolyn. He was actually attracted to her, sexually and somewhat emotionally. The only problem was getting the opportunity to take her, and keep her quiet while he did. But even though Riddick was okay with that idea, he had an even better, though even more hard to accomplish, idea. He would try to get her to be willing to go through with it. But how? He 'd have to be persistent.

For the next few days, Riddick left Carolyn alone. After their encounter, Carolyn had told the captain that she didn't feel well and she stayed holed up in her room. That wasn't what was stopping Riddick, he had her room key after all. It wasn't a hassle to go see her, he was just trying to figure out what to do once he was with her.

Carolyn was, meanwhile, trying to figure out what to do about Riddick and his promise. Knowing that he could walk through her door any minute was nerve wracking. She lived in fear, constantly imagining that she heard her door open. She couldn't sleep, she barely ate. She was a mess. Finally, one day, she decided on a plan of action. It could be dangerous, but it was a risk she'd take.

Carolyn fixed herself up so she looked presentable. She prepared to make a run out of her door, straight past Riddicks, and get to the transport shaft, all without looking back. She walked toward her door. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door-open button. Without hesitating, she broke into a run. Halfway down the hall, she heard a door behind her open. Not willing to look back, she sped up. After what seemed like miles to her, she reached the shaft.

Riddick, who had heard her leave her room and looked out of his to see her running down the corridor, was trying to figure out what she was doing. Maybe going to the bridge. He got the receiver and earpiece, and sat down.

His guess was right, he soon heard Carolyn's voice. "Captain!" she was out of breath.

Watson answered, "What is it Fry? Why are you out of breath?" "Captain, Richard B. Riddick is on board! I know what room he's in!" 'Shit!' Riddick thought. 'Bad girl, Carolyn, that wasn't a smart decision.'

Watson sounded scared, "What! How?"

"Sir, he's posing as a maintenance man! He's in room sixteen, crew level three. He might even be listening right now. He has a tap on the bridge."

Carolyn sounded frightened, but she had caught her breath.

Watson yelled, "Go arrest him! Put him in a holding cell! And find the tap! Damnit, I don't believe I hired him!"

Riddick laughed. He'd examined the holding cells; he could easily break out of one. It would be a walk in the park. He knew they'd be there for him in a few minutes, so he decided to grab a few things. First he threw the receiver and earpiece down the trash-shoot. He grabbed the room key for Carolyn's quarters, his bone shiv, and a small gun. All three items he hid in his clothes, where the security men wouldn't be able to find them when they searched him. As soon as he had done so, four security men burst through his door. He didn't struggle, he did all they asked, smiling all the while. The security men were clearly surprised by this and cautious with all their activity, but were grateful as well. After patting him down, they cuffed him and put ankle shackles on him too. They led him down the hall. On the way to the transport shaft, the group passed Carolyn. Her eyes showed her uneasiness as they looked at the floor, yet she walked on. Her one mistake was when she looked into Riddicks' eyes. He grinned and licked his lips.

"I'll see you soon, Carolyn." He said. Fry started crying and ran past him. He laughed.

He'd been in the holding cell for a few hours. Captain Watson had come down and told Riddick that he would soon be dropped at Slam. The Captain had tried to act tough, but his fear showed around the edges. Riddick noticed his hands were shaking and at seeing this, made a few threats about finding Watson and slashing his throat. Watson had left soon after that. Riddick kept a smile on his face. He already knew how to escape. The cells weren't guarded; they were thought to be foolproof. But Riddick knew they weren't. The bars of the door were weak. Weak enough that he could kick through them. He would wait until about one in the morning, when it would take anyone a little while to respond to the alarms, as the last three decks were on lockout until six. Only people with the right access codes could get to them. Getting out of those levels was easy, you could leave them at anytime. So Riddick would break the door of his cell, go up to crew level three, grab some of his stuff, kidnap Carolyn, wait for a few minutes, then go back down when he was sure the levels were off lock-down, and steal an escape ship. It was too easy. And if he crossed the path of some one trying to catch him, he had his shiv and a gun.

He waited patiently until around one. Then he stood up, grabbed the top bars of his cell, swung himself back, and with all is force, swung forward, crashing his feet into the door. It worked, just like he knew it would. The door was blasted off the hinges. An alarm sounded. Riddick walked over to the transport shaft; he could take his time.

A moment later, he was walking toward his door. He walked in and quickly grabbed some clothes and all his cash credits. He had a pretty good sum. He threw everything into a bag, he walked out. Taking Carolyn's key from his pocket, he opened her door.

"Lights!" he said loud enough to wake her.

She screamed when she saw him. He took out his shiv. "Get some clothes and anything else you want that you can run with, NOW!" he yelled the last word. She scrambled out of bed, grabbed a bag and began filling it with clothes and miscellaneous other things. She pulled out a smaller bag, filled with cash credits. Upon seeing it, Riddick lunged at her and took the bag. He smiled at the look of anger on her face.

"Give those back!" Fry screamed, stamping her foot. Riddick went to her bed, tore off a strip of fabric and rushed at Carolyn. She opened her mouth to scream, giving him the perfect opportunity to gag her. Then he grabbed Carolyn's wrist and started to run, giving her no choice but to do the same.

They got in the transport shaft and rode down a few levels. The lockout doors were open and Riddick started running again, Carolyn in tow behind him. He went straight to the nearest escape ship. They didn't need any keys or anything to board them or fly them, since they were only used in emergencies.

Riddick ran up the ramp and onto the ship. Once aboard, he strapped Carolyn into the back cabin and went to the cockpit. After hitting a few buttons, the docking doors of the Harbinger opened and the escape ship came to life. Riddick pressed more buttons and pushed forward on a lever. The ship rolled toward the opened doors. Once at the edge, he pulled back on the steering mechanism. They blasted off the Harbinger and sped into space. Riddick set the autopilot. Now the ship would stay in the same shipping lane, but wouldn't land anywhere.

Guarded Trust (Part4)

Riddick got up and headed for the back cabin. Before he got there, he could hear Carolyn crying.

'Good,' he thought, 'If she's scared, she won't fight me.'

He entered the cabin. It was dark; he took his goggles off. At first, he couldn't find Carolyn, but then he saw her. She was curled up in a ball in a corner between a seat and the wall. She had taken the gag off. Her head rested on her knees, with her hands wrapped around her legs. She didn't notice Riddick.

"Carolyn," he said softly. She shuddered, but didn't look up. He stepped toward her. She pushed herself back further in to the corner. He smiled. "You think you can just shrink away from me, Carolyn?" walking to her, he could see that she was shivering.

"Are you cold?" Riddick asked. She shook her head.

"Scared?" She nodded. Riddick laughed.

"Why, Carolyn? I won't hurt you!" Finally, she looked up. Her cheeks were wet with tears; they still streamed down from her eyes.

"W.what do you want?" she whispered. He barely heard her.

"Why Carolyn, I'm shocked, I thought you knew what I want." He chuckled. Carolyn's eyes got big.

Slowly, she stood up to look him straight in the eyes. Riddick moved forward to corner her. She started to panic. Riddick wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She could feel his breath on her face. Trying to pull away, she pressed her hands against his chest and pushed. He laughed,

"You can't get away that easy." He kissed her neck. She swallowed hard and began to breathe heavily. She was panicking. Riddick pulled his other hand around and slid his fingers down into Carolyn's pants. She gasped and started to wrestle him. He let her get out of his grasp.

"It's a small ship, Carolyn, where are you gonna go?" he grinned. She backed away from him and looked around her for something to throw at him.

Grabbing a flashlight, she held it up and got ready to throw. Riddick started laughing. The flashlight was launched, but to Fry's dismay, Riddick caught it. He dropped it and lunged toward her. She cried out as she turned and tried to run. Toward the front cabin she ran, with Riddick coming behind her. There was no where to go, she was trapped. Trying to climb into an upper bunk bed, Fry felt Riddick grab her leg and pull her back down. Carolyn tried to hold on, but didn't have enough strength to fight him off. She tumbled backward and landed in Riddicks arms. He carried her, kicking and struggling all the way, to the back cabin where he laid her down on a couch-like bed. He pinned her down and held her mouth shut. When he moved his hand, she opened her mouth to yell at him, but before she could say anything, Riddick bent down and kissed her. His tongue explored her mouth briefly. When he pulled back, Carolyn was quiet, in shock of how gently he had kissed her.

"That nice, huh?" he laughed. He got up and walked out. Carolyn didn't know what he was doing until he came back. He was holding some rope, and clearly intended to tie her up.

She was off the couch in one movement, and started across the room. Riddick caught her halfway. He held her by the waist and drug her back to the couch. Forcing her to sit down, he tied her wrists together and did the same to her ankles. Riddick left long pieces of rope hanging from both the makeshift shackles. The piece hanging from her wrists was tied to the arm of the couch. Her ankles were tied down to a hook on the floor. Both "leashes" allowed her to move, but not so much that she would be able to untie one or the other. She could not stand up.

Riddick left her to 'go get some sleep.' As soon as he was out of the room, Carolyn tried to get the ropes off her wrists. When that didn't work, she moved her ankles, trying to loosen the ropes there. No success. It was hopeless. Carolyn realized that and hung her head. She was tied down to a bed on an escape ship with a murderer who was going to rape her. She was defeated and frightened.

Riddick didn't go to sleep. He didn't even try. He was watching Carolyn. In the back of his mind, his conscience told him to untie her. If he wanted her to trust him, he'd have to treat her more kindly. But every time he was around her, he thought of making love to her, and couldn't control himself. No woman had ever had that effect on him, it was strange. He'd have to learn to control the urges. If he wanted Carolyn to be willing, she'd have to trust him and even have an attraction to him.

He had an idea. He went to the cockpit and set a course. They would go to Star Field, a pleasure planet.

After a few hours, Carolyn was still trying to loosen the ropes. She was working at it yet again when Riddick walked into the cabin. He looked like he had something on his mind, almost sad. Carolyn still slid away from him when he sat down on the bed. He looked at her wrists and ankles. They were bruised from all her efforts to break free from them.

"Jesus Carolyn, I'm sorry." He sighed. She eyed him warily. He moved toward her and she jerked back. His eyes showed the pain her action had caused him. She immediately felt sorry she had done it.

"Do you want me to take them off?" he asked without looking at her. She nodded. He held her wrists gently and took the ropes off. After doing the same to her ankles, he looked at her.

"I'm sorry about all of this, everything." Carolyn could tell from his tone that he was being serious.

He continued, "I never should have treated you like this." he whispered. "Oh Riddick," she sighed. Suddenly she had a thought.

"Where are we going?" Riddick looked at her, puzzled.

"Star Field."

"What?! Why are you taking me to a fucking pleasure planet? I knew the whole 'nice' thing had to be an act!" she backed up, getting off the bed.

"Relax, Carolyn," Riddick was clearly upset and hurt by her words, "I'm taking us there so we can start over." Finishing his sentence, he got up and walked into the front cabin.

Carolyn sat back down and put her head in her hands. She sighed. Why had she jumped at Riddick like that? He was being nice and she jumped down his throat. Maybe she was the in-human one now, Riddick had changed.

They were only a day away from Star Field, and Carolyn and Riddick weren't talking. Riddick just lay around in the bunks of the front cabin. Carolyn was unsure of how to approach him. She had been beating herself up over what she had done. All Riddick thought about was Carolyn and how bad he just wanted to talk to her or touch her face.

Carolyn walked into the front cabin to find Riddick lying on one of the beds, his goggles off and his eyes closed.

"Riddick..." she whispered.

Without opening his eyes, he replied, "Hmm?"

"Could I talk to you?" she sat down next to him.

"Nobody's stopping you," he said. She was slightly taken back by his lack of emotion.

"Uh, look, I am sorry for the things I said and did. It's just, our first few encounters were, well, scary. I thought you were going to hurt me or rape me or something." she drifted off. It didn't look like Riddick was even listening. She sighed.

"Okay then," she started to stand up, but Riddick caught her wrist and pulled her toward him. She hesitated a little, but saw that he wasn't going to do anything, so she let him pull her down. He sat her down right next to him and wrapped his arms around her, gently. She let him.

"Oh Carolyn," he whispered, "I could never hurt you." And he lay down, taking her with him. They faced each other and just lay there for a moment.

Then, Carolyn reached out and took a hold on the collar of Riddick's shirt and pulled him closer. He wrapped his arms around her as she curled up to rest her head on his chest. They fell asleep.

They arrived at Star Field the next day. Carolyn was embarrassed about what she had done the day before. She didn't talk too much. Neither did Riddick. It wasn't that he was embarrassed, but he knew she was, and he didn't want to make Carolyn uncomfortable.

They docked the ship and took their bags of belongings with them as they walked toward the nearest rent-out living apartments. They found a ROLA nearby called the Star Gazer. They made their way to the front desk. A slightly overweight human girl greeted them with a smile.

"Welcome to the ROLA Star Gazer. My name is Ava, how may I help you?"

Riddick looked at Carolyn, who seemed tense, and then back at Ava. "We need a living apartment."

"One or two?" she asked, confused.

Carolyn sheepishly looked at Riddick. He answered without breaking his eye contact with Fry, "One."

He made sure Carolyn didn't look angry or shocked. She was fine, blushing a little. He smiled.

"OK," Ava chirped, "it'll be twenty-five cash credits a night, or one-hundred twenty cash credits per week. Which rate will you be using?"

"Weeks." Riddick said.

"OK then, you'll be billed every Sunday. Here's your key. Cabin twenty-three-West. Have a nice day!" Ava smiled, handing Riddick a key.

"Thanks." He picked his bag up and started off to find the cabin. Carolyn followed.

When they found the cabin, they were pleasantly surprised. It was somewhat set off from the other cabins. It was styled like Earth's old beach cabins.

There was a big porch on it. It had two stories. Very pretty. "I like it!" Carolyn smiled.

"Yea, it's nice," Riddick said, "maybe a little too much like a doll-house." He sneered. Carolyn laughed and walked up onto the porch. She turned to look at the view.

"Hmm, very pretty." She smiled still. The area surrounding the Star Gazer's entire property was landscaped tropically. There was a beach nearby, the ground was sandy, and palm trees decorated the yards. The temperature was very nice, hot, but not uncomfortable.

Riddick walked up to the door and slid the card through the lock. It opened and he stepped in, Carolyn right behind him. The front room didn't have much in it, a mirror and a few chairs. They kept walking through. Soon they were in a sitting room. There were chairs, a sofa, a love seat, fireplace, table, a message board, and an advertisement screen that displayed maps of the planet and hot spots to visit and such. It was roomy and comfortable.

Carolyn couldn't quit smiling. There was a door on one side of the room, the two went on through. It led into the kitchen, which was very well furnished. Included in the room was table and chairs for dining. In one corner of the kitchen, there was a flight of stairs. Riddick went up them, while Carolyn admired the view from the kitchen. Riddick was soon upstairs. The stairs brought him into a small hallway. Walking down it, there was a bath room on the left and soon after it, a closet on the right. Directly across from the closet, was the bedroom. Riddick entered the room, and stopped. There was a king-size bed, another message board, two chairs, a long table, and in the corner, a hot tub.

"What a place for a hot tub." He muttered.

"Huh?" Carolyn was behind him.

He moved to the side and pointed, "They put a hot tub in the bedroom." He smirked.

"Oh!" she smiled, "Well, I've seen it done like that before. And it's better than no hot tub, right?"

"Yeah, I keep forgetting this is a pleasure planet."

He turned to face her, "Uh, well, you can have the bedroom, I'll sleep on the couch downstairs. And I'm gonna go to sleep right now."

Carolyn looked shocked. "Oh, ok, you sure? I mean,"

Riddick cut her off, "Yea, it's fine. I don't care." He turned and walked out of the room.

"Ok then." Carolyn muttered under her breath. She walked over and set her bag on the bed.

Riddick walked down the steps. At the bottom he paused. What was she thinking? He had kidnapped her and carted her across the stars to a damn pleasure planet. She had to want to get away. Hell, if he were in her position, he would. How could he ever think that she could learn to get used to him, or ever even be attracted to him?

Looking into her eyes just moments before in the bedroom had made him realize that. And it bothered him. 'Could I have real, true feelings for her?' He asked himself. Probably not, how could Riddick the murderer truly care about anyone? No one had ever done it for him. He shook his head and walked through the kitchen. Once in the sitting room, he placed his small bag on a table and sat down on the sofa. He leaned over to take his boots off. Then he lay down. He took his goggles off and set them on the table. His eyes closed and he was asleep.

Carolyn was almost unpacked, but she couldn't quit thinking about how nice a quick dip in the hot tub would feel. She was very achy from her rough-handled journey. One problem, though. She didn't have a swimsuit. Surely there would be stores on the planet that would have them for sale. Maybe Riddick would be willing to take her shopping later. And maybe she could convince him to get a suit for himself. Ooh- Riddick in nothing but swim trunks. Those hard muscles and rough skin, uncovered and wet. Whoa. Carolyn jerked her head. 'Don't go getting all overboard about him. He's a murderer who tried to rape you and then kidnapped you.' She thought. Sure, he was good-looking, but the fact remained. He was a cold-hearted ex-convict and she couldn't go trusting him after just one act of kindness. She'd have to wait and see what he did next.

Chapters 5 - 8 Chapters 9 - 11 (end)

Guarded Trust (Part 1)

Guarded Trust (Part 2)

Guarded Trust (Part 3)

Guarded Trust (Part4)