One by one, as they fought their way here from the crash site, he'd watched the rest die. Or seen the ugly aftermath.

Riddick boarded the shuttle and busied himself connecting the batteries to the power bay. The ship came to life, bathing him in light. He moved to stand in the shuttle's hatchway, looking out into the rain and darkness. Somewhere in that darkness, three people waited for him to reappear and play the savior, the noble knight, and help them fight their way to the shuttle.

He closed his eyes and recalled Fry's open, yielding face as she looked up into his eyes and told him that she trusted him. Recalled her loving expression as she lay under him, still warm from their lovemaking.

He bowed his head, unable to stop the images and words from replaying in his mind. He had a decision to make, and soon.

She trusted him. Maybe the others did, too, but she had said the words. Words he'd asked for, words he'd needed to hear. But why had he done it? Why, if in the end he just left her here to die with the others?

He turned and leaned heavily on the side of the hatchway, letting his head fall back so he looked up at the shuttle ceiling.

Remember, he said to himself - she almost killed you and the two with her now just to save her own skin. You owe her nothin'. You owe *them* nothin'. It's time to take back *your* life, pal. No one deserves it more'n you. Riddick reached up and rubbed his forehead, as if it would erase the warring emotions within him. More flashes of her face, her smile, her tender arms around his neck as they kissed. Jesus, get a grip, he thought. So you got laid - big deal. You never promised her anything. She's just another broad, extra baggage you don't need. Fact is, she's better off dyin' here than followin' your sorry murderin' ass into space. He looked back in the direction of the cave.

He lowered his head and looked at the gangway for a long moment, considering. He had to choose, and choose now. And there would be no turning back.

Finally, gathering his resolve, he shoved himself off from the side of the hatchway. Reaching around, he smashed his handlight on the ship's hull, then turned swiftly and diappeared into the shuttle, closing the hatch behind him.

Settling into the pilot's chair, Riddick made some quick adjustments on the control board and dimmed the interior lights. He activated the exterior lights, pushed the headbeams to full. Then -

He leapt from the chair, hit the button to pop the hatch. When it opened, she was already standing in the mud and rain at the bottom of the gangway. She carried one of the booze bottles they'd used as torches, now full of some bluish-green glowing substance. She tossed it to the side and glared defiantly up at him.

Stunned as he was by her sudden appearance, he reminded himself that his choice had already been made, and that choice did not include Carolyn Fry. he stood in the hatchway, light blazing out from behind him, trying hard to appear nonchalant. "Strong survival instinct. I admire that in a woman."

"You're not leaving. Not until we go back for the others." She held his gaze fiercely.

"I promised them we'd go back with more light. And that's exactly what we're gonna do.." she continued, undaunted.

He snorted and shook his head. "I think you've mistaken me for somebody who gives a fuck."

"You're confusin' me with Johns now -- fear was *his* monkey. I only deal in life and death. All that stuff in between?" he shrugged. "Some shade o' grey my eyes don't see."

Her eyes blazed with anger. "I trusted you, Riddick," she screamed. "Goddamit, I trusted that *some* part of you wanted to rejoin the human race!" And join me, she thought.

Fry was getting desperate. "Then wait for me. I'll go back myself. Just give me more light for them."

He tossed her his handlight, the one he had broken apart against the ship's hull moments earlier.

Fry backed away from him, shaking her head. "You're fuckin' with me, I know you are..."

"'Course I am," he replied. "But it doesn't mean I won't leave you here. If you believe anything about me, better be that."

He would leave her here, after all they'd shared. She blinked and shuddered with the memory of their time alone in the shuttle. Fry felt her resolve start to crumble. Now she was pleading. "No, see, I promised them...I have to...I have to go and....

He took a few steps down the gangway and held out his hand. "Here. Make it easy on you."

"No one's gonna blame you. C'mon." He stetched his hand out closer to her. "Take my hand and save yourself, Carolyn." Please, for God's sake, take my hand, he thought. Take my hand and we'll leave together and forget about this planet and everything that happened on it. And I won't have to live knowing you're dead because of me.

Fry was trembling violently now. She looked at his proffered hand through her tears, hesitating. Then her own hand slowly came up and grasped his.

In a blur of motion, Riddick suddenly found himself on his back in the mud at the bottom of the gangway with Fry's knee on his neck. "I will not give up on them! Do you hear me?" she screamed into his face. "I will not leave *anyone* on this rock with those fucking things, even if it means --"

She felt herself being lifted and slammed to the ground as Riddick flipped over and pinned her, laying his knife across her throat. They were nose to nose, as they'd been when they made love. His expression was calm, almost...gentle. Just as she had when he first grabbed her in the shuttle, she felt an odd sense of security, even pinned to the muddy ground of a strange planet and surrounded by hungry flesh-eating aliens. Because it was *him* holding her there.

"But I'm human. I know you see that as a weakness, but I'm sorry --" Fry's voice was steady now. "I do feel fear, theirs too. Goddammit, Riddick -- you can use me and throw me away if you want, but I won't let you do it to them. Not while I'm alive. And yes. I *would* die for them."

They lay silent and motionless in the mud for several heartbeats, their eyes locked, before Riddick slowly got up, grasping her wrist and pulling her up to stand beside him. He let go of her and sheathed his knife. Bending down, he picked up the glowing booze bottle she'd dropped and handed it back to her. "Let's go," he said.

They were almost there. Almost. Just a few more feet and -

Fry rounded the last corner at a dead run, following Jack and Imam. Riddick was somewhere behind them, but she didn't dare turn and look back - not yet. She saw the other two stagger onto the gangway and up into the shuttle. She pushed herself to keep running, afraid of what would happen if she slowed down even a little. Then she heard the screams.

She skidded to a stop at the bottom of the gangway. She whirled around, her eyes flicking left and right, searching the darkness. Another scream - and this one sounded human. Without thinking, she took off in the direction of the noises. "Riddick!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Riddick! Hold on, I'm coming!" Faintly, from the direction of the shuttle, she heard Imam's voice calling out to her, but she didn't stop.

Holding the bottle of glowworms aloft, she swept it from side to side in front of her. The sounds were getting closer, but she still couldn't find Riddick. Then she saw the brief metallic glint of a knife blade. She slowed down, walking briskly forward. Now she could hear Riddick's labored breathing and exhausted grunts as he struck again and again at the fluttering shapes whizzing over his head. Fry ducked when one buzzed her, almost touching her hair.

She found him on his knees, covered in mud and blood, gripping two knives and slicing blindly at the air above and around him. "Riddick, it's me! It's Carolyn! Over here!" She waved the glowing bottle in front of her so he could find her. When she reached his side, he was barely able to stand, but she forced him to his feet and gripped him tightly around the waist. A fleeting memory raced through her mind of a time not too far back when he had gripped her the same way and kept *her* from falling. In the bottle's bluish glow, the fear was plain on his face. She couldn't tell how badly he was hurt - blood was everywhere. Riddick draped one arm over her shoulders and limped as fast as he could beside her.

'Just 10 steps...keep turning, keep turning...that's right...others're already 'board, waitin' for us right now..." she singsonged soothingly as they stumbled towards the shuttle. "five steps...c'mon, almost there, Riddick... almost there...we're almost -- UH!"

Fry was thrust roughly aside and landed on her face in the mud. Above her, she heard the cries of the alien predators, felt the air stirred by their wings. Then there was a new sound - it was Riddick, unleashing a primal scream unlike the desperate, exhausted noises he'd been making when she found him. She scrambled for the bottle, and held it up. In its light, Riddick stood with his arms raised, both blades pointed straight up as they sliced cleanly through the bellies of two aliens flying directly overhead, mere inches from his head. The things screeched as they flew away, then she heard them flop helplessly to the ground somewhere in the dark and struggle as they became food for their hungry brothers.

All this took just a few seconds. Then Riddick was with her again, yanking her to her feet. "Get up, go, go, go! Hurry!" he barked at her. He was moving without her help now, running on pure adrenaline. He pushed Fry ahead of him and kept a hand extended to her back, glancing behind him and pointing a blade into the darkness with the other as they ran. It seemed years before they heard the metallic pounding of their feet on the shuttle gangway, then the "whoomp" of the hatch closing behind them.

Fry vaulted into the captain's chair, Riddick forgotten for the moment, and readied the controls for takeoff. "Hang on!" she yelled, and fired the thrusters. In a burst of flame, they shot upwards, alien bodies careening off the hull as they picked up speed. When they had cleared the planet's atmosphere, Fry leveled the shuttle and programmed a course that would take them to the Sol-Track 17B shipping lane. She set the autopilot, then got up to check on Riddick.

She found him lying on his back on the floor, still clutching a knife, and flanked by a concerned Jack and Imam. They looked up at her, then back to Riddick, who was now trying to sit up. Fry knelt and helped him. Gently, she opened his hand and removed the blood-slick knife he held, passing it to Imam. Riddick grabbed her hand and held it tight, his face anguished. "I almost lost you," he whispered hoarsely. His eyes closed or a moment, a pained expression passing over his features. He opened them and reached out to pull Fry closer to him, almost into his lap. Fry was stunned to see tears forming in his eyes. "I almost lost you," he whispered again. With a tiny sob, she moved in to wrap her arms tightly around Riddick. He grabbed her and crushed her into him, brushing her face and lips with kisses.

His large hands slid up to cradle Fry's face. "Stay with me," he whispered into her hair. She pulled back and looked at him. A few of his tears had finally spilled over, making paths through the dirt and blood on his face. Her own were flowing too as she bent to whisper back, "I will." Overcome, Riddick pulled her close again, wrapping her snugly in his powerful arms. They clung to each other for some time, eyes closed, rocking gently back and forth. The two other passengers stared at each other, Jack with open-mouthed surprise, Imam with a wise smile and knowing look. He raised his finger to his lips, signaling Jack to remain silent.

When Riddick opened his eyes, he could see over Fry's shoulder and out the window. "Hey," he said quietly, "What's that?" He patted her back, signaling her to get up, his eyes still fixed on something outside. With some effort, he rose painfully to his feet and made his way to the copilot's chair. Pointing to a particularly bright star, he looked back at Imam. "Recognize it?' Imam came forward, his face alight with joy. "New Mecca," he said reverently, touching his forehead.

Fry resumed her seat in the captain's chair. She and Riddick leaned forward, staring intently at the location of New Mecca as Jack came up behind Imam to take a look. "Wow, it's so bright."

"Think a soul could get lost there? With all those pilgrim-types?" said Riddick.

"It's more a place where souls are found, Mr. Riddick," Imam replied.

Riddick turned to Fry, a question in his eyes. Their hands unconsciously met and clasped between the chairs. Riddick gave hers a squeeze. After a moment, she nodded, ever so slightly, and programmed their new course into the autopilot.

They'd been underway for about six hours now. Fry had turned off all interior lights, leaving the inside of the shuttle bathed in the glow from the console and various blinking indicators lining the walls. Jack and Imam had fallen into an exhausted slumber on the benches in the back. Imam's thick outer robe was draped over Jack's sleeping form.

Riddick and Fry slumped silently in the chairs up front, watching the stars go by. They hadn't spoken for about two hours, since the others went to sleep. No words were needed - they knew what they'd been through. Now, in the quiet semi-darkness, surrounded by the low, soothing vibration of the shuttle engines, was when the mind could finally draw back, free of the raw immediacy of fighting for survival, and replay it all. It was like watching a horror movie, knowing the story was about you, but numb to it now, numb to the monsters and the blood and the fear and the corpses, the adrenaline drained and gone. Just tired now, so tired...

"Hey." Fry's head jerked up at the sound of Riddick's voice. He was sitting up and looking at her. "You're noddin' off."

Riddick smiled. "Right away, your worship. You want that in a cute lil' china cup?"

Fry leaned her head on her hand and stuck her tongue out at him, making his smile widen. "And don't start that yawnin' shit, either, or we'll both fall asleep up here," he said, pointing a warning finger at her. Then he yawned too. "See?"

She gave a little laugh, then turned her eyes back to the stars. They sat in silence for a while. Then Riddick spoke up again. "We gotta figure out what to tell 'em when we get to New Mecca."

"Yeah..." she whispered, still gazing sleepily out the window. "You'll need to change your name." She thought for a minute. "And we *have* to tell them about that planet, those...things..." she shuddered, remembering. "I don't want anyone else dying there."

Riddick blanched inwardly, blindsided by a nightmare image of Carolyn yanked suddenly and violently off the ground in front of him, an alien's spearlike claw protruding from her chest as she was was borne swiftly up and away into the darkness, her eyes still focused on him. He closed his eyes, gripped the arms of the chair as he tried to drive it out. Suddenly he wanted so badly to go over there and grab her, hold her tight against him, run his hands all over her, feeling her, just to make sure she was really alive, really here with him. He forced himself to breathe slowly and calm down until he was able to speak again. "So...what should I call myself?'

Fry shifted, drew up a knee, and rested her foot on the chair. "Hm." She rested her chin on her knee, still watching the stars. "I dunno. Maybe a variation of your first name. Make it easier to remember." She tilted her head to look at him. "Whaddaya think?'

"What about your eyes? You can't hide them forever. If they see, they'll know you were in Slam."

"Slam ain't the only place that does that," he said, settling back into his chair. "Ever heard of those special military units, those career boys they call in for stuff like night battles and underground search and rescue?"

He stared at her for a minute before he answered. "How's 'Carolyn Richards' strike you?"

She frowned, confused for a split second, until it dawned on her what he was saying. Her head snapped up and she gasped, her eyes widening in realization.

Riddick watched her face, a whisper of a smile forming on his. "I'll take that as a yes."

Fry's mouth worked, unable to produce a sound for a few moments. "But...but...it won't be legal...will it?'

"They won't know that. They'd have no reason to question it, anyway." He sat forward and turned his chair to face Fry. "Look - ship captains can still marry people, right?"

"Ok. So maybe he did it right there on the ship, before we took off. And..." he held up a finger, "...all our ID was trashed when the ship went down, so they have to believe we're whoever we say we are." And a dead captain can't dispute our story, his mind added, as he knew hers did.

She swallowed hard, remembering the last time he'd asked her that question. "Ok..." she said, a bit shakily.

"You're clean. You still got a life and a job waitin' for you." He paused and leaned forward, bringing his face closer to her. "You ready to give all that up? Just drop it all and start over from nothin', with a guy like me?"

Riddick's eyes held hers. A thrill ran through her body as she looked back at him, a million possibilities shooting through her brain like comets. She stood on the edge of a precipice here, and a goddam big one. He was right - if she stayed, her old life was gone, and the distance wouldn't be measured just in light years and star systems. She closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair, her arms locking around her drawn-up knee.

And Riddick said nothing. Riddick waited. He knew her answer, as he'd known that day in the shuttle. And he needed to hear it. So did she.

Fry sent a tiny, seeking tendril to her gut, feeling for that deep well somewhere inside, the hidden place that knew things her mind would never tell her. The tendril slid carefully down, down, touching here, touching there, probing for something that would decide everything, something that removed all doubt. Deeper, deeper, deeper...

Suddenly she was back on the deadly planet, streaking through the rainy darkness, surrounded by alien noises, yelling Riddick's name. A quick flash of his bloody, terrified face as she held up the glowing bottle to locate him. Then herself, face-down in the mud as Riddick, with a chilling scream, summoned the last of his strength, his knives laying open the creatures that would have taken her. Then Riddick on the shuttle floor, weeping, gripping her hand, saying, "I thought I lost you..."

Her deep place showed her these things, and waited. Like Riddick waiting, out there in the solid world, it knew her answer.

And it hit her. He had fully expected her to leave him there. He hadn't called for help, or tried to run to the shuttle. He'd stood his ground, slashing away, knowing his own blood would draw the creatures to him, buying time for the others - for *her*. What if she hadn't gone back? What if she'd thought the danger too great? But she hadn't thought at all, had she? There'd been no hesitation when she left the safety of the shuttle to bring him back. No hesitation because -

Because if she didn't go, Riddick would greet the sunrise as nothing more than a few scattered, bloody bones in the dirt.

Her heart jumped into her throat, pounding, choking her. A wave of nausea. Her body, weightless, spinning helplessly in her deep place.

No Riddick. Dead. Not here beside her. No powerful arms enveloping her, no rumbling laugh, no tender lips on her face, no stupid jokes about coffee. Nothing.

Just pain, and the silent cave of her heart containing only the cold vacuum of space.

She bolted upright in the chair, gasping. Her hand flew up and clamped itself over her mouth as she tried not to scream. Tears burst from her eyes, tumbling down and dripping into her lap. Her other hand held her gut, trying to quell the urge to vomit. She couldn't breathe. Her body trembled uncontrollably as her terrified eyes locked on Riddick's face.

Then he was there with her, turning her chair away from the console, kneeling in front of her, whispering to her. "Hey, hey, hey...shhhhhh...I'm here..." He caressed her shoulders, pulled her hand down and away from her mouth. A choked sob escaped her. Riddick's voice again: "Hey, calm down, ok? You'll wake 'em up. Breathe, just try to breathe, ok?"

She closed her eyes and nodded, drew a few shaky breaths as he gently held her arms. When she opened her eyes, his face was right in front of her, tender, concerned. "You ok now?'

She nodded, wiped her face, took a few more breaths. He gave her a moment, then spoke again. "What happened? Bad flashback?"

Fry looked at him, her face a mask of pain. "You..." she began, but her voice failed her. She cleared her throat and tried again. "You thought...you thought I would leave you there. Didn't you? You really thought I'd do that. Just take off and leave you there with those things."

Riddick's face froze, expressionless, unreadable. The seconds seemed to drag by until he finally said, "Yeah. I did."

She closed her eyes, shook her head, leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. She reached up to run her still-trembling fingertips along his jawline. She shuddered as her mind showed her a swift image of that jaw stripped clean of flesh, half-buried in the alien dirt, another anonymous artifact. "I couldn't," she finally said. "I couldn't, because then...then, you'd be dead." She took a deep breath. "And then I'd be dead too, all dead inside because you wouldn't be here..." her words trailed off in a squeaky whisper as her face crumpled, her throat constricted, threatening to weep again.

Riddick's arms slid around her back, gathered her to him. She slipped limply off the chair and onto his lap, straddling his thighs as she faced him. She threw her arms around his neck as his tightened around her body. He bent his head, rested it in the hollow between her neck and shoulder.

They were one thing now, melding bodies and minds and hearts. There was no Carolyn Fry, no Richard Riddick, no shuttle, no Jack and Imam - just this new being, warm, liquid, flowing together completely and fearlessly. They breathed together, eyes closed, and reveled in their aliveness, their hereness and nowness. Because they *were* here, now, together, and very much alive. And that was everything.

Fry sat up and gently raised Riddick's head off her shoulder, cradled his face softly in her hands as they looked at each other. "I never answered your questions," she whispered.

"Yeah, you did," he whispered back.

Knife's Edge (Part 9)

Two hours later, Imam awoke and stepped quietly to the front of the shuttle, careful not to wake Jack. Fry had fallen asleep stretched out face-up on the floor between the chairs. Riddick dozed fitfully at the console.

"Mr. Riddick," Imam whispered. Riddick snorted. "Mr. Riddick."

Riddick's head rolled to the side as he opened his eyes and fixed them groggily on Imam, who stepped carefully over Fry and sat down in her empty chair.

Imam looked over at Riddick with a rueful smile. "It seems you need more sleep, my friend. I'm sorry I had to wake you."

Riddick yawned, rubbed his eyes, stretched a bit. "She needed it more'n I did, so I took the first watch." He looked down at Fry, who had turned on her side and was now facing him.

"We all need it. We will be able to truly rest when we reach New Mecca."

Riddick nodded in agreement. "I think my first nap'll last about - oh, a week or so..."

Imam grinned at him, then grew serious. "We must decide what to do when we get there."

Riddick nodded again. "I know. We already talked about it. 'Bout me and her, anyway." And he told her what they had decided.

Imam sat quietly for a moment, mulling over Riddick's words. "You have made the right decision." He gave Riddick a gentle smile. "Your life will change in many ways, that is certain. And I believe all of them will be good."

"I sure hope so, Imam. But I dunno...I dunno if I'm up to it. Not sure if I got what it takes to settle down, live like normal people." Riddick rubbed his head with both hands. "I mean, after the shit I've done..."

Imam pointed a finger at Riddick. "There is much good in you, my friend, that even you cannot see. But others can see it. I see it in you now, as we sit here. It is a light which grows larger and brighter as your heart opens. And it seems you have done much...*opening* already." He gestured to the floor, indicating Fry.

Riddick smiled and looked down at her again. "Yeah, well, what can I say, Imam..." he shook his head. "I've spent so much of my life in chains, I feel 'em even when they ain't there." He looked back up at Imam. "And lemme tell ya - the lady packs one hell of a laser saw."

"Mmmmm...." Fry opened her eyes, awakened by the men's voices. She blinked sleepily at Riddick. "Hey...Whass goin' on?"

Riddick pointed towards her chair, and she turned over to look. "Oh...hi, Imam..."

He raised himself halfway out of the chair. "Would you like to sit down? The floor looks very hard."

"No, no...stay there. I'll just sit over here." She sat up and scooted herself backwards until she sat with her back against the center of the console, right between the two men. "Jack still sleeping?"

"Yes," said Imam, sitting down again. "I wanted to talk to both of you about her. We must send her back to her family, or decide who will care for her if we cannot find them."

Riddick and Fry looked at each other. Well," said Riddick, "First we gotta find out who her family *is*, and where she came from. We'll hafta to ask her when she wakes up."

"Ask me what?" Jack's sleepy voice spoke from behind them. She shuffled in, yawning, still wrapped in Imam's robe, and sat down near Fry. "What are you guys talking about?"

"You," said Riddick. "Where's your family?"

Jack's face went blank - the kind of blank, Riddick noted, that people use to hide strong emotion. She shrugged. "Dead, I hope."

"Jack!" exclaimed Fry. "Why would you say that?"

Imam looked hard at the girl, concerned. "Were you running away, Jack? Is that how you came to be on the ship?"

Jack sighed heavily, tilted her head back to look at the ceiling. "Yes, I was running away, and no, I won't tell you who they are, 'cause you'll just send me back." She closed her eyes and sighed again, bracing herself for the inevitable lecture.

"Jack..." Fry spoke up. "How old are you?"

Jack brought her head back up and looked at Fry. "I'm fifteen. My birthday was last week."

The three adults exchanged a look, then fixed their eyes on her again.

"You don't look like no 'fifteen' to me." said Riddick.

"I'm a late bloomer, ok?" Jack said, exasperated. "My *mom* didn't even have *tits* til she was sixteen." Her eyes flashed from face to face as she spoke. "She got teased about it all the time when she was a kid, so don't *even* start that shit with me."

Riddick raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. Imam bowed his head and smiled to himself, not wanting Jack to think he was laughing at her. Fry just looked at her. "Why don't you want to go back?' she asked.

Jack sighed and closed her eyes. "My mom died."

Another exchanged look among the adults. "So..." said Imam, "you were living with your father, then?'

"Yeah," Jack replied, her voice flat. "But he sure as hell didn't *act* like one."

"Why?," asked Imam. "What did he do?' Did he beat you?"

"Among other things." It was clear they were treading on thin ice with her now.

"Like what, honey?" Fry asked gently, trying not to probe too hard and upset her further. She leaned forward, trying to read Jack's face. "What other things?"

Then Jack's face crumpled, and she began to weep. "He said..." she took a few heavy breaths. "My dad said I was the lady of the house 'cause Mom was dead, and I had to..." she wiped at her eyes, "He said I had to do all the stuff she did 'cause she wasn't there to do it anymore."

All three adults sat up tensely and leaned forward, afraid to hear what they knew they would hear.

Fry swallowed, her throat dry. "Honey...what did he make you do?"

Riddick's eyes closed, his hands balling into fists. Imam could see the veins pulsing dangerously in his neck.

Jack started sobbing heavily, her breath catching in her throat. "He said he'd show me how..." more sobs, ''...how he liked it, the way Mom used to do it..." She covered her face with her hands.

Fry's hand went to her mouth, and tears filled her eyes. "Oh, baby..." she said in a rough voice, "did he - "

Jack whipped her head upright. "He fucked me, ok?!?!? He fucked me!!!! Is *that* what you wanna hear?!?!?!" She collapsed into a tiny weeping ball.

Riddick lost it. "MotherFUCKER!!! MotherFUCKER!!!" he slammed a boot into the bottom of the console. "Goddam sonovabitch, doin' that to a *kid*!" He kicked the console again and again, jaw clenched, eyes blazing eerily. Fry's hand flew out and grabbed his kicking leg, stilling him with a look. "Stop it. Stop it now." She glanced over at Jack's still-weeping form, then back to Riddick. "Riddick, look at me." He looked, fists and jaw still clenched, breathing hard. Seeing his face now, it was easy to believe he could kill without a second thought. "Listen to me, calm down, ok?" She held his eyes, waiting for him to sit back in his chair. "Look, this is not going to help. You'll only scare Jack and screw up the equipment."

Riddick looked over at Jack, then back to Fry, and nodded. "Ok, ok...sorry. It just fuckin' pissed me off is all. His own fuckin' kid, for crissake..."

Fry patted his leg. "I know, I know. We're all pissed right now, but Jack needs us. We can't help her unless we keep our heads on straight."

Riddick nodded again and waved a hand at her to say, ok, you can let go now. She did, and pulled the weeping Jack into her arms, holding her close, rocking her. "Baby, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." she crooned into Jack's ear.

She looked over at Imam and saw tears on his face as he watched them. "Allah has truly placed a test before us," he said, wiping his face with his sleeve.

Jack lay sobbing in Fry's arms for a long time. Fry said nothing, just rocked her, stroked her back, kissed the top of her head. The two men remained silent as well, but Riddick's eyes still burned wth anger.

When Jack's crying had subsided, Fry gently eased her into a sitting position, still holding her. "Jack..." she said, "Does anyone else know about this?" Jack shook her head. Fry continued carefully. "What about family? Is there anyone you could go to?"

Jack shook her head again. "I was the only child, and I don't know any of my relatives." She sniffed and wiped her eyes and nose on Imam's robe, still draped over her shoulders. "My dad had a sister, but she died when I was little. She killed herself. I never even knew her name." She looked up at Fry. "Dad didn't like her. She would never come to the house." She wiped her nose again. "He said she was a stupid bitch who was only good for one thing." What that one thing was, the adults knew without being told.

Teaser: New Mecca, New Life

Chapters 1-4 Chapters 10 - 14 Chapters 15 - 18 Chapters 19 - 22
Chapters 23 - 24

Knife's Edge (Part 5)

Knife's Edge (Part 6)

Knife's Edge (Part 7)

Knife's Edge (Part 8)

Knife's Edge (Part 9)