| CHAPTER 3 “Sir, there’s a person here demanding to see you. A mercenary by the name of Miriam Gonzalez. She says she has information concerning Richard B. Riddick.” The adjutant’s attitude was obvious. He didn’t like the presence of the dark-haired beauty waiting impatiently in the general’s outer office. It would have given him great joy to have her escorted off the premises. General Alphonse Bieti hadn’t raised his eyes from the documents on his desk at his assistants flustered entrance. He was used to Bigsby and his habit of disturbing him in his private office with little notice. For all the man’s lack of concern over protocol, he had much more intangible attributes that made him very valuable to the general. At the mention of Riddick’s name however, his eyes slowly lifted to meet Bigsby’s. Deep brown eyes, almost black, stared intensely at the aggravated adjutant. He rarely looked at anyone in any other way. The force of his personality left him little choice. Not that he couldn’t pull a good act when the occasion called for it. Driven, single-minded, controlled, ruthless. Cold. Words used constantly when people were asked to describe the seventy year old Alliance Security Forces general. He hadn’t reached that rank by being any other way. The ASF wasn’t known for it’s sociability. “What information could she possibly have? Riddick’s been dead for over two years.” Bigsby’s lips twisted in derision as he relayed his conversation with the merc, “I asked the same question myself sir. But the woman insisted on telling you herself. Said she wouldn’t give...and I quote... ‘...shit to a lackey.’ Should I have her taken from the base?” The hope in his voice was unmistakable. Bieti slowly unwound from his hunched over position. The old-fashioned leather and wood chair creaking as he relaxed against it’s back. The chair went along with the theme of the rest of the office. All the furnishings, except for the essential modern gadgets, were antiques. Many dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But only fools judged Bieti based on his office. The man was anything but old-fashioned. He had the knack of adjusting with the times. He just liked the look of the furniture. He didn’t believe in it or the era it came from. “Weren’t you in charge of taking care of that problem?” “Yes sir. And I did. The ship that was transporting him back to Slam City had a ‘navigation error’ and crashed on Taurus 2. There were no survivors. We sent in a ‘rescue’ team just to make sure. Lost a troop of soldiers to the creatures that inhabit the planet while it was still in eclipse. Later we found Riddick’s DNA at the sight of an abandoned settlement. It was pretty obvious the creatures got him.” Thirty seconds later Bigsby was beginning to sweat. The general hadn’t replied to his assertions. Just sat there, pinning him with an unblinking stare. “But no body or body parts were found?” “Well...no sir. But the creatures are carnivores and cannibalistic. There wouldn’t be much left. Bones at the most. And they take those back to underground caverns. They’re day shy. We would’ve had to send in more men. More casualties for no reason. We had Riddick’s DNA confirming that blood, a lot of it from the evidence and mixed with the creatures, was spilled. There were no ships to get off of the planet even if he had survived. Richard B. Riddick died on Taurus 2. Per your instructions.” Bieti glanced down at the monitor on his desk. The mercenary waiting in his lobby was obviously beautiful. Even the somewhat grainy picture conveyed that much. Dark haired, lithe of body and fair of face. And from the body language she was exhibiting, a bitch of the first degree. Something wasn’t smelling right. His first impression had been that the merc was looking for a scam. But it worried him that she came to him specifically. Did she know about his association with Riddick? Most people would say it was just a coincidence. Alphonse Bieti didn’t believe in coincidences. Best to see what exactly she knew. “Send her in.” Bigsby opened his mouth to object. But wisely, before he could utter a single a syllable, he realized the error he was about to make. No one, absolutely no one, questioned the commands of General Bieti. The best that could happen was that their careers stopped there and then. The worse...well...people had disappeared after making that mistake. “Yes, sir.” The general watched impassively as the tall, dark-haired woman was escorted in by his aide. In the back of his mind he sized her up. Sexy, dangerous, pissed and judging by the wild gleam in her eye, just an inch over the edge of insanity. “Ms. Gonzalez. I understand you have information about a former, and deceased, prisoner. Richard Riddick I believe.” Miriam Gonzalez measured the man behind the desk. She took in the air of command. His aura of strength that she was sure came from a cold-hearted determination to never come out on the wrong end of a decision. “He’s not dead. At least not when I left Polaris Station four months ago. He was very much alive, though a bit worse for wear.” She laughed low as she remembered the damage she’d done to him before he had escaped. “Stole my ship, The Hollerste.” Bieti languidly raised his hands. Making a temple of them and resting the tips against his mouth. “You must be mistaken. Riddick died over two years ago in a crash on Taurus 2.” Snorting softly before she replied she said, “I thought so too. Even was part of the rescue and recon party you guys sent in. It wasn’t until I happened to be passing through Polaris station that I learned differently. An ex-con with a beef against Riddick tried to sell me the info. Saw him with my own two eyes. Your boy was living the good life, complete with his own little dumpy whore, two kids and a job. He found someway off that piece of shit planet. But not until he had already killed all other survivors.” Bieti watched her for long seconds. Making no effort to hide his perusal of her. He was sizing her up. On most men it would’ve been a sexual kind of thing. With him, it was just creepy. When he spoke, it wasn’t to ask the question most would’ve. Instead it was as if he keyed in on a different point altogether. “How do you know he killed them much less that there were any?” Miriam shrugged as she replied, “Makes sense that if he survived, others did too. As for killing them, well, we are talking about Riddick aren’t we?” The rage started filling her again as thought of Johns, and the ugly fate that had waited him at the hands of one of the nastiest creatures ever to be called human. How much had Riddick made him suffer? How long had it taken him to die? How much had Riddick laughed as he slipped towards death? “There’s something I don’t understand. If you had Riddick, why didn’t you bring him in?” Her lips tightened as she recounted the circumstances of Riddick’s escape. “There were some problems with the authorization to depart the station. I had to leave the ship, and him, to get it straightened out. Must’ve been the cow he was shacking up with. She was a dock tech and would know how to snafu the whole thing. When I came back, he and the ship were gone.” “Ahhh...and now you want us to go find him for you again? Is that it?” “You guys wanted him too! So don’t pull that bullshit on me!” “Why didn’t you notify the ASF immediately when you learned he was alive? Miriam knew better than to confess her need to torture Riddick. Once she had decided to involve the ASF, she had fashioned a story that would cover all her bases. “Didn’t want a bunch of merc’s descending on me. You guys would’ve taken him and I wouldn’t have seen the reward for years! I was just going to take him nice and quite back to Slam.” Bigsby wondered if the woman noticed the drop in temperature of the room. He surely did. The general was not pleased. There was going to be a price to pay for that displeasure. “So where is he now?” “Ha...if I knew that I wouldn’t be here would I? I bought another ship and looked for his trail for a month. Not a thing. But he knows the ghost lanes and the methods to run under radar. I don’t have the resources to dig any deeper. The ASF does. So I went into the tubes and came to the nearest ASF base. I want that fucker caught and put back in Slam! Preferably more dead than alive!” Bieti took in the not-quite-controlled gleam of the merc’s eye. She was a loose canon. And if Riddick really were alive, something that seemed more and more likely, then she would only be a hindrance. Any help she could contribute had already been rendered. Tapping one longer, well groomed finger against the desk, it appeared that he was deep in thought. Bigsby knew better and sidled slowly further away from Gonzalez. Leaning his crossed arms on the desk, Bieti sighed. Lowering his eyes, he ran his hands dramatically over his face. For all the world he seemed to become a tired old man. Bigsby move closer to the wall. Wondered how a mercenary like Miriam Gonzalez could have survived this long without learning how to read bad vibes. Then again, maybe she was just that far gone. Never raising his eyes, Bieti addressed her, “Very well Gonzalez, you’ll get your help. And your reward. Can’t very well have Richard B. Riddick running around now can we? Bigsby, get her some quarters. We’ll meet back here at oh-eight hundred hours to formulate a plan.” Miriam felt a rush of satisfaction flow through her dead heart. Finally, Riddick would get what was coming to him. Rising, she smiled at the General. All of the anger, grief and madness had coalesced into a small ball of reality blinding determination. She had hated coming to the ASF, but she’d been out of options. Hell, she’d have gone to Satan himself to get Riddick. The smile she gave Bieti reflected the answering ironic thought that maybe she had. “Good. We’ll start tomorrow then.” Turning towards the door, she missed the transformation back from tired old man to icily calm killer. “Oh Gonzalez...don’t I even get a ‘thank you?’” Miriam didn’t bother to give him the respect of facing him when she responded. She got what she wanted out of him, ASF cooperation. And if they thought they could take this operation away from her, well they needed to learn now that Miriam Gonzalez was no one’s fool. And no one’s rug. Try to walk over her and all it would get you was rug burn. Maybe even a lethal dose. “You’ll get your thanks when I have Riddick back in custody. Until then, you haven’t done squat for me.” “Oh, I don’t know about that...” The laser, a new proto-type being worked on by the ASF weapons division, made only a low hum as it discharged once. It burned a fist sized hole in the back of her head. The majority of the brain and it’s cavity fried to charred remains. The body went to it’s knees then flopped face first against the door. Slowly sliding down until it rested fully on the floor. The smell of death...burned flesh, released bowels and bladder, and blood...filled the room. “It seems I did give you ‘squat’ after all Gonzalez. I gave you death.” The laser was quietly locked into a desk drawer while a indifferent hand gestured towards the cooling body. “You know what to do Bigsby. Clean it up quickly and quietly. Then come straight back. We have a lot of plans to make. Mr. Riddick is out there somewhere. It seems the Breath of the Serpent has stirred once again.” |
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