Chapter Twelve: Escaping the Darkness/Making a Nirvana in Darkness 1 страница

Chapter Twelve: Escaping the Darkness/Making a Nirvana in Darkness

Carolyn kept her foot heavy on the accelerator, especially as the light started to fade. They had passed the bone yard and were now entering the chasm, which was shadowy in the fading light. Hearing clicking noises, Carolyn prayed that the brief shadows would not affect the operations of their only means of transportation. The speed of the car slowed in the canyon and Imam put an arm around his boys to keep them near. 'I hope we can make it through' Carolyn thought desperately. Click, click, click came from around them. Although slowing a bit, the car kept moving through the shadows. Click, click, click came louder; it almost seemed like the creatures were right next to them. 'Pick up speed god damn it; pick up speed' Carolyn pleaded in her mind while pushing the accelerator harder into the floor of the car. A cry from behind her caught her attention and for a split second, she lifted her foot a bit. Looking back, she saw that one of the boys had had his back sliced open. 'Oh my god, we have to get out of here!' Slamming down on the accelerator, Carolyn felt the car speed up some, but the other side of the canyon was still too far and it was getting darker. Another cry had her turn her head, not making the mistake of letting up on the accelerator, the other boy was taken before Imam could make a grab for him. She understood the grief that made Imam ask her to stop, but she was not foolish enough to think that the boy could be saved. Making it out of the canyon was a relief, especially when she could see the settlement. The speed of the solar car picked up and she took a brief moment to look back at Imam in sympathy.

Riddick watched Harry manipulate the dead-looking vines into blooming, but became concerned when he passed out afterwards. Moving over to him from where he and Logan had miraculously worked together on hotwiring the electrical system, Riddick kneeled beside Harry and felt for a pulse. Breathing a sigh of relief at feeling the rhythmic beat, Riddick is blindsided by the children asking if their mama is okay. Although cool on the outside as he answers, on the inside he feels slightly shocked about the concern and protectiveness that Harry stirs within him. When he finally looks up, Riddick sees an amused smirk on Alex's face and a disgruntled frown on Logan's face. It was a few minutes before Harry stirred and when he did the first thing that came to Riddick's mind was how beautiful those big green eyes were. 'It still amazes me that I can see them' Riddick thought to himself as he stared into those green eyes. Harry blinked a few times to adjust to the bright lights before he sat up and reached for his satchel. Pulling out his sketchbook, Harry began to draw the most vital animals first. Shazza looked over his shoulder to see partial drawings of birds and insects covering the page.

"What are you drawing?" Shazza asks, unsure how insects and birds relate to surviving the eclipse.

"The necessary elements for the vines to bear fruit are birds to pollinate the plants and keep the insects in check, which are needed to keep the plant growth in check," Harry said in a teacher-style voice. Zeke muffled his chuckle, knowing his wife would not appreciate it. Shazza huffed a bit, but the amused smirk showed she was not truly offended. Alex sat to play with the children and keep them occupied, as their mama needed his concentration. Riddick stood with his arms crossed a couple feet from Harry anxiously watching him as if waiting for him to pass out again. It was a long moment before Harry finished; Zeke and Shazza watched in astonished amazement as the recently finished paper glowed a bright white before hundreds of fluorescent insects crawled or wiggled out of the page, slowly after that a few fluorescent birds flew out of the page as well. Harry turned around slowly to see the fish-out-of-water expressions on Zeke and Shazza's face before he lay down and fell into an exhausted sleep. Shazza moved forward in concern, but Alex shook his head at the woman.

"He is just exhausted, during his fertility cycle the concentration and energy required to control his powers is too much for his body to handle. He will be fine soon enough," Alex said reassuringly to the concerned woman.

"If this is how he is now, then what will he be like pregnant?" Shazza said half-serious, half-joking.

"Oh, he will be much worse pregnant. He would be constantly exhausted and have much worse mood swings. Plus, he would eat much more than he does after the initial vomiting period," Alex said, frowning a bit at the end. With that said, Alex convinced everyone that some sleep would be good considering that none of them had had any in quite a while. Moving over to the side of the room that Logan was sulking in Alex sat next to his disgruntled partner. Riddick's goggle-covered eyes were trained on Harry and the kids but Alex would not be surprised if the man could hear everything that was said. Riddick looked on fondly as the kids cuddled with Harry and considered moving to lie beside his pseudo family. It amused Riddick greatly to hear Alex ask the man to play nice, as it was a great possibility that he did not have defense against the intense pheromones that Harry would emit when he was ripe. 'So, telling the man that I will most likely knock up his kid because of extreme lust is suppose to make him fight this less?' Riddick thought in amusement. It seemed Logan was less than amused as he started to grumble about over his dead body and kill him first. Riddick smirked and decided to move to lie down beside Harry and the kids. The grumbling from Logan increased a bit, but a loud smack and a muttered "Stubborn Ass" from Alex quieted it down.

They made it to the settlement, but just barely. The eclipse was almost finished and the monsters were very close; each fuel cell that Carolyn and Imam had to move to the skiff seemed to take too much of their valuable time. It was pitch black when they finished installing the cells and Carolyn hurried into the ship to turn on the lights. With the lights illuminating the area around the skiff for a couple feet, Carolyn felt secure to go help Imam bring his boy up the ramp. 'Hope we can get help for the kid, or else he might not make it' Carolyn thought in sympathy. Walking down the ramp, Carolyn went over to Imam who was holding his son up and offered to help. Imam was grateful for the help, as his boy was hard to carry, but he could not help the poisoning feelings directed toward Carolyn Fry. It was a slow process to get back in the skiff, as they had to drag the boy between them. Once inside, Carolyn pushed the panel that closed the hull door and moved to sit in the captain's seat. 'How many would have been lost if we had all come on the off chance that we could escape this planet? I wonder if the others are even still alive' Carolyn thought morosely as she went through the motions to get the skiff ready to take off. Meanwhile, Imam buckled himself into a seat and held his son tightly in his arms. Looking back to see if Imam and his son were buckled in, she took hold of the controls and soon they were zipping through the air and out into space. A sigh of relief escaped Carolyn when she saw only blinking stars all around them. Turning in her chair, Carolyn crossed the small space between her and the holy man.

"How is he?" Carolyn asks anxiously, her eyes taking in the pale appearance of the young teenager.

"I am not sure, but I am praying to Allah that he will survive until help arrives," Imam says quietly while brushing the hair off his son's sweaty face. 'The kid looks bad' Carolyn thought with a internal flinch at the thought that staying at the ship would have kept Imam from losing one kid and watching the other die, 'but then we wouldn't have been able to get off the planet.'

"Well we should be on a course that will take us to the shipping lane," Carolyn said hoping that it would cheer the man up a bit.

"You aren't sure if we are even on a course to the shipping lane? What else aren't you sure about?" Imam spat angrily, before he closed his eyes and muttered a bit before apologizing, "I am sorry, forgive me as I have asked forgiveness from God. I am just extremely concerned about my son and have not yet grieved for my other son."

"It's alright, I understand," Carolyn said, not letting her fury or annoyance coat her voice, "but I think is the best I can do, since Owens was the navigator." A stilted conversation continued for a while before Carolyn decided to get some sleep. Unknown to them, there was about to be a major problem.

Logan woke up quickly and opened his senses to his surroundings, as was his custom. Hearing the buzzing of the insects and smelling the perfume of the flowers made his smile a bit in remembrance of the shocked expressions of Zeke and Shazza. However, his smile faded as he remembered seeing the convict lay next to his son. Sitting up as quietly as he can, he raises an eyebrow when he notices his son snuggled comfortably in Riddick's arms. A low growl vibrates through his chest before he took a breath as Alex suggested when he became 'unreasonably' angry. 'Harry likes him, Harry likes him, Harry likes him' went through his mind repeatedly as a mantra to not attack, but it did not help. Riddick woke to the feel of someone watching him and was not surprised to find that it was Logan. His arm tightened a bit around Harry's waist until he caught the scent of blood. Confused, until his mind supplied the knowledge that Harry was a bearer, Riddick smirked and nuzzled the side of Harry's neck. Harry grumbled a bit before he woke with a start and dashed to the side of the room where Logan and Alex must have brought the luggage up. Logan and Riddick watched as Harry frantically searched the pile before pulling a large, black duffel-type bag to the edge. After searching it a bit, Logan saw Harry pull out his Chem-X tampon. Thinking about when those nifty things were invented, Logan remembered when womankind rejoiced at the once-a-day blood control. Each tampon had three layers that worked together. The outside layer was made of a super absorbent cloth that caught the blood and siphoned it to the middle layer, which was a hollow shell around the inside layer. Once in the middle layer the blood was trapped via a semi-permeable membrane and destroyed by an enzymatic chemical that comes out of the inside layer when biochemical sensors detect the blood. By destroying the blood, the flow continues to the middle layer and therefore the cloth layer does not become filled and the Chem-X tampon can be worn for an entire day. Moving his attention to Riddick, Logan had to continue his mantra when he noticed the hard-on the man seemed to be sporting watching his son deal with the start of his bleeding. Alex started to wake next to Logan and Logan watched as Alex stirred a bit before stretching. 'He always stretches before he wakes, much like a cat' Logan though amusedly before he again became annoyed at Riddick when the man grabbed his son from behind. Riddick was pleased when he was not elbowed this time and annoying Logan was a plus. Unfortunately, he was soon dispatched from his position when Harry moved away to wake the children.

After everyone had awoken, Harry reexamined their situation with a clear head. The monsters were outside surrounding them, their agitated clicking loud in the frightened survivors ears. Bright lights cocooned the mainly intact part of the ship providing a sort of security blanket for them to move around freely. All around the ship walls were dark green vines with beautiful blooms of white and cream colored flowers. Fluorescent insects buzzed around sparkling in the light brightly before disappearing in the thick confines of the vines, similarly the larger fluorescent birds flew around from wall to wall feasting on the insects and sipping the sweet nectar of the blooms. Around the room in piles against the walls was all they had to work with: a pile of luggage that contained their belongings and the miscellaneous other passengers belongings, a stack of boxes that had some dried provisions, a large metal box with the few medical supplies left, and some scrap pieces of metal/weapons. Humming in thought, Harry began to direct the others in various activities to make their confinement in the metal prison more tolerable. His mother, he directs to create a sort of plumbing system for the atmospheric water collect, which he learns is in an adjacent room. His father, he directs to scout their area and ensure its security, especially the cargo hold as they could be made into living quarters. Shazza and Zeke, he asks to create an inventory of all assets, including scrap metal and miscellaneous items, handing them a pencil and some paper from one of his many notebooks. The children he gave a similar task, except that their inventory sheet was limited to their current room. As everyone went about their duties, Harry once again sat in the middle of the room with his sketchbook in his lap. Riddick not having been assigned a task stayed close to Harry and the children, watching as Harry began to sketch and the children pattered around the room.

Riddick watched in amusement as the children went about their task with seriousness and determination. Jack wrote down the information as Ali moved the objects around to get a more accurate count. Whatever Harry was drawing seemed to take much more concentration than the insects or birds as little lines formed in his forehead and he nibbled, unthinkingly, on his bottom lip. Soon, the children were done and set the paper down near their mama before going to play with their toys. Similarly, Zeke and Shazza came back from their inventory duty and set their own much longer list next to Harry before sitting to the side of the room to speak quietly to one another. It was just as Logan and Alex entered the room looking a bit too ruffled to only be developing a piping system that Harry finished his drawing. The glowing of the page was no longer as awe inspiring as the first time witnessing it, but the creature that came out was astonishing. There were two of them; they were about the size of a large dog. Thick armor plating covered every inch of them except for two strange, sunken holes in the place of eyes. Toothless mouths opened in a yawn like motion as long spiked tales moved from side to side. However it was the single long, curved claw on each flipper like foot that truly had them guessing what the creature was.

"Digger, that is what they will be called," Harry started to say in an obviously exhausted voice, "they will grow to a larger size as these are just babies." The incredulous looks upon some of the faces made him laugh a bit.

"So, what does it do then?" Zeke asked in curiosity as he stared at the strange thing.

"They eat eggs, which they locate with their intense sense of smell. In case you are wondering how they smell considering they have no nose than I must tell you that the holes in the face are chemical receptors that work like our noses do. So instead of eyes they are extra large nostrils. They will live for approximately 60 years and hit sexual maturity in their twentieth year. So, these babies should slow down the reproduction of those beasts at least," Harry said with a small smile. Riddick smirked at the intelligence Harry displayed in creating a creature that was the perfect match for the monstrous beasts outside. This time, Harry did not collapse in exhaustion to the relief of Riddick, although he did close his eyes for a bit. Zeke and Shazza watched as the two infant Diggers began to move toward a hallway that while lit contained an opening to the darkness that surrounded them. Jack and Ali went back to their playing while their mama rested for a bit, knowing that whatever plans that were to be made did not need their input.

"Were you able to create a piping system for the water collector or were you preoccupied?" Harry asks with a mischievous glint in his green eyes to add to the obvious suggestion held within his words. Alex blushed a bit at his son's forwardness in his teasing, but was able to stammer out a response to the effect that the piping system was finished. It was after a bit of good natured snickering from Zeke and Shazza that Alex seemed to be able to compose himself enough to clarify on his clipped answer.

"The atmospheric water collector, despite its name, can be used inside a structure or outside. There was already an elaborate filter system within the mechanism of the machine to purify the water before sending it to a collecting tank where the spigot allows up to use the purified water. I fixed the faulty filtering system inside and the damage done to the outside components of the structure when we first brought it back. Of course, there was a piping system in the ship already for water and air due to the need in prolonged life-support systems. So, I checked those out to see where they led and how damaged they were; it was then that I ran into Logan. We noticed that the water pipes and the air pipes were intact, so with some reconfiguring of the pipes I have the water set to run throughout the ship."

"Are there pipes in the cargo hold and the room at the end of that hall?" Harry asks pointing toward the hallway that the diggers had just gone down. At Alex' nod, Harry gives a hum of approval before picking up the sheet of paper in front of him that he supposes are the inventory sheets. Looking over the longer list first, Harry smiles a bit before setting it down to read the shorter list; after both were read, Harry sat there for a bit as he thought up a plan. 'What is going on in that mind of his?' Logan thought as he watched his son take it upon himself to figure out how to survive this hellhole. Alex sat on Logan's lap as the group ate some of the nutrition bars that were amongst the dried provisions. The two of them talked quietly back and forth as they wondered what plan Harry had cooked up. It did not take long before Harry told them of his plan, however.

"We have a few different rooms to work with in what remains of the great Hunter-Gratzner. It is lucky that there was a cargo hold in this part of the ship as all that room can be used for living quarters. From what I gathered from the inventory of the ship contents, there is more than enough to make our stay comfortable. The room on the end of that hall has the most sand inside of it out of all the rooms that we have to our disposal, I was hoping to start a garden of sorts inside it. If you guys help, I think we can make a pretty comfy temporary home out of this situation," Harry says in determination.

Chapter Thirteen: Complicated Situations

One of the rooms that was changed the most was the room that contained the atmospheric water collector. It was turned into a kitchen/refrigerator/holding pen/dining area. The wall that was shared with the fuel cell room was divided to make the refrigeration unit and holding area. Using the strength possessed by Logan and Riddick, the group was able to construct a wall using the metal from the cryo chambers to enclose the space that would be the refrigeration unit. Some of the cryo chamber doors were used to make an insulated door to enclose the refrigeration unit and unused pipes were rigged to run off existing ones into refrigeration units that were implanted in the cryo chambers to prevent burning from entering an atmosphere. Using another of the fuel cells, Logan and Riddick were able to hotwire the system so that the cooler could operate for an indefinite amount of time, much like the lights. The holding pen consisted of a metal fence with three adjustable bars acting as a gate. When asked what the holding pen was for, a much mellower Harry answered that some other essential creatures were required. Since Harry had ended his bleeding, he was a less demanding task maker, although he still ran the show. A table and counters were constructed from the wooden crates that housed the larger cargo for the dining area and a stove was made under a hole in the ceiling for cooking meals. With that room done, the group took a break from the nonstop work that they had been doing for a moment of relaxation. Sitting in the original room that they had contained themselves in, they sat eating nutrition bars.

"So, how long until he is fertile and ready to conceive?" Shazza asked Alex quietly from their position next to the box of provisions. Looking around to see if anyone had heard their conversation, she did not see anyone looking in their direction.

"You do realize that both Logan and Riddick have super-human senses, don't you?" Alex says in amusement, "But to answer your question, it should happen about two weeks after his bleeding stopped. The pheromones will start a few days before that though."

"Pheromones, aren't those like the things that animals put out to attract mates?" Shazza asked in confusion. Alex could hear Riddick's soft chuckling from his position near Harry and could almost feel Logan's scowl against his back.

"Humans release them too, just to a lesser extent. Harry, however, releases them to a much greater extent. The doctor believes that his body is hard-wired to find a mate strong enough to challenge his father, who you can see is quite protective," Alex replies to the confused woman.

"Oh, so wouldn't those overload the senses of someone like Riddick?" Shazza asked with a look in her eyes that showed that she wondered about how that would affect the group, although she was amused as well. Alex only gave a smirk in response as he picked up a couple nutrition bars and sauntered back over to Logan. Sitting next to the surly man, Alex saw the small upturn of Riddick's lips from his spot a few feet from Harry. The next couple weeks were spent working on converting the cargo hold into living quarters for all but Harry, who was working on the garden. Pulling the plants to the surface was exhausting even when his powers weren't being zapped by the start of his fertility cycle. All of the plants were edible or medicinal in nature that covered the sandy soil. Moss-like weeds crisscrossed the top of the sandy soil and small fluorescent grubs that seemed to be native to the planet appeared briefly before disappearing into the sand again. Not paying attention to his surroundings as he pulled more and more plants to the surface, Riddick startled Harry out of his task when he grabbed Harry from behind as he was wont to do. Smacking Riddick in the arm to get him to let go only resulted in a deep, comforting growl that reverberated through Harry, calming his agitation immediately. Harry could feel Riddick's hands roaming in nonsensical patterns on his stomach and chest; the touch to his lower abdomen sent jolts of pleasure coursing through his veins. Leaning back into his embrace, Harry noticed the bulge pressing into his lower back. Before Harry could respond, Riddick was ripped away by a pissed off Logan.

"What the hell is going on here?" Logan said in a dangerous voice, seeing the dazed and needy expression of his son. The pheromones were strong in the air, but Logan refused to allow this convict to take his son. With Riddick pinned to the wall at the front of the garden, Logan was so focused on him that he did not seem to notice the others who had come to investigate why Logan had run off in the first place. A kick to the jaw seemed to dislodge the man, although it was only for a moment before Riddick had to dodge Logan's metal claws. Riddick pulled two bone shivs from who knows where and sliced Logan's side open, as ineffective as it might be. Logan got a good blow to one of his arms, causing three deep gashes. To the surprise of many, Riddick healed as well although not completely, just enough to not die from the wounds. Unfortunately for Logan, the blow did not cause Riddick to drop his shiv. Several more blows were exchanged with no efficacy, before two jabs and a round-house kick to the head in quick succession dropped Logan. It was nowhere near enough to knock the man out, but as Alex could see when Logan stood up, it won his respect.

"If you can knock me down then I guess I can deal with you going after my son, but I don't want to see you doing it. Or hear you, or-" Logan said, Alex started dragging him away when he began his laying down the law speech that no doubt would be impossible to follow. Raising an eyebrow at the non-confrontational resolution to the daddy doesn't like you situation, Riddick turned his attention back to Harry who was still standing where he had been left. Approaching Harry, Riddick quickly resumed his activity of exploring Harry with his hands. Harry arched into Riddick's strong form as much as he could and moaned when Riddick's hands rubbed against his hyper-sensitive nipples. Riddick smirked at how responsive Harry was being and began to suckle on the junction where Harry's neck met his shoulder. Feeling that there was not enough contact, Riddick began to rip Harry's clothes off. Harry seemed to not even be coherent enough to protest as he allowed the forceful removal of his clothes until he was standing bare in front of Riddick. Touching Harry on his bare skin seemed to put Riddick in the mood for much more as he felt his pants get much too tight. Responding to the situation, Harry turned in Riddick's arms and pressed snuggly against his front rubbing provocatively against him. A groan escaped Riddick's mouth before he palmed Harry's ass cheeks and lifted him up for those long legs to wrap around his waist. Soon, he had Harry against the same wall he had been pressed up against by Logan.

"What's taking so long, just follow your instincts," Harry hissed when Riddick's began to suck on a random spot on his neck. Riddick growled a bit before moving a hand to squeeze Harry's manhood hard in protest to being ordered around. Although he did move his hand to where he knew Harry's puckered entrance to be and slowly began to circle it.

Logan seemed to have a constant growl rumbling through his chest as they worked on converting the cargo hold into living quarters. Shazza looked amused at Logan's annoyance although she knew better than to call him out on it. Zeke seemed sort of sympathetic as he could imagine having to eventually give his own daughter permission to date some boy he did not care for, although he could also see the hilarity. Alex seemed to be able to ignore the sullen man as he directed the kids to help him move things out of the large cargo boxes that seemed to dominate the room. There were wall frames up in some areas and piles of scrap metal, wood, and miscellaneous possessions in the corners. In one of the un-cleared areas, Alex and the children came across a sarcophagus, most likely from the ancient times when Earth was thought to be the only inhabitable planet. Opening the top, they were surprised to find bottles of a dark amber liquid arranged strategically throughout the sarcophagus. Calling over the others, they were equally surprised by the bounty of liquor, but closed the sarcophagus in favor of perusing the contents at another time.

"Do you think that antiques guy, what's his name, was a bootlegger?" Shazza asked after the sarcophagus was closed and the children were sent to clear away some of the things in another of the boxes.

"Paris and it looks like it, doesn't it? Makes you wonder what he was searching for in that coring room, huh?" Alex murmured, moving to clear away the surrounding objects, "Maybe we should break down this box around the sarcophagus, I doubt we can move it."

"Wouldn't he be able to move it with the help of Riddick?" Zeke asked jabbing a finger at the still aggravated Logan, who only growled a bit louder at the mention of the convict.

"Maybe, but I doubt we will see much of Riddick for the next few days," Alex said before a loud scream of passion seemed to confirm his statement. Only the hand that Alex laid on Logan's arm kept him from rushing towards the sound to separate the convict from his son, not that it would have done much good considering the implications behind that scream. Zeke and Shazza seemed to try to hide their discomfort through coughing and snickering at the same time, although it did nothing for Logan's ire. The awkwardness of the situation was interrupted by little Ali asking an innocent question with a not so innocent answer.

"Is Riddick hurting Mama Harry? Why are they screaming?" Ali asked in obvious confusion. Jack did not looked nearly as confused as a young child should be; although neither did she have the mischievous precociousness that Alex had seen in children that were exposed to sex too early. Interestingly enough, it was Logan who was able to convince Ali that his mama was not being hurt as much as he hated to say it. True to Alex's prediction, Riddick and Harry were missing for the next few days. The others spent most of that time working on converting the cargo hold so as not to let their thoughts wander to what was occurring in the garden. When the couple did finally descend to the cargo hold, it was quite obvious that things between them were different. Riddick had a firm and possessive hold around Harry's waist and a cocky smirk on his lips. Harry, however, seemed to be looking around anxiously. Finally the children spotted them and immediately barreled towards them, somehow remembering to weave around the adults in their way. The relief that could be seen in Harry's eyes just confirmed that he considered these children his own and the forceful hug that he bestowed upon them further cemented his place as their mother figure. Of course, after the hug was completed, the children looked between Harry and Riddick slyly.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-28