Chương 14: OH DAUGHTER, OUR DAUGHTER
"I see your meeting with the commander went well." Kearny said, walking into the room as Riddick knelt over Krone's twisted remains, inspecting the aftermath of their battle.
"For one of us," Riddick replied, standing up to greet him.
Kearyn crossed the room, examined Krone's body, taking in the sight of his sunken eyes. He despised the man both in life and death. "It would appear you promoted the commander to fully dead." Kearny said, in a tone clearly meant to give his approval.
Riddick looked down, regarded the corpse without expression. The climactic showdown had not satiated his need for vengeance. It merely numbed the intensity. Krone had been a pawn in Kera's fate. He wanted the heads of the King and Queen. Only their blood could quell his anger. The final Necromonger reckoning will come in due time, he thought. He looked to Kearyn and said, "The time finally arrived to say goodbye for good." Moving over to Bauman's computer console, he sat down. He peered back over his shoulder, inspecting Kearny for signs of damage. He looked the same. "I see you made it through your own ordeal."
"Pity it is not really for good." Kearyn said, looking from the body to Riddick.
Riddick's nimble fingers froze on the keyboard, anger contorted his reddening face and he said, "Excuse me?" The idea of Krone returning displeased him greatly. Although he could kill him again.
Kearyn's head tilted to the side. "By now, I am certain you have noticed the dead keep coming back."
"I have." Riddick said, unlocking bulkheads and silencing the quarantine alarm. The battle ended. Silence filled the ship. "Care to explain?"
"In time."
"Your sporadic and vague explanations are getting old." he said, turning to Bauman, who stood fidgeting as if wanting to ask a question. "And as for you," he added in a tone that clearly meant get lost. "You can go to the infirmary."
Bauman nodded, made to run out of the room, then hesitated, "After... may I go find..."
"You won't have to." Riddick cut in. "Your brother's already there." He saw the instant expression of dread on Bauman's face and hastily added, "Cool it. He's fine. Just go." And with that order, Bauman raced out of the door. His echoing footsteps fading away behind him.
Kearyn stepped over Krone's body, made his way to the opposite side of the console where Riddick was still turning the ship's systems back on. "If you continue saving everyone, your reputation as a killer will suffer." He said with a faint grin.
"Doubtful." he said, expression becoming grim as he thought about the bloody battle at the airlock. "I think the art project I left outside the airlock would suggest otherwise."
"Undoubtedly," Kearyn replied. The tone in his voice reflected the vision entering his mind's eye. Although his tone sounded neutral.
"Then, you saw?" Riddick asked, already knowing the answer.
"I did." Kearny said matter-of-factly. He nodded ever so slightly. "My apologies for not getting here sooner. I choose to employ an old-fashioned method of travel. I used my feet."
"Is there another method of getting around?"
Kearny disappeared, reappeared in the doorway and then, a split second later, reappeared in the same spot he began a few seconds earlier. "I thought you may need the added time to reconnect with Commander Krone."
"How kind of you." Riddick said, staring at the floor, furrowed brows carving angry furrows in his forehead.
"Problem?"
"I was finally normal. I had the girl, the home with a white picket fence and the life I always wanted. But the goddamn thing chasing me keeps pulling back into this nightmare." He snapped, kicking Krone's loose knife hard and watching it tumble through the air. It struck a monitor across the room, shattering the screen, and grey smoke billowed out of the sparking electronics. "I lost control, and it enjoys hurting people."
"You have never been normal." Kearyn replied. "And you never will be."
Riddick said nothing; he stared into the abyss of concern growing behind Kearyn.
"I would not invest any time in that worry." Kearyn reassured him. "You are hardly the first person to do battle with a restless inner demon."
Riddick turned to him and said, "I don't battle an inner demon; I embrace it."
"Even the brightest souls succumb to the lure of absolute power. Power is intoxicating and addictive. Why should you be immune to the shortcomings of your brethren? You may have powers most could not comprehend, but you are still one of us." Kearyn replied, not wanting to offend.
"I didn't ask for them."
"No. You didn't. And for that, I am truly sorry. But never forget. You have choices. The obelisk didn't unleash your alter ego; it merely enhanced the warrior within you." Kearyn explained. "And until you accept your rightful place in this universe, you will always be at odds with the beast within the man."
Riddick scowled at him. He sounded like the Reverend Mother. "What did you do to me when l was an infant?"
Kearyn stepped back in shock as if someone had punched him in the face and seethed, "I did no more to you, than you had already done to me."
Riddick's head cocked to the side as he studied Kearyn. He didn't like cryptic messages and Kearyn was full of them. "You profess some mystical connection I should know. But I don't know you, old man, or the reasons you speak of. So, why don't you just tell me who you really are?"
"When we met we spoke of connections, of families both in the past and those in the future." Kearyn said, voice becoming agitated. Riddick could tell there was more to Kearyn's story than he had told him earlier. A lot more. "A perceptive man should have riddled it out for himself by now."
A faint cough came from the corner where Carolyn had gone to watch the encounter. "Grandfather, we need to go." she said, stepping out from the security of the shadows. Riddick had forgotten she was there. But now he realized she had seen everything. He had tormented and murdered Krone right in front of a child.
Kearyn gestured for her to come over so he could introduce her. As she approached, he turned to Riddick and said, "Riddick, I'd like you to meet my ward, Carolyn." He turned to the little girl and proudly presented her. "Carolyn, say hello to our guest."
The little girl paused long enough to inspect Krone's mutilated corpse with a menacing smile before walking over to stand next to Kearyn. She smiled up at Riddick, held out her tiny hand and said, "It's all right. You have nothing to be ashamed of. He really was a despicable ass. Ridding the Universe of him was a kindness to all." Kearyn coughed, and she looked up and added, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
In his mind, Riddick saw a similar little girl sitting on a bed and heard a voice, "Will you read me a bedtime story?" He stood motionless until Carolyn's touch snapped him out of his revelry. "Yeah, you too, kid. Thanks for the help."
Carolyn took back her hand, turned to Kearyn with an exaggerated smile and said, "You were right about one thing, he's a real charmer." Carolyn gestured towards Krone's body and added, "That fu..." she caught herself mid-expletive, amending her original wording. "I meant to say. I'm glad I was here to see that."
Kearyn shrugged his shoulders at Riddick and said, "Kids, they say the darndest things?"
"Excuse me for a moment," Riddick said, holding up a hand and turning back to the console beside him. He pressed a button activating the ship wide intercom system and spoke to the crew. "This is Lord Marshal Riddick. Everyone in the sound of my voice will cease all hostilities. You have thirty minutes to join me in the sarcophagus bay on sub-level B4; I strongly suggest none of you make me come looking for you." He released the button and then pushed it again and added, "No. I take that back. Please. Make me come find you. I dare you."
"I think I like him, grandfather." Carolyn said with a devilishly cute smile. "He seems to know his way around a threat."
"That was a promise."
Kearyn knelt down beside Carolyn and said, "Yes, granddaughter. I think I do too. Now, hurry along. Our other special guests need your help."
Carolyn leaned forward, kissed his withered cheek and said, "Right away, grandfather." Then she turned and skipped away as if going outside to play.
Riddick watched her leave the room and said, "You're an odd sort of Necro Kearyn."
"Oh. How so?" Kearyn replied, standing up, already knowing what Riddick meant.
Riddick stared at the door the little girl skipped through and explained, "Necros don't have children. But here you are aboard a Necro frigate, holding hands with a child." Riddick turned to him and asked, "And what's all this grandfather stuff about?"
"I found Carolyn orphaned on a world far from here and raised her from infancy. She calls me grandfather out of a sense of respect and I call her granddaughter, because it just seems like the right thing to do. After all," he said, turning to meet Riddick's shined eyes. "Doesn't she deserve a normal life?"
"Normal," Riddick repeated, pointing at Krone's corpse. "I just watched a child step over a corpse with little more interest than if she stepped over a log. There's nothing normal about that kid."
"Perhaps normal wasn't the best choice of words." Kearyn admitted. "Carolyn is an exceptionally gifted young lady with many gifts of her own."
"Let me guess. They passed to her by her father." Riddick said, turning the rest of the ship's lights back on. He opened the rest of the sealed bulkheads and returned the ship to full power.
Kearny nodded and said, "While Carolyn's gifts are hereditary, they did not originate with her father."
"Where did you find her?" he asked.
Kearyn waited for him to finish with the console and then motioned for Riddick to follow him out of the room. As Riddick followed, Kearyn answered, "I found her in the last place you would expect to find a child; on Crematoria."
Riddick stopped abruptly, watched him walking down the corridor and called out as if he hadn't heard correctly, "Where?"
Kearyn stopped, turned back, and said, "You heard me correctly. I said Crematoria."
"No way," Riddick replied, walking over to where Kearyn was standing. "No child could survive that hellhole."
"She was there." Kearyn said, beginning his journey again. After he was certain Riddick followed him again. "You weren't looking in the right place."
"Where are her parents?"
"Closer than you know." he replied, gesturing down the hall in the direction Carolyn disappeared.
"Ever consider giving her back?"
"Every day. In fact, it has been my lifelong mission to reunite her with her parents." Kearyn admitted. "That is where we are going now. I plan to reunite them now."
"Now," Riddick replied, the escalating tone in his voice signaling his shock. "Does she know?"
"Yes." Kearyn answered, moving to leave the room.
"Why didn't you give her back earlier?" Riddick asked, catching up to him.
"Because Carolyn's parents were not ready. And, they just arrived." Kearyn explained, walking into the corridor. "Now… let's give her back, shall we?"
"We... you want me... to return a child?" Riddick replied, his face suddenly conveying his amusement.
"No." Kearyn said, chuckling at the thought. "But you can come watch me give her back."
When they entered the elevator, Kearyn pressed the button for sublevel 4. As the doors closed, Riddick thought about deck 17. He stood in silence watching the read out change from floor to floor. The elevator moved down, away from Kara. "She's up on deck 17." He whispered to himself.
Kearyn shook his head, knowing what he wanted to do, and warned, "You are not ready to see her. Not yet."
For a moment, Riddick considered turning the lift around and going to find Kara anyhow. Then he said,, "Is she…"
"Safe," Kearyn said, finishing his question. "Most certainly." he added, trying to reassure him with a weathered smile. "There is ample time to help her, now that we control the ship. But first, your new crew awaits." Kearyn turned to him, placed a hand on his shoulder and added, "And to be clear, she does not blame you for what they did to her."
"She doesn't need to." he said, brushing his hand away. "I blame myself."
When the door to the sarcophagus bay opened, Kearyn and Riddick stepped out into a sea of murmuring voices. Everyone within eyesight of the door watched as he walked into the room. Those standing closest moved out of his path as a tense quiet gripped the room of wary onlookers. The only voice in the room was that of Toombs', who was making his way through the crowd questioning everyone as to Eve's whereabouts. No one seemed to know anything and when he saw Kearyn, he yelled, "Where the hell is she, Kearyn? No one will tell me a damn thing."
Toombs turned in a circle, shouting, "HAS ANYONE SEEN MY WIFE? She's tall and ..." He paused momentarily, not sure of how to describe her current condition without sending the entire room into a panic and then added, "Well, you'd remember her if you saw her."
A movement off to the side caught Riddick's eye, and he turned to find Carolyn holding Kearyn's hand. She stood shaking her head at Toombs with a grievous expression. "He's scaring everyone; he's going to start a panic." she warned, looking around the room.
A sly smirk pushed Riddick's right eyebrow upward as he thought about how he could fix the problem. "I could throw him out of the nearest ..."
"Probably not," Kearyn replied, cutting him off. "But thanks for the offer."
"It would shut him up." Riddick added.
"The last thing we need is for you thumping someone over the head." Carolyn said, grimacing at the murmuring crowd.
Riddick stared down at her, trying to decide if he wanted to hug her or spank her for acting just like him. "If you have a better idea, young lady. Then, out with it."
Carolyn walked up behind Toombs, poked at the back of his armor and said, "Excuse me, Sir." He reeled around, saw the little girl smiling up at him and completely lost his train of thought. "Excuse me, Sir." she repeated politely.
He shook his head and thought aloud, "Holy Déjà vu, kid." Toombs stared at Carolyn for a moment and then asked, "Do I know you?"
Carolyn shook her head and answered, "Perhaps, Sir. Although, it has been a long time since we have seen each other. You may have forgotten me."
"A long time." he said, frowning down at her. "What are you, like 9? How bad do you think my memory is, kid?"
"Alexander," Kearyn said, approaching from behind Carolyn. "I would like to introduce you to Carolyn." He put his hands on her shoulders and continued, "Carolyn is my ward. She has been in my care since..."
"Ward?" Tombs interrupted, looking to Riddick for an explanation as the sense that he knew the little girl faded. Riddick shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.
"You will find Carolyn is a very capable young lady."
"Yeah," Toombs replied, glaring at Kearyn with an expression of doubt. "Can she tell me where Eve is?"
"As a matter of fact, Sir. I can." Carolyn answered, pointing off towards a staircase near the back of the bay. "She is down below."
Riddick whistled loudly and yelled, "Make a hole!" The room went silent and everyone between him and the staircase cleared a path.
Toombs saw the dead body laying at the top of the stairs and made to run off. Kearyn reached over Carolyn and grabbed him from behind, holding him fast. "Wait, Alexander. If you want to retrieve Eve from her hiding place, you will need the help of Carolyn to do so."
"Her!" he snapped, not meaning to come off ungrateful. But she was just a little kid. How could she help? He grabbed Kearyn's hand, tried to pry it free and said, "I need to get down there, Kearyn."
"And you shall, Alexander." Kearyn warned, forcing him to wait. "However, you will need Carolyn's help to reach her."
"Let go, dammit. There's a dead body over there. They could have hurt Eve." Toombs said, trying to pull away. Kearyn held on tightly. "I need to find Eve." His voice was getting higher the longer Kearyn held him there.
Kearyn yanked him back forcefully, released his grip and replied, "Someone injured Eve during the battle, Alexander. And she has taken sanctuary in the darkness of the ducts down below."
"You knew they had hurt her?" Toombs fumed, shoving him back as everyone watched in disbelief. No one pushed Kearyn.
"Yes, Alexander. I also know Eve's new body can repair itself. But in repairing itself, her mind has become trapped within the beast; now she cannot transform back."
Toombs shouted, "How am I supposed to lead her back now!"
Kearyn gestured at Carolyn and explained, "That is where Carolyn comes in."
"She's a little girl!"
"A little girl with powers." Kearyn replied, ushering Carolyn closer to him. "She can bring you inside."
"Inside?"
"Carolyn, can grant you access to Eve's mind."
Carolyn held out her hand and said, "I'm ready whenever you are, Sir."
Toombs took it and replied, "Kid, I'm no Sir."
To which she politely smiled back at him and said, "You look like a Sir to me, Sir."
As Carolyn led him to the top of the stairs, he asked, "Are you sure she's OK?"
"She's in no immediate danger." Carolyn answered, with a foreboding expression. "Although, I won't say the same for you, if you get too close. She is not in control."
Toombs could see something lying just inside the opening leading into the bowels of the ship. He released Carolyn's hand, raced down the stairs and slid through the icher on the bottom landing. He slammed into the wall against the open duct, forcibly yanked out the body lying half cloaked in the darkness and watched in horror as a desiccated corpse clad in necro armor fell in a cloud of dust at his feet.
Toombs yelled into the ductwork, "EVE!"
But there was no response; there was no movement or even the slightest sign of life. He stared wild-eyed into the darkness stretching out before him with his hands on the edge of the opening and heard an angry hiss echo out of the duct.
Carolyn walked down the stairs, stopped on the landing and warned, "I wouldn't do that if l were you, Sir."
"You're not me, kid." he replied, shouting for Eve to come out. Carolyn moved towards him, nonchalantly inspecting the dried blood splayed across the floor beneath her feet as the ledges above filled with worried onlookers trying to glimpse what happened below. "Of course, Sir. The choice is yours. But don't say I didn't warn you." She said, running the toe of her shoe through the blood.
When Toombs turned to sneer at her, he found her standing right beside him with a raised hand. She pressed her forefinger to his lips and warned, "Shush." She gestured into the opening at the glowing chrome eyes racing closer, shoved him to the side just in time to avoid Eve's vicious attack. Eve hung half out of the duct, screaming like a banshee as everyone looking down covered their ears. Carolyn remained still, waiting for Eve 2.0 to notice the little girl standing beside her.
Eve grabbed the sides of the opening, lunged outward as everyone staring over the railings simultaneously gasped in horror. Carolyn was only an arm's reach away from her when she said, "Excuse me, Mam."
Eve reeled around; ready to pounce, but felt an inescapable sense of déjà vu. Without warning, she found herself sitting on the large rock in Central park, gazing over at the blanket and saw a little girl wearing a dress identical to hers. The little girl waved and shouted, "Come see, Mommy. Come see."
"Hey beautiful, need a hand getting down?" Toombs asked, standing near the rock.
Eve smiled at his unexpected appearance, slid down the rock into his outstretched arms, and landed unsteadily on her bare feet. She marveled at her new surroundings and blurted, "Wow, this doesn't seem like a dream at all."
Toombs gestured over at the little girl on the blanket and said, "Come on, I'll introduce you to Carolyn."
Eve reached out, pinched the top of his hand as he jerked away. "Shot, woman. What was that for?"
"Oh my god, you're really here." Eve said, an expression of sudden shock spreading across her face. "This is real."
"I don't think so." Toombs said, rubbing his hand where she'd pinched him. "Somehow she knew I said I'd meet you in the park."
Eve stopped in the middle of the park, the sun warming her face, and listened to the cool breeze blowing through the swaying trees. It was green and blue, and it smelled of home. A sense of peace filled her spirit.
"Hello," Carolyn said, holding up her hand in greeting. Eve took her tiny hand and said, "Oh, hello."
Toombs stood beside Eve and said, "Carolyn, I'd like to introduce you to Eve Logan; Eve is my wife."
Carolyn nodded at him all knowingly and replied, "I know who she is, Sir; I know everything about her. I know everything about both of you. Grandfather has told me everything."
Toombs studied Carolyn with an expression of puzzlement and asked, "How do you know us?"
Carolyn smiled politely and answered, "Because she's my mommy."
"What?" Eve blurted in surprise. "I don't have a child."
Carolyn smiled and countered, "At least, not any you're aware of."
Eve smiled down at Carolyn and explained, "Honey, I don't know if you know about the birds and the bees, but a woman could never have a child and forget about it."
"True," Carolyn answered. "Unless, let's say, for example, a pregnant woman who didn't know she was pregnant was forcibly abducted on a planet like say... Crematoria." Eve stared at Carolyn in disbelief as she continued, "Then, just for argument's sake, let's imagine that her abductors did certain things to her and then discarded the unwanted remains."
Toombs turned with a wide-eyed expression of disbelief and said, "That can't be possible."
Carolyn smiled up at them and added, "Then, imagine, if you would, a man one who had been searching for this woman found her remains and realized they contained the fertilized embryo of her unborn child."
"Kearyn," Toombs thought aloud.
"Correct," she replied. "He saved me, the same way he saved my mommy; he rebuilt me from my DNA." Carolyn gestured towards Eve.
"Hold it," Eve interrupted. "If I'm your mother..." Eve's voice trailed away in thought.
"What?" Toombs asked.
"What mommy is finally realizing is if she is my mother then you are my father, Sir." Carolyn spun round, her white and red sundress furled out as she twirled. She paused, smiled up at them and proudly announced, "Surprise, it's a girl." Eve and Toombs stood in the park dumbfounded by the sudden realization they had just become parents. Toombs managed a weak smile and Eve's eyes began to tear. Carolyn said, "Well, I had hoped for a little more exuberance on your parts."
Eve flew at Carolyn, wrapping her arms around her, showering her with kisses and hugs. When she finally released her grip, Carolyn's blouse was wet with tears. Eve was kneeling down, still holding Carolyn in her arms, when she beamed a giddy grin at her mother. Carolyn kissed Eve gently on the forehead and said, "Now, that's a first encounter worthy of remembrance."
"Déjà vu," Toombs muttered to himself. "I knew, from the first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew; you're my little Carina." Toombs fell upon his knees overwhelmed by a flood of feeling he neither understood nor could control, and said, "I have missed you so much. I am sorry I wasn't there for you and your mother when you needed me the most; I failed you both." He turned to Eve and said, "You were right. We should have run. Please, forgive me?"
Eve watched as Carolyn wiped the streaming tears from his cheeks. As Carolyn kissed his cheek and said, "There is nothing to forgive, papa. What happened then was not your fault." Carolyn turned to Eve and said, "Now come, it is time for us to rejoin the others. The convergence is quickly approaching and we must prepare for the next step." And with that, Eve unceremoniously toppled out of the duct opening, landing at Toombs feet.
Grinning down at her, he extended a hand to help her up and gently lifted her from the floor. She peered up and asked, "What are you grinning at?"
"Your dress," He answered. "You're still wearing the dress."
She examined her outfit, realized she was still wearing the wedding dress from the park the day she'd been married and said, "God, I really loved this dress."
"And what of me?" a tiny voice came from the bottom of the steps behind her. "Do you still love me?"
Eve turned slowly, fearing Carolyn was just a figment of her imagination, found her standing on the landing and broke into tears of joy. Eve lifted her off the floor, wrapped her in a warm embrace as everyone cheered. She showered her with another barrage of kisses and said, "You saved me."
"Of course I did," she answered, tears trickling down her tiny cheeks. "You're my mommy."
Eve carried Carolyn up the stairs, walked straight to Kearyn, and both of them hugged him. "Thank you," Eve said. "Thank you for the life of my child and for everything you've done for both Alexander and me. We will never forget what you have done for us."
Kearyn nodded and said, "I have much to atone for and helping the three of you seemed like a good place to start."
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