***
An estimated four hours later, the cruisers finally departed without waiting for relief. His gut told him it still wasn’t safe but he had maybe an hour left before the sun started coming up. The cruisers paused at the intersection before driving out of sight.
Duffle bag still over his shoulders, he left the tree and crossed the street via a spot where two lights barely overlapped, heart pounding away until reached the safety of darkness on the other side. He’d half expected German shepherds to start barking and flood lights to bear down on him.
The kitchen light poured onto a rectangular patch of grass. Deciding against using even the back door, he set his duffle bag under a line of trees separating two houses and snuck up to the side of the house.
Waters stood before the island counter, staring at the flower he’d given her, face red from crying. His heart sank. Before one night could pass, he’d thrown away his entire career, just like that. All that hard work over the last three years for nothing, just because of one fellow soldier’s pride. Riddick stepped into the light and rapped on the windowpane with a knuckle.
Waters jumped and clutched her chest, and then their eyes met. Hers went wide with shock and fresh tears welled.
Riddick gestured to himself, pointed to her, then held up a hand questioningly. She swallowed and gave him the slightest of headshakes. A man’s voice yelled to her.
She turned in the direction of the voice. “I’m fine! Just a little jumpy.”
Riddick’s heart sank even lower. No wonder the cruisers hadn’t waited for replacements...
Waters snuck up to the sink, turned on the faucet and took out a glass from the drying rack, then reached over and cracked the window open. “Oh, Riddick, what happened?” she whispered in a thick voice.
The hurt in her voice made Riddick’s throat tighten. “I’ve been framed for rape.”
“And murder?”
“Russel shot at me. I reacted.”
“Oh, god. Are you hurt?” Her face screwed up and fresh tears rolled down her face.
“No, ma’am.”
She filled the glass and set it aside, then turned off the faucet. “I’m so sorry all this happened. You need to turn yourself in and tell them the truth.”
“To what point and purpose? They won’t believe me.” Saying that made him picture flying with Kenner. Those days were officially a thing of the past. His career was ruined.
“We’ll find a way to salvage this. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Can we meet somewhere safer to talk?” He shifted out of the light and pressed his back to the house. He suddenly felt like he was being watched. “Where’s the officer in your house?”
She took a few seconds to answer, hopefully because she was checking to make sure. “Sitting on the couch reading a book.”
“How many more are there? I saw three cruisers drive off.”
“Just him. The others left on another call.”
Her tone was sincere. He believed her. However, there had to be someone in the darkness watching him, but all he could see were trees, houses, and his bag. “Can we meet tomorrow night?”
“Riddick, just turn yourself in. Please. You won’t even make it off base. They’ll do thermal sweeps and everything.”
The odds of him escaping the base were almost nonexistent, but not impossible, not if he played the waiting game smartly. If he stayed away from the walls and in semi-plain sight long enough, the authorities would have to assume he’d found a way to sneak off base. Once they did, he could steal an XGT-47 and take to the stars. He’d get chased, but they’d have a hell of a time pursuing him across galaxies. “Say you’ll meet me.”
“I’d love to but they’ll follow me everywhere. You’re asking to get caught.”
“Then...” He swallowed. “Then this is goodbye, Jade Waters. Thank you for everything. I’ll try to return one day.” He brushed his fingers over the Wolverine necklace.
“Goodbye.” The farewell was so faint and choked up that he barely heard it over the swish of the window closing. The kitchen light shut off, throwing him in darkness, minus the moonlight. Riddick swallowed again and took a moment to absorb the scope of the situation.
He was making huge sacrifices for the sake of his freedom. No more friends. No more family. No more rising through the military ranks. At least there’d be no more dealing with the people who went out of their way to make his life miserable, but that didn’t matter compared to all that he’d lost.
Heaving a sigh, he snuck over to his duffle bag. Two men tackled him as he bent for it. Next thing he knew, his face was in the grass and his wrists in cuffs.
13.
Riddick sat in a holding cell, waiting to be called to trial for rape and second-degree murder. The cell had three metal walls, something tough, dark, and featureless. He had a metal bunk with a slab of memory foam and a brick for a pillow. No blankets, even though there was no place to hang himself if he wanted to. The fourth wall was reinforced glass with a sliding door, and pin-sized holes for sound to get through. Air came through a vent in the vaulted ceiling.
Thompson was alive and crippled. Russel was dead and to be buried in a few days. Tori would be present to speak his word against Riddick’s, as would Fink, who would most likely shed as much negative light on him as possible.
They might as well skip the motions of going through the trial and just tell him his sentence. The sooner he learned which cell was to be assigned to him, the sooner he could return to his escape plan. He didn’t care that he was going to be found guilty, nor what his punishment was. He wasn’t going to sit there and take it once this was all over.
A heavy door clanged open. Boots with metal heels clicked down the hall towards Riddick, a sound that used to instill fear during his boot camp days. Now it was an alert that another pompous jarhead was approaching.
The king of pompousness stood at ease on the other side of the glass. Fink. Riddick’s fingers twitched for his knife, which had been confiscated as evidence.
Wait, despite their clashing, why would the sight of this man fill Riddick with a need for more killing?
Fink looked down at him with all the arrogant superiority in the world. “Hello, Riddick. Still arrogant, I see. Still think you’re in control of the situation, huh? Before everything gets started, I just wanted to thank you for finally handing me your court martial on a silver platter. I knew you were trouble from the moment I met you.”
Riddick said nothing, his blood boiling. This man had tried so hard for two years to get Riddick booted out of the Marines, given Waters constant hell for all the crap she had to put up with for defending him, and Fink had done everything in his power to stagnate Riddick’s rise in the ranks, which hadn’t worked. He wanted to kill this man. The want frightened him, but rage kept his fear at bay. This reaction wasn’t normal. He knew it. He’d been disciplined countless times for his violent streak, and lectured frequently by Waters. He knew murder was wrong, but right now it seemed like a solution. Was something wrong with him, or was this normal for his alien kind?
“By the way, prisoner or not, you should still be standing at attention when one of your superiors enters the room.”
“You’re not my superior.” The words came out cold and matter-of-fact.
Fink narrowed his eyes, thought a moment, then broke into a smile. “Jumping to conclusions, I see. Keep digging yourself a deeper hole, Riddick. I’ve no problem with that. You’re just feeding one of two outcomes.” He held up a finger. “One: you become a lab rat. Your violent nature leads me to believe there’s more to your kind lurking below the surface. For the safety of America and this world, it would be best to uncover it.”
“Fuck you.” Those two words felt so good to say but did nothing to temper his boiling rage. Riddick could discipline himself enough to escape without committing murder, but if there were any confrontations, he wouldn’t hesitate. Kill or be killed.
“If you prove to be an uncooperative and dangerous
lab rat, we’ll have to resort to option two: a death sentence. If you lash out like a wild animal, we will put you down like one. The military hasn’t executed one of its own in centuries but, since you weren’t born or bred on American soil, I guess that streak won’t end.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “For both our sakes, I hope you be the good lab rat. I don’t want your death; just you out of my ranks, and to answer some long-standing questions that’ve been bugging me since before Waters found you.”
“Like hell I’ll give you answers.”
Fink’s arrogant expression remained unchanged. “Then it’ll be a slow painful death for you. If we’re lucky, your body will give up answers against your will.”
Riddick glared at him. No way in hell he’d let any scientists do that to him, especially when he didn’t know what they were looking for. He had half a mind to lie and say that he’d cooperate if Fink would tell him which world he was from. After all these years, he didn’t know. It’d become classified before he’d learned enough English to retain the name. He was just “freak” or “alien” or “Riddick.” Richard B. Riddick. Now he was a killer on top of all that, a killer and no longer a Marine.
If this was how people were going to treat him for the rest of his life, then fuck them.
Still, it bugged him to not know his origins. He knew he’d heard the name of his home world several times, but the information was kept from him once he started schooling. Waters had told him to stop asking since he was safer not knowing.
“One way or another, Riddick, I will get my way.”
Riddick bit back a retort. He didn’t want to give anyone clues that he was already forming escape plans. Instead, he got up and stood close to the door, just a hand’s length from Fink. The only thing keeping the bastard alive at this moment was the reinforced glass.
Fink shuffled a step back, his smile waning.
That was all Riddick needed. Let the bastard needle him all he wanted. Riddick refused to sink to his level. “What’s the matter? Afraid of a caged animal?”
Fink puffed himself up. “Like hell I’m afraid of you.”
Riddick slammed the glass with both hands and the cell echoed with their thunks. Fink jumped back and raised his fists. Riddick broke into a smile.
Fink’s face reddened with both embarrassment and contained fury. He brushed off the front of his dress uniform and summoned his inflated ego. “Use all the scare tactics you want, alien. I’ll be finally getting my way in a few hours.” He marched off, slamming the heavy door behind him with all his might. The hallway echoed with its boom.
Riddick lowered his hands. “No you won’t.”
14.
Cuffs around his wrists and ankles, Riddick was escorted to the courtroom and seated by his assigned lawyer, Barry Chase, some tall gangly man who looked like he loved making money. Riddick didn’t trust him or his bored expression.
Chase leaned towards him and spoke in a low voice. “I wanted to talk to you more before the trial but they wouldn’t grant me access to you. It was really strange, but I’ll see what I can do today.”
Chase sounded sincere but Riddick didn’t care about what good the lawyer could accomplish. He wanted to hurry up and get this over with. He clenched his jaw and looked at the empty judge’s podium reaching ten feet into the air. Varnished mahogany wood. Not one scratch or scuff. Six jury members, three on each side of the podium, sat five feet off the ground, high enough to look down at most anyone. The lighting over their heads made them look large and imposing, and they held themselves like they knew this. Fink and Tori stood with one other jury member, idly chatting away as if the impending trial was a minor thing.
Centered before the judge’s podium lay a disc the size of a truck tire, the hot seat. It had a floating circular metal banister meant to keep occupants from falling into the void, which engulfed the space between the judge and where Riddick and Chase sat. They were positioned opposite one half of the jury, an empty table and chairs sitting opposite the other half.
The space behind him contained the audience, witnesses for this trial. Waters sat among a few dozen strangers, along with Kenner and the rest of her squad. Riddick snapped his gaze forward when Waters looked up. He couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact as his blood boiled anew. The hurt on the entire squad’s faces made him want to break his chains, burst out of his chair, and strangle Thompson, who sat opposite the squad in the audience. Thompson had backed up Russel’s lies, no doubt.
The judge, Mr. Lyman, appeared in his podium, this walrus of a man in a traditional black robe, and everyone present joined the armed soldiers in standing, until they were given permission to be seated. Formalities were observed between judged, jury, and the lawyer, and then two guards escorted Riddick to the disc, chains jingling away. A narrow path stretched to the disc at the guard’s command and Riddick crossed it as the banister rose higher. He took position in the center and the banister lowered to waist-level. He was sworn in to tell the truth, the soldiers returned to their post and the path retracted, leaving Riddick stranded and at the mercy of “justice.” A bright overhead light came to life with a thunk and bore down on him, almost blinding him from seeing outside the cone of light.
This felt more like an interrogation than a trial. Maybe that’s all it would be. He wouldn’t put it past these people. A few SkyCams flitted around, focusing on him, the audience, and Judge Lyman, who was studying a glowing holo-panel on one side of his podium. A lot of people were eagerly anticipating today, the downfall of some alien freak and his ejection from the military.
Lyman adjusted his glasses and looked Riddick’s way. “Richard B. Riddick, you are here today because you’ve been charged with raping a minor, along with second degree murder of a Marine. How do you plead?” He had a big voice to match his big waistline.
“Not guilty of rape and the other was an act of self defense.”
“Alright, then.” He passed a hand over the document. “Let’s settle this rape business first.” He propped his elbows on the podium and motioned for Chase to begin.
Computer tablet tucked under an arm, Chase approached the void and a second disc slid out of the floor. He stepped onto it and joined Riddick as a second light thunked to life directly above him, and he began typing something into his tablet. A wall-sized projector frame assembled above the empty table and chairs, and a document winked to life inside the frame. Chase faced Riddick. “I have here an alibi signed by eleven people that states you were present at First Sergeant Jade Waters’ home the night Colleen Wrekkio was raped. Is this alibi true?”
“Yes, sir.”
“It also says that you didn’t leave Waters’ house until around twenty two hundred, well after the rest of those but Waters on the alibi, and over an hour after Ms. Wrekkio was said to have left her house without permission. Is your departure time correct?”
“Yes, sir.” He didn’t remember the exact time but it sounded right.
“Yet you were the one to bring her back.”
“She was scared.”
“Why not wait for the police to arrive? Why not let them take care of things?”
“I should have.”
Chase nodded thoughtfully. “So then why did you run from the Wrekkio household?”
The hologram blinked, changing into a redacted police report, the father’s description of the scene highlighted. “The father was furious. He didn’t look like he was in the mood for explanations.”
“Shouldn’t you have at least tried?”
Riddick began feeling impatient. “She had blood down her legs and was frightened out of her mind. Her father wouldn’t have believed a thing I said.”
“Being a father myself, I consider that plausible.” Chase faced the judge. “Your honor, I’d like to call Colleen Wrekkio to the stand.”
The judge granted permission. A soldier escorted Colleen and her parents onto a third disc twice as large as Riddick’s. Colleen looked terrified in her stool, ready to cry. Riddick felt self
-conscious in his chains and cuffs, even though he’d done nothing to the girl. What a monsters he must’ve looked like now. The parents held their chins high, their mouths thin lines and eyes full of anger as they stood behind their daughter. Lyman politely warned them to keep quiet and not interfere with the trial.
Chase’s and Riddick’s discs switched places so the lawyer stood before the Wrekkio family. “Miss Wrekkio,” he said to the daughter, “before I start asking questions, I just want to let you know I’m sorry you went through something so horrific, and if at any time you find yourself unable to continue, I’ll stop, okay?”
Colleen nodded, eyes glistening.
“Miss Wrekkio, you haven’t made a formal statement yet. Would you be willing to do that now?”
She nodded again.
“Thank you. This is really important. None of the three men involved in this suit have a history of sexual abuse, so the jury needs your testimony to help make the right ruling. Do you understand? Excellent. Please tell us who... who hurt you that night.”
Colleen teared up. She looked at Riddick, then at audience, right where Thompson was seated. She whimpered and cowered against her mother’s skirt.
Riddick tensed up as Chase pointed at him. “Was it him?” Colleen shook her head fervently. A wave of murmuring spread through the courtroom and the jury began whispering to each other. Riddick let go of the breath he was holding, having feared the girl would lie because Thompson was still alive. And then he realized he did somewhat care about how the trial unfolded.
“Was it Thompson?” Chase pointed into the audience at the Marine in a wheelchair. Colleen shook her head again and wiped her eyes. Chase changed the image in the holo-panel to a picture of Russel in dress uniform, staring everyone down. “Was it him?” the lawyer said unhappily.
Burying her face in her mother’s side, Colleen started crying. Her mother spoke soothing words. The father stopped glaring at Riddick to study Russel’s headshot, brows furrowed with confusion. After a few seconds, he put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder and sent an apologetic look Riddick’s way.
It was a small victory. Now everyone knew, including Waters and her squad. He was one step closer to looking them in the eye again. Still, by the look on Fink’s face, the testimony wasn’t remotely enough to change today’s outcome but Riddick didn’t care. Once he had closure, he’d escape and leave Earth. Maybe never come back. A huge sacrifice but it was the best course of action. There was nothing here for an alien freak like him.
Chase faced the judge. “Your honor, this affects the validity of the second charge. I have so many questions for the witness but I don’t believe she can continue at this time.”
Judge Lyman spoke to Colleen, who accepted the offered recess. The audience began gossiping in hushed voices as the SkyCams zipped around for good angles. Lyman turned to his documents and began typing up notes as the jury excused themselves. Fink glanced at Chase, then hurried out of sight.
Dread rose in Riddick’s chest as his disc twisted around and a pathway stretched towards him. He kept telling himself that he didn’t care about the verdict but he was lying to himself. He wanted to be viewed as more than a dangerous killer, to fit into society somehow. Logically, he shouldn’t want those things but they felt instinctual. The guards motioned him over, the banister rose out of the way, and he wordlessly began walking.
“Hurry up, Riddick,” one of the soldiers snapped.
Ignoring the guard, Riddick scanned his path leading to the side exit and his holding cell. Chase approached the table, just two glasses, a pitcher of water, and a sleek briefcase atop it. Chase had only a tablet and phone on his person; nothing in his pockets for Riddick to snatch and use for an escape. The two soldiers had plenty on their person. If he could just grab a few bullets from a magazine...
The soldiers shoved him along, robbing him of an opportunity to steal anything, and keeping him at arm’s length. The side door swung open, revealing Fink on the other side. He waved to chase.
“Barry, I need to speak with you in private.”
Chase set his tablet computer on the table and disappeared through the door at a brisk walk.
No wonder Riddick didn’t trust the lawyer. He was on a first-name basis with Fink. So that’s how he’d been picked for this case... Same had to go for the jury. Anyone ranked above Fink would be none the wiser. All of the court officials were bought and paid for. None of them cared about Riddick’s extraterrestrial ass.
He glanced at Waters before being shoved through the doorway. The ankle cuffs were chained too close together to allow him to break into a run. He allowed himself to stumble and lose balance but both soldiers grabbed his arms.
“Don’t even try to play the victim,” the impatient one snapped, “or I will pop one in your knee, you murderous bastard.”
Ah, so that one had a personal investment in the trial. Fink had been real thorough with surrounding Riddick with enemies. At least he hadn’t been able to ban Waters from attending.
15.
Colleen clutched a tissue box in one hand and a wad of tissues in the other as she described what happened that night, how Russel had enticed her with the prospect of a good time. She was the little sister of another flight member. That’s how she’d been picked. That’s how they’d gotten her to come along so easily. Riddick clenched his fists as he listened to the series of events leading up to his arrival.
Chase stood on a disc between Riddick and the Wrekkio family, listening intently, asking for details here and there, and occasionally reminding her to give verbal responses, instead of shrugging or shaking her head. The lawyer hadn’t gotten on her case during the first round since she’d been so scared. Tears still lay below the surface but she was doing a decent job of controlling them.
Chase said, “And when Riddick entered the room, did he have a weapon already drawn?”
Colleen thought a moment. “He was holding a knife.”
Chase faced Riddick. “Riddick, why would you feel the need to enter your own room while armed?”
Riddick could tell where this was going; however, he had no choice but to answer the questions. “My dorm was unlocked when it shouldn’t have been.”
“You didn’t entertain the possibility of a hiccup in the system?”
“No, sir.” That’d happened maybe twice in two years, and both times hadn’t filled him with wariness.
“Why rush to the conclusion there were dangerous people in your room? You live on a military base, one of the safest places in the country.”
Riddick narrowed his eyes. “Not safe enough to stop a girl from gating raped.”
A grimace touched the lawyer’s face before he regained his composure. “Answer my question. Why rush to such a conclusion?”
“Some people don’t like me.”
“They don’t like you enough for you to feel the need to walk around armed at all times?” Chase raised an eyebrow.
“It’s not against the law to carry weapons.”
Chase gestured to the holo-screen. “It says in your records that you’ve been in a lot of fights with your fellow soldiers over the past two years. Why?”
“What does this have to do with the murder charge?”
“Your records suggest that you’re becoming progressively more violent. Now you’ve killed someone. There appears to be a pattern here.”
“It was out of self-defense.”
“Yet you stepped into your room with a weapon drawn.” Chase faced Colleen again. “Miss Wrekkio, what happened after Riddick entered the room?”
She said, “Riddick and Thompson fought, then Thompson went down and started swearing a lot.”
“Who started the fight?”
“I don’t remember. All I remember after Thompson going down is a gun going off, and then Riddick packing a bag.”
Chase faced Riddick. “Why did you start packing?”
“Russel called 9-1-1. He was trying to frame me for rape. On top of that, I’d hurt Thomps
on pretty bad without meaning to, and killed Russel out of self-defense. If anyone walked in on the scene with me still there, it would’ve looked bad.”
“Running has made you look guilty. Is there something else you’re trying to hide?”
“No, sir,” he said angrily, getting fed up with having everything twisted against him. He wanted to snap at Chase to hurry up and ask the jury for their ruling.
“Why did you kill Russel, instead of maim him as well?”
Riddick stumbled over the question. He’d never tried to kill anyone before, but he’d buried the knife in Russel’s neck without flinching, the aimed throw feeling instinctive. It’d preserved his own life. “He aimed his firearm at me. I reacted. I felt my life was in imminent danger. That’s it, sir.”
“This was not premeditated, despite how much you two have clashed in the past?”
“No, sir.”
Chase turned to Judge Lyman. “Your Honor, it appears to me that Mr. Russel may have drawn his firearm out of self-defense, considering that Riddick entered the room with a weapon drawn, then proceeded to maim Thompson. Russel must have drawn his firearm to protect himself from getting maimed as well. Instead, he was killed. Russel doesn’t have the paper trail of violence Riddick does. Riddick’s a loose cannon. I don’t hear any remorse in his voice for what he’s done.”
Remorse? Riddick wanted to laugh. Killing a man who resorted to raping some innocent girl and attempting to frame someone else for it, and Riddick was supposed to feel remorse for having killed such scum? Ha! The fact that Chase was glossing over the attempted framing didn’t bother him. It was clear that no one could pin him with it, so they’d dropped it as if it’d never happened.
The trial went on and on. Chase drilled both Riddick and Colleen, asking them the same questions over and over, testing to see if they’d change their answers. Even Colleen started getting impatient with the repetition, but her story never changed, and Riddick’s answers remained the same. Discussing the rape part disappeared from the trial, the questioning hyper-focused on Riddick’s behavioral record and the fact that he was armed at all times. At one point Riddick stopped listening and mechanically answer the same damn questions with the same damn answers. If the wording was changed, Riddick answered accordingly without tripping up.
Finally, thirty agonizing minutes later, Chase said, “No further questions, Your Honor.”
Lyman studied Riddick and the frightened Colleen. “The jury will now convene to discuss their verdict.”
Bring it.