Chronicles of Riddick: Sweet-Like

Chapter Three: "Orphans and Outcasts"

The soft murmur of voices had long given way to the throbbing hum of the engines, filling the void as well as him.

His body was cold, yet in the same instance, he was warm. The effects of the cryo system as it cycled his blood, no doubt.

He had been here before. Packed up and shipped off to yet another foster group on another world. Each one was shittier than the last; until this last time when his foster dad had almost broken one of Riddick's ribs with a kick.

"This is your last strike," the drunk had said. "You don't get to go to another group home. They'll ship your ass off to juvie. Colonial Marines if you're lucky!"

Riddick was too young to sign with the Marines, but the Academy on Sigma 3 would take him. The Foster network would have signed off right away.

Riddick was getting too old, too 'difficult' to place. The Company would take him off their hands, and their books, without question;

until Jaeger caught him.

Riddick should have known the arrangement was too good to be true. He was a runaway. They would keep him on board until they reached the dropoff location.

"Don't think so ill of them," the woman said.

The hallucination had returned. A woman with an aura so bright Riddick could only see the outline of her form. Tall and lean with long hair.

"They're taking you somewhere safe."

Safe? What would a hallucination know about safe?

"Trust them, Riddick," she said as she drifted away, voice fading into the distance.

The blind light remained, filling Riddick's squinted vision.

"Come on, kid, up and at'em!" Jaeger said, patting his cheek. His hand was warm and calloused. Real.

Riddick's eyelids fluttered open, and the man before him came into focus.

"Come on; we've got shit to do."

Riddick stepped down from the cryotube, legs a bit shaky. Gabriel took him by the shoulders and led him over to the table and chairs.

"The grogginess will pass," the medic said, peeling Riddick's eyes open to look at his pupils.

"I dreamed," Riddick whispered. "While in cryo..."

Gabriel's smile was gentle. "There is a moment between deep sleep and wakefulness where the brain becomes hyperactive and sometimes produces micro dreams."

Riddick shook his head. "No."

Gabriel squeezed the boy's arm. "I know it seems that way, but trust me."

Riddick sighed and pillowed his head with his arms on the table.

"Will he be alright?" Ceres murmured.

"He's just sluggish from the anestaphine and an estimated solution volume. He weighs less than I thought."

"We'll need to fatten him up, then. Won't due to present him half-starved."

Jaeger buttoned up his jacket.

"When he's up and about, bring him up to the front. He'll like to see the station."

"Sure thing," Ceres said, doling out food pouches and packets of sanitary wipes.

*

Food did much to perk up Riddick's awareness. He alternated, nibbling the protein bar, and sipping the electrolyte drink.