Sara Mitchell watched her top three lieutenants as she spoke. They were seated on the sofas in her office: Cain Thomas, who had been fired from the NSP Federal Bureau Of Investigation for use of excessive force; John Biehn, a former army captain; and Jude Hight, a former army instructor.
"Liszka is definitely behind this whole thing. We find him and the wife, and this will all be over."
"What about Xander?"
"He's dead. I figure his role has ended. They whacked him to tie up loose ends." She spoke freely with these three men. They alone had an inkling of what the real Sara Mitchell was like. What James had seen was a polished veneer.
"So, where's the ship?" Hight asked.
"We don't know. If you find her, let her lead you to the ship before you kill her. Any questions?" she asked. There were none.
"Then you know what to do." Sara dismissed the mercenaries.

Riddick stood in the pouring rain, ignoring the beads of water rolling over his skin. His goggles rested around his neck. The downpour dulled the few lights in the area. He could see just fine. He was in a gangway, between the building where passengers waited to board shuttles up to the cruiser, and the travel agency next door. There was a large kiosk thirty yards from where he was standing. He guessed that was where tickets were collected. There was a row of the ever present, automated jonny-cabs lined up. Otherwise, it was deserted.
Glancing up the wide lane he saw a man approaching- he stepped back into the shadows. He had shaved, and he couldn't chance a fed recognizing him. The man walked along the storefronts. Riddick didn't like the looks of it. He stepped further back into the gangway and crouched down. The man passed by and Riddick straightened up. He peered around the corner of the building to see the man take up a position to the side of the front doors. The waiting area was closed; no light emanated from the building itself. In effect, he would be virtually invisible to anyone approaching, at least so long as it was raining. Riddick heard a comm-unit beep and strained to hear the conversation over the heavy rain:

"I'm here. Tell me something I want to hear…You got Jack! Adrian, you have proven your worth once again! Yeah, we get her to the ship first...cuz' we don't know where it is...yeah, then we'll take care of her…then I'll do it, Christ! I'll be waiting." Then he disconnected. Riddick watched as the man turned up his collar as a pathetic shield against the rain.
Riddick would have killed him on the spot if it hadn't been for the unmistakable sound of a man coming up behind him. He whirled around just in time to see drops of rain deflected from the instantly recognizable glint of a blade.
The man holding the knife altered the trajectory of the knife aiming for Riddicks' throat with blinding speed. Riddick forced the bulk of his body into the wall, bringing up his arm up to block the attack. He pushed off the wall with his right arm and used the momentum to slam his fist into the mans' neck. The narrow space and awkward angle didn't allow for the man to easily block the blow. Never the less he landed a punishing cross to Riddicks' kidney, followed by a roundhouse kick to Riddicks' knee. Riddick staggered momentarily, giving the stranger a distinct advantage.
Riddick braced himself on the wall to stop himself from falling backwards. The man leapt into the air and landed a powerful thrust kick in Riddicks' chest, knocking him to the ground, flat on his back. Riddick responded by kicking out as he pushed himself up, catching the man in the solar plexus. He lunged forward, grabbing the wrist of the mans' knife hand as he tackled him. Riddick listened for the tell-tale snap of bone, then plucked the weapon from his attackers' weakened grasp. The man bucked and pounded on Riddicks' back, seeking a way to get out from under him, but the passageway was too narrow. Pinned in place, he was still struggling as Riddick pierced his throat, working the knife from side to side to saw through the wind pipe. Riddick watched with animalistic satisfaction as the man lay sputtering and coughing, drowning in his own blood. Finally, he became still.
Satisfied that the unknown attacker was dead, Riddick returned to his earlier post. Thankfully, thunder had rolled in, masking the sounds of the fight. The man he had seen earlier was still in front of the building, completely unaware that another had just died. He scanned the area, looking for any other possible attackers and sure enough, another man had appeared behind the kiosk.

Adrian was pacing. Jack watched him take three steps to the right, then three steps to the left.
"Why are you so nervous, Adrian?" she asked. Adrian's head snapped up, and his eyes were wide. Jack tensed form head to toe as her guard went up.
"I'm not nervous. Well, ok. I don't like lying to James, that's all." He answered weakly. Jack didn't believe him, but she played along.
"Once I'm gone you can tell him the truth. Is he gonna be there when we arrive?" She asked. Adrian shook his head
"No. But still..." He tried to chuckle and failed. He sat on the bed and fidgeted for several long moments before getting up again and pacing. Jack had a sudden thought. This man was afraid. Who was he afraid of? Not James, no way. She wiggled in her seat to feel the reassuring weight of the gun on her thigh. She forced confidence she didn't feel into her voice.
"Well, you better get over it. We're docking now. In fifteen minutes, we'll be on the ground." She stated. She didn't like Adrian's response; he turned gray. A bolt of fear rattled her in her seat. She couldn't stifle an involuntary shudder. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. She could handle this.

Riddick alternated between watching the man in front of the building to his left, and the man hiding behind the kiosk. Both had become alert at the first rumbling of the shuttle engines over head. He scanned the sky above. Unlike the other men, he could see the shuttle approaching, despite the heavy rainfall.

Jack stood behind Adrian as the shuttle descended. She slid her hand between the slits of her tunic and unfastened the holster. Wrapping her palm around the grip, she slipped it out and laid it flat on her stomach. She held still when Adrian turned to speak.
"Wait until everyone else is off. Then we'll go." He instructed. Jack rolled her eyes. She had guessed the tactic from the fact that they were in the very back. She was patient as the shuttle touched the ground and all engines were powered down. The pilot appeared and made the 'please leave in the order that you are seated' speech, stressing safety. Then the lock on the hatch was disengaged with a loud pop and hissing. Jack cocked the gun and waited.

Riddick strapped his goggles on seconds before the shuttles' landing lights came on. He was ready to move by the time it touched down. He quickly glanced at the man behind the kiosk squinting against the light to get a better view. The man pulled something up and turned it flat to check it; a sniper's rifle. Riddick silently cursed and prepared for attack.

Xander had also seen the man. In fact, they had spent the past twenty minutes staring at each other. Xander could tell by the way he moved who it was. He had trained him. His only hope was to warn Adrian and Jack to get down before Hight could get a shot off. He pulled his own sidearm from his jacket and waited.

The last of the passengers were filing off, and Adrian moved to follow. Jack stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. She stuck the gun in his back andwith a voice of steel whispered:
"Anything happens, you die first. Got it?" Adrian froze. Jack poked him with the gun.
"Now move." Adrian jerked forward, stifling the urge to run. Jack held the back of his jacket. She smiled and thanked the pilot as they stepped outside. She told Adrian to stop.
"Do you see him? She asked. Adrian squinted in the rain.
"Not yet. Give me a minute." He replied. She pressed the muzzle deeper into his back.

Hight lowered the rifle. Who was the man with Adrian? Just then, a voice rose over the rain.
"Get Down!! There's a sniper!!" Hight felt like a fool as he re-acquired his target; it should have occurred to him that she would be in disguise.

Jack put her entire body into slinging Adrian to her right. She had seen the kiosk when they stepped out, then she saw the long barrel of the rifle appear. She dropped to the ramp, pulling her gun free. A shot rang out, and Adrian fell like a sand bag. Jack fired back, blanketing the kiosk in bullets. She rolled off the opposite edge of the ramp and landed under the ship. Several more bullets sailed her way, a wild one of which was blocked by an unfortunate tourist. The man went down screaming. Stalemate.

Riddick made a decision. Seeing Jack so close behind the man, combined with the look on the mans' face, he knew she was armed, and would use him as a shield. The unexpected warning, along with the screaming travelers distracted the sniper. He sprang out of his hiding place and slammed into the other man.

Xander went down hard, briefly wondering if the building had collapsed on top of him. He got his bearings just in time to see a fist rapidly closing in. Then everything went dark.

Jack's homemade beard was being washed away by the rain. She ripped it off, mindlessly picking at the remaining clumps of Bacto-Bind even as she looked for her assailant. She thought she saw a figure flash past in the darkness from the side of her eye. With so many people running for cover, and screaming, she wasn't sure what she saw. She cursed out loud and peeked over the ramp. She ducked even as the shot was fired. She laid on her stomach and crawled forward. Rolling onto her back, she knew she was in real trouble. She had one behind the kiosk, and someone else circling around to her blind side.
She checked her clip and threw it away, replacing it with another one. Then the whine of the engines caught her attention. SHIT!! She thought. They were about to take off, and she was right under the thrusters. It was a panic departure, they hadn't even retracted the ramp. She rolled out from under the ship and ran for cover, using fleeing gamblers for cover. Several went down as her unknown shooter fired off several rounds. She fired on the kiosk as she ran towards a thick row of hedges. She dove over them, simultaneously looking for better cover. Seeing only the buildings across the street, she spotted the gangway.
She produced a new clip and jammed it into the gun, and set it for EM. She was gonna have to make a run for it. She looked between the interlacing branches of the shrubbery. She squinted in the darkness, straining to hear anything. A furtive footstep squishing in the mud almost scared her out of her skin. She wrenched over and aimed the gun to the source of the sound. A voice she hadn't heard in five years carried easily over the raging storm.
"He's standing behind the right corner of the kiosk.' Jack hesitated for a split second, not believing…could it be? She rolled over and aimed for the near side of the kiosk and squeezed off several shots. The hollow sing-song of the electro-magnetically propelled bullets pierced the wooden kiosk as if it were made of paper. If she had stopped to look, she would have been able to see clear through to the other side. She kept pulling the trigger until half of the kiosk was gone.
"Did I get him?" she asked.
"Yeah, you got him." A simple reply. Jack rolled onto her back and looked up, extending her hand. Riddick rose to his full height and pulled her up until she got her footing in the slick mud. She simply stared at him. She had expected never to see him again. He still had that same biting smirk. She met his gaze and produced her own smile. Riddick pulled off his goggles and studied her for a moment before speaking:
"What, no hug?"