Xander rolled over on the wet perma-crete, head aching. He felt his jaw to see if it was broken. There was no damage, but the bump on the back of his head told him the whole story. A new player got the drop on him. The sun was coming up and pretty soon hundreds of tourists would be arriving. He pushed himself up from the ground and headed for his skiff. When he got to the lot, there was nothing there. He spewed a few choice words and started walking, looking for a jonny cab.

Adrian woke up in the hospital. His vision was blurry, so it took him a few minutes to figure out where he was. When his eyes cleared, he found Xander sitting in a chair by his bed.
"What the fuck happened?" Xander asked. Adrian blinked a few times to gather his thoughts.
"I got shot. What the fuck does it look like happened?" he snapped. There was no edge to it; his voice was a raspy whisper.
"Where's Jack?" Xander hissed. Adrian exhaled painfully.
"You saw the guy with the rifle. Then some other guy took you out. I saw him take your gun and circle around Jack. Last thing I saw, he was running right for her." Adrian cleared his throat and looked longingly at the water beside the bed.
"You don't remember anything else."
"I don't want to remember anything else." Adrian grumbled.
"You think they got her?" Xander asked. Adrian shrugged.
"Who?" Adrian rasped. He pointed to the water pitcher. Xander grudgingly poured some into a plastic tumbler and inserted a straw. It gave him the opportunity to calm himself, to keep from smothering Adrian where he lay.
"I mean your boss." Xander clarified as he held the water close enough for Adrian to drink. Adrian immediately nodded his head after he took a few sips.
"No, definitely not. I know everyone that works for James. This guy I never saw before."
"But I thought you didn't see him?" Xander pointed out. Adrian blinked.
"I didn't see his face, if that's what you mean. He was big, but not like fat big. And bald. That much I saw." Adrian finished the water and gestured for more. Xander obliged.
"Maybe Mitchell hired outside help." Xander guessed.
"You think?" Adrian asked. "I don't see it, personally. She's got mercs as full time permanent staff. She wouldn't need outside help." Adrian stressed. Xander ran a hand through his still damp hair.
"You've got a point." He said. He slumped in his seat, contemplating what had happened.
"Well, at least you're all right." He wasn't so much talking to Adrian as mumbling out loud. Adrian snorted.
"No thanks to you. Thanks so much for leaving me there to bleed to death." Xander ignored the statement and shushed Adrian. Loud and impatient, the voice of James Liszka carried down the hall. Xander put the water down and jumped out of the chair looking for another exit. Adrian pointed to the door in the corner. Xander opened it, seeing it was an adjoined bathroom, accessible by this room and the one next door. Xander bolted through. Ten seconds later, James walked in. Adrian's eyes were closed as if he was still unconscious; he didn't want to talk to James.

Sara Mitchell watched in growing fury as the bodies of her two best soldiers were displayed on the afternoon news for the world to see. Don Edwards was also in the office.
"She's not working alone." He stated. Sara whipped around and glared at him.
"You think?" she snapped. Edward ignored the outburst.
"No way she took both of those guys out. One in the alley with a slit throat, and one shot. There was someone else."
"Xanders' dead." Sara started pacing.
"Someone else is in the picture now. Maybe James got to her first." Edward suggested.
"That's a possibility. I'll put in a call and see what he has to say." Sara turned off the tele-vid in disgust.

James was seated on the edge of Adrians' bed, sifting through the possiblities of what had happened. It made so little sense, he couldn't even guess what had happened. His comm-unit beeped loudly in his pocket. He hurriedly turned it off; Adrian was asleep.
"Yeah." The voice on the other end made him sit up straight. It was Sara Mitchell.
"So, you found her." She asked. James blinked.
"No, we thought you had her." He responded, startled.
"You weren't at the terminal last night?" Her voice was hard.
"No, I just found out what happened myslef. I'm sitting here in the hospital with my right hand man. We don't know what the fuck happened." He explained. Sara sighed.
"So, there's a new player." She deduced. James agreed.
"I'm thinking the same thing."
"Maybe one of Xanders' guys?" he suggested.
"Xander's dead." Sara pointed out.
"Maybe one of his guys got greedy." James offered. Sara considered the theory.
"Could be. Keep me posted." She ordered, then broke the connection. James tucked the comm unit back into his jacket pocket. He looked at Adrian one more time before leaving.
When the door had closed, Adrian opened his eyes. He had seen the second man that night and it had scared the holy hell out of him. Many years ago, he had spent time in the same prison as that killing machine. He didn't just know this man by reputation, he had seen what this man could do with his own eyes.
He desperately tried to think of somewhere he could go until this all blew over. There was no way in hell he was going anywhere near Richard B. Riddick. That just wasn't going to happen.

Jack wiped her wet hands on her jacket and holstered the gun. Walking calmly around Riddick, she looked around for a moment, trying to guess where Xander would have parked. Riddick took a step forward.
"He came from the south." he pointed so Jack could see. She nodded briskly and started sloshing through the ever thickening mud. The terminal was quiet now; the rain had stopped, and the terrified travelers had fled in the waiting jonny cabs. It was only a matter of time before the police showed up to investigate.
"You're just my lucky penny, aren't you?" She kidded. She didn't see his response, if there was one. In fact, she couldn't actually hear him. The only indication that she wasn't alone was the sheer heat his body gave off. She shook the distracting thought away from her mind, determined to figure out what the fuck Xander was up to. There was only one skiff in the lot; lonely and nearly drowning in water. After several tries, she managed to jimmy the door open. Once inside, she over-rode the automatic controls and brought the underpowered engine to life. Riddick slipped into the passengers side.
"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods?" she asked to make conversation.
"Do you know where we're going?" Riddick ignored her attempt at chit chat.
"There's an automated public trans shuttle a few miles away. We ditch this and hop on." she replied. Riddick looked through the windshield as she drove. He stole a glance at her; her hair was wet and clinging to her face and shoulders. Her clothes were soaked through. Her eyes were sharp and focused. He winced at what he saw; she was becoming a predator in her own right.
"And where to from there?" he asked. Jack shrugged.
"Haven't figured that out yet. Far as I can tell, I'm on everyones' shit list."
"Who is 'everyone'?" Riddick probed. Jack didn't answer. After a pensive moment of silence, she changed the subject.
"You still haven't told me what you're doing here." She wanted to know why he was there, at this moment, in a stolen skiff, running from a would be-hit. How did he even know about it?
"I was just passing through." he intoned.
"You need a lift somewhere?" was the immediate come back.
"You got a ship?" Riddick snapped, testing her nerve.
"Would I ask if I didn't?" Jack retorted.
"Don't be a bitch." It was a mock scolding. Jack rolled her eyes.
"Don't ask stupid questions." Jack turned a corner, and quickly altered course to avoid colliding with a downed tree.
"Fair enough but let me just make a guess, here. Does any of this have to do with Imam?" Riddick cocked an eyebrow when Jack glanced at him.
"Could be." Riddick waited for her to say more. She didn't.
"Could be you'll need some help." he ventured. A hint of a smirk creased her lips.
"Could be." She repeated, this time with a hint of emotion.
"Where's your ship?" he asked. This time Jack looked him full in the face, eyes searching for a hint of hesitation. Finding none, she brought the skiff to a stop and turned to face him. Leaning forward, she bluntly asked:
"You in?" She was calm, her eyes focused on his. Riddick met the challenge, meeting her centerpoint, until his breath was hot on her face. He cocked his head and in a low tone said:
"What's in it for me?"
"What do you want?" Jack countered.
"What have you got?"
"Guns, ships, money..." Jack replied dryly. Riddick rolled his eyes.
"What else?" he demanded. Jack leaned back on the door and threw up her hands in exasperation.
"What else? There is nothing else. What you see is what you get." Riddick actually grinned.
"Then I'm in."

Raindrops slapped the windshield as Jack and Riddick zig-zagged towards the closest public auto-trans. They were taking the long way, but Jack didn't want to chance being spotted by the police. Jack leaned forward and turned off the heat. Even though the temperature outside was falling, the heater only had two settings; too hot and off. The heat made her sleepy. Jack tried to stifle a yawn, her jaw cracked.
"What was Xander doing here?" Ridick suddenly asked. Jack massaged her jaw.
"How do you know about Xander?" she asked, surprised. Riddick moved as if annoyed by the question.
"He was found dead, on a planet several systems away. How'd he get here so fast?" Riddick watched Jack for her reaction. Her eyes furrowed as she thought about it.
"He was never there. That was his twin brother Jacob..." Jacks' voice trailed off as her mind went back to Adrians' two calls the day she had run into him on Skulde. He had called Xander first. "I'll bet he was here to meet Adrian...Other than that, I don't know what Xander is up to." It was Riddicks' turn to think.
"Where's the last place you saw him?" he asked. Jack replied without hesitation.
"New Jamaica. Everything went to hell, and we all broke out."
"He's gotta have a ship somewhere." Riddick guessed. Jack arched an eyebrow.
"You're right." She mentally cursed herself for not thinking of it. After several moments, she spoke again. "If I owned a chop shop, I would always have...an extra ship to get me out of the system, just in case...can't go to space docks; where would I land..." Jack stopped mumbling as she negotiated a tight turn.
Riddick listened to Jack as she tried to guess what Xander would do. He wasn't well aquainted with this system, meaning he would have to rely on her judgement. At least for a time- and it wasn't such an uncomfortable thought. He looked up when the vehicle came to a stop. He started to ask why, but held his tongue when Jack held up her hand silently commanding him not to speak.
Jack's eyelids were heavy, and she was having trouble following one thought to the next. Xander would land where ships don't need flight plans, and transponder checks aren't required... She touched the screen on the dash board. After a search for city maps, she typed in hospitals and retirement communities. There were fourteen in all. She zoomed in to the addresses of each. Pulling up a street map, she pointed to a grid in the lower left hand corner.
"There. It's a retirement community. Arrivals are restricted, but they get small shipments all the time; care-packages and gifts or whatever from relatives too lazy to visit. There are a lot of cops, but there's no customs inspections, no border patrol. And it's three miles away. That's where he came in." Jack sat back, looking as if she would fall asleep any second. Riddick noticed her fatigue and the heavy circles under her eyes. In a fit of emotion he had only recently learned to recognize, spoke up:
"Switch places; I'll drive." Jack looked at him for a moment, then opened her hatch. Riddick followed suit. After a few moments of heat and seat adjustments, Riddick turned the vehicle around and headed back the way they had come. Jack went to sleep.

Adrian was finishing breakfast when the door to his hospital room opened. He expected to see nurse Judy Henthro. Instead two men walked in, both flashing federal IDs. He put his fork down as they approached him.
"Good morning. My name is Special Agent Jonathan Abell, and this is Special Agent Carl Ruthers. We'd like to ask you a few questions." Agent Ruthers took a seat in the chair while Agent Abell talked. Abell pulled a data pad from his pocket and pressed a few keys. He then turned the screen to Adrian.
"Can you tell us who this man is?" Agent Abell asked. Adrian glanced at the picture Abell had produced and shook his head. It was the crime scene photo of Jacob Leland, Xanders' twin brother.
"That's Xander Leland." He replied.

There were only three ships on the landing pad. Two were MedEvacs, the third was a personal transport. Jack went to the nearest MedEvac first. She popped the battery housing open and produced a flashlight. Quickly, she ran it over the transponder and vin number. Seeing that, she promptly closed the panel and moved on to the next MedEvac, with Riddick following. Jack pulled open the panel and not seeing a transponder, vehicle id number or company registration tag, produced her data pad and pulled up a schematic read out of the boards and wires in front of her, looking for anything that would instantly disable the ship. She caught the first one almost immediately. It took another half hour to locate the second one, and another forty minutes to disable it.
Once she was pretty sure there wasn't a third, she gave Riddick the thumbs up. Riddick pressed a small panel, and the hatch slid open. He stepped into the phony emergency vessel and immediately powered up. Jack got in behind him and closed the hatch.

Agent Abell held the photo in front of Adrian for a few more seconds, as if waiting for Adrian to change his answer. When Adrian didn't say anything, he pressed another combination of keys before showing the pad to Adrian again.
"Then perhaps you can tell us who this man is..." he asked. Adrian paled, then threw up.

Part 6 Pitch Black Index