Chance Encounters (1/?)

Disclaimer: All characters pertaining to Pitch Black belong to USA Films.

Feedback: YES, PLEASE! I'd love to know what you REALLY think, so please be honest (but let's not be brutal, okay?)

Summary: Alternate Universe : The premise of this story is that Riddick and Fry had already met prior to the events in the film, Pitch Black.

Setting: Years and years before the events in "Pitch Black". Just before Riddick gets sent to The Slam

-------------------------------

"YEAH!!"

"GET 'EM!!!!"

"KILL THAT FUCKER!"

It was utter chaos in Section G of the Orion Maximum Security Prison. A fight had broken out in one of the cells. Two inmates were at each other's throats while the other prisoners watched and cheered them on. The guards on duty at the time couldn't get the place to settle down and so called on Harris to handle the "situation".

"Hey! Break it up! Everyone cut that shit RIGHT NOW!," Chief Warden Harris yelled over the din.

At Harris' orders, three prison guards armed with stun guns threw open the cell doors and zapped the two brawling prisoners. They loosened their stranglehold on each other and crumpled almost immediately to the floor. The cheering grew louder. Most of the other prisoners now had their faces pressed against the bars, trying to get a glimpse of the action. But not Prisoner GF310. Richard B. Riddick was sitting quietly in his cell, almost oblivious to the commotion around him, deep in thought. You could say he wasn't the excitable type. Besides, he couldn't care less if all these assholes killed each other.

"Knock it off! This isn't the fucking Roman coliseum," Harris yelled again.

Some shut up, but most kept on hollering and banging their cups against the bars. Seriously pissed off now, Harris unbuckled his own stun gun from his utility belt and held it high above his head for everyone to see.

"You want a piece of this, huh!?! Well, I'll give it to 'ya if y'all don't SHUT IT!"

That got them. The shouting gradually petered out into just mumbling and coughing. Everyone in Section G has had a dose of Harris' stun gun, which by the way had the highest voltage. It wasn't an experience they were eager to reprise. The chief looked all around him. Satisfied that all the other inmates had settled down somewhat, he set his own stun gun aside and turned to the two prisoners who started the whole mess. They were coming to, groaning and clutching at their sides.

"Git 'em up," he commanded the prison guards.

"As for the rest of you," he said to the whole of Section G, "I don't wan to have to come down here to do that again. I swear, half the time, you'd think I was watching over a bunch of kindergarten kids the way you go on. We have folks coming by and I want none of this shit. Do we understand each other?"

Nobody answered him. It wasn't like they had a choice, anyway, what with the prison guards and their gauges and stun guns. Plus they were scared of Harris. He was a mean son of a bitch, even by THEIR standards. He was a big, bulky guy, but agile despite his size. He could take them on, criminal or not. But they DID enjoy messing around with him once in a while. Such was prison life. Sometimes you had to get yourself into trouble just to break the monotony.

Harris walked down the corridor and stopped just in front of Riddick's cell. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and smirked at him.

"Well, well, Mr. Riddick. Looks like today's the big day, huh? The Slam." He let out a low whistle. "You've hit the big time now, you lucky bastard."

Undaunted, Riddick raised his head and gave him a sardonic smile.

"Can't wait, Chief."

Harris glowered at him.

"You listen to ME, you smart-ass. Just one day at The Slam and you'll be begging to be let in back here. But guess what?" Harris leaned forward. "I won't give a rat's ass, " he sneered.

Riddick didn't have an answer for THAT one. He knew what the warden said to be true. All the horror stories he's heard about The Slam…

"Chief!! There's a call for you.," one of the jail guards bellowed from the office.

Harris glared at Riddick a moment longer before finally turning back and heading towards his office.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Fry! How's everything down there?," Capt. Gallagher called from the cockpit of the Terra-Valor transport ship.

Fry looked over the controls of the cargo deck and scanned the screens one last time.

"All systems check, Captain. We're good to get to The Slam and back," she said into the radio.

"Good, good," the captain said. "We wouldn't want anything to happen with those assholes onboard."

His co-pilot, Commander Delaney, cast him a nervous glance.

"I don't even want to joke about it."

"Hey, relax Delaney," the captain said with a chuckle. "I've done this a million times. Nothing to worry about. It's all routine, really. We arrive at Orion, pick 'em up and dump 'em in The Slam."

"Sure. But it's what could happen in between that worries me."

"In between? Are you kidding me? They'll be up to their eyeballs in restraints," Gallagher reassured him.

Just then, Fry joined them in the cockpit. She, too , wanted to be reassured. But if there was anything she learned at the Academy, it was to put on a brave face no matter what. Truth be told, she didn't want to go on this assignment in the first place. But she wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to work alongside the notorious Captain Gallagher. Everyone has read about Capt. Gallagher and his intergalactic adventures. And here she was in the same cockpit with him. Plus, she was determined to reach the top. And if that meant going on nasty trips like these, then hell, she'd do it. But what she really wanted to do was pilot.

I'm getting there, she told herself.

"…bit, chains, clamp, the whole kit 'n caboodle," the captain was saying.

"Will they be put in cryosleep?" Fry asked.

"Hell, no. Trip won't be that long. Won't be necessary."

"Let's hope not," Delaney said.

Fry held on to the handle overhead and took a deep breath as the Orion came into the ship's view.

It's showtime, she thought.

to be continued...