Scraped from here.
Table of Contents:
Arc One (This Thread)
Waking Up (This Post, further...
Table of Contents:
Arc One (This Thread)
Waking Up (This Post, further...
Murphy was an Optimist... (Firefly SI)
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Index and Arrival
Scraped from here.
Table of Contents:
Arc Two
Arc Three
Arc Four
"Bleeehggh…"
I wake up, my head pounding… Not to mention my face is stuck to the pillow with a combination of drool and… Please let it be just drool.
I go to move, and immediately, know that I made a grave tactical mistake. Opening my eyes, doesn't make it any better. My entire skull hurts…
Gingerly, I feel the back of it, and feel a knot the size of a watermelon. Okay, more like the size of a grape, but still, not all that comfortable. 'What the hell happened to me' I mutter, then look around to see if I can piece anything together.
Wherever this is, it's not the Ritz, that's for sure… Pretty much looks like a cheap flophouse someplace, maybe a hostel. My clothes are on the nightstand, with my large EDC and my jumbo pack leaning against the shoddily constructed furniture. Wallet, phone, tablet are all on the nightstand as well…
I reach over and grab the phone, trying to turn it on to get a date\time. Of course, the phone is dead… Great… Focus Brian… What's the last thing you remember? My wife was going out of town, me and the guys decided to have a guys'weekend and go hiking and camping.
I'm knocked out of my recollection by a banging on the door.
"Times up!" yelled the voice on the otherside, with a notably strange accent. "Time to leave, or another 8 hours!"
Eight hours… Wow.. Cheap ass flophouse, that's for sure… "10 minutes, I'm gone!" I yell back, getting my ass out of the bed and trying to maintain balance. My equilibrium is definitely wonky… Doesn't feel like I'm moving quite right.
"No freeloading!" comes another yell, but then a moment later, I hear him banging on what I assume is the next door over and repeating the same speech.
I manage to make it into the bathroom after fishing out my travel kit from my pack, or what passes for a bathroom. The shower is pretty much a stall, and not very well maintained… Hopefully they cleaned it out, but I've used mildew coated showers before.
Three minutes later, speed shower complete and dry(ish) courtesy of a really threadbare towel, I check my clothes (clean enough) and pull them on. 30 seconds to run my hand through my hair, and brush my teeth, then I check the room to make sure I've got all of my stuff. I get the feeling, they wouldn't hold anything in lost and found if I left it behind.
Another bang on the door. "You go now! Or pay more!"
"I heard you the first time buddy!" I snarl back. I shoulder the rest of my gear and open the door. I start to make a comment about downloading yelp just to slam him, when I get my first look around outside, causing me to bite my tongue. Somehow, I don't think this guy is going to give a crap.
The guy beating on my door, well, he looks like he's from Norway. And I mean that in the 'looks like Thor' kinda way… Or maybe from the deep south or Appalachia kinda way. Anyway, no snide comments from me… This time.
I walk past him, and my first thought is 'Where the hell am I?' Followed immediately by 'Please let this be a nightmare!'
First of all, it's noisy. It's crowded. It looks like something out of Mad Max, Bartertown. I look around, trying to figure this out, but I think I'm sensory overload. After standing there like a slack jawed idiot for a moment, I shake myself out of it, and stop standing there like a rube, ready to be rolled. I move with the crowd, and although I stand out a bit with my quality of clothing (good quality hiking boots, heavy cargo dockers, long sleeve shirt and hunting vest), I'm not the only one dressed better than a lot of the others. After a few minutes, I feel my stomach grumble and note the smell of meat wafting on the air. I follow it, and see a guy selling what can only be described as 'meat on a stick'. I watch a couple of 'purchases' go down, and note that whatever these folks were trading, it wasn't paper currency… Great…
Gunshots ring out, and I bolt away from the sound. I find an out of the way nook, and watch. Apparently, this happens frequently, as I was about the only one who ran… Great. I swallow deeply, then go back into a little cubby, where I can put my back to the wall… I discretely check my EDC, and am happy to see my 9mm and spare clips inside, right where they should be…
"What's this?" I ask, as I find a leather pouch, roughly the size of my fist, that wouldn't have been out of place at any SCA event. I'd never seen it before, but as I pull it out, I can tell it's full of small, heavy objects. Discretely, I open it up… And immediately close it. Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, some goldeny-bronze coins, gemstones, a few rounds of loose ammunition, and some bottle caps. "Shit Shit Shit." I shove it back in my Maxpedition, then pull out my phone. Still dead. I make a note that I'll need to plug that into my solar charger when I get a chance, then my tablet, power it on. Woot! Something is working… But, the time says 3 a.m. on it, and clearly that's not the case. I And that's when I notice a new icon labeled 'read me' on the front of the carousel.
So I do…
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
"Frak me!"
Table of Contents:
- Arc One (This Thread)
- Waking Up (This Post, further down)
- Reaction
Arc Two
Arc Three
Arc Four
"Bleeehggh…"
I wake up, my head pounding… Not to mention my face is stuck to the pillow with a combination of drool and… Please let it be just drool.
I go to move, and immediately, know that I made a grave tactical mistake. Opening my eyes, doesn't make it any better. My entire skull hurts…
Gingerly, I feel the back of it, and feel a knot the size of a watermelon. Okay, more like the size of a grape, but still, not all that comfortable. 'What the hell happened to me' I mutter, then look around to see if I can piece anything together.
Wherever this is, it's not the Ritz, that's for sure… Pretty much looks like a cheap flophouse someplace, maybe a hostel. My clothes are on the nightstand, with my large EDC and my jumbo pack leaning against the shoddily constructed furniture. Wallet, phone, tablet are all on the nightstand as well…
I reach over and grab the phone, trying to turn it on to get a date\time. Of course, the phone is dead… Great… Focus Brian… What's the last thing you remember? My wife was going out of town, me and the guys decided to have a guys'weekend and go hiking and camping.
I'm knocked out of my recollection by a banging on the door.
"Times up!" yelled the voice on the otherside, with a notably strange accent. "Time to leave, or another 8 hours!"
Eight hours… Wow.. Cheap ass flophouse, that's for sure… "10 minutes, I'm gone!" I yell back, getting my ass out of the bed and trying to maintain balance. My equilibrium is definitely wonky… Doesn't feel like I'm moving quite right.
"No freeloading!" comes another yell, but then a moment later, I hear him banging on what I assume is the next door over and repeating the same speech.
I manage to make it into the bathroom after fishing out my travel kit from my pack, or what passes for a bathroom. The shower is pretty much a stall, and not very well maintained… Hopefully they cleaned it out, but I've used mildew coated showers before.
Three minutes later, speed shower complete and dry(ish) courtesy of a really threadbare towel, I check my clothes (clean enough) and pull them on. 30 seconds to run my hand through my hair, and brush my teeth, then I check the room to make sure I've got all of my stuff. I get the feeling, they wouldn't hold anything in lost and found if I left it behind.
Another bang on the door. "You go now! Or pay more!"
"I heard you the first time buddy!" I snarl back. I shoulder the rest of my gear and open the door. I start to make a comment about downloading yelp just to slam him, when I get my first look around outside, causing me to bite my tongue. Somehow, I don't think this guy is going to give a crap.
The guy beating on my door, well, he looks like he's from Norway. And I mean that in the 'looks like Thor' kinda way… Or maybe from the deep south or Appalachia kinda way. Anyway, no snide comments from me… This time.
I walk past him, and my first thought is 'Where the hell am I?' Followed immediately by 'Please let this be a nightmare!'
First of all, it's noisy. It's crowded. It looks like something out of Mad Max, Bartertown. I look around, trying to figure this out, but I think I'm sensory overload. After standing there like a slack jawed idiot for a moment, I shake myself out of it, and stop standing there like a rube, ready to be rolled. I move with the crowd, and although I stand out a bit with my quality of clothing (good quality hiking boots, heavy cargo dockers, long sleeve shirt and hunting vest), I'm not the only one dressed better than a lot of the others. After a few minutes, I feel my stomach grumble and note the smell of meat wafting on the air. I follow it, and see a guy selling what can only be described as 'meat on a stick'. I watch a couple of 'purchases' go down, and note that whatever these folks were trading, it wasn't paper currency… Great…
Gunshots ring out, and I bolt away from the sound. I find an out of the way nook, and watch. Apparently, this happens frequently, as I was about the only one who ran… Great. I swallow deeply, then go back into a little cubby, where I can put my back to the wall… I discretely check my EDC, and am happy to see my 9mm and spare clips inside, right where they should be…
"What's this?" I ask, as I find a leather pouch, roughly the size of my fist, that wouldn't have been out of place at any SCA event. I'd never seen it before, but as I pull it out, I can tell it's full of small, heavy objects. Discretely, I open it up… And immediately close it. Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, some goldeny-bronze coins, gemstones, a few rounds of loose ammunition, and some bottle caps. "Shit Shit Shit." I shove it back in my Maxpedition, then pull out my phone. Still dead. I make a note that I'll need to plug that into my solar charger when I get a chance, then my tablet, power it on. Woot! Something is working… But, the time says 3 a.m. on it, and clearly that's not the case. I And that's when I notice a new icon labeled 'read me' on the front of the carousel.
So I do…
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
To: Whom it may concern
From: Snyth Von Bismark the Eleventeenth (Prime) a.k.a. - BROB
Regarding: Tonight's Entertainment
I bet today is another one of those days you curse the boredom that took you to spacebattles. And I bet you're also going to curse the fact that you bothered to go through the registration process AND started posting…
But, you primates are nothing if not adaptive. And, so, I have chosen you, via random selection, to serve me as way to keep a single facet of my existence entertained. I don't have very high expectations for you. In fact, I highly doubt you'll do much more than survive… if you're lucky… If you're not… well…
Oh, reminds me… You're never going home… I plucked you out of your timestream, cloned you, and put the original back… Your wife is taken care of, in fact, the other you is finally going to get that promotion, and an office with a door, which gives you the privacy you need to finish writing those books of yours… If you do manage to entertain me, then they may even be successful… Look how I took care of that Meyers lady when she did a good job.
Disappoint me, and you'll end up riding shotgun in the mind of a certain white house intern during the 1990s.
Now, goals…
Sincerely,
Snyth Von Bismark the Eleventeenth (Prime)
P.S. As it's all the rage, and because it may stretch your pitiful existence out long enough for you to change the color of your shirt, I have given you a time variable connection to your fellow puppets. Don't bother trying to send them technology specs this time… Last time you did that, that Ed guy ran with it, and in an attempt to block our further … selection process, ended up putting our your star… After we re-jumped the fusion sequence, we decided to make him a gun nut, instead of a meta-physicist… It's safer for everybody this way. I took the liberty of transcribing all of the events up to your thoughts after the end of reading this letter, and am posting them for you… I've also got 'Dragon Natural Living' set to record\transcribe things you do that meet my entertainment threshold. Toodles..
** ** ** ** **From: Snyth Von Bismark the Eleventeenth (Prime) a.k.a. - BROB
Regarding: Tonight's Entertainment
I bet today is another one of those days you curse the boredom that took you to spacebattles. And I bet you're also going to curse the fact that you bothered to go through the registration process AND started posting…
But, you primates are nothing if not adaptive. And, so, I have chosen you, via random selection, to serve me as way to keep a single facet of my existence entertained. I don't have very high expectations for you. In fact, I highly doubt you'll do much more than survive… if you're lucky… If you're not… well…
Oh, reminds me… You're never going home… I plucked you out of your timestream, cloned you, and put the original back… Your wife is taken care of, in fact, the other you is finally going to get that promotion, and an office with a door, which gives you the privacy you need to finish writing those books of yours… If you do manage to entertain me, then they may even be successful… Look how I took care of that Meyers lady when she did a good job.
Disappoint me, and you'll end up riding shotgun in the mind of a certain white house intern during the 1990s.
Now, goals…
1. Entertain me
2. Entertain me
3. Survive, or if you can't, make your death entertaining
4. Learn… Grow… Make yourself a more entertaining sock monkey
5. Bonus Objective: Save H**
In closing… Dance, monkey! Dance!2. Entertain me
3. Survive, or if you can't, make your death entertaining
4. Learn… Grow… Make yourself a more entertaining sock monkey
5. Bonus Objective: Save H**
Sincerely,
Snyth Von Bismark the Eleventeenth (Prime)
P.S. As it's all the rage, and because it may stretch your pitiful existence out long enough for you to change the color of your shirt, I have given you a time variable connection to your fellow puppets. Don't bother trying to send them technology specs this time… Last time you did that, that Ed guy ran with it, and in an attempt to block our further … selection process, ended up putting our your star… After we re-jumped the fusion sequence, we decided to make him a gun nut, instead of a meta-physicist… It's safer for everybody this way. I took the liberty of transcribing all of the events up to your thoughts after the end of reading this letter, and am posting them for you… I've also got 'Dragon Natural Living' set to record\transcribe things you do that meet my entertainment threshold. Toodles..
"Frak me!"
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Arc 1 - Reaction
<- Previous Post
I swallow deeply… This is now officially a bad day… What's next? Posleen? Sith? Actually, given all this, Posleen actually could be a possibility.
Swell.
Ok. Focus Brian. BROB is a bastard, yes we know that… Dwelling on it, not helpful, here and now.
Bastard!
I re-read the note again. Journal. Okay, that's something.
I hit the home button… Yep, there's another new icon. SB Interlink. I bring it up. And, how surreal. I'm reading a description of what I just experienced\did\thought. I guess that's what 'Dragon Natural Living' does. I play around with the options, but it looks like I'm locked into this one thread. And, let me add, what a positively hopeful thread title. 'Murphy was an Optimist'. That just fills me with such hope and cheer.
But, no responses yet… Come on guys… Last time I checked, I had two or three people following me. Okay, let's try this…. Reply…
After putting my tablet away, and taking a deep breath, (not to mention wishing I had some booze in my pack) I walk out into the crowd again. Lots of people here… I move over by the grill, cause, yeah, even though I'm freaking out, I'm hungry… Still can't tell what people are using for currency.
A rolling thunder echoes out of nowhere… Kinda weird, since it's sunny and not a cloud in the sky… I look up, and see contrails… And… Oh, joy...
I'm not in Kansas anymore. There's a ship taking off. Taking off… In front of two moons…
Not going to panic, not going to panic. Fear is the mind killer… Hey, if I make it till morning, I'm probably going to fulfill one of my life goals of watching a star that is not Sol, rise above the horizon… Not going to panic, not going to panic.
I duck back into the alley, pull the tablet back out… Arggh… Still no posts!
Reply…
I swallow deeply… This is now officially a bad day… What's next? Posleen? Sith? Actually, given all this, Posleen actually could be a possibility.
Swell.
Ok. Focus Brian. BROB is a bastard, yes we know that… Dwelling on it, not helpful, here and now.
Bastard!
I re-read the note again. Journal. Okay, that's something.
I hit the home button… Yep, there's another new icon. SB Interlink. I bring it up. And, how surreal. I'm reading a description of what I just experienced\did\thought. I guess that's what 'Dragon Natural Living' does. I play around with the options, but it looks like I'm locked into this one thread. And, let me add, what a positively hopeful thread title. 'Murphy was an Optimist'. That just fills me with such hope and cheer.
But, no responses yet… Come on guys… Last time I checked, I had two or three people following me. Okay, let's try this…. Reply…
And, post… and wait I guess… Ok, let's figure out where I am…IceWing_mk1 said:
After putting my tablet away, and taking a deep breath, (not to mention wishing I had some booze in my pack) I walk out into the crowd again. Lots of people here… I move over by the grill, cause, yeah, even though I'm freaking out, I'm hungry… Still can't tell what people are using for currency.
A rolling thunder echoes out of nowhere… Kinda weird, since it's sunny and not a cloud in the sky… I look up, and see contrails… And… Oh, joy...
I'm not in Kansas anymore. There's a ship taking off. Taking off… In front of two moons…
Not going to panic, not going to panic. Fear is the mind killer… Hey, if I make it till morning, I'm probably going to fulfill one of my life goals of watching a star that is not Sol, rise above the horizon… Not going to panic, not going to panic.
I duck back into the alley, pull the tablet back out… Arggh… Still no posts!
Reply…
** ** ** ** **IceWing_mk1 said:
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Arc 1 - Where the Frak am I?
Since I'm having zero luck throwing out a lifeline to SB, I spend a couple of hours meandering about the crowds... Eventually, I decide to use mercantilism and my fondness for flea markets and pawn shops to my advantage...
On the edge of the marketplace, I see a rather soundly constructed building. Well, solidly compared to the rest of the structures I've seen here.
The rather brutish looking individual by the door, leaning on a heavy wooden staff, with a bulge under his jacket pretty much screams "Guard!".
Yep, it's a pawn shop.
I walk up, making eye contact with the enforcer, then nod. He's sizing me up as well. 6'2", built like a linebacker... Ok, a linebacker ten years off the field, but still, I'm not a scrawny guy, which is funny because I'm an IT geek, who looks like the guy who beat UP the geeks. He nods back, then goes back to scanning the crowd.
The door is heavy. I look at the edge as I walk through... Some kind of laminate. I don't make it too obvious... Don't want them to think I'm planning to rob the place.
Apparently, even being in a place with spaceships doesn't change certain realities. A pawnshop looks like a pawn shop, pretty much no matter what.
I make my way to the counter and look down. Jewelry... Jewelry... Ah, electronics... I look down in the case, and, frankly try to figure out what I'm looking at... Nope... No idea.. It looks like some kind of tablet, but not a style I'm really familiar with. It's not an apple product, nor anything from Dell, Nook, or Amazon. Maybe...
"Looking for anything in particular?" interupts the shopkeeper.
I chuckle... "My friend, I absolutely am. The problem is, I've got no idea what exactly it is, but I'll know it when I see it..." I look around. "Actually, I had a bit of an... incident last night... Turns out my date had another gentleman caller, who took some exception to my spending the evening with her, and he, well, let's just say I'd rather both be forewarned AND forearmed... You wouldn't happen to have something that might assist me with that, would you?"
"Let's be clear here... You're asking me if I've got any weapons I can sell you cause you boned some dudes girl and he's coming after you?"
"Ummm... Yes?"
The shopkeep looked at me, then laughed. "You're all kinds of stupid for pulling a stunt like that without a gun of some kind... So, whatcha looking for?" He waved me back behind the counter and through a door. "Some of the more, high falutin' folks that come in here, they don't want to see guns... Think the gorram government is right to have all the guns, keep them out of the hands of the people..."
"The... gorram government? You mean the Alliance?"
"You know any other government? Of course I mean the Alliance... Not that the Browncoats were any better mind you, me being a loyal citizen and all... Just the... Loyal Opposition..."
"Yeah... So, about those guns... Let's see what you've got... And, body armor, come to think of it..."
"You got coin?"
I pull the bag out of my satchel and fish out one of the gemstones. It's a rather good size emerald, about the size of a penny. I know I'm about to get fleeced, but right now, I need to upgrade some gear and quick...
I'm in the Verse... A long ways from Earth That Was....
Just.... Fraking... Shiny.
On the edge of the marketplace, I see a rather soundly constructed building. Well, solidly compared to the rest of the structures I've seen here.
The rather brutish looking individual by the door, leaning on a heavy wooden staff, with a bulge under his jacket pretty much screams "Guard!".
Yep, it's a pawn shop.
I walk up, making eye contact with the enforcer, then nod. He's sizing me up as well. 6'2", built like a linebacker... Ok, a linebacker ten years off the field, but still, I'm not a scrawny guy, which is funny because I'm an IT geek, who looks like the guy who beat UP the geeks. He nods back, then goes back to scanning the crowd.
The door is heavy. I look at the edge as I walk through... Some kind of laminate. I don't make it too obvious... Don't want them to think I'm planning to rob the place.
Apparently, even being in a place with spaceships doesn't change certain realities. A pawnshop looks like a pawn shop, pretty much no matter what.
I make my way to the counter and look down. Jewelry... Jewelry... Ah, electronics... I look down in the case, and, frankly try to figure out what I'm looking at... Nope... No idea.. It looks like some kind of tablet, but not a style I'm really familiar with. It's not an apple product, nor anything from Dell, Nook, or Amazon. Maybe...
"Looking for anything in particular?" interupts the shopkeeper.
I chuckle... "My friend, I absolutely am. The problem is, I've got no idea what exactly it is, but I'll know it when I see it..." I look around. "Actually, I had a bit of an... incident last night... Turns out my date had another gentleman caller, who took some exception to my spending the evening with her, and he, well, let's just say I'd rather both be forewarned AND forearmed... You wouldn't happen to have something that might assist me with that, would you?"
"Let's be clear here... You're asking me if I've got any weapons I can sell you cause you boned some dudes girl and he's coming after you?"
"Ummm... Yes?"
The shopkeep looked at me, then laughed. "You're all kinds of stupid for pulling a stunt like that without a gun of some kind... So, whatcha looking for?" He waved me back behind the counter and through a door. "Some of the more, high falutin' folks that come in here, they don't want to see guns... Think the gorram government is right to have all the guns, keep them out of the hands of the people..."
"The... gorram government? You mean the Alliance?"
"You know any other government? Of course I mean the Alliance... Not that the Browncoats were any better mind you, me being a loyal citizen and all... Just the... Loyal Opposition..."
"Yeah... So, about those guns... Let's see what you've got... And, body armor, come to think of it..."
"You got coin?"
I pull the bag out of my satchel and fish out one of the gemstones. It's a rather good size emerald, about the size of a penny. I know I'm about to get fleeced, but right now, I need to upgrade some gear and quick...
I'm in the Verse... A long ways from Earth That Was....
Just.... Fraking... Shiny.
IceWing_mk1 said:
Arc 1 - Pawnshop and "You are Here"
I shut the tablet down after typing in a quick response and slide it back into my Maxpedition. Still waiting, I browse around the shop for a few minutes. I find a toolbox and open it up… Fairly standard toolkit. I even recognize the basics. Hammer, screwdrivers, couple of things I recognize but look vaguely techish, and a battery powered drill and some bits. Even has the charger… I check the power pack to see how much juice we're talking. 1 kwh.IceWing_mk1 said:
A kilowatt hour. In a rechargeable battery pack the size of two decks of cards.
Gimme!
I calmly pick up the entire toolbox, and look around to see if there are any more battery packs. Brandon comes back out, my gem in his hand.
"Ok.. Quality is pretty good… I can give you either 975 credits, or 2500 platinum. Or a split somewhere in the middle if you want little of each."
I think about his offer… Normal haggle rules are offer about half what you're willing to actually pay. But, I need some things that may not be quite aboveboard... So…
I raise an eyebrow. "Now, that's just insulting. We both know that stone is worth more than that. I can walk into town, find some jeweler and what's he going to offer me? The same amount he's going to offer you when you show up with that stone. I'm paying a convenience fee here, and I know it, and you know it. 2000 Platinum, 500 Credits, and 500 credits worth of your merchandise.
Let the haggling begin.
So, I'm walking out of here with 400 credits, 1250 platinum. In case anybody cares, the platinum coins these folks use are about the size of a penny.
I've also got keys\remote to a two man hover mule (seriously? 50 credits… For an anti-gravity vehicle the size of a Gator? The economy here is seriously whacked!). I've also got myself a handheld tablet computer, low profile body armor, a tool kit (and 10 extra batteries, all charged I might add). Plus, I've got myself a couple of 'modern' firearms, broken down and spread throughout the rest of my gear, with ammo. A nice, if older, heavy battle rifle (although the barrel is new and 'clean', and another pistol with holster. It's a fairly good fit to my hand, and Brandon said any dedicated gunshop will be able to print me custom grips for a better match. So, apparently 3D printers of some kind are available and not ridiculously expensive.
I've also got the name of a ship parts dealer a few streets over. He may have a spacesuit. And a couple of grocery stores. Plus, I need to find a place I can buy some more clothes… What I've got, isn't going to be enough… And a general goods store… I mean, I don't even know what these people do for hygene. I've got a single tube of toothpaste…
And, I know specifically where I am. Persephone. Specifically, the Eavesdown Docks.
Arc 1 - Eavestown Docks and finding Serenity
Spaceship Row they call it. It's where all the smaller 'tramp freighters' land and do business. I can tell you, as a sci-fi geek, I wanted to just stand there and take it all in. Spacecraft. Affordable, ownable, reusable spacecraft.
Granted, they can't go FTL, but…
I've gone up and down the row. No Firefly class ship.
Which is good. I've got some more shopping to do. I'd really hate for her to land, and then take off again before I'm ready to go.
Upside, right near Spaceship Row, I was able to find, what I can only describe as an aerospace bazaar. Did you know they have something called 'Space Tape'? It's like 100mph tape, but even more ridiculously useful. I picked up a half dozen rolls. I'm also the proud owner, and quickie trained user, of a used 'hazardous environment vac suit' (also known as a combat vac suit, but the Alliance frowns on those being sold…) as well as a repair and maintenance kit for it. And an 'emergency environmental bubble'. Fine, I'm paranoid. I know how dangerous space is, and although these people truth their technology, I don't.
I've got two spare air canisters for my suit, which will give me about 8 hours total endurance. No way to extend the… waste material reservoirs though. Back to air, there are longer duration tanks, which are basically full backpack sized, single used small closed loop life support systems, each good for 24 hours. But, they're such niche items that they're not usually in stock, at least not in smaller stores like this. I've got the company information and am hoping to be able to place a special order.
Oh, and I got the 'port compression coil' and a catalyzer for a Firefly class ship. It cost me all of fifty-three Alliance credits for the compression coil. Given that this thing crapping out meant that Serenity was drifting in space, I guess it shows just how close the edge mall was. The catalyzer? Another thirty seven credits. With as cheap as they are, I seriously considered buying a spare catalyzer and the starboard compression coil. Only reason I didn't is, frankly, I want to introduce as few butterflies as possible. Even having them is, frankly, an insurance issue as far as I'm concerned. Plus, I'm already wondering where the heck I'm going to hide these things… It's not like it's my ship and I'm going to have a safe I can tuck them into.
I also managed to get myself a quick tour of the inside of another tramp freighter that was being stripped at the bazaar, including the passenger and crew quarters. It was a platinum well spent.
The show had it fairly accurate. Running water in the passenger rooms, communal shower space. Water conservation is important, but the life support systems do a really good job on recycling. Small, but not horribly so, quarters. Galley looks similar to what I remember from the show. I have to wonder how they get much made here though… The whole kitchen is not quite the size of ours at home, and the cabinets are teeny tiny. Plus, not a single cast iron skillet in the entire place.
Barbarians I tell you.
My next stop was at a general goods store. Forty credits later, I've got a really durable duffle bag full of clothing, toiletries, two large vac rated storage cases, some 'food' that the gamer in me keeps referring to as Iron Rations, a water filter that makes my Life Straw look like a joke, trenching tool (if I didn't know better, I'd say it had been made in Russia), sharpening tool, pry bar, high quality steel fixed blade, which I normally don't carry. You know; the basics.
Last stop was a grocery store. Herbs and spices (not cheap… kinda feels like British Empire pricing), a couple of decent knives, but no cast iron skillet. I did find a chocolate analog. And, believe it or not, something that's pretty close to a Reese's Cup. There's hope for the future yet.
Oh, and I asked. No strawberries.
As I was getting all of my new gear secured to the back of my skiff (I refuse to call it an AG Mule), I heard another ship coming in.
Looking up, I scanned the sky, and was able to ID the form from the Christmas Ornament my wife gave me a couple of years ago.
Firefly class.
I hurried my repacking along (the catalyzers and the compression coils I tucked into a laundry bag with a set of work clothes and then jammed them into the bottom of one of the vac cases), and then set off for Spaceship Row.
I got there just in time to see Mal and company walk off, with Wash a few seconds behind on the four wheeler. I made sure I didn't stare, and kept my skiff moving down the way, till I was back at the pawnshop, about a quarter mile away. I'd already cleared it with Brandon that I could park it there (for half credit a day), while I was finishing up some of my errands. They'd even keep it from getting stolen\stripped clean for an extra half credit a day. Again, money well spent as far as I'm concerned.
I meandered back over to the ships, and made sure to start my way up the line, from several berths down. I remember how Kaylee made the comments about Sheppard Book, and knew she was watching everybody. If I made a beeline for the ship, then she might be a bit suspicious.
So, I walked up and down the line, looking up at all the ships, like a starstruck child.
Let me tell you, it wasn't a very hard act to put on.
If there was a person out front, I made sure to engage them. Ask about their ship, where they were heading, rates.
By the way, the Brutus (the only name I remember from the pilot)… The guy they had on the dock, dude… talk about scuzzy. When I told them I was from one of the frontier moons, and taking advantage of a windfall and wanted to see the verse, well, the rate they quoted me was… extreme.
I politely thanked them and said I was finding out where everybody was going before making a decision.
Next, I approached Serenity.
Kaylee was sitting in her lawnchair, umbrella currently furled up.
"So," I started. "What can you tell me about your ship here?"
"Her name is Serenity, and she's a Firefly class transport."
"Pretty name…" I took a half step back and looked at her (the ship), again. "She kinda reminds me of a horse. Sleek, but made to run and run. She likes to run, doesn't she?"
"Oh yeah. She's a good girl, loves to fly. Might not look like much, but she's my girl."
"You the Captain then?"
"Oh no… I'm Serenity's mechanic, Kaylee. I keep her running, make sure she's taken care of."
"Well, nice to meet you Kaylee… I'm Brian Dracon. Can you tell me where you're off to next? At least, if you're taking on passengers."
"Yep, we've got passenger cabins available. We're heading out towards Athens, should be a nice quiet run."
"Never been there… Is it nice?"
"Some pretty places out that way… Slower way of life, not so fancy like here in the Core. So, you heading that way?"
"I might be… Not really heading any one way in particular… This is my first real trip, what do you say, out of atmo? Been farther from my home than anybody in my family."
"Well, Serenity is the nicest ship here… Good folks run her, we'll get you where you're going. And cheap too!" She rattles off a price for the room, individual or less if willing to share. It is cheap, but most people around here just don't fly around the verse with no real plans or destination. And those who have the money, usually aren't going to the Rim if they can avoid it.
I thank her and ask if that price would include room in the cargo bay? I've got a skiff and most of my worldly possessions with me. She assures me, they have room, and if I've got coin for the room, that would probably be enough, but if I can pay another 5 platinum, it would make the Captain happier with her negotiation skills.
I smile. She really is as sweet and… shiny, as she seems on the show.
"Well, Miss Kaylee. I do have to say, you're the first ship along the row I've actually thought about getting onto. How long till you… lift? Is that the right word?"
"Oh, we've got about two hours left. But…" I can see she kinda wants to be able to 'close the deal' as it were… They really do need the coin. "We've already got passengers signing up for some of the passenger slots, so you may want to hurry with your choice…"
I think about it, looking up and down the row. "Tell you what… I'll do it… You only live once, right? Now, I'll have to go get my stuff…" I say as I pull out a smaller coin pouch and shake out half of the price she'd quoted me. "Is that enough to reserve my room?"
Her face lights up as she sees the coin. "You're going to pay now?"
"Is that wrong?" I pull back, only partially feigning that I don't know what I'm doing. "Do I pay when I get off?"
"No no… you can pay now, if you don't mind."
I hand over the money and tell her I'll be back shortly… She does ask if I have a preference on rooms. I tell her, as long as there's one left, I'll be fine… Let the other passengers have first pick."
And with that, I've secured my berth on Serenity.
Granted, they can't go FTL, but…
I've gone up and down the row. No Firefly class ship.
Which is good. I've got some more shopping to do. I'd really hate for her to land, and then take off again before I'm ready to go.
Upside, right near Spaceship Row, I was able to find, what I can only describe as an aerospace bazaar. Did you know they have something called 'Space Tape'? It's like 100mph tape, but even more ridiculously useful. I picked up a half dozen rolls. I'm also the proud owner, and quickie trained user, of a used 'hazardous environment vac suit' (also known as a combat vac suit, but the Alliance frowns on those being sold…) as well as a repair and maintenance kit for it. And an 'emergency environmental bubble'. Fine, I'm paranoid. I know how dangerous space is, and although these people truth their technology, I don't.
I've got two spare air canisters for my suit, which will give me about 8 hours total endurance. No way to extend the… waste material reservoirs though. Back to air, there are longer duration tanks, which are basically full backpack sized, single used small closed loop life support systems, each good for 24 hours. But, they're such niche items that they're not usually in stock, at least not in smaller stores like this. I've got the company information and am hoping to be able to place a special order.
Oh, and I got the 'port compression coil' and a catalyzer for a Firefly class ship. It cost me all of fifty-three Alliance credits for the compression coil. Given that this thing crapping out meant that Serenity was drifting in space, I guess it shows just how close the edge mall was. The catalyzer? Another thirty seven credits. With as cheap as they are, I seriously considered buying a spare catalyzer and the starboard compression coil. Only reason I didn't is, frankly, I want to introduce as few butterflies as possible. Even having them is, frankly, an insurance issue as far as I'm concerned. Plus, I'm already wondering where the heck I'm going to hide these things… It's not like it's my ship and I'm going to have a safe I can tuck them into.
I also managed to get myself a quick tour of the inside of another tramp freighter that was being stripped at the bazaar, including the passenger and crew quarters. It was a platinum well spent.
The show had it fairly accurate. Running water in the passenger rooms, communal shower space. Water conservation is important, but the life support systems do a really good job on recycling. Small, but not horribly so, quarters. Galley looks similar to what I remember from the show. I have to wonder how they get much made here though… The whole kitchen is not quite the size of ours at home, and the cabinets are teeny tiny. Plus, not a single cast iron skillet in the entire place.
Barbarians I tell you.
My next stop was at a general goods store. Forty credits later, I've got a really durable duffle bag full of clothing, toiletries, two large vac rated storage cases, some 'food' that the gamer in me keeps referring to as Iron Rations, a water filter that makes my Life Straw look like a joke, trenching tool (if I didn't know better, I'd say it had been made in Russia), sharpening tool, pry bar, high quality steel fixed blade, which I normally don't carry. You know; the basics.
Last stop was a grocery store. Herbs and spices (not cheap… kinda feels like British Empire pricing), a couple of decent knives, but no cast iron skillet. I did find a chocolate analog. And, believe it or not, something that's pretty close to a Reese's Cup. There's hope for the future yet.
Oh, and I asked. No strawberries.
As I was getting all of my new gear secured to the back of my skiff (I refuse to call it an AG Mule), I heard another ship coming in.
Looking up, I scanned the sky, and was able to ID the form from the Christmas Ornament my wife gave me a couple of years ago.
Firefly class.
I hurried my repacking along (the catalyzers and the compression coils I tucked into a laundry bag with a set of work clothes and then jammed them into the bottom of one of the vac cases), and then set off for Spaceship Row.
I got there just in time to see Mal and company walk off, with Wash a few seconds behind on the four wheeler. I made sure I didn't stare, and kept my skiff moving down the way, till I was back at the pawnshop, about a quarter mile away. I'd already cleared it with Brandon that I could park it there (for half credit a day), while I was finishing up some of my errands. They'd even keep it from getting stolen\stripped clean for an extra half credit a day. Again, money well spent as far as I'm concerned.
I meandered back over to the ships, and made sure to start my way up the line, from several berths down. I remember how Kaylee made the comments about Sheppard Book, and knew she was watching everybody. If I made a beeline for the ship, then she might be a bit suspicious.
So, I walked up and down the line, looking up at all the ships, like a starstruck child.
Let me tell you, it wasn't a very hard act to put on.
If there was a person out front, I made sure to engage them. Ask about their ship, where they were heading, rates.
By the way, the Brutus (the only name I remember from the pilot)… The guy they had on the dock, dude… talk about scuzzy. When I told them I was from one of the frontier moons, and taking advantage of a windfall and wanted to see the verse, well, the rate they quoted me was… extreme.
I politely thanked them and said I was finding out where everybody was going before making a decision.
Next, I approached Serenity.
Kaylee was sitting in her lawnchair, umbrella currently furled up.
"So," I started. "What can you tell me about your ship here?"
"Her name is Serenity, and she's a Firefly class transport."
"Pretty name…" I took a half step back and looked at her (the ship), again. "She kinda reminds me of a horse. Sleek, but made to run and run. She likes to run, doesn't she?"
"Oh yeah. She's a good girl, loves to fly. Might not look like much, but she's my girl."
"You the Captain then?"
"Oh no… I'm Serenity's mechanic, Kaylee. I keep her running, make sure she's taken care of."
"Well, nice to meet you Kaylee… I'm Brian Dracon. Can you tell me where you're off to next? At least, if you're taking on passengers."
"Yep, we've got passenger cabins available. We're heading out towards Athens, should be a nice quiet run."
"Never been there… Is it nice?"
"Some pretty places out that way… Slower way of life, not so fancy like here in the Core. So, you heading that way?"
"I might be… Not really heading any one way in particular… This is my first real trip, what do you say, out of atmo? Been farther from my home than anybody in my family."
"Well, Serenity is the nicest ship here… Good folks run her, we'll get you where you're going. And cheap too!" She rattles off a price for the room, individual or less if willing to share. It is cheap, but most people around here just don't fly around the verse with no real plans or destination. And those who have the money, usually aren't going to the Rim if they can avoid it.
I thank her and ask if that price would include room in the cargo bay? I've got a skiff and most of my worldly possessions with me. She assures me, they have room, and if I've got coin for the room, that would probably be enough, but if I can pay another 5 platinum, it would make the Captain happier with her negotiation skills.
I smile. She really is as sweet and… shiny, as she seems on the show.
"Well, Miss Kaylee. I do have to say, you're the first ship along the row I've actually thought about getting onto. How long till you… lift? Is that the right word?"
"Oh, we've got about two hours left. But…" I can see she kinda wants to be able to 'close the deal' as it were… They really do need the coin. "We've already got passengers signing up for some of the passenger slots, so you may want to hurry with your choice…"
I think about it, looking up and down the row. "Tell you what… I'll do it… You only live once, right? Now, I'll have to go get my stuff…" I say as I pull out a smaller coin pouch and shake out half of the price she'd quoted me. "Is that enough to reserve my room?"
Her face lights up as she sees the coin. "You're going to pay now?"
"Is that wrong?" I pull back, only partially feigning that I don't know what I'm doing. "Do I pay when I get off?"
"No no… you can pay now, if you don't mind."
I hand over the money and tell her I'll be back shortly… She does ask if I have a preference on rooms. I tell her, as long as there's one left, I'll be fine… Let the other passengers have first pick."
And with that, I've secured my berth on Serenity.
IceWing_mk1 said:
Arc 1 - Taking Stock, I'm in SPACE and meeting the crew
OOC: I'll admit, I'm still getting a feel for this style of writing... Normally I write third person, limited omniscient. I don't really like first person writing, it doesn't feel the same to me... Also, this section get's us a lot closer to being done with setup... After the pilot, I can have some fun.
I jog back over to the pawn shop. Brandon is still on shift. Not surprising, since I think it's his pawn shop. "Ready to rob me blind again?" I ask with a laugh. "Of course… I've got to pawn off all my crap on somebody today… No pun intended. Your money is as good as anybody else's, and you've got less sense, so let's hear the list."
So, I rattle it off. Most of the data I need, he says he can download for me, or copy it if he's got it. I ask him how much just to get a copy of everything he's got. 50 platinum later, I've got a whole bag of them, with the ones I specifically called out tucked away in the Encyclopedia case. He did tell me not draw too much attention to them if I got stopped. Apparently, the Alliance was a big fan of banned titles.
That brought us to my big ticket item. First aid kit. What he tried to get me to buy at first, well, it wasn't all that much better than what I already had. When I pressed the issue, and only after I told him I was about to go offworld and probably wouldn't be back, it turned out that what I was looking for was a professional grade kit. The bad news was, it's the deluxe model, officially only available to medical professionals. So, it's a good thing that my 300 platinum pays for the appropriate paperwork for me to have it as well (at least, I'm told that it's the appropriate paperwork). It's larger than what we saw Simon with, almost the size of a thick briefcase. I did manage to get a complete instructional tutorial included. Add EMT training to my list of data crystals as well. I swear, it's a good thing we're going to be spending so much time in the depths of space… I've got a LOT of learning to do.
Specific Data Crystals on:
I tucked it into my bag's internal pouch. I still don't exactly trust him, but, you never know… And besides, I paid enough for most of this stuff two times over.
Another run to the grocery store stock me up on about ten pounds of teas, in airtight, lightproof, oxygen absorbing containers. And a gallon of honey. I hope it'll last till I can find more… I also added a couple of pounds of fennel seeds. Good for digestive issues, and who knows what the food on Serenity will be like. Another 42 credits gone.
Oh, and I got a towel.
I arrive back at Serenity with plenty of time to spare, paying Kaylee the rest of the coin, and then help get the skiff stowed away. The contra-grav makes it easy to get up into the support structure, next to a much larger yellow mule. The packing case with the parts stays on the skiff, so it's less likely to get bothered\pilfered. I also left my battle rifle locked up in the skiff… I don't THINK I'm going to need it any time soon, but if I do, all I've got to do is navigate the support structure. And, I'd have a nice little sniper's nest up there.
I get my pack and duffle to my berth, leaving the other case in the bay for now…
I start getting my belongings put away, at least until Mal announces we're about to lift off. I scramble for the communal area… It's the only place on the ship I've got access to currently that's got a window.
I stare out of it, watching as the sky gets darker and darker, until, we're in space… The stars…
I just stand there, probably looking like an idiot, staring out the window.
I am in space. On a Firefly class transport, yeah… But, I'll still out of atmosphere. I try and ignore the fluttering in my stomach. And the urge to drag that other crate to my room and check my spacesuit from top to bottom.
I'm in SPACE.
Anyway, my moment is disrupted by Mal gathering everyone in the common area. Lawrence (he introduced himself) clearly thinks I'm a rube, given my staring out the window as he entered the room. I'm definitely not getting chummy with him.
Mal's speech seems to line up with what I remember from the pilot. Afterwards, I approach Zoe (as the Exec) and inform her I've got an Encyclopedia unit, and as I'm doing research. I would like to tie into the ships's comms system, so I can continue my studies. She looks at me, and then takes the device from me, then looks back at me, I suspect trying to understand why I'm telling her this. I explain that back home, we always had to get authentication to add new devices to the network, and that I assume they'll want to look it over, make sure it doesn't have any damaging apps on it, as well as then authenticate it? Or whatever they need to do. I really don't know how these things access the web. Yeah, I said web… I correct to Cortex, but I still got a look from her.
She takes it, saying she'll get Wash to look at it, and I follow the rest out to the bay. Politely, I indicate that I'll need to be taking my large shipping case back to my room.
Zoe says she'll have Jayne bring to for me.
I hear conversation, look up, see Inara for the first time. I quickly turn and leave the room, hitting Dobson fairly hard on the shoulder… "Sorry," I mutter as I blow past.
I rejoin the group for dinner, after spending the intervening time split between putting things away (Jayne brought me my trunk) and staring at my wife's pictures on my tablet. I do chime in about Book's rosemary comment, saying that I disagree. Garlic is the trick.
Dinner ends pretty much the same. Jayne leaves, a few minutes later, everybody breaks up. I volunteered to do the dishes, since I didn't help cook, and I don't really have anything important to do.
"Sheppard Book was it?" I ask as I bring the dishes over to the prep\sink area.
"Yes, and was it Ryan?"
"Brian, actually. Pleased to meet you," I say as I shake hands with him. "So, a Sheppard eh? How's that working out for you?"
"Fairly well, I have found. It's a good life. A little short on the luxuries, and a bit lacking on wardrobe choice, but other than that…"
"So, as somebody who has never met an actual Sheppard before… Any real substantive difference between a Sheppard, Pastor, Jathedar, Father, Padre or Rabbi?"
"Only the trappings… We're all simply on different paths to the same destination, serving the same Maker. I do have to say, I've heard of very few people who know of the Sikhs, much less the proper term for their clergy."
"Really…" Damn it… "Well, I used to work with a Sikh back home… We had a few conversations…" I shrug. "I pick up lots of useless trivial knowledge."
"Yes, I know how that can be. I'm glad to hear that there are still some around. Given how few of them managed to make it off of Earth that was."
I quickly backpedal, cause I have no idea what he's talking about. "So, you were in an Abbey until recently?"
"Yes. On Persephone. Been there for years, thought it was time to get out amongst the living again."
"Got tired of all the organ music, eh?" I laugh. "Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself. I shouldn't keep you any longer, since you're doing the whole bread and fishes thing…"
He nods and promises that we'll have to talk… It's rare that he can have a good conversation about comparative religion and religious history.
I REALLY need to figure out what the hell happened on Earth… I mean, there were like, tens of millions of Sikhs. And now they're pretty much GONE?
** ** ** ** **
Once I get back to my bunk, finish putting most of my belonging away. I leave my pistol from back home in my Maxpedition, which is slung on the back of the chair, while the 'modern' pistol goes in my underwear and sock drawer. I'll need to do some familiarization with that. Maybe ask Jayne to give me a quick course in maintenance on it.
Zoe did come by and gave my reader back, said no problem using it, just remember that connectivity may be intermittent out here. I take that as meaning, they'll shut things down when they're being all sneaky.
I put the spacesuit owners\maintenance manual in and start reading it.
Repeatedly.
I don't want to pull a Simon.
Later in the night, I'm in the common area, reading and trying to make a cup of herbal tea. Some kind of Chamomile descendant. Anyway, sitting in one of the shadowed seats drinking my tea, when I hear someone enter. It's Inara. She's bringing her dishes back from dinner… She starts washing them, when she pauses and smells the air. "I have to say, that's the first time I've smelled chamomile on Serenity."
"Well, I was having problems sleeping, Miss Serra. I thought a mug might set me on my way to the arms of Morpheus."
"And you would be our reclusive guest. One mister Brian Dracon, on a walkabout to the Outer Rim, or was it from the Outer Rim." She leaves the dishes and approaches the lounge area. "Please, call me Inara. May I join you?"
"Yes," I reply. "Perhaps. And, if you would like. Actually, I'm just trying to find myself and my place in this verse." I sit there for a moment, letting the silence fill the room. "So, you don't have one of the passenger cabins, but reside in your shuttle at all times?"
"I find that, given our somewhat eclectic schedule, when I am forced to remain separated from the rest of the ship for a period of time, that it keeps me more at ease."
"Makes sense. Plus, you're much less likely to have problems in the event of an explosive decompression or other catastrophe."
"I wouldn't let Kaylee hear you say such things. She takes great pride in Serenity."
"And as ship's Engineer, she should. But it still doesn't take away from the fact that we're separated by a couple of centimeters of steel and alloy from the most unforgiving environment mankind has ever faced. Well… Outside of Cleveland."
"Cleveland?" She says, questioningly. I just shake my head, and she continues. "I gather you haven't been in space much?"
"Nope, I'm just a guy from a low tech, backwater rock…"
"And, what brings you here, away from your home? Don't you miss your family?"
"Fate? Kismet? Karma? A nearly omnipotent being who wishes for entertainment? Besides, what makes you think my family is worth missing?"
"What makes you think that I think that?" she said, a hint of a smile on her lips. "I was actually referring to the fact that you clearly love your wife. And would much rather be with her, than speaking with me."
My look apparently indicated.. something, because she continued. "You keep rubbing or touching your wedding band with your thumb. Making sure that it's still there, in what's clearly an unconscious habit. Or you're using it as a shield, to perhaps ward off my 'advances'? It's clear that you're not comfortable with me, despite your efforts to remain civil and polite, so I have to wonder if Captain Reynolds has said something to you about myself and my trade?"
"What? You being a Companion?" I snort. "Please. Unlike some people, I know the lineage of your… profession… You are Geisha, and as such, are skilled in the arts of observation and conversation. Of setting people at easy, learning about them. I heard what Captain Reynolds said earlier, and think somewhat less for him for saying that. Mind you, I understand why he said it, but was wrong to say it."
"So, you do think poorly of my trade, despite your words."
"As I stated, I do not. Again, Geisha, not whore."
"Despite Mal's beliefs to the contrary?"
"Despite his words to the contrary," I finish. "As skilled as you are, Miss Serra, you do not always know, or perhaps recognize, what is in the hearts of others…" I can feel my emotional control slipping, something I do not want to happen. I've already been on edge, as I've been trying to act as if this is a great adventure, when in fact, I know that I'm likely to never see home again. Never hold my wife. I'm hurt, angry, confuses and want nothing more than to simply go on a destructive bender until I flush it all from my system.
Like I said. I don't want my control to slip right now. Mal would NOT be amused.
I take a deep breath. "I do thank you Miss Serra, but you are right. I am not comfortable right now, and as such, I do not feel I am very good company… It truly is not you, at least, not directly. Nor is it your profession. I am trying to work through some issues which are... Complicated." I stand, taking my mug to the sink and rinsing it before turning to her. "I will tell you that you are correct on one topic. I do miss my wife very much, and right now, it is all I can do not to simply break down. And, although not for the reason you think, you are a part of that. I was not planning on revealing this information to anyone, and yet, after a three minute conversation, you know it. This tells me that, at this moment, if I do not excuse myself, I would likely let the floodgates open, and it is still far to early for that to occur. I would appreciate that you do not repeat any of this to the others."
"Of course," she responded, somewhat confused at the rapid change of tone of the conversation.
"And so, I shall retire; bidding you a good evening and perhaps we shall speak on the morrow."
Hurriedly, I retreated from the common area, back to my room.
Even with the chamomile tea, it was a long time before I fell asleep.
** ** **
The bulk of the next week, I spent in my room, reading. Or at least reading when I wasn't missing my wife terribly. Sorry, that's not accurate. I spent the time trying to read, while feeling completely depressed and missing my wife terribly.
You spend fifteen years with somebody, never being apart for more than a week, and at least talking every day when you were apart, and then be cut off completely… That sucked in ways I can't even put into words… I did have a couple hundred pictures on my phone, and a couple of videos, so I could hear her voice and see her face, but it wasn't the same as talking to her, or holding her.
Like I said, it sucked badly.
So, I tried to keep myself busy with reading, and a little bit of exercise and stretching in my room. I really needed to probably make a deal with Jayne and work out with him, but until I had a better understanding of the culture here, I didn't think I should risk it.
I have to tell you, there is a LOT of information to catch up on… About five hundred years of history to start with.
So, let's start with Earth, or as they call it here, 'Earth that Was'.
When they say they used it up, that's not really accurate. It's more along the lines of 'All hell broke loose, and after about 25 years of combat, strategic weapons, large chunks of the planet were pretty much going to be uninhabitable for at least a thousand years.' Basically, as nano-fabrication came online, and got smaller and smaller, multiple genies got out of the bottle. Rogue states were sponsoring what could only be called scorched earth campaigns against their foes.
Basic timeline looked like this:
A knock on my door broke my attention from the Secondary School science text I was trying to burn through. Zoe was standing there and didn't look overly happy. It was the fact that her hand was on her 'rifle', which was on her thigh. "Mr. Dracon, are you using your Encyclopedia right now to access to Cortex."
If the whole 'hand on the rifle' thing wouldn't have set me on alert, I think her tone of voice most assuredly would have. "No Ma'am, at least I don't think I am. I was reading from a data crystal… Did I do something wrong?" I sat up, making sure not make any quick, sudden moves.
"Why would you think that?" she asked as I handed it over without being asked.
"You mean, other than the you're armed, on the edge of pulling said weapon and sound like you want to shoot somebody on principal. Somebody, I'll point out, I would rather not be me…"
She stepped away from me, keeping the Encyclopedia. "Mr. Dracon, I'm afraid there has been an incident and I'm going to need to have this looked at. At this time, please proceed in front of me to the…"
Zoe didn't get a chance to finish her statement, as a shot rang out. Like a flash, she turned and ran, dropping my encyclopedia to deck and ran. I tossed the tablet on the bed and started to follow her, then paused, turned back and grab my duffle which contains the environmental bubble, med kit and supplies I'd picked up on Persephone, as well as the older med kit I'd been carrying when I got dumped here by BROB. Hopefully the six hours I'd spent reviewing the manual and EMT training would at least give me a little bit of heads up if Simon needed any help. And by help I meant 'hand me the extractor' or 'suction'. I at least can use a portable sterile field generator.
I get to the cargo bay just in time to hear the last of the negotiations between Mal and Simon. I join in lifting her with Inara, Mal and Simon, and together we quickly moved the young lady to the infirmary.
Simon asked Mal if he had the extractor, got the wrong answer, and sent Inara scurrying.
I pulled mine out and handed it to him. "Will my kit work in the meantime?"
He looked at me a bit strangely. "Do you know how to use it?"
"I know what the tools are, and can turn on the sterile field generator, that's it," I admitted. "My first aid skills aren't anywhere near this level…"
He looked at Mal, who responded with he had field experience. "Good. Mal, you assist me. Brian, you do what I tell you, or leave the room. Clear?"
I agreed. Mal informed Simon there would be a talk later on. I hear Simon mutter "Won't that be fun…"
I help as much as I can, which is to say, not much. Eventually, Simon runs me out, tells me to take a break, then come back and take over for Inara.
Seeing Kaylee laying there, shot, really… really sucks… I mean, on the one hand, I 'knew' she would survive, but still, in that moment, I think she stopped being a character on a TV show and really became a real person.
I guess having somebody's blood on your hands will kinda do that.
I was so busy thinking, that before I knew it, I heard screaming…
Great… River's awake…
Hitting send on the Kindle, I slide it back into my EDC, and get moving. The clock is ticking, after all.IceWing said:
I jog back over to the pawn shop. Brandon is still on shift. Not surprising, since I think it's his pawn shop. "Ready to rob me blind again?" I ask with a laugh. "Of course… I've got to pawn off all my crap on somebody today… No pun intended. Your money is as good as anybody else's, and you've got less sense, so let's hear the list."
So, I rattle it off. Most of the data I need, he says he can download for me, or copy it if he's got it. I ask him how much just to get a copy of everything he's got. 50 platinum later, I've got a whole bag of them, with the ones I specifically called out tucked away in the Encyclopedia case. He did tell me not draw too much attention to them if I got stopped. Apparently, the Alliance was a big fan of banned titles.
That brought us to my big ticket item. First aid kit. What he tried to get me to buy at first, well, it wasn't all that much better than what I already had. When I pressed the issue, and only after I told him I was about to go offworld and probably wouldn't be back, it turned out that what I was looking for was a professional grade kit. The bad news was, it's the deluxe model, officially only available to medical professionals. So, it's a good thing that my 300 platinum pays for the appropriate paperwork for me to have it as well (at least, I'm told that it's the appropriate paperwork). It's larger than what we saw Simon with, almost the size of a thick briefcase. I did manage to get a complete instructional tutorial included. Add EMT training to my list of data crystals as well. I swear, it's a good thing we're going to be spending so much time in the depths of space… I've got a LOT of learning to do.
Specific Data Crystals on:
- Primary and Secondary Education Materials (k-12 basically)
- Mandarin Instruction (yeah, 3 years of Latin is REALLY going to help me here)
- Science and Technology Basics
- History of the Verse
- Independence War
- Instructions\manuals for everything I bought
- EMT coursework
- Maps of the verse (need to be able to know where the hell I am) – Make sure I do NOT ever look up Miranda from the ship or a traceable terminal
I tucked it into my bag's internal pouch. I still don't exactly trust him, but, you never know… And besides, I paid enough for most of this stuff two times over.
Another run to the grocery store stock me up on about ten pounds of teas, in airtight, lightproof, oxygen absorbing containers. And a gallon of honey. I hope it'll last till I can find more… I also added a couple of pounds of fennel seeds. Good for digestive issues, and who knows what the food on Serenity will be like. Another 42 credits gone.
Oh, and I got a towel.
I arrive back at Serenity with plenty of time to spare, paying Kaylee the rest of the coin, and then help get the skiff stowed away. The contra-grav makes it easy to get up into the support structure, next to a much larger yellow mule. The packing case with the parts stays on the skiff, so it's less likely to get bothered\pilfered. I also left my battle rifle locked up in the skiff… I don't THINK I'm going to need it any time soon, but if I do, all I've got to do is navigate the support structure. And, I'd have a nice little sniper's nest up there.
I get my pack and duffle to my berth, leaving the other case in the bay for now…
I start getting my belongings put away, at least until Mal announces we're about to lift off. I scramble for the communal area… It's the only place on the ship I've got access to currently that's got a window.
I stare out of it, watching as the sky gets darker and darker, until, we're in space… The stars…
I just stand there, probably looking like an idiot, staring out the window.
I am in space. On a Firefly class transport, yeah… But, I'll still out of atmosphere. I try and ignore the fluttering in my stomach. And the urge to drag that other crate to my room and check my spacesuit from top to bottom.
I'm in SPACE.
Anyway, my moment is disrupted by Mal gathering everyone in the common area. Lawrence (he introduced himself) clearly thinks I'm a rube, given my staring out the window as he entered the room. I'm definitely not getting chummy with him.
Mal's speech seems to line up with what I remember from the pilot. Afterwards, I approach Zoe (as the Exec) and inform her I've got an Encyclopedia unit, and as I'm doing research. I would like to tie into the ships's comms system, so I can continue my studies. She looks at me, and then takes the device from me, then looks back at me, I suspect trying to understand why I'm telling her this. I explain that back home, we always had to get authentication to add new devices to the network, and that I assume they'll want to look it over, make sure it doesn't have any damaging apps on it, as well as then authenticate it? Or whatever they need to do. I really don't know how these things access the web. Yeah, I said web… I correct to Cortex, but I still got a look from her.
She takes it, saying she'll get Wash to look at it, and I follow the rest out to the bay. Politely, I indicate that I'll need to be taking my large shipping case back to my room.
Zoe says she'll have Jayne bring to for me.
I hear conversation, look up, see Inara for the first time. I quickly turn and leave the room, hitting Dobson fairly hard on the shoulder… "Sorry," I mutter as I blow past.
I rejoin the group for dinner, after spending the intervening time split between putting things away (Jayne brought me my trunk) and staring at my wife's pictures on my tablet. I do chime in about Book's rosemary comment, saying that I disagree. Garlic is the trick.
Dinner ends pretty much the same. Jayne leaves, a few minutes later, everybody breaks up. I volunteered to do the dishes, since I didn't help cook, and I don't really have anything important to do.
"Sheppard Book was it?" I ask as I bring the dishes over to the prep\sink area.
"Yes, and was it Ryan?"
"Brian, actually. Pleased to meet you," I say as I shake hands with him. "So, a Sheppard eh? How's that working out for you?"
"Fairly well, I have found. It's a good life. A little short on the luxuries, and a bit lacking on wardrobe choice, but other than that…"
"So, as somebody who has never met an actual Sheppard before… Any real substantive difference between a Sheppard, Pastor, Jathedar, Father, Padre or Rabbi?"
"Only the trappings… We're all simply on different paths to the same destination, serving the same Maker. I do have to say, I've heard of very few people who know of the Sikhs, much less the proper term for their clergy."
"Really…" Damn it… "Well, I used to work with a Sikh back home… We had a few conversations…" I shrug. "I pick up lots of useless trivial knowledge."
"Yes, I know how that can be. I'm glad to hear that there are still some around. Given how few of them managed to make it off of Earth that was."
I quickly backpedal, cause I have no idea what he's talking about. "So, you were in an Abbey until recently?"
"Yes. On Persephone. Been there for years, thought it was time to get out amongst the living again."
"Got tired of all the organ music, eh?" I laugh. "Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself. I shouldn't keep you any longer, since you're doing the whole bread and fishes thing…"
He nods and promises that we'll have to talk… It's rare that he can have a good conversation about comparative religion and religious history.
I REALLY need to figure out what the hell happened on Earth… I mean, there were like, tens of millions of Sikhs. And now they're pretty much GONE?
** ** ** ** **
Once I get back to my bunk, finish putting most of my belonging away. I leave my pistol from back home in my Maxpedition, which is slung on the back of the chair, while the 'modern' pistol goes in my underwear and sock drawer. I'll need to do some familiarization with that. Maybe ask Jayne to give me a quick course in maintenance on it.
Zoe did come by and gave my reader back, said no problem using it, just remember that connectivity may be intermittent out here. I take that as meaning, they'll shut things down when they're being all sneaky.
I put the spacesuit owners\maintenance manual in and start reading it.
Repeatedly.
I don't want to pull a Simon.
Later in the night, I'm in the common area, reading and trying to make a cup of herbal tea. Some kind of Chamomile descendant. Anyway, sitting in one of the shadowed seats drinking my tea, when I hear someone enter. It's Inara. She's bringing her dishes back from dinner… She starts washing them, when she pauses and smells the air. "I have to say, that's the first time I've smelled chamomile on Serenity."
"Well, I was having problems sleeping, Miss Serra. I thought a mug might set me on my way to the arms of Morpheus."
"And you would be our reclusive guest. One mister Brian Dracon, on a walkabout to the Outer Rim, or was it from the Outer Rim." She leaves the dishes and approaches the lounge area. "Please, call me Inara. May I join you?"
"Yes," I reply. "Perhaps. And, if you would like. Actually, I'm just trying to find myself and my place in this verse." I sit there for a moment, letting the silence fill the room. "So, you don't have one of the passenger cabins, but reside in your shuttle at all times?"
"I find that, given our somewhat eclectic schedule, when I am forced to remain separated from the rest of the ship for a period of time, that it keeps me more at ease."
"Makes sense. Plus, you're much less likely to have problems in the event of an explosive decompression or other catastrophe."
"I wouldn't let Kaylee hear you say such things. She takes great pride in Serenity."
"And as ship's Engineer, she should. But it still doesn't take away from the fact that we're separated by a couple of centimeters of steel and alloy from the most unforgiving environment mankind has ever faced. Well… Outside of Cleveland."
"Cleveland?" She says, questioningly. I just shake my head, and she continues. "I gather you haven't been in space much?"
"Nope, I'm just a guy from a low tech, backwater rock…"
"And, what brings you here, away from your home? Don't you miss your family?"
"Fate? Kismet? Karma? A nearly omnipotent being who wishes for entertainment? Besides, what makes you think my family is worth missing?"
"What makes you think that I think that?" she said, a hint of a smile on her lips. "I was actually referring to the fact that you clearly love your wife. And would much rather be with her, than speaking with me."
My look apparently indicated.. something, because she continued. "You keep rubbing or touching your wedding band with your thumb. Making sure that it's still there, in what's clearly an unconscious habit. Or you're using it as a shield, to perhaps ward off my 'advances'? It's clear that you're not comfortable with me, despite your efforts to remain civil and polite, so I have to wonder if Captain Reynolds has said something to you about myself and my trade?"
"What? You being a Companion?" I snort. "Please. Unlike some people, I know the lineage of your… profession… You are Geisha, and as such, are skilled in the arts of observation and conversation. Of setting people at easy, learning about them. I heard what Captain Reynolds said earlier, and think somewhat less for him for saying that. Mind you, I understand why he said it, but was wrong to say it."
"So, you do think poorly of my trade, despite your words."
"As I stated, I do not. Again, Geisha, not whore."
"Despite Mal's beliefs to the contrary?"
"Despite his words to the contrary," I finish. "As skilled as you are, Miss Serra, you do not always know, or perhaps recognize, what is in the hearts of others…" I can feel my emotional control slipping, something I do not want to happen. I've already been on edge, as I've been trying to act as if this is a great adventure, when in fact, I know that I'm likely to never see home again. Never hold my wife. I'm hurt, angry, confuses and want nothing more than to simply go on a destructive bender until I flush it all from my system.
Like I said. I don't want my control to slip right now. Mal would NOT be amused.
I take a deep breath. "I do thank you Miss Serra, but you are right. I am not comfortable right now, and as such, I do not feel I am very good company… It truly is not you, at least, not directly. Nor is it your profession. I am trying to work through some issues which are... Complicated." I stand, taking my mug to the sink and rinsing it before turning to her. "I will tell you that you are correct on one topic. I do miss my wife very much, and right now, it is all I can do not to simply break down. And, although not for the reason you think, you are a part of that. I was not planning on revealing this information to anyone, and yet, after a three minute conversation, you know it. This tells me that, at this moment, if I do not excuse myself, I would likely let the floodgates open, and it is still far to early for that to occur. I would appreciate that you do not repeat any of this to the others."
"Of course," she responded, somewhat confused at the rapid change of tone of the conversation.
"And so, I shall retire; bidding you a good evening and perhaps we shall speak on the morrow."
Hurriedly, I retreated from the common area, back to my room.
Even with the chamomile tea, it was a long time before I fell asleep.
** ** **
The bulk of the next week, I spent in my room, reading. Or at least reading when I wasn't missing my wife terribly. Sorry, that's not accurate. I spent the time trying to read, while feeling completely depressed and missing my wife terribly.
You spend fifteen years with somebody, never being apart for more than a week, and at least talking every day when you were apart, and then be cut off completely… That sucked in ways I can't even put into words… I did have a couple hundred pictures on my phone, and a couple of videos, so I could hear her voice and see her face, but it wasn't the same as talking to her, or holding her.
Like I said, it sucked badly.
So, I tried to keep myself busy with reading, and a little bit of exercise and stretching in my room. I really needed to probably make a deal with Jayne and work out with him, but until I had a better understanding of the culture here, I didn't think I should risk it.
I have to tell you, there is a LOT of information to catch up on… About five hundred years of history to start with.
So, let's start with Earth, or as they call it here, 'Earth that Was'.
When they say they used it up, that's not really accurate. It's more along the lines of 'All hell broke loose, and after about 25 years of combat, strategic weapons, large chunks of the planet were pretty much going to be uninhabitable for at least a thousand years.' Basically, as nano-fabrication came online, and got smaller and smaller, multiple genies got out of the bottle. Rogue states were sponsoring what could only be called scorched earth campaigns against their foes.
Basic timeline looked like this:
- REDACTED BY BROB>>>
- NO!
- NO!!
- NO!!!
- Bad Monkey!
A knock on my door broke my attention from the Secondary School science text I was trying to burn through. Zoe was standing there and didn't look overly happy. It was the fact that her hand was on her 'rifle', which was on her thigh. "Mr. Dracon, are you using your Encyclopedia right now to access to Cortex."
If the whole 'hand on the rifle' thing wouldn't have set me on alert, I think her tone of voice most assuredly would have. "No Ma'am, at least I don't think I am. I was reading from a data crystal… Did I do something wrong?" I sat up, making sure not make any quick, sudden moves.
"Why would you think that?" she asked as I handed it over without being asked.
"You mean, other than the you're armed, on the edge of pulling said weapon and sound like you want to shoot somebody on principal. Somebody, I'll point out, I would rather not be me…"
She stepped away from me, keeping the Encyclopedia. "Mr. Dracon, I'm afraid there has been an incident and I'm going to need to have this looked at. At this time, please proceed in front of me to the…"
Zoe didn't get a chance to finish her statement, as a shot rang out. Like a flash, she turned and ran, dropping my encyclopedia to deck and ran. I tossed the tablet on the bed and started to follow her, then paused, turned back and grab my duffle which contains the environmental bubble, med kit and supplies I'd picked up on Persephone, as well as the older med kit I'd been carrying when I got dumped here by BROB. Hopefully the six hours I'd spent reviewing the manual and EMT training would at least give me a little bit of heads up if Simon needed any help. And by help I meant 'hand me the extractor' or 'suction'. I at least can use a portable sterile field generator.
I get to the cargo bay just in time to hear the last of the negotiations between Mal and Simon. I join in lifting her with Inara, Mal and Simon, and together we quickly moved the young lady to the infirmary.
Simon asked Mal if he had the extractor, got the wrong answer, and sent Inara scurrying.
I pulled mine out and handed it to him. "Will my kit work in the meantime?"
He looked at me a bit strangely. "Do you know how to use it?"
"I know what the tools are, and can turn on the sterile field generator, that's it," I admitted. "My first aid skills aren't anywhere near this level…"
He looked at Mal, who responded with he had field experience. "Good. Mal, you assist me. Brian, you do what I tell you, or leave the room. Clear?"
I agreed. Mal informed Simon there would be a talk later on. I hear Simon mutter "Won't that be fun…"
I help as much as I can, which is to say, not much. Eventually, Simon runs me out, tells me to take a break, then come back and take over for Inara.
Seeing Kaylee laying there, shot, really… really sucks… I mean, on the one hand, I 'knew' she would survive, but still, in that moment, I think she stopped being a character on a TV show and really became a real person.
I guess having somebody's blood on your hands will kinda do that.
I was so busy thinking, that before I knew it, I heard screaming…
Great… River's awake…
Arc 1 - Trying to build trust and, oh goody... Reavers
The rundown from Simon on what happened to River went down just like in canon. Same arguing.
I kept my mouth shut. Technically, I was a passenger here, and I didn't want to change the outcome. Both the Sheppard and I, technically, were in a grey area… Well, me more than him. He actually took the fed down. I'm just on the ship.
Which, as far as the Alliance is concerned, is probably good enough for a long stint in a small cell. Assuming that I don't catch some other flack for my possible lack of actual documented existence. Out here, MAY not be that much of an issue, but you never know…
Anyway, I stopped by the sickbay, or infirmary as they call it… Gotta remember to switch to proper\common terms. Going to get me in trouble if I don't watch it. Both River and Kaylee were out, but the Doctor was there, rubbing his jaw a bit.
I guess Mal has a pretty good right hook.
"She going to be ok?" I ask.
"Which one?" he retorts.
"Umm… Both, I guess."
"Well, Kaylee hasn't regained consciousness yet. There was quite a bit of blood loss, and as good as the shelf stable expanders are, some people do have bad reactions to them. I'd feel better if there had been some actual plasma available, but…"
"Blood types are A, B, AB and O, right?" Please, don't let this have changed too.
"Yes, with the positive or negative to represent Rh."
"Well, I think I'm O… negative… I think… If you can type me, I can donate if need be… Especially if it'll help."
"I appreciate the offer, and I'm sure she will as well."
"How about your sister?" I say as I look at River, who is currently laid out on the counter. The infirmary is clearly not set up for two patients at once.
"Until I can be sure she's over the worst of the cryo-stasis, I won't be able to tell what's normal disorientation and what's the effects of whatever it is they've done… Just looking at her, I can tell something has happened."
"You mean, besides the screaming and uncontrollable sobbing?"
"Yes, besides that… She's lost quite a bit of mass."
"Mass?"
"Something I learned long ago… Never, ever, use the word weight in context of a female."
I laughed. "You, Simon Tam, are a wise man. Anyway, just wanted to stop in and see how things were going and grab my med-kit." I moved across the room and picked it up. "And, with this, I shall be on my way…"
"You know, having a kit like that can get you in a bit of trouble with the law if you're not certified to use it."
"I've got the paperwork for it. Besides, I somehow don't think you'll be calling to report my violation anytime soon."
"No… You're probably right on that. But, I could help you learn how to use it properly. Beyond the SFG, that is."
"SFG?" I'm confused.
"Sterile field generator. Although Mal knows his way around a wound, one can never have too many people around them trained in first aid. And, right now, I think he'd be a bit more likely to be the one inflicting harm upon me."
"You might be right… Anyway, sure, I'll take you up on that… Never know when…" I was interrupted by Mal and Jayne walking past the infirmary. "Yeah, that's going to go well… Let's continue this conversation later, Doc."
He nodded, and I made my escape to return my medkit to my go bag, a tiny bit of spring in my step. Equipment plus training will always beat equipment alone.
I made my way to the common area again. Mal was entering, without Jayne in sight… I guessed that Lawrence was busy not getting cut at the moment.
"Umm… Captain Reynolds… A moment of your time, if I could?"
He looked like he was about to say no, but then changed his mind. "If it's only a moment… Got entirely too much going on on my boat right now."
"I know Captain. And I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me…" I pause trying to figure out what to say, but in the end, just meet his eyes and speak. "I know that you're probably not liking this, not only the whole Alliance agent on your craft, but having people who've got no business knowing yours, knowing yours. And I know that you don't have any reason to trust me, or even to believe me when I say this, but. I've got no love for the Alliance. Got no ties to them, got no allegiance with them. But I am in this mess with you, whether I want to be or not, and you need my help, you've got it. You need something done, you let me know, and I'll do my best to get it done. I know you've got a good crew here, Captain. Lots of folks who seem to be solid in their fields, but not a whole lot of extra depth in any one of those fields, outside of you, Zoe and Jayne all seem to be able to throw down when you need to. So, anything you need me to do, I'll do. I'll pay my way, in coin as well as sweat. Hopefully not blood, although the doc did say something about maybe being a source for transfusions. Anyway, that's my pitch, but it's up to you what you make of me…"
Mal looks at me, and then responds with a nod. "I'll take that under advisement. Until then, try and keep from causing any trouble." Before he can say anything else, Wash's voice comes over the PA, calling Mal to the Bridge.
I head back to my room. If I recall the pilot correctly, then this may very well be the two of them having the discussion in the cockpit, which, if is the case, will result in a very tense crew in a couple of minutes.
Yep… There's the announcement.
I hear Zoe and Simon speaking out in the hall. The apprehension, tinged with fear and nervousness, in her voice, is palpable.
I go ahead and don my body armor then pull my shirt back over it, and check my firearms. The modern pistol goes into a shoulder holster, while the Taurus in my drop-leg holster.
Maybe leaving the battle rifle in the skiff wasn't such a good idea after all.
I kept my mouth shut. Technically, I was a passenger here, and I didn't want to change the outcome. Both the Sheppard and I, technically, were in a grey area… Well, me more than him. He actually took the fed down. I'm just on the ship.
Which, as far as the Alliance is concerned, is probably good enough for a long stint in a small cell. Assuming that I don't catch some other flack for my possible lack of actual documented existence. Out here, MAY not be that much of an issue, but you never know…
Anyway, I stopped by the sickbay, or infirmary as they call it… Gotta remember to switch to proper\common terms. Going to get me in trouble if I don't watch it. Both River and Kaylee were out, but the Doctor was there, rubbing his jaw a bit.
I guess Mal has a pretty good right hook.
"She going to be ok?" I ask.
"Which one?" he retorts.
"Umm… Both, I guess."
"Well, Kaylee hasn't regained consciousness yet. There was quite a bit of blood loss, and as good as the shelf stable expanders are, some people do have bad reactions to them. I'd feel better if there had been some actual plasma available, but…"
"Blood types are A, B, AB and O, right?" Please, don't let this have changed too.
"Yes, with the positive or negative to represent Rh."
"Well, I think I'm O… negative… I think… If you can type me, I can donate if need be… Especially if it'll help."
"I appreciate the offer, and I'm sure she will as well."
"How about your sister?" I say as I look at River, who is currently laid out on the counter. The infirmary is clearly not set up for two patients at once.
"Until I can be sure she's over the worst of the cryo-stasis, I won't be able to tell what's normal disorientation and what's the effects of whatever it is they've done… Just looking at her, I can tell something has happened."
"You mean, besides the screaming and uncontrollable sobbing?"
"Yes, besides that… She's lost quite a bit of mass."
"Mass?"
"Something I learned long ago… Never, ever, use the word weight in context of a female."
I laughed. "You, Simon Tam, are a wise man. Anyway, just wanted to stop in and see how things were going and grab my med-kit." I moved across the room and picked it up. "And, with this, I shall be on my way…"
"You know, having a kit like that can get you in a bit of trouble with the law if you're not certified to use it."
"I've got the paperwork for it. Besides, I somehow don't think you'll be calling to report my violation anytime soon."
"No… You're probably right on that. But, I could help you learn how to use it properly. Beyond the SFG, that is."
"SFG?" I'm confused.
"Sterile field generator. Although Mal knows his way around a wound, one can never have too many people around them trained in first aid. And, right now, I think he'd be a bit more likely to be the one inflicting harm upon me."
"You might be right… Anyway, sure, I'll take you up on that… Never know when…" I was interrupted by Mal and Jayne walking past the infirmary. "Yeah, that's going to go well… Let's continue this conversation later, Doc."
He nodded, and I made my escape to return my medkit to my go bag, a tiny bit of spring in my step. Equipment plus training will always beat equipment alone.
I made my way to the common area again. Mal was entering, without Jayne in sight… I guessed that Lawrence was busy not getting cut at the moment.
"Umm… Captain Reynolds… A moment of your time, if I could?"
He looked like he was about to say no, but then changed his mind. "If it's only a moment… Got entirely too much going on on my boat right now."
"I know Captain. And I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me…" I pause trying to figure out what to say, but in the end, just meet his eyes and speak. "I know that you're probably not liking this, not only the whole Alliance agent on your craft, but having people who've got no business knowing yours, knowing yours. And I know that you don't have any reason to trust me, or even to believe me when I say this, but. I've got no love for the Alliance. Got no ties to them, got no allegiance with them. But I am in this mess with you, whether I want to be or not, and you need my help, you've got it. You need something done, you let me know, and I'll do my best to get it done. I know you've got a good crew here, Captain. Lots of folks who seem to be solid in their fields, but not a whole lot of extra depth in any one of those fields, outside of you, Zoe and Jayne all seem to be able to throw down when you need to. So, anything you need me to do, I'll do. I'll pay my way, in coin as well as sweat. Hopefully not blood, although the doc did say something about maybe being a source for transfusions. Anyway, that's my pitch, but it's up to you what you make of me…"
Mal looks at me, and then responds with a nod. "I'll take that under advisement. Until then, try and keep from causing any trouble." Before he can say anything else, Wash's voice comes over the PA, calling Mal to the Bridge.
I head back to my room. If I recall the pilot correctly, then this may very well be the two of them having the discussion in the cockpit, which, if is the case, will result in a very tense crew in a couple of minutes.
Yep… There's the announcement.
I hear Zoe and Simon speaking out in the hall. The apprehension, tinged with fear and nervousness, in her voice, is palpable.
I go ahead and don my body armor then pull my shirt back over it, and check my firearms. The modern pistol goes into a shoulder holster, while the Taurus in my drop-leg holster.
Maybe leaving the battle rifle in the skiff wasn't such a good idea after all.
Arc 1 - Dealing with a shattered psychic
I'm laying prone just inside the left of the doorway from the cargo bay, covering the main airlock\cargo ramp when I hear Jayne tromping up behind me. The front end of my rifle is laying on a rolled up towel.
He takes the position on the other side of the corridor from me. "Nice rifle..." He commented as he set a large dufflebag down and opened it. "You ever fired it?"
"Nope. Picked it up the day I stepped on Serenity. Didn't have time to get to a range."
Jayne snickered. "Most folks on Persephone who you'd see at a range would piss all over themselves. That there's a Freedom rifle. Pride of the Independent Marines."
"So, basically simple enough that you can give it to a small child, and tough enough that even Marines can't break it?"
"You know Marines, eh?" said the resident enforcer. "But yeah, simple enough. You ever fired anything?"
"EBRs? Yeah, I've fired a few. Mostly just familiarization. Full auto, I've used an MP-5. Normally I prefer my Seven Hundred."
"What the gorram hell is an EBR?"
"Evil Black Rifle… Sorry, slang from back home. Basically anything that looks scary and would be familiar to a solider."
"You grow up around a buncha gun haters, and you've got a bloody Beretta on your hip? That's like, a collectors item."
"Taurus, actually," I say automatically as I lay out my magazines. "Same frame as the Beretta, but has the improved safety mechanism of a de-cock."
"When you die, I get your guns, right?" he said. "I mean, no point in them going to waste and all."
"IF I die, and you don't be the one shooting me, feel free to pick em up and kill whatever took me down. But, I reserve the right to ask them back if I don't stay dead…"
"Sure… Sure… Don't suppose you've got anything else squirreled away, do you? And, speaking of which… Where did you have that stashed anyway?"
"On my skiff… In the bay… And no, no more guns on it."
"Captain said you guys weren't supposed to be in the bay, didn't he? So how'd you get it?"
"Captain didn't say there'd be Reavers giving us a drive by either… Given EVERYTHING else that's been going down on this ship since we took off, I think maybe me getting my rifle down before a possible Reaver attack, just not too high on the scale of noteworthy trouble." I pause, trying to figure out if there was anything else I could do except wait… "I would, sometime we land and aren't in deep, you giving me some pointers on this rifle… And maybe give me an expert rundown on it, cleaning regimin… The whole nine yards."
"What's in it for me?"
"Knowing that a gun that might have your back is properly maintained and the guy who's using it knows where the bullets tend to go? And, if you've got some ammo that fits her, I'll let you fire the Taurus…"
"Deal…. Assuming of course, we survive the Reavers and all."
"Don't suppose you've got any grenades?"
"Sure…" He paused, then with hope in his voice. "Trade you one for your Taurus?"
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Mal announced that the Reavers had passed us. And we were going to have another twenty eight hours till we got to Whitefall.
Needless to say, there wasn't a whole lot of dinner conversation that night. I put a couple of basic trays together, keeping the food choices light, and then took it down to the infirmary.
River was still doped up, so I simply set her meal aside.
But, Kaylee was awake, albeit tired. "Miss Fry, your room service order has arrived." I lift away the cloche (which surprised me that they had them, but, apparently, they're part of the standard ship tableware, and magnetize down to the table or counter, therefore keeping food from getting everywhere if there is a grav outage).
She smiles, but I can tell she's really tired.
Being shot really can wear you out I guess.
I bring the bedside stand over, and set her meal on it.
"You know, when we first met, you told me this was going to be a nice quiet run to Athens…" I laugh.
She at least looks a bit sheepish. "Not so quiet, is it… Sorry about that…"
"Well, if nothing else, it's been eventful. But, gotta say… Not quiet, although we definitely met the run part of the promise. And, I'm thinking Athens may not be on the map either at this point… Good thing I don't have any pressing appointments there…"
"She really is a good ship though…" Even doped up, Kaylee truly did not want me to think poorly of Serenity.
"Of that, I have no doubt… I used to work on my car back home, and computers… And I can tell, you put your heart and soul into her, don't you."
"She's my girl…" she said almost dreamily. "You don't think she'll be upset that I like Simon too, do you?"
I smile. "No, I think she'll like Simon too. But you have to make sure to get better, cause I'm pretty sure that everybody's going to need you soon. And I know that Serenity will, ok?"
"Ok… Going to sleep now…" And with that, she drifted off.
I wait till she's out, then start to gather up the plate and silverware.
That's when I turned and came face to face with River Tam, her nose and inch and a half from mine.
** ** ** ** ** ** **
Before I can stop it, the thought passes through my head of 'does she know where the scalpels are?'
She looked at me, then looked around the room, specifically looking at the organization of supplies. "Simon has been here… But this isn't his room, not yet… Too messy. Don't know. Don't know."
I, on the other hand, immediately begin reciting multiplication tables in my head, cause I think she MAY have heard my thought.
Have you ever tried to keep a line of thought going, while simultaneously trying to keep a telepath out of your head? At least I knew some basics, because, well, I'm a nerd.
Who knows if they'll work or not.
I start to try to back out of the room. And she turns her head, and slides off the counter where she'd been asleep. Or at least resting. "You're not part of this. You're new… Feeling is wrong… Not like everyone, everything else… I don't know you, but you know me… Me that is, me that was…"
"Great," I mutter. "It's Drusilla."
"No dolls, no Miss Edith… Lovely stars though, stars you never thought you'd see. But the price you're paying. Gone, gone, all gone… No chance of going home… He's watching you, watching the monkey…" Her voice becomes melodic, as she's almost singing along to music that only she can hear. "Tragic visions, slowly stole my life… Tore away everything… Cheating me out of my time…" She looked up at me. "You think you know the music, you think you know the dance. They won't listen to either of us. I'm the crazy little sister, you're the outsider. By the time they listen, late late too late."
Before I can say anything, she grabs at her head, and then I'm grabbing at mine. By the time I recover from the feeling of an icepick being jammed into my eyeballs and straighten up, River is again right there.
"He made it quieter… Harder to hear you… Still can, but… quieter…" She grabbed my head and looked into my eyes. "Think of something…"
Well, probably a good thing to listen to the crazy psychic who has your head in her hands and has been trained by the evil government people.
"Ok, I heard that… But you have to think loudly… Or…"
"River!" hissed Simon as he entered the room. "Let him go!"
She did, and I immediately stepped back. "It's ok Simon. She didn't know who I was, I think I startled her. No blood, no foul. I was just bringing everybody's dinner to them."
I turned and went to leave when River's hand darted out and she grabbed my sleeve. "She does love you. And you're there with her. You, not you, but you, have a long happy life together…"
I smile sadly. "Thank you. But, I don't think that's going to make it much easier on this end."
He takes the position on the other side of the corridor from me. "Nice rifle..." He commented as he set a large dufflebag down and opened it. "You ever fired it?"
"Nope. Picked it up the day I stepped on Serenity. Didn't have time to get to a range."
Jayne snickered. "Most folks on Persephone who you'd see at a range would piss all over themselves. That there's a Freedom rifle. Pride of the Independent Marines."
"So, basically simple enough that you can give it to a small child, and tough enough that even Marines can't break it?"
"You know Marines, eh?" said the resident enforcer. "But yeah, simple enough. You ever fired anything?"
"EBRs? Yeah, I've fired a few. Mostly just familiarization. Full auto, I've used an MP-5. Normally I prefer my Seven Hundred."
"What the gorram hell is an EBR?"
"Evil Black Rifle… Sorry, slang from back home. Basically anything that looks scary and would be familiar to a solider."
"You grow up around a buncha gun haters, and you've got a bloody Beretta on your hip? That's like, a collectors item."
"Taurus, actually," I say automatically as I lay out my magazines. "Same frame as the Beretta, but has the improved safety mechanism of a de-cock."
"When you die, I get your guns, right?" he said. "I mean, no point in them going to waste and all."
"IF I die, and you don't be the one shooting me, feel free to pick em up and kill whatever took me down. But, I reserve the right to ask them back if I don't stay dead…"
"Sure… Sure… Don't suppose you've got anything else squirreled away, do you? And, speaking of which… Where did you have that stashed anyway?"
"On my skiff… In the bay… And no, no more guns on it."
"Captain said you guys weren't supposed to be in the bay, didn't he? So how'd you get it?"
"Captain didn't say there'd be Reavers giving us a drive by either… Given EVERYTHING else that's been going down on this ship since we took off, I think maybe me getting my rifle down before a possible Reaver attack, just not too high on the scale of noteworthy trouble." I pause, trying to figure out if there was anything else I could do except wait… "I would, sometime we land and aren't in deep, you giving me some pointers on this rifle… And maybe give me an expert rundown on it, cleaning regimin… The whole nine yards."
"What's in it for me?"
"Knowing that a gun that might have your back is properly maintained and the guy who's using it knows where the bullets tend to go? And, if you've got some ammo that fits her, I'll let you fire the Taurus…"
"Deal…. Assuming of course, we survive the Reavers and all."
"Don't suppose you've got any grenades?"
"Sure…" He paused, then with hope in his voice. "Trade you one for your Taurus?"
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Mal announced that the Reavers had passed us. And we were going to have another twenty eight hours till we got to Whitefall.
Needless to say, there wasn't a whole lot of dinner conversation that night. I put a couple of basic trays together, keeping the food choices light, and then took it down to the infirmary.
River was still doped up, so I simply set her meal aside.
But, Kaylee was awake, albeit tired. "Miss Fry, your room service order has arrived." I lift away the cloche (which surprised me that they had them, but, apparently, they're part of the standard ship tableware, and magnetize down to the table or counter, therefore keeping food from getting everywhere if there is a grav outage).
She smiles, but I can tell she's really tired.
Being shot really can wear you out I guess.
I bring the bedside stand over, and set her meal on it.
"You know, when we first met, you told me this was going to be a nice quiet run to Athens…" I laugh.
She at least looks a bit sheepish. "Not so quiet, is it… Sorry about that…"
"Well, if nothing else, it's been eventful. But, gotta say… Not quiet, although we definitely met the run part of the promise. And, I'm thinking Athens may not be on the map either at this point… Good thing I don't have any pressing appointments there…"
"She really is a good ship though…" Even doped up, Kaylee truly did not want me to think poorly of Serenity.
"Of that, I have no doubt… I used to work on my car back home, and computers… And I can tell, you put your heart and soul into her, don't you."
"She's my girl…" she said almost dreamily. "You don't think she'll be upset that I like Simon too, do you?"
I smile. "No, I think she'll like Simon too. But you have to make sure to get better, cause I'm pretty sure that everybody's going to need you soon. And I know that Serenity will, ok?"
"Ok… Going to sleep now…" And with that, she drifted off.
I wait till she's out, then start to gather up the plate and silverware.
That's when I turned and came face to face with River Tam, her nose and inch and a half from mine.
** ** ** ** ** ** **
Before I can stop it, the thought passes through my head of 'does she know where the scalpels are?'
She looked at me, then looked around the room, specifically looking at the organization of supplies. "Simon has been here… But this isn't his room, not yet… Too messy. Don't know. Don't know."
I, on the other hand, immediately begin reciting multiplication tables in my head, cause I think she MAY have heard my thought.
Have you ever tried to keep a line of thought going, while simultaneously trying to keep a telepath out of your head? At least I knew some basics, because, well, I'm a nerd.
Who knows if they'll work or not.
I start to try to back out of the room. And she turns her head, and slides off the counter where she'd been asleep. Or at least resting. "You're not part of this. You're new… Feeling is wrong… Not like everyone, everything else… I don't know you, but you know me… Me that is, me that was…"
"Great," I mutter. "It's Drusilla."
"No dolls, no Miss Edith… Lovely stars though, stars you never thought you'd see. But the price you're paying. Gone, gone, all gone… No chance of going home… He's watching you, watching the monkey…" Her voice becomes melodic, as she's almost singing along to music that only she can hear. "Tragic visions, slowly stole my life… Tore away everything… Cheating me out of my time…" She looked up at me. "You think you know the music, you think you know the dance. They won't listen to either of us. I'm the crazy little sister, you're the outsider. By the time they listen, late late too late."
Before I can say anything, she grabs at her head, and then I'm grabbing at mine. By the time I recover from the feeling of an icepick being jammed into my eyeballs and straighten up, River is again right there.
"He made it quieter… Harder to hear you… Still can, but… quieter…" She grabbed my head and looked into my eyes. "Think of something…"
Well, probably a good thing to listen to the crazy psychic who has your head in her hands and has been trained by the evil government people.
"Ok, I heard that… But you have to think loudly… Or…"
"River!" hissed Simon as he entered the room. "Let him go!"
She did, and I immediately stepped back. "It's ok Simon. She didn't know who I was, I think I startled her. No blood, no foul. I was just bringing everybody's dinner to them."
I turned and went to leave when River's hand darted out and she grabbed my sleeve. "She does love you. And you're there with her. You, not you, but you, have a long happy life together…"
I smile sadly. "Thank you. But, I don't think that's going to make it much easier on this end."
Arc 1 - It's an ambush... What could possibly go wrong?
We're on approach to Whitefall when Zoe and Mal knock on my doorframe.
"Captain. Zoe. To what do I owe the honor?" I ask as I sit with my back against the wall and my Encyclopedia in hand, reading once more.
It was Zoe who spoke. "Came to tell you that, although we appreciate the offer, we're just not completely comfortable with bringing you along."
"Understood," I say, then wait, looking at the both of them.
"That's it?" asked Mal. "You expecting me to overrule her or something?"
"Nope. You're the Captain, she's your XO. She speaks with your voice as far as I'm concerned. No offense Zoe."
"None taken."
"Fact is," I continue. "You don't know me. Don't know how I'll react in a fight. Just my presence is likely to mess up the teamwork you two clearly have. Truth be told, I probably wouldn't take me either."
"Well… Good…" said Mal. "Long as we're clear."
"Yep," I say with a chuckle. "You don't trust me. You're walking into an ambush, probably going to be outnumbered, like ten to two. This Patience lady is going to double cross you, probably shoot one, if not both of you. Me being there may be the glitch in the normal synergy that you two normally have. That could get somebody dead. I mean, odds are people are going to get dead anyway, but they're hopefully going to be people not on this ship at the moment. And then, assuming you both survive, since I assume Jayne will be on overwatch, you're going to have to high tail it back here before she can call in reinforcements. If you're benevolent enough to let her live…"
"Sir," said Zoe. "I have to say, if even our passenger is convinced this is a bad idea…"
Mal simply raises his hand. "With me, Jayne and Zoe off the ship, we're going to be a bit light if something goes down here. Say, something like Patience tries to send folks back here to take the ship."
I nod. It's a good thought. One, frankly, I hadn't considered. Probably due to the fact that that wasn't how it went down in the pilot. But, still a valid concern on his part.
"That would, indeed, pose a slight problem. And, since I've got every worldly good I own on Serenity, and I don't really want to pack, I guess I'll have to make sure we hold the ship…"
"I'd appreciate it…"
** ** ** ** ** **
I watch as the Jayne, Zoe and Mal head out.
Yeah, this is going to be just a great morning. At least I managed to get a little bit of sleep after Jayne and I spent two hours going over my rifle and mounting some optics on it. Nothing great, but they'll at least give me some options… I also bummed a pair of binocs from Zoe.
The spot we're in was chosen mostly at random, just to be in the general vicinity of the meeting point. But, there were two others nearby, pretty much all equidistant from the meeting site. The rest of the surroundings, well, let's just say that as good as a Firefly's landing struts are, boulders the size of cars don't make for the best touchdown points.
I knock on the entrance to the cockpit, where Wash is nervously fiddling. "Permission to enter?"
"Umm.. Yes?" he responded. "So, Dracon, what brings you to the best seat in the house?"
"Well, Mal asked me to make sure that the ship was still in our possession when he got back… Well, technically he asked me to make sure that Patience didn't get it. I'm going to assume he didn't want me to steal it either..."
The pilot looked at me a bit strangely. "You aren't planning on stealing it, are you?"
I laugh. "Uh… Well, let's think… Steal a ship, which is potentially wanted by the Alliance, with an escaped government mad science project on board AND a trussed up Federal agent. Oh, and I can't fly a ship, wouldn't know how to even get the engines started. So, right now, going to go with 'No, I am not planning on stealing the ship'."
"Well, that's good… Cause, you know, my wife is out there and dong ma, you do NOT want her mad at you."
I fiddle with my own wedding band. "Well, you know what they say… Happy wife, happy life. Anyway, I was going to take a look around, make sure that Patience didn't decide to try and get a ship out of this deal as well… Is there a way up onto the top of the hull? And I don't suppose there's any sensors you have on here that would tell me if anybody was approaching?"
"Yeah, I could see her doing that… There's a secondary airlock." He gives me the directions. "When it comes to the sensors, I've got Thermal, RADAR \ LIDAR, magnetic resonance and radiological."
"So, no chance of any kind of motion detection?"
"Well, the LIDAR theoretically could… But, it's really for space based use… I think you'd get almost constant false positives on the ground."
"What about the Magnetic? Could it, say, detect guns people were sneaking up on us with?"
"Nope. Not enough material. Like I said, these are base models, set up for detecting other ships in the Black."
I curse. "Oh well… Looks like I'm going for a walk on the sun deck…" I look around furtively. "You think Kaylee will get mad at me for walking on the hull?"
Wash laughed. "Only if you get mud on Serenity."
"I guess I better make sure my shoes are clean then…" I say with a laugh… "Do me a favor, try not to take off with me outside, will you?"
"No promises… I didn't like the way you were looking at my wife?" he joked back.
"What? Fear? Healthy respect? The knowledge she's armed almost all the time?"
"I know… But she's mine, you can't steal her…"
I hold up my left hand, wedding band present… "Already spoken for. Although, I do think that mine would definitely like yours."
"We probably shouldn't let them hear us saying that like we own them…"
"Oh hell no…. Do I look that stupid? And before you answer, you may want to look at your shirt…"
A couple of minutes later, I'm climbing out of the airlock, taking in the surroundings.
Beautiful terrain here… No chance I'd want to live out here, not without some serious landscaping, but…
I lean up against one of the radiator fins on the top of the Firefly, pulling out the binocs and slowly panning around the ship.
Rock… Tree… Rock… Rock… Something reflecting the sunlight… Rock..
Wait a minute…
(Author's Note: Sorry about the delay... This entire chapter (plus notes for the next chapter) was lost earlier in the week due to MS Word being... Odd) and had to be rewritten... And, oddly, the rewrite has very little with the first pass.
"Captain. Zoe. To what do I owe the honor?" I ask as I sit with my back against the wall and my Encyclopedia in hand, reading once more.
It was Zoe who spoke. "Came to tell you that, although we appreciate the offer, we're just not completely comfortable with bringing you along."
"Understood," I say, then wait, looking at the both of them.
"That's it?" asked Mal. "You expecting me to overrule her or something?"
"Nope. You're the Captain, she's your XO. She speaks with your voice as far as I'm concerned. No offense Zoe."
"None taken."
"Fact is," I continue. "You don't know me. Don't know how I'll react in a fight. Just my presence is likely to mess up the teamwork you two clearly have. Truth be told, I probably wouldn't take me either."
"Well… Good…" said Mal. "Long as we're clear."
"Yep," I say with a chuckle. "You don't trust me. You're walking into an ambush, probably going to be outnumbered, like ten to two. This Patience lady is going to double cross you, probably shoot one, if not both of you. Me being there may be the glitch in the normal synergy that you two normally have. That could get somebody dead. I mean, odds are people are going to get dead anyway, but they're hopefully going to be people not on this ship at the moment. And then, assuming you both survive, since I assume Jayne will be on overwatch, you're going to have to high tail it back here before she can call in reinforcements. If you're benevolent enough to let her live…"
"Sir," said Zoe. "I have to say, if even our passenger is convinced this is a bad idea…"
Mal simply raises his hand. "With me, Jayne and Zoe off the ship, we're going to be a bit light if something goes down here. Say, something like Patience tries to send folks back here to take the ship."
I nod. It's a good thought. One, frankly, I hadn't considered. Probably due to the fact that that wasn't how it went down in the pilot. But, still a valid concern on his part.
"That would, indeed, pose a slight problem. And, since I've got every worldly good I own on Serenity, and I don't really want to pack, I guess I'll have to make sure we hold the ship…"
"I'd appreciate it…"
** ** ** ** ** **
I watch as the Jayne, Zoe and Mal head out.
Yeah, this is going to be just a great morning. At least I managed to get a little bit of sleep after Jayne and I spent two hours going over my rifle and mounting some optics on it. Nothing great, but they'll at least give me some options… I also bummed a pair of binocs from Zoe.
The spot we're in was chosen mostly at random, just to be in the general vicinity of the meeting point. But, there were two others nearby, pretty much all equidistant from the meeting site. The rest of the surroundings, well, let's just say that as good as a Firefly's landing struts are, boulders the size of cars don't make for the best touchdown points.
I knock on the entrance to the cockpit, where Wash is nervously fiddling. "Permission to enter?"
"Umm.. Yes?" he responded. "So, Dracon, what brings you to the best seat in the house?"
"Well, Mal asked me to make sure that the ship was still in our possession when he got back… Well, technically he asked me to make sure that Patience didn't get it. I'm going to assume he didn't want me to steal it either..."
The pilot looked at me a bit strangely. "You aren't planning on stealing it, are you?"
I laugh. "Uh… Well, let's think… Steal a ship, which is potentially wanted by the Alliance, with an escaped government mad science project on board AND a trussed up Federal agent. Oh, and I can't fly a ship, wouldn't know how to even get the engines started. So, right now, going to go with 'No, I am not planning on stealing the ship'."
"Well, that's good… Cause, you know, my wife is out there and dong ma, you do NOT want her mad at you."
I fiddle with my own wedding band. "Well, you know what they say… Happy wife, happy life. Anyway, I was going to take a look around, make sure that Patience didn't decide to try and get a ship out of this deal as well… Is there a way up onto the top of the hull? And I don't suppose there's any sensors you have on here that would tell me if anybody was approaching?"
"Yeah, I could see her doing that… There's a secondary airlock." He gives me the directions. "When it comes to the sensors, I've got Thermal, RADAR \ LIDAR, magnetic resonance and radiological."
"So, no chance of any kind of motion detection?"
"Well, the LIDAR theoretically could… But, it's really for space based use… I think you'd get almost constant false positives on the ground."
"What about the Magnetic? Could it, say, detect guns people were sneaking up on us with?"
"Nope. Not enough material. Like I said, these are base models, set up for detecting other ships in the Black."
I curse. "Oh well… Looks like I'm going for a walk on the sun deck…" I look around furtively. "You think Kaylee will get mad at me for walking on the hull?"
Wash laughed. "Only if you get mud on Serenity."
"I guess I better make sure my shoes are clean then…" I say with a laugh… "Do me a favor, try not to take off with me outside, will you?"
"No promises… I didn't like the way you were looking at my wife?" he joked back.
"What? Fear? Healthy respect? The knowledge she's armed almost all the time?"
"I know… But she's mine, you can't steal her…"
I hold up my left hand, wedding band present… "Already spoken for. Although, I do think that mine would definitely like yours."
"We probably shouldn't let them hear us saying that like we own them…"
"Oh hell no…. Do I look that stupid? And before you answer, you may want to look at your shirt…"
A couple of minutes later, I'm climbing out of the airlock, taking in the surroundings.
Beautiful terrain here… No chance I'd want to live out here, not without some serious landscaping, but…
I lean up against one of the radiator fins on the top of the Firefly, pulling out the binocs and slowly panning around the ship.
Rock… Tree… Rock… Rock… Something reflecting the sunlight… Rock..
Wait a minute…
(Author's Note: Sorry about the delay... This entire chapter (plus notes for the next chapter) was lost earlier in the week due to MS Word being... Odd) and had to be rewritten... And, oddly, the rewrite has very little with the first pass.
Arc 1 - I play rogues, I can be sneaky... What's the worst that could happen?
I take shelter behind the port engine and steady my binoculars. Slowly scanning the area where I'd spotted the reflection…
There! I fiddle with the controls, and suddenly it zoomed in a bit. Two men. One with a bi-podded rifle, with a scope, the other with a shotgun. Neither of them was looking my way… Instead they were fiddling with some electronic device, about the size of a two liter bottle. As I watched, I saw a light come on, green, then wink off, then come back on after they whacked the device. On a hunch, I pulled out my small radio and tried it. "Wash, this is Dracon. Signal check please?"
Nothing, not even static.
Joy. They brought a jamming device to the picnic.
I duck back down so I'm out of sight.
This… This looks suspiciously like a butterfly. How the hell it could be a butterfly, given we've been in interplanetary space, I have no idea, but it sure as hell looks like one.
So, Patience isn't just going to be satisfied with taking the rations. She wants the ship too.
"Wash, come back if you read me…" I wait, hoping. Still silence. "Mal, this is Dracon. Signal check…" Nothing.
Damn…
Ok… I sneak another look. They're still fiddling with the device.
I close my eyes for a moment. They're positioned so that they're going to be able to catch Mal and company in an enfilading fire if they try to get back to the ship.
I scan the other side of the ship, because, frankly, this isn't making sense. Two guys aren't going to do much besides to take down the returning ground team. There's got to be another group IF they're going to try and take the ship.
Is that what she's doing? Or is this just a safety play to take Mal down on her part?
I scan the other side of the ship. I'm not seeing movement, no human silhouettes.
Maybe Patience is expecting to be able to take the ship at her leisure, after she's taken down Mal. Her band of hired guns against the five remaining crew… It'd be a slaughter. And I have no doubts that's what it would be. The ship is valuable. The crew, the people, aren't. Not to somebody like Patience. Plus, from what I saw, it would likely be a hard death, at least for the women. Or at the least, a very bad life, if they weren't killed outright. On the bright side, the Reavers are still likely to land and make it a very, very bad day for anybody left on the ground.
I swallow. This is a bad idea… I'm not a trained shootist. 'It doesn't matter', I think as I'm moving towards the exterior ladder-like extrusions on the hull. 'If you don't do it, who will?'
The wind gives the answer as I hit the ground.
I take another look with the binocs. The two of them are looking at the ship only occasionally.
Dropping to the ground, I begin to low crawl away from the ship, perpendicular to the two thugs. If I can get out of their line of sight, make it to those boulders, then I should be able to circle around behind them. Have the drop on them. Maybe end the whole thing without anything beyond the threat of violence.
It takes about ten minutes to get far enough from the ship that they're less likely to see me. Plus, the large rocks should help cover me. I take a minute to stretch, because low crawling a couple of hundred yards isn't something I've done in over twenty years… Although, come to think of it, I don't feel nearly as tired as I should… Hmm, I'll have to think about that later. Right now, I need to make sure all of my weapons are primed and ready to fire. They are. I even slip in my hearing protection and turn my radio off. Last thing I need is the radio going off when I'm behind them.
I pull out the binocs again, and check. As soon as they pair isn't looking my direction, I crouch down and hurry further from the ship… Rinse and repeat. Soon, I'm well behind them, and they're not looking my direction as I keep moving from cover to cover.
When I'm about a fifty yards behind them, I hear faint gunshots in the distance. I'm guessing it's going down with Patience.
I send a thought out to the universe, hoping everything will remain mostly the same and Zoe and Mal come through that metal storm intact. In the meantime, it gives me a great opportunity to make a move, as the two thugs hunker down.
As I begin to move, I remember something I read long ago. When trying to sneak up on somebody, do not look directly at them. It's been shown that, however it works, people can sense when somebody is staring at them. Since I've got fifty yards to cover, I do NOT want them turning around before I'm close enough. If I can resolve this without bloodshed, I'd really like to.
50 yards. 40. 20.
10.
Snap!
I look down at the damn stick, just as they turn their heads.
Then all hell breaks loose.
I raise the rifle to my shoulder, as they both roll in opposite directions. "Freeze!" I yell.
I track the one on the right, since he's the one with the shotgun. He doesn't listen, and tries to bring it to bear.
OhShitOhShitOhShitOhShit
The sound of my rifle going of startles me. The three round burst startled him more. Probably because it punched through his upper chest and neck.
Then I'm falling to the ground, having just been punched in the gut, HARD, multiple times. My arm feels weird too.
I hit the ground, but I've still got the rifle in my hands.
And the other guy is right in front of me, holding what looks like a machine pistol.
I pull the trigger first. And hold it back.
The rounds walk pretty much right up his body, right as he squeezes the trigger. Fortunately, the impacts throw the gun barrel away from me, causing them to miss. At least, I figure they do, since I didn't feel anything sledgehammering into me again.
Then, there is silence.
I'm alive… Yay for me!
What the hell was I thinking? I'm not trained for this crap! I just murdered two people!
'Push it down. You do NOT have time for this crap!' some part of my brain chimes in. 'Remember what's next?'
"Reavers," I whisper then grab for the jamming device. At least, I hope it's a jamming device. I start fiddling with it, until I manage to somehow turn it off. Or, I'm assuming turn it off, since the lights went out. Ok. Next, loot the dead.
It's not nearly as easy a thing to do as it is in first person shooters or in a gaming session. Not nearly as fast, nor as clean and tidy either… I'm trundling back to the ship with an armful of guns, two backpacks, bandoliers of ammunition and gunbelts draped over me. I almost head for the main bay, when I realize that a.) it's closed, and b.) I have no idea what's going on inside.
Let me tell you, climbing up the side of a ship while badly loaded up, not a great experience. Encumbrance rules make a lot more sense to me now.
I manage to make my way to the airlock, then seal it behind me. A couple of steps to my room, I dump everything in the corner. Gotta find out where we're at in the timeline.
I leave my room, shutting the door behind me.
*pain*
*blackness*
There! I fiddle with the controls, and suddenly it zoomed in a bit. Two men. One with a bi-podded rifle, with a scope, the other with a shotgun. Neither of them was looking my way… Instead they were fiddling with some electronic device, about the size of a two liter bottle. As I watched, I saw a light come on, green, then wink off, then come back on after they whacked the device. On a hunch, I pulled out my small radio and tried it. "Wash, this is Dracon. Signal check please?"
Nothing, not even static.
Joy. They brought a jamming device to the picnic.
I duck back down so I'm out of sight.
This… This looks suspiciously like a butterfly. How the hell it could be a butterfly, given we've been in interplanetary space, I have no idea, but it sure as hell looks like one.
So, Patience isn't just going to be satisfied with taking the rations. She wants the ship too.
"Wash, come back if you read me…" I wait, hoping. Still silence. "Mal, this is Dracon. Signal check…" Nothing.
Damn…
Ok… I sneak another look. They're still fiddling with the device.
I close my eyes for a moment. They're positioned so that they're going to be able to catch Mal and company in an enfilading fire if they try to get back to the ship.
I scan the other side of the ship, because, frankly, this isn't making sense. Two guys aren't going to do much besides to take down the returning ground team. There's got to be another group IF they're going to try and take the ship.
Is that what she's doing? Or is this just a safety play to take Mal down on her part?
I scan the other side of the ship. I'm not seeing movement, no human silhouettes.
Maybe Patience is expecting to be able to take the ship at her leisure, after she's taken down Mal. Her band of hired guns against the five remaining crew… It'd be a slaughter. And I have no doubts that's what it would be. The ship is valuable. The crew, the people, aren't. Not to somebody like Patience. Plus, from what I saw, it would likely be a hard death, at least for the women. Or at the least, a very bad life, if they weren't killed outright. On the bright side, the Reavers are still likely to land and make it a very, very bad day for anybody left on the ground.
I swallow. This is a bad idea… I'm not a trained shootist. 'It doesn't matter', I think as I'm moving towards the exterior ladder-like extrusions on the hull. 'If you don't do it, who will?'
The wind gives the answer as I hit the ground.
I take another look with the binocs. The two of them are looking at the ship only occasionally.
Dropping to the ground, I begin to low crawl away from the ship, perpendicular to the two thugs. If I can get out of their line of sight, make it to those boulders, then I should be able to circle around behind them. Have the drop on them. Maybe end the whole thing without anything beyond the threat of violence.
It takes about ten minutes to get far enough from the ship that they're less likely to see me. Plus, the large rocks should help cover me. I take a minute to stretch, because low crawling a couple of hundred yards isn't something I've done in over twenty years… Although, come to think of it, I don't feel nearly as tired as I should… Hmm, I'll have to think about that later. Right now, I need to make sure all of my weapons are primed and ready to fire. They are. I even slip in my hearing protection and turn my radio off. Last thing I need is the radio going off when I'm behind them.
I pull out the binocs again, and check. As soon as they pair isn't looking my direction, I crouch down and hurry further from the ship… Rinse and repeat. Soon, I'm well behind them, and they're not looking my direction as I keep moving from cover to cover.
When I'm about a fifty yards behind them, I hear faint gunshots in the distance. I'm guessing it's going down with Patience.
I send a thought out to the universe, hoping everything will remain mostly the same and Zoe and Mal come through that metal storm intact. In the meantime, it gives me a great opportunity to make a move, as the two thugs hunker down.
As I begin to move, I remember something I read long ago. When trying to sneak up on somebody, do not look directly at them. It's been shown that, however it works, people can sense when somebody is staring at them. Since I've got fifty yards to cover, I do NOT want them turning around before I'm close enough. If I can resolve this without bloodshed, I'd really like to.
50 yards. 40. 20.
10.
Snap!
I look down at the damn stick, just as they turn their heads.
Then all hell breaks loose.
I raise the rifle to my shoulder, as they both roll in opposite directions. "Freeze!" I yell.
I track the one on the right, since he's the one with the shotgun. He doesn't listen, and tries to bring it to bear.
OhShitOhShitOhShitOhShit
The sound of my rifle going of startles me. The three round burst startled him more. Probably because it punched through his upper chest and neck.
Then I'm falling to the ground, having just been punched in the gut, HARD, multiple times. My arm feels weird too.
I hit the ground, but I've still got the rifle in my hands.
And the other guy is right in front of me, holding what looks like a machine pistol.
I pull the trigger first. And hold it back.
The rounds walk pretty much right up his body, right as he squeezes the trigger. Fortunately, the impacts throw the gun barrel away from me, causing them to miss. At least, I figure they do, since I didn't feel anything sledgehammering into me again.
Then, there is silence.
I'm alive… Yay for me!
What the hell was I thinking? I'm not trained for this crap! I just murdered two people!
'Push it down. You do NOT have time for this crap!' some part of my brain chimes in. 'Remember what's next?'
"Reavers," I whisper then grab for the jamming device. At least, I hope it's a jamming device. I start fiddling with it, until I manage to somehow turn it off. Or, I'm assuming turn it off, since the lights went out. Ok. Next, loot the dead.
It's not nearly as easy a thing to do as it is in first person shooters or in a gaming session. Not nearly as fast, nor as clean and tidy either… I'm trundling back to the ship with an armful of guns, two backpacks, bandoliers of ammunition and gunbelts draped over me. I almost head for the main bay, when I realize that a.) it's closed, and b.) I have no idea what's going on inside.
Let me tell you, climbing up the side of a ship while badly loaded up, not a great experience. Encumbrance rules make a lot more sense to me now.
I manage to make my way to the airlock, then seal it behind me. A couple of steps to my room, I dump everything in the corner. Gotta find out where we're at in the timeline.
I leave my room, shutting the door behind me.
*pain*
*blackness*