-1Serenity's Song

Chapter One

Meat And Metal

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Kaylee curled up next to River. Kaylee's bunk was rather small for two people but at that moment neither one of them cared. Some people thought River Tam was a little crazy. The rest thought she was a lot crazy. Kaylee thought maybe River was the most sane person in the 'verse. 'She's so sane that all the rest of us crazy people think she's crazy.' The thought amused her. River did see things differently than the rest of them.

Kaylee smiled as River's light fingers moved across her body. Over the small breasts to her navel and the puckered scar next to it. "You're made out of meat." River murmured.

"Yeah, I guess so. Isn't everybody made out of meat?"

"Not everybody," River replied. "Serenity isn't made out of meat. She's made out of metal."

"Hey, you're right. I never thought of it that way."

River sat up in the bunk. Her dark hair hung over her face. "I love Serenity! Please don't get mad."

Kaylee grinned at her. "Why would I get mad?"

"I know you love her too. I hear you talking to her. I thought you might get jealous."

"I'm not jealous! We can both love Serenity. I think the captain would marry her if he could."

River took one of Kaylee's hands and looked it over, smiling. Kaylee had very beautiful hands with little scars, stains and calluses. River especially liked the grease and dirt imbedded under the short, ragged fingernails. "I like talking to Serenity. She's very old and wise. When she was born she was called Hector but she didn't like that name. She likes Serenity much better."

Kaylee's brow furrowed. Even she didn't know Serenity's original name. How does River know? Does Serenity really talk to River? No. She must have gotten into some old records in the computer. Maybe she really thinks the ship is talking to her.

River leaped from the bunk and approached the rear of Kaylee's cabin where the curved wall was actually part of the hull. She was so light and graceful that she seemed to float rather than walk. Her fingers gently caressed the hull then she pressed her cheek against it. An elfin smile crossed her face as she felt the ship vibrating. She could hear the thrum of the engines, mysterious thumps, groans, knocks and clacks. It was if the ship was singing to her. "She is the metal and we are the meat. Without the meat the metal will die. Without the metal the meat will die. Symbiosis!"

Kaylee joined her at the hull pressed her ear against it and smiled. "She really is alive isn't she?"

"She used to be dead, abandoned and unloved until Captain Reynolds brought her back to life with his love. Just like how I was dead, abandoned and unloved until Simon brought me back to life with love. Love makes metal live, ships sing and creates babies." River gently caressed Kaylee's face. "You should make babies with Simon. We have the same genes so it would be like us having babies."

The conversation was getting a little weird for Kaylee and she wasn't sure she was ready for babies. "I don't think Simon would really want to settle for a girl like me."

River grinned. "He likes you, he's just afraid. It's really silly. You can't really hurt him. He's so much bigger and stronger than you. You should see him in the morning doing pushups with his shirt off."

Kaylee shut her eyes and got a dreamy look on her face. "Yes, I really should."

Together the two girls held each other closely listening to Serenity's song.

The next morning Kaylee intercepted Captain Reynolds on his way to breakfast. "Cap'n we've got to get a new CO2 scrubber!"

"Can't you fix it?"

Kaylee shook her head. "It's been fixed and fixed and I can't fix it no more."

"How important is it?"

"Do you like breathing?"

Malcolm nodded his head. "I love breathing! It's one of my favorite things to do."

Kaylee looked him in the eyes. "If the CO2 scrubber gives out neither you nor anybody else on this boat will be breathing anymore. We'll all die out in the black and Serenity will die with us."

Jayne's voice echoed down the passageway. "What's all this about us not breathin'!? I like breathin' too!"

Malcolm waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry Jayne. Everybody on my boat gets to breath until I say different." He then turned his attention back to Kaylee. A concerned look on his face. "Don't we have a backup?"

Kaylee shook her head. "The one we're using is the backup! The main scrubber quit on us five months ago!"

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

Kaylee got a little frustrated. "I've told you about it every week for the past five months!"

"But not in a way that'll make me listen! How long do we have?"

Kaylee shook her head. "It might give out in ten minutes or it might last another four or five trips but we don't have long."

"How much is this going to cost us?"

Kaylee sighed. One thing Captain Malcolm Reynolds did better than anything else was prove that crime doesn't pay. "However much it costs. We need this or we don't fly."

Malcolm's jaw set. "We'll reach Oz in two days mei mei. I promise I'll get us a new scrubber before we leave."

"Shiny." Kaylee was satisfied. One thing Captain Reynolds would never do is break a promise to her.

When Kaylee and River followed Malcolm into the mess deck Zoe, Wash, & Jayne were already seated around the table. Shepherd Book had prepared powdered eggs and was spooning it out on everybody's plates.

Jayne looked up. "I'm surprised you two girls are still hungry." He then leaned back in his chair and gave an sly grin. "What with all the pie you ate last night!"

Shepherd Book looked extremely embarrassed. Kaylee stopped, made an embarrassed squeak, and stared at the floor. River completely ignored him and pranced to her chair. Wash's head jerked up with excitement. "Pie?! We have pie?!" Zoe gripped his arm and shook her head. "Oh . . . Oooooh." Wash sighed, nodding with mixture of awareness and disappointment. He really wanted some pie.

"Shut up Jayne!" Malcolm's voice brooked no opposition.

"Captain! I was just joking!"

"Not at the table Jayne! We don't discuss each other's private things at the table! I ain't telling you again!"

Jayne scowled but kept his mouth shut. When Simon entered the mess deck with Inara he noticed the atmosphere seemed tense but didn't know why. Kaylee seemed especially nervous. Jayne just had a smirk on his face. River was twirling her fork though the scrambled eggs. "So many eggs they lay but only some become chicks. Liquified, atomized, sprayed through hot gasses, dried and powdered to be boxed up, mixed with water and eaten by the dominate species. The hens don't even know!"

Jayne glanced over at the girl warily. He knew how dangerous River could be. The doctor was a pompous ass but he could be very useful after a job. The girl was nothing but trouble but he supposed she came along with the doctor as a package deal.

Simon sat down. "So Kaylee how are things going?"

Kaylee gave a little nervous smile. "We're getting a new CO2 scrubber. That way we all don't have to die."

Simon's eyebrows rose in surprise and he nodded. "That is very good news."

Kaylee quickly finished her breakfast and stood up. "I've got to go to the engine room and do . . . engine room stuff." She quickly hurried out of the room.

Simon watched her leave. "Is something up with Kaylee?"

Jayne gave a nasty sneer. "Not a damned thing!"

When Kaylee got to the engine room she first checked the lubrication. The spinning compression coil was supposed to be self lubricating but that didn't mean that it was. It seemed to be working. Then she double checked the CO2 scrubber. It was an emergency backup meant to last only for about a month. Just long enough to get the main one fixed. It wasn't meant to work for five months and getting blown up a couple of months ago in the engine room explosion didn't improve it much. It seemed to be still limping along. She made several more checks of different systems before she was satisfied that everything was working.

Kaylee then climbed up into her hammock and blew a wayward wisp of hair off her face. "Serenity, I just don't know what to do. I like both Simon and River. But I don't know how Simon would feel if he finds out about me and River. There might be a bit of an ick factor if he finds out I've been diddling his sister. But on the other hand he doesn't seem too eager to bunk with me himself. I'm sure he's used to pretty, high society girls. I'm just a scruffy mechanic." She put her hand out on the hull and felt it vibrating. "Sooner or later Jayne's going to tell him. He'll get all grossed out and I'll lose any chance I have."

She just lay there for a while, then on impulse she got out of her hammock. Kaylee pressed her ear against the hull. It was stronger here. More powerful. She shut her eyes and smiled listening to Serenity's song.

Authors's note: This is my first Firefly fic. I hope you like it. I'm just an old Navy Boatswain's Mate who used to sometimes press his ear against the hull, and listen to the ship sing.