(A.N- first multi chapter Firefly fic. Will eventually be 8 chapters long, and hopefully part of a longer story arc eventually. Set post BDM, slight Rayne if you squint hard enough. Hope you enjoy. Reviews always appreciated. Ria)
Chapter 1
'River, you know, getting out of here quickly was the plan.'
Over the pilot's head, Zoë shot Mal a reproachful look at his tone. Their pilot, still relatively new at the flying game was trying to out fly a newer, much faster ship through a relatively narrow canyon. Didn't seem the best plan to break the pilot's concentration at that moment. Especially one who could pick up on every thought and emotion. And even Zoë could feel Mal's emotions at the moment and she wasn't the reader.
'The spider must get to the fly to eat it.' River said, her knuckles white where she was holding tight to the straining controls, her control on her brain just as tight, fighting off the fear and anger that abounded in the bridge. River concentrated on Zoë, feeling the staunch warrior woman stood behind her, using her steady emotions to anchor her against the storm that was Mal as she tried to coax more speed than Serenity was officially able to produce. River didn't have to wonder to know that Kaylee was sweating it out in the engine room, trying to keep the engine from falling apart under the massive exertion on it.
'Do you mind not making cryptic comments at the moment- and stop the spider eating the fly!' Mal said, rocked on his feet as River calmly steered hard to the left to miss an outcrop of rock.
'Captains should restrain themselves when they are reliant on others.' River said a small grin on her face as she eased the Firefly around two more outcrops. Zoë got it, quickly strapping herself into a chair, watching Mal take a few moments to follow her.
Mal got on the comm. system. 'This is your captain speaking- you may have noticed we are being pursued- it could get hairy-'
'Could?' Zoë muttered from behind him.
'strap yourselves in.' Mal finished, with a pointed look over his shoulder at Zoë. 'No need to be talking negative in front of our pilot.' He said to her.
Zoë's response was a single lifted eyebrow in disbelief, completely lost on Mal who had turned around again.
Without warning, the Firefly banked hard to the right, causing every one strapped in to thank whichever deity for the invention of seatbelts. Jayne was less happy as he was thrown across the mess. 'Why's it always me who gets thrown around. Gorram crazy pilot.' He muttered to himself as he finally got to the seats and strapped himself in. Simon and Inara were already there, strapped in. 'If your gorram feng li sister crashes this boat' Jayne said threateningly.
'I'd imagine we'll all be dead.' Simon finished, sounding far calmer than he actually was. It was worth the effort to see the scowl on Jayne's face.
The Firefly banked hard again, and then everyone's stomach seemed to plummet to their toes as the Firefly began climbing.
'Uh, River, there appears to be a wall of rock right in front of us.' Mal said, as calmly as he could. He looked over at his pilot. She was sat, back straight, eyes forward, a calm look on her face. 'Uh River? Rocks?'
River was enjoying herself, as perverse as that thought was. She was well aware of the rock in front of her, and of the very large lake being kept at bay behind it. She could feel the ship behind them, feel them as they loaded up the two rocket launchersready to target the fleeing Firefly. They had given up on the idea of getting their cargo back- food stuffs, medical supplies, meant to be bound for the core planets, now on their way back to their rightful owners courtesy of the crew of Serenity. Whilst the pursuers had all but given up on the cargo, the principal of the matter meant they would quite happily shoot the boat out of the sky. Just as the first rocket was launched River pulled back, hard. The Firefly rocketed skywards narrowly missing the bank of rock, taking some scratches on the underbelly but nothing hull breaching. Underneath them the rocket connected with the rock, exploding on impact. For a moment, the damn seemed like it would hold. Till the second rocket hit, exploding on impact, the rock shattering on impact, helped outwards by the wall of water behind it,taking the pursuing boat with it back down the canyon.
River allowed herself a small smile as she levelled out Serenity, ignoring, as much as she could the screams of the drowning men far below. She didn't stop to ask Mal, but aimed hard burn to the sky, breaking atmo in a matter of minutes. It was only once out in the black that the very ship seemed to let out a deep sigh of relief.
Mal clapped River on the back as he stood up, grabbing the comm. and giving the all clear. 'Some damn good flying there, lil albatross. Set course for Raking.'
River was already plotting, the numbers coming easy to her running through her brain till Zoë stood behind her, gentle hand on shoulder, grief a sudden, strong wave of emotion choking her. 'Nice flying, River. Wash would have been proud.'
River nodded, accepting the compliment in silence, knowing that Zoë didn't want words in return. She'd heard all the comfort she could stand. River didn't know if it would help to say that all the skills she had she'd learned straight from the dead man.
River finished plotting their course into the navigation system, checking and rechecking, estimating that it would take twenty two hours, fifty three minutes and twenty-one seconds to reach Raking to allow for maximum fuel efficiency. A small planet, it survived on the only commodity it could grow, tomatoes, and relied on regular deliveries such as the one Serenity had rescued to keep alive.
River stayed in the pilot seat for a while, her thoughts a mix of former pilots and the men far below, drowning in their own ship. Men she'd effectively killed. The men had been killers themselves, seemed poetic that they had been drowned by their own greediness. She stared out into the black, her hands on Serenity's helm, allowing the calmness of nothing to soothe her brain of emotions both hers and others before setting the boat to autopilot and heading below towards the mess. It was almost dinner time and for once they had some fresh vegetables to compliment the protein.
Kaylee met her at the door, hugging her quickly. 'That was some shiny flying back there.'
'Thank you for keeping the engine going.' River said sincerely. She reached forward, gently holding Kaylee's arm frowning as she added 'I didn't mean to hurt you.' She could feel the bruise, knew it had come from one to many hard banks whilst Kaylee had been in the engine room unable to brace herself quick enough.
'Don't think nothing of it. Rather have one bruise than be shot out of the sky.' Kaylee said brightly, looping her arm through River's and all but dragging her into the galley with her. The smell of dinner made River realise how hungry she was and she gladly sat at the table next to Zoë, grabbing a fresh roll that Inara had found at market.
'Are you ok, mei mei?' Simon asked as he carried a pot of tenderly steamed vegetables to the table.
'Fine, Simon. Not a scratch.' River answered, ignoring her brother's probing gaze in favour for demolishing the roll, knowing he hadn't been enquiring about her physical health. Zoë gave her a look but didn't say anything.
'Our lil' albatross damn near saved our lives.' Mal said from his place at the head of the table.
'This smells great.' Kaylee said, taking her seat next to Simon, squeezing his arm.
'That's because Doc didn't cook it.' Jayne commented as he sat next to River, grabbing a roll for himself.
Kaylee didn't acknowledge Jayne as Inara brought the rest of the food to the table, sitting at the head of the table opposite Mal. 'Help yourselves; won't stay hot for long.' She said, starting a free for all for the food, which Jayne, as always, won.
It had been a while since they'd had fresh anything, and there was little but crumbs left in under twenty minutes. That night most of the crew of Serenity slept with full bellies and quiet hearts, for once pulling an almost entirely honest job for an almost honest wage.