Firefly: The Geshen Wars: The Rrift

Chapter 9: Bogeymen

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I don't own, etc.

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Chapter 9: Bogeymen

Much earlier: Yet another Rrift warship was sent into the troubled area. It was deliberately redesigned to be able to be flown from a remote location; it needed no crew.

But it was a sacrifice.

The ship moved at full speed around the asteroid belt. Its crew had reconciled themselves to never returning, and had made their peace with it. If they could only take the enemy with them…

The target world loomed ahead. Again, as had their predecessors before them, they gasped. So the legends were true.

The bogeyman was back.

Something was insinuating itself into their command computers, and the crew could feel the soft susurration in their minds, and susurration that would get stronger the longer they stayed here… "Helm!" ordered the Captain, "Activate all weapons! Target that…thing. Don't hold anything back!"

"Sire, I… I can't. Something's overriding the system, and it's getting worse!"

The captain sighed, a very human like gesture, and opened a small panel on his command chair, revealing a single, non-virtual button, colored orange. I've no choice, he thought, even as he slammed his fist down upon button, releasing the magnetic field around the antimatter in the core of his ship.

The ship went up like a star.

….

Miranda: they'd managed to partially close the door, and Mal and Zoe took up defensive positions against the horde of drones rounding the corner….

…but said drones never spared a glance at the door. Whatever they'd been called to do didn't involve checking in on prisoners, or, at least, not this prisoner. With single-minded purpose, they ran silently down the corridor, disappearing as they rounded another corner.

"Well," quipped Zoe, "normally, I don't like being ignored. But I'll make an exception in this case."

"Damn straight. John, what do you suppose is going on? Are the Rrift under attack from someone else?"

"That is the most logical scenario, Malcolm Reynolds. However, I have learned that true answers are seldom completely logical. Yes, the Rrift obviously feel threatened. I am fairly certain they have no fear of your warships. And I have not been able to summon my own people; this points to a third, or rather, a fourth, party. One they obviously consider a grave threat, indeed. Yes," he muttered to himself, almost too low to be heard, "a grave threat, indeed."

"But we have our objective," he glanced down at River. "We must remove her from this place. We can do little for her at this juncture." So saying, he picked up the unconscious form of River with his two lower arms, while readying his gun with the upper set. "We must get her to the ship."

Jayne was convinced that the quiescent Reavers would, any second, turn on him. But they didn't.

Instead they just stood there, close enough to touch had he so desired, blank expressions on their faces, swaying back and forth just enough to maintain their stance. Whatever the Rrift had done to them apparently acted only on them, as Jayne didn't feel any sort of numbing or hypnotic effect.

What had the Rrift done to them, anyway?

On the frontier, the fearsome Reavers were synonymous with uncontrollable savagery. Yet here, they were like puppets waiting for their masters to return.

The party of Rrift drones had long since left, and Jayne retrieved his gun. He was tempted to start blasting away at the Reavers—it would be fun to shoot them like this, like target shooting—but knew that wouldn't fulfill his mission objective: he had to, not just kill them, but utterly destroy them, depriving the Rrift of anything to experiment on.

Okay, now…where were those air regenerators again?

The shuttle: the little ship's chameleon field had held; it hadn't been spotted. John and Simon were in the small washroom with a still unresponsive River, both of them trying to wash her off. There was a lot of gunk to come off. Mal and Zoe manned the forward pilot's station in case the Rrift did manage to locate the small craft.

Simon cleared his throat. "You know, John…" The reptiloid glanced at him briefly, then went back to washing River. "You never told us how you and River met. For that matter, you never told us exactly what my sister means to you. You said you think she regards you as her pet…but you never said how you think of her."

"That is correct, Simon Tam." Silence

"Well? Aren't you going to?"

"No, Simon Tam. I am not."

"You realize, of course, that that doesn't really reassure me of anything, right?"

"Yes." He fell silent.

After a few moments, Simon again spoke up. "I'm gonna ask you point-blank then: is there a…physical component…to your relationship with River?"

John was silent for a long, long moment, long enough that Simon was wondering if he was going to respond at all. Then, "Yes, there is. But not in the way you suppose."

"And how am I supposing?"

"You humans see everything in terms of sex. Your sister and I have never had sex, and, barring some incredible set of circumstances, never shall. But we are…lovers, in a very real way."

Simon didn't say anything right away. The alien was right: humans did see everything in terms of sex. John was male (albeit an alien male), while River was female, so therefore…

River was nearly clean now, and John lifted her out of the small tub, seating her in a chair on the far side of the room. "Now. I must prepare. Simon, it would be best if you were to go. The fewer distractions, the better."

"I'd like to stay. This process is fascinating to me."

"It would be best if you'd go."

"But-*"

"JUST GO, HUMAN!" John suddenly shouted. So surprised was Simon that he backpedaled, practically falling out of the door….

…..

The Rrift holding area: Jayne had managed to locate the oxygen generators. Good; they pulsed into several large rooms before exiting the upper ventilator. Now, if he could just improvise some sort of way to set it off….

He pulled out a cartridge from his pocket. Even though he was using a Geshen wave-packet gun, he still preferred the old ways. He quickly pulled the bullet and shook out the powder. A little more work, and he'd managed to dislodge the primer. Now he had the makings of a nice little bomb. It wouldn't have to be very big. Now for a timer of some sort…

His knowledge of demolitions served him well, and he presently had a very small, very effective little improvised explosive device…

Shortly, the explosion ripped throughout the entire complex, reducing a good portion of the massive structure to rubble. Spiky rubble, but still rubble.

Jayne had been on the very outskirts of the explosion. Even though he knew what to look for, the sheer sound of it momentarily deafened him. If flung him back against another building, this one apparently built into the side of a mountain. He grunted as his left side took the full brunt of the fall. He felt something in his arm snap. Okay, this is so not good.

He managed to drag himself into a small hollow, not a true cave, but just a small, defensible place. He pulled himself out of sight, watching the building the Reavers had been in burn. 'Bout bloody time.

He was in the process of trying to tear off some of his shirt for a makeshift sling, when he saw something move on the edge of his vision. It was a reptiloid, carrying a gun similar to the ones he and the others were using. At first, he thought it was John. Then he saw the markings, the attire….

….this was no Geshen. This was a Rrift. A Rrift drone, to be precise. And it was coming right for him.

Talk about the absolute worst timing in the 'verse!

…..

The shuttle: River was just then regaining full consciousness, with John gazing into her eyes. "Hey," she managed a smile. To him, that was the most beautiful thing in the universe. Ring galaxies couldn't hold the proverbial candle to it. "Took you long enough." She put her arms around him, and he did reciprocated.

"Got held up in traffic." After a moment, "I'm afraid I snapped at Simon."

She drew back, looking him in the eyes, concern evident on her features. "It's getting worse, isn't it?"

He lowered his head, resignedly. "Yes."

"John, you should tell them. They'd understand!"

"How? I don't understand, myself."

"I know there's bound to be a, a cure or treatment, at least…"

"River, you and I both know there is not. It's…irreversible. When the time comes, rather than endanger others, I…I will simply leave. Inara can fly the ship to Geshen territory, and I'm sure my people will send a contingent, if for no other reason, than to keep the Rrift from gaining yet another star system. You won't need me for that."

She grasped the sides of his head in both her hands. "I need you. And for more than just keeping my brain stabilized, too."

"You will have to learn to do without me, River. For the simple fact is, I will not be here much longer."

Jayne had passed out from the pain. When he came to, he found he was bound around his torso with some sort of cloth-like material, securing his arm to his side, immobilizing it, preventing it from breaking further. But who?

He looked up. Sitting across the hollowed out area was the Rrift he'd seen earlier. It was watching him intently.

Jayne immediately went for his gun…only to find it wasn't there. Terrific. Here he was, at the mercy of a merciless being.

But said merciless being took no hostile action. Instead, it just continued to sit there, its own gun held loosely across its lap, watching him. Jayne wondered if he could wrench the weapon away, then decided against it. Not from here, at least, and not in the state he was in. Best to wait and see what happened.

So what happened next took him completely by surprise: the Rrift drone slung its gun over its shoulder, and came over to him and helped him to his feet.

For a moment, Jayne was thunderstruck. A Rrift drone, actually helping someone? Especially a human? "Mind telling me what all this is about?" Of course, what was going on was obvious: the drone was taking him back as a captive.

Jayne knew several ways of committing suicide, even in his condition. None appealed to him, but given the alternative….

But instead of dragging him back to the fortress, the drone began to half-carry him in what he knew to the be the general direction of the shuttle. Okay, now this is pushin' the weirdometer a little. "What are you doing? What's going on?" But of course the Rrift made no reply.

But part of the way there, the drone let go of him, and clutched at its head, all but falling down and rolling on the ground. It kept hissing, clearly in some sort of agony.

Then it picked itself up, practically gasping for air, re-established its hold on Jayne, and the pair continued on their way.

…..

"Simon?" River had hunted up her brother, finding him conversing with Mal and Zoe. He turned to her. "River!" With one bound he was by her side, hugging her. His sister was back. Not the mindless thing they'd rescued, nor the scrambled person the Academy had produced, but his sister.

"Ow," she said in mock pain, "Don't break any bones there, big brother." Then, as he released her, she sobered. "Look. John told me what happened, you know, a few minutes ago, between you and him. There's a reason for that. He didn't want to tell you, but I…persuaded him to do so. So, all of you, come with me, will you?"

Shortly the group found themselves in the tiny conference room. Mal found himself wishing for the more expansive room of the Serenity, but what was, was.

John was already seated, and River took up station at his side. He waited until they were all seated, and then said, "Simon Tam, I apologize for my outburst earlier."

"That's…alright. Perhaps I was being a bit pushy, anyway. But River tells me there's a reason for it?"

"Yes, unfortunately. You've no idea how much I wish I could say otherwise. But it is not to be.

"Mal? Do you remember my saying that the Rrift must be dealing with some colossal threat, one that would require all their resources? Even to the point of leaving key areas under-defended?"

"Yeeesss. Have you figured out what that threat might be?"

"I have a suspicion. If I am correct, it…would answer a lot of questions." He paused a moment, marshalling his thoughts. Then, "Your human culture has its bogeymen: vampires, werewolves, etc. All of them tend to prey on humans, am I correct?"

"Again, yes. But what's this got to do with-*"

"My own people—along with the Rrift—have a bogeyman of our own. It is called the Crystal, and wherever it goes, it leaves nothing but itself behind."

"The Crystal? You mean like those things in the Rrift's heads?"

"No, something very different. Its means of propagation is not certain, but the most popular theory extant is that it is crystalline particles, driven by the solar winds, and guided by magnetic influences, to habitable worlds. Some theories hold that the Crystal occasionally, for unknown reasons, sends out what you would call seeds, seeds the size of starships, except they are homogenous, composed of pure Crystal, with no crew. And to answer your next question: is it intelligent?" Here he shrugged his upper two sets of arms. "Who can say? They—or it-certainly never tried to communicate with us.

"But wherever the Crystal takes hold, it begins to…to engulf all living beings, turning them into Crystal analogues of their previous selves. Non-intelligent analogues, it should go without saying. Crystal statues, perhaps I should say. Lifeless, at least, as far as we know.

"Then the rocks and dirt. Until finally, there is nothing left of the planet but one gigantic Crystal.

"When I was a youngling, I heard tales about the Crystal, about how, if you strayed too far from the grouping, the Crystal would get you. When I grew older, I dismissed such thoughts as fantasy, of course.

"I was wrong."

Simon broke in. "John, that's…all very interesting, but what does it have to do with your coming unglued a moment ago?"

Now John looked him right in the eyes, and, even with his alien features, Simon could see the anguish in the alien's soul. "Because, Simon Tam, I…am infected. There is a small piece of Crystal growing within me, within my brain. It sometimes causes mood swings, or our equivalent thereof. To behave erratically. It certainly shortens my temper at times."

The others, except for River, reacted with shock. "Uhm, are, are, I mean, is…"

"There is no danger to anyone else, not at this juncture. Only after the Crystal reaches a certain critical stage—which will be clearly noticeable by then—will anyone else be in danger."

"John…how did this happen? I mean, you've basically told us you're dying!"

John shrugged, and Mal could see the alien trying to act nonchalant. I guess much like I would, in his sho-* Er, scales. "And I am. As to how it happened, I do not know. I have never been anywhere near any Crystallized systems, nor come into contact with it in any way that I know. But it is within me. And growing at an ever faster rate." He paused a moment. "So...our time is short. We must retrieve Jayne, and then…it would be best for all of you to take this ship and head for Geshen Territory. As I told River, my people are almost certain to send a contingent, perhaps a full fleet, here, if for no other reason than to keep the Rrift from claiming yet another star system. So no matter what happens to me, you must do this."

"OOOOHH, no you don't!" exclaimed Simon vigorously, to the surprise of the rest of them, including his sister. "You don't get to play the noble hero, sacrificing his life so blithely like that. There's a cure for your condition; there's bound to be. What have you tried so far?"

"Simon, I thank you for your concern, but the full scientific might of my people have attempted to cure me of this…and failed. That was one reason I embarked on the journey I did: I wanted one last adventure." Pause. "I just never expected to meet…the friends that I have."

"Don't try to talk him out of it, John," said River, casting an amused glance at her brother. "Once he makes up his mind like this, he never changes it."

He glanced at her with a mixture of amusement and affection. "Much like someone else I know."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "Who?"'

Simon broke in. "Do you have, like, a library on board your ship? One I could access?"

"Yes, but I'd have to get you an explant, such as Inara is wear-*" But his words were drowned out by an alarm. He looked up. "Someone's coming."

Every jaw dropped when Jayne staggered into sight, being half-supported by a Rrift drone. Without hesitation, the pair made their way up to the shuttle—or, rather, where Jayne knew the shuttle to be. "Okay, people. I don't understand it any better than you, but let me in, or I'll huff an' I'll puff, an'-*"

Mal looked at John, whose face was expressing the same shock as the rest. "We'd best get them inside. Standing out there, they're bound to attract all the wrong kinds of attention."

To be continued…