Chapter 11
The moment the Firefly's feet reached the ground, Jayne opened the cargo bay doors. Some of the crew may not have liked the feeling of solid ground, but fresh atmo was always preferable to the air recycler. And a little natural light might also make the clean up chores go quick.
Jayne paused to watch the sunlight fill the bay as the cargo ramp lowered to the ground, then went back to his job. He hefted another tire off the hog-mule and rolled it into the center of the cargo bay to begin the next patch. The first tire had taken three patches before being able to hold air again. He had hope the second would take less effort.
Whisker noted his progress as he made his way from the bridge, past Jayne in the cargo bay, on the way to the infirmary. He strolled in to give a progress report to Del, who just finished her donation of blood for Fram's recovery.
"Touchdown. It's a sunny morning, for those who like such things."
Del was brooding, and not in the mood for pleasantries. "Did you send a wave to Iris?"
"I did. I told her 'the usual'. She should be here by day's end."
"Tell her to double it. The run in with the Alliance has left us scarce. I'm on my last clip." The drained captain sighed, showing the first signs of exhaustion. She wistfully looked at her unconscious crewman on the gurney. "This job is becoming more costly all the time."
The two were interrupted by Zoe, and her daughter.
"We're off. Thank you. For the ride." Zoe's tone did not reflect her words.
"Sure. Anytime." Del lied in return. The two shared a look of challenge against the other's authority. Whisker sensed a dangerous spark between the two. Del, too, felt the adversarial tension, and decided to verify the threat got off her boat. She followed Zoe into the cargo bay, from a safe distance.
"Who was that?" a weary Fram said, rousing. Whisker felt a moment of relief, seeing his friend healthy and awake.
Standing just inside the cargo bay, Del watched as Zoe and Jayne shared a sideways glare, like two animals hunting each other. Neither made a move to incite the other but both were on the brink of attack.
Despite the combative mood, mother and daughter were able to make a safe exit from the ship, and the two began walking up the slope of the shallow valley Whisker had set them in. The brightness of the morning sun kept them blinded as they walked away from their old home. And it's because of the sun that they heard the ship blocking their path before they saw it drop out of the sky. Emma felt immediate fear.
"Mom. That doesn't look like - "
Before she could finish her sentence, Zoe was giving orders and drawing her gun.
"Emma. Get back to the ship. Run! Now!" Emma followed her mother's instructions, as the older woman began firing at the crowd emerging from the rancid boil landing in front of her. She fired her last three shots then turned to make her getaway as well.
Whisker had just informed Del and Jayne of Fram's recovery when a frightened Emma burst into view and charged up the cargo ramp at them. Before any could guess her motives Zoe, too, appeared at the cargo ship's entrance, screaming the most frightful word:
"REAVERS!"
Two steps into the cargo bay, Zoe stopped long enough to close the cargo bay doors and then proceeded further into the safety of the ship, finally turning and crouching in defense. As the ramp began to raise, three monsters appearred at the entrance, and jumped aboard. Zoe met the first with a boot heal square to the jaw, dropping him immediately. The second made a direct chase for Emma but was stopped by Jayne's sharp elbow. The third maniac paused briefly at the top of the closing ramp. With a remarkable precision, he withdrew a knife from his leg and cut the main hydraulic hose.
Zoe, Del, Whisker and Jayne watched in horror as the cargo bay door lost power and collapsed, with a loud thud, back to the ground. The ship was now left gaping. They were open, vulnerable to any and all. The gnarling foaming noise of reavers grew louder and louder outside the ship. There was about to be far more than three monsters aboard.
Del jumped into action.
"Fall back to the infirmary!" Whisker was in motion before her next order came out. "Whisker, seal off the upper decks!"
Jayne drew his sidearm only to find it empty. As Zoe made her retreat, Jayne tossed his empty weapon at the advancing reaver on her trail. A square hit to its face was enough to slow it down and allow Zoe and her daughter to make it through the door at the rear of the cargo bay.
Del pulled her only loaded weapon and began firing at the three intruders. Head shots put each of them down permanently. But her troubles quickly multiplied. A raving, hungry mob emerged at the cargo bay's entrance, hell bent on rape, murder, and mutilation.
Whisker reached the top of the catwalk just as the swarm entered the ship. "Alright," he thought to himself, "I just have to make it the length of the cargo bay before any reavers make it up the stairs in front of me." As if reading his thoughts, four reavers began scrambling up to meet him. He took off at a dead sprint, drawing his gun as he ran.
Below him, his crew mates were back pedaling in a panic. Del unloaded her last clip as Jayne made it through the rear hatch to safety. Before she turned to join him she felt a firm hand yank her backwards through the door. She was surprised to find Zoe on the other end of her rescue.
"Emma! The door!" her mother commanded. Emma slammed the door shut and Jayne sealed and locked it from inside, giving them all a measure of safety. The reavers unleashed their anger and frustration by shattering the hatch's view window. Their gnarls and screams grew louder, and more violent as the mass of beasts raged on inside the cargo bay.
Whisker, still on the catwalk over the bay, fired his one and only bullet, hitting the reaver accelerating towards him in the chest. He followed his shot with a kick to his victim's stomach, sending the reaver backwards, down the staircase, hindering those following. He had time for one last glance at the cargo bay below as it filled with cannibals and rapists, then he bolted up the last set of stairs and sealed the door behind him. He too, was safe. For the moment.
The reavers were not deterred by the sealed hatches. They attacked the doors and walls of the ship with a mad gusto, slowly damaging and eroding the seals and locks. Given enough time the reavers were going to overpower the bulkheads and get at their prey.
Del bolted up the back stairs on her way to the bridge. Zoe instinctively followed, close on her heels.
Arriving next to Whisker on the bridge, Del started looking for options.
"Can we break atmo, suck them all into space?" she asked her pilot.
"With cargo ramp dangling open - we'd probably cook the whole ship. Including ourselves. And -" Before Whisker could make his next point Zoe offered her secondary advice.
"What if we just got high enough to dump them from the sky?"
"I don't know. There are some vital areas in the cargo bay. If they know how to cut open the cargo ramp, imagine if they decided to cut power while we're in the air? We'd all come falling out of the sky."
Before the desperation of being trapped could set in, the rampaging hellions began spewing out of the Firefly, back onto the valley floor. They had been drawn back outside.
The three humans on the Firefly's bridge also had their attention drawn outside. Their was a growing sound filling the valley. The sound of another ship approaching.
"They're still alive," River said, reassuring her brother and Kaylee. The sight of a reaver ship and the defenseless, yawning Firefly left little hope for her two passengers.
The warm fuzz from their shuttle's thrusters drew the attention of the marauders inside the victim ship. Almost all of them emerged outside to investigate the noise.
"What are we going to do?" asked an innocent Kaylee.
River already had a plan of action.
"Strap in. Simon sit here." She gestured to the co-pilot's seat next to her, as all three buckled in for safety. "I'm going to need your help. The nose is going to want to dip. I need your help to pull back on the yoke to keep it from going into the ground."
Simon didn't fully understand. "Wait. What - "
Before he could ask his question, River began her attack. Simon looked through the glass just in time to see the nose of the shuttle cutting into the center of the crowd of reavers. Blood splattered and bones broke as bodies were felt, and heard, bouncing off the hull. River did her best to swerve the ship sideways, to make contact with as many of the rabid animals as possible. Those not shattered by the shuttle's mass were left scorched by its engines. The weaponless shuttle had become a flaming cudgel itself.
The gambit paid off. With one pass River had decimated nearly the entire throng of reavers.
Simon instinctively grabbed the yoke in front of him as the brother and sister attempted to keep the shuttle in the air.
Eventually, though, the weight is too strong and the ship is pulled down into the dirt. Their losing effort, however, was still enough to keep the ship from total destruction. They come to a ringing stop, suffering only minor damage.
Watching from the Firefly's bridge, Del can't believe their fortune. Turning to Zoe, the two have a shared moment of success.
"Shiny."
Jayne removed his knife from the head of the last reaver and then cleaned the blade with two quick swipes across the torn clothes on its back.
"What are reavers doing here this time of year? This isn't their normal hunting ground," Whisker noted.
The surviving members of Serenity's crew secretly knew the answer but did not offer their insight. Ever since Miranda, their 'normal hunting ground' had been disrupted. They no longer stayed close to home. They roamed far afield with no centralized collection graveyard. Maybe some couldn't find their way back through space to Miranda, or maybe they were all more bloodthirsty since the battle with the Alliance. Whatever the reason, their numbers were now wildly scattered throughout the 'verse. They could appear almost anywhere at anytime.
"We need to get out of here. More will be coming. Will your shuttle still fly?" Del asked Simon and Kaylee.
Before either had a chance to respond, River answered. "We can. But we'll need help to dig the nose out of the dirt. Kaylee should fix your hydraulics." Del was stunned at River's knowledge of their troubles. "I know a place we can go, close by, where the Reavers won't follow," River continued. "You're not going to like it," she ended, talking to Zoe.
Del fore went her usual umbrage at River's authority. The young woman did not snap orders like a commander. The urgency of their condition demanded speed and clarity. Also, River's kinder intentions always bled through her words.
As everyone scattered to work, Del paused for a comment to Jayne.
"That's the second of your 'old friends' that has saved us. I'm startin' to like them. Does she want to kill you too?" Jayne gave no reply, just a grumble of disapproval.
With a hectic pace, both ships were readied for flight and launched, the small shuttle taking the lead towards their destination. As they approached their new haven, River sought to explain their safety to Zoe.
"The reavers won't come here. It smells too much like death. They don't like that." Zoe understood, but was still coldly unpleasant as they came in for landing.
"What is this place?" asked Kaylee.
After a long, stoic silence, Zoe informed her.
"Serenity Valley."
