Chinese Translations: bi zui – shut up
dong ma – understand
kuai qu yuan de di fang – get far away very fast
lao tian ye – oh god no
mei you yan chi – without delay

Revenge

Jayne was bugging Wash, looking over his shoulder, asking what buttons did what, generally just being a pest. Wash was ready to ask the doctor to slip Jayne a knockout cocktail just to get him to shut up and leave him alone. He even had to put away his dinosaurs, Jayne had kept fiddling with them.

For his part, Jayne was trying to keep distracted. He had tried sitting in his bunk, but the walls seemed to press in and made him all crazy; working out didn't help; and both Simon and Mal had told him in no uncertain terms to leave them alone -- he had already bugged them as much as he dared. That left Inara and Wash. Inara had locked herself in her shuttle after he followed her around while she was trying to prepare a snack, asking her questions about being a companion, her clients, incense, and anything else that popped into his head. So, here he was, in the cockpit with Wash. Trying not to think about two girls out in the darkness of space, fighting for their lives. And trying not to feel the cold grip of fear around his heart. He pointed at a light blinking on the console. "What's that for?" he asked the harried pilot.

Wash still sounded and appeared to be patient with Jayne, miraculously, as his real feelings on the subject were that he was very far indeed from patience. He was, as always, a little worried about Zoe, being in enemy territory and all. Jayne's sudden interest … no, bizarre curiosity of everything in the cockpit was making the pilot jittery. Luckily, the blinking light was an incoming message from Serenity's shuttle, and Wash eagerly answered it. Kaylee's face came on screen, and Wash smiled to see her.

"Hey Kaylee, back so soon? How's everyone…?"

"We're all shiny, Wash; Book and Zoe say hi. We should be at the rendezvous point in about 20 minutes. Tell the Captain all went according to plan, and we'll be home soon?"

"Will do Kaylee, thanks. Tell my wife I missed her, will ya?"

Kaylee giggled. "Tell her yourself in 19 minutes, Romeo! Shuttle out." The vid screen went dark again, and Wash sighed. Everything was fine. That's when he noticed Jayne, still hovering behind him. He frowned.

"Jayne, shoo, I have to get the rendezvous coordinates. It's very difficult to drive with you pestering me. And blocking my instruments." With that, Wash waved his arms to move Jayne away.

Jayne was relieved that Kaylee and the others were safe and on their way back, but it just reminded him again of how much danger Selene and River were in, and how much he wanted to hear they were safe too. Tried to hide his anxiety from Wash, and stepped away from his flailing arms, muttering, "Fine, I'll go tell the Captain that the others are on their way".

Wash was preoccupied and said nothing further as Jayne stalked off to find the Captain. He found him in the infirmary talking with Simon. Jayne's appearance at the entrance stopped whatever conversation they'd been having, but Jayne didn't care at all. "Kaylee and the others just checked in; we meet in about 20 minutes". He directed his comment to both Simon and Mal; Simon had lots to worry about with Kaylee and his sister gone. Mal nodded.

"Alright, this day is half over. Let's get our people on board and … "

Just then, Jayne kinda slumped against the doorframe, his eyes unfocussed, far off, like he was gonna faint. Mal and Simon each took a step towards him, but he held up a hand to wave them off. His head was fuzzy, like he was drunk, really drunk, ready to throw up drunk, and he wondered if this could be…

Jayne? The question appeared in his brain. It was Selene. He didn't know if she could hear him, though. Damn, he hadn't thought about that. If he only … no, just stop and listen Jayne, clear your mind, you have to hear what she has to say, he told himself.

Jayne, we're safe. River and I are okay, but the Handlers …

"Jayne, you okay?" Mal interrupted and he couldn't hear her anymore.

"Bi zui fer crying out loud" Jayne snapped back at the Captain, who stared at him like this was the day, the very day, he was going to throw Jayne out an airlock. Seeing Mal's face, Jayne tried to explain, fast. "It's them, Selene and River, dong ma? Sending me a message, but I can barely hear …" and with that Jayne's eyes glazed over and he drifted off again.

… they're dead and we have their ship … damaged … main computer links booby trapped … set off EMP, we're stuck … engines … Handlers ordered reinforcements … Serenity … kuai qu yuan de di fang … REAVERS.

"Lao tian ye" Jayne breathed, as he came out of his trance and saw Simon and Mal staring at him. "We gotta get the others, and get outta here NOW".

Mal raised an eyebrow. "Um, who's the Captain of this ship? Because, unless there's been a vote, or something, I think that would be me, and …".

Jayne didn't let him finish. "Reavers. On their way here. Now." His eyes were full of barely contained fear. Gorram Reavers! They needed to get the others, all of them. Get far away very fast. That's what she said.

"Are they okay? River, and Selene I mean?", Simon's concern for his sister stronger than his fear of Reavers.

Jayne looked at the doctor with compassion, knowing his fears. He nodded. "I think so. Selene said they were okay, but stuck. Blue hands used an EMP on 'em, disabled their ship. Then sent the Reavers after us." He looked over to Mal. "Got the feeling it was urgent we get outta here."

Mal looked sceptical, like he didn't quite believe what the merc was telling him, that "hearing" people in your head was no way to plan your day, but then again, what did he know. He knew Selene and River were both strong readers. Maybe they could send messages. Not completely impossible, he thought. He'd hinged his plans on flimsier stuff. Better to be safe, especially if Reavers were in the equation. He had made his decision. He hit the coms, announcing through the ship, "Company's coming folks, and I don't just mean our own. Looks like we may have Reaver trouble. Wash, get us to the rendezvous point mei you yan chi, then find us a likely planet to lose the Reavers. Send a message to the shuttle and get them to hustle." He went to leave the infirmary, get to the helm, but Jayne, still blocking the doorway, grabbed his arm.

"Cap'n, let me get the girls, I can take Inara's shuttle …".

Mal shook his head. "No way, Jayne, you wouldn't last five minutes against a Reaver attack, and I'll need you and Vera if we get boarded by those summbitches." He paused, looking into Jayne's eyes, and seeing the concern there, stated, "We'll leave no-one behind". Mal turned to look at the doctor behind him, to include him in that statement. Simon's expression was pinched with worry, but he nodded. Mal turned back to Jayne, who also nodded. He wasn't happy, but the Captain was likely right. Shuttle weren't no match for a Reaver ship, and the reassurance that he hadn't forgotten about River and Selene, that was enough for Jayne. Captain would find a way. Always did.

"I'll suit up" Jayne said simply, and stalked off to get his body armour and his favourite gun.

Simon's face was a reflection of his devastation, knowing his sister was in danger, and Kaylee too, and being powerless to help. Mal saw his distress, thought it might be a good thing to keep him busy. "You're with me, doc" he ordered before striding off to the helm.

Jayne was back up at the helm with Mal, Simon and Wash, all of their expressions grim. He had Vera strapped around him, and had flung a super-fine chain mail armour vest over his usual t-shirt. They were only about two minutes from the shuttle, Wash having taken the Captain's direction to hustle very seriously indeed, when they saw the readings. Reavers. Coming in fast. It might not be as easy as last time to lose them, they were all thinking it. Especially if they were sent after them. Mal frowned at that thought, then turned to Jayne. "How does a person send Reavers?"

Jayne kept looking at the vid, and shook his head. "She didn't say how, and what I got was kinda in pieces, flashes, like on a broken comm." He looked up at Mal. "What I gathered was the Handlers sent some sorta reinforcements to find Serenity, that we had to go, cause they was Reavers". Mal and the others were all looking at him kinda funny now. Jayne realized it sounded pretty strange, a girl sending him messages to his brain, but he hadn't needed to question it at all. He knew it was her. Trusted her completely. He shrugged, and looked back at the readings which Wash was now studying.

Simon spoke next, to no-one in particular. "If the Handlers could somehow command the Reavers, wouldn't that mean …", he started, wondering for a moment where he was going. His eyes were wide as he realized the connection. "Reavers, or at least these ones, were trained or perhaps even created by Blue Sun! That means there must be a way to stop them, some command or…."

Mal caught on to the doctor's idea and looked a little less grim, if only for a moment. "Is there anything in your research on River that might give us an edge here, doc? Cause we sure could use one".

Simon finally felt useful, and determined to succeed. "I'll go check my notes. And the scans we took of River on Ariel. There may be something…".

"Go." Mal didn't need to order him; Simon was already turning to leave.

As Simon was making his way down to his quarters, Mal announced the shuttle's successful docking, which relieved Simon somewhat. At least he could stop worrying about Kaylee. He hadn't been very nice to her these past few days, as he had been too busy worrying about River, and trying to keep her mission a secret.

Serenity hit atmosphere of some world; Simon supposed Wash was trying to lose the Reavers. He held on to the guard rails for balance as the ship's stabilizers whined from the workout Wash was giving them.

Simon grabbed his notes from his quarters, and brought everything to the infirmary. He had uploaded River's brain scans into the medical mainframe, and wanted to be able to cross-reference all the information quickly. He took in a deep breath; he had to concentrate, something was here, he just knew it.

River had surgeries on her frontal lobes, parietal lobes, and then they dug their way far into her inner brain, picking at her hypothalamus … the place where emotions come from. The place where one could exercise control over those emotions. Selene talked about having a chip installed to resist the control and instructions of the Handlers. Same area of the brain. An electrical impulse might disrupt an ongoing signal, but it was more likely the Reavers would have been programmed, like Selene had been, and then sent on their way to complete their mission. The control would likely be in the hypothalamus…. Working on the assumption they had been programmed thus, it seemed apparent the Reavers wouldn't stop until their mission was done.

So, he would be better off finding a way to overload the programming, he thought. His head hurt. If he had months of research time, he could figure this out, he knew. But with a Reaver ship bearing down on them right now, he had to pull a theory out of his ass and hope it worked. The lives of seven other people depended on him. His headache intensified. He was hearing things. Voices. He stopped, lifted his head from his notes. He was hearing River!

Simon! Her voice in his head, yelling at him. Pay attention! I know you can hear me. Simon grabbed the counter to steady himself; he suddenly felt very dizzy. He tried to concentrate on the sound of River's voice. Simon, the Reavers can be stopped. Selene knows how, but it's complicated. Then River seemed to disappear, and in her place came a flood of images and information, filling his head with soundwave theory and quantum mechanics. And then it was gone. And she was gone.

Simon blinked. He listened. But River was no longer in his head. But somehow, he knew the answer to their Reaver problems was a sound. And he believed he could get Wash to untangle the detailed instructions that, if he hadn't just been hallucinating, River had just stuffed into his brain….

Back on the bridge, Simon repeated to Wash the same thing he had as least three times now. Wash was arguing with him, that he was too busy flying the ship right at the moment, that it wouldn't work anyway, even if they did have time to do the modifications required, and Simon was ready to throttle him. Mal listened intently to the exchange, and after the third time, thought he understood enough to try to implement what the doctor was suggesting.

"Wash, keep those Reavers behind us, and I'll do what the doctor suggests. Simon, grab a kit from the lockers over there, I'll need your help". Simon was startled by the captain's sudden participation, but grateful that he didn't have to waste any more time explaining himself.

Wash was, indeed, very busy flying the ship. They were trying to evade the Reaver ship by diving into an expanse of ocean, Wash dodging reefs, rocks, and other hazards. The Reavers stayed above, following them over the surface of the water. From time to time the fierce grappling hooks pierced the surface, grabbing at the darting firefly, but so far only succeeded in frying schools of silvery fish.

Jayne had positioned himself in the cargo bay, readying some surprises for any Reaver unlucky enough to be the first to try to board Serenity. Zoe planted a charge by the cargo bay doors, and moved some crates to act as a bunker against any assault. Book, although still a bit frail, was arming detonators as fast as Jayne could plant them. Kaylee was in the engine room, trying to tweak a little bit more out of the engines.

Simon had outdone himself, Mal thought. If this works. He hunched over a panel at the communications sub-bank to make the necessary changes to the ship's communications equipment, to project a sound directly at the Reaver ship, and amplify the sound wave in the manner and tone Simon had relayed. With the doctor's help, he had done some patchy re-wiring of the ship's microwave antenna, and now, Mal thought, the whole thing looked ready to go.

"Wash, get us out of the water, and back into the air, but stay in atmo. I need air to carry a big noise to that ship". Wash bared his teeth in a grim representation of a smile.

"Aye-aye, Captain", and with that he shot Serenity out of the water and towards the clear blue sky like an arrow from a taut quiver. And the Reaver ship, slower to manoeuvre, groaned and whined as it tried to match course to pursue. Mal grimaced himself as the Reaver ship began to close the very small space between it and Serenity.

He didn't pray anymore. But that didn't stop him from uttering a brief plea to the almighty to smile kindly upon them as he aligned the communications dish, and threw the switch to let loose an ungodly sound which reverberated through Serenity before blasting out towards the Reaver ship.

Several seconds of ear-splitting noise, like cats in heat screeching in time to an epic German opera, to the tune of an orchestra of jet engines, had all occupants of the ship involuntarily clapping their hands over their ears, as if their brains were about to leap from their skulls.

The pain was intense. Mal, feeling his hands grow damp, removed one to see the bright red blood. He looked up, saw the others, in agony, blood from their ears…. They surely could take no more. Wash appeared to be gesturing to him. Couldn't tell, the noise was killing him. He felt ill….

Simon managed to turn off the signal when Mal passed out. By that time, what Wash was trying to indicate, without taking his hands from his ears, was that the Reaver ship had not only faltered, it had crashed into the ocean below, broken into pieces by the force of its impact. Whatever that sound was, it had not quite killed the crew of Serenity, but certainly did the Reavers some grievous harm.

Wash checked in with the rest of the crew, all accounted for, though each had experienced the same bleeding from the ears. Simon would examine each of them in turn, but Mal was the only one unconscious, and that alarmed the doctor. He called for Jayne to help him take Mal to the infirmary.

…

When Mal awoke, he was surrounded by his crew, his family. All wearing the most ridiculous ear muffs…. He very nearly laughed out loud, but as his hand touched the side of his face, he realized he was wearing a matching set.

Wait, not everyone was wearing them. River, she was unencumbered. And Selene. They made it. Good. He couldn't tell what they were saying, something about Reavers and sound and temporary damage, he really didn't care all that much. He had everyone safe. Good. He slept.