I'll fly away, oh Glory
I'll fly away, in the morning
When I die, hallelujah by & by
I'll fly away
I'll fly away...
Alison Krauss – "I'll Fly Away"
"So, what's the Gorram deal about this new job, anyhow?" A tall burly man asked as the captain and his second came aboard the Firefly Class ship. He paused briefly to take in his crew standing, waiting with anticipation as to what their next job was gonna be. He grinned crookedly and turned to the dark woman besides him.
"Zoë, why don't you tell this fine crew of mine of our next mission?" He said, tossing the last of the words over his shoulder as he went to the stairs that lead upwards and into the ship. She turned to face the rest of the crew.
"We're to salvage a ship. New boss's mad 'cause it was comin' to deliver him his shipment, but it got attacked by Reavers on the way." Zoë said blandly and with a straight face, as if she was talking about the weather instead of their next job.
"Reavers?" A blond man asked and looked to the others, then back to his wife.
"We're goin' where Gorram Reavers' been?" Jayne asked with faintly masked horror. The others looked to him almost amused as he fingered his sidearm.
"No worries," A young pale girl suddenly spoke up. "Death's went on visiting elsewhere. Only Sleeping Beauty's left. She's waiting for her prince."
"Does it bug anyone else that she does that?" Jayne remarked as he jabbed a thumb back at her, missing the tongue stuck out at him. Her brother smiled at her, amused at the brief normal childish behavior. Nobody bothered to answer Jayne.
The captain reappeared on the catwalks and leaned over to view his crew. "What are you standin' 'round for? Let's go!"
It took the crew of Serenity the better part of the week to fly to where the dead ship was still hovering in space. During that time, River had been driving the crew crazy with her sleepwalking that had suddenly developed during the course of the trip. Jayne of course has taken to sleeping with his gun Vera under his pillow and Simon was visibly exhausted from watching over River so that she won't hurt herself or someone else.
By that point, Mal had taken Zoë and Jayne with him onboard the dead ship, leaving Wash sitting nervously at the pilot to keep an eye out for unwanted visitors and Simon prepping his sickbay, just in case. Thus, nobody was really watching over River as she came to the entrance to the other ship and walked though, following some kind of trail in her mind, a whispering that had been growing.
I walk a lonely road... The only one that I have ever known... Don't know where it goes... But it's home to me and I walk alone...
River looked down to her right into a corridor with lights that were flickering, casting an eerie atmosphere. Her bare feet stepped over debris carefully, never making a sound or misstep as she moved forward slowly as if not to scare some unseen creature, leaving the safety of Serenity behind and walking into places unknown.
I walk this empty street... On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams... Where the city sleeps... and I'm the only one and I walk alone...
River stopped in front of a door that was still closed, but not locked. The voice was slowly growing louder, a woman's voice tainted it faint pain. As if in a trace, River raised a hand to the panel on the inside of the doorframe and it groans open in a jerking motion and stuck halfway. But that was no problem for a girl as slight as River.
"River?" She heard faintly as she stepped through and the door jerked shut behind her, enclosing her in complete darkness. Slowly, as her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she could see that it was as black as it seemed, there was little lights that almost danced like stars and a glowing screen flickering with static. Her hand reached almost mindlessly to touch a small vertical pad and as her finger rose, a light grew until she was able to see again.
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me... My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating... Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me... 'Til then I walk alone...
A tall narrow pod caught her attention, it was built into the side of the bulkhead and a row of red, yellow and green lights zoomed down the side of it every second. River whimpered softly and clasped her hands over her ears, trying to shut out that voice that was echoing through her skull, distantly, she could hear somebody shouting and banging on the door behind her, but she couldn't muster up anything to care about that. That voice was beginning to overwhelm her, engulf her.
"Leave me alone!" River screamed at the pod, just as the voice softens to the barest whisper as the door behind her slowly groaned as it was forced opened by Jayne.
"What yah doin' here, Crazy?" Jayne asked annoyed as he braced his back against the doorframe and forced it several inches more so that Zoë could slip under his arms and into the room.
"Are you OK?" Zoë asked, looking down at River. She didn't reply, just stared at the pod entranced. Zoë slowly moved to the pod, alert for any dangers that may appear. She rubbed at the dirt that had formed over a panel to better examine what this pod was made to contain. Her eyes widened.
"Cap'n!"
Read between the lines... What's fucked up and everything's alright... Check my vital signs... To know I'm still alive and I walk alone...
The pod was moved onboard Serenity and was transported to Simon's sickbay so that they could better examine River's discovery. All of the crew was standing around it, each waiting to offer their "expert" opinions.
"We found the shipment, whadda else do we need to know?" Jayne grumbled as he leaned against the doorway to the sickbay. Neither of the crew paid him much attention and that didn't bother him much.
"It looks a lot like a status pod of some kind, but I've never seen this model before." Simon mused as he carefully cleaned the buttons and lights so that he could see them better. Book came up behind him to get a look at a read-out panel.
"I think I may have seen something like this." He said, gently touching the front of the pod and allowed his hand to rest a moment. "It has been a long time, but this looks like a very old model, at least a couple of hundred years old."
"No kiddin'?" Kaylee asked surprised. "Would anybody still be alive in that?"
"Probably not, I've heard that the older models were oft times faulty." Simon said as he looked at it again in new light. "I've never thought I'd actually see one with my own eyes. Even if the person is dead, you still can learn things about our ancestors from their bodies." He went on in an excited voice, not noticing right away the weird looks the rest of the crew was giving him.
"Simon." Kaylee said with a smile. "I've never seen you this delighted about dead bodies before!" Simon looked up at her distractedly as the rest of the crew grinned amused. Each of them began to talk over the other in debates on who could be hidden away inside of the pod and how old it must be. River stood in a corner of the sickbay, forgotten by the rest in the excitement of the discovery. Very softly, she began to sing with the voice in her head.
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me... My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating... Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me... 'Til then I walk alone...
"Wait," Wash held his hands up to silence the rest of the crew. "Why did this guy want the pod anyway? Did the fella even know what he was gettin'?" Mal shrugged.
"I didn't asked, reckoned it would've been a bad notion, considering how he was so jumpy." Mal drawled slowly as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"He did seem awfully jumpy, Sir. I thought for sure somebody's gonna put a hole in him the way he had so many guards and the like." Zoë oftered as Simon crossed his arms and came closer to the rest of crew, leaving the pod standing quietly by itself.
"What did he tell you about this shipment?" Simon asked.
"Not much, just where it was and he sure wanted it bad." Mal answered. "Now that I know what's hidin' in it, it makes me somethin' skitterish."
"Could it be possible that this body's alive?" Kaylee oftered and everybody looked over at her and mused it over a bit. Simon shook his head.
"I don't think so; it would be a miracle if that person was still alive. Some of the flaws of the earlier models were that they tend to fail after about ten years and oft times, they don't work right." He said, waving a hand absently for emphasis.
"What do you mean they don't work right?" Jayne asked with a frown.
"I mean they'll sometimes they just fail, screw up some kind of body function or even keep the person aware of being trapped in that pod." Simon finished.
"That is horrible." Inara said with faint horror as her hand drifted up to cover her normally coy red mouth. The rest of the crew took a moment to ponder on the thought, each thinking of what it would be like to be trapped in that kind of hell. Neither of them saw River still singing under her breath as she walked to the pod and started to examine the buttons along the side of it. Mal suddenly held his hand up to catch his crew's attention. "Did yah hear that?" he asked as they all listened carefully.
"I walk this empty street... On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams... Where the city sleeps... And I'm the only one and I walk a..."
"Mei-Mei?" Simon asked as he turned to where he had last seen her, but she was no longer in her corner where she was before.
"River, what are you doin'?" Mal asked suddenly when he saw her nearly hidden behind the pod. Her big soulful eyes looked up at him for a moment, then back to what she was doing. "Simon, your sister's is getting weird again." He complained.
But before any of them could do anything, the lights suddenly changed from a regular stream down the side of it to a fast flashing pattern that was too complex to catch the rhythm of it. She took a step back, startled.
"Whadda she just do?" Jayne asked as he began to finger his gun. But before anybody could answer him, the pod suddenly gave a loud hiss and a fog began to pour out of it at the seams. River jerked back and allowed herself to be pulled away into her brother's embrace as he sought to protect her from whatever could happen next.
"Gorram girl!" Jayne swore as he pulled his gun and pointed it at the pod. Mal quickly put his hand on Jayne's forearm and pushed it down slightly.
"Wait, let's not get too trigger happy." Mal advised as his other hand inched towards his gun still strapped to his hip. The fog was no longer streaming out in a rush, rather it now flowed gently down to the ground and crept to surround the crew's feet.
"Simon." River began to struggle against his grasp as she tried to free herself. "She's hurt; what happened to my mind? Needles, needles all over." She moaned and with a sharp twist, managed to free herself from Simon and lurched forward to the pod and her long thin fingers scrabbled at the seam as she worked at trying to force it open. Simon quickly moved forward and pulled her back.
"No, Mei-mei." He said soothingly. "Shh, leave it be. You might hurt yourself; let somebody else take care of it." With that, he looked towards Mal and Jayne pointedly. Jayne grumbled, but at Mal's pointed look, he crept forward slowly, his gun never wavering from its' target. Slowly, he reached out a hand and felt along the seam. The fog felt cold to his touch and tingled slightly, causing him to jerk his hand back.
"Are you sure this fog's safe?" He asked to the rest of the crew.
"Yes, it shouldn't have any affect on you." Simon said. "Besides, if it did, I doubt it'll be a loss." Jayne grumbled as he turned back to the pod and carefully dug his fingers into the seam, still holding a gun on it in his other hand. With a mighty pull, he managed to make it creak open an inch or so.
"Stop foolin' around and holster that gun." Mal ordered, bring his gun up, just in case. Nobody knew what they could be facing behind this cover. Jayne swore under his breath, but obeyed the captain, holstering his gun and this time digging all his fingers into the seam and slowly applied his strength to it. This time, it gave more and with the steady pressure Jayne gave it, it reluctantly groaned open until it was nearly half open when the cover suddenly jerked and snapped the rest of the way open, flinging Jayne into the exam table. All of them jumped at the sudden movement and now Zoë and Wash had their guns pointed at it. They couldn't see what was inside because of the fog was pouring from the top of it and completely engulfed whoever was within.
River smiled. "Come out! Come out and play!" She called into the pod. A slight movement in the fog answered her and Jayne quickly moved away from it to stand besides Zoë with his gun now out and pointing. Nothing happened after that for a moment, and then a soft sighing sob was heard. Simon crept forward, pushing his sister back behind him towards Inara to keep, his concern aroused.
"Wait." Wash said suddenly, causing Simon to stop and look back. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Whoever's in there is alive and he probably needs our help." Simon said, gesturing to the pod. "Besides, are we just going to stand here pointing our guns at it until something new happens?" he said almost sarcastically.
"Go on, I'm likin' what's he's thinkin'." Jayne said, prompting the doctor with his gun, Simon just gave him a faintly annoyed look and carefully reached into the pod.
"Yes, I feel somebody in here." He murmured softly, his hands moving carefully to seek out the bounds to release the prisoner. With a soft moan, a slight figure fell forward through the fog into Simon's arms.
"Oh!" Kaylee said startled and then moved forward to get a better look at the woman that Simon now held. "She doesn't look too lively." She said worriedly. Simon moved swiftly, but gently, and laid her out on the exam table and reached for some of his tools of trade. By then, the others had lowered their guns, with the exception of Jayne.
"She's still alive." Simon reported as he examined her. "Her vital signs don't look very promising though." He finished worriedly as he rested a finger against her jugular vein. Her pulse was too slow and irregular and she breathed with obvious difficulty and her skin was so pale that it was translucent and one could see the tiny blue and purple veins tracing their way along her temple, her eyelids, inside her arms and her lips were a faint purple. In spite of her young appearance, her hair was whiter than her skin with the pearliest sheen. River came up besides Simon and was looking down at her with a gentle smile. She reached out and cupped the young woman's cheek in her hand and leaned forward.
"Wake up." She whispered. "You're born again."
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk a...
Green Day – "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"