NirSighted Chapter Thirteen: The Wrong Kind of Legacy
"Guess we haveta follow her," Jayne said begrudgingly.
"Might be a good idea," Zoë agreed.
The inside of the building was cool and dark. Nir was nowhere to be seen. At the far side of the wide, open foyer was another door. It was just closing as Mal, Jayne, and Zoë stepped through the front door. Mal strode towards it and pulled it open.
The room beyond the second door was dark as well, but there were a few differences. For one, the foyer had been silent save for their breathing; this room was full of quiet chattering coming in from all directions and a strange hissing noise. The foyer had been almost completely dark except for a single light over the door; this room was completely dark.
"Where d'ya think we are?" Zoë murmured quietly. "Think there's gonna be trouble?"
Before either Mal or Jayne could answer, there was a swell of music that sounded as though it was being played by a full orchestra. Then a spotlight came up, swinging into perspective in front of them. As the light hit a red velvet curtain, Mal noticed Nir standing to the side of the stage. There was a small green light in front of her, and it moved left-to-right. The girl was obviously scanning for something; what, Mal didn't know.
The curtains parted and the music came to an almost-halt, although the melody was still carried on by a lone clarinet and what sounded like two string bass. The spotlight widened and Mal could see that it was on a stage. A stage that was empty.
Suddenly a man leapt out of the wings. He was maybe twenty or twenty-five, with coffee-with-cream skin and dark eyes. He was wearing the uniform of the Bright Force. And he began to sing in a foreign language.
"Sir, what do you think this is?" Zoë asked quietly.
"I think it's a gorram puppet-show," Jayne muttered, even though she hadn't been asking him.
Mal was transfixed by the man onstage. He was trying to figure out where he had seen the man before. It was almost impossible to divine, as Mal had never been to Battleboury before. But gorram it, the man looked so familiar.
Then it hit Mal.
"Book?"
There was a bit of ruffling of papers and Nir appeared in front of them.
"What the hell is this?" Mal demanded of her.
Nir didn't answer; she simply pointed her handheld device at the stage and pressed a button. The man – who had been joined by two women in red and white dirndls – began to sing in English. "… Fought in the War Between the Worlds / Fought for what's right / I serve for God / I serve for life!"
"Sweet Mother Mary and all Her Tea-Drinking Uncles," Jayne said, his mouth dropping open.
"It's a gorram musical," Mal said in horror.
"It's a musical about Book," Zoë corrected, her own face showing an expression of awe similar to that of Jayne and Mal.
Nir let them watch in silence for awhile. The man and the two women danced around the stage and sang, glorifying Shepherd Book's service in the Bright Force. Then she said, "This next part should be of particular interest to you, Captain Reynolds."
A woman was led onstage. She was young and very, very pregnant. Her hair was shoulder-length, red, and curly. She was sobbing; Mal couldn't tell whether it was part of the acting or genuine. Then he recognized her, too. "Carole?" he asked, looking to Nir for confirmation. "Carole Trickey of Stoïque?"
"You are correct, Captain Reynolds," Nir said.
"She ain't really pregnant, is she?"
"She very much is. Due almost the same time as Sergeant Flavez."
"What's she doin' here, then?" Zoë asked.
Nir nodded her chin towards the stage as though telling them to watch.
The young man sang out, "It was early in my life that we met / At first I thought you were heaven-sent / Then I learned your true nature / And realized I was in danger!"
Carole managed to choke out between sobs, "I am your true love / I always have been, always will be / It hurts to know / That you don't trust me!"
"The lyrics… they aren't exactly theatrical genius, eh?" Mal wondered.
"You bear another man's child / This I cannot forgive / You are lucky I am letting you go / You are lucky I am letting you live," the young man sang. "If my superiors found out / Angry they would be / Go on now, take your leave / And forget about me."
"Wait a tick," Jayne said. "Shepherd Book fathered spawn?"
Nir shook her head. "No."
"Then why are we here?" Mal asked.
Nir gave them another one of her knowing smiles. "You are here to correct the wrong."
"What wrong?"
"The factual untruths of this musical."
"How do you know they're untrue?"
"I do, Captain Reynolds," Nir said. "All I need is for some backup."
And with that, she disappeared silently.
"I hate when she does that," Mal muttered.
He needn't have worried; a moment later, Nir reappeared on the stage in between the man and Carole. At the sight of her, both parties stopped singing (they had been involved in a rather tricky two-part harmony), the orchestra ceased to play, and everyone in the audience, barring Jayne, Mal, and Zoë, gasped. "Attention citizens of Breakstaff!" Nir yelled. "You are buying into lies!"
"Who the hell are you?" the young man demanded.
"That is not important, Mr. Parmin," Nir replied. "At this juncture, I am simply here to correct two wrongs."
"I don't understand," the man said.
"Your name is Kee Alexander Parmin, is it not?" Nir asked. Without waiting for an answer, she barreled on. "You are guilty of writing a musical filled with fallacy, a musical designed to spread lies to the public, a really atrocious musical. And you are also guilty of plotting to abandon a woman with child, which, if I remember correctly, is a crime punishable here in Breakstaff by up to seven years in prison."
She pointed at Carole, who had stopped crying and was regarding Nir as somewhat of a guardian angel. "That woman is carrying your child, Kee Alexander Parmin," Nir informed him. "And you are planning to desert her the first chance you get."
"Whoa, whoa, wait," Kee said. "My child? That isn't my child."
Nir gave him a look that seemed to indicate that she could prove the child's parentage with a snap of her fingers. He reconsidered. "All right, all right, maybe it is my child. But why do you care?"
"I care because you are going to abandon this sweet woman," Nir snapped at him. "But also because you are desecrating the memory of Shepherd Book."
"He was just a stupid Shepherd," Kee said, shaking his head.
"Was he?" Nir asked, turning to the crowd. "Was he?" she repeated, louder. "Is there anyone here who can testify to the memory of Shepherd Book, tell us that he was not the father of an illegitimate child and not a captain of the Bright Force?"
Mal couldn't tell, the stage was far away from him, but she might have been glaring at him. A swift elbow in the gut from Zoë confirmed it. He was going to have to speak up. "Uhh, Shepherd Book was a good man!"
"The best that ever lived!" Jayne confirmed.
"He was honest!" Zoë agreed, adding her support to their voices.
"He was simple and committed to his God!" Mal said, his voice growing stronger.
"He made a mean protein scramble!"
"He protected the innocent!"
"He took shots fer me 'n mine!"
"He… uh…" Zoë's voice trailed off, but Jayne was there to cover: "He firmly believed sex was okay!"
Mal didn't even hesitate; he simultaneously whacked Jayne on the back of the head and said, "He was fair and kind!"
By now the audience's murmurings had grown to a dull roar and it was getting hard to hear Mal, Jayne, and Zoë over the noise. Onstage, Nir was raising her arms and struggling to say something. No one could be heard. Nir reached into her pack, drew another gadget out, and thrust her arm up at the ceiling.
There was a bright flash of light and a loud boom! Everyone either screamed or ducked; many people did both. When the light was gone, Nir said sternly, "Now listen to me. You have all been duped by Mr. Parmin. Are you going to allow him to continue this farce?"
There was silence; everyone was obviously afraid of Nir.
"I said, are you going to allow him to continue this farce?" Nir demanded, louder.
"No!" someone in the back shouted out. "No way!"
"Right on!" someone else called out.
"The Shepherd was a good man!" a third person yelled.
"Are you going to allow Mr. Parmin to remain in your settlement?" Nir questioned, a smile on her face, obviously enjoying this.
"No way!"
"Run him outa town!"
"Hang him where he sleeps!"
"Let's go!" a fairly courageous person in the front row yelled, and five or six men began to race for the stage. Kee, obviously sensing that the jig was up, looked left-then-right, trying to find a place to hide.
It was no good. Stage hands began to swarm in from the wings, and the group of men had reached the stage. They surrounded Kee and began to grab him bodily. As soon as Nir had seen that the situation was under control, she stuffed her loud-noise-bright-light device into her pack and ran over to Carole, grabbing the pilot's arm. Mal saw Nir's lips move, and then she and Carole both disappeared.
"Hey, a tussle!" Jayne said, clearly enamored with the fight.
"Sorry, Mr. Cobb, not today," Nir said as she and Carole appeared right in front of him.
"Holy Goose! Don't do that, you'll kill a feller!" Jayne declared.
"Let's go!" Nir yelled over the commotion in the auditorium, and began to pull Carole towards the exit door. Mal, Jayne, and Zoë followed suit.
The main street of Breakstaff seemed uncannily bright as they exited the theater. "Mr. Cobb, prepare to give cover fire if necessary!" Nir barked.
"Yeah!" Jayne said excitedly, drawing his weapons.
He didn't need them; the group arrived back at the docks safely within the space of ten minutes. Antony and Kolya watched their approach with open mouths. "I believe we underestimated your strength," Antony said, but it wasn't clear whether he was speaking to Nir or to Carole.
"You will not have to worry about Mr. Parmin any longer," Nir said triumphantly, smiling at Carole.
Carole dragged a hand across her face, smearing her tears. "Thank you," she managed to say.
"How did you know…?" Mal began.
"Captain Reynolds, I will never give you cause to doubt me," Nir replied. "If I do, you have my permission to shoot me on sight."
"Me first," Jayne said.
"All right, Mr. Cobb," Nir said with a patronizing smile. She turned back to Antony and Kolya. "I will speak with Companion Sage now." To Mal, she said, "You may want to go and fetch Dr. Tam; his services will be needed."
"Nobody's hurt," Antony said guardedly.
"I am well aware of that. Go and fetch Dr. Tam."
"How… how did you know?" Kolya asked.
"Pregnancies, like bad things, come in threes," Nir replied with a smile.
"You mean t' say Companion Sage is…?" Zoë wondered.
"I mean to say."