NirSighted Chapter Seventeen: Falling Out of the Sky
"The Love-Bot Revolution has started," Nir said without delay when Zoë found her, still playing six-circle in the galley. "We need to get to Branford-Tobar immediately."
"How d' ya know 'bout this?" Zoë asked.
"This is only part of the catastrophe," Nir replied quickly. "We'll be safe at Branford-Tobar, if we can just get there."
"We might not get there?" Kaylee asked, a little panicked. She had come in quietly; Zoë had not heard her enter.
Nir nodded gravely. "There's a very good chance. It's all up to Mr. Washburne now."
"Thank God Wash is the best pilot in the 'verse," Kaylee said.
"All the same, you should take Miss Tam up there to assist him," Nir suggested. "I need to speak with Dr. Tam before we land."
Jimena appeared. Her expression seemed to be one of either pain or shock. As she grew closer, all gathered around the table in the galley could see that her shirt and pants appeared wet. She opened her mouth to speak, but could only groan. She reached out for the table to support her.
"Jimena, what is it?" Kaylee asked, her eyes growing wide in concern.
"My… water… broke," Jimena managed to gasp. "Hurts."
"Oh no!" Kaylee said. "I'll get Jayne!"
"Get the doctor!" Zoë hollered at the mechanic as she ran from the galley. "Here, sit down, Jimena." She moved to help the woman to a chair.
Nir was looking at the ceiling. Her eyes closed and then flicked back and forth quickly.
"Baby, baby, baby!" River shrieked, throwing herself backwards off the chair, trying to scuttle under the table.
"Not here yet," Catie said. Zoë thanked her lucky stars that at least one of the crazy girls was remaining calm. She didn't know how much longer it would last.
Jayne came running in. His face grew ashen when he saw Jimena's pain-stricken face. "Hurts, eh?" he asked, trying to cover up his nervousness.
"Hurts?" Jimena demanded, her voice rising shrilly. She probably would have added more, but her body bent as another contraction ripped through her.
"Shh, shh, my love," Jayne said, moving to take Zoë's place next to Jimena's chair. He took her hand. "Squeeze my hand when it hurts. OW! Not that hard!"
"You… got me… into… this, you… wuss!" Jimena spat at him, her body tensing with the contraction.
"Nir, what's…?" Zoë started to ask, but she was interrupted by a scream, and then another, different scream. Checking all the possible suspects in the room – River, Catie, and Jimena – she quickly determined it had been none of them.
"Well, shit," Nir said. It was the first time any of them had heard her use profanity or become agitated, but it appeared as though she was extremely disconcerted.
"What is it?" Zoë wanted to know.
"We're not going to make it," Nir said, her voice breaking at the end. "Wo de ma, I thought we were going to make it!" Her luminous green eyes closed again.
"What are you…?"
No one else got a chance to speak before the sound of automatic gunfire rang through the galley. Before the gunfire could subside, the ship began to plummet.
"Wash, baby?" Zoë hollered in the general direction of the bridge.
"We're takin' some heavy fire," Wash's voice said, still steady as he maneuvered the ship.
"Who's shootin'?" Jayne demanded.
There was no response. River, who was kneeling on the floor, suddenly keeled over to her right, her body hitting the floor with a dull thud.
"Where's the doctor?" Zoë yelled. "We need the doctor!"
Mal came in from the direction of the infirmary. "Ya ain't the only ones," he said.
"This woman's in labor!" Zoë said. As though to prove her point, Jimena groaned again.
"The contractions are coming faster," Nir murmured, her eyes still closed. "They're only five minutes apart now."
"Ya wanna know who else is in labor?" Mal sniped at Zoë. "Or, should I say, elses?"
"Wo de tian a," Zoë remarked. "Both of them?"
Mal nodded.
"River needs some barthic-bromide," Nir said, snapping back into action. "River needs barthic-bromide and we need to get on the ground. Don't worry, Captain, she's just asleep, but we're going to need all hands on deck when we hit."
"Hit what?" Mal asked.
The second the two words left his lips, Wash's voice came over the intercom. "Attention ever' body, we're goin' down due t' heavy fire by what appears t' be an unidentified ship with a sharp-shooter fer a gunny. Accordin' t' th' Council of Love-Bots wave screen and the news sources, landing has been outlawed in Branford-Tobar, so we're gonna haveta crash land and hope t' get t' th' border a'fore the army closes it. Ya might wanna strap yerselves in."
True to his words, the ship began to plummet at a faster rate.
"Wash, baby, turn off the Blue-Pac!" Zoë hollered. "Turn it off before you destroy them, too!"
"Kaylee's gonna haveta do it!" Wash's voice said.
A scream shot through the ship. Nir ran from the galley in search of barthic-bromide.
"Kaylee, do it now!" Mal demanded. "The last thing we need is fer them t' be in pieces, too!"
Kaylee dug hurriedly in the pockets of her coveralls and drew out the black box with the red button on it. Her hand smashed the red button just as hard as it had smashed the orange hold-closing button only a few moments before. "There, it's done," she said, her voice wavering. "They're let go, they're still in atmo."
"Get us on the ground, Wash!" Mal yelled.
There were a few tremulous moments as the ship plummeted faster, faster, faster. Nir reappeared with a syringe of barthic-bromide and jabbed it into River's elbow vein, the girl screaming when she came back awake. Jimena groaned again as another contraction hit her, and screams from the infirmary could also be heard. There seemed to be no end to the noise onboard Serenity.
And finally the ship hit. Those standing felt their knees buckle; those seated felt their ears pop. It was an earth-reverberating landing, punctuated with a dull crunch.