NirSighted Chapter Twenty-Three: Calls for a Celebration
"Fang xin, Zoë," Mal said, attempting to sound brave as he carried Catie from the wreckage of the Love-Bot Council outpost.
"Fang xin?" Zoë repeated, a little in disbelief, but before she could say anything else, all of the Love-Bots – and there had been certainly more than a hundred of them! – collapsed in the street in a pile of well-made silicon, wires, and metal.
A laugh rang out in the street, and they turned to see a young woman, a few years older than River, riding a mule. She was accompanied by two men, both older, one of whom was driving the mule. "Well, that fixed 'em!" she chortled to Albert.
"Bean, this is Malcolm Reynolds and Zoë Washburne," Albert said, gesturing with his chin to the two people standing next to him. "Mal, Zoë, this is my youngest daughter, Alisa. We call her Bean."
River opened her eyes again and her body contorting. "No, no!" she screamed, unable to judge for herself who the man was.
Albert held her with his strong arms. "Bean," he said over River's struggles, "it'd be a great help if ya had any smoothers. These 'uns have suffered a long day."
"Can do, Papa," Bean said. "Land us, Jerome."
"Did ya get out t' Serenity?" Mal wanted to know.
"That we did," the man who wasn't Jerome said as Jerome deftly landed the mule. "It's right good you've got that doctor, he's a big help. Stitched 'em all up, neat as pie. They're fine."
Once the mule was landed, things moved quickly. Bean and the man who wasn't Jerome (everyone just called him "Chicky") administered mood smoothers to both Catie and River. Bean reported, "We got Paul t' get his lazy ass out there 'n pick 'em all up with th' boat. He's bringin' 'em up t' Callan's, y' can check on 'em there."
Bean and Chicky put Catie, River, and Nir into the mules along with themselves and Jerome. Bean gave Nir a great kiss on the forehead. "Missed ya, Little-Who-is-Not," Bean said.
Nir looked up at her younger sister. "I missed you as well, Alisa."
"We'll get ya t' Callan's, fix ya up right quick," Bean said, settling into the seat next to Jerome, who took that as his cue to start the mule's takeoff.
"We'll meet them at Callan's," Albert said to Mal and Zoë. "'S not a long, I think it'll do us some good t' clear our heads after what we've been through."
"Sounds right fine," Mal said, and Zoë had no protests.
They walked up the main road of Branford-Tobar, past the medical clinic and The Fox and Cricket. The town seemed fairly deserted. Mal holstered his gun and looked over at Zoë, who was doing the same thing. "Say, Albert," Mal said casually, "where is ever' body?"
Albert guffawed. "They all got th' heck outa here," he informed Mal. "They heard on the news waves 'bout the Love-Bot rebellion and headed straight for Machielli."
"We heard Machielli was attacked too," Zoë said, a little confused.
"Machielli? Heck, no!" Albert said, letting out another laugh. "There ain't no Love-Bots in Machielli, not since Senator Rimey started runnin' the place! He outlawed 'em 'least a decade ago! Ever' body's all safe in Machielli."
"Well… good," Mal said at last. "Glad we didn't worry too much 'bout 'em."
They had finished walking up the main street of Branford-Tobar and, following Albert, turned into a small residential sector. "Ya wonder why it's seven-t'-one here?" Albert asked, turning to see his companions' faces. "'Cause Senator Rimey kicked 'em all outa Machielli."
Mal, puzzled by this sudden development, said nothing else as Albert led them up the side street to a dwelling at the road's end. The mule was parked outside, though now it was empty. Albert opened the door and went straight in, calling, "Callan! Miguel! You got us a meal by now? We's as starved as… starved 'uns!"
The house was not large; Mal could see that upon entering. It was a round dwelling, and most of it seemed to be taken up in the large room where they all now stood. The room was packed with people. The only two Mal didn't recognize were standing near the exit on the opposite side of the room. One was a woman, with a long blond braid that reached down to her waist. She appeared to be about Albert's age. The other was a man, gawkish and young, with the reddest, curliest hair Mal had ever seen. His face was taken up with a pair of large glasses and his equally as large smile. Mal supposed these people were Callan and Miguel.
Everyone else Mal could recognize. Jayne was sprawled on a couch, Jimena next to him, the baby on her chest. Jayne was sporting a nice bandage on his bare shoulder, but had his hat on and looked fairly sedate. Simon and Kaylee were squeezed together on an ancient blue wing chair; the doctor, like Jayne, had obviously benefited from pain medications. River and Catie were asleep, Mal could see them through a rounded doorway to another room, lying side-by-side on a mattress. Carole, Antony, Kolya, and Emilia were on the couch opposite Jayne and Jimena; the two women had their babies on their chests, following Jimena's style.
Wash was sitting on a settee next to Inara, but as Zoë entered, he got up and embraced her tenderly. Inara's face flushed a little as she saw Mal enter; she gave him a coy wave.
Jerome was sitting on a rickety-looking chair with a wire back bent into the shape of a heart; Bean sat on his lap. Chicky was sitting opposite them at the marble-topped table, taking long, hefty swigs from a brown glass bottle. Next to the chair containing Bean and Jerome was a wheelchair, and in the wheelchair was Nir. A tube ran from her elbow up to an IV held above the chair on a pole. She caught Mal's eye as he came in, and for the first time, she looked very, very old. Then she closed her eyes, and Albert began to talk. "Mal and Mal's crew, this is my wife, Callan, and our son, Miguel!"
"Welcome," Callan said warmly. "I'd gather you're all a mite exhausted."
"Yes, that we are," Mal managed to say. The woman sounded so much like Nir.
"We're going to put you up for the night," Callan continued. "There's enough room for everyone, and then in the morning we'll go down to The Fox and Cricket for the celebration."
"What celebration?" Wash wanted to know, his arm still firmly around Zoë.
"Why, Hanukkah, of course," Callan said, looking astonished by the idea that Wash didn't know what Hanukkah was or when it was celebrated. "But don't worry about that now, sugar, just rest up and we'll get to partying in the morning."
After everyone had gone to sleep – besides Bean and Jerome, who were playing five-circle in the kitchen, and Miguel, who was practicing the saxophone on the back terrace – Mal and Albert sat at the table, drinking brown glass bottles of locally-brewed ale. Albert had been regaling Mal with stories of his days on the Upper Force, which was an Irving-Keene local militia. Albert had been a captain, and several items of hilarity had happened during his years of service.
But then Albert fell silent. Mal tilted his bottle and watched the ale bubble and foam. "Albert," he said, "how much longer ya got with Nir?"
Albert, who had been taking a swig of ale, looked over at Mal in surprise. Then he said, "Not very long if she keeps goin' on this way."
"What is it?"
"It's a disease; I don't know much 'bout it. Heck, I can't even say the name o' it! But Callan knows right what t' do, we take care o' her just fine. She likes t' do the things she does 'cause they make her feel useful. And if that's what it takes, then I say, fine with that."
"Did you send her to us?"
"Naw," Albert said. "She came of her own free will or on assignment. She works for some agency in the Core, but they let her live with us… works out all right. She needs t' be here for treatment sometimes anyway. But she won't be goin' back t' the Core, not after this. She's done good, mark m' words, but she's too tired now."
Mal didn't know what to say.
"Don't get me wrong, Mal, she's a happy girl, useful as all get out, smart as a whip, purty much near genius, doin' all that poppin' in and outa space," Albert continued. "But she ain't got many more years, and I'd be just as happy t' have her live 'em here, with us, 'stead o' on some planet with strangers. And I love her as all get out."
He took another lusty swig from his bottle and set it on the table, empty. Somewhere in the house, a baby started crying. Albert gave a world-weary smile to Mal and said, "Better get some sleep while sleep's still available. See ya in th' morning."
He left Mal sitting at the marble-topped table in a wire-backed chair, the white wire bent into the shape of a loopy heart. Mal could hear marbles gently ticking the board as Bean and Jerome played quietly in the kitchen, and from the back terrace, Miguel's mournful playing.