NirSighted Chapter Twenty-Five: Dueling Banjos

The party at The Fox and Cricket was one of the largest Mal had ever been to. Apparently the news of the Love-Bots' defeat had reached Machielli and the surrounding cities, because all the residents of Branford-Tobar and their relatives had returned in full force.

Miguel, Albert's son, led a band affectionately called The Hand Seizures. They had a clarinet player named Peter-John, Miguel on saxophone, a stubby string bass player named Donny who had to stand on a plastic milk crate, a pair of freakishly identical twins playing trumpets, a dark-skinned drummer with wild curly hair, a pale man playing trombone, an exceptionally old woman playing tambourine, and a red-haired woman on the piano. And there was a vocalist who wore a white leisure suit with six-pointed stars on his blue collar and sang in a suave voice. He introduced himself to the crowd as Edward Salmon. They played only a few songs, but kept repeating them because everyone in the crowd seemed to love them. Mal found that after a few glasses of local wine, he even enjoyed the singing and dancing, and could sing a few phrases of "Sevivon, Sov, Sov, Sov" along with good old Eddie.

The meal was served in rapid order by several young men in black suits. It consisted of a first course of radish and iceberg lettuce salad, followed by a main course of beef brisket and roast potatoes. This was chased with a small bowl of something closely resembling an ice planet, except ground up and colored pink. The final course was made up of a large platter of fried jelly doughnuts and a bowl of chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. Everything was washed down with the local red wine from sturdy goblets.

People sang and joked while they ate, and everyone talked merrily amongst themselves. Most spoke English, but others spoke Chinese and a language Mal didn't recognize. Babies were constantly being passed around and kissed or cuddled. Strange candelabras were lit, Callan presiding over them, speaking in the language Mal didn't recognize and waving her hands in the air. Children ran underfoot, giggling cheerfully or playing with an oddly-shaped top; they seemed to be gambling for the small foil-wrapped coins.

And everyone danced to the tunes of Edward Salmon and The Hand Seizures. River danced all by herself, her long hair spilling out into the air behind her as she spun and twirled. Chicky reluctantly danced with Catie, who appeared to enjoy it much more than he did. Bean and Jerome danced. Simon and Kaylee danced (gingerly, trying not to hurt Simon's knee, which was really just a graze anyway), Wash and Zoë danced, Callan and Albert danced together. Even the women who had given birth just yesterday danced with their respective partners, although Jayne moved a bit stiffly owing to his shoulder wound. Both the men from Stoïque had somehow found time to get dressed nattily, although most people in The Fox and Cricket weren't as well-dressed.

Finally Mal and Nir were the only ones at their table not dancing. Nir had been ordered not to dance by Albert, who had said gruffly, "I'm still yer father. Don't disobey, it ain't good." She had smiled benevolently like a queen as he kissed her on the forehead.

"What about Mrs. Burk?" Mal asked as Nir leaned forward to take a sip from her goblet.

"Mrs. Burk?" Nir asked.

"Dr. Burk got himself captured when we first landed," Mal said, explaining himself further. "The Love-Bot we spoke t' said his wife had gone inland."

"And there she still is," Nir replied calmly, setting her goblet back on the table. "She has lived there all of seventeen years now."

It took Mal a moment to process this information. "Uhh, what?"

"Mrs. Burk, as you call her, has not been Mrs. Burk for seventeen years. She's happily married now to Daniel Webster, and they have many children together. The doctor and Matilda divorced years ago."

"Then why did Dr. Burk need to come back to Irving-Keene?" Mal wanted to know.

"Most likely, to start the Love-Bot revolution," Nir said. "Or because he was still pining for Matilda; I've heard rumors that his obsession with her bordered on… well, obsessive."

"And the poor sucker got himself killed."

"By Love-Bots," Nir agreed. "A rather poetic ending for a man of his stature, don't you think?"

She grinned at him, and he could see the oldness in her eyes again.

But it was gone as quickly as it had come, and she was just a little girl sitting at the table, smiling at him. She raised her hands, and the band stopped playing; everyone stopped dancing. She grinned at her younger brother Miguel, who looked older than she ever would, and said, "Mazel tov to our esteemed guests! Barukh atah Adonai, Elohainu, melekh ha'olam, she'asah nisim la'avoteinu bayamim haheim baziman hazeh!"

Everyone in The Fox and Cricket began to clap, and someone grabbed Nir from her seat and whisked her into the middle of the swirling dance crowd. Somehow they all joined hands and began to dance in a huge circle around The Fox and Cricket.

"Come now, Captain Reynolds," he heard Inara's voice say mockingly, and two pale hands reached out of the crowd to grab his. "You know what they say…"

Mal did indeed. "When in Rome…"

And together they danced and sang: "It's the festival of lights, for eight whole days and eight whole nights!"

And so it was.

And it was very, very good. But he hadn't expected anything less anyway.

Fin.