Firefly

Chapter 23

It is now one month later

They'd only attacked the Alliance twice since their big victory destroying that Crete class and its escorts. Probably an Alliance admiral right along with it. Liz had returned to attacking the core planets themselves, leaving the Alliance military ships alone. The idea was to get the civilians screaming at the powers that be on each planet for them to put an end to this.

Liz's really big worry was that the Alliance in response would start to attack planets and start killing people thinking that would get them to stop or perhaps bring them into a serious up front confrontation with one of their fleets.

Frankie found Liz in Rick and Kate's old room looking over everything and where everyone was that could be found.

"You look serious. What's up?" Frankie began massaging her shoulders and smiled when she leaned back and let him work on her neck and shoulders.

"Did you see something missing during out last two attacks?" Liz questioned him.

That had Frankie thinking. His fighter was still doing everything perfectly. The Androids that did maintenance on the fighter had told both of them that the fighter was down for a week. They wanted to do more than just a little maintenance on it. What none of them wanted was for the jump drive to suddenly fail and making getting home a big problem so they planned to take it apart and rebuild it.

"Still lots of fighters. Three of the six planets are hurting. You tell me." Frankie was done guessing.

"We killed those nine ships and our last attack only had small ships. We knew coming into this that the Alliance had three of those Crete class and we just destroyed one of them. So where are the other two? For that matter where's the rest of the fleet? I have a really bad feeling about this, babe, and it just won't go away," Liz said worriedly.

Frankie stopped working on her shoulders. "They're afraid to lose another one, maybe?" he said but immediately shook his head. He knew the minute he'd said it that that wasn't the answer.

"They wouldn't dare. They need those planets to make food and send it to them. We haven't really killed that many people and they still need to feed them." Frankie was thinking what he thought she was. That they had plans to force them into a confrontation.

"No, and the planet they did threaten wasn't a big food producing planet. So are they all headed for one planet or have they broken up into several groups to hit several planets all at the same time?" Liz asked him.

"What if they've worked out that we really are a small group and found a new way to attack them that they can't follow but have decided it's the Browns doing it." Liz raked her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"It could be aliens from deep space who are on our side. Which if you think about it is the truth." Frankie watched his wife tilt her head back to look up at him. "Yeah, it's not that," he agreed easily.

"We have just the one fighter. As powerful as it is, and it hasn't even been hit yet to find out just how powerful, it's still just the one. So what's the plan then?" Frankie inquired since his wife was running this show.

"One or several planets, there's only one answer. We let them," Liz told him.

"WE WHAT!?" His wife had lost her mind.

"You said it yourself. We have only the one fighter which means we can't save everyone. However, if we can time this properly… You go to one of the core planets, stay there and destroy everything you can find on the planet itself. For now ignore any ships in orbit. Which last we knew were all Patrol Boats," Liz said.

"And how does that help those people the Alliance is about to wipe out?" Frankie asked her since it was going to mean a lot of deaths.

"Think about it. Your ships are getting into position to bomb a planet and do a lot of damage. Then suddenly you get word that one of your core planets is under all out attack and not just a hit and run, which is what we have been doing." Liz waited patiently to hear his reaction.

"You either stay and make your attack, which will be them condemning one of their precious core planets to almost total destruction; you'll have millions with nothing. OR, you run for home as fast as you can in an attempt at catching us. But they won't since I'll just jump somewhere else," Frankie said thoughtfully.

"A very dangerous choice, Liz," he pointed out.

"Yeah. If I'm wrong a lot of people die under Alliance guns." Liz knew a lot was on her shoulders. It was actually getting to her.

Frankie did his best to make her feel better. "We knew people were going to die when we started this. I'm still working on how we are doing this with one lone little fighter."

"We need to be ready, though. If we're down for maintenance there isn't going to be anything we can do about it. Go face them or go somewhere else. We'll be trapped here watching it, unable to do anything about it.

"If we have any luck at all left, babe, this is when we could use it." Liz thought they were at a critical point in this war.

Frankie leaned down to kiss her cheek. "You ready to head for the cafeteria? Kate's cooking and Nassana is supposed to be done with both of our homes. Have answers for everything."

"Yeah." Liz turned everything off. She could do with some good news and cuddles from her happy daughter. Maybe soak up some of her innocent enthusiasm for life.

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"Nassana! Are you eating with us?" Liz teased her and waved off any reply since they all knew she didn't eat.

"Before we begin," Nassana waved at Kate since she had something she needed to tell them.

"We're running really low on food. We have that one replicator but we could really use some food to cook with," Kate shared with them.

"I thought sure you were going to tell us you were pregnant." Liz was all smiles.

Kate lit up since she'd been thinking about just that. But were they ready for that? "My tubes are still tied. …Babe?" Were they going to talk about this now?

Rick deflected her question for later. "What have you got, Nassana?"

"You asked about security. We need to manufacture rods here that will be driven into the ground a certain distance from each house. This will prevent what you are calling a Land Shark from entering your property. As for what we are calling the Thri-kreen we can install motion sensors around your entire property. This will alert you to when anyone enters your property from any direction. What you do if or when someone does is up to you.

"Now Rick and Kate's house. You did not see the need for the guest quarters and that is your choice. You also eliminated the horses so we cannot replace those with horse stables.

"With security in mind we have two suggestions. First, replace one of the guest quarters with a security room. All of the equipment that will monitor your security can be located there. We can add mobile pads that you can use to monitor the system.

Second–" Nassana was interrupted.

"Mama me hungie," Caleb announced since he was hungry and everyone was just talking and not feeding him.

"We'll be eating soon. It's still cooking, little man." Kate kissed his cheek. At roughly a year and a half he might even get certain parts of it.

"Second, we can replace the other guest room with a very secure safe room. Safe enough that you would need to use explosives to gain entrance to it. Its location might be the only problem with this idea."

"How do we reach it when we're on the second floor when there's an alarm? Do we have enough time to reach it?" Rick understood what she was talking about.

"Correct, Commander. Now Frankie and Liz's house. To install a safe room for this house is easy. There is a space between the kitchen and the second bathroom that can be enclosed and made very secure. Right now there is a door leading to the outside. It can be removed and the space enclosed," Nassana explained.

"Mama?" Caleb tugged on her shirt. He was still hungry.

"The oven alarm hasn't sounded yet, little man, so we all have to wait." Kate hugged him and kissed his head. "A few more minutes."

"Mama?" Since Caleb was complaining so should Kateryn.

"Soon. You heard Kate. Not until the oven alarm sounds." Liz should have known but she was caught by surprise.

"We are suggesting tile floors everywhere. The reason for this is that the tile will absorb the heat during the day and discharge it at night. Color is your choice.

"As for colors we think you have three options for the interior since the exterior is going to be white. White, beige, and a soft yellow. There will be exposed wood beams in each room. What color the beams are is up to you.

"Arched windows and doors everywhere. Some are wider and taller than others. You still have some decisions to make including whether you want panic rooms and where you want them. This pad is yours. We need to arrange a date for you to sell your liters and then go purchase the land as well as go buy more food. Let one of us know when you are ready." Nassana left them to their dinner.

Kate was cutting up what Caleb would and could eat. She sat him in his highchair and gave him his supper. Then she turned to talk to Rick. "Colors. I'm not sure I want white in and white out so maybe beige in some rooms and that soft yellow in others. As for all that wood, maybe as natural as possible."

"Actually I was thinking a soft green behind the bed with wood beams and wood ceiling. The seating area can be smooth and beige," Rick suggested.

"That sounds nice." Kate was onboard. "Floors?"

"Dark wood in the bedroom and terracotta colored tiles outside in the courtyard and in the kitchen. After that we need to talk," Rick said.

"Babe?" Liz questioned him so she could shoot him down.

"Pretty much what Rick said except maybe the green in the bedroom. However, I like the idea of wood beams and wood ceiling in some areas. Not sure I want beige everywhere. There needs to be some color," Frankie insisted.

It actually surprised her. She knew they usually saw eye to eye when it came to decor so maybe she shouldn't be surprised.

"Terracotta orange pots out in the courtyard. Big ones." Rick had a sudden inspiration and used his hands to show how tall he wanted them to be. "It'll be cool. …Do they still say cool?" Rick queried which got Frankie and Liz to laugh.

"I say cool." Kate rescued him even if she didn't remember the last time she used the word.

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They spent a day selling their liters of incredibly expensive liquid on three different planets and had the money sent to three different banks. Then they used the Gateway one more time and found out the land was indeed for sale and it was a steal. In fact the place that owned all 346 acres of land that was a lot of the land on the other side of the mountain range couldn't sell it fast enough.

Then they spent the rest of the day making sure the sale was legal and binding.

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"He really didn't know what was out there." Frankie was still laughing as he and the others stepped through the Gateway to get back home. "If we can mine what's there we will be rich all over again. Can you believe that guy? And we're saving his ass. That's just not right."

"Contractor is next please, Nassana. Who has the pad with the designs on it?" Liz asked as Rick held it up since he'd taken it everywhere with him to make sure he had it.

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"We're back!" Rick entered their cabin and Kate put her finger to her lips so he would talk a lot softer or maybe not talk at all. He saw Caleb and Kateryn sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor of the living room. Then Kate took him into one of the two bedrooms.

"What's going on?" Rick didn't get it.

"Sleepover. You three were gone, they got tired so I turned it into a sleepover. I left Frankie and Liz a note telling them where Kateryn was. Though they could probably guess that," Kate explained.

"We have two bedrooms, you know," Rick reminded her of the obvious so why were they on the floor?

"A boy and a girl in the same bed? Really!?" Kate suddenly didn't understand her husband.

"Good point." Rick gave her that one. "Well, we sold it all. Bought all 346 acres and hired a contractor. He can't start for another 6 months though. We gave him one third up front, one third when he's three quarters done, and the final payment when he's done. I think he overcharged us thinking we wouldn't take it but we did. Nassana guessed correctly, if it was a guess, he was talking about almost 3 years to complete the project.

"He doesn't do mines so we're going to have to come up with someone else for that. Soon as we figure out what kind of mine we're talking about. Deep mine or strip mine. Nassana will commence finding someone for that," Rick told her quickly.

"So we're really going to do this?" Kate's eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"This was your idea. You wanted our son to go to school. Have friends. Find a girl just like you, fall in love and have kids," Rick reminded her.

"Did I say that?" Kate smiled coyly at him. "Maybe we could practice making another baby?" She still had lots of drug in her system.

Rick raised an eyebrow. "With two kids in the next room?"

Kate groaned. She needed sex but she wasn't willing to maybe wake the kids. Now she didn't know what to do. She needed him but she was the mommy.

Then there was a knock on their door; it opened to show Liz. "I came to collect my daughter. Do you want us to take Caleb, too?" Liz smiled at her.

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Kate collapsed on Rick with his cock still inside her. Damn, but sex with him had always been good.

"So did I do good?" Rick asked her.

"Yeah, better than ever," Kate grinned while she rested on him.

"Arranging for Liz to come get the kids was a good idea then?" Rick asked her.

"Yes. …Wait." Kate sat up and he almost came out of her. "You arranged that?"

"Well I am married to the woman I love who just happens to be full of a certain drug. Besides if we're going to have another child we need to do it while we're here so Liara can change out his or her blood a couple of times." Rick kissed the palm of her hand.

"You…you… I… Baby?" Kate wasn't sure just when or if she should ask him or if she should tell him that she was ready for another baby. "You want to have a baby?"

"I thought you wanted to have a baby. Being a mommy is who you are. Who you were born to be." In his eyes she was the best.

"I…I…I love you." Kate leaned down and kissed him.

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Turned out having her tubes untied had been very fast and very easy. "Give them a couple of days to adjust to the new position and you should be fine. Another child." Liara tried to think of what that would mean. "We are going to need his or her blood type after the birth and then obtain more blood. You are going to need more formula since your breast milk will contain the drug. Formula first, blood later. Congratulations." Liara was happy for her.

"You are coming to the new house, aren't you?" Kate needed to make sure.

"We have not yet decided who will be going first, however, yes I will be there. Each of us will be there eventually. Provided your plan on gaining independence from the Alliance works. If not that planet may no longer be a viable option…for any of us." She agreed with Liz. If this failed in some way the Alliance was going to be even more vicious than they already were toward the outer planets.

That had Kate looking at Rick. She'd tried to stay out of it since all this violence just wasn't her.

"It'll work. It needs to work," Rick said. If it didn't the number of demons after his soul were going to increase.

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"Are we cleared for action?" Liz sat down behind Frankie after being told they were good to go.

"They replaced a few parts but I'm told we're good. Where are we going?" Frankie had learned his lesson. This was all his wife's show.

"Most of their fleet is still missing which makes me nervous," Liz said. "Even this place can't track ships in FTL yet. I can't help but feel that they're up to something. The latest scans show that the only ships in orbit around all six core planets are a lot of Patrol Boats. We're talking close to 40 per planet."

"Might be enough for them to actually hit me a few times. So what are we after today?" Frankie asked her again.

"We've eliminated only the one orbital shipyard that they use to make the big ships given that others like Patrol Boats are constructed on the planet. I want you to work on destroying the other five.

"Destroying the shipyards for Crete and Tohoku class should be relatively easy. They're just framework that almost surrounds them for construction with locations for storage of material. If you haven't used up all your jumps you can attack the space elevator for the Crete class. Maybe a mayday call can get them to come running," Liz offered.

"It will be a pleasure." Frankie smiled an evil smile that should have the Alliance worried. But since they couldn't see him, they weren't.

Frankie left the landing bay and saw nothing but green. "Here we go. Starting the clock for jump number one." They both saw the common flash of white and the shipyard was squarely in front of him.

"Commencing scan. …I have 39 Patrol boats in and out of orbit, two of which are actually behind me. The normal fighter patrols are in the atmosphere. Locking on target and…firing."

It took two shots before the Patrol Boats started looking in earnest for him. Their problem was that simply firing blindly might mean hitting another Patrol Boat.

Four shots were all it took for the shipyard to start to lose orbit. "Starting the clock for jump number two."

A flash of white later and four shots later and another shipyard was losing orbit and headed for the planet where it would crash and destroy whatever parts of it landed on.

"Starting the clock for jump number three." A flash of light and Frankie arrived and did his scan. "Looks like the word is out already." Frankie saw 42 Patrol Boats already moving around and fighters were leaving the planet to join the defense of the shipyard.

"Crete class shipyard?" Liz inquired, thinking that it might be last.

"I was afraid they would try to protect it too well before I could get here," Frankie said as he locked the shipyard on his scanner and fired. The skies were getting really crowded. "I just took a hit," he told Liz. "Correction, make that two. Firing up the engines." He needed to move before they figured out they'd actually hit something.

What was left of the shipyard was starting to tumble toward the planet. "Locking target for the upper space elevator…and firing." It vanished after being enveloped by his weapon. Then he spun in place and started firing on Patrol Boats that had gotten too close for comfort.

"Starting the clock for the next jump." Frankie and Liz saw the flash of white and he was outside of yet another shipyard that looked very similar to the last one.

"Yikes!" Frankie hated the look of this one even more. "Space is packed with Patrol Boats and fighters everywhere." He got off two shots before space became one big fireworks display as weapons fire was going everywhere. The shipyard was damaged but it might not fall from orbit.

"Where are you going?" Liz asked him since it looked like he was headed for the planet. She knew he'd actually been hit three times this time. His force field had taken the hits and he was basically undamaged.

"Too big a mess up here. I'm going down to the ground-based space elevator and all the warehouses around it," Frankie said.

He fired six shots at the entire complex and what the weapon didn't disintegrate, it caught on fire and caused explosions destroying even more.

"Setting the clock for the next jump." Frankie was ready to leave this place.

Four shots later and another shipyard was tumbling in pieces for the planet.

"That's four. Except they're waking up and making things difficult. I'm heading for the atmosphere. Find me a target or two then I'll jump."

"Here are your coordinates." Liz had to scramble for a target. She didn't mind since it was looking like most everyone was in space and not down here.

Frankie flew toward it and had it on his scanner. "Another substation. Very nice." In only three shots it was mostly gone and the area around it and him was now dark.

"Uh-oh. I've got a warning. I'm jumping for home." This trip was over.

Frankie and Liz only start breathing after their fighter was secured in the landing bay and Frankie was shutting everything down. Not knowing just what had gone wrong might mean a longer delay while the fighter was repaired.

"We got three for sure and both Space Elevators with a fourth being a maybe. Not bad for one lone little fighter." Liz ruffled his hair and kissed him.

"You think they're ready to talk yet?" Frankie asked her.

"With most of their military space ships still intact? No. They can still go to the outer planets and do a lot of damage. Until we can prevent that, likely not. Worse, our Firefly's damaged and out of action. Whatever they had planned, all we get to do is sit here and watch." Liz needed a plan for that.