Firefly

Chapter 24

It was a week later and their little fighter was still out of action. They weren't being told what was wrong or when it would be ready. However, just looking at it told them it wasn't going to be ready for maybe at least another week.

Rick being the commander had just been told that something was happening in the cafeteria. So he ran over there. He heard it before he even got the door open. It sounded like a knock-down-drag-out fight was going on. Opening the door, he was just in time to see a chair go flying with a woman's voice screaming in anger. Stepping inside he saw Liz pick up another chair and send it flying. Then she just stood there and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Commander?" Rick heard a voice behind him and turned to look. Liara was behind him and she was holding something.

"I can sedate her, Commander."

Rick looked at the room and it appeared she'd been at it for at least a few minutes. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. It looked like the kitchen itself had been spared so far. The cafeteria, however, not so much.

Then Liz fell to the floor and just sat there though they could both hear her crying.

"I think she's done. See if you can find Frankie and send him here, please," Rick asked her.

"Yes, Commander." Liara left to contact the others and help her find him and send him to the cafeteria.

Rick cautiously and carefully approached Liz until he thought he was as close as he wanted to be before sitting down in front of her. He saw her look up at him and suddenly she looked like he felt when he was certain he'd gotten all those people killed after he'd assassinated Admiral Kona at the peace meeting he had called for.

Liz wiped away her tears. Now she understood what Rick felt like so much more. Rick didn't say a thing he just sat there.

"They bombed Parth, Newhall, and Muir into near oblivion. Three fleets of over 30 ships strong. Each had a Crete class as an anchor. Hundreds of thousands of people all dead." Liz curled her legs in close and wrapped her arms around them.

She knew something was up and they could do nothing to stop them with their little fighter still broken and with parts spread out all over the landing bay.

Rick opened his mouth to say something and closed it again. His response to his demons had been a bad attempt at killing himself. Then he'd pumped Kate full of a drug that would cause her to become addicted to sex and maybe force her to love him. Give him a reason to live.

He wasn't the person Liz needed. His demons still haunted him and probably would for the rest of his life no matter what he did.

Seeing Frankie show up and lower himself down to sit next to his wife had him getting up silently and walking out of the cafeteria. He didn't get far enough away to not hear her sob loudly.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

"What are those?" Kate watched Rick enter their room where she was entertaining her son and Kateryn.

"Pajamas and clothes for tomorrow for Kateryn. We're doing another sleepover," Rick told her and put the clothes in the spare bedroom. Kate followed him into the room with a questioning look on her face.

"The Alliance decided to fight back and just our luck the fighter's down for maintenance because something's wrong with it." Rick looked to make sure both kids were busy and not listening to him. Still he lowered his voice so only Kate could hear him. "They bombed 3 outer planets, killing everyone."

"Oh, dear God." Kate immediately clapped both hands over her mouth and looked out at the kids who weren't paying any attention to them.

"Frankie's with Liz in our now destroyed cafeteria. She took it pretty hard," Rick said.

Kate looked at her husband in disbelief. Hell, she was taking it hard so why wasn't he? "You're not." She didn't want to start a fight but he clearly didn't look all that hurt.

"The ghosts of those people can't reach me. My soul is already haunted by millions. When I die I'm going to Hell and there isn't anything I can do about that. A few more souls no matter how big that number is doesn't matter." Rick simply felt a little colder is all. Or warmer depending on your point of view.

"Rick!" Kate hated it when he talked like that. He was a good man. Surely he knew that.

"MAMA!" Having Caleb yell for her had her turning to look. Her son apparently needed her and yet so did her husband. Maybe she could do both at the same time. She pulled her husband with her to join the kids.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

It is now one week later

Frankie was sitting down in his chair, ready to take the Firefly out and exact some revenge. He more felt his wife behind him than saw her as he started warming up the various systems.

"How are you doing?" Rick asked, looking at Liz. They had all already talked to her before today. She was still hurting. Like Rick she felt those deaths were on her. Even if there was nothing she could have done about it.

"Fine, focused. Ready to make them pay for this. I've been trying to make this war uncomfortable for the powers that be. I should have known their response was going to be murdering people. It was all they did last time. I'm good." Two could play their game.

"All green and I'm out of the landing bay. Where are we going today?" Frankie inquired.

They had monitored where those shipyards had landed and how much damage that had caused. They were also watching the other shipyard slowly tumbling out of orbit. Based on the number of ships around it they were trying to save it. If they lost it they were going to be down to just one shipyard and it would take a decade to replace even one of them.

This meant mostly that the military ships they had now were all they were going to have for years.

"You're going to Kerry and wait. All three fleets have left their planets and I'm guessing that Kerry will be one of the next three. When they arrive I want you to get in nice and close. Right behind that Crete class. Then when they start launching bombers I want you to start blasting away. Just watch your scanner. Once it goes dark you need to jump farther out, start firing again, and be ready to jump for home before it blows," Liz said.

She was taking a calculated risk that one of the three fleets would show up there. She was planning to use the Crete class against the other ships. When it blew the blast wave might hopefully take out the other ships with it.

Liz turned to Rick. "I need you to monitor some of the other outer planets. I need to know where any of the fleets show up and when."

"Got it." Rick left them and headed for his old Command cabin so he could use his desk. Kate had the kids today and she had plans for a picnic outing in the park.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

Frankie was in a very low orbit betting that none of the Alliance ships, if they showed up at all, would arrive this close to the planet.

Rick was watching when suddenly a large Alliance fleet popped up out of FTL. He hit the outpost intercom. "One Alliance fleet of…32 just arrived near Pelorum," Rick told literally everyone.

That had Frankie turning to look at his wife. "Stay where you are, babe." He didn't need to react to it.

Rick was still looking when Frankie got an alert. "I've got 31 Alliance ships that just arrived. I'm reading one Crete class, two Tohoku class, 19 Longbow class, 6 Trebuchet class, and 3 Victory class." Frankie was ready and waiting.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

"The three big guys are the only ones entering orbit. Everyone else is spreading out to cover them. We're not going to get all of them when this Crete class blows," Frankie advised Liz.

"Just let them get settled in, babe, then move in slowly, nice and close," Liz said. "Rick, I need you to monitor that group. Forget the other one. I want you to feed me coordinates of the Crete class ship when it settles down into orbit." Liz was thinking of getting greedy.

"Got it," Rick replied and focused on these guys.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

"I'm moving." Frankie used his engines to maneuver in closer. So close that even if someone did see him firing, they wouldn't see it for long.

"I'm in position. Scanning the target and…firing." Frankie watched his shot reach out and just a few seconds later strike the rear of the ship, causing damage. Smiling wide he just kept on firing. Shot, after shot, after shot. This close what he was shooting wasn't just disintegrating on him, it was exploding and flying out into space. Some of it was impacting his shield.

Then he got an alert. "Looks like the other ships know I'm here. Two more shots then I'm moving."

It only took one shot for suddenly the entire ship to go dark. One shot later and Frankie was using his engines to get some distance between it and him.

"I need to leave. I'm reading a lot of secondary explosions." Frankie wasn't sure if even his tough little fighter could survive the blast wave this thing was going to put out.

Liz gave him new jump coordinates followed by Frankie spinning hard in place, firing a single shot, then jumping. They could find out later just what happened.

"Oooo!" Frankie liked where he was now.

"Repeat, babe. Get in nice and close and give that thing hell," Liz urged him.

Frankie was more than ready. If they killed this one that would leave them with one Crete class and no way to make more without a shipyard and a space elevator to get the supplies up to the shipyard.

Frankie was blasting away when suddenly he noticed that the ship had gone dark on him. He hurriedly backed away before he decided to spin and use his engines to get even farther away.

However, that took him directly toward a lone Victoria class so he shot it and watched it vanish after his shot enveloped it, leaving literally nothing behind.

He had just spun and fired a shot when suddenly three Victoria class ships got lucky and got three hits on him.

"Last shot then I'm jumping for home," Frankie announced since they had triangulated his location and were firing again. "Jumping in 3…2…1." Frankie saw a massive explosion and the pulse wave reached out to touch every ship it could just as he vanished.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

Everyone save for the Androids was in the repaired cafeteria and even Kate had a bottle of beer so they could celebrate.

"We just saved two planets from destruction." Liz raised her bottle of beer high and was smiling wide.

"Do I want to know?" Kate asked even though she was happy for them.

"We only killed two Crete class, five Tohoku class, and three Victoria class. So the loss of life isn't that great a number. But they only have the one Crete class ship left and can't build any more. They'll be forced to recall it home to protect the core planets," Liz said to her.

"So three planets?" Kate questioned.

That had Liz looking at Rick since he was monitoring. "I haven't seen that fleet yet. Could be anywhere." They could look after they celebrate.

"Mama. Cookie?" Caleb asked softly since all the grownups seemed happy about something.

"Cookies for everyone!" Kate announced. She lifted him up, took him into the kitchen with her, and noticed that Kateryn was following her.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

Since they were celebrating, Liz was with Kate in the kitchen making a massive dinner of the best each of them could make.

Caleb and Kateryn were on the floor in the cafeteria stacking blocks, trying to make who knew what, but at least they were happy. Rick and Frankie were on their second beer when Nassana entered the cafeteria.

"Did you come to celebrate with us?" Rick grinned at her.

"I am here to inform you that the fighter will require several weeks of maintenance. You took one shot too many to the ship's shields and they collapsed. The armor would likely have stopped the next one, however, there may have been damage. We will be replacing all of the shield emitters and doing tests on the power core. We anticipate that this will take close to four weeks. We are pleased that you won," Nassana stated and turned to leave them.

"Nass!" Kateryn was up and working on following her. Nassana stopped and picked her up when she reached her legs.

A pair of small arms wrapped around Nassana's neck. She was not used to children and did not know what to do next.

If Kate or Liz had been witnessing this they would know what to tell her to do next.

Frankie was up and walked over to them both. He stood in front of Nassana. "Tell her that you love her."

"I…" Nassana was not sure she loved anyone let alone a little girl who was wrapped around her.

"I wuv you." Kateryn had heard her dad tell her what to say and it came out easily.

Nassana watched Frankie nod. "I love you too?" Little arms held onto her even tighter. It still left her unsure what to do next.

Frankie moved in and extracted his daughter from the Android. "Say bye, little love. Nassana has work to do and we have to get you washed up for dinner."

"Bye, bye." Kateryn waved at her and watched Nassana leave.

"Let's get you clean. We have a celebration dinner." Frankie took her into the kitchen where there were hand sinks to get her hands clean.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

Liz found getting her daughter back was harder than it looked. Kate was holding Caleb to take him home and get him ready for bed. But Kateryn had her arms wrapped around Kate's legs.

"You don't want to come home?" Liz got a shaking head. It hurt a little but she had an idea. "Would it be better if Caleb came home with us?" Maybe it wasn't her and more Caleb. A nodding head gave both Kate and Liz the answer they needed.

"I'll get his jammies and something to wear tomorrow." Kate handed over her son, extracted herself from Kateryn's arms, and headed for their room.

She was back just in time to see a naked Rick sitting on the bed waiting for her. She walked into her arms.

"No child all night?" Rick asked her and felt Kate shake her head. "I suppose you want to tie me to the bed now?"

Kate simultaneously squealed and sucked in a deep breath. "I'll…" Kate cleared her throat since she couldn't remember when she had been this excited. "I'll get the straps." She was going to have some fun now.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

Kate had him tied to the bed. She'd checked each strap and stood at the foot of the bed. She started to simply take off her clothes until she saw his cock twitch as it got a bit bigger.

Now she was stripping really slowly and trying to hide parts of her until she crawled up his body and avoided his cock completely.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

Rick was begging her to let him climax. He was also testing the straps and trying to move. "KATE! …PLEASE!"

"Not just yet, babe." Kate replied since she was loving this a lot. Being tied to the bed herself? Not so much. Having Rick tied to the bed was a big yes. Though the drug in her system was also screaming at her. Rick might not be climaxing yet but neither was she.

She was so hot and needed to climax so very badly. Listening to Rick beg her had her wetter than she had ever been lately. So she was up, placed his cock at her opening, and dropped herself onto him, plunging him deep inside her. It was just what Kate needed. She climaxed just as Rick climaxed harder and stronger than he ever had in his life. Both of them screamed.

A moment later Kate was grinding herself on him to reach her second orgasm.

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

Kate had just untied him from the bed. She was utterly happy and was so ready to do this again when suddenly she found herself being pinned to the bed as he plunged his cock deep inside her from behind. She whimpered and moaned. "YES! FUCK ME!" Thanks to her drug she could do this maybe for another couple of hours.

Kate heard him groan loudly which told her he had just climaxed inside her. However, instead of stopping he kept fucking her. "RICK! PLEASE DON'T STOP!"

( ][ )( ][ )( ~ ][ ~ )( ][ )( ][ )

"You sure you don't want some company?" Frankie was standing next to her with the Gateway open onto a room that held a Colonel Slovus that both of them knew well.

"I'll be fine. I have my pad with a lot of information. They aren't going to learn anything about here or the fighter. His job is to make contact with the Alliance and find out if they're willing to talk now. I'm going to make sure that we'll only accept our original demands from last time. An Alliance of the outer planets. It's that or we can finish what we've started. No more interference from the Alliance.

"Maybe even reparations for all the murdered people on those three planets those three Alliance fleets did." Liz was secure enough with this colonel.

"Just keep the Gateway open so I can run to it and get away if necessary," Liz asked him and Nassana who was at the controls.

"We will be here for 6 hours but no longer. After that we have to shut down for 24 hours." Nassana warned her in case she had forgotten.

"Make this meeting lost no longer than 5 hours. Got it. Wish me luck." Liz turned to look at the Gateway only to have her husband spin her so he could kiss her.

"We'll all be right here waiting for your answer." Frankie had never thought this day would come. Then he watched his wife walk into a small side room that looked through the window into the room Colonel Slovus was sitting in. He was still in his uniform from the first war.