Chapter 5
Unknown Assailants
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Mal, Jayne and Zoe stood in the bridge, Mal frantically pulling at various switches mumbling "Come on Kaylee, come on." quietly to himself. Inara entered the bridge tugging her robes about, to avoid tripping on them. Simon followed, pulling River along, as her unkempt hair flew about her face. She wore a vague expression, and appeared to be unfazed by the commotion from moments before. Simon looked paler than usual, his hair disheveled, and bearing the hallmark signs of anxious fingers being dragged through it.

"Serenity's stalling, I think the jolts must have thrown her into emergency shut down mode." He hadn't stopped to look at anybody, as he continued to fiddle with buttons and inspect screens.

"Come on Kaylee!" he barked anxiously.

The docking hall of the Alliance cruiser had been long since plunged into darkness. So when a single door opened and a shard of green light spilled across the floor, it caught everybody's attention. River started breathing heavily and shuddered. She stepped back against the wall furtherest from Serenity's windows, and hid her face in her hands. Inara pulled the cowering woman in against her front, and River buried her face into Inara's shoulder gratefully. Inara hadn't taken her gaze away from the doorway in the distance.

Jayne trudged towards the control board and pressed himself as close to the windows as he could. His dull reflection was illuminated in the thick glass, and immediately flanked by the reflections of Zoe and Mal. They stared out into the large chamber Serenity sat within and were startled at the scene before them. Just like the cargo bay of their own ship, the ground outside was littered with various objects that combined to form a mass of discernible jumble. It looked like a bomb had gone off, and utterly decimated everything in sight. The atmosphere was made eerie by the fact that there were no Alliance soldiers visible.

Jayne made an odd grunting noise, as a bead of sweat trickled down his right temple.

"Why aint their gun stations spewing out ammo? and why are their gun ships lined up, untouched?" he said quietly, with a hint of foreboding in his voice.

Up until this point, the darkness had obscured the ships from their view, but from the slither of light casting in through the door, they could make out the outlines of at least five ships.

"Hello?" called River loudly.

She was ghostly white, and was clinging on to Inara, bundling up her bright red robes in her fists as she began to tremble uncontrollably. Zoe, Mal and Jayne pressed their faces closely to the windows, to peer down into the darkness. They were scanning desperately from side to side, for any sign of life or movement. Their breath was caught in their throats, as they stood silently observing the scene before them.

Suddenly a face loomed out of the darkness at them. There was a set of razor sharp teeth bared, and eyes that were bulging ferociously from their sockets. Every face inside Serenity let out a scream of fright, and everybody sprang back in horror. The crazed stranger dragged long jagged fingernails down the glass. His hair was rugged, and unbrushed, turning into lank dreadlocks. His eyeballs were sickly yellow, and his teeth were brown and rotting. Streaks of blood were oozing menacingly from his mouth, and at least two of his long sharp finger nails had been partially lifted.

"Reavers!" yelled Jayne. He trembled from head to toe, his eyes wide with panic.

"No!" exclaimed River.

She stepped towards the window, Inara reluctant to let her go.

"A person who has yet to be turned." she uttered.

"What!" said Mal, panic and disgust evident in his tone.

The scowling face continued to jeer in at them all, as he mouthed silent words at them. The windows were too thick for his voice to penetrate.

"He isn't one of them" said River quietly. She placed a palm on the glass, and began tracing his grotesque face with her finger tips. Her eyes were locked on him, and she appeared to be unnerved by his presence.

"He would kill us if he were in here, but he is not one of them." she nodded.

"She's got a point captain, if he was a Reaver, Serenity would have been overcome by now." said Zoe, as she looked to Mal.

"If he isn't a Reaver, what the hell is he?" whispered Mal.

Inara stepped forward and pulled River back.

"Jayne get down to Kaylee and help her out, I still don't feel like this is a place decent folk should be." said the captain.

Jayne nodded and ran from the bridge as quick as his feet would carry him. Mal took up a communicator and notified Kaylee of the impending arrival of Jayne.

Kaylee had her head buried deep in the engine bay. She was rerouting circuitry, and shouting orders at Simon.

"Pass me the wrench there" she said without looking up.

Simon pawed tentatively at the assortment of tools sprawled out on the floor. Kaylee sighed, and removed her head from the engine bay.

"She's never been this stubborn before" murmured Kaylee, as she reached down to the ground, patting anything she could reach.

"Uh huh! Here we go" she grinned. She hadn't torn her gaze from the engine bay at all, and demonstrated her affinity with tools. She looked to Simon, holding up the wrench so he could see it.

"This here's a wrench Simon." There was no malice in her voice, if anything she seemed entertained. "Geeze, you know all there is to know about bones, and muscles… and guts… but not what a common wrench is" she chuckled. Simon opened his mouth to reply but at that moment Jayne came thundering into the engine room.

"This aint no time to be playing classroom!" he boomed. "We got company of the savage kind, and it's best if we get gone."

Kaylee and Simon ground to a halt, and fixed Jayne with a terrified glance.

"Who?" said Kaylee, but Jayne cut her off mid sentence. "Best not to think about it, lets just get this bird flying again."

True to form, Kaylee managed to get Serenity fired to life. She stood over the engine bay, her eyes beaming with anticipation as she grinned broadly. She was fawning over the spinning turbine and intricate wiring, as though it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Jayne and Simon were both sweating profusely, Simon's sleeves pulled up roughly, and the chest of Jayne's t-shirt smattered in oil. Every single face in the engine room was looking utterly relieved.

Jubilation filled everybody on the bridge, as Serenity roared into life. A series of alarms went off, and Mal set about switching them off. River took up her position at the helm, and proceeded to lift Serenity gently from the ground. She screwed her face up with concentration, keeping her eyes fixed on the wild looking man who was still clinging to the window. Two of his cohorts had joined him, and they jeered on at the crew. They looked as ferocious as ever, scowling and clawing at the glass. River rotated the ship on the spot, trying desperately to avoid any obstacles.

"Ease her forward, and punch it." said Mal, his eyes fixed beyond the entrance point they had arrived in.

"Lets hope there isn't a locking beam enabled anywhere near here." said Zoe, as she clutched tightly at the back of River's chair. Mal looked at her briefly, worry shadowing his face, as his nostrils flared, and his lips tightened over clenched teeth.

Serenity drifted along through the dark landing dock, rows of combat equipment lay neatly in place, untouched. More Alliance gunships came into view, also unmanned and untouched. River's eyes were fixed on the wide expansive darkness just beyond them. Zoe and Mal looked frantically about, trying to ignore the men still scowling in at them. Even though Serenity was in flight, it didn't seem to deter the blood streaked strangers from trying to get in at the crew.

After what felt like an age Serenity was almost out of range of the artificial gravity the Alliance cruiser offered. Sensors opened the clear doors that had been used to seal the oxygen within the cruiser's docking platform.

"Punch it!" yelled Mal, as he gripped onto the console in front of him.

River shoved the gear shift forward, and Serenity gave an almighty surge, as a luminous cloud flared to life from the stern of the ship. The cavity of the landing platform was lit up with blinding light, and the savage men vanished in an instant, sucked towards certain death in the expansive abyss.

Inara and Zoe had collapsed unceremoniously to the floor.

"Sir! What about the others in the engine room?" yelled Zoe.

"I don't wanna take no chances on a locking beam, and who knows where or how those space fairies came about!" yelled Mal.

River gasped, and forced the powerful turbines to change direction suddenly. Serenity let out a horrible groan, as every rivet let out a creaking noise under the strain of holding everything together. Inara and Zoe scraped across the floor, as River and Mal folded with the change in G-force. Serenity's lights flickered out again, and she sat immobile.

"Three… two… one…" she whispered.

Mal opened his mouth to reply, but a flash of white light forced him to throw his hands up defensively over his face. The noise of an explosion followed, and was ear splitting to the point where they all instinctively clapped their hands to their heads. Serenity rolled sideways, and Mal tumbled from his chair. River had gripped tightly onto the console, in anticipation. She began pushing an assortment of buttons before easing the gear shift forward. Serenity crawled forward smoothly, her lights still faded out.

Mal got up slowly, rubbing his head. Inara and Zoe had got to their feet, and stepped in towards the windows, to get a better view of the events unfolding around them.

"What… in the…" whispered Mal, as the scene of a large gash in the side of the Alliance Cruiser reflected in his wide eyes.

Particles from the explosion, some larger than Serenity shot past with speed. They were indistinct and appeared to be nothing but dark shapes. Serenity melded in with the rubble, and River let out a sigh of relief.

Large plumes of fire spewed from the gash in the column furtherest from Serenity. They were beautiful, and expanded gracefully before burning out and fading into nothing. Serenity's bridge was lit with a peaceful orange glow, that would have given off an ambient effect if it weren't for the circumstance that led to their presence. Jayne, Simon and Kaylee stumbled into the bridge. As they joined the rest of the crew, their mouths dropped open in surprise.

"There's a leech…" said Zoe, as she pointed out at a large ship that had docked alongside the cruiser.

"A leech?" questioned Jayne. His eyes narrowed in disbelief. "No ruttin' way, I aint ever seen a leech that'd be able to take down a cruiser…"

"A leech as in a parasite?" said Simon slowly.

"Exactly that. A ship that docks, and sets up an access point by burrowing into their mark's ship. They enter it without authorization" answered Mal. "An old trick that died out years ago… or so we thought" he added balefully.

"What the hell can take on an Alliance Cruiser like that? said Jayne quickly. "Surely only Reavers!" he exclaimed.

"The bigger they are…" started Mal. "The harder they fall" nodded Zoe, cutting in across him.

"I'm guessing it was an inside job. Since we aint got any allies on the Alliance side, who else do we know that might be able to give us some answers?" said Mal.

"I don't need no answers Cap'n, I just know I wanna be a million miles from this mess." said Jayne, waving a hand at the scene before them.

"Aint no use runnin', if we don't know what we're dealing with Jayne. Inara you got any clientele that might have an insight into this?" Mal turned his head, and fixed her with a searching look.

She seemed to be considering him for a moment, and swallowed hard. But at that moment another smaller explosion jolted Serenity slightly, and a large ball of fire bellowed out into space. She seemed to find her resolve, and nodded.

"General Kerwin may be able to help. Power will need to be restored, before I can communicate with him through the database" she lowered her head slightly, looked to Mal's face briefly then stepped out of the bridge.

"She can't bring the power back just yet… but soon" grumbled River incoherently.