Chapter 7: One step closer
"Is he going to be ok?" Bobby Higgins asked when Doc and Simon Tam stepped out of the infirmary.
Carmen Ibanez could see the tentative expression on both men and hoped they'd just get on with the diagnosis. The Roughnecks were already braced for bad news. All they wanted to know was how bad exactly. She knew them well enough to know they were hanging on every breath the two were taking. In her opinion, these events, like a reprimand from Marlowe on the monetary cost of a crashed fighter jet, should be done quick and hopefully painless. Just like ripping off a band aid.
"Well?" Higgins uncharacteristically prompted.
Doc closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "He's physically fine." His jaw hardened.
"But? There's always a but." Gossard leaned against the wall behind him.
"It's up to Jenkins." Doc finally finished.
The pilot took a quick look at the squad around her. Max Brutto was looking at the ceiling defeated. Jeffrey Gossard had his eyes closed, arms crossed and lips pressed together in a thin line. Sitting on the floor beside him, Ashley Anderson was simply looking away. Higgins had an arm wrapped around the girl between them on the sofa.
She didn't have to look to know. Carmen was devastated but Dizzy Flores would be a hundred times more than devastated. The fiery red head had her elbows to her knees and her head to her hands staring bitterly at her shoes.
The pilot saw a tear run down her cheek. They weren't always friends. At one point, they went against each other for the affection of the same men. The past, however, didn't matter anymore. Her formal rival's best friends were unconscious to the world in the same tiny room. "Dizzy, I'm sorry." Carmen placed a comforting hand on the girl's leg.
"They're not dead, Ibanez." She replied standing up and beelined for the infirmary. Once inside, she quickly shut the door behind her.
Carmen sighed. She saw the younger troopers flinch when the door slid shut. Everyone stayed silently in their place as if someone did pass away. Although she was a fleet officer, she found herself at a loss on what to do. The protocol would be to continue the mission and follow orders. But they were lost in space. There were no orders. There was no mission.
"I apologize." Simon Tam's softly but firmly said. "In behalf of River." He continued uncomfortably. "Please believe me when I say she did not mean to hurt anyone. Once something gets triggered inside her mind, she has no control over..."
"For short, she's an unstable ninety pound freak who can kick ass." Brutto supplied for him.
"Ticking time bomb." frowned Gossard.
"For a ship called Serenity, there's very little of that going around here." Doc sighed settling into Dizzy's former seat.
"Guys, come on." She groaned. "That's not really helping." She said earning a grateful glance from doctor. But she knew they were right. Even she thought that they would at least be safe inside the ship while flying through space. Today's incident proved otherwise. The camaraderie she previously felt for the crew of this ship was starting to wane. The honeymoon was over.
The love is gone.
-- -- -
Every year, the Alliance made it harder for people like them to do anything. Malcolm Reynolds knew that for a fact. He knew it by experience. But he didn't know it would come so soon. He stared blankly at the talking head on the small screen telling him some obvious nonsense that he didn't care to digest. "And you know how they are about...." The man went on.
Finally, he just needed to interrupt. "Look. Way I see it, you know we're perfect for the job. I sure as hell know we're good for it. So what is the problem?" He asked in frustration.
"The problem is..." The man shrugged. "You rub me the wrong way."
Mal let a humourless chuckle escape. "I rub you the wrong way?! You ain't ever met me." He exclaimed in disbelief.
"Hearsay's enough for me."
"Hearsay." It took all his self control to keep from rolling his eyes. "Well then you'd know that business ain't about liking the folk you do business with. It's about getting the job done. And I always get the job done." He said proudly.
"Now you got it all twisted. The job will get done, Captain Reynolds. Just not by you."
"But I hear you're getting desperate." The Captain argued. "Means nobody want to touch your cargo."
"Desperation and stupid ain't similar things, Captain." The man held up his hand to finalize his decision. "Business with you-- it just ain't smart. Apologies." And with that, the screen flickered back to black. The transmission was cut.
He laid his head to rest on the dashboard defeated. Yet another potential job lost. He couldn't understand it. He was perfect for this one and the owner knew it. Nobody else was sane enough to take cattle from rock to rock anyway. The last time they did it, Serenity smelled funny for quite a time and he vowed never to take cattle again. Yet, here he was needing a job and not being able to land even one that involved live animals.
He was purely convinced something was wrong with the verse.
With a sigh, he opened his eyes just to see a plastic stegosaurus under a plastic palm tree staring at him. "You were wrong." He frowned. "This ain't no fertile land." He flicked the dinosaur lightly.
"I see you've taken to playing with plastic toys." The humoured interruption of Inara Serra made him stand and face her automatically. He smirked seeing the blue silk kimono- like robe that clung to her slim frame. He always thought she wore her 'whoring' clothes inside the ship just to torture him. Why else would she, in her right mind, dress up pretty when she was going nowhere?
"Just amusing myself." He answered as casually as possible.
The companion simply nodded. "Oh, I'm sure." She said smiling at the lame cover up he had chosen.
A brief period of silence took over the bridge. The Captain suddenly noticed that these quiet times were coming fairly often between the two of them. They would simply look at each other. In silence. No fighting or anything. They just stood there. He found it very awkward and he did not like it very much.
So like a school boy he shoved both his hands into his pocket. "Inara?" He smiled as sweetly as he could muster. "Why are you here?" He inquired curiously.
"Oh!" The girl snapped out of her own silence. "Just wanted to inform you that River is asleep in my shuttle." She nodded. "And I would like to know where we are going next and for how long." Her smile faltered slightly. "So I can... arrange my schedule." She said choosing her words carefully.
The Captain ran his hand through his hair trying to hide his nerves. "Well, when I decide on that, I'll be sure to let you know." He answered choosing his words carefully.
"You didn't get the job did you?" She deadpanned.
Mal shifted his weight yet somehow managed to keep his confident demeanor. "There are other jobs out there." He replied slightly more defensive than he would've liked. "Better paying ones too." he added. Times like these were not the time to show any sort of weakness.
But the good lady simply sighed. "Are you honestly telling me that isn't the fourth rejection you've had today?" She asked taking a step forward. "It's okay Mal. I have some money saved. Enough to drop the soldiers in Ariel." She offered.
"I ain't taking no charity from you, Inara and that's final." He said firmly.
"But Mal--" She started to argue when she was cut off by the sound of the ship's proximity alert.
The Captain sighed taking his place on the pilot's seat once again. He truly didn't not believe the day could get any worse. However, one look at the dashboard computer's output made his blood turn cold. He checked and rechecked the findings until he couldn't deny or wish any of it any longer. His frowned deepened when he saw smoke on the horizon. "Shiny. Just shiny." He muttered to himself.
"Mal, what is that?" A concerned companion leaned in watching the cloud of yellow smoke get bigger.
"Just an old fashioned boarding ship running without containment that sounds like this." He said in a breezy tone. With a flip of a switch, the bridge was filled with noises of random screeches and ticks and pops.
"Reavers." The girl paled at the realization.
The Captain gave her a wry smile grabbing the radio. "Dear troopers from another world. You folk are in for a real treat. " He announced sarcastically. " We're passing another ship. Looks to be Reavers. Now, it could be nothing so just keep calm and move on. If there's a real need to panic, you'll be the fist to know." He continued. "Kaylee, I need you to take yourself back to the engine room. Zoe, Jayne, bridge now."
-- -- - -
Doc Lecroix didn't particularly like how Simon Tam's eyes grew to saucers when the announcement was made. Coupled with the already pale talented man paling further, it was an obvious sign of fear. And if the good doctor had reason to fear these Reaver- things, then there would be a very good chance they should as well despite the wry tone the Captain had in his broadcast. "Dr. Tam." He called out breaking the silence. "What are Reavers?" He asked.
"The abomination of man kind." He answered quickly though he looked a bit dazed. "Excuse me. I'm going to have to check up on River." He turned and scampered up the stairs like something or someone was chasing him.
"That's helpful." Higgins commented dryly.
"Okaaaay." Gossard dragged the word on as shifted his gaze down on the girl sitting on the floor. "Andy? Do you know what they are?" He inquired.
"Mr. Universe-- His last real broadcast...." She lifted her eyes towards the troopers helplessly. "We didn't get everything. But as far as we could tell, they're a by product of some experiment on some rock. The government placed some sort of hydrochlorate derivative in the air. But it didn't work out as expected--" She started to explain.
"Anderson." Brutto interrupted. "Got no time for a history lesson. Give us the present not the past." He demanded.
The girl cringed. "They're people." She said in a small voice. "But they're not human. Cannibals. Highly aggressive. They can't be reasoned with." She lifted a finger in the air. "Like Orcs." She tried to place a fitting description.
Doc raised an eyebrow at the young trooper. "Andy, we don't know what Orcs are." He informed her. "But it sounds ugly." He added.
"Abomination of man kind- ugly." Carmen Ibanez groaned.
"Well," The medic shrugged. "Nothing we can do about it but sit and wait." He frowned worried. He didn't like how everything was going. It seems like all they have been doing has been sitting and waiting while their fate was handled by somebody else. This, in his opinion, was not good.
Not good at all.
-- -- - - - -
River Tam sat up in a panic. She glanced at every corner for the source of the terrifying voices in her head. Finding none just scared her even more. She had heard these noises before. She could see them. Big and black. Metal embedded on their lacerated skin. They felt no pain that they didn't take pleasure in. She held her head with both hands as it threatened to tear her into pieces.
"Mei mei." Simon, her brother, sat infront of her like he always did. "River." He called out once again. "It's okay, River. They're probably just passing." He tried comforting the girl taking her into his arms.
"No." She moaned. "They're coming. They're hungry." She argued. She could feel their disgusting urges pulse through her and sobbed. "You're wrong Simon. You're wrong." She repeated.
"River..." Her brother fell silent. She knew he knew she was right. The firefly rocked and she closed her eyes. That was it. She could see Serenity caught in the magnetic grappler. Jayne wasn't able to shoot off their ship.
The firefly was caught in a net.
The lights flickered until finally only the emergency lights remained on. "Simon, we have to go. We have to go. They're coming." She cried.
"It's too late. Serenity's lost power. We can't disengage properly." Inara suddenly entered her shuttle like a whirlwind. "Jayne has already brought Kaylee down from the engine room to the infirmary." River watched as she rummaged through her trunk before brandishing the bow and arrow she had previously used. "Mal said they'll come in from the cargo bay. He said we're not going down without a fight." She informed the pair with a small smile.
River shook her head trying to get rid of the stolen thoughts in her head but they just grew in volume. "Simon..." She pleaded before he could even speak though she knew it would be taken differently.
"It's okay, River. We've fought them before. You'll stay in the infirmary with the others." He said leading her down to the said place.
"No." She tried pulling her arm back in vain. She didn't want him fighting without her there as well. But she could hear his thoughts and as usual, her request was taken the wrong way.
"It will be okay, River." He said giving her to the care of the still recovering Kaylee and the injured troopers. "We'll be fine." He smiled to the both of them before the door to the cargo bay slid shut.
She quickly pressed herself against the small window of the door. "Kaylee, this isn't right." She complained when she saw each body outside checking their weapons behind a makeshift barricade of crates. There they were. Serenity's defense against the barbarian space horde was only ten bodies strong. Three of which, Inara, her brother and the reporter, weren't even real fighters. "This is wrong." She said again as the Captain lowered the cargo doors to prevent any more damage to his ship.
The young psychic felt the mechanic's arms wrap around her but she couldn't take her eyes away from the window. "River. Everything will be shiny. You'll see." She said. She lied. At the first sight of Reavers, her face fell and a whimper escaped from her throat. She felt it. They weren't just hungry. They were famished.
"Holy..." One said behind her. A boy with an arm in a sling. Private Max Brutto. "Anderson wasn't kidding."
"That's ugly." Agreed the pilot. Lt. Carmen Ibanez of the Federal Fleet.
Shots were fired. There as a lot of screaming. She heard one person, the medic, praying in his mind while shooting. The reporter Higgins, the Captain, Simon and Jayne were controlling himself from panicking. The mechanic, Gossard and the aptly named medic Doc were trying to convince themselves that they were just another kind of bug. The other girl, the one who doesn't miss, Andy, shot to the fast beat of the song in her head about a sandman coming. And two ladies, both fighters, Dizzy Flores and Zoe only had revenge on their minds mind.
She could see the Reavers fall one by one as they entered and screamed and waved their weapons about. The harpoons made dents into Serenity's walls. But they were still breaking through. She watched as her brother made a mistake of being too high above the crates only to be tackled back down by the Higgins just in time before spikes flew to his direction. "I learned that staying low keeps you alive." He said with a nod.
It was then she felt it. A wave of rage and impatience. "No. Stay there." She mumbled. "Don't..." She turned her eye on the small figure rising from behind the baracades heading into close combat with the Reavers.
"What the hell is Ibanez doing?" The boy exclaimed behind her.
"Diz!" Doc shouted. "Get back in here!"
"She's not going to listen." River predicted shaking her head form side to side.
"What's that little girl think she's doing?" Jayne growled as Dizzy engaged the Reavers.
"Tian ah" The Captain cursed. "Gorram girl's making it more difficult." He managed to say before a spike hit his arm.
"Dizzy!" Gossard reprimanded but was largely ignored. " Andy, cover her. The rest of us will--" He fell backwards reeling in pain holding his arm. River's mouth fell. He's been shot. Their medic quickly dropped his weapon to assist his best friend.
"Simon get him out of here." Zoe yelled. "Doc, you stay. You're a better shot."
"Dr. Tam, tell Brutto to come out and play. He can use your handgun with one hand." Doc nodded.
River moved away when the door opened so that Simon and Kaylee can bring the injured trooper in. "It's unfair." She said quietly when she held the trooper boy back from joining the fray. "I should go." She nodded running out the door before her brother, or anybody else, could stop her.
-- -- -
"Hello, ugly." Dizzy Flores was cut, bruised and hurting. But she didn't care. She hardly felt anything at all. Adrenaline surged through her body. She couldn't stand being behind that barricade any longer. She needed to be free. She needed to hit something. This was what she needed to let all her frustration go.
She ignored them calling out for her to return and get back in line. Can't they understand that this weren't bugs they were dealing with? They didn't need guns to kill this lot. She saw yet another Reaver that was about to attack her drop dead from a bullet shot and cursed the trooper that she knew shot her enemy. She didn't need her backup. She managed to kill several on her own already. These Reavers were strong but they weren't the smartest creatures.
In her opinion, they didn't stand a chance.
Suddenly, she felt herself bump into something. She turned and saw a wide eyed girl fighting gracefully right beside her. Everyone of her blocks and hits were calculated and exact. It was like choreographed ballet. Dizzy has never seen anything like it. It didn't changer her opinion of her.
She hated River Tam.
This was the girl who got Carl. It annoyed her that the younger girl was helping her fight. But her annoyance didn't compare to the extreme anger she felt when River used her own momentum against her and pushed her towards the barricade and away from the charging Reavers. She stumbled into Doc's arm. A stolen glance told her that River just leaped above the crates for cover.
"Jayne! Grenade!" The Captain yelled.
"Finally." The big man muttered throwing one in. "Get your head down!"
There was an explosion followed by everyone getting their weapons ready just in case a Reaver came through the cloud of smoke and piles of fire. But the smoke eventually settled though the fires burned the piles of bodies even more brightly. None of them got up.
It was over.
--- --
Translation
Tian a-- God...