"Howlers!" Benjamin's voice blared over the ship's intercom. "The Howler ship-it's heading straight toward us! Launch in one minute! One minute!" He flipped switches on the console, and the ship started coming to life.
A light flashed on his console, and on the speaker he heard Judy's voice, weak and uneven. "The weasel... he took Brooke."
Benjamin gasped, and then turned towards Jack, but the bunny was already gone.
Brooke's nose quivered as the weasel directed her through the cargo bay, towards the open airlock, towards the loading ramp. He held a gun under her chin. She trembled as she complied, slowly making her way towards the bright sunlight.
They were half-way across the cargo bay floor when the cheetah's warning sounded. Moments later, the enormous silhouette of the cape buffalo appeared in the open airlock. In his arms, he carried the wounded tigress. The fox was clinging to his back.
Gasping for breath, M'bogo knelt on the cargo bay floor next to the control console. Nick let go, dropped to the floor, and slammed a button on the console. He shouted, "Benji, we're on! Shake a tail!"
As their eyes adjusted to the relative darkness of the cargo bay, they noticed the weasel pointing a gun at them, and holding another gun under Brooke's chin. "I don't wanna hurt nobody," Weaselton shouted at them. "I'm just doing my job. Not gonna hurt nobody, unless you get in my way. Ain't playing games, so-"
Brooke shrieked and fell to the floor. With his right paw, the weasel tucked a gun under his left arm, then grabbed Brooke. Jack ran onto the catwalk overhead and jumped. The weasel tried to drag Brooke to her feet. Jack landed, kicking the weasel's head with all his strength. The weasel's guns skittered across the floor as he landed in a heap.
"Bogo!" the captain shouted, pointing at the weasel. Without speaking, M'bogo gently set Sherani on the floor, forced himself to his feet, and threw the weasel's limp body out the airlock. Nick hit buttons on the console, raising the loading ramp and closing the airlock.
M'bogo picked up Sherani again and carried her towards the infirmary. He stumbled slightly when the ship abruptly jerked into the air.
The shepherd stood in the doorway, the wool around his face and shoulders matted with blood. He moved aside for the cape buffalo, and then followed him to the infirmary.
Brooke knelt next to her brother. "Johnny?"
He lay on the floor, looking up at her. "It's okay, Brooke. It's okay." As he tried to stand, he let out an involuntary shriek. After regaining his composure, he said simply, "Ouch." He smiled weakly at his sister, then called out, "A little help here? Anyone? I can't walk."
Brooke smiled up at Nick, who was standing behind her brother. "Dumb bunny," she said, shrugging her shoulders. Nick lifted the injured doctor and limped towards the infirmary. Brooke followed close behind, her eyes closed, her nose trembling, and one paw on Nick's back.
A few minutes later, Nick limped into the bridge and demanded, "How close are they?"
"Too close," Benjamin replied, not looking up from his console.
Nick studied the display. "How close do they need to be to use those grapplers?"
Benjamin simply turned the yoke, veering the ship hard to port. "I need Judy in the engine room," he said quietly.
"Benji, she's still-"
"Nick, I need Judy in the engine room."
Nick hit a button and spoke over the ship's intercom, "Bogo, get Judy to the engine room. Now."
"Nick?" Gazelle spoke, standing at the entrance to the bridge.
He quickly pointed her back down the corridor, towards the shuttle bay. "Gazelle, get in your shuttle. Get the civilians. Get ready to go."
"We cannot just leave you here," she protested.
"Sure you can. Look, if the Howlers board us, you take off, head for town. We might be able to keep them here, stop them from following."
"They will kill you!" she exclaimed.
He continued. "Watch out for Bellwether. She's... Just stay away from her. Get ready to go. Now!" She left, glancing back over her shoulder as she went. He turned back toward the pilot.
Resting a paw on Benjamin's shoulder, he simply said, "Report?"
A tear fell from the cheetah's eye as he continued to maneuver the ship. "I can't keep this up much longer."
As if on cue, the shepherd's voice crackled over the ship's intercom, "Judy's in the engine room. M'bogo and I are here too. What do you need us to do?"
In the engine room, the cheetah's voice crackled over the intercom, "Judy, we're gonna need a full burn. Not right away. Just set it up."
Judy lay in a brightly colored hammock, her face tired and expressionless. She looked at the two larger mammals and asked, "You know where the press regulator is?" The cape buffalo stared at her blankly. The ram thought for a moment, then pointed at a panel. The bunny coughed, then smiled briefly, "Yep. That's it."
The shepherd carefully followed a sequence of instructions, then she announced on the intercom, "Ready for full burn... on your mark."
"Judy, how about a Crazy Ivan?" the cheetah's voice inquired.
"Sure," she replied, coughing again. "Sounds fun. Gimme a sec..."
Turning to the cape buffalo, she instructed, "M'bogo, open the port jet control. Cut the hydraulics." Noticing his blank expression, she continued, "Here... Right here... Where I'm pointing... Where he's pointing... Where we're both pointing... Yes, that's it. Now open the panel." He opened it, revealing a rat's nest of cables. Judy coughed again, then continued, "Sorry 'bout the mess, but it's actually really easy..."
In the bridge, the fox broke the silence. "They're getting closer."
The cheetah hit the intercom button. "Judy?" He continued maneuvering the ship as he waited for a response.
The bunny's voice finally crackled over the intercom, "Ready for an Ivan. Waiting for your mark for full burn."
The cheetah hit the button again. "Everyone hold onto something." Softly he whispered, "Here's something you can't do..."
His spotted paw pulled a red lever, then pushed it back. As he did so, the ship spun like a carnival ride. Serenity now faced the pursuing vessel. The distance between them closed quickly. At the last minute, the cheetah steered slightly to avoid a collision with the larger vessel. "Now!" he shouted into the intercom.
Suddenly the cheetah was thrown back into his seat. The fox lost his grip, fell to the floor, and slid aftward as the ship accelerated, overwhelming the ship's artificial gravity system.
The ship steadied, and Nick stood up, his legs shaky. The view from the bridge showed the blackness of space. They had cleared the atmosphere.
"That was close," Benjamin said, his voice again cheerful. "But they aren't flying. I think our engine blast took them down. And we have just enough left to hit a fuel station. We got paid, right? Please tell me we got paid."
Later, in a small passenger stateroom, Jack tucked his sister into bed. She sobbed, "I didn't think you'd come for me."
"Well, then you're just a dumb bunny," he said, smiling. She hugged him desperately. "We'll find somewhere," he said, "somewhere safe."
She closed her eyes and whispered, "We're safe here, Johnny. The fox keeps us safe."
In the corridor outside, M'bogo stared at the closed stateroom door. Nick limped over and the cape buffalo grunted. "Those two bunnies are trouble. The weasel said the Alliance will keep looking for her. She's important to them. It's something about her brain."
"Good to know," Nick said. "So, what kind of deal did the weasel offer you?"
M'bogo sneered. "Money. Share of the reward. But Captain Wilde, I would never-"
"I know. And thank you. And thanks for everything you did back there."
Jack emerged from his sister's room, supporting his weight on crutches. M'bogo nodded to his captain, turned, and walked away. Nick headed in the other direction, towards the infirmary.
Noticing the captain's limp, the doctor spoke. "I should take a look at that."
Nick shrugged, "Yeah, I suppose so." He continued towards the infirmary, and Jack followed as quickly as he could. Nick looked at the two beds in the infirmary, where Judy and Sherani slept. Then he stepped over to the bench outside the infirmary, pulled down his torn, blood-stained trousers, and sat down.
Jack grabbed a trauma kit from the infirmary and hobbled over to the bench. He examined the wound and said, "You should have had me look at this earlier, but it isn't as bad as I expected. I bet it hurts like crazy, though."
Nick shrugged, and the doctor began treating the wound. After a few moments, Jack asked, "So, where are you going to dump us?"
Nick spoke slowly as the doctor worked. "Well, there aren't many places you'd be safe. Not for long anyway, the way the Alliance is hunting you. Look, what I'm trying to say is, ow, ow, AI-YIP!"
Both mammals paused, then Nick said, "I'm okay. Go ahead. Finish up." The doctor resumed treating the captain's wound. "And what I'm trying to say is, I think you're safer on the move. And we're always on the move."
The doctor continued his work without saying anything. The captain continued, "I mean, do we need a medic? Yes, yes we do. Obviously we do. And from what I've seen, we could do a lot worse than you."
Jack spoke deliberately. "Captain Wilde, my sister-"
"Naturally, your sister is welcome too."
Jack stared at the captain, his mouth open as if to speak. But no words came. Nick shrugged, feigning disinterest. "You know, until you find something better."
"It's just that Brooke, she said... something. It doesn't matter. Thank you, Captain. Thank you."
Neither of them spoke as the doctor finished treating the wound. He started bandaging it, and asked, "So, is this what it's like, out here on the Rim?"
Nick laughed. "Well, no. For one thing, things aren't usually this... interesting. Believe it or not, we usually try to avoid Alliance agents, and Howlers, and mammals like Bellwether. And for another, this isn't the Rim. These are just border worlds. Persephone's practically a central planet."
The doctor secured the bandage, and Nick said, "But don't worry, most of us need time to recuperate, so we'll lay low for a week or two before-"
"At least a month," Jack said. "Doctor's orders."
Nick smiled. "At least a month. Doctor's orders. Welcome aboard Serenity."
Author Notes:
This chapter concludes the story. As I mentioned before, I've already started working on a sequel, based on the Firefly episode "The Train Job". And this time, I'm starting with the original premise of the Firefly episode, but letting the Zootopia characters take things in different directions.
I don't know what (if anything) will follow "ZTW2: The Train Job". At some point, I would very much like to do "Out of Gas", although that episode is going to be especially challenging. All the new Zootopia characters will need new backstories, and the plot of "Out of Gas" is very intricately structured with the interactions of the various timelines.
When I started "Zootopia That Was", the references I used indicated that Officer Fangmeyer was confirmed by the movie's creators to be a female tiger. Now, they say that the creators' comments confirmed only that Officer Fangmeyer is a tiger. There seems to be uncertainty and disagreement about which of the tiger officers is Officer Fangmeyer, and about whether Officer Fangmeyer is male or female. Furthermore, the movie and the related games/apps may not agree with each other. Regardless, in this crossover, Sherani Fangmeyer-Clawhauser is going to remain a female tiger.
Thanks for reading. I hope fans of both Zootopia and Firefly could enjoy "Zootopia That Was".