DR: Well, a new month, a new chapter. Once again I apologise for the slow update rate (when compared to my other stories) but I just don't have the time to work on this much... as all of you with jobs can understand.
Chapter 3: We Come in Peace, Honest
Mal watched breathless as he stared at the funnel, the 'Wormhole' as he had heard Kane describe it as. He recalled what had happened the last time; how they had been sucked into the widely unstable space-time tear. Now though, the wormhole was almost static, only the hypnotic swirling providing motion.
Achilles voice emerged from the speakers. "We are sending out the probe craft. Stand by."
From the far side of Thunderchild'sprow one of the Colonial shuttles powered forwards. It's back was a mass of dishes and antenna, and there were no windows along its sides. Mal guessed that it was an unmanned version, packed with sensor gear.
It closed with the mouth of the funnel, and aboard all four ships everyone held their breath.
Suddenly the shuttle was yanked forwards, rapidly falling into the wormhole. For the few brief seconds before it vanished, Mal could have sworn that it was being stretched out. Then it was gone in a flash.
"We're holding the wormhole open. We still have a data and control link with the probe." Everyone listened to the reports. "Coming up to the thirty second mark… we have control back. Getting sensor data… Probe has arrived safely on the other side." In the background there was a whooping cheer, and the sounds of applause.
X-X-X-X-X-X
Far across space, the probe craft sat almost still in space, awaiting commands from its distant controllers. The array of powerful sensor gear swept space all around it, cataloguing everything. Already the databanks were filling with a map of the local stars and planets. A range of signals were recorded, the many streams and frequencies each separated and catalogued. Analysis of the recordings would have to wait; The Colonials were still wary about creating machines that could think for themselves.
A set of instructions came back through the wormhole. Powering up, the probe shuttle banked and began a slow circle of the area. The movement allowed the sensors to gain an extra fix on the local celestial bodies, improving the accuracy of the maps. After a couple of minutes of this, it turned sharply and re-entered the wormhole.
No one on the other side knew it, but the brief appearance of the craft had not gone un-noticed.
X-X-X-X-X-X
Achilles watched the Wormhole intently, his fist tucked his nose. He listened as the remote probe operator continued to report the probes progress. It was on its way back. It would take only a couple of minutes to retrieve it, and then… what?
Now he had to make a decision. Wait for the data gathered from the probe to be analysed, or go through now, right after recovering the shuttle? The first choice was undoubtedly safer, at least at first glance. While they had gained a real time look at the area around the wormhole, anything further away than a light second was still unknown. For all he knew, a meteor storm could be about to pass right through that area.
Yet, the longer he waited before heading through, the more the local situation could change. He knew they would have plenty of time to catalogue and analysis data on the far side, so it was not like they needed to wait…
"Sir! The generator's running dangerously hot! We can't hold the wormhole open much longer."
Achilles cursed under his breath before turning to regard the bridge officer. "Alright, shut it down the moment the shuttle emerges." Kane had told him that the mere presence of a craft in the wormhole would hold it open long enough for the craft to reach the other end, but Achilles was not going to take the chance. They only had a couple of those modified shuttles; it would not go down well to lose one.
"Aye sir."
"Probe craft should revert to normal space in five… four… three… two…"
A long thin grey needle sprung out from the depth's of the wormhole, a small flash marking its arrival. The tip seemed to freeze, before the rest of the object piled up behind it, forming the probe shuttle perfectly as it exited the wormhole.
"Probe has reverted to normal space."
Even as the shuttle powered away from it, the wormhole began to shrink, collapsing back into itself. The universe seemed to stitch itself back together, sealing away the secrets within. After a moment there was nothing, just the inky blackness of space.
Achilles turned away from the view. "How long before we can open the wormhole again?"
"The generator is still red hot sir. It's going to take at least three Sectons… er, two hours, before we can open the wormhole for that length of time again.
Achilles sighed. "Very well, notify me the moment we can safely do so. In the mean time I want the science teams working on the data the probe brought back, focusing on the local area. I want to know what may be waiting for us on the other side."
"Aye sir."
Achilles sank into his chair, before turning to regard the comm screens. "Get me Serenity."
On board his own ship, Mal had seen the wormhole collapse, and he frowned. "Huh? Why'd it close?"
"The power to artificially hold open a rupture in the fabric of space-time is extremely prohibitive." River's calm voice appeared over his shoulder suddenly, causing him to start. "The nature of the power requirements means that even superconductive circuits would burn out after a short period of time, due the intense energy feedback caused by the resonance…"
"Okay, I get the picture." Mal cut her off, glaring at the slip of a girl. "And don't do that again."
She grinned, much like a little girl. "Do what?"
Mal sighed in frustration. "Sneak up on me like that. It… oh, never mind." He turned to face the comm where he'd seen the blinking light that indicated an incoming call. Stepping over, he opened the channel, coming face to face with Achilles. "Colonel?"
"Captain Reynolds, it's going to be another couple of hours before we can open the portal again. When it does, I'd like you to go through. Once on the other side, signal us if it's clear."
Mal nodded, understanding the Colonial's meaning. The Colonial ships could not spin on the spot like Serenity could. If he needed, Mal could have them re-entering the wormhole in seconds, while the larger and ponderous battlecruiser would take a minute or two to do the same manoeuvre.
"We'll be ready."
X-X-X-X-X-X
Slowly the Alliance Cruiser Dominator advanced on the now empty space. When the small contact had appeared on their screens, it had sent shockwaves throughout the ship. The small craft, hardly bigger than a gunship, had circled the area for a moment, then disappeared. When they contacted Alliance High Command, the order came down to check that area out.
Commander Lefcourt glared out of the view port. Just his luck to be assigned this task. The fact that this was the exact same place that they had lost track of Serenity galled him even more. High Command had not been happy with him when that happened. So for the last year they had been dispatched all over the place, to all the remote border moons. It was dull and tedious work.
Even after all this time, Lefcourt couldn't understand it. How could an old junk pile of a firefly vanish just like that? One second the ship had been on their screens, the next she was gone. It was a mystery, and Lefcourt hated mysteries.
The cruiser eased forwards, her monolithic hull making her moves appear glacial. Around her a half dozen of her Gunships darted about like flies around a larger animal. Lefcourt remembered the last time they approached this area. That time there had been nothing, even after several hours of searching. No debris, no bodies, nothing. It was as if the universe had opened up and swallowed the small transport. Lefcourt had first snorted at the analogy made by one his crew, and then had the man dishonourably discharged.
Now, as they once again approached the same set of coordinates, he resigned himself to several more long hours of boredom.
However, fate had other plans.
"Sir, we're picking up… something…" His sensor crewman spoke up.
"Can you be any more vague?" Lefcourt snapped irritably. "Give me a proper re…"
"He never finished his words, because at that moment the space before him flared up like a blue flower. A blinding light was the spark which left several people dazzled for a few seconds. When Lefcourts eyes cleared, he stared at the spinning vortex in space that hung before them.
"WHAT IS THAT?" He snarled.
"Unknown sir! Sensors can't get a reading on it!"
Then there was another, smaller flare, and something came out of the centre of the vortex. It seemed to hang in space for a moment, then moved away from the… thing.
Lefcourts eyes snapped to the small ship. "Get me an ID on that ship, NOW!" He bellowed.
"Running sir…" A pause. "Sir… the Nav Sat and pulse beacon identify that ship as Serenity!"
X-X-X-X-X-X
"Oh juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan..." Mal breathed as he looked over the towering Alliance cruiser that was parked directly ahead of them. Even after everything he'd seen over the last year, the sight of an Alliance Cruiser right on top of him sent a chill up his spine.
After a moments though a sly smirk began to form on his face. Stepping over to the left of the cockpit, he touched one of the new controls. "Achilles?"
After a few moments the screen above the control lit up, and through a faint haze of static he could see the Colonial's face. "Malcolm. I assume you're through, safe and sound?"
"Oh we're all fine… but we have a welcoming committee."
One of Achilles eyebrows rose up. "Alliance?"
"Yep."
A predatory grin formed on the Colonial's face. "Well then, let's meet them. I suggest you duck…"
Smiling, Mal looked over towards Wash. Seeing he was already pitching Serenity down, he looked back at Achilles. "Already doing so. Come on through."
"See you in a half minute."
X-X-X-X-X-X
Lefcourt stared at the small transport as it flew 'downwards' relative to his ship. Serenity, back again? Where had they been all this time?
Never mind. At last he would be able to expunge the blot on his record. "Hail them!" he barked, his crew jumping into action. Once he got the nod from his comm officer he began.
"Firefly Transport Serenity, this is the Alliance Cruiser Dominator. You are ordered to surrender your vessel and prepare to be boarded. Captain Reynolds, if you do not surrender your ship and crew, we are authorised to use lethal force."
He paused, waiting for a response. Nothing came over the radio.
"I repeat, Firefly transport…"
Suddenly something came roaring out of the vortex. A huge, beige mass streamed out, the surface twinkling with yellow lights. Lefcourt's jaw dropped as more and more of the huge ship emerged. The sharp, arrowhead prow seemed to glare right at him, and the sharp lines and lean nature of the ship told him right off that this ship was a killer. The gleaming barrels of many a gun dotted its hull, with a pair of massive tubes in small notches on the underside of the bow on each side.
At last the ship stopped emerging, and he was able to look her over completely. The sharp prow with its odd recesses near the back capped a broad, box like hull. Thick wing like structures reached out to link a pair of flattened lozenge like pods. At the rear the hull rose up some more, the hull there becoming much more uneven, with half buried tubes and boxes jutting out.
The lean ship, which reminded Lefcourt of a crocodile, drifted forwards, Serenity almost hidden away underneath the ships mighty hull. Her shadow totally swallowed up the small firefly.
"Sir! Power readings are off the scale! We can't get a solid lock on that ship!"
Lefcourt, indeed the whole bridge crew, stared in abject horror at the titan that now sat before them, exuding menace and deadly grace.
Then the comm system came alive.
"Attention Alliance Cruiser Dominator. This is the Colonial Battlecruiser Thunderchild. Serenity is under our protection. Any attempt to either board or destroy her will be considered an act of war." There was a pause for a moment, then the voice spoke again. "Trust me, you don't want that."
DR: Now the Alliance learns what a 'real' warship is... until next time! And keep those reviews coming! Polite ones, please.