DR: Finally I can use this bit! This was one of the first scenes I worte for this story, so I hope you all enjoy it...
Chapter 21: Furious Maelstrom
Wash came running onto Serenity, gasping for breath. "He took them!" he gasped out.
"Who took who?" Zoe asked as she and the others gathered round the winded Wash.
"Niska." That one word caused a ripple of panic to run throughout the crew. "He's… he's got Mal and Kaylee."
Simon's jaw dropped, and Inara gasped in horror. Zoe went stone silent. It was just the widening of her eyes and the way her mouth thinned into a tight line that showed show she was affected by the news. Miranda looked between them, seeing the panic and dread in their eyes.
"Then we go get them." Zoe spoke after a second.
"It's not going to be easy." Wash pushed on. "I saw them being forced into a skiff. They could be anywhere by now."
"Even more so if they link up with a ship." Jayne threw in, his hands already tightening into fists.
"Well, we'll just have to get to them before they do." Zoe answered, her voice cold.
Behind them Miranda frowned, then raced to the stairs. She pulled herself up faster than she had ever done so, before racing to the bridge. She counted her lucky stars that she had been taught how to use the ships comm system. Franticly throwing switches, she opened a channel to the orbiting Thunderchild.
"This is Miranda to Thunderchild. I need to speak either with Colonel Achilles or Vega Obscura immediately!"
As she waited she vaguely heard the others follow her up. "What are you up too…" Zoe began, but then Achilles came on line.
"This is Colonel Achilles. What's the problem young Miranda?"
"Colonel, two of Serenity's crew has been kidnapped. Their still on planet, but we think they'll be sent to a ship to get well away from here."
On the screen Achilles frowned while behind him Vega could be seen with a haunted look on his face. "Understood Miranda, though I'm not sure what we can do from up here. Do we know who took them?"
Miranda nodded. "It appears to be a man called Niska, and you can send down Vega."
On the small screen the two men looked at each for split second before Vega turned and left the frame. Over the still open comm Serenity's crew heard Achilles order his crew to prepare Vega's transport for immediate launch. Then he turned back to face them. "He's on his way. Now why send him, and who is Niska?"
Miranda turned to look at Zoe, who stepped forwards. "Niska is a local crime lord. Very big on reputations and image. We once had a job with him, but when we realised we'd be stealing medicine from those who needed it, we gave it back. We gave back the money he paid us in advance, but Niska has a grudge against us, Mal in particular. He later snatched Mal and Wash, tortured them, and after I managed to buy back Wash, we went in and rescued Mal." She now looked at Miranda sternly. "Now why do we need your boyfriend?" Despite the serious situation, Miranda couldn't help but blush at that.
"I remember Kaylee's wearing her new necklace." She explained. "The central gem is zoid magnite. I remember telling her to be sure to keep it covered, as it stands out. The Fury…"
A gleam of understanding appeared in Achilles eyes. "Ah, I see. He can home in on that just as easily as any tracer beacon." He looked of screen for a moment. "Vega's ship should be launching any moment now. Let's just pray he reaches them in time…"
X-X-X-X-X-X
Mal looked around the interior of the skiff, feeling totally helpless. He could feel Kaylee trembling besides him, and that made him even more annoyed. Niska sat ahead facing them, a twisted smirk on his lined face. A half dozen men sat along the sides, watching them. Mal noted with disgust how they looked at Kaylee, particularly the one closest to her. He looked down at her frightened face.
"It'll be alright." He told her gently, to which she looked up at him. Her eyes were wide with fear, and tears were forming in the corner of her eyes. He could see that she knew what those men were thinking about, and it truly scared her. Mal tried to comfort her, but truthfully he didn't hold out any hope for them, not this time. Niska could take them almost anywhere in this skiff, and if they linked up with a ship… then his crew would have no chance of finding them. Not even the Colonials could.
He glared at the cruelly cheerful Niska. "There's no reason to involve her in this." He said. "I'm the one you want. Let her go, I'll stay."
Kaylee looked at in awe. "Capt'n…" She whispered, but he didn't hear it, as he was totally focused on Niska, who was slowly shaking his head.
"Mr Reynolds, still being heroic. But I'm afraid, it is not just you any more. Did you think I would forget that your crew stormed my station, killed my people, all to rescue you? No, I recall it all. Your crew took something of mine, and now they must pay."
At Mal's dark look, Niska waved his hand. "Oh do not be concerned about your friend. While we will return to where we left off before, she on the other hand will have her own journey of discovery. I am curious about what kind of person would follow you so blindly Mr Reynolds."
Kaylee began to whimper, and Mal wrapped an arm round her in an attempt to comfort her, even as Niska added "Worry about yourself, Mr Reynolds. This time, I am looking for at least a week to hurt you. And this time I have something else with which to torment you." He grinned evilly. "Yes?"
Mal couldn't think of anything to say to that, partly because at that moment he felt something under his hand. He rubbed his fingers for a moment to be sure. Underneath her floral top Mal could feel a necklace around Kaylee's neck. And it reminded him of what had happened earlier, before they had left the ship. He'd seen Miranda talk to Kaylee, pointing at the necklace she wore, before both young women had smiled as Kaylee had slid the item under her clothes, the small softly glowing crystal hidden.
And that made Mal wonder…
X-X-X-X-X-X
Not too far away from where they sped along, one of the smaller, older Colonial transports settled down in the dirt besides Serenity. It was an older craft, dating back to near the beginning of the Cylon War. It had a small cargo space, but one that was ideally sized for the cargo it now carried.
The front hatch opened up, and a mass of shadow grey armour plates emerged into the fading sunlight. It stood there for a moment, seeming to almost be sniffing the air, then with a burst of blue jets from several nozzles on its legs it sped away.
X-X-X-X-X-X
Mal stumbled as he was pushed out of the skiff. Righting himself, he turned in time to see one of the guards cruelly squeeze Kaylee's butt as she was pulled out. The sight caused him to lurch towards the man, but he barely made it two feet when he was restrained.
"Oh you are such a noble man Mr Reynolds." Niska said as he emerged, slapping one hand down onto Kaylee's shoulder once he was stood on the ground. "But as I told you once before, heroics are unseemly these days. Men like you have no place any more." He stepped past them towards the small ship that sat just ahead. Mal focused on Kaylee, his heart breaking. Her face was now streaked with tears and she was practically sobbing.
Mal had never told anyone, but to him Kaylee was like a little sister to him. He cherished her innocence and sweetness. Sometimes it did annoy him how she was always so cheerful, but deep down he knew that without her his days would have been so much darker.
Forced onwards by his guards, they approached the ship ahead of them. It was a squat, ugly thing, most likely produced in an Alliance workshop. Just beyond it he could see the nose of an Alliance gunship, though this one was painted black rather than the standard white. Mal's hopes failed.
Suddenly there was a crack of thunder, and the stubby wing holding up the right engine of the transport disintegrated in a brilliant flash of light. Even as he blinked away the after image, there was another crack, and an explosion blossomed on the transports stern. This time he saw for an instant the bolt of energy that raced ahead to strike the ship. Two more followed, blasting apart one landing leg and ripping away a portion of the ships back.
As one the group had stopped, frozen at the destruction before them. No one could believe what was happening.
Then the air was split apart by a deafening roar. It echoed around the valley, filling it with a primordial sound of rage. The guards around them jumped, their faces masks of terror. But the two from Serenity looked at each other and grinned. They knew that roar.
Almost casually Mal turned around, to see a very welcome, if frightening, sight. Stood on top of the rise, silhouetted by the sinking sun, was the Fury. With the sun behind it all that could be seen was a black shape, with two triangular glowing red eyes. The tail was shifting about, and Mal could just see the guns shift.
Both barrels suddenly erupted with energy, and in the yellow backlight from the blasts the harsh angles and deadly form of the zoid was made clear for a split second. If Mal had not already seen and been around the zoid before, it would have been enough to give him nightmares for the rest of his life. From some of the sounds around him as the skiff they had used was blasted to oblivion, many of Niska's men where having just such a reaction.
He looked at Niska… and smiled in glee. Niska was staring at the Fury as it stood there, his mouth hanging open and quivering, his eyes wider than the glasses he wore.
Some of the men were firing their weapons at the zoid, and Mal shook his head at their stupidity. Nothing they held could possibly hurt it. At the best all they'd manage to do would be to scratch the paint. And of course tick the zoid off, which was something that Mal had long ago learned was not something you wanted to do if you had a desire to live a long life.
A missile rocketed out from the billowing clouds of smoke that pillared up from the wreaked transport, before the nose of the gunship emerged. Mal snapped his head around to follow the path of the missile, which caught the Fury in the shoulder. For a moment it vanished behind a fireball, but then the flames faded away to reveal the zoid still standing there, glaring at the gunship that hovered up ahead. Mal would have sworn that the eyes narrowed slightly.
He watched as the head lowed and the tail stopped shifting. Then the plates on the tail opened up, and the neck was held straight. As the jaws opened wide, Mal's eyes widened too as he recognised what was about to happen.
"KAYLEE, TAKE COVER!" He yelled as he ran towards her, throwing them both behind a nearby boulder as a glowing sphere of energy formed in the zoids open jaws, bathing the entire area in a sickly bluish-purple light.
With the sound of a thousand lightning strikes the Fury fired, the beam of charged particles enveloping the gunship in an instant. Men around them cried out as the sheer power of the weapon beat at their eyes and ears. As his head was turned in that direction, Mal saw how about half of each of the gunships wings, about a half-dozen meters long each, fell to the ground, each part flopping down like they were half molten. Of the rest of the ship there was no sign.
The Fury ceased the attack, and the only sounds were the cried of the blinded and scorched men, blended with the roaring of the Fury's venting system as it dumped all the heat generated by the attack. Then there was click.
"Now then, are you going to let Captain Reynolds and his engineer go?" Vega's voice was polite, but full of ice.
Pushing themselves up, both Mal and Kaylee made their way towards the Fury, as not one of the men Niska had brought even moved from where they lay. Mal did stop at the one to retrieve his gun, but apart from that neither took much notice of them. As they approached the zoid a distant hum grew louder, and Mal could see the Mule approaching fast. When it got close enough Mal could tell that it was Zoe and Jayne inside.
He turned to Kaylee, who was smiling now. "See, told you it was going to be okay."