BLUE SUN ROOM FAN FICTION - GENERAL

LONEWOLF7

Union of Souls - Part IV
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

While the crew is relaxing contently with Kaylee's family, other forces behind the scenes are moving in new and dangerous directions. All is not well in the 'Verse, as warning signs and political movements push the galactic situation closer and closer to cataclysm. Took me awhile to get moved and settled into my new life, but my posting is back on track!


CATEGORY: FICTION    TIMES READ: 1721    RATING: 9    SERIES: FIREFLY

Dante never called anyone. The last time he’d used the Comm was during his last report to Foster, and that had been some time ago. Fortunately for Emily, the redial function of the Comm system was fully functional, and even more fortunate was the fact that Dante was sleeping. Foster’s rugged features creased into a scowl as he appeared onscreen. “Who are you?” he demanded. “How did you get this number?” “Never mind that,” Emily dismissed. “I have important information for you.” She leaned a few inches closer to the camera for added drama. “Information about disloyalty in your ranks.” The man’s scowl shifted from one of scorn to one of intense curiosity. “I’m listening... for now.” Emily flipped some red hair over her shoulder to get it out of the way. “I’m aboard Dante’s ship as we speak. Were it not for his small window of rest, he’d likely find me out and kill me for contacting you.” Foster appeared to become angry. “I never authorized him to bring outsiders in on this mission.” “Don’t cut me short yet, Big Guy,” Emily continued. “More interesting, yet, is my assurance that Dante has captured your target, Gabriel, not once, but *twice* already. Both times, he let the kid go free.” Foster turned from the screen long enough to control his temper before returning to view. “And his reasoning behind this?” he inquired through gritted teeth. Emily shrugged. “Seems to me like a matter of honor. Gabriel was wounded both times, and Dante is obsessed with a fair fight. It’s all he ever talks about.” Foster nodded, his demeanor once again cool and professional. “I wish I could say this news surprises me, but...” He sighed as he pondered possibilities. “I am thankful for this enlightenment. Dante is now no longer a concern of mine. However...” He arched an eyebrow. “...I find it unnecessary to cut him loose just yet. Officially, that is.” He intertwined his fingers against his sternum. “I wonder if you might be interested in taking the position of my... correspondent.” “You mean your spy,” Emily reiterated. “Exactly,” Foster admitted. “My generosity would not go unnoticed, as your bank account would soon reflect.” “Doctor,” Emily replied, “I do believe we can come to a business arrangement.” “Excellent, excellent.” Foster lowered his hands from view. “I... didn’t catch your name, by the way.” Emily flashed her friendliest smile. “Yolanda,” she replied. “Call me Yolanda.” *************************************************************************

“You’ve definitely lost a lot of weight, Dear,” Ann observed from behind as she snugged her old wedding gown at Kaylee’s middle. “You sure yer eatin’ right on that little boat of yers?” “Eatin’ *right?*” Kaylee repeated. “Sure, Ma. Eatin’ a lot?” She shrugged. “Can’t really afford it.” “Well,” Ann added as she continued adjusting the gown, “yer surely smaller’n I was when yer father an’ me were wed.” “I lost ten pounds this year, Mama,” Kaylee explained. “We had some... rough times lately, but we’ll pull through it.” “Do you enjoy yer life, Kaywinnit?” Ann inquired seriously. Kaylee pulled away to turn toward her mother. “Well, sure I do. I got a great bunch o’ folk I’m workin’ with. Love ‘em like a second family.” She shrugged again. “I like the work, I *love* the ship.” She giggled. “An’ I got me a great man outta the deal, too.” Ann nodded as she turned her daughter back in the other direction. “As long as yer happy, Dear,” she repeated. There was a moment of silence. “I suppose after tomorrow’s weddin’, y’all’re gonna haul anchor an’ take off again, right?” It wasn’t really so much of a question. “Yeah,” Kaylee admitted. “I’m sorry I haven’t kept in contact so much, Mama. Things... Well, like I said, things’ve been rough.” “Well, yer makin’ a life fer yerself, Kaylee.” Ann finished with the dress and moved Kaylee toward the mirror. “Lord knows there ain’t work to be had around here. There, how does that look?” Kaylee admired the olive-green gown with wonder. “It’s gorgeous, Mama.” Ann grinned. “Not as gorgeous as the girl who’s in it.” *************************************************************************

“So you work out a lot, huh?” Jessie wondered, inspecting Gabriel’s muscles flirtatively. “Are you stronger’n Simon?” Betsy inquired. “He looks pretty strong.” “Noo...” Gabriel murmured, abashed. “I’m just... big-boned.” River pouted to the side of the living room, looking none-so-happy. “This would be funnier if Kaylee were out here,” Mal observed, speaking to Zoe. “Kinda gettin’ old, though.” “I think they’re just havin’ some fun, Sir,” Zoe decided. “That, an’ Gab’s shyness would make it all the more fun.” “Well, if it’s so fun, why don’t *you* flirt with him some more?” Zoe smirked. “Hey, I ain’t sayin’ it wouldn’t be funny. I’m just sayin’ it wouldn’t be *as* funny. That, an’ I gotta live with River.” She nodded toward Kaylee’s older sisters. “They don’t.” Carl and Simon abruptly entered the room. “Ann’s gettin’ the chow on. Kaylee should be out in a couple minutes, she said.” “Would it be funny if *I* flirted with him?” Mal wondered as they turned toward the newcomers. “Definitely, Sir,” Zoe assured him. “I hear from the young doc here, we’re gonna have a new dinner guest tonight,” Carl mentioned. “Uh, yeah,” Mal replied. “Jayne Cobb’s gettin’ relief from guard duty. I’ll be spendin’ the evening with the ship tonight.” “You’ll hafta watch Jayne, though,” Zoe warned. “He eats like a horse.” “His manners are of a similar nature,” Simon added. Carl opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped as his eyes narrowed upon his two present daughters. “Now, I ain’t been here long, but I’d say our young friend, Gabriel, has a mite redder face than it should, an’ I’d put *two* dollars to a dog turd I know who’s responsible.” *************************************************************************

“I reckon we oughtta take a break an’... check the news Wave,” Jayne suggested, pulling himself from Helen’s grasp and out from under the common area’s dining table. “You watch the news?” Helen inquired incredulously. “Um... yeah.” Jayne began dressing himself. “I watch the news all the time.” “You do not,” Helen argued, standing. “You’re just making up excuses to cover the fact that you’ve run out of steam.” “Gotta protect my manliness somehow,” Jayne returned, making no attempt at argument. He visited his bathroom and ascended the stairs into the cockpit. Flipping the screen to the on position, he frowned at the images that snapped into view. "What the *hell?!?*" *************************************************************************

"...an' we'll do whatever it takes to drive Parliament's heel out from over us," a young, blond, attractive woman told her interviewer in a thick, Scottish accent. "The way I saw it, personally, everyone's got choices in life. Yeh can either go on tryin’ to scrape by as scum, or yeh can turn yerself around an’ actually *do* somethin’ worthwhile. Don’t’ ever let anyone tell yeh that yeh don’t got choices." She grinned and winked at the camera. "Someone very special told me that once. Thanks, Gabe." The clip ended, and the coverage returned to the studio announcer. "For those of you just joining us," the professionally-dressed woman explained, "that was a clip of our exclusive interview with the mysterious Serenity United resistance leader Sarah Cornell, who has been in deep hiding in the Jungula Ranges of Hera. Serenity United is just one of several such terrorist organizations to pop up across the planet in the past month.” “Well,” Jayne grunted in recognition. “I’ll be damned...” "This type of activity," the broadcaster continued, "is becoming disturbingly familiar throughout the fringe worlds, as dozens of resistance groups on dozens of planets and moons appear to be developing higher and higher levels of organization. Reports granted us by Parliament representatives state that many of the more organized groups have arranged underground supply trafficking and communications, presumably led by a Manfred Baile.” A photograph of the familiar, bald Browncoat appeared onscreen, and the broadcaster spoke uninterrupted. “Baile was a former soldier for the Independents during the civil war. The allegations are also indicative of Baile supplying large numbers of paramilitary laser weapons, the origins of which remain a mystery...” “Wow,” Helen breathed behind Jayne’s shoulder. “Things are really turning into a crapfest out there, aren’t they?” Jayne nodded his agreement. “Looks like.” *************************************************************************

“In other news...” The Operative flipped his screen off. Other news didn’t concern him. Publicly-available news almost never concerned him, for he had no use for it, but on this particular occasion, it amused him to see the effects of his work on the ‘Verse at large. “All of them...” he muttered to himself. “...better worlds.” The Operative stood and paced across his office in the low-profile ship that had served as his home since shortly after the Miranda incident. He pitied the loss of his compound in Capital City on Osirius, both for its technology and for the never-ending supply of aides at his disposal. *It’s no matter. This work area is far more versatile.* The man left the room and headed for the lavatory. Reynolds and his crew were temporarily out of the picture for reasons unknown, and the resistance groups were advancing perfectly according to plan. Damian Ritter and his team were still clueless, as usual, and plans for the next stage of advancement, which would include the Reavers, again, were adequately prepared. The only puzzle piece still a mystery to him was the current status of Dante and his little helper. *Things are awfully quiet in their corner, lately...* *************************************************************************

“Hell-lloo, Sexy...” Jessie crooned upon Kaylee’s introduction of Jayne Cobb. Gabriel was momentarily forgotten as both she and Betsy moved to this new victim of their affections. “Ni how?” Jayne’s chest puffed just a bit with pride, and Gabriel and River both heaved sighs of relief. “I think you girls should be gettin’ to bed soon,” Carl warned, “unless you’d rather eat yer supper tonight in *silence.*” The girls moved away from Jayne and feigned pouting. “Seen the news lately?” Jayne inquired. “Things’re gettin’ *real* messy out there.” “That’s what I heard from the Lemmon’s next door,” Carl replied. “Been years since we been this politically messed up.” “As long as we can stay out of its way,” Simon added, “I’m happy.” “Aw, c’mon, Doc,” Jayne urged, whacking Simon’s arm with a backhand blow. “Y’all ain’t gettin’ yer panties wadded up, itchin’ fer a fight?” “No, Jayne,” Simon replied. “Not really.” “Might be some profit in it, a fella goes about it right,” Jayne continued. “Whaddaya think, Gab? Should we expand our mercenary horizons a bit?” Gabriel cleared his throat. “While I’m on the same panty-waddage page as Simon, things have been gettin’ a bit boring around here.” “If you get any ideas of the sort in your head,” River warned, “I will chain you to a bed.” “Do I get the same concern as the kid?” Jayne wondered hopefully. “No,” Gabriel and River answered in unison. “Well, let’s not stand around here all night,” Carl decided, chuckling a bit at the crude humor. “Let’s get to eatin’.” He gestured down the hall. “This way, Cobb.” *************************************************************************

Mal stared at his reflection in the mirror, studying the circles beneath his eyes, the bloodshot whites of his eyes, and the worry lines beginning to crease his face. “Aw, what the...!” He reached up and plucked a single gray hair from the mass of brown. *I am *way* too young to be startin’ to get these...* He was just tired, Mal decided. Tired and worn out was what he was. *Maybe the Shepherd was right,* he thought to himself, looking back on what he could remember of his coma dream. *Maybe it’s time to settle down an’ quit runnin’ all over the black...* Splashing some water on his face, Mal dried off and climbed the ladder to the corridor above. He strolled into the common area and began to fix himself something to eat. He didn’t notice Hayze at first, but she was seated at the table, hands folded on the tabletop. “Ya plannin’ on eatin’?” he inquired. Hayze nodded. She, too, appeared tired. “I didn’t want to help myself when there was no one else around.” “Well, that’s what it’s there for,” Mal admonished. “I’ll make ya somethin’. We got protein bars, protein mash, and oh, wait... Protein a la oatmeal.” Hayze smiled a bit. “Whatever you’re having is fine.” As Mal worked, he noticed an edge of discomfort in his demeanor. He didn’t particularly care for the woman whose company he was sharing, and he didn’t much care for the fact that she was anywhere near their ship. *Better that she’s here, though, where we can keep an eye on her...* “Thank you, by the way,” Hayze spoke. Mal arched an eyebrow. “Thanks for what?” Hayze shrugged. “For making me dinner. For not throwing me out an airlock weeks ago.” Mal finished preparing the meal and tossed a plate before the woman on the table. “Well, I don’t really know ya, ‘sides the fact of ya bein’ the enemy, so I can’t rightly like ya. I sure as *hell* don’t trust ya. So far, all you've earned is the right to not be chained to a bed no more.” He plopped down in a chair across from her. “Let’s say I tolerate ya, for now, an’ leave it at that. Dong ma?” Helen pressed her lips together and nodded as she picked at her meal. “I can live with tolerance.” “Good to know,” Mal replied. “Now eat.”

COMMENTS

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 3:35 PM

BLUEEYEDBRIGADIER


Oh crap...guess the old axiom about no news being good news is quite right in this case:(

Still...definitely a great reintroduction to the fold, lonewolf7! Especially loved Jayne's attempt to cover up the fact he's all pooped out from a virile young blonde like Helen;D

BEB

Wednesday, February 7, 2007 4:18 PM

SCIFIGAL


Nice to see you are on a roll again, Lonewolf. Anxious to see how the wedding comes off, but olive green for a wedding dress???

Saturday, February 10, 2007 9:02 AM

GRAYALBATROSS


Kuul. And I agree... Olive?! My mom's was red. XD. Still though, It is GREAT to see you back in action!


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