Title: TOC: Operation Perseus

Author: AgentOmega

Overall Genre: Action/Adventure; Suspense

Overall Rating: M for reasonable probability of adult themes and definite occurrence of violence.

Overall Pairings: Mal/Inara, Simon/Kaylee, Zoë/Wash’s Memory, possible Jayne/River.

Overall Location on Firefly Universe Timeline: Approximately four months post-BDM.

Overall Spoilers: Reasonable probability of eventual series spoilers (details currently unavailable) and definite occurrence of BDM spoilers.

Summary: As Parliament decides to resume the hunt for River Tam and the crew of Serenity, a mysterious stranger seems intent on thwarting their plans. In a time of perilous unrest, Good and Evil will clash – and the fate of humankind will hang in the balance.

Disclaimer: The people, places, and plentiful paraphernalia you know and love/hate are the property of their respective owners, namely Joss Whedon, his associates, and any groups which control or are controlled by said individuals. No profit is made by the author of this work of fiction from the creation or distribution of said work, nor is any infringement intended. Plagiarism is considered a serious criminal offense, and punishable by law. Please ask before redistributing this work.

Length without header: 3 page(s) at 12-point Times New Roman font; 907 words; 5,591 characters including spaces.

Feedback: Some authors don’t care about feedback. I am not one of those authors. Giving feedback tells me that you took the time to read it and cared enough to comment on it. Receiving feedback is a wonderful thing, and every author should experience it.

Notes: For those who are probably wondering: yes, the original characters ARE in this story; I just had to get some things out of the way before I reintroduced them. It’s a big system, and there’s bound to be exciting stuff happening even if Mal and his crew aren’t around to liven things up. Rest assured, our big damn heroes will make their appearance in chapter four. Also, all ship measurements are given in length-width-height format.

Milky Way galaxy; system Tau-Helion-Xray-1138; 2,751,364.52 kilometers from planet Osiris; bearing 085.74 mark 11.29 – January 1st; 2519; 08:29:52.3762 hours (Londinum New Greenwich Mean Time)

The Wellington-class dreadnought IAV Columbus sailed majestically through the cold emptiness of space on route to Sihnon, her primary ion drives propelling her at a rather brisk 75,268.31 kilometers per hour.

At nine hundred and seventy-five meters by three hundred and twenty-five by two hundred and ten, she dwarfed almost every other ship in existence with the exception of Dortmunder-class deep-space cruisers and certain planetary settling vessels. Driven by four class-three ion engines, the Columbus was one of the fastest in the ‘verse, second only to the slightly more well-endowed Washington-class. Bristling with thirty-six heavy laser turrets, eight ion cannons, six missile batteries, and a turret-mounted dual railgun, the Columbus possessed enough firepower to completely overwhelm virtually any opponent in one-on-one combat.

Captain Alexander Brighton reflected on all this for a moment as he surveyed the endless field of stars out of the forward bridge windows. His crew had been on extended patrol for three months, and the lack of new scenery was beginning to wear on everybody’s nerves. They were all looking forward to some well-deserved shore leave, and for those with family on Sihnon, a chance to see familiar faces.

Brighton paused at this thought and smiled. His parents were long dead and he had no wife or children, but there was a certain fiery-haired Companion at house Madrassa whose company he always enjoyed. He made a mental note to look her up later that evening and see if she would be free in another week when he was planetside.

Snapping out of his reverie, Brighton called to the navigational officer on duty.

“Lieutenant Christian, status please.”

The young man swiveled in his chair and snapped a sharp salute, bumping his cap back slightly to reveal a shock of golden hair.

“On course and in the green, Captain. We should be in Sihnon orbit roughly 163 hours from now.”

“Excellent. Anyone else in my sky?”

“No sir. Solitary sailing as far as the eye can see.”

“Good, good; that’s what I like to hear. Carry on. Oh, and lieutenant?”

The blond officer turned back to his superior.

“Yes, captain?”

Brighton winked.

“You don’t have to salute every time I ask for a status report.”

Lieutenant Christian blushed scarlet. “Yes sir. Sorry sir.”

Brighton nodded, then turned on his heel and headed for his ready room, chuckling inwardly. Lieutenant Christian was young and rather inexperienced for a navigational officer, but the boy had a mind for numbers if ever there was one. He could shave hours off an arrival time when everyone else would swear it couldn’t be done, and between his keen eyes and the Columbus’ cutting-edge sensor suite, the lieutenant could spot a ship on the horizon before Brighton himself.

And that was saying something, the captain thought as he keyed in his personal code, since he had always had a sixth sense about when they weren’t alone.

-0-

956,427.31 kilometers astern of the IAV Columbus and closing fast, a second ship sliced stealthily through the night.

Measuring four hundred meters by two hundred by fifty, it was not a vessel that most would describe as small or unobtrusive. However, despite a clear line of sight and the rapidly dwindling distance between them, the crew of the Columbus was unaware that they were being overtaken.

Aboard the second ship in a dimly lit room, a figure watched the rapidly-growing form of the Columbus displayed on a large screen.

Reaching out a black-gloved hand, the figure typed a command on a console.

(Copy data from remote source.)

Data in a bewildering variety of formats scrolled across a series of smaller screens: crew profiles, cargo manifests, mission briefings, status reports, personnel logs, and much more. Moments later, the screens went blank and a message appeared.

(Remote source data copy complete.)

The figure typed another command.

(Search all copied data for matches or possible references to 'Firefly'-class ship 'Serenity' or known crew members after August 2518.)

An instant later, another message appeared.

(No matches or possible references found.)

The figure smiled inwardly at the search results. Parliament was compartmentalizing information as expected. This would make the mission far easier.

Looking once again at the form of the Columbus on the larger screen, the figure contemplated how simple it would be to destroy the Alliance vessel without ever firing a shot. It was such a fragile ship, the figure thought; it would be so easy to seal their doom... to make it look like an accident.

On the other hand, orders were orders, and the figure had been given very specific guidelines regarding the rules of engagement.

And so, with that thought, the figure turned and left the room, the brief ray of light from the opening doorway casting undulating shadows as it played around the figure's long, black trenchcoat.

There was still much to be done.

-0-

Twelve seconds later, the second ship passed within a kilometer of the IAV Columbus and accelerated away, leaving the Alliance vessel and her crew in eager anticipation of arriving at Sihnon in a week's time.

Twenty-three minutes and forty-eight seconds later, the second ship slid quietly past Sihnon. The planet's orbital surveillance grid, even more advanced than that of the Columbus, detected nothing.