Inferno – Chapter Seven I do not own Firefly, and no copyright infringement is intended. I write only for the pleasure of doing so. ------------- River guided the shuttle expertly over the terrain, following Ethan Frye’s directions. Jayne sat beside her, eyes scanning the country side constantly. There was real danger here, he knew, and it didn’t please him that River was a part of it. “It pleases me that I am with you,” River said quietly, and he shot her a mock glare. “That’s cheatin’,” he admonished with a grin, and she raised a delicate eyebrow at that. “Not at all,” she informed him airily. “We are now married. All’s fair.” Jayne laughed at that, turning his attention back out the window. “You guys are married?” Ethan asked, surreptitiously eyeing River from the corner of his eye. “Seven whole days,” River nodded, trying not to grin at Ethan’s adolescent attention. “Seven days?” Ethan was astonished. “And this is your honeymoon?” “More or less,” Jayne nodded, resisting the urge to glare at the boy. He couldn’t blame him. River was beautiful. She looked at him for an instant at that thought, and smiled. “You guys came here the day after your wedding? To help us?” “Yep,” Jayne nodded, looking again out the window. “You’re Kaylee’s family. We look after our own.” The simple statement made Ethan stop and think. “I’m glad you feel that way, sir,” Ethan said finally, his voice betraying his emotion. “We was in a right bad fix.” “We wouldn’t leave Kaylee’s family in a bind,” River assured him. “Captain Reynolds had us on our way here two hours after he heard the news.” “Sounds like a good man to work for,” Ethan observed. Jayne stiffened a little at that, and River hid a smile. Things might work out yet, she decided. -------------- “I need to check everyone over for injuries,” Simon told Caleb quietly. “If there are any obvious or known injuries, I’d prefer to start with them.” “Marylou’s little boy may have a broken arm,” Caleb pointed to a boy of about six. “Fell down the steps earlier. Tom,” he pointed to a man about Simon’s age, “he’s Beth’s husband, he’s got a nasty burn on his hand.” Simon saw the loosely wrapped bandage on the man’s left hand. “Other than that, I think we’re mostly okay,” Caleb told him. “Everyone’s exhausted, mind.” “I’ll check everyone,” Simon assured him. “Some of the children may be suffering from dehydration. And all of you are likely suffering some effects from inhaling the smoke and shale residue. But I’ll have you up to par in no time,” he smiled, and Caleb returned it. “I’m glad to finally meet you, son,” the older man said. “Kaywinnet has told me a good deal about you in her letters.” “I deny everything,” Simon chuckled, and Caleb laughed. “You’re not like I pictured you, boy, I’ll give you that.” “Had you met me two years ago, I would have been,” Simon told him honestly. “I’ve done a good deal of growing up lately.” “We all have to do that, some time or another.” “Well, I need to get started,” Simon said. He walked over to Marylou, and knelt down to talk to the little boy. “Hi there. I’m Simon. What’s your name?” ------------- “There’s Samantha’s place,” Ethan pointed. “Looks okay.” Even as he said it, Jayne saw two men exiting the house. “That your brother and brother-in-law?” Jayne asked, as River eased the shuttle around, hovering. “No, it ain’t,” Ethan breathed, just seconds before the men opened fire. “Hit it!” Jayne ordered, but River had already pushed the throttle to the stops. Instead of racing along in full view of the shooters, River spun the shuttle, allowing the thrusters to kick up a windstorm of dust and gravel in the face of their attackers. Blinded, the men were forced to stop firing, and try and protect their faces. While they were thus occupied, River moved them away from the house at a fast rate. “We hit anywhere important?” Jayne asked, once they were clear. River took an instant to check the systems and readouts. “No, ai ren. All systems read normal.” Jayne nodded, and turned to look at a white faced Ethan. “Did you see the vehicle your people were using?” “Um, no, no sir,” Ethan stammered. “Okay, let’s check your brother’s place. If they aren’t there, we’ll start back-tracking.” Ethan quickly pointed the way to Charlie Frye’s house, and ten minutes later, the shuttle was hovering in front of the home. A mule was sitting in the yard. It had clearly been wrecked. “That’s Charlie’s mule,” Ethan said, worry evident in his voice. “Don’t mean they’re there,” Jayne growled, releasing his straps, and standing. He looked at River. “Keep her running. We’ll see if they’re about.” “Be careful,” she whispered. He nodded, and leaned down to kiss her briefly. Then he looked at Ethan. “C’mon, boy,” he said gruffly. “Let’s see if your family’s about.” The two men eased out of the shuttle as it touched down, and Jayne started toward the house, Ethan in tow. “Charlie!” the boy called when Jayne nodded. “Charlie, it’s me! Ethan! Kay and her friends done come to get us!” Jayne waited, watching the house for movement. After a moment, he nodded to Ethan again. “Charlie! Sam! It’s Ethan!” “I heard you the first time,” a voice surprised them. Jayne’s rifle was pointed without the need for thought, but he lowered it at the sight of the man on the ground. “What happened?” Ethan ran to his brother. “Raiders hit just as we was leavin’,” Charlie Frye grunted out. “Leavin’ Sam’s that is. We got this far, but the mule’s trashed. Wouldn’t stop, so we had to jump. Think my leg’s busted.” “Where’s Sam, and the others?” Ethan asked. “In the house, looking for something to use on my leg, and some water,” Charlie grunted. Jayne looked at Ethan. “Go get’em,” he ordered, slinging his rifle. “We got to go. Now.” Ethan raced off to the house, and Jayne lifted Charlie up from the ground. “Who are you?” Charlie asked. “Jayne Cobb,” Jayne grunted out, walking to the shuttle. “I work with Kaylee.” “And just happen to be here?” Charlie asked. “No,” Jayne said. “Soon as Captain Reynolds heard what happened, he sent some of us along to see to getting you folks clear of the planet. We been traveling six days, at max burn, to get here.” “That was awful considerate of him,” Charlie said quietly. “He has his moments,” Jayne agreed. Just can’t seem to spare any of them for me, he didn’t add wryly. In truth, it no longer mattered to him. He’d done all he could. And that was all he could do. Now, he’d learn to raise cows. Thanks to Book, he and River were set pretty well, anyway. He hadn’t told her about the money. Close as he’d come to telling anyone was the time he’d told Mal to give her the envelope, if the bomb had killed him. And Mal didn’t know what was inside. “Here we are,” Jayne said, setting Charlie down on the shuttle floor. Careful as he was, he still bumped the man’s injured leg. “Sorry,” Jayne told him, and Charlie waved it off. “Better than where I was,” he smiled weakly. Jayne eased back outside to watch for Ethan. As he reached the front of the shuttle, the boy came out of the house, leading a man, and two women. Jayne could see, even from where he was, that all three were injured. One of the women, Samantha he figured, judging by how much she looked like Kaylee, was bruised to a fare-the-well. The other had a gash in her arm that had already bled through the makeshift bandage. The man had a slapdash bandage on his forehead, again with blood already soaking through. He walked as if he was in a daze, and Jayne figured he probably had a concussion. The four were about half-way across the distance to the shuttle, when Jayne heard the shot. As he turned, looking for the threat, one of the women cried out. Jayne turned back to see Ethan on the ground. “Move!” he yelled, starting toward them. “I’ll get him, just run!” Jayne could hear vehicles now, and glanced to his right. Sure enough, two mules were raising a dust cloud, tearing straight at them. Knowing he couldn’t make it, Jayne plowed to a stop, and lifted Vera. Sighting carefully, he put a round into the engine compartment of the lead mule. The vehicle sputtered once, then died, leaving the occupants alternating between cursing and shooting. Jayne sighted in on the second vehicle, but it suddenly went into a slight depression, out of sight. Shouldering his rifle, Jayne ran for Ethan. “Get to the shuttle,” he ordered the others in passing. “Don’t stop, no matter what!” He ran on, hoping the kid wasn’t hurt bad. He was. One look was all Jayne needed to see that Ethan Frye was dead. The bullet had hit him in the side of the head, killing him instantly. Jayne hesitated only a second, then took off for the shuttle at a dead run. He made it just as the others were boarding. “Move, move, move!” he shouted, pushing them into the shuttle. As soon as he was onboard, even before he’d dogged the hatch, River was moving. The shuttle whipped around, shooting away from the raider’s in another cloud of dust. Jayne stumbled forward. Samantha, he guessed, looked up at him. “Where’s Ethan?” she demanded. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” Jayne told her quietly. “He. . .he’s dead.” “You left him?” she demanded, her face a contrast of anger and horror. “He was dead, ma’am,” Jayne repeated gently. “I had to look to the rest of you. I’m sorry. He seemed a good by.” “You said you’d get him!” the woman screeched. Jayne gave up then, and went forward to settle in by River. She was crying. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly. He nodded, dumbly. “You?” he asked, looking at her. “I am uninjured,” she said softly. “He was a good kid, I thought,” Jayne said after a minute. River nodded. “I will take an indirect route back to the ship,” River said, wiping her eyes. “The men shooting followed us, I think, from the first house.” “I didn’t even think about that,” Jayne said quietly. In the back, the Frye’s were arguing over Ethan’s death. “Neither did I,” River told him. “It’s not our fault, Jayne.” “No,” he agreed. “But so far as they’re concerned, it will be.” -------------- “Dead?” Kaylee asked, tears welling in her eyes. Jayne looked down at her, sorrow evident. “I’m sorry, lil’ Kaylee,” Jayne told her. “We think the men sacking your sister’s house followed us. Or your folks. Ethan had gone to get the others, while I carried Charlie to the shuttle. It was a wild shot.” “You left him!” Samantha screeched again. “You told me you’d get him, and you left him!” “Ma’am, he was dead,” Jayne tried again. “I had the rest of you to see to.” “Did you even check on him?” she demanded. Kaylee whirled on her sister at that. “That’s enough!” she almost snarled, and the crew looked on in surprise. “Jayne wouldn’t lie! If he said Ethan was dead, then he is! Did you want him to get killed trying to bring the body back? Or maybe let one of you get killed, doing it?” Kaylee’s sister was struck dumb by the verbal assault. So was the crew. Kaylee never acted like this. “These people are my friends!” Kaylee hissed. “I didn’t even have to ask them to come and help me get you out of here. They just up and come. Don’t you dare insult them like that again!” “Kaylee, gal,” Caleb said quietly. “Take it easy. Everybody’s a bit on edge.” “I ain’t gonna listen to it, Daddy,” Kaylee told him flatly. “Jayne Cobb has saved my life a dozen times. And Simon’s. And all of us. Had the courage to go out on the hull of Serenity and pull a bomb off it while we was in the black, to save all our lives. And almost died doing it. I ain’t having no one in my family question him like that!” Jayne was speechless. He’d half expected Kaylee to be mad, and completely expected Caleb Frye to be so. He should have watched out for the boy. But to have Kaylee defend him to her family, that was something else. “Sorry, Kaylee,” Jayne muttered, and the engineer smiled at him sadly. “Me too, Jayne,” she wiped a tear from her eye. “I wish Ethan hadn’t died, but it weren’t your fault.” “I was the one. . .” “No, Jayne,” Kaylee lifted her hands, forestalling his comments. “It’s them pirates what killed him. And you couldn’a stopped it. Thank you for getting the rest back safe. You and River,” she smiled at the little pilot. River nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The couple drifted out of the bay, leaving it to the Frye family. Zoe was waiting in the galley. “What happened?” she asked. “Raiders likely followed us from the first house, the sister’s,” Jayne told her. “Either that, or was trailing the Frye’s. They opened fire from a ways off. Just a damn lucky shot, one in a million, but it caught the boy in the head. He was dead ‘fore he hit the ground.” “You sure?” Zoe asked, and Jayne sighed. Couldn’t she trust him, just in this? “I’m sure, Zoe,” he said in a defeated tone. “His brains was leakin’ out his head, okay? Half one side of his head was gone. He weren’t breathin’, and his brains was smeared all over about a half-acre. That sound dead enough for you?” “Jayne, I was just asking,” Zoe said calmly. “I didn’t mean. . .” “You don’t never mean, do you, Zoe?” Jayne said suddenly, his voice tired. “You don’t never mean, you just say. I guess I deserve it, but it’d be nice if you could, just once in a while, lay off. Just a day or so, you know? Just a breather, where I don’t have to. . .” he broke off, raising his hands, then dropping them in a gesture of helplessness that threatened to break River’s heart. “The hell with it,” he sighed. “I already quit, so I guess I can keep puttin’ up with it till we get home. I’m gonna go and lie down, less you got somethin’ you need me to do.” “No,” Zoe said softly. “Nothing.” “Fine.” He smiled at River, and kissed her lightly, then walked off toward their bunk without a word. River watched him go, then turned cold eyes on her Captain. “He deserves better, you know,” she told Zoe, her voice low. “He’s earned better.” With that, she stalked off toward the bunk she and Jayne shared. Zoe watched her go, not knowing what to say.