A REAL GOOD JOB Up at Cody's camp I spent my days, oh,
With flat car riders and cross-tie walkers
Old Cody, Junior took me over
Said, "You're gonna find the world is smould'ring.
And if you get lost come on home to Green River

Mac Frye’s Repairs was more of a big shed than a shop but it was a roof that kept the rain and weather off while he worked on whatever it was folks needed fixing. Today it was a rundown little CAT 790 log loader. It’d been kept up real nice in the past but the guys running her now just didn’t know jack about maintenance, cleaning her out or giving the moving parts a good once over with a rag and a can of lube. Now there was some fiddly little problem with the transmission. He’d tried everything he could think of but as soon as he adjusted one thing, another went wrong. He growled with frustration, wishing his daughter were here. She’d have the thing up and running in no time. She knew machines, his little girl.

“Daddy?” Speak o’ the devil.

“What is it Kaylee?” He banged his head on the open hood as he straightened.

Kaywinnit smiled her big sunshiny smile and moved over to peer into the hovercraft. She grabbed a hydrospanner and adjusted a timing belt, then tightened a coolant line. “That should do ya.”

Mac went around and revved the engine. It purred with happiness, settling into a contented idle.

“That’s my Kay.” He shot his daughter a grin and shut it down. “So what ya need girl? That skinny little creepy kid been givin’ ya the eye again?”

“Nuthin’ like that, daddy.” She twisted her fingers together nervously. “There’s a man wants ta give me a job, a real good job.”

Mac swept his youngest daughter up in a bear hug, swinging her around. “That’s great Sunshine! Where ya gonna be workin’? It ain’t over at Al’s shop is it? Dunno if I can stand my little girl workin’ fer the competition.”

“No daddy, I ain’t workin’ fer Al. Ya know that little Firefly landed on the other side of camp?”

“’Course I do. Been there near a week now.” He picked up a rag to wipe his greasy hands off.

“Well, I bumped into the ship’s mechanic. We got ta talkin’ and he offered ta show me ‘round.” Her cheeks reddened a little and he could guess at just what the mechanic had offere to show her but he didn’t interrupt. “Turns out the boat’s been havin’ engine trouble an’ he couldn’t make heads or tails of it. I fixed ‘er right up while he was talkin’ with the Capt’n and well, the Capt’n wants me ta be his mechanic.”

Mac felt the grin fall off his face. His first reaction was to forbid his daughter to go. The Black was a big and dangerous place. Who knew when he’d see her again? People didn’t come to Camp Cody unless they had reason. And Kaylee, his little ray of sunshine, on board a ship all on her own with a crew he didn’t know and had never met. Who knew what kind of men they were?

“The Capt’n’s a real good man.” Kaylee said in her best please-daddy voice. “He an’ the first mate, Zoë, they’re real honest ta god Browncoats. Fought in the war together an’ everythin’.”

Mostly it was because he had a hard time saying no to his daughter but the fact that the first mate was a woman was a point in favor. Most crews that had a woman in charge were decent enough. Alright, maybe the mention of the Independents helped a little too. It was a good gig, even a poorly paid ship’s mechanic made more in a month than he’d make around here in six. But tian a, it was on a proper spaceship!

“If it’s alright with yer ma, Sunshine.” He said.

Kaylee squealed and hugged her father tightly around the middle. “Xie xie, daddy!”

“But I still wanna meet this Capt’n of yers. Can’t be lettin’ my little girl run off with any ‘ole hundan.”

It hadn’t taken much to convince Kaylee’s mother. Mac knew his wife had always wanted to see the stars up close and if Kaylee had the chance she hadn’t gotten, then by the great Guan Yin, Kaylee was going to go. Within a few hours, Kaylee’s duffle was packed and she had made her way around the camp saying good bye to her friends. All that was left was for Mac to walk his daughter down to the ship. Serenity, Kaylee had told him it was called. It was a good name and he could only hope it was a good ship.

The sun was just slipping below the horizon as Mac and Kaylee began their walk across the logging camp. All around them, the lumberjacks were returning from the deep forests to tar paper houses and geo-dome tents. The machinery at the mill shut down for the night leaving only the occasional bursts of raucous laughter from the log cabin taverns to interrupt the songs of crickets and frogs. As they left the camp behind and followed the gently flowing river around to the open fields where cargo ships sometimes landed, the dark shape of the space craft came into view.

Mac had seen captures of fancy craft like this but having been born and raised in Camp Cody, he had never thought in his wildest dreams that he’d ever get to see one up close. Nearest he’d gotten were the retrofitted old eyesores that hauled the lumber Corewards. Even aged transport ships like Serenity were leagues away from those.

Silvery rays of moonlight danced along the graceful lines of the little Firefly, making her look almost ethereal. The engine was up and running, making her backend glow softly like her namesake. The cargo bay was open, yellow light from the hold spilling across the ground in warm welcome. Mac could feel himself falling in love with the graceful ship already.

A tall man in a brown coat flanked by an equally tall, imposing black woman came out to greet them as they reached the end of the ramp. Both wore guns on their hips even though the camp was a relatively peaceful place.

“Howdy!” the man said, sticking out his hand. “You must be Mr. Fry. I’m Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of this here vessel. This is Zoë Alleyne, my first mate.”

Mac responded with a firm handshake. The Captain had a strong grip, something he liked in a leading man. He nodded at the taciturn first mate.

There was an awkward silence before Mac spoke up. “So Kaylee here tells me ya’ll want ta whisk her away into the Black. Tell me, Captain, what is it that you do on this boat?”

“Light freight jobs amongst the Border worlds mostly. We’ll take a run that goes further out if a good enough offer comes along.”

“Your crew?”

“Be just me, Zoë, our pilot Wash and Kaylee for now. We’ll take on the occasional deck hand if the need arises.”

“And what kind of cut will she be gettin’?”

“Ten percent, we got a bit set aside for maintenance so she won’t have ta worry ‘bout payin’ for parts. She’ll get her own bunk and kitchen privileges as well.”

Mac pulled his daughter back down the ramp. “Ya sure ya want ta do this, Kay? Reynolds seems like a nice enough fella and we could use the money but don’t feel like ya gotta. And there’s no tellin’ when you’ll be back this way again.”

“I’m sure!” Kaylee said with an enthusiastic nod. Her smile turned serious for a moment before she spoke again. “It ain’t really ‘bout the money, daddy. ‘Member when I told ya it’s like machines just talk ta me? It’s like Serenity’s singin’.”

Mac nodded, knowing all too well the siren song a machine could sing. He was lucky his wife understood too or he probably would’ve starved to death from missing dinner long before now.

“I’ll wave ya an’ write lots!” Kaylee gushed as she hugged her father.

They walked back up the ramp and stopped in front of the Captain. Mac was half a head shorter but he drew himself up as tall as he could and stepped toe to toe with the Captain anyway.

“You take care of my girl, ya hear?” he said in as intimidating a voice as he could muster. “I get one word otherwise and I’ll hunt ya down and make ya regret ya ever even thought a comin’ here.”

The taller man looked back at Mac with serious eyes. “I’ll look after her like she was my own kin. You have my word on that.”

Satisfied, Mac turned back to his daughter, crushing her in a giant bear hug. “Ya ever get tired a flying ‘round the ‘verse, ya come on back home, ya hear?”

“Wouldn’t never dream o’ goin’ anywhere else.” Kaylee said truthfully. She kissed her father on the cheek and slung her duffle over her shoulder. Mac stepped back, off the ramp. He watched her join her crew, walking deeper into the cargo hold. As the ramp closed, Kaylee’s silhouette could be seen waving at him. He waved back

He made his way to the edge of the field where the ship had been parked as the old Firefly lifted off. The pilot must’ve seen him watching because he waggled the craft as he flew overhead. Mac stood there, following the rapidly shrinking ship’s ion trail across the black expanse of sky until even that faint speck of light disappeared before he reached up and wipe away the tears he hadn’t let Kaylee see.

“You’ll be alright, Sunshine.” he said to himself. “You’ll be alright.”

Translations Tian a – lord Hundan - bastard Xie xie – thank you Guan Yin – is probably the most well known figure in Buddhist cannon besides Buddha himself. In China, Guan Yin is venerated as a goddess of mercy, fertility and protection. In coastal areas, she is a guardian of ships and sailors. Today she is also a protector of air travelers and it probably wouldn’t be too far out of her way to protect spaceships either. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/guan-yin.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yin