The Return – Part 14

When the EMP wave hit her shuttle Kaylee had thought for a moment the verse had come to an end. The shuttle rattled and shook until she felt her brain would separated from her skull and go bouncing around inside her space helmet. After it was over Kaylee sat in the sudden darkness all alone, power gone, comms gone, and soon she’d be gone if she couldn’t find a way to get the shuttle up and running again or Serenity couldn’t find a way to rescue her, if Serenity had even survived the EMP hit.

“Oh, boy, what a fix,” she said to herself and took a deep breath, saying a small thank you to the manufacturers of the spacesuit she was wearing for designing it to run without batteries operating the life support functions, the air supply being released as she breathed in and out. She couldn’t see how much air was left on her analog wrist monitor because of the darkness. She didn’t dare take her helmet off, not knowing if the shuttle had pressurized and had atmo before the EMP hit. All the panels were dark and Kaylee knew she’d be pulling out fried electrodes and burnt out connectors for days if she and the shuttle ever got back to Earth. Unfortunately, the comms in the helmet did run off a small battery located in the helmet lining and it was fried and the helmet comms were useless now. Looking out the windows Kaylee could see she was rotating, the stars moving across her vision from left to right and then the moon was suddenly there and then more rotation and sunlight came into the small shuttle. She quickly looked at her oxygen gauge on her wrist and saw she had almost ninety minutes left. That was the first good news.

Kaylee undid her seat belt and moved slowly to the back of the shuttle. There was an emergency tool kit, flashlight, and food supply in a container on the port side. With the next rotation toward the sun she had enough light to find the container and opened it. Feeling in the darkness she grabbed the flashlight and had it on in a second. The light was reassuring and Kaylee sat on the floor and thought on her next move. Above all she couldn’t panic. She was the smartest mechanic in the verse as the Capt’n always said and he was out there right now, thinking up a plan to rescue her. But she had to think of one also and comms was the first thing she’d need. The helmet comms were fried but maybe she could get the shuttle comms working again.

As she sat thinking on how to do this the shuttle went through its rotation once again and Kaylee had the strangest feeling that the moon looked a little bit closer than the last time. And then something hit the shuttle with a bang and Kaylee almost dropped the flashlight. She looked out the window and rocks were sailing past the shuttle. Suddenly one hit the front window and with agonizing slowness a crack appeared, got bigger, and Kaylee just had time to grab onto something before the windows blew out and the air in the shuttle was sucked into space.

**************************************************

“Power, fifty percent,” Mal said to the engine room and Tanya replied in the affirmative and Serenity slowed. With Kaylee gone Mal needed someone with the engines and Tanya was the best choice cause of her knowledge of spaceships.

“Tracer?” Mal said to Wash on Serenity’s bridge and Wash flipped switches and then shook his head.

“No power so no signal. When the shuttle is off the tracer runs off minimum battery power but she doesn’t even have that. Nothing now,” Wash said in exasperation.

A tracer was installed on each shuttle incase of something like this ever happening. It was how Mal had found Saffron when she tried to turn them over to the scrapper that time but now there was no signal from Kaylee’s shuttle.

“Radar useless,” Fred said. “Too many rocks and moon base debris floating out there.”

“Then we do it the old fashion way,” Mal said. “We use our eyes. Turn on all visual scanners and run them across that debris field. She’s in there somewhere.”

Fred flipped switches and on the screens in front of them the debris field appeared. He turned them to maximum range. After a long minute of silence and tension Wash shouted.

“There it is!”

The image was of rocks and pieces of metal and a multitude of other objects blown into space by the nuclear explosion. The shuttle was there in the middle of this mess of debris, its bottom to them at an angle so they could partial see the sides. Slowly as it turned Zoe gasped and Mal’s heart almost froze. The windows in the cockpit were gone.

“Oh, God!” said Wash. “She had her spacesuit on, right?”

“If there is a God, I hope like hell he made sure she did,” said Mal and then he told Zoe to follow him.

“Inara’s shuttle, sir?” Zoe asked as they went down to the lower level.

“No, the windows could come out of it too and I’d hate to have Inara screaming at me for a month cause all her stuff got sucked into space. Out the airlock, long EVA line, and I’ll take her back in.”

“I’ll go, sir. You’re wounded.”

Mal stopped and glared at her. “My fault she’s out there. I’m going.”

Zoe knew not to disagree with him and knew it wasn’t really his fault but let it go. “And the shuttle, sir? No power, so no way to fly it back. We can rigged up a tow line.”

“It can stay here for all eternity long as I can get Kaylee back.”

They raced to the cargo bay where Jayne, Inara and all the other base personal and Aussies were. Jayne was standing by the airlock controls and he had a look of dread on his face. He knew something terrible had gone wrong with Kaylee cause he was supposed to open the air lock when she got back on but she never came before they took off. Inara was standing next to him, almost ready to cry.

“Where is she?” she asked Mal in a choked voice as he went straight to the spacesuit locker.

“Adrift,” Zoe answered. “She had to get out on the shuttle and the bomb’s EMP got it.”

“But she’s safe, you talked to her?” Inara asked Mal with hope.

“Comms dead,” Mal said curtly as he grabbed the last good spacesuit, kicked off his boots and started putting it on with Zoe helping him.

“Captain’s got a plan,” Zoe said reassuringly. “We’re getting her back.”

“Jayne,” Mal said. “Get the EVA life line cables and string them together. And bring me a big piece of flat metal.”

“Metal? What in the verse for?” Jayne asked in puzzlement.

“Gorramn it, Jayne, just do it. There’s no time!” Mal shouted and everyone just froze and realized something wasn’t quite right. A lot of them had noticed Mal getting the suit on and now curiosity was peaked.

Jayne moved off to follow Mal’s orders as Zoe continued to help him suit up. Inara looked at Mal with fear and tears in her eyes.

“You bring her back, Malcolm Reynolds.”

“Ain’t no one going anywhere without her.’

“Simon…” Inara said, looking toward the infirmary.

“Don’t say a word to him,” Mal said gently, calming a bit. “He’s got enough on his mind taking care of folks and need him sharp right now.” Inara just nodded in agreement.

“Spot of trouble, Mal?” Will asked as he limped over as Zoe prepared to put on Mal’s helmet.

“We forgot someone,” Mal said to him. “And I’m getting her back.”

Zoe snapped on his helmet, check the air flow, and Mal walked to the air lock. Jayne came a few moments later with the EVA cables and a thick metal cover off a supply container. It hand a handle in the center on one side. The cables were used to secure crew members who did an EVA and now Zoe and Jayne quickly connected the cables together with the clamps on the ends and then Jayne snapped the last clamp on Mal’s spacesuit belt. They opened the inner airlocks doors and all the people in the cargo bay stood back, a nervous murmur going through the crowd. Jayne hooked Mal up to the safety clamp in the airlock and then handed him the cover from the supply container.

“It’s a shield. Lots of rocks from the moon blast,” Mal said to him and Jayne just grabbed him by the right shoulder

“You can do it,” the big man said and Mal just nodded and turned to the ramp.

“Lock her up,” Mal said and Zoe hit the control to close the inner doors. A second later she hit the de-pressurize button and after some ten seconds she opened the outer ramp and Mal stared out into the debris field that was approaching.

“Ten percent power, Wash,” he said into the comms.

“Ten percent, roger that,” Wash replied and relayed the order to Tanya in the engine room. Serenity slowed as it approached the debris field and Wash tapped the forward maneuvering thrusters until the ship was almost at a stand still. Little rocks started to bounce off the windows of the cockpit and Fred turned to Wash with wide eyes.

“No problem,” Wash said with his patented sheepish grin. “Firefly’s a tough old bird.”

But Mal wasn’t a spaceship and that’s why he had the shield. The debris field loomed in front of Mal, seemingly floating in an orbit around the moon, but then Mal could see in the far distance some of the objects falling back to the moon and crashing on its surface. He knew it was now or never and kicked off with all his strength, shield in front of him, moving toward the dead shuttle, the EVA cable keeping him attached to Serenity.

***********************************************

Simon finished stitching the Aussie gut shot victim and ordered him carried to one of the passenger rooms. He was lifted off the table on a stretcher and then they returned with the stretcher and put the Alliance gut shot soldier on the table. Doris wiped Simon’s brow and he changed rubber gloves and got to work again, completely unaware that his love was in danger.

Book was in the passenger lounge, giving comfort to the wounded, many of them asking him to say a prayer for them. The Alliance soldiers were just young men and more than one said that they were following orders and that Jackson had been in charge and made all the decisions. Book assured them that there would be no vengeance and knew he might have his work cut out for him keeping that promise. There had to be some personal connection between the soldiers and the rest of the base personnel in the long years they had spent there, thinking they were all that was left of humanity.

River had retreated to her room, trying to shut out the cries of the wounded, the fears of the base people, the chaos that reigned on the ship. Her medication was long over due and she couldn’t keep all of the emotions from flooding her mind. It took some time but then she realized one person was missing, a person whose thoughts he had heard almost every day of the last eight months. River reached out and tried to contact her but she was too far away and suddenly River sensed that she might never see her friend again.

“Kaylee!” she screamed and then River collapsed on her bed and began to cry.

***********************************************

Kaylee thanked God that she had kept her helmet on. The shuttle was once more without atmo and now was caught in a field of debris from the moon blast. The de-pressurization had tore the flashlight from her hands and now it was gone into the black. She got to her feet and moved to the cockpit, hoping to be able to get the comms working. The moon was looking closer than before and she knew she had to do something soon or it was likely she’d crash on the surface.

The comms panel was unresponsive like the rest of the ship and Kaylee just sat in exasperation in the chair. Even with all her tools on Serenity and spare parts it’d take hours to get it working again. And Kaylee didn’t have hours, minutes maybe if she was lucky. She was almost on the verge of tears and then she almost had a heart attack as a head in a space helmet appeared in the broken window right in front of her. It was her Capt’n.

“Capt’n!” she cried out and then tears did flow. He smiled and said something but she couldn’t hear him. He motioned for her to climb out the window to join him. Kaylee looked at the shuttle and waved her arms around her, not wanting to lose the shuttle. He shook his head vigorously “no” and she nodded and began to climb out the window.

Mal was hanging onto the window edge for dear life with one arm, trying to protect himself from the rocks and debris with the shield, keeping the shuttle between him and the worst of it. His left shoulder throbbed in pain from his wound, the slowly rotating shuttle playing hell with his lifeline and he wondered if the wire cable was going to survive intact long enough for them to get back to the ship.

Kaylee could barely fit though the window with her spacesuit and air tank on and Mal was glad she did fit because he didn’t relish the idea of moving to the side where the door was and where a lot of debris was flying past. Trying to get the door open and her out with the rotating shuttle and the chance of his lifeline getting snarled was not a good idea. Kaylee grabbed Mal’s belt with one hand and had the other on the lifeline and then the two of them kicked off from the shuttle with all they had.

“Got her, Wash!” he said into the comms.

On the bridge Wash smiled and sighed and sent word to the cargo bay to expect two passengers soon. Everyone was relieved and Zoe got ready to open the airlock.

Mal and Kaylee floated through the debris and rocks, Mal’s shield trying to protect them both, but it wasn’t big enough. Half way to Serenity a piece of metal sliced Kaylee’s air hose from her tank to her helmet and her oxygen supply vented into space.

“Capt’n!” she screamed as she felt the air getting thinner but Mal didn’t hear her or knew that she was in distress. Kaylee pulled her hand from the lifeline and hit his left shoulder. Mal almost screamed in pain and he turned with anger which was quickly replaced by dread as he saw the cut air hose and his little Kaylee gasping for breath with panic in her eyes.

*********************************************************************

River stopped crying and then knew, through all the emotions of pain of the people on board, had finally sorted out what she needed to do. She walked to the infirmary and stood looking at her brother.

“Simon,” she said and he looked at her, his hands bloody, his surgical apron likewise.

“River, this is no place for you.”

“Kaylee needs you in the cargo bay. Bring your medical bag,” was all she said and then she grabbed the stretcher from the wall mount, turned and moved to the cargo bay.

Simon was stunned for a moment and then knew that his sister wouldn’t say that without good reason. Kaylee? Where was Kaylee? And then he knew something terrible had happened, he stripped off his surgical gloves and told Doris to take over, grabbed his medical kit and ran to the cargo bay. Book saw what was happening and followed Simon.

Mal had no way to move faster but screamed to Wash. “Come get us! Kaylee’s losing atmo! Get the Doc to the cargo bay!”

Wash didn’t even reply, hit the VTOLs and moved the ship as fast as he could without squashing his two crewmates like bugs, screaming into the intercom for Simon to get to the airlock. The cargo bay ramp was approaching fast and Mal kept looking from the airlock to Kaylee and she was gasping, her face turning blue, and Mal screamed. “Hang on! We’re almost home, little Kaylee!”

Then they were there, smashing into the inner airlock doors and falling to the deck, feeling the effects of Serenity’s artificial gravity. The ramp came up and Serenity plowed through the debris field, getting nicks and scrapes but suffering no permanent damage. Shuttle two drifted off toward the moon where it would crash in a crater five minutes later.

As soon as Mal knew they had atmo he started to take off Kaylee’s helmet and now useless air tank, tossing both aside. She was unconscious, her skin tinged blue and he feared the worse. The inner airlock doors opened and then Jayne and Book were there and lifted Kaylee inside as Zoe helped Mal to his feet. He took off his helmet and was ashen, not believing Kaylee was going to die. He saw Simon standing there in shock and he gave him a look of pleading to save his little mechanic.

Simon almost lost his mind for a second as he saw the blue and unconscious Kaylee brought into the cargo bay, not understanding why she was wearing a spacesuit or what had happened. But there was no time for questions. Everyone was looking at him and Mal’s face told him all he needed. He became a doctor and she was a patient, nothing more and he knew it was the only way to save her. She hadn’t been out long but with every second the chance of brain damage grew and there was no time to remove her spacesuit. Simon knelt by her side and started mouth to mouth immediately, but she was unresponsive. He felt for a pulse at her neck but there was none.

“Inara, mouth to mouth,” he ordered and Inara knelt and held back her tears as she started breathing life into Kaylee’s lungs. Simon started doing hand compressions on her chest, but again after a minute there was no response. A crowd had gathered, some weeping, Will hugging Dora as they stood near, Serenity’s crew not believing she was going to die, and then Simon looked to Jayne and Book. “The infirmary” he said and Jayne grabbed the stretcher and they bent, placed her on it, and picked her up as Inara and Simon kept working as Mal, River, and Zoe and many others followed.

Simon had them lay her on the bench of the infirmary as Doris was still working on the wounded soldier on the examining table. He took his heaviest scissors and cut open the upper part of Kaylee’s spacesuit, grabbed the electric shock panels of the defibrillator and charged them.

“Clear!” he shouted and hit Kaylee with the charge. She jerked and then was still. Simon checked for a pulse. None. He charged and hit her again. Nothing. Inara started crying.

“Oh, merciful Buddha, save her!” and Mal put his arms around her, holding her tight.

Simon almost cracked when she said that but kept his head. One last thing. He grabbed the adrenal needle kit from the drawer, ripped open the package and drove the needle straight into Kaylee’s heart and hit the plunger.

Kaylee was far away from them all, back home where she longed to be, walking in a green field on Taos with her mother, holding hands and chatting, telling her about this wonderful doctor she had met and then her mother stopped, held both her hands and said, “Kaylee, go back to him.”

“But I want to stay with you,” Kaylee said, a puzzled look on her face.

“So do I. But it’s not your time. Go back. Simon needs you. Your father needs you. And you need them.”

“Am I dead?’

“Not yet, not for a long time. You will get married and have many babies. Your time will come as it does to all of us, but not now, little Kaylee, not now.”

And then her mother hugged her as Kaylee felt something sharp enter her chest and she gasped and cried out “Momma!” as her mother faded from her eyes

The adrenaline went straight into her heart and for the heart it was like a shot of pure energy. It beat once, and then again and then the adrenaline was rushing through the body, to the brain and the organs. Kaylee’s body reacted instantly, her eyes flying open and the color returning to her face. She gasped and her lungs filled and in the next instance she cried out “Momma” and then Simon got an oxygen mask on her face as tears fell from his eyes. He pulled the needle from her chest and tossed it aside. Inara buried her face in Mal’s chest and he hugged her tight as the tears came.

“Thank you, Simon,” Mal said and then even a few tears fell from his eyes. Book crossed himself and then hugged a crying River with one arm and a misty-eyed Zoe with the other and Jayne turned away as even his eyes watered. He went to the cargo bay and told everyone she was alright and an immense sigh of relief and gratitude flowed through the mass.

Kaylee blinked and could see Simon standing over her, crying, and something was on her face and she was in a spacesuit. Then she remembered she was in the shuttle and the Capt’n had rescued her but then her airline was cut and she was gasping, choking, and all went black before her eyes. She moved the air mask away and then moved her hand up and touched Simon’s face.

“Don’t cry,’ she said in a weak voice. “I’m here.”

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak as he kissed her lips and stroked her hair. Kaylee’s head then turned and she could see Doris working on the Alliance soldier, and even the nurse’s eyes were damp.

“Go to work,’ Kaylee whispered to Simon. “Folks need you.” And he said yes, kissed her again, and replaced the air mask and turned to help Doris.

*************************************************

Inara and River stayed by Kaylee’s side and refused to leave so Mal let them. Zoe and Jayne got back to sorting out the new passengers, trying to find places for everyone to rest, and bringing more water and food to the cargo bay. Book continued his work among the wounded, pausing to look at Simon in the infirmary, marveling at how the man had maintained his composure while saving the woman he loved, how he kept his cool as he continued repairing the broken bodies from the moon battle. Book had loved once, in the distant past, and thought he would lose his mind if he had ever had to face what Simon had faced just now.

After getting out of the spacesuit Mal went to the bridge and ordered Wash to take it slow to Earth, wanting to land at Melbourne when it was daylight. Wash had sat on the bridge, moving Serenity away from the moon while Kaylee was being looked after and didn’t know all was well till Jayne had called him from the cargo bay intercom and Wash said a silent thank you to the stars. Mal told Fred to get some sleep and after the scientist was gone Mal slumped in the co-pilot’s chair. Wash took one look at him and the strain of the last few days was clearly showing.

“Close one,” was all Wash said.

“Too close,” Mal said, not wanting to think on how he’d feel if they had lost Kaylee.

“Simon came through.”

“I knew he would. Not for me or you or anyone else, but for her.”

“That’s all that matters,” Wash replied as he made a course adjustment.

They were silent for a while and then the intercom came on. It was Simon.

“Captain, your turn on the operating table,” he said in a weary voice.

Mal replied he’d be there in a minute. He got up, felt some pain in his shoulder and grimaced, and then he paused for a minute, looked at his pilot. “If she had died, Wash, I would have taken every Alliance soldier on the boat and thrown them out the airlock.”

Then he walked off the bridge leaving a shocked Wash to just stare out into the black.

************************************************

Simon had worked on through the hours, treating the final wounded person just an hour before they landed. He was exhausted from the stress and the shock of all that had happened, more so from almost losing Kaylee than anything else. She had gotten up from the infirmary bench after an hour breathing with the oxygen mask on and Inara and River helped take off the spacesuit and then took her to her bunk. All the passenger rooms were filled with wounded and people were sleeping all over the ship, wherever they could lay down their heads. Simon checked the progress of his patients and then Doris told him to get some rest; she would stay up and call him if needed. He thanked her and the rest of the base medical staff and they all shook his hand and said he did a wonderful job. Simon went upstairs and there was only person he wanted to see.

Kaylee was sleeping when Simon entered her bunk, the lights were on low, and he just stared at her, thanking God for helping him remain calm when he had to think clearly. After a few moments she stirred and awoke.

“Hey,” she said sleepily and he came to her side, sitting on the bed and held her hand.

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah. Landed yet?”

“Almost.”

She started to get up. “Need to get to the engine room.”

“No, no, Tanya’s there, you need to rest, Captain and Doctor’s orders,” Simon said gently as he put his hands on her shoulders. She stared at him for a long moment.

“Simon, I think I died.”

He didn’t know what to say, stunned at this admission. He had read of people having near death experiences, and the literature was extensive on the subject, but he had never met one and now his patient and love was telling him she had died.

“How do you…what happened?”

“I saw my mother. I told you she died about three years ago from diabetes.”

“Yes, I remember.” When Simon had done his medical files for everyone he had asked about family illnesses and Kaylee had told him how her mother had died.

“We were walking through a field on Taos and she told me it wasn’t my time. I had to come back. And then I felt the needle enter my chest and I woke up.”

“It’s possible you had a near death experience, Kaylee.”

“I don’t think I’m afraid to die anymore. It was…nice.”

“Not for us,” he said, the emotion clear in his voice and she hugged him and kissed him as the tears came again, and they both re-affirmed their love for each other.

“That’s twice you saved my life,” she said after they calmed down. “I owe you big time. Can think of all kinds of nice and naughty ways to pay my debt.”

Simon smiled despite all that had happened. She was still a vibrant, healthy sexy woman that drove him mad with desire. “And I expect to collect. But now…I need the sleep of a lifetime.” She helped him take his clothes off and washed his hands and face and then he lay down and she kissed Simon, took off her clothes and lay next to him and they both drifted off to sleep, holding each other tight.

*************************************************

Serenity landed at Melbourne’s airport as day was breaking. Mal had had a few hours sleep and as soon as they landed ordered Wash and Tanya to bed. Wash needed no more encouragement and found Zoe waiting for him in bed with a grin on and nothing else. Exhausted as they both were, the sense of being alive was so powerful they let their desires overcome common sense and soon had one more reason to be so tired as they drifted off to sleep.

The civilians on the ship were ecstatic to see Earth again and Mal opened the cargo bay and allowed everyone to have a breath of fresh air for the first time in years. Their emotions overwhelmed some of them and they fell to their knees and kissed the concrete runway and some even cried. This was soon tempered by the desolation of the city and the dead bodies that were in heaps everywhere. Mal knew it would be a long road for many of them to adjust to their new reality.

Mal let everyone rest through the day, making sure no one wandered too far off, and later in the afternoon got all the senior people together and held a meeting in the dining room. All of Serenity’s crew, Gregori, Captain Papusha, Christine, Tanya, Fred, Will, and Dora were all present. When Kaylee entered the room from her bunk after a long rest Inara couldn’t help but hug her and then hug Simon and a few tears were shed. When everyone was settled, either sitting or standing, Mal called the meeting to order.

“Time to decide on the future,” Mal said. “We got to make some decisions on where everyone is gonna live, about food and water, and about medical facilities. It ain’t gonna be easy. According to Will the city is divided up by gangs.”

“Some right vicious buggers out there,” Will said.

“Maybe we ought to move,” Fred suggested.

“Where to?” said Gregori with a shrugged. “This place is the safest from the radiation. We must stay here for now”

No one contradicted him so Mal moved to the next point. “I got a cargo load full of guns and will hand some of them over to you for protection and even teach you how to use them. But I think it would be better if we try to make some kind of deal with all the gangs. Will, what do you think?”

“Don’t know, mate. Lots of little kings not like to listen to likes of outsiders.”

“They’d listen to you. Said you was a famous wrestler before the war. Everyone knows you, right?”

“Too right they do,” said Dora, beaming at her man.

“They’ll want something in payment,” said Will thoughtfully.

“Knowledge,” said Simon. “That’s your payment. We have the knowledge to help get the city on its feet again, at least better than it is now.”

“Life be easier if the lights was on and the water was flowing,’ said Will. “I’ll see if I can call a meeting and make some kind of arraignment. All I can promise.”

“Good enough,” Mal said. “Next, sending us home.”

All looked to Gregori Kovalev. “We need to modify Serenity’s engine. It could take a few days, maybe a week or more, a month at the most. I have all the specifications. We just need the material and the tools.”

“You tell Kaylee what you need and get to work on that,” Mal said.

“Hold on a minute,” said Will in a loud voice as he stood up, balancing himself with a hand on the table because of his wounded leg. “You all ain’t leaving till a debt is paid! Me and mine bled for you lot!”

“Too fuckin’ right!” said Dora with fire.

“Will, everyone here is grateful for all the help you gave. Of course, we’ll pay our debt," Mal said calmly. “No one’s leaving yet.”

“Well, I think I’d like my payment as soon as possible, before I go off making deals with other gangs. Has to know I can trust you lot.”

Mal could see Jayne and Zoe getting a bit steamed and needed to calm this situation. “Soon as Kaylee and Gregori examine the engine we’ll get a group together to go look over your spaceship.”

Will calmed down and then sat down. “Sorry, mate, just like things on the up and up, see?”

“No worries. Kaylee, think you can handle both jobs, with a little help from the moonbase people?”

“Won’t know till I know what needs to be done, Capt’n,” she replied.

Gregori stood. “Why wait? Time waits for no man, or woman. Let’s examine the engine,” Then Kaylee and he and Tanya went off to the engine room.

“He know what he’s doing?” Mal said to Papusha after they had left.

“He is a brilliant man, but a little excitable at times. If he says it will work, he can do it. That ship, the Romanov, it wasn’t made for that wormhole machine. It was a weak, short range transport, damaged in the battle. This ship, this ship is strong and has a good engine. It will work.”

Mal hoped so and brought up the next item, a vital one for the people staying behind. “We need food but most of the food supplies are controlled by the gangs.”

“No they ain’t,” blurted out Dora and Will gave her a look and Mal thought they were trying to hide something.

“Tell him!” Dora shouted at Will.

“Ain’t part of the deal!” Will shouted back.

“Can make the deal sweeter,” Mal said to Will and the Aussie thought a moment before speaking.

“I’ll let you in on a secret. There’s a military underground bunker just north of the city, some place government bigwigs supposed to hide in case of war. We suspects it’s chock-a-block full of goodies but the doors is three feet thick and we tried blasting them but no good. Maybe you lot of brains here can figure a way in. My bunch wants fifty percent.”

“Like that’s gonna happen,” Jayne said with a grunt.

Mal thought for the thousandth time that Jayne needed to be left home when any negotiating was to be done. Will didn’t seem to even care about Jayne’s remarks, looking at Mal intently, and Mal knew that Will knew who made the decisions around here. He sure learned a lot in two years, Mal thought before speaking. Guess that’s what survive or die does for the survivors. “That’s a lot of swag for small piece of info. Twenty percent and first pick of the food, if there is any.”

Will though a moment. “Forty percent, first pick of the grub and weapons and other gear and its there all right, mate.”

“Thirty percent, first pick of everything and I’ll have Kaylee and Wash teach you guys everything about spaceships you’ll ever need to know.”

Will’s eyes lit up. “I reckon I could use a few piloting lessons once me spaceship is set right. Deal!”

After that Will told them there were a few apartment blocks nearby in his territory and they could set up living quarters there for now. Some of the moon base people went with Will and his gang as they set out to check their territory and the apartments.

The next week was spent doing all the odds and ends that were needed to make this section of Melbourne a home for the moonbase people. Shepherd Book began doing services for the many dead and they set to collecting bodies and burning the remains almost every night. Simon said that after two years the bodies should have decayed enough so they posed no threat of disease but not all the bodies they found were just bones. Many were in apartments and in other buildings and had mummified to some extent. They found quite a few people in their beds, knowing they were dieing of rad sickness and waiting for the end. Book took charge of this macabre duty and said prayers over all they collect before the funeral pyres were lit.

Will led Serenity to the underground bunker north of the city and they found the doors locked with a timing device and combination lock, like a bank vault. Kaylee and one of the engineers from the moon worked on it for a day before figuring it out and they had it open. Inside was a mass of canned and packaged food, batteries unaffected by the EMP, weapons, water supplies, and some intact comms gear. They loaded up Serenity and took three trips and on the last trip a neighboring gang came near enough for Will to have a talk with the leader. After they handed over some of the food and weapons, the leader agreed to spread the word that Will wanted a meeting with all the gangs.

The spaceship Will had found was crashed in a residential area after it had fallen from the sky when the EMP had fried its electrics. It only needed battery power to get the radon accelerator core engine spinning to generate power for it and Kaylee had that done in less than a day. But the outside had a lot of dents and rents from its crash and to make it space worthy she told Will all these would have to be repaired. Muscle power and welding torches were required and Kaylee instructed them in what to do and Jayne let a hand as they got to work making the ship space worthy.

Meanwhile Kaylee and Tanya were building the pieces to modify Serenity’s engine for their trip home under Gregori’s supervision. The days were long for everyone with so much to do, but for Kaylee more than any other. The moonbase engineers got some of the trucks and cars running and they set to work clearing the streets nearby of vehicles. The main city water station was found and they set to work making it run again but it would take some time. The scientists tested the nearby water sources an found they were safe enough for consumption. Simon found a clinic in Will’s territory and set up a hospital there and all the wounded on Serenity were moved over. None had died but some still required long term care. They searched all the drugstores throughout Will’s territory and brought all the medical supplies they could to the clinic.

After much argument and discussion, the Melbourne gang leaders agreed to allow the moonbase people to stay as long as they could get the lights on and the water running. They also agreed to bring what medical supplies they could to Simon’s clinic and bring what sick and injured they had to there. A lot of arguing was spent over the dwindling food supplies until Book told them that God provided all the food they’d ever need if they took to planting, fishing, and hunting again. There weren’t many farmers, fishermen, or hunters in the bunch but the agricultural people from the moon had the know how. They just needed the land and there was plenty of that outside the city and the Australians also knew that some farms in the countryside had already started planting again. The gang leaders wouldn’t agree to let Will be the main leader but a cease fire was called as everyone saw the sense of trying to rebuild their civilization. But each leader still controlled his territory, and there was a lot of mistrust among them. Mal felt like it was a start if not a very good one.

************************************************

One evening about two weeks after they landed back on Earth, Mal entered the engine room on Serenity and didn’t even recognize it.

“What in the verse…?” he said to Kaylee as she sat on the floor, pondering some piece of gear in her hands. Kaylee didn’t even look up at him, so engrossed she was in her work and Tanya came out from the other side of the engine, wearing one of Kaylee’s overalls and was just as grease smudged as his mechanic.

“Good morning, Captain. Your ‘boat” is almost ready,” Tanya announced.

“Hey, Capt’n,” Kaylee said from the floor, still pondering the whatever it was she had in her hands. “Simon back yet?”

“Ah, just had word he’s gonna be late. Seems Dora’s in the family way now too and he’s examining her.”

“That’s real shiny. Babies is nice.”

“Yeah,” he said and then turned to Tanya. “What do you mean, ‘ready’? It’s a …mess!”

“No, she ain’t,” Kaylee said indignantly as she rose from the floor. “See the radon flow for the full burn phase is passed through this induction supercharger and this accelerates the ship to just below the speed of light. As we approach light speed the nuclear core of the engine reaches critical mass but not enough to blow her up and….”

Kaylee and Tanya explained and explained and Mal was lost and his head hurt.

“Enough! No more physics and space…whatever! Will it work?”

“Da,” said Gregori from behind him as he stood in the engine room dorrway. “But we need to talk about when you want to go to.”

“As soon as possible,” Mal said. “Got a customer waiting for these guns on Greenleaf. Course, be two years late I guess. Bet he’s might sore now.”

“No, Captain, you misunderstood me. I said “when you want to go to” meaning ‘when” as in what time you want me to send you to. Let’s talk.”

They moved to the dinning room where Zoe and Wash were preparing dinner. Mal called Jayne, Inara, and River to the dining room but Simon and Book were still out doing their jobs. After everyone was there Mal looked to Gregori.

“You mean to send us back to June 2518, right?”

“Exactly. We have the precise time when Serenity entered the wormhole in your quadrant.”

“Is it possible?” Kaylee asked with hope, thinking on her father’s birthday and the horrible thought that he might believe she was dead.

“Theoretically, yes,” said Gregori. “But actually, only you will know when you arrive on the other side.”

“But father…what if they meet…themselves.”

“What in the verse are you on about?” Jayne exclaimed to Tanya. “Can’t meet ourselves. That’s just…crazy!”

“No, it isn’t,’ said River quietly and almost no one heard her except Kaylee who was sitting nearby.

“How can we meet ourselves?” Kaylee asked, getting a worried feeling cause River was never wrong.

Gregori sighed. “I have all the navigation data from your ship so sending you to the exact spot you left your galaxy to ours is possible. But if I am two minutes too soon you will meet Serenity and yourselves and…nobody knows what will happen.”

“Then send us to another spot, or later than the wormhole, say a day or two,” said Wash as if it were so easy to do so.

“Yes, of course, that is possible, but again, there will be two Serenity’s in the universe and two of each of you, one that came through the wormhole to here, and one I will send back to 2518.”

“Just send us back in this time, 2520 then,” Mal said. “Avoid all the fuss.”

“It is possible, but then there is the broken timeline theory to contend with,” Gregori said with worry.

“I’m getting a headache,” said Jayne in exasperation. “Too many theories.”

“I better explain,” said Tanya. “There is a theory that all our lives have already been set in stone, that all you do has been laid out for you. “Predestiny” some call it, “fate” also. If we send you back to 2520, the year it is here on Earth and we believe in your quadrant, than what happened to those two years of your life? All of the things you were supposed to have done, the people you were supposed to have interacted with? Some of you may have died but are now alive. Some of you may have married and had children or left the ship or the ship may have been destroyed with all of you. Such big changes in your lives are but small changes in the universe. Yet such small changes from nine people and one small spaceship could reverberate through time and upset the cosmic balance. Some theories suggest the universe will be destroyed. A cosmic flux in the time space field that cannot be accounted for. Time travel has just been a theory…until you showed up here.”

“But what about that stuff Simon said,” Mal began. “That maybe the count of time is wrong in our end and it’s actually the same time.”

“Then we have no worries,” said Gregori. But he shook his head. “But I believe Dr. Tam also told Tanya that the count of time since leaving Earth was recorded very accurately by the travelers using atomic clocks. I do believe you traveled two years into the future.”

Wash spoke up next. “Can you send us back so precisely that we will be at the exact place where we first entered the wormhole?”

Gregori and Tanya looked at each other, and she slowly nodded. “The calculations would have to be so precise…we’d need a super computer to account for billions of variables. The chances of making it are infinitesimal.”

“And what would happen to us if we don’t?” Inara asked.

“We could rip a hole in the time space fabric and be sent off to…who knows,” said River.

“I vote for staying here,” said Jayne and more than one crew member was thinking the same thing.

“We don’t belong here. It’s not supposed to happen this way,’ said River and that unsettled everyone’s already worried dispositions.

“Moon brain’s going off again,” Jayne said grumpily.

“Stop it!” Kaylee said sharply to him as she put a protective arm around River. But River just smiled at Jayne and the big merc got that creepy feeling again that she was reading his mind.

“I might just leave you here at that Jayne,” Mal said with a trace of anger and irritation and then he turned to River. “What’s not supposed to happen?’

“Us, being here, helping them. It feels…out of place, not like it should be. We don’t belong here. Maybe we’ve already caused a disruption of the universe.”

“And that, I’m afraid,” said Gregori. “May also be true. By your very presence you have altered Earth’s history. You rescued us from the moon, brought these experts to a place that desperately needs them, have begun a peace process among the Melbourne ruffians. Of course, all this may have taken place eventually, but it was highly unlikely. None of this would have happen if you weren’t here. We must send you back to the exact time you left, no matter what the risk. My hope is, that when you arrive, the balance will be restored and all of this would never have happened and you would go on with your lives as they are supposed to be.”

“You mean…we’d forget all this?” Zoe asked in wonder.

“If it never happened, then there is nothing to forget,’ said Tanya.

“Now that’s nuttier than anything else said here yet and that’s saying a lot!” Jayne spouted.

“I don’t wanna forget,” said Kaylee, thinking on what she and Simon had now. “Not the good parts anyways.”

“But what about you and your people?” Inara asked the two scientists.

Tanya just sighed. “We would be on the moon still, Jackson would be alive, and perhaps we would never leave.”

No one said a word for a long moment as this sunk in.

“Capt’n?” Kaylee said and all looked at Mal. “What’re we gonna do?”

Mal looked around the table, seeing the fear and worry in all their faces, knowing that all that was said was just theories. Malcolm Reynolds had his own theory, and that was to keep flying and keep safe. If staying here meant the verse would be ripped to pieces, then that was not an option since it certainly wasn’t safe for his ship, his crew or anyone else in the verse. It all sounded crazy but they were messing with time, which was just a human perspective of changing events, but what if they were right? What if none of this was supposed to happen? What if Inara was supposed to leave Serenity, what if Kaylee and Simon were never supposed to get together, what if someone was supposed to die, what if the ship was supposed to be destroyed? He wished like hell Book was here now, Mal needing his sage advice more than ever. But Mal also felt the preacher would say exactly what he knew had to be done. They were all looking at him, waiting for his decision.

“Let’s get ready to go home.”