BLUE SUN ROOM FAN FICTION - GENERAL

BRIGLAD

Heritage - Chapter 21
Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Sara and Jeff return from their date, Allan and Jayne make it to St. Albans and plans are made to give the Wing's their just reward.


CATEGORY: FICTION    TIMES READ: 2376    RATING: 9    SERIES: FIREFLY

Disclaimer: Joss, Fox, Universal Own em’. I’m just playing. No money being made.

This story is set fifteen years into the future from the story I have written called “Big Blue”

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AN: You may have noticed that some of the kids and adults ages have changed in my cast of characters list. This story arc takes place over nearly a year so a few people have had birthdays besides Sara

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Thanks to my Beta, Chris

Cast of characters:

Parents: Malcolm Reynolds 52 Inara Serra-Reynolds 45 Allan Bryant 68 Zoë Bryant 48 Simon Tam 44 Kaylee Tam 41 Jayne Cobb 52 River Cobb 36 Kids: Jefferson (Jeff) Reynolds 16 Emma Reynolds 11 Sara Bryant 15 Rebecca Tam 16 John (Jack) Tam 11 Rachel Cobb 9 Jesse Cobb 6

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Heritage-Chapter Twenty One

<-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><->

Jeff Reynolds hit the remote to open the gate to Serenity acres. Sara snuggled next to him asleep in the front seat of Inara's ground car. The teen grinned. He and Sara had spent half the night dancing at the concert at the fairgrounds. Sara was better but she hadn't recovered the endurance that she used to have before the crash. Hence her current state of unconsciousness.

After the gate closed behind them, Jeff drove down the access road and pulled up in front of Sara's house. Zoë stepped out onto the porch with a firm but not unfriendly expression on her face. The kids had beat curfew by less than five minutes.

“Come on sleepyhead, we're home,” Jeff said to his date.

“Mmm sleepin,” Sara muttered, batting absently at Jeff's hand as it shook her shoulder.

Jeff shrugged and stepped out of the car. He looked around as if trying to figure out how he was going to get Sara into the house.

“There a problem Jeff?” Zoë asked as she approached the car.

“Umm, sort of. Sara fell asleep on the way home...” The young man trailed off.

Zoë chuckled, “I got it Jeff.”

Quietly, Zoë made her way to the passenger door and pulled it open, “SARA JANE BRYANT! GET YOUR PI-GU OUTTA THAT CAR!” Zoë yelled in her best command voice. The voice that made fresh recruits quiver in their boots back during the war.

Sara awoke with a snort. Her eyes wild with confusion for a moment.

“Mommmmm!” Sara wined a moment later as she exited the car.

“It's late girl. Get to bed.”

Sara rolled her eyes and then grinned at Jeff. She gave him a quick kiss and hug.

“I had a great time Jeff... See ya' in the morning.

“Night Sara,” Jeff replied with a smile of his own. He turned back to get in the car but nearly collided with Zoë.

“Uh-oh” He thought.

“Did Sara have a good time?”

“Yes Ma'am,” The teen nodded.

“You behaved yourselves?”

“Yes'em,”

Zoë stared at the young man for a moment. Noting again how much Jeff looked like his father. Except for his curly black hair. That was all Inara.

“Okay Jeff. Better scoot along home. If I know your father, he'll have you up early for chores.”

“He will... goodnight Aunt Zoë,”

“Night Jeff.”

Zoë turned and climbed back onto the porch as Jeff pulled the car away, intending to put it away in the garage down near the landing pad. With a quick whistle from Zoë, Sam trotted up to her side from out of the darkness. With a last glance up at the stars, Zoë sighed and reentered the house, shutting the porch light off as she went. After making a last check of the house, Zoë went upstairs, Sam at her heels.

She opened the door to Sara's room and found her daughter asleep face down across the covers, Sara's party dress draped over a chair and the girl wearing just her underwear and a t-shirt. Zoë smiled and drew a blanket across Sara. Sam hopped up on the bed to assume his usual position. Quietly, Zoë shut off the light and closed the door.

Entering her own room, Zoë undressed for bed. Dropping her nightgown over her head. She pulled down the covers and slid under. Zoë rolled onto her side, instinctively reaching for Allan's side of the bed. This was the longest she had ever been apart from Allan in their sixteen and a half years of marriage.

“Good night my love,” Zoë whispered, pulling Allan's pillow close, inhaling his scent on the fabric. With a smile on her face, Zoë soon fell asleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

Two thirds of a system away, Allan gazed at the mostly white world now filling the bridge windows.

“So that's St. Albans...”

“Not much ta' look at is it.” Jayne commented from the co-pilots seat.

“Nope,” Allan agreed. A moment later, the cortex beeped with an incoming message.

“Hey Boss,” Said the red headed woman on the screen.

“Hiya Bobby,” Allan replied. Roberta Sutherland was the pilot of Heracles, one of Blue Sun Security's small fleet of armed cutters.

“How far out?” Bobby asked.

“About twenty minutes. Are you still at the coordinates?”

“Yes sir. About ten miles outside of town. And over twenty from the mine.”

“Good,” Allan replied, “What's the weather?”

“Colder'n a witch's tit in January,” Bobby snorted, “Overcast, bout two thousand meters. Snowing a bit but visibility's still good for the moment. Snows here quite a bit. Had to fire the engines to unfreeze the landing gear from the ground yesterday.”

Allan chuckled at Bobby's vernacular. Roberta Sutherland was the daughter of an old war buddy of Mal's. Like Mal, Red Sutherland had bought a ship after the war and made his living in the black. Bobbie had been flying freighters since she could walk. When her father had decided to retire, Allan hired Bobby as soon as he heard about it. The red head now held the coveted title of Chief Pilot at Blue Sun.

“Where's Oso?” Allan asked.

“On the way back from a recon run.”

“Okay, I'll see you soon.”

“You got it Boss.”

XXXXXXXXXX

Sara Jane dropped into the atmosphere of St. Albans, leaving a trail of fire across the night sky. Soon, Allan approached the clearing where Heracles and Challenger both waited. The ships sat in depressions of snow, nearly hiding their black painted hulls.

Allan extended Sara Jane's landing gear early so the metal would cool. If he landed on the ice and snow covered ground with the gear still hot from reentry, the ice would melt and then refreeze. Making a quick takeoff an impossibility.

Pulling the ship into a hover, the outside visibility went to zero as the engines kicked up a hurricane of snow. After blasting the new fallen snow away from the landing area, The new Firefly settled onto her landing gear.

Allan looked out upon the white expanse visible in the light of the moons primary once the snow settled. St Albans was a mountainous world. Somehow some vegetation took hold during terriforming. Mostly evergreens and other hardy arctic plants. There was even some wildlife. Dall Sheep, Wolves, Caribou and Moose had adapted to the icy world. The moon was at the edge of the habitable zone around the dim star that was the center of the system. All in all, the view outside looked like the interior of Alaska in the middle of winter.

The only problem was that it was officially summer on St. Albans...

As soon as the ship was shut down, Allan left the bridge, stopping by his bunk to grab his warm winter coat and ball cap.

Stepping into the bay, Allan found his makeshift crew waiting for him, dressed in their warmest clothing. Jayne wore the shearling coat that Allan had given him for Christmas many years ago. The older man did chuckle a bit when Jayne pulled on his 'cunning' hat. The bright orange knit hat that his mother had made him long ago.

Israel eyed the headgear with suspicion, “What the hell is that on you head?”

“This is my winter hat,” Jayne replied pridefully, “My mother made it for me. You got a problem with that?”

“Uhh, nope... no problem,” Israel replied, wilting under the glare Jayne shot him.

Olivia just smiled at the two men as she opened the small door set into the ramp. No sense in letting all the heat out of the bay.

Stepping out into the cold, Allan sniffed experimentally at the air. Not too bad. He'd been in colder weather back home on Earth as a youth in Vermont.

The ship had settled onto the hard pack snow and ice. The drifts surrounding the ship were at least ten feet high. After a moment, a cloud of steam could be seen over the drift. Seconds later, Oso broke through the surrounding snow, a heavy duty laser in his hands. He had literally cut a path through the snow with the device.

“Hey Oso,” Allan smiled.

“Allan,” Oso smiled, “I see you're traveling in bad company.”

“Might say that,” Allan chuckled as he shook Oso's hand.

“Hey Jayne,” Oso said in greeting, “You mean River actually let you outta her sight?”

Jayne grumbled something unintelligible but his eyes were smiling.

“Come on, lets get over to Heracles, The coffee is on and it's gorram cold out here,” Oso said.

“Lead the way,” Allan replied as the group headed for the other ship.

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon, the key players in the operation were seated around the table in Heracles' galley. Allan looked around the room and smiled. Gathered here with him were the best of the best. Augmented by himself, Jayne and almost hiding in the corner, Audra Baer. Allan walked over to the younger woman and gave her a hug.

“How are you Audra?”

“Doing okay Allan,” She replied.

Like Allan, she was here for personal reasons. Marion Vorrasi, the Blue Sun bodyguard who had been murdered by the Wing's was Audra's best friend and occasional lover. Allan knew that the former Academy student wouldn't rest until the Wing's were dead. Preferably by her own hand.

“Come on up to the table,” Allan said, “We might need to put some of that damn Academy training to good use.”

Allan got a slight smile in reply, “Okay.”

“All right Oso, what do we have? Wait a minute... where's Fred?”

“In town, undercover with Lisa. They're waiting tables at the tavern.”

“That I gotta see,” Jayne snickered at the thought of his very independent sister waiting tables.

“Let's get back to business,” Allan said, “Oso?”

“Here's what we know...”

Oso began his report. The Wing's had been positively identified by the local Feds. The two men had also hired twenty local toughs and twenty five mercenaries. The mercenaries were led by a man named Wade. Gossip was that he had been an assassin for the Alliance during the war and afterward had gone freelance. His team was well trained and equipped. The Wing's were spending the ransom money like water it seemed. Wade and his team didn't come cheap.

The mine complex itself was fairly straightforward. Two shafts descended vertically nearly five hundred feet down to the meager vein of uranium that was the mines sole reason for existence. Above the shafts were the processing building and machine shop. To one side were the living quarters for the mercenaries and on the other was the administration building that also housed Rafe and Johnny Wing's living quarters.

In the corner of the property stood a medium sized hangar where the Wing's housed their small ship. A landing pad fronted the hangar. A three meter chain link fence surrounded the entire facility with security cameras that also saw in the infrared located every fifty meters or so.

Some of the intel that Fred and Lisa had gathered indicated that the security cameras didn't work well in the cold and required constant maintenance.

Electrical power was supplied from the main grid in town. There were backup generators as well.

“How big is the yard in front of the Admin building?” Allan asked.

“Not big enough to get one of the cutters in there,” Bobby replied.

“How about say... A Firefly?”

“Tight but doable,” The pilot replied, “But it would have to be either you, Boss or me flyin.”

“Looks like you just dictated your own assignment Bobby, You still remember how to drive a Firefly?”

“You know damn well, my Daddy had one,” she replied indignantly.

“Easy Little Red,” Allan smiled. Using Bobby's nickname and call sign, “Just joking.”

“What are you plannin Gramps?” Jayne asked.

“Just a rough outline just yet but I think it's workable.”

“Care to enlighten us?” Jayne said, smirking

“My Brother-in-law actually used a big word in the proper context... must be River's rubbin off on him,” Oso chuckled. The rest of the people around the table joined in.

“Ha ha,” Jayne grinned.

“Getting back to the plan,” Allan said, “This is what I want to do...”

Allan laid out his plan. Team one along with Oso, Fred, Jayne and himself would embark on Sara Jane, Bobby Sutherland at the controls . Meanwhile, Team two would approach over land to just outside the perimeter fence accompanied by Audra. At a prearranged time, Olivia would blow the power feed from town by remote.

In the ninety seconds or so it would take for the backup generators to come on line, Audra along with Danny Isham, the primary sniper for team two, would take out as many security cameras as possible. Once the power came back up. The destroyed cameras would be off line but most likely be seen as a system glitch due to the power loss. While the cameras were down, team two and Audra would approach the fence and place cutting charges.

Once team two was in place, Challenger would put a missile into the generator building while team one on Sara Jane would make a combat landing in the center of the compound.

Challenger would orbit the mine to provide heavy fire support from her gun turrets and missile batteries. Sara Jane could also provide cover fire from her chin mounted rail gun.

Team two would then blow thew fence and secure the landing zone. Also providing backup while team one split up. Seven members led by Olivia to hold against the mercenaries in the bunkhouse while Allan, Jayne, Oso, Fred and Israel went after the Wing's.

When questioned about the legality of the assault, Jayne replied that the warrant from Boros was a 'no knock' warrant allowing the team to assault the complex and then give the warrant to whomever survived... If anyone did that is.

It was decided to hit the mine the following night. Around three am local when most of the mercenaries and hired men would be asleep. The locals were mostly the town hoodlums but a few were actually miners. Anyone who shot at the teams was a legitimate target but they would try to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, at least among the hired help.

Details hashed out along with contingency plans, the crews retired to their ships. Team two went back to Challenger while Allan and Jayne headed back to Sara Jane. Needing a change of scenery, Audra accompanied the two men.

Shaking off the cold, Allan looked at the young woman who had once tried to kill him and River.

“What's on your mind Audra?”

“I want the Wing's,” she said simply.

“I know...” Allan replied, “I promise you this. If we take them alive, and after a little chat... you can do the honors.”

“Thanks Allan.”

“You mind watching the ship while me and Jayne go and fetch Lisa and Fred?”

“Not at all... and thanks for letting me come along.”

“No problem Audra... no problem at all.”

As Allan and Jayne headed for one of the shuttles, Audra slipped into Sara Jane's pilot's seat. She could do it now, she mused. Take off in the Firefly and blast the entire complex into little pieces. It would get the job done but it was too clean, too sanitary for the feelings Audra held for the Wing's. This was personal. She wanted to see the looks in their eyes.

Audra slowly removed the stiletto she kept in her right boot, turning it over in her hands. Staring at the blade as it reflected the light from the console. Rafe Wing would soon know all to well what someone like her was capable of.

It was time to let the tiger out of it's cage she thought. Audra and her twin brother Andy had been taken away from an orphanage on Hera where they had lived most of their lives, at the tender age of twelve. She and Andy were taken to the Academy on Osiris when their teachers at the orphanage discovered the twins showed higher than normal intelligence and seemed to know what the other was thinking.

Despite the best efforts of the Academy staff, the twins hadn't been good candidates for the types of procedures done to River Tam and Juliet Reed. Instead the twins were forced into intense behavior modification and combat training.

Although highly intelligent, the twins were not the prodigy's River and Juliet were. The twins were trained for the grunt work. Snipers and pilots. Audra and Andy were the backup for the true psychics like Juliet and River.

It had taken years of deprogramming by the best psychologists money could buy to get the Baer twins recovered enough to be allowed back out into society. By the time they were in their early twenties, the two were so dependent upon one another that they almost shared a brain.

It took Allan's intervention, counciling from River and a job offer from Alisha to enable the two of them to start on the true road to recovery. Marion Vorrasi had been Audra's catalyst for independence.

At first a good friend and then later a lover, the Blue Sun Security officer had brought out the young woman hidden away by the Academy.

Audra remembered with a smile the first time she and Marion had made love. Through the psychic link she shared with Andy, throughout the encounter, Audra could hear the mental gagging from her brother.

A week later Andy returned the favor when he first slept with his then girlfriend. After that, the twins worked hard to develop mental shields because seeing your sibling having sex through each other's eyes was just too gorram disturbing.

Audra sighed and put away her knife. She would bide her time but once she let loose, Rafe and Johnny Wing would feel her wrath.

XXXXXXXXXX

Allan settled the shuttle to the ground next to an old battered freighter parked at the St. Albans docks. With only one settlement of significant size on the moon, the town was named after the world on which it was built.

Buttoning up against the cold, Jayne and Allan made their way across the street from the docks, heading for the tavern where Lisa Lee and Frederica Cobb- Tangaroa were working undercover.

Lisa, a petite thirty year old woman of Asian decent was team one's primary sniper. Lisa was also a martial arts expert. Frederica, also called Fred or Freddie was Jayne's sister and married to Oso.

The only member of the teams without military or police experience, Fred handled most of the Security division's paperwork. However, being a Cobb first, she was often found at the pointy end of any operation. She and her husband were nearly unstoppable in a fight.

Entering the tavern, Jayne and Allan brushed the snow from their shoulders. The bar was about half full. Mostly locals and what looked like the crew from the freighter in port. Over in the corner sat several men, obviously armed and looking out of place.

Allan concluded that they were probably a few of the mercenaries hired by the Wing's.

The two men sauntered up to the bar and ordered drinks. Jayne a whiskey and Allan a beer. They found a table in the opposite corner from the mercenaries.

“What do you think Jayne?” Allan asked his friend quietly.

“Merc's at the other table fer' sure,” The big man grumbled low, “Table in the middle is most likely the crew from that old boat at th' docks.”

“What I thought as well. You seen your sister anywhere?”

“Not yet,” Jayne replied, “Might be on break.”

Allan nodded and looked around the bar more. His eyes locked with the large man sitting at the head of the table of mercenaries. Allan thought he had seen recognition there. Allan hadn't shaved in almost a week as an effort to disguise himself for just such an occasion as this. He hoped it was enough

Allan had even worn his brown coat. A gift from Mal several years back. St. Albans had been a very independent minded world and more than a few of the bar patrons wore similar coats.

Sipping at his beer, Allan spotted Lisa serving drinks to the spacers at the center table. She caught Allan's eye and winked. A few minutes later, Fred emerged from the kitchen with a tray of food for the mercenaries.

She paid no attention to her brother and Allan. After serving the food, the tall brunette sauntered up to Jayne and Allan's table.

“You gent's need a refill?”

“All set for the moment,” Allan replied.

“Better make it soon, Last call is midnight seein' it's Saturday. Can't be sellin booze on Sunday.”

“I'll keep that in mind.”

Fred strode away, a scrap of paper left next to Allan's beer mug. Quickly he looked at the note. Fred and Lisa got off work at one AM. They were all packed and ready to rejoin the teams.

Allan crumpled up the note and Jayne burned it in the process of lighting a cigar.

As the hours wore on, Allan kept noticing glances from the table of mercenaries. In particular, the oldest of the men. As Allan sipped on his second beer, the man who had been eying him stood up and approached his and Jayne's table.

“Excuse me,” The man said.

“Yes?” Allan replied, his hand hovering near his pistol under the table.

“You seem quite familiar... have we met before?”

“Can't say that I've seen ya' afore,” Allan drawled.

“Where are my manners. Name's Wade... Virgil Wade.”

“Pleased ta meet ya' Mr. Wade,” Allan replied, “My name's Washburn, Allan Washburn. You's can call me Gramps.”

“Well, I guess I satisfied my curiosity. Have a good night Mr. Washb... Gramps.”

“You too,” Allan grinned.

As the man strode away, Allan looked at his companion, “Finish your drink Jayne. Then we'll head back to the shuttle. I'll leave first. I don't think my little bit of name switching put him off just yet.”

The bartender announced last call and Allan stood up. He turned to Jayne and said loudly, “Thanks for the drinks nephew. Guess I'll be moseyin' on home.”

Jayne nodded and lifted his glass as Allan stood up and staggered a bit. Straightening his shoulders, Allan weaved his way across the floor, pretending to be drunk. Pulling his collar up against the cold, Allan stepped outside...

Right into three of the mercenaries from Wade's crew...

-

TBC

COMMENTS

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 7:08 AM

JANE0904


Sounds to me like the best-laid plans of mice, men and Allan Bryant are definitely going astray! Great stuff, and I am now on tenterhooks to find out what happens next!


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