Spin

Chapter 7-Mission Complete?

Cast of Players & Places: Iron Eagle or Eagle Eye- Ira Eggers GAT WWDC15-Warden Wartouski Detainment Center 15. Mal Reynolds Jayne Cobb River Tam Simon Tam Zoë Washburn Wash- Washburn Kaylee Shepherd Book Inara

References: (1) Zhu bi bing kuo nao = Hog nose and snail brains (2) gong niu pi hua = Bull shit

Mission Complete? ***********************************************************************************

The man certainly had felt that he had dodged a bullet, both figuratively and literally, by not accompanying Iron Eagle and his jail-break buddy out of cell-block E6.

Gat had remained in the cell-block, near level 4 and was listening to the sounds of heavy equipment being moved about on the upper levels of WWDC15 above his head. There were all kinds of things going on up there and the air was filled with the buzz of excitement.

He was sure, at some point the authorities would venture in and interrogate him into telling them what had happened. He planned to tell them everything, spill his guts.

What Iron Eagle had told him about his detainee sentence being increased must have been a lie. How could he know that his detainment term had been extended? It must have been some kind of fen fei Iron Eagle had cooked up to have him accompany them.

He could see that the two men had been old war buddies, backwater trash from one of the rim worlds. They had likely been going to use him as a decoy. Someone to position out front when the bullets went to flying.

Well, he had foiled their little plan. At least they hadn’t shot him right there on the spot! Likely didn’t want to face murder charges if they were caught.

Gat could hear the sound of people approaching, “Guards!”,….he rushed into his detainment cell and tried to close the cell door behind him. It wouldn’t lock!! There must be something in the locking mechanize that once sprung, the code had to be reset in order for it to switch back.

Two men then entered his room. “Detainment guards!” Gat could tell by their uniforms.

“ Over here!” He called. They moved toward him, “ He took the other guy, Iron Eagle…..and broke him out!” He told them.

The two men looked at him seeing that his cell door was open.

“ Come with us sir, NOW!” One of the guard motioned for Gat to follow them, no questions asked.

Maybe Eagle Eye had turned him in! Maybe they had been caught and had told the authorities that he was involved in the escape attempt? None of which were true. He was sure he could explain his way out of this ordeal and maybe even reduce his time as a detainee here, once he explained to the authorities what had really happened. He walked with a guard escorting him on either side.

When they came across someone higher rank, someone with real power, Gat felt he would be allowed to tell the truth of the matter. Still, a thousand worried creped through his mind as he was led down a maze of corridors he did not recognize.

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Malcolm Reynolds was PISSED! The captain of Serenity couldn’t remember a time that he had felt more angry with one of his crew than he was right at that moment! Ok, maybe he’d been a shade more angry with Jayne after that time they’d robbed St. Lucy’s on Ariel, but this thing with River was pretty gorram close!

Still, River had asked him to trust her, now with every fiber of Mal’s being, he was regretting it. If he, and the entirety of his crew made it off of WWDC15.…intact….she would have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

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The four people on the hovercraft, previously owned by the warden on WWDC15, were being tossed and jumbled about as Zoë purposely flew the little shuttle like a bat outta hell. The sounds of alarms were echoing down the tunnel in which they were traveling, and it wasn’t until they had made it around several turns in the maze of the tunnel that the sounds began to die down a bit, then stopped completely.

Mal Reynolds welcomed the peace, and the steady hum of the engines on the hovercraft. They rounded a bend and were greeted with a sight that started each one‘s heart thumping loudly within their own chest…..SERENITY!

The beautiful Firefly transport was docked just as they left her.

Zoe brought the hovercraft to a head-banging halt just outside the loading ramp. She was near as good as her husband when it came to flying them out of a jam.

Leaping off the side of the little shuttle, Mal suddenly became aware that the his hovercraft “mule” lay safely docked within the confines of the cargo hold.

“Zhu bi bing kuo nao!” (1) He mutter as he began a determined march towards the ramp and the cargo bay.

“WHERE”S RIVER!!?”

Standing at the top of the ramp Shepherd Book looked a bit confused and surprised, but before he could utter a word there came the loud sound of a land rover approaching from a west side of the crater opening.

All the crew of Serenity bolted into action. Jayne, Zoe, Mal and Shepherd Book readied themselves for a shootout that would either prove deadly or,…………….well, there was no time to think of anything else!

Just then Ira Eggers ran out between the two forces that were about to square off.

“ HOLD!!”

Mal, Zoe and Shepherd Book all eased up from their hiding places. Jayne, with his tight grip on Vera was a bit disappointed. He had wanted to blast something.

“ Mal!” Ira spoke as the person on the land rover approached closer, “…..he’s with me!”

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After a short period of time Ira explained that it all had been a prearranged plan. Calculated by he and River and carried out by the crew of Serenity and his own band of brigands, the crew from his ship, the “Vulture”.

Yes, seems Ira Eggers was a captain also. The same ship used in the rescue of River and Simon from the government run experimental facility some time ago. Ira had been in lock-down for years, and getting River out, was part of the agreement his crew had made for getting him out too. River would, with her mental abilities assist his crew in detecting his whereabouts and also in breaking him out. Even River’s doctor brother hadn’t known of his sister‘s plan to free the captain of the “Vulture”.

“….. and River wants to keep it that way.” Ira gave Mal a firm grasp on the arm.

“ Also, so you know, River is the one that sounded the alarm. A diversionary tactic used to trick all of WWDC15’s security forces into responding to west side point of the facility. They had no idea that while they were rounding up released detainees on that side of the compound, that you were setting me free and stealing a hovercraft loaded with loot at the same time!” Ira could hardly control his amusement.

“ Anyway…..be gentile with the girl. She knows what she’s doing.” He whispered over to his ex-First Sergeant.

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90 minutes before:

River Tam had watched until the captain of Serenity and his heist team were well down the chamber leading away from her and the “mule”. She then climbed aboard and engaged the engine and threw the throttle into full reverse. She spun the craft around and headed back toward Serenity. Half a kilometer from the Firefly transport she made a right turn and headed down a tunnel that was barely wide enough for the little hovercraft to travel through. Sometimes the sides scraped the tunnel walls and a slight bolt of excitement ran up the young Tam’s spine.

River maneuvered the craft almost three quarters of a kilometer down the twisty-turny path before bringing it to a halt in an adjoining crater not far from where Wash had landed the Firefly vessel.

Here she brought the little mule to a stop right before a vehicle that was almost the same size as Serenity. Different in design, yet from the looks of the craft it was space worthy just as her own home transport.

Written on the side in bold letters was the name “Vulture”.

River positioned the mule so that she could clearly be seen from the cockpit of the craft and before long three men emerged and began to approach her.

“ You’ve done well little one.” One of the men said as he got within speaking range. “With all the bulletins and wave alerts being broadcast around the verse, seems you and your brother have evaded the authorities rather handily.”

The young Tam smiled but said nothing.

She tossed them a coat, brown and all weather beaten but still worth wearing in the thin, cold WWDC15 air.

“ Make sure he gets this.” She said. Then with that she restarted the mule and headed back down the corridor that would lead her back to Serenity.

The three men looked at one another.

“Scott….we all know what to do.” One of them spoke, “ We’ll head off to complete our mission while you take the “moose” and go find Serenity……..and our Captain.” He finished. (Moose= hovercraft used by the crew of the Vulture)

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Gat sat on a seat just inside the starboard door of a space vehicle he’d just been escorted to by what he had first thought were detainment guards. At first he’d considered that he was being escorted to another detainment area, but then he’d become suspicious when the guards had started to angle up toward the surface. They had brought him to an area he did not recognize, a place where a renegade looking spacecraft lay waiting in a big surface pothole.

On the side of the vehicle he had read the name “Vulture” and it would be a safe bet to think that this ship had nothing to do with the WWDC15 detainment center.

For one thing the men had removed their guard uniforms the moment they’d arrived back at the vessel. Another thing, the cloths they’d worn underneath were simple, yet clean type garments you might find on your average pig farmer. Still, they were pleasant enough and Gat had no idea what was going on.

A young girl approached him.

“ Care for some warm coffee?” She asked holding a steamy cup out to him. Gat took her offering and gave her a quick smile, but he still didn’t trust what was going on.

She smiled back then returned to the cockpit. The weathered brown jacket they’d given him to wear added to his comfort in the cool, thin air of the planet surface. Gat could look out a window of the vehicle above his head and see a beautiful starlit sky, and the dim tint of a new day that would be born on this world in less than a 16 hours period was starting to show.

“ God the verse is beautiful!” He thought, “ And worth breathing every freedom filled lungful of air.”

Of course if you were contained down within the retched walls of a detainment cell then the verse could become a living hell.

Just then there came the sound of a motor vehicle approaching the spacecraft from the same side as the starboard opening. The girl looked out a cockpit side window.

“ Scott’s here…..and he’s got the CAPTAIN!!” She voiced.

There was much excitement in the spacecraft called the “Vulture”, and one of the men gave out commands to the others.

“ Grimes, you and Ellie head out and help the captain aboard! Chuck….lower the back ramp so Scott can load the “moose” inside!”

There was great merriment among the crew. After five minutes, the joy began to move inside as one by one the crew of the ship again returned to the spacecraft. The last to enter was the Captain. Gat’s eyes widened as he recognized the commander of the “Vulture”.

“ Iron Eagle!!?”

“ Hello Gat.” The man smiled, confident and sure of himself.” Funny meeting you here.” He chuckled. He closed the starboard door behind him.

“ Zachary! Liftoff in 10. Make everything ready!”

“ Sir!” the other man voiced his understanding of the order.

In twenty minutes they were airborne and heading toward the stars that moments before had mesmerized Gat with their beauty.

Iron Eagle went and sat next to him.

“ You know Gat I just saved you a long period time from being locked up in that ludicrous asylum.”

“ So you say. You known…..soon as I get free, that is if your plans aren’t to murders me, I plan on notifying the authorities.” Gat told Iron Eagle.

The captain of the Vulture just looked at the ex-detainee.“ Come, follow me….” Iron Eagle told him as he led him to the bridge.

“ Ellie, open up the cortex.” He bid the girl the task, “ Now type in the security code for WWDC15. “ She did as requested.

Up popped the internal business transactions of a busy government run facility.

“ Now enter the code for the cortex waves over the past few months.” Ira said.

They went down the list and with his finger Ira chose the one for Ellie to open. It popped up onto the screen.

#################################################################################### “ Transaction reads as follows. Detainee 612-8357 is to remain at facility WWDC15 for an added sentence of 57 spins. It is thought that at an opportune moment an interested party, being sought by the government will attempt to make contact with the subject. It is imperative that the subject be moved to a more secure part of the facility. It is doubtful that the contact party will become aware of detainee’s whereabouts for several months. Still precautions such be taken. More information will be submitted as obtained (end)” ####################################################################################

“ That was why you were moved from section B6 to E6, and that’s why now, you find yourself a fugitive just the same as we are.”

“ This is Gong Niu Pi Hua!”(2) Gat said……“Soon as I get my chance I’m turning you all in!”

“They’ll shoot you.” Ira told the man who thought he was being held hostage.

“The damage has already been done. You go back now and they won’t risk another chance at you escaping from them. You’re as good as dead if you return.” The captain of the Vulture informed him. Then he added……

“Your daughter is smarter then they are even aware of. She knew way ahead of time what the government was capable of doing with you.” Iron Eagle said.

Gat looked at him with questions in his eyes.

“ Look inside your pocket.

He did this, and soon withdrew a gold watch from the pouch. He spun the timepiece over to look on it’s reverse side. There was an inscription….. It read, “To Gabriel Anson Tam- Happy Birthday Dad- Love Simon & River.”

“Even for your mistrust and bitterness towards them, your children have “Spun” it around and still love you at any cost. That is something you should thing hard and long on Gat.” Ira finished.

THE END