Cowboys & Alliance : part 1 -------- The Wife of Frankenstein --------

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Malcolm Reynolds lay in his bunk pondering a thousand thoughts running through his brain. First was the secret he was keeping from his first-mate. Unknown to Zoe, after the battle that had taken place with the Alliance operative on that world of Mr. Universe, the captain had ventured back to the crushed shell of his mangled ship and found her to be empty of anybody, well…..maybe that should be expressed differently, void of any BODY. There was no Wash, and no Shepherd Book.

Actually, on Haven, in the case of strapping corpses to the framework of Serenity before their journey to Miranda, his crew had found enough bodies within the downed Alliance vessel so that none of their friends were needed as hood ornaments on Serenity. Damn that captain, he could be such an ass at times, anyway, their guise for making their way past Reaver territory complete, they had made a run for mysterious planet.

The figure of the preacher had been brought aboard just on the chance that they may be able to make their way to Persephone and back to the monastery, that was, if any of them survived.

Upon his return to his ship, the captain had found neither his pilot or the preacher man aboard, and he had no idea where they had gone or been taken. Against his better judgment he had whispered a little prayer hoping that they hadn’t been taken by the Reaver cannibals that had forced his vessel down on that high-tech world of Mr. Universe. Yet he had found evidence that those crazy madmen had been aboard his vessel. That was the secret he was keeping from Zoe. To tell her that her husband had possibly been taken by Reavers was information she didn’t need to know.

Now, the second thing that was bothering Mal was his continued harboring of Simon and River. The operative had spoken truthfully when he’d said he was uncertain if the powers that be would listen to his argument that the Tams were no longer a threat. Those power control maniacs had not. The crew of Serenity were still being hunted and were in just about as much danger as they had been before, maybe more.

Serenity had stayed in this half of the system in the hopes of fooling the Alliance into searching for them in the far reaches of the other side, that much had worked well. There did seem to be less activity when it came to search patrols looking for the Tams. Still, Serenity wasn’t out of the woods, and if there was one thing that Mal knew about the Alliance, it was that they stopped at nothing to get what they wanted, including revenge.

It seemed for the past several months the remaining crew of Serenity had to stay six steps ahead of the ruling government‘s outstretched arms of influence. This they could do easily enough but what Mal feared was the use of technology. What if by way of the cortex the Alliance was able to broadcast a signal that would set River Tam off again? What if she went on another rampage of death and slaughter? She often piloted Serenity alone and there could be that unguarded moment when the governing powers could get to her through a wave broadcast on the cortex while the others lay asleep in their bunks?

This was what was going through the captains head as he considered his options. Just then a buzz in his cabin told him that a message was coming in from the bridge. He pressed the accept button.

“ Sir, we are about six hours out from Ezra,” it was Zoe speaking, “ Think it’s Ok to continue or should we search for a safer port of harbor?”

“ Continue on course Zoe, we’ll circle around to the part of the world unseen by Skyplex. We’ll get our bearings and make further plans once we’ve landed,” Mal said.

“ Bridge out, ” Zoe ceased communication.

Mal decided that this time might be good to get up and get something to eat. He would think of what to do about River and Simon later. The twinge of hunger he felt in his gut told him to head towards the ship’s galley.

As the captain entered the ships mess he became consciously aware that many of his crew had silly grins upon their faces.

“ Morning captain,” Kaylee squeaked as she quickly diverted her eyes away from the ship’s commander.

“ Hey Mal, shiny to see ya,” Jayne spoke with a chuckle.

Mal’s suspicions were beginning to grow with every word uttered by his crew.

“ Mal, you’re looking very pleasant today,” Inara said.

The captain was really beginning to get his suspicions up.

“ Yes, I was thinking the same, did you rest well captain?” Simon added.

“ Alright! Wait one ruttin minute…….” Mal began to protest at all the comments being focused in his direction. If there was one thing he knew about his crew, he knew when they were acting weird.

“What’s going on with tha lot of you?” He looked at every face. Just then there came a sound from the kitchen. The captain turned to see a redheaded woman there preparing a meal.

“ Hello hun, can I get you some breakfast?”

The captain’s mouth fell open. Jayne began to laugh hysterically, Kaylee turned her head as she giggled, Simon almost choked on the brew he was drinking and Inara put a hand over her mouth to hide the broad smile which had formed across her face.

There in the kitchen stood Saffron, well sort of. I was actually Lenore sporting a red tanglement of a hairdo.

“ Well, I haven’t all day sweetie, do you want something to eat or would you rather that I rub your feet?”

The rest of the crew may have considered this outrageously funny, but the captain failed to see the humor in it at all.

Lenore had been rescued by River upon Serenity’s exit from Mr. Universe’s world. It hadn’t been known to the captain until the transport was well into orbit. With Kaylee’s help, she’d been able to get the android up and running and now Mal felt freakish whenever he was around the gorram thing. Up until then he hadn’t paid much attention to the metallic female, but things were certainly changing. Was his crew using the robot to annoy him, or was this some sort of half baked revenge plot by Inara to have Saffron’s ghost haunt him for the past aggravation he’d caused her?

“What the hell is she doing in here……and who dyed her hair red?”

“ Sounds to me as if she tryin to service her hubby.” Jayne spoke, then quickly turned his gaze away from the captain.

“ Well, I’m not getting the joke……….Kaylee?” Mal’s tone was a little on the agitated side.

“ Hey……I only charge her batteries, I got nothing to do with the programming,” The ship’s mechanic defended herself.

“ So, this is our little geniuses doin?” Mal spoke looking at the doctor.

“ My sister was only poking a little fun since in a few days it will be your birthday captain,” He said, “ Guess I should escort her down to medical and see what we can do about getting the red dye out of her synthetic fibers,” Simon spoke.

“Good idea doc, and how about tell your sister that I wasn’t for one second humored with her rendition of the wife of Frankenstein,” Mal finished.

“ The wife of who?” Jayne questioned.

“ Frankenstein, an old horror story told to me by some of the ranch hands on Shadow when we used to sit around the campfire at night guarding against cattle rustlers.”

“ You mean the old “Earth that Was” classic by the woman author Mary Shelley? Mal I’m impressed,” Inara stated.

“ Actually, it’s” The Bride of Frankenstein, “ Simon spoke up, “ about a woman created out of parts for a monster who found himself desperate and lonely much of the time.”

“ Well that seems to fit,” Jayne added as he took another drink from his cup.

Mal ignored the comment from Serenity’s resident mercenary.

“ Yeah, that’s right doc, and just about fits with the story of a doctor that creates a companion for the head honcho. A doctor mind you, that brings fourth a beauty for the beast,” Mal said, “ Cause right now I am feeling a bit beastly….”

“ Beauty and the Beast, that’s quite another tale Mal, yet I think it fits just as well,” Inara said grinning.

Mal could see that there would be no serious conversations going on any time soon. He returned to his bunk until they made a landing, then he’d show them what a beast of a captain he really could become.

End Part 1

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Author’s notes:

With the introduction of the BDM back in 2005 (my first initiation into the Joss verse btw) I then became aware of the gritty genius of Joss Whedon’s Firefly. From that time my spouse and I rented the entire series of season 1 and were hooked, I more so. I became a browncoat from that moment on….which led me here.

Now, since I have been writing fan-fiction for a while (and hoping I have gotten better) I keep Mr. Whedon’s verse still alive, at least for myself. The cancellation by F*>< to me hasn’t meant the death of the show, as far as I’m concerned it only meant that the Firefly franchise has been set into suspended animation, ready to be resurrected at any time after the legal rights are vanquished from the evil empire. The Firefly verse is so much more than just a 14 episode tv show with a big screen movie to bring it to an end. The cast and crew and the multitude of browncoats and fans will tell you the same. It is a living, breathing thing, and it touches more folk every day.

I will get off my high-horse now and say that I hope you enjoy this attempt at keeping the verse alive…..mores to come. I hope sooner than later. For now we HOLD.

See ya, BPZ