Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters that are recognizable as from the movie, Serenity, or the television shows CASTLE, which is owned by ABC, and Firefly, owned by FOX-TV and Mutant Enemy.

"Legacy" by JustWriter

Chapter 2: Terraform, Derrick Storm

Tam looked at him again and asked him, "Can you move yet; the pain meds should have worn off by now?"

He responded by sitting up and then he asked, "If, according to you, I'm not Rick Castle then who am I; and where's my daughter?"

Tam took a deep breath and sat down at the foot of the biobed. With resolve he said, “You’re a good man and you happen to be my friend,” he said as he gazed sincerely into his eyes. “Your name is Malcolm Reynolds and you have a ship full of friends in the docking bay eager to see you. They’re your crew. We were all hoping that you’d remember us Mal,” he said in a sorrowful manner. “As for your daughter I never knew that you had one. All I know is that a few months ago you disappeared while we were docked at Persephone and now you’re around ten years older than you should be.”

Tam stood and walked over to a futuristic looking cabinet built into the wall and opened it, retrieving some garments that looked like his favorite blue button-down shirt and a pair of black slacks that he’d been wearing when that big flash happened. “We’ll be going to see your crew in a few minutes; hopefully it will jog your memory.” He proffered the clothing, “Here, put these on back there,” Tam said indicating what looked like it should be a changing screen. He nodded and grasped the offered clothing on his way to the screen. He was left with his thoughts in the near silence. ____________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile Kate and Esposito were being held in a room made of metal with guards outside the door made of the same metal. They were frustrated beyond belief after their failed escape plan. The guards had weaponry of the likes that they’d never seen before, real laser guns. Just as Kate was about to attempt another escape, the door slid open to reveal a man. This cane laden, old man stared at her through a pair of spectacles with a look that spoke of wistfulness and missed opportunities.

Kate, not one to let a situation get away from her, attempted to gain control of the situation, and she was always at her best when interrogating a suspect. “Who are you, where the HELL are we, and what have you done with Castle?”

His smile was full of pride and it annoyed her that he had the upper hand. “I am Adelai Niska and your friend is physically fit to walk about. Would you like to see him?” he said, indicating them both. His accent was distinctly Finnish; she could tell from the time that she’d interrogated an innocent man involved in the wrong sort of money scheme as a victim. She nodded curtly and followed the man with the guards herding her and Esposito after him. “As to where you are Katarina, you are home, in Saimaa Skyplex (S+eye+maw).

“Never heard of it,” she commented dryly as she continued to follow him.

“No,” he said in a regretful tone, “I would not expect you to know it Katarina but you will, when you are ready.”

Her tone turned confrontational. “Ready for what?”

He sighed and said authoritatively, “You do not know the whole picture. You should reserve your judgment for now.”

“Uh… Beckett,” Esposito said waveringly. She hadn’t paid as much attention in the last few moments, what with the man knowing her given name, so she was completely surprised to notice that the night sky outside was no night sky at all. She stumbled and stared yonder and saw, “Is that..?”

“…a spaceship,” Esposito finished for her, his voice filled with a certain awe. They’d all stopped at the window, staring at the rough and tumble Firefly. The old man’s smug voice filled the air, “Like I said Katarina, you are on Saimaa Skyplex, orbiting the planet Ezra in the Georgia System, in what you would call the future. Shall we continue to our destination?”

“NO, not until you explain what the HELL is going on!” she bitingly spat out.

He leaned forward on his cane and sighed heavily, “I was hoping we could save this until we could put everyone in one place.” Then he looked at her and smirked, saying, “I hear that you are a great fan of Richard Castle’s literature, yes? Perhaps I should take a page from his first book and paraphrase when necessary; it would make more sense to you.”

“Earth-That-Was could no longer sustain our numbers; we were so many. We found a new solar system, dozens of planets, and hundreds of moons; each one terraformed, a process taking decades to support human life, to be new Earths. The Central Planets formed the Alliance. Ruled by an inter-planetary parliament, the Alliance was a beacon of Civilization. The savage Outer Planets were not so enlightened and refused Alliance Control. The war was devastating, but the Alliance’s victory over the Independents ensured a safer universe; or so it all seemed.”

“There was a man who escaped the devastation of the Battle of Serenity Valley named Malcolm Reynolds. He was given compensation, among many other Alliance and Independent soldiers, for having to wait for over half a week before a treaty was signed and they were removed from the dying planet Shadow. During that period, so many of the survivors of the battle died of starvation, septicemia, and oxygen deprivation. With his compensation he went to a shipyard and bought an ancient ship by the classification of Firefly and he formed a crew. He convinced his old army buddy who survived Serenity with him to be his First Mate, hired an engineer and a pilot, rented a shuttle to a companion, and took off for the deep.”

“They ended up doing mostly salvage jobs and mostly borderline legal activities, and occasionally took on passengers to ferry from worlds to moons. On one such occasion they took on a Preacher and two mysterious men from the Core Worlds; one an Alliance informant and the other with mysterious cargo. Gunfire was exchanged aboard the vessel Serenity and in the scuffle a young woman was abruptly released from cryo-freeze.”

Kate then interjected, “I know this story; you’re saying that the Derek Storm novels are real?”

Niska chuckled in amusement, “Oh they’re quite real Katarina. They’re disjointed memories that were patched together into some semblance of a story. For you see, after the events on the outer reaches of our Solar System were made public; Malcolm Alexander Reynolds was made public enemy number one for inciting rebellion in even the Core Planets. We believe that the Alliance kidnapped him and applied brainwashing chemicals and techniques to him before they made him disappear into his new prison, Earth-That-Was.”

“What does that have to do with why we’re here?” Kate asked in a firm tone while glowering at the Finnish-accented man.

“Well that is only half the story Katarina. The reason that you are here is not because of Captain Reynolds,” he answered guardedly. “The reason that you are here is because this is where you were meant to grow up, my daughter.”

Esposito tentatively put forward while Kate absorbed this NEWS with a familiar mask of fury, “Mister Niska?” He inclined his head for Esposito to continue and so he did. “Beckett’s already got a father back in New York City.”

“Yes I know,” he replied. “I understand that taking in another man’s child was the honorable thing to do in that age.” They started heading down the corridor again.