THE RETURN OF JUBAL EARLY (Set After Objects In Space)

The cruiser slowed to an abrupt halt, a pair of floodlights washed over the floating figure in the red gravity suit. Small bits of ice crusted over the helmet visor as an extended arm from the craft grasped onto the floater and dragged him inside the airlock.

“Harris?”

Captain John Merlin hit the com sat again. His navigator failed to answer for the third time. The Persephone was an Alliance exploration ship, checking the space quadrants outside of normal shipping lanes. The search for precious minerals and gas deposits on unexplored planets had become big business for the Alliance. The rate of planets terraforming had increased exponentially over the last ten years. After winning the war, the Alliance had to allocate its military resources to expansion, idle hands were one kind of problem, and idle hands near guns was another.

Merlin was like many in his class, a combat veteran who had become slow and fat over time. The kind of man who was once hardened by the reality of space but now softened by the trappings of bureaucracy. His four-man crew had also become pudgy around the edges and lazy. Killers who had no one left to kill became more of a liability than those they eliminated. The quota, which was the golden word now for these small exploration crews. They didn’t need to actually find anything, they didn’t need to be productive, they just needed to check the proper amount of fringe planets and file their reports.

Merlin left his gun belt hanging over his command chair and he walked down the long corridor to the airlock. Then something caused a prickling feeling on the back of his neck. The hum of the engine and atmo processor filled the hallway but there was something else wrong. There was no other noise at all. Hearing his own breath, Merlin reached down to his thigh, feeling for his pistol that was no longer there. Cursing himself for taking off his cumbersome pistol belt, the Captain took a step back. Something wet under his left foot gave way as he started to fall backwards. He tried to rebalance himself futilely as his arms waved in the air like a crashing bird. He landed flat on his back with a dull thud. The back of his head ached as he felt the slick floor underneath him.

He moved his hand up near the dim floor running lights and saw the blood for the first time. Then panning his eyes to the left, he saw one severed finger lying in the middle of a pool of blood. He gasped heavily as he tried to pull his overweight body up off the ground. Then the red suited figure appeared in the hallway, carrying an ax his right hand. There was fresh blood dripping off of the blood. Old instincts kicked in, Merlin knew he couldn’t move fast enough back to the bridge for his guns, so he bolted up low and charged forward. The red suited figure gestured in surprise as Merlin bore down on him with his shoulder and tackled him into the airlock bay.

Both men sprawled onto the floor as the ax clattered away. The red suit swung his fist at lightning speed and it slammed into Merlin’s temple. He crawled forward as his balance was off. And there was Harris, with his throat cut and laying facedown in a puddle of his own juices. Alton was on his back across the floor with one of his hands cut off and blood still pumping out of the stump. The back of his head had been smashed in by something blunt. And Samuels was right behind the red suit, Merlin could see his pilot’s neck snapped and twisted in a grotesque and painful way. The Captain crawled forward and heard the scraping sound behind him. Alton’s pistol was just in reach; he slid forward, partially propelled by the blood slicked floor plates and grabbed the weapon. He swung around quickly and fired a shot at the red suit.

The man moved like a cat to his left. No one can be that quick, Merlin thought, no one. Then the ax smashed in a blur into the Captain’s chest. A fine mist of blood sprayed out of Merlin’s mouth as his legs started to shake and convulse. The red suit leaned over his prey and took off his helmet. It was a black man with a look of fury on his face. He drew a long curved hunting knife out of its boot holster.

“I’m going to catch them, then I’m going to skin the bitch alive. Bounty be damned”

Merlin could hear his gasping get louder; the voice of the black man became fainter and fainter. Bright lights washed over his eyes, like staring at the sun from the window of speeding train. He thought about how slow and stupid he had become. He broke the second rule of combat; never let your guard down. He spat out while blood gurgled out of the sides of his mouth.

“Go… Go to…Go to hell…”

The black man leaned forward with his blade and cut the Captain’s throat with one long clean swipe. Beads of blood trickled out of the wound before a torrent of red spilled out and splashed everywhere. The running lights on the floor were covered as a pink sheen reflected off of the walls.

“Carousel?” Jubal Early said with puzzled look on his face as his ears betrayed him yet again. “Never been to the circus in my life.”

Then he walked forward to the Persephone’s bridge, oblivious to his blind luck in getting picked up in the middle of space, the Serenity and her crew wouldn’t that far off now. He could catch them, and this time he would not make the same mistakes.

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Thousands of miles away, River Tam woke from her slumber and tears streamed down her eyes. She sobbed uncontrollably as thoughts raced through her head at breakneck speed. The image of a man lying on the ground with his throat bleeding burned into her mind. He was gasping and dying in a pool of his own blood. Simon Tam slipped out from his bunk and reached over to feel his sister’s forehead. Her eyes opened fearfully as her brother moved alongside her and held her in his arms. He cradled her there until the tears subsided, lost in his thoughts, as there was a great sickness in his sister that he could not cure. His grief was overwhelming. A lifetime of success lay behind him like a cheap magician’s illusion, he had never been prepared for such utter failure. He didn’t know how to cope with his own pain anymore. It wasn’t fair to show anyone, to burden them with the demons he slept with at night.

“Coming for us,” she mumbled, “Coming to hurt us…”

River looked up her brother in bewilderment as Simon slipped the cap of the hypodermic off. He kept a small dosage near his pillow in a mini kit bag at all times. She never felt the injection as her eyes glazed over. Her head rocked back and soon she was asleep. Quietly, Simon wiped the tears from his sister’s face with the cuff of his long sleeved shirt.

Ten minutes later, only when he was sure she was deep in slumber, he pulled her closer to him. She was thin and frail in his arms. Her head rested against his shoulder as he waited for the next restless dream to wake her. It was happening more frequently now. There wasn’t enough time. Not for a moment of reprieve. But per chance, now, maybe room for just one. .

A single stray tear rolled down his cheek.

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Wash leaned over and flipped the top three switches above his pilot’s seat.

“You know what these do right?”

“Works the snow cone machine?” Zoë asked.

Then in rapid succession.

“Time travel device?” Inara interjected.

“Fasten your seatbelt lights?” Jayne snapped as he moved his gear inside the shuttle.

And finally,

“Tricks a women into looking past your flaws and marrying you?” Mal chuckled.

The shuttle lifted off from the Serenity and headed down to Artemis. Inara had three clients in succession for the next two days. And the Captain had to pick up some less than legal cargo in a secluded part of the planet the next day, he didn’t want to leave the Serenity so shorthanded, but he needed Wash to pilot the shuttle in a jam and wanted Jayne there as extra firepower. Mal picked up the com sat and squeezed the transmit button.

“Shepard?”

Book sat on the bridge with the doctor and hit the receive button. The view was nice from space; he could see the blue oceans swirling beneath him under the atmosphere.

“Captain, I’m here.”

“Shepard, I’m sure you don’t mind being left in charge. Remember, no parties or dancing girls while we are gone. Be back in two days.”

“Malcolm, obviously you haven’t kept up with current religion trends of late. We may get a little too happy with the sacramental wine but….”

“Doc?” It was Jayne’s voice now.

Simon grabbed the handset and braced himself for something vulgar. And it would be vulgar.

“Yes, Jayne.”

“Ok, no parties and dancing girls for you. And no tipsy altar boys for the Shepard”

Everyone rolled their eyes as Inara gently slapped Jayne in the back of his head. The large brute twisted forward in less than slight shock as he feigned pain; Mal grinned at Inara out of the corner of his eye. She was watching him as he was watching her. But neither would admit it.

Wash turned in his seat, as Zoë stood behind her husband and rubbed his shoulders, and looked back at Jayne.

“Try having that happened four times a day, then you’ll understand marriage…”

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(Seven Hours Later)

Kaylee Frye slid under the engine again. There was something wrong with the gravity boot again. It kept overloading it circuits ever few weeks. She tinkered with the problem for most of the past four days. Quietly she thought about how she was tied up there earlier by the bounty hunter, Jubal Early. She had made it a point to avoid River now. There were too many things about River that made her uncomfortable now. Mostly it was guilt for giving in so easily to Early and revealing where everyone else was on the ship.

A pair of small feet appeared near the engine.

“River?”

The younger Tam didn’t answer. Instead she bounced the small rubber jacks ball up and down. The red globe thumped every second or so and leaped back into the air.

Kaylee was about to slide back out from under the engine block when River’s foot shot out and wedged the engineer in gently. The foot rocked back and forth slowly as River’s soft voice spoke almost in a whisper.

“He loves you, you know.”

Kaylee rested the socket wrench down and wiped a small amount of engine grease from her cheek. The words made her mouth gape slowly.

“Who loves me, River?”

“I see red. Red is coming for us. Hearts are red. Love is red. Love is truth”

Then the foot lifted up and began to walk away. Kaylee slid out from under the engine and watched the red jacks ball bounce up and down on its own. There was no one there to catch it or to throw it back against the ground. River Tam was walking out of the doorway as the engineer sat up.

“Who loves me?” Kaylee asked again.

“He does. He’s always loved you; he just doesn’t know how to say so. He doesn’t say. Never says. Because he hurts for me. Hurts all the time. He’s kind of a boob. Boobs love too, you know. ”

The small red ball lifted in the air for a second. Floating and dancing above Kaylee’s eyes then suddenly it dropped with a dull thud into the engineer’s outstretched palm. River smiled painfully then her face became impassive yet again as the ball was finally out of her control.

“Why are you telling me this, River? Why?” Kaylee’s voice was choked up now. It was overwhelming to hear something said so plainly to her.

River turned slowly so only the profile of her face could be seen against the shadows’ of the walls of the engine room. “Because love is truth. Honest and pure. I love him. And so do you.”

Then she walked out of the room.

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A lone figure in a red suit crawled along the Serenity’s hull. Edging his way to the airlock. It would take some time, the bounty hunter thought, but it would be worth the trouble.

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(Four Hours Later)

Shepard Book sat alone in the galley. A old worn mug rested in his hands. It was coffee, nearly the last of it in the bottom of the cup. It was also laced with some of Jayne’s special moonshine brew. Sleep didn’t come easy anymore for him. He was a man of God, but nearly all the time now, God simply didn’t answer. But there was a lot for Shepard to answer for himself. One day, at judgment, he could ask for forgiveness, but he doubt it would come. Sometimes a man had gone too far, too long gone from redemption to ever come back.

On the table across from his Bible was a sawed off shotgun. After being ambushed by the bounty hunter, Early, he slept even more lightly. He woke at the slightest noise. Truth be told, he hadn’t slept right in a week. The events replayed in his head, thinking about how he could have done something differently to stop Early. His reflexes used to be better, must faster in a time when the ‘verse was more lawless and before he took the cloth.

The doctor walked in groggily, nearly stumbling over himself as he came into the room. His eyes were bloodshot red and clearly he hadn’t had much sleep either. Not for a long time based on the looks of it.

“Can’t sleep Doctor?”

“No, no I guess I can’t tonight Shepard”

Simon went into his locker and pulled out his cup. Filling it with water, he sat down across from Book. The doctor looked down into his cup, the water swirling around with his shaking hands. As always, he was quiet, and the rare instances in which he spoke were full of hesitation and remorse. For such an educated man, the doctor was decidedly undecided about nearly everything socially oriented.

“You seem like a man who is weary of being weary,” Book said quietly.

“I.. uh… don’t know how to save her, Book. I’ve tried everything I know.” Simon held himself back, tried to grasp for his last shreds of composure. It had been a long time since he had talked to anyone about anything remotely related to what he was thinking.

“Son, sometimes saving and not saving has very little to do with what we choose to do. Sometimes solutions are derived all by themselves, in their own time and by their own design.” “You want me to pray, Shepard? Is that it?” Simon edged on the fine line of sarcasm and utter exhaustion. His medical training had made him an atheist by nature. Everything in his whole life could be answered with numbers, with charts, by science. And it took one young girl, his sister, to take that facade and cause it to come crashing down.

Book looked up, his eyebrows crooked as he stared at Simon intently. He was young, still slightly arrogant and most of all confused. But there was real heart in the kid deep down in his center. The Shepard laughed to himself privately that he was much like the doctor in his younger years. Where would this kid be, he thought, if he didn’t have to take care of his sister?

“No, son. I don’t want you to pray. Prayers are just rejected scripts for dreams that never come true. I think God has a plan for you son. He saw something special in you and your sister.”

“It’s only special if she lives a normal life, Shepard…”

Book watched Simon rub both hands across his face and lean forward. He looked like he had aged 10 years in ten days. He got up and took the last swig from his mug. The girl liked him, the engineer. Book wondered if the good doctor had the good sense to like her back. Tam was bright enough to save a life, just not the social kind.

“Did you ever stop to think, that the only way she can live, is vicariously through you?”

As the Shepard walked out, he grabbed his Bible but forgot his shotgun.

“Through me?” Simon asked in a puzzled way.

Book stopped in his tracks. He didn’t turn around. Suddenly he did want to sleep. This late night talk with Simon set of a light bulb in his head. Or mostly it was just taking his own good advice that he was giving to the doctor.

“The Bible is clear about one thing for sure, Simon…”

“And that is?”

“Before we can save others, first we have to try to save ourselves.”

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The light blinked above her bunk. The small red light flashed over and over again. Kaylee shifted in her bed and looked up slowly. Then the fear washed over her as she realized what was happening. She and Wash had installed extra tripwire sensors on the outer airlocks after the first attack by Early. The lights meant that someone was trying to get into the ship. Or was already in the ship.

She leaped up out of bed when suddenly a hand grabbed her around the neck and forced her back down. There he was again. That face. The grinning white teeth that flashed out at her. Kaylee gasped as Jubal Early pushed her down farther against the bed with his knee.

“Remember what I said last time? Now I’m coming to give you what I promised you. And if you make any noise, I’ll kill you. Then again, it’s ok to make noises to let me know that you like it.”

Tears ran down her face. She wanted to scream but couldn’t. A knife hissed as it was unsheathed and started to cut away at Kaylee’s overalls. She lay flat, praying that Early would kill her first before he hurt her. She kept blinking, hoping to jolt from some horrible nightmare, knowing full well that she was already awake. .

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A scream rang out. It was loud and piercing. Shepard Book was almost to his bunk when the cry rang out. Simon was still in the galley as the shrill cries echoed all through Serenity.

“NNNNOOOOOO! NNNNNOOOOOOOO! NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

River Tam was bellowing at the top of her lungs. She was still asleep but was upright in her bed. Her arms flailed out as she thrashed and twisted until she tumbled out of the bed and banged her head against the ground.

Book ran across the hallway to River’s room and saw her sprawled out on the ground. She was unconscious on the ground with Simon’s medical kit spilled out all over the floor. It was knocked over from her flailing. Then Book saw the small red alert light flashing over her bunk. He looked around for a weapon to use, but the Tam’s room only had books and small trinkets for River. Then an adrenaline hypodermic rolled along the floor towards his feet. The Shepard grabbed it and ran instinctively towards the galley.

Kaylee watched Early flinch for a split second from the scream, then she drove her knee up into him. She caught him in the groin. He grunted in pain as she pushed his off of her. They tumbled over the side as Early fell on top of his knife. The blade pierced his shoulder as he tried to roll over. Kaylee grabbed the first thing she could find, a large flux capacitor and swung it hard. The blow smashed Early across the head. His head snapped back and he fell backwards. She dropped the capacitor and ran up the ladder into the hallway. She scrambled out and almost slipped when a hand grasped her arm. It was the Shepard, he pulled her up with all his strength as Early scrambled up and leaped at her feet. She slid though the entranceway to her bunk just in time as the bounty hunter swiped with his outstretched hand one more time.

Early screamed out as he clambered up the steps and drew his pistol. Then right outside the hatch, the Shepard swung the hypodermic with all his might. The needlepoint jammed itself into Early’s left eye. Blood squirted out as the bounty hunter screamed out in pain. He crawled out of the hatch and used his free arm to smash into the side of Book’s head. The Shepard collapsed to the ground, knocked out cold.

Kaylee ran towards the galley, she could hear Early behind her. He had incredible strength, he was still moving. Then shots rang out behind her. The bullets ricocheted and slammed into the metal grating around her feet. She dove into the entry hatch as another shot rang just past her head. She slammed into the ground and slid forward.

Early staggered forward. He couldn’t see that well. His reflexes were slow. Bits of vomit rose out of his throat and spilled out onto the ground. His pistol wavered back and forth, looking for that silly bitch that hit him across the head. Then the galley’s light shone brightly into his good eye. It was the doctor standing no more than 10 feet in front of him. The bounty hunter raised his pistol up.

“Doctor Tam,” he croaked out and blood came out of his mouth, “I surrender…”

Then he heard the faint echo in his bad ears. The old war injury forced him to often read lips, but this time all he could hear is ringing across his head The doctor was trying to say something.

Lion? Liar?

In the end, the shotgun in Simon Tam’s hands had the mightiest roar. And it spoke the truth six times until Jubal Early was laying facedown on the floor of the galley in a pool of his own blood.

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Simon dropped the smoking empty gun from his hands and it clattered on the ground. He had never shot anyone before. There were chunks of flesh and red space suit splattered everywhere. The bounty hunter had fallen forward and the force had driven the needle farther into his eye. Early’s left arm was completely gone, blown off by a shotgun blast.

The doctor stood there shell shocked as Kaylee’s mouth just gaped open. Then Early’s right arm moved up. He tilted his head forward and his one good eye gleamed. His right thumb clicked back the hammer to his pistol. His voice spat out the words along with bits of teeth and blood.

“One shot left, Doctor, you choose. Who dies? You or the pretty little grease monkey?”

Simon walked over slowly towards Kaylee, then pushed her behind him. He stood in front of her, shielding her with his body and glared at the bounty hunter with defiance.

Early grin suddenly disappeared as his hand twisted around. It was as if he was wrestling with himself to stop the movement. The bright glint in his good eyes was now gone. The muzzle of the pistol angled around and now was turning into his own mouth. He tried to speak, tried to say something. His finger twitched as it appeared as though it was a tug of war in his mind to stop involuntary actions by his muscles. The trigger tensed as the bounty hunter heard a voice in his head. There it was, in his head like a thousand screaming madmen in unison. The words spelled out clearly in his mind as if they were spelled with fire.

It was a girl’s voice.

I can kill you with my brain.

Early’s finger gave way, he could resist no longer. The shot rang out as the bullet passed through the image of the words in his head. The bounty hunter slumped forward, the back of his head blown open with a gaping wound.

Simon looked down the hallway as saw his sister, River, leaning against the bulkhead wall of the hallway. A small trickle of blood ran down her nose as she lurched forward and fell to her knees. Book crawled over to her and outstretched his arms to hold River up. The doctor was still numb, not realizing that Kaylee had pushed her way into his arms and put her head against his shoulder. She sobbed and shook as she grabbed onto him tight.

The Shepard pulled River up and looked at her. Her hair was tousled and her eyes were blank. He had seen the whole thing. And still couldn’t believe it.

“How? River. How?”

Then the young girl looked up at him ,spoke softly and smiled.

“My words... I spoke. And this time he heard.”

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(Two Days Later)

Zoë walked over to the table and brought the Shepard another cup of coffee. There was a fresh bandage on his head where he had been banged up. He had not spoken at all about what had happened. And from appearances, it didn’t look like he was going to anytime soon. Early’s body, or what was left of it, was jettisoned out into space. When Mal had come back on board, it was a grisly sight. Blood and carnage was everywhere on the ship. Jayne had kicked Early’s body twice to check if he was dead. Mal took no chances and put three more rounds in his crushed head to be sure.

Wash looked at his wife from across the room. He nodded slowly as Zoë squeezed Book’s shoulders with her hands and walked away. He needed to be left alone. There were some things, some scars that only time could heal. As the Shepard looked across the room, blankly against the wall, his dog-eared Bible was, for the first time in a long time, away from him, unread and tucked in his bunk. Early’s old words kept ringing in his head. It bothered him greatly to hear it, to hear the truth. He wasn’t a Shepard.

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River was on the hospital bed with a light blanket over her. She was sleeping soundly. Simon checked her again and again, but the injuries only looked like shock and small bump to the head. The doctor brushed her hair from her face. He looked at her for a long time. Then a hand rested on his shoulder.

He looked up and it was Kaylee. Her brown hair edged into his face, he could smell it. He could feel it. It was soft and the scent was like strawberries. She leaned up and looked at him with her round blue eyes. She was close, he could feel her breath.

“I’m not sophisticated. I know I’m not all perfect like, not like what you are used to. Don’t have much book learning in me. I know where you are from, you got pretty girls and nice fancy things. But don’t change how I feel none. What you did for me back then, he wanted to make you choose…” Her voice choked up. She looked away from Simon. No one had ever done anything for her like that. Not like that.

He resisted his first temptation to utter the first thing out of his mouth. He brushed his hand against her cheek and then held her. His arms wrapped around her waist. And for the first time in a long time, he felt the burden lift. He didn’t feel quite so alone in the universe anymore. The Shepard was right. Sometimes you don’t know how to save someone until you know how to save yourself first. His hand combed through her hair and then he leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“I choose you.”

River Tam turned her head slowly and opened her eyes. The doctor and Kaylee were oblivious that anyone was watching them. For the first time in a long time, she saw Simon smile. Suddenly without realizing it, she was smiling herself.

Simon leaned over, about to kiss Kaylee when he caught River out of the corner of his eyes. He turned his head and reached his hand over.

“River?”

Her eyes blinked as Simon pulled away from Kaylee. The engineer backed away for a second, her eyes glossy with tears. A glint of frustration sparkled in her eyes.

“She’s awake.” Simon said quickly. “ I should tell the others.” The doctor walked away, pausing for a second to rub his hand across Kaylee’s cheek. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, pulling her close for a second before walking out to the galley to tell the rest of the crew.

“Big boob” River said, “Shoulda kissed you”

Kaylee sighed softly and wrung her hands, “Well, that’s your brother for you. So charming, so clueless.”

Then River leaned over and looked Kaylee in the eye.

“He’s not my brother.”

THE END (Thanks for the read)