Purity Loses

Kaylee walked softly to Serenity’s newly remodeled medical facility. A first-rate job had been done on the refit. The neural 3D scanner and full-body diagnostic scanners were all virtual and worked from a simple-looking overhead pod. Computer power was increased twenty-fold and they had the latest pharma-lab and surgical equipment as well as the nano-bot fabricator that only the best research hospitals were able to acquire. There were not too many medical facilities anywhere in the Alliance better equipped than Serenity. When Kaylee walked into the expanded room she saw River lying peacefully on a bed. She looked around and heard Simon, crying softly in a corner of the room. Immediately her heart broke and Kaylee went to him. Simon looked at her approach with bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks. The juxtaposition of such human emotion among all the sterile equipment only amplified the distraught doctor’s pain. Kaylee said softly, “Simon what’s wrong?” “I don’t know what to do Kaylee,” he got out. “I have tried so hard and still nothing I do works.” “Hey, hey,” Kaylee took his face in her hands, “Simon I know if anyone can help River it’s you. Sometimes you just gotta step back and look at things from a different angle. You’ll see after you get some rest.” Simon turned his eyes to River and his tears streamed again, “She was such a happy little girl. Now she’s become someone’s science experiment. All she wanted was to go to school, learn and be happy. She was so innocent Kaylee and they butchered her brain…” Simon completely broke down and Kaylee pulled him close. She did not want him to see her own tears welling up now. Through her thin t-shirt Kaylee could feel Simon shaking as he sobbed loudly for his sister. She stroked his hair and held him. It was all she could do.

Ian was in the medlab standing next to a computer terminal staring at the screen. He was tired and troubled and not actually studying the data that scrolled before him, rather he was thinking about other things. River lay on the table breathing calmly seemingly in a peaceful slumber. Ian looked at her and wondered what she had felt. Then, his heart sank at the thought of her dying or not coming out of the coma. His life of peaceful prayer had run into a roadblock of titanic proportions. The talents which were so ingrained into his mind and body from his youth, the very talents he was trying to forget, had come back to him so easily. Doubt gnawed at his inner soul eating away at his confidence to find a life free from the killing and butchery he was taught. Ian rubbed his forehead and let his shoulders sag. Inara’s soft voice wafted through the air like the scent of flowers, “Ian I think it’s time you and I talked.” Ian lifted his head and noticed how much more radiant she looked, “Are you sure? I am afraid that too much has passed since we met that…” “Don’t say it,” Inara seated herself across from him on a stool, “I hope you understand that I had to tell the captain everything. I don’t feel right withholding information from Malcolm.” “I know,” Malcolm shook his head then looked at River, “In a way Inara River and I are so much alike. The tampering with her brain took only a few years. For twenty-two years they tampered with mine. I was so young Inara…” Inara could feel the pain in his voice but said nothing. One thing she did not come to do was relive the past. There was a time when she would have run off with Ian without hesitation and Inara knew those feelings were only held under a thin veneer of rationality. “Ian what is wrong with her,” Inara asked, wanting to change the path of the conversation. Ian breathed deeply, “I am not entirely sure. Because River has no amygdale, her emotional control is nonexistent. This, combined with her telepathy, lets her feel nearly all emotions at once. She feels her own and everyone around her with no ability to suppress or control it.” “What caused her coma?” “I am still unsure, but I am fairly certain it was a single, powerful event. My guess would be that ship out there.” Inara glided to River’s side and softly stroked her hair, “Will she come out of it?” Ian looked away, “I can’t tell. Simon isn’t sure either. It could be in the next few minutes or it may be years. I just…just don’t know.” Inara looked up at Ian and noticed the exhaustion in his face. There was not youthful energy in his eyes, no smile and his limbs seemed heavy. He leaned back in the chair and seemed to shrink somewhat. “I can feel it you know,” Ian said with a dejected voice, “it’s like a bad taste that will not go away.” Inara turned, “What are you talking about Ian?” “Their fear, their distrust,” he said softly, looking downwards, “it has always been like that with me. Everyone has doubts about me and fear of me. Even my instructors and trainers feared me; everyone but you Inara. It was never like that with you. That’s why our time together, all those years ago, was so precious. I tried everything I could to keep that memory untainted. Fate it would seem, is working against me.” Inara paused at the door, “Ian those times will live with me forever, unstained. Nothing in the verse can change that. Not even you.” Ian smiled although Inara turned away too quickly to see it. He felt a sudden exhaustion come over his body and his eyes began to close. Leaning back in the chair, he went softly into a warm dream. River opened her eyes and smiled at him as her feet touched the floor.

“We can’t just leave him out here..Jayne,” Kaylee pleaded. Jayne looked at her intensely, “Look, ya’ll may have gotten over his wiping out a reaver ship, but I sure haven’t. We could be next Kaylee and I don’t think we could stop ‘im. Am I right Zoe?” Zoe was clearly uncomfortable and scowled at the deck of the cargo bay, “No Jayne I don’t think we could even slow him down none. Capn’ and I had a once-over of the reaver ship. Kaylee it was like he did some kinda surgery over there. It was bad…worse than anything I ever seen in the war.” Kaylee put her hands on the back of her hips, “Well what does the capn’ say about all these plots and such? He agreeing with ya Jayne? Cause I know we couldn’t leave you behind, no way, no how!” “Shi,” spat Jayne, “Mal knows we are in trouble here. You seen him before, botha’ ya. He’s sometimes too zhu tou for his own good. Cao! We are out in the middle of nowhere and aint nobody gonna help us if Ian tries to take control of this ship. And we don’t even know what the hell that thing is we’re headin’ to. We should take the money he paid us and get outta here. NOW, before it’s too late!” “I just don’t know,” Zoe put her hand to her chin, “just don’t seem right killin’ a man like that. I don’t care what the circumstances are. And I don’t like doing anything behind the captain’s back…period.” “Look I don’t need nobody’s permission to save my own hide,” Jayne was excited now and animated. “Now whose hide needs savin’ exactly,” came Malcolm’s voice from the top of the walkway overlooking the cargo bay. All three heads whipped around immediately as Mal came down the stairs. “Uhhh no one Mal,” Jayne nervously gave back, “we was just talking about possibilities…weren’t we.” “Pi hua,” Mal roared angrily, “what you are talking about Jayne is a most cowardly thing I have heard come outtta your mouth since you been on this boat. I mean sabotaging a man’s spacesuit? Well that’s totally ji bai!” Jayne’s jaw was tense as Mal walked to him, “Look Mal, we are in some serious shit here. I have a real bad feeling about this whole thing. This guy comes on board rainin’ money on us, then we find out he’s some kinda hired killer and takes out a whole gorram reaver ship. I think…” “No Jayne,” Mal cut him off, “you rarely ever do. Never forget whose ship you are on. I decide who goes out the airlock and who stays and who goes on this boat.” “Do you now,” Jayne spat back, “was that before or after mister Ian disarmed you and Zoe in the blink of an eye? I know how good the both of yas are. I mean, put the pieces together Mal. He could kill all of us with out so much as breakin’ uh sweat!” “Yah Jayne,” Malcolm was in Jayne’s face now, “he could have. But he didn’t. Why would he hire us in the first place is the question we all should be askin’. You think he can’t fly? Did you happen to glance at that ship that dropped him off? His people obviously have resources. Why us? Why this little ship?” Kaylee stared at Malcolm now, “You think there is more he’s not telling us?” Malcolm walked back to a cargo crate and sat, “I’m most certain of that. What we have to decide is what is it he aint tellin’ us and why is that so important. Inara seems to trust him, but…” Zoe added, “You think he’s playn her sir?” “Could be he is. I don’t know at this juncture.” “All the more reason to space him,” Jayne added, “and get the hell out of here with our money!” Malcolm scowled at Jayne, “And you don’t think his people will come lookin’ for all that money when we disappear? For all we know these people could make Neshka look like a piss ant. Right now we play it his way and keep all our eyes open.” “This is as bad as a cho yade,” Jayne muttered. Zoe ignored the obscenity and asked, “Mal we still have no defense against him taking the ship. I mean what could we do to stop him?” “Space em,” Jayne interhected. “Sha gua,” Mal said loudly, “would you stop with that?!” “I think…” Mal cut off Jayne’s comment with a scowl and a wave of his hand then turned to Kaylee, “Kaylee, could you rig up something to kill the engines on command?” “Sure I could do that captain, but if he knows about enough he could probably get around it.” Mal smiled thinly, “No I mean kill the engine where they can’t be fixed. Could you do that?” Kaylee looked startled, “Yeah I guess I could.” “Good, now let’s break up this town meetin’ before anyone gets wind,” Malcolm said. Zoe and Jayne turned and walked away. Kaylee felt her arm being held when the two were at the top of the stairs. She turned and looked at Mal. “Kaylee,” he spoke softly and quickly, “I want you to rig the central computer to kill the engines if no more than three people are left on the ship. Can the environ sensors pick up our pulses?” “Yeah but it’ll need some medical info to pick us out,” Kaylee whispered. “No need,” Mal said, “iffen he thinks to take us out, I want the ship dead in the water if no more than three of us are left alive.” “Aye capn’” Kaylee was nervous now. “And Kaylee,” Malcolm added, “don’t mention this to anyone, hear?” “Sure,” Kaylee bit her knuckle, “Sure captain.”

Jayne lay in his bunk, looking at the nude women he put back on his wall. The thought of Ian being beyond his control angered him to his core. Without thinking, his hand drifted to his pistol and the cold metal gave him confidence. Jayne just knew Mal was wrong on this call. Over the past three days, Jayne’s nervousness turned to near hysteria and he found it hard to maintain control. Why was Mal doing this, he thought. What’s the point? Should I space em all and take all the money for myself? Jayne’s mind sifted the possibilities with the short-sighted precision that only his intellect could muster. Frustrated, Jayne slammed his hand on the unkept bed and sat up quickly. What he saw made his heart stop. “It’ll all be ok Jayne,” River smiled, “I’ have seen it. The voices have stopped and we will be ok.” Wide-eyed Jayne yelled, “MALLLL, DOC! Better get in here!” His startled eyes followed River’s lithe form up his room ladder to the hallway.

The Lazarus Effect

River was sitting at the table eating an orange, smiling widely. Simon burst in at the same time Wash did, followed closely by Zoe and Book. “Good Lord,” Book gasped, “child you are back with us!” Simon knelt and took River’s hands in his, “River, are you ok? How do you feel?” River smiled at her brother, “Simon, the voices are gone. There’s only one in my head now. It’s a sweet voice too and soothing, like spring grass in the fields behind the house. Remember?” “Yes River, I remember. Do you know whose voice it is? Who is talking to you?” Ian and Malcolm joined the rest of the crew. River smiled at Ian, “They have been waiting for you Ian. The old one sings to me and says he can’t hear your voice as easily.” “River is someone communicating with you,” Simon asked, “Who’s talking to you sweetie?” Mal interjected, “River you need to tell us if this has anything to do with that big thing out there.” River ate another slice of orange and swallowed, “Fifty billion years Captain. That’s how long he’s been out, drifting from verse to verse. When he told me stories, I could feel the loneliness in his voice. I told him all your names. He’s agreed to let us in.” Mal looked at Ian, then to Simon, “Are you sayn’ that you’ve been talkin’ to someone on that object?” River stood and put her hand on Mal’s face, “It’s a ship captain. A ship built long ago, before humans even existed. Now it’s here, looking for something or someone. I think it’s Ian.” Simon spoke softly after a few seconds, “Captain, River I need you to come back to medlab so I can check you over.” “But I’m fine Simon,” River said. Simon smiled and grabbed her hand, “I know, I know, but it will make me feel much better if I can run some scans on you. You know how I am.” Inara walked up, “Come on honey, I’ll walk with you back to the med lab. I want you to tell me all the stories you can remember.” River went with Inara for a few steps then turned. She looked at Ian and said earnestly, “I really envy you Ian.” All eyes focused on Ian’s confused face as Kaylee joined Inara, Simon and River on the way back to the medical lab. Everyone stood around wrapped in their individual thoughts. Only a warning ping from the helm brought them back. Wash sprinted up the stairs to the console with Reynolds close on his heels. “What’s up with that noise Wash,” Mal asked calmly. Wash quickly scanned his instrumentation and confusion took hold, “Captain the sensors are registering a gravitational disturbance right in…” The remainder of the sentence never escaped Wash’s mouth. Their entire existence seemed to skip forward in time as if someone flashed a new slide. Without any visual or measurable disturbance Wash and his crewmates found themselves looking out a window that was completely filled with the enormous ship they’d been hired to find. Ian stepped quickly to the navigational computer, “Captain Reynolds, we’ve just jumped forward 120 light years from where we were a moment ago.” “Whoooaaaa,” Wash exclaimed, “How’d that happen? We can’t go that fast!” “I think we were brought, “Ian said softly. Malcolm looked at the soft darkness of the hull filling his view port. To his left and right the ship went on as far as he could see. I was as if they were orbiting a planet of colossal proportions. Book said what everyone was thinking, “This is in credible! What kind of civilization would have this level of technology? We’d be like…children.” “Can you tell how far we are from the hull plates of that thing,” Mal asked Wash. Looking at a readout Wash declared, “Well we seem to be able to read it on our sensors now. Looks like…46 million kilometers. Still a good ways away Captain. What do we do now?” Mal was leaning against the front view ports and straining to look upwards, “Well Wash, I’m not exactly sure what to do next. Alls I know is …I’d hate to have to clean her hull.”