BLUE SUN ROOM FAN FICTION - HUMOR

TRANQUILITY

Cargo: Chapter 14
Tuesday, November 8, 2005

A wave of events slip into motion. A name for the boy, a suprise for River, and an ouchy for an old employer...


CATEGORY: FICTION    TIMES READ: 2423    RATING: 7    SERIES: FIREFLY

“Why aren’t you bending your arms?” Mal, Zoë, Jayne, River, and the boy where all piled on the mule zooming away from Serenity. The boy had not been bending his arms at all, and River noticed. “Thought you wouldn’t notice,” the boy whispered back, apparently not wanting to be heard by the rest of the crew. River looked at him skeptically. “Okay, fine. I knew it would have been unlikely, but-” “Why?” she persisted. She didn’t like not knowing things. Now it was his turn to look skeptical. “You can’t honestly think this job is going to go well,” he explained. “I just like to be ready.” River frowned. “How do you know that?” she asked. River knew very well that it most likely wasn’t going to go well. This was because it was their first badger job since they left him stranded in the desert in Persephone. River knew that the only reason Mal had taken it was to try and kill Badger, but he also knew he would need help. That was why he had brought River along. And the boy. And Jayne, but he always did that. The only difference was that he allowed Jayne to bring everything he wanted (After Mal told Jayne this, he was forced to punch his, as he made that sound again...). But how did the boy know this. He wasn’t a physic. “I only saw the captains dart board...” Oh. “Your arms are still not bending,” she noted, “are you nervous?” He looked at her in a “yeah right” smirk, and then extended his arm. She went to grab it, but quickly withdrew her hand when she felt cold metal under his sleeve. “Unlike you, I suck at hand to hand combat without any weapons...” River just nodded. He WAS good at hiding things though. What else... Suddenly, the hovercraft came to a halt. They had reached the town. After locking up the Mule, Mal directed them towards a run down building. Of course, in this town, it looked like a palace, but still run down. It was that kinda, oh, it looks ok feel, but... Right. After being patted over (River was amazed when the guards found nothing on all of them [boy winks]) they were allowed to enter. “’Ello Mal. Long time no see” Badger seemed too cheerful. “I was shocked to find tha you di’int bring any... threatening i’ems in here.” He had a look of almost lust in his eyes. Even though the boy couldn’t read minds, he knew there was an Alliance patrol standing right behind them. Well... this will be easy. With- “RIVER!?” the boy yelled as River collapsed. “Didn’t hear it...” There was a dart sticking out of the back of her neck, and a small robot coming in behind them. Damn! And now... “Put your hands in the air!” The Alliance patrol. Damn, they are good. “’Oos the new kid Mal?” Badger asked, enjoying this way too much. Jayne had actually been smart enough not to draw his still concealed gun. They were going to have to act soon. “Your worst nightmare...” Mal uttered. The boy looked at him. “What?” “Couldn’t you have come up with something a *little* bit better?” the boy asked. Seriously, that was way overused. “Ok, but it is time to-” and to prevent Mal from saying anything else horribly lame, the boy swung his arms forward, forcing out two long blades. He turned around and swatted the first guns out of the Alliance troops. Unfortunately, fighting really wasn’t his thing (well, not as much as River’s) and he accidentally nicked one of the troops’ grenades, which by some miracle fell of his belt with the pin undone. Shit. Mal saw it too, grabbed Jayne and Zoë, shot Badger in the head, kicked over his desk and dover behind it. The boy, However, was not so quick. He dove for River, but the unknowing Alliance troops started shooting. The boy took three shots before getting a shield up around himself and River. River was the only that mattered. She was the only one that could find it. He tried to pull her away, but there was too much gunfire. So tired, too tired. With a last desperate attempt, he threw himself over River. A second later, the grenade went off. *** The boy’s eyes opened. Everything was white. Too much light. Made everything seem bright. It was making him lose his... Wow he was stoned. “I can’t feel my feet...” he muttered. He knew very well that he wouldn’t be feeling feet ever again. There was no way that shield would’ve withheld the grenade. “There is a very good reason for that,” he heard Simon say. “The first one is simple. Because of the grenade blast- “My legs are blown off,” the boy finished for him, the reality hitting him. There was silence. “No, actually. I was going to say that because of the grenade blast, I had to dope you or else you would have woken up screaming in pain. Second, Mal is sitting on your feet.” The boy looked up, and saw Mal looking down, eyes widening, and jumping up. The boy glared at him. “How long have I been out?” he asked. He was very hungry. Simon checked his watch. Oh, just give me the amount of days, the boy thought, not wanting the exact answer. It would surely be more than “About 7 hours...” God Dammnit, why is it the first time he makes a truly heroic effort to save someone there isn’t some huge, depressing aftereffect besides him having REALLY bad pins&needles in his toes right now. He wanted attention! “Your lucky Zoë managed to shoot that grenade away in time,” Mal stated. Ah, now it made sense. “If she hadn’t the all of us would have been extra toasty.” Boy, that made him feel better. His blundering mistake almost got everyone killed. Speaking of... “River?” the boy asked. Would the Alliance kill her instantly? “She is still unconciouse,” Simon explained. “I don’t know what they hit her with, but she is stable for the moment. Just not waking up.” At least she was still alive. She was his last hope... AAAAH! LAME PHRASE-ATITUS. Mal was a very bad influence on him right now. *** The boy wondered around the ship, completely bored. The doc had given him the OK, and now there was nothing to do. River was still unconciouse, Simon was still trying to make River conscious, Mal was nagging Simon about making River conscious, Zoë was pestering Mal to stop nagging Simon to make River conscious, and Jayne was cleaning his rifle. Wow, excitement. The boy decided to do a little bit of figuring about just how many passengers Serenity had had. There wasn’t something right. How had they managed to get past so many Alliance stunts. But where to look. Where to look. *** “So, it must be interesting living with Mal all the time.” Inara blushed, and looked up at the boy. “It gets challenging at times, but my client base has grown. I had to leave at one point, but Serenity is my home. Plus, look what they got into while I was away!” She smiled a pretty smile, and the boy knew he had her. “So what other faces have you seen?” She seemed to think for r a brief moment, and then started to rattle off her clients. The boy could tell the times she had liked, as she would stop, sigh, smile at the boy, and continue. Finally she started rattling off some of the passengers Serenity had taken on. “There was one man who stayed the longest though. Shepherd Book. He was amazing. Very religeouse, even on this ship. He somehow still managed to get along with everyone though, including Jayne. Mal never did figure out what his story was.” There it was. A mysterious, nice man, who got along with everyone. And he had an unknown past. Must get more information. “So... what did this Shepherd do?” Inara looked suspicious for a second, but continued. “He seemed to be good at everything. Once, when he was hurt, he somehow got an Alliance cruiser to help him. Also, he shot up a couple people and broke the captain out of a horrible man’s torture chamber. There seemed to be no end to that man’s skill.” And there it was. “Did he weight train?” the boy asked, trying to confirm his suspicion. Inara nodded. “With Jayne mostly, but sometimes with Simon too.” Bingo. Something actually went right for him. That might mean- “What happened to him?” he asked. Inara looked down. “He left for a little while. Started his own little colony. But then, we went to Haven a while back, and we found it had been destroyed. He died shortly after we found him.” Haven! Holy shit, they had dodged a bullet. If he had actually... wow. “Well, it was nice talking to you,” the boy smiled. If only they still had some of that shepherds stuff... “The pleasure was mine,” Inara stated. “One question for you though...” Uh-oh. “Why? Why are you so close to River?” Don’t go there. Please. “Why?” she persisted. He felt himself beginning to shake. God dammnit woman, you had to ask at the worst time... “Them,” was all he muttered, then left. The answer was true enough. It was them. They did it to all of them. So many, so many thought they were safe... “Wait!” he heard Inara ask behind him. What the hell, he thought. When he turned around, he saw Inara looking rather sorry. “One more question.” He nodded. “What's your name?” It was true. He hadn’t told the crew his name yet. He didn’t see a reason. “Just call me Eis.” Wasn’t his real name. Was the boys name. The boy that went through it all. Not him. Naturally, Inara looked confused. “Ice?” she asked. He snickered. “I’m not that cold.” *** River still wasn’t awake. Dammnit, what had they done to her. It had been 3 days after Mal killed Badger and River was knocked out by an Alliance robot. Who woulda thought of that. Have an operative a long ways away operating the robot so River couldn’t see it coming, then fly the troops in on a ship right after. The boy had a headache (He still didn’t preferred to be called the newly appointed name, but at least they didn’t have to end their sentences short now). He suspected the pain came from the mental strain he had put on himself to protect River from that grenade blast. And the bullets. And Who knows what else they were shooting his direction. Simon had him stitched up from all the hits he had taken before he had gotten his shield up. Two bullets to his shoulder, one went right through his chest. Somehow, though, it had gone through without breaking anything up too badly. What a miracle that was. Even more amazing was the fact that River hadn’t gotten hit at all, besides the small dart. He guessed he had subconsciously made a shield around her after she had fallen. She was the last one. *********** “You need to get back here as soon as possible,” the voice said on the screen. Eis didn’t like it though. He wanted rest. He wanted Susan. “I miss her...” The head looked down. “So do I, but we can’t change that now. Listen, I know you will be happy here. It is safe. But if you stay on that ship-” A siren went off within the place on the screen. “Oh no.” Eis heard screaming. Too much screaming. All of them, they were dying. He knew that before he saw the purple. So many. Oh God. Oh God no. No. A girl went up to the camera. She looked in at him. He wanted to pull her into his ship. To save her. “Turn it off,” was all she whispered, before she sang too. He tried to reach over and ter off the screen, but he couldn't Too much red, too much purple. Then, one of the men walked up. His face reflected nothing, but still screamed. He smiled into the camera. “Come join us. We will help tear you up. You know its true.” He smiled. On any other man, it would have been a kind, understanding smile. But something about this person made it onto the most horrible image imaginable. “No...NO!” the boy punched the srceen, instantly blanking it out. The, after overriding auto pilot, he started heading towards the planet he was just debating about. As fast as the ship would go, he went into the atmosphere. He wanted to be with his own kind. All of the free ones. All of the dead ones. ************* River was finally awake. She couldn’t move, but she was awake. She wanted to be asleep again. But her eyes wouldn’t close. They were tired... of being closed. “Simon!?” River yelled. Simon came rushing down into the infirmary, getting used to the path. “Simon, I’m bored.” He looked at her, made a sound between a laugh and moan, and then hit himself on the head. “What do you want to do?” he asked, knowing the answer. “Fight,” she said, as Simon mouthed out the words. What was it with her and fighting, all of a sudden. “Someone to fight with,” River said, as if she was readi- right. “Someone who won’t lose... quickly.” She smiled. Just then Jayne walked in. “Hey Doc. Do you have anya that medical tape stuff on ya?” Simon looked at him. “Why would you need it?” he asked, almost not wanting to know. “Well, if I `member correct, the last time I put tha` stuff on my belly, and Mal went and ripped it off, took all the hair with it,” he explained. “And I just read tha` women like men who don’t have much hair on ner-” “You don’t have to finish that,” Simon interrupted him. “Could you please pass me my bag?” Jayne looked over at the many bags of plasma and blood, instead of the brown handbag at his feet. “Which one Doc. You got red ones, clear ones... Gorram blue ones! what the hell`r they for?” Simon sighed. Nothing with Jayne was simple- except maybe Jayne... “Just hand me the one with my stuff in it.” Jayne looked confused. “Dunno Doc... Don` seem to be any white ones `ere...” Simon walked over to Jayne, picked up his bag, walked back to River, opened it, forgot what he was going to do in the first place, and glared at Jayne. “Oh! you meant yer man-purse. Sorry Doc.” And he walked out of the room, two rolls of medical tape in hand.

typo in the title. No, this is not a continueation of 13.

COMMENTS

Tuesday, November 8, 2005 2:32 PM

INTOTHEBLACK


Dude, you killed off Badger. Somewhere, someone is crying.

Tuesday, November 8, 2005 2:56 PM

TRANQUILITY


... sorry. I thought he was gonna die anyway. And who knows... Daniel jackson lives man.

Wednesday, November 9, 2005 9:58 AM

TRANQUILITY


hate the school computers... logged in now!

Friday, November 11, 2005 8:18 AM

BELLONA


hey, thought i told you ^ to shut up? though i actually have a question. if you hate serenity so much, why are you on this site?

anyway, i LOVE this series...no matter what ANYONE *looks pointedly at farfenugen* says

b

Friday, November 11, 2005 11:07 AM

TRANQUILITY


Thx bellona
@Fargblemendudehimer- Never give a pissed geek an IP... THANKYOU!


POST YOUR COMMENTS

You must log in to post comments.

YOUR OPTIONS

OTHER FANFICS BY AUTHOR