Shadow, Part 6b

The hunt is on.

Ip redirected some of his scanners toward the astonishing sight of a fleet of transport vessels. This was a spacewalk of wonders, indeed. The awesome sight of Shadow, stretched across the sky overhead, and the strange evidence of human activity within the embargo zone. As he looked through the viewfinder at the transport fleet, he saw a single vessel peel off from the swarm and fly solo—no he didn't. Must have imagined it, because he couldn't spot it now.

. . .

"Two by two, Hands of Blue," River said with a note of panic in her voice. "They took all the blue away and left only the yellow."

Jayne looked sharply at her. She still had a smile on her face, but it was the kind of smile that got stuck there when you forgot you were smiling and had other things on your mind. He recognized that "two by two" right enough. Girl was about to go crazy-time.

"Doc," Jayne said, "River needs to get back indoors. I'ma gonna take her in."

Neumann looked over at Jayne just as the Captain's voice sounded in their comms. "Everybody inside. We've got way too much company here."

Ip began to object. "A few more minutes, Captain, please."

Jayne shot a look at Neumann and prepared to remove him by force, if necessary. It weren't necessary. Instantly Mal was back on the comm. "No. Come inside. 马上 Mǎshàng." Neumann immediately obeyed. Again, Jayne was amazed at how Mal could do that. They couldn't even see the Look, but they both felt its power.

. . .

Mal couldn't explain it, but he had an uneasy feeling that had nothing to do with his proximity to Shadow and the ruins of his youth. Or rather, it did, but not in the same way. After this journey, he reckoned he was becoming a bit of an expert in uneasy feelings, and the nuances of this one were different. He felt like he was being hunted.

Before the spacewalkers were completely inside, Mal had done a wake scan, and the readings, while detecting nothing obvious, reminded him of the disturbances he had seen when Serenity was pursued by the stealth ship off the Lion's Mouth. He began to fly evasive maneuvers, cautiously, because sudden actions were just not feasible with the cargo of cattle. As soon as the spacewalking team was inside and divested of their suits, he called River to the bridge.

Her mode of arrival was all he needed to confirm the situation. "Giant came down and stole all the blue," she cried, as Jayne carried her to the bridge in his arms. "Little insect woke the sleeping Giant. Two by two, Hands of Blue…"

"I know they're there, Albatross," Mal said, turning in the co-pilot chair to look directly into her eyes. "You reckon you're able to fly our girl here?"

River was still whimpering, but she nodded. Mal stood and gestured for Jayne to set her down in the co-pilot chair. He stood directly behind the chair and placed his hands on her shoulders. He leaned down and spoke gently. "I'm counting on you to fly her gentle and smart."

River found the Captain's strength steadying. She needed the steady touch. Chaos lurked at the edges of her mind and threatened to overwhelm. Two by two…and the barbarians were at the gate! Tearing of teeth and claws! Savagery…she pulled back from the chaotic images, the incoherent screams, focus, focus…

"Focus, River," Mal said. "Focus on flying. Keep your mind with the ship."

"The invisible ship," River echoed. "Wonder woman."

Mal had no idea what she meant, but reckoned wonder woman would do better than mumblings about barbarians at the gate, so he gave her a reassuring pat and said, "Show us what wonder woman can do."

Zoe still sat the pilot's chair, in front of the wrecked console. A few pieces of equipment there were still working, among them the proximity scanner. "Sir, we got a bigger problem."

Mal glanced over. Zoe had put an image up on the wall monitor. It was a view of Serenity's wake. And there it was, menacing, approaching with speed, and streaming a trail of waste.

A Reaver ship.

"你他媽的天下所有的人都該死 Nǐ tāmādē tiānxià suǒyǒu de rén dōu gāisǐ!"

"哎呀, 我们 完了Āiyā wǒmen wán le!" Zoe added.

"Kaylee!" Mal called into the comm.

"Yes, Cap'n."

"Set us up for a hard burn. Anything you can do to get us an extra burst of speed—"

"I can set up the fusion injectors, Cap'n, it'll give us a boost, but it's like to burn out the Codippily relay—"

"Anything you can do, Kaylee," Mal interrupted. "We don't get a burst of speed soon, we're likely never to need the engine again." He heard Kaylee gasp as she fully grasped the seriousness of the situation. "Doc with you?"

"是啊 Shì a."

"Get him to help," Mal said, well aware of the kind of "help" Simon typically provided the mechanic, and making it clear with his voice that he needed the other kind. "Sooner would be better."

"Inara." Mal turned to her, the first sign he had given that he was even aware of her presence on the bridge. Inara suddenly knew that he had been aware of her all along, and saw that he was trying to tell her something more than what his words were saying. "Inara, the Reavers are on us, as well as a stealth ship." He looked deep into her eyes. "Please—prep the shuttle, take the civilians. If we're boarded by Reavers, make a run for it. Hera is near enough. There's a chance you could get away." His eyes expressed a thousand things there wasn't time to say.

"Who are the civilians, Mal?" Inara asked. It was a genuine question.

"Neumann and…" Mal stopped. Everyone else was crew. "Please, Inara…I want—" he put his hands on her shoulders as they stood facing each other. "You'd have a chance. I'd want you to have a chance, if I—. I…love you." He kissed her, deeply, passionately, briefly. "Please. Go."

"Jayne." The Captain had shifted modes instantly, and Jayne unfolded himself from where he'd been lurking in the corner of the bridge. "Weapons." Mal turned his attention back to River and the pilotage as Jayne sped off to collect and distribute weapons.

. . .

Inara and Neumann sat in her shuttle. Or rather, he sat uneasily, while she jumped up, sat down again in the pilot's seat, checked the settings, jumped up and paced anxiously, and directed tense glances at the screen showing the menacing progress of the Reaver ship. Neumann was babbling nervously about the instruments left out on the hull of Serenity, but she wasn't listening. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. He wasn't supposed to die. He's not supposed to die before me!

. . .

"They still behind us?" Jayne asked, as he handed Mal a semi-automatic and a spare clip, along with a couple of grenades, which Mal hooked onto the gun belt he was already wearing.

"Right behind us," Mal confirmed.

"They say, a stern chase is a long chase." Jayne had heard that said, somewhere. The thought was comforting, and he clung to it.

"Unless they're going faster than us."

"Right, 'less they're goin' faster."

"Which they are, Jayne," Mal returned, dashing his hopes. "This won't be a long chase."

All eyes were focused on the view of the Reaver ship on the wall monitor. Reaver ships always had an element to them that baffled the rational mind, not that the rational mind spent much time considering that element when the Reavers were within view. It was too busy being terrified. And that, of course, was the point. Why the torn hulls? Why the odd parts welded on asymmetrically? Why the red paint? It was all designed to terrorize, to scare the quarry into a fatal error. Why fly with no reactor containment? Anyone crazy enough to fly that way was crazy enough to try anything. The Reavers weren't the first attackers to recognize the value of terrorizing their prey. Terror was their first-line weapon.

It certainly worked on Jayne. "C'mon, River, you dumbass, dodge 'em."

"闭嘴 Bìzuǐ," Mal returned. "Can't do those maneuvers with cattle aboard."

"Steady—steady—steady—" River chanted softly, like a mantra.

"Then I hope Reavers like beefsteak." Jayne's mouth was running. It was how he covered his rising terror at the thought of bein' et alive. "That's our only chance."

"We're not flyin' like crazy people," Mal stated firmly. "That's the Reavers' line."

"They're gaining," Zoe called.

Mal checked the monitor again. The Reaver ship was larger, but—parts were missing? Parts were missing from the middle of the ship. It took him a moment to figure out what he was seeing—or rather, not seeing.

"We can't see, but we can," River said, and it made perfect sense to Mal. "We can see what isn't there." All the while she flew, not steady, but with a continuous series of small, minor adjustments.

Zoe looked puzzled and Jayne looked flummoxed. Jayne opened his mouth to say something about River going crazy again, but Mal shut him up with a look.

"Wonder woman's invisible airplane," River said, and Mal nodded. "It's our invisible shield." She was tracking Serenity's movements on the movements of the stealth ship, whose invisible shielding ironically made its outline against the backdrop of the Reaver ship perfectly clear. She kept the form of the stealth ship always between Serenity and the greater threat of the Reavers. The stealth ship, in its turn, was having trouble predicting the Reaver ship's course, clearly not having much experience at being stalked by an insane predator. It was hard to say if the Reavers knew the stealth ship was there, but it was likely interfering with the ability of their grapples to get a lock on Serenity, and Mal had to count that as a plus. Still, there wasn't much time.

"Who's wonder woman?" Jayne asked. "What the hell good's an invisible shield gonna do?"

"Kaylee," Mal called urgently into the comm. "Got that boost comin'?"

"Nearly there, Cap'n." Kaylee sounded out of breath. She was working as fast as she could.

"Reavers can't see the stealth ship," Zoe called out. "They're still gaining." There was a note of panic in her voice as the Reaver ship put on a burst of speed. "They're gonna ram—"

"Kaylee Kaylee Kaylee Kaylee," Mal yelled.

They all winced as they viewed the impact on the monitor. There was of course no sound of a crash as the Reaver ship collided full tilt with the invisible stealth ship—the now visible stealth ship. Serenity was not struck. The impact had jolted the stealth ship's shielding system out of alignment, and after blinking in and out of blackness a few times, the shielding failed and the ship remained visible.

"Ready," Kaylee gasped into the comm.

"Do it." Serenity shot off with a burst of speed, and the Reavers made no move to follow, choosing instead to chase the prey that had dropped out of the sky onto the nose of their ship.

. . .

Mal went to the shuttle to tell Inara—and Neumann, of course—that the danger was past. He entered without knocking, and smiled with relief at Inara. A second later they were enveloped in each other's arms, kissing with the passion born of being given a second chance at life. He hadn't even registered Neumann's presence until the young man's uncomfortable noises rose to a level that penetrated even in the midst of their passion. They broke apart.

The Captain grinned at Neumann. "We're out of the woods, Dr Ip."

"Great. I'm…great," Ip repeated. "I'll just, uh, see to the scientific instruments, then." He squeezed past the couple and dashed out the shuttle door.

"That's…good then," Mal replied, already gravitating back into Inara's arms. She had the presence of mind to shut the shuttle door. "Seems to me we had some unfinished business," he said huskily, and they hastened to resume where they had left off.

. . .

.

.

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glossary

马上 mǎshàng [Now]

你他媽的天下所有的人都該死 Nǐ tāmādē tiānxià suǒyǒu de rén dōu gāisǐ [F**k the whole damn 'Verse (translated in the show as F**k everyone in the universe to death)]

哎呀, 我们 完了Āiyā wǒmen wán le [We are in really big trouble (lit. Damn, we're finished/done for)]

是啊 Shì a[Affirmative]

闭嘴 Bìzuǐ [Shut up]

A/N: The End! Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought in a comment or review.