Wings of Wax, Part IV
Jul. 10th, 2006 03:17 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
browncoatrebel.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
firefly_fanfic
Title: Wings of Wax, Part IV (working title)
Author: Sara![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
browncoatrebel
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Serenity is molting with interesting cargo onboard.
Part I: http://browncoatrebel.livejournal.com/5867.html
Part II: http://browncoatrebel.livejournal.com/6283.html
Part III: http://browncoatrebel.livejournal.com/7268.html
Gold stars and much love to anyone who can identify the slightly modified Profiler quote.
River managed to stabilize Serenity’s descent and set her down at the Houzi Docks. Zoe tended to Wash as he came to, while Simon checked to make sure the heart and lungs were intact.
Mal came stumbling onto the bridge, holding his head. “Somebody land my boat, or did I die and go to hell?”
“Either way, the paint job sucks,” Wash said.
“Grounded, heart still beating, arm torn off like Grendel,” River said. “O Captain, my Captain.”
“Grounded’s right.” Kaylee came in behind Mal. “We try takin’ off ‘fore she’s all fixed, we ain’t gonna live too long. Gonna need a lotta repairs, poor girl.”
“Best you go findin’ supplies, then,” Mal said. “Take ‘Nara with you. Don’t want any of y’all goin’ out alone, world like this.” He tossed Kaylee a small bag of money.
“I was planning to stay aboard Serenity,” Inara said, shooting Mal a look.
“Nobody goes out alone, ‘cept maybe you. Makes good sense, you escortin’ little Kaylee.”
Inara said nothing; she knew Mal was right, and she was irritated that her avoidance of conflict on Sihnon was exacerbating the conflict on Serenity.
“I’m gonna go check on the doc. Zoe and Jayne, you two’ll be with me.” He started to leave, then turned back to face River. “You stay on the boat.”
She nodded. “Grounded.”
“Right.” Mal stalked off to the infirmary. “How’re the innards, Doc?”
“Lungs are fine. Heart’s a bit bruised, but it’s hardly noticeable.” Simon didn’t look up from the organs.
“Good. Mind you keep ‘em workin’ right. Folks tend to get a mite angry when you deprive ‘em of their lives and tell ‘em beforehand.”
Inara and Kaylee walked side by side down the streets of Sihnon. Inara wasn’t very familiar with this part of the world; it was a less classy neighborhood than she was accustomed to. Furthermore, she knew nothing about buying salvaged parts for spacecraft.
“Look for a junkyard,” Kaylee said. “We need lots of sheet metal.”
“Metal. Got it. I’ll keep an eye out.”
Mal, Zoe, and Jayne found the establishment where they were to meet with the buyer. It was a disreputable-looking bar, not much different than most of the places where they met buyers.
“You always take me to the nicest places.” Zoe ducked to avoid being hit by a flying sake bottle.
“I read it in a book: How to Impress Womenfolk.”
“Really?” Jayne grunted. “What chapter ya on?”
“Preface.”
Two men slid into empty seats at the table. One was past 50, thin and sickly-looking; the other was Jayne’s age, well-dressed and soft-skinned.
“Mr. Reynolds, I presume?” the younger man said.
Mal nodded.
“I’m Quincy,” he said. “This is Jack Wilson.”
Mal nodded again. “I understand you might be lookin’ to buy some goods I got possession of.”
“That’s right,” Quincy said.
“It’s important,” Wilson wheezed, “they’re in pristine condition.”
“Guaranteed,” Mal said. “Assuming you got my 600 platinum.”
Zoe made a point of looking unsurprised.
“The agreed-upon price was 525,” Quincy said.
“Price quoted to me was 560,” Mal said. “Ran into some complications on the way, near didn’t make it at all. Reckon we’re entitled to a little extra compensation.”
Jayne took a swig of beer. Zoe watched coolly, cutting her eyes between her captain and the buyers.
“We agreed on 525,” Quincy repeated.
Wilson tapped his shoulder and whispered in his ear.
“We can do 575,” Quincy said. “No more.”
Mal leaned back in his chair and paused for several moments. “Well, we’ll be takin’ a loss, countin’ all the damage to my ship, but I s’pose we can do it.”
“Fine. We’ll meet you at the waterfront, dock 19, tonight at ten.”
“You’ll have the money,” Zoe said, not asking a question.
“If you have the goods.”
“Good. Done.” Mal stood up, and Jayne and Zoe followed his lead. They walked about 500 feet without speaking.
“You’re not gonna sell them to him, are you, sir?” Zoe said.
“Why the gorram hell not?” Jayne growled. “Got 50 plat more outta him than we was s’posed to.”
“’Cause he’s got a lot of blood on his hands,” Zoe said.
“Somethin’ I oughtta be knowin’ ‘bout this gentleman, Zoe?”
“Oughtta remember him from the Valley, sir. He ran the DP camp, and word is he was in charge of the Zyklon-D experiments too.” Zoe’s expression was unreadable. “Went by a different name back then. Major General Haskins.”
Mal frowned for a minute before a look of recognition crossed his face. “Hun dan sure aged quick.”
“They say Zyklon-D does that to a man.”
“Wait, we’re gonna sell them innards to a gorram purplebelly?” Jayne said. “Hell, Mal, that’s like savin’ his life or somethin’!”
Mal just kept walking.
When they arrived back at the ship, Book was helping Kaylee rivet sheet metal onto the framework of what had been Serenity’s starboard wing. They were both sweaty, hands and faces streaked with grease and dust.
“Kaylee, how soon can you get us in the air?”
“Not for two or three days, Cap’n. Look at her.” Kaylee gestured at the damage to the hull. “She’s a wreck, poor girl.”
“Don’t got that long.” Mal hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “Gotta be off this rock ASAP.” Without explanation, he stalked onto the ship. Kaylee and Book followed him into the dining area, where Wash and Simon were sitting.
“We ain’t doin’ the job?” Kaylee asked.
Simon snapped his head up but managed to keep his mouth shut. He looked up at Mal. Everyone in the room was watching him.
“We ain’t doin’ the job,” Mal said, crossing his arms. “Buyer’s a purplebelly. Killed more of my men than any other.”
“Refusing to give this man the organs is tantamount to murder,” Shepherd Book said.
“Didn’t hear you moralizin’ ‘bout the man likely got killed to get those organs, Preacher.”
“Man was already dead; nothing I could do to change that. But we can prevent another man’s death.”
“He’s a gorram purplebelly.”
“He took a lot of sacred lives, Shepherd,” Zoe said. “Led the experiments with Zyklon-D.”
“Zyklon-D?” Simon gaped. “It killed 7 million people during the war. It was first used on Shadow, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, Shadow.” Mal jammed his hands deep into his pockets. “Let him die.”
“We need the money.” Kaylee studied the floor as she spoke. “Repairs don’t come cheap, ya know, and she got tore up real bad this time. Spent all I had on her.”
“Men change,” Book said again. “It’s been a while since the war. Likely he’s a different man now than he was when you knew him.”
Zoe crossed her arms. “Men like that don’t change, Shepherd.”
Shepherd Book bowed his head. “But for the grace of God, there go I,” he murmured.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” River traced an infinity sign on the tabletop. “And all the days of his life were sixty-four years, and he begat no sons.”
“What is it, River?” Kaylee asked.
“He’s going to die,” Simon said.
River spoke softly, and everyone leaned forward to hear her. “His secrets are eating him up from inside.” She looked into Shepherd Book’s eyes. “Confession is good for the soul.”
“Long-term exposure to Zyklon-D wreaks havoc on the body,” Simon said. “We started seeing it at the hospital about six months before I left. It alters the structure of DNA. Once the heart and lungs start to fail, it’s only a matter of time. A transplant may slow the progression, but there’s no cure.”
“How long, after the transplant?”
“Two years, maybe three.”
There was a long lapse of silence, and everyone but River made a point of looking down at the tabletop. River looked into each face in turn.
Mal lifted his head. “Guess I can live with that.”
As Serenity lifted off after delivering the organs and making repairs, Wash and Kaylee both held their breath, and Zoe watched the gauges on Wash’s console. Inara watched Sihnon drop away outside the window. Mal counted the money, and Jayne waited for his cut. Simon wondered whether to feel vindicated or ashamed, while Book kept silent vigil in his bunk. River slept soundly in her narrow bed.
Author: Sara
browncoatrebelFandom: Firefly
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Serenity is molting with interesting cargo onboard.
Part I: http://browncoatrebel.livejournal.com/5867.html
Part II: http://browncoatrebel.livejournal.com/6283.html
Part III: http://browncoatrebel.livejournal.com/7268.html
Gold stars and much love to anyone who can identify the slightly modified Profiler quote.
River managed to stabilize Serenity’s descent and set her down at the Houzi Docks. Zoe tended to Wash as he came to, while Simon checked to make sure the heart and lungs were intact.
Mal came stumbling onto the bridge, holding his head. “Somebody land my boat, or did I die and go to hell?”
“Either way, the paint job sucks,” Wash said.
“Grounded, heart still beating, arm torn off like Grendel,” River said. “O Captain, my Captain.”
“Grounded’s right.” Kaylee came in behind Mal. “We try takin’ off ‘fore she’s all fixed, we ain’t gonna live too long. Gonna need a lotta repairs, poor girl.”
“Best you go findin’ supplies, then,” Mal said. “Take ‘Nara with you. Don’t want any of y’all goin’ out alone, world like this.” He tossed Kaylee a small bag of money.
“I was planning to stay aboard Serenity,” Inara said, shooting Mal a look.
“Nobody goes out alone, ‘cept maybe you. Makes good sense, you escortin’ little Kaylee.”
Inara said nothing; she knew Mal was right, and she was irritated that her avoidance of conflict on Sihnon was exacerbating the conflict on Serenity.
“I’m gonna go check on the doc. Zoe and Jayne, you two’ll be with me.” He started to leave, then turned back to face River. “You stay on the boat.”
She nodded. “Grounded.”
“Right.” Mal stalked off to the infirmary. “How’re the innards, Doc?”
“Lungs are fine. Heart’s a bit bruised, but it’s hardly noticeable.” Simon didn’t look up from the organs.
“Good. Mind you keep ‘em workin’ right. Folks tend to get a mite angry when you deprive ‘em of their lives and tell ‘em beforehand.”
Inara and Kaylee walked side by side down the streets of Sihnon. Inara wasn’t very familiar with this part of the world; it was a less classy neighborhood than she was accustomed to. Furthermore, she knew nothing about buying salvaged parts for spacecraft.
“Look for a junkyard,” Kaylee said. “We need lots of sheet metal.”
“Metal. Got it. I’ll keep an eye out.”
Mal, Zoe, and Jayne found the establishment where they were to meet with the buyer. It was a disreputable-looking bar, not much different than most of the places where they met buyers.
“You always take me to the nicest places.” Zoe ducked to avoid being hit by a flying sake bottle.
“I read it in a book: How to Impress Womenfolk.”
“Really?” Jayne grunted. “What chapter ya on?”
“Preface.”
Two men slid into empty seats at the table. One was past 50, thin and sickly-looking; the other was Jayne’s age, well-dressed and soft-skinned.
“Mr. Reynolds, I presume?” the younger man said.
Mal nodded.
“I’m Quincy,” he said. “This is Jack Wilson.”
Mal nodded again. “I understand you might be lookin’ to buy some goods I got possession of.”
“That’s right,” Quincy said.
“It’s important,” Wilson wheezed, “they’re in pristine condition.”
“Guaranteed,” Mal said. “Assuming you got my 600 platinum.”
Zoe made a point of looking unsurprised.
“The agreed-upon price was 525,” Quincy said.
“Price quoted to me was 560,” Mal said. “Ran into some complications on the way, near didn’t make it at all. Reckon we’re entitled to a little extra compensation.”
Jayne took a swig of beer. Zoe watched coolly, cutting her eyes between her captain and the buyers.
“We agreed on 525,” Quincy repeated.
Wilson tapped his shoulder and whispered in his ear.
“We can do 575,” Quincy said. “No more.”
Mal leaned back in his chair and paused for several moments. “Well, we’ll be takin’ a loss, countin’ all the damage to my ship, but I s’pose we can do it.”
“Fine. We’ll meet you at the waterfront, dock 19, tonight at ten.”
“You’ll have the money,” Zoe said, not asking a question.
“If you have the goods.”
“Good. Done.” Mal stood up, and Jayne and Zoe followed his lead. They walked about 500 feet without speaking.
“You’re not gonna sell them to him, are you, sir?” Zoe said.
“Why the gorram hell not?” Jayne growled. “Got 50 plat more outta him than we was s’posed to.”
“’Cause he’s got a lot of blood on his hands,” Zoe said.
“Somethin’ I oughtta be knowin’ ‘bout this gentleman, Zoe?”
“Oughtta remember him from the Valley, sir. He ran the DP camp, and word is he was in charge of the Zyklon-D experiments too.” Zoe’s expression was unreadable. “Went by a different name back then. Major General Haskins.”
Mal frowned for a minute before a look of recognition crossed his face. “Hun dan sure aged quick.”
“They say Zyklon-D does that to a man.”
“Wait, we’re gonna sell them innards to a gorram purplebelly?” Jayne said. “Hell, Mal, that’s like savin’ his life or somethin’!”
Mal just kept walking.
When they arrived back at the ship, Book was helping Kaylee rivet sheet metal onto the framework of what had been Serenity’s starboard wing. They were both sweaty, hands and faces streaked with grease and dust.
“Kaylee, how soon can you get us in the air?”
“Not for two or three days, Cap’n. Look at her.” Kaylee gestured at the damage to the hull. “She’s a wreck, poor girl.”
“Don’t got that long.” Mal hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “Gotta be off this rock ASAP.” Without explanation, he stalked onto the ship. Kaylee and Book followed him into the dining area, where Wash and Simon were sitting.
“We ain’t doin’ the job?” Kaylee asked.
Simon snapped his head up but managed to keep his mouth shut. He looked up at Mal. Everyone in the room was watching him.
“We ain’t doin’ the job,” Mal said, crossing his arms. “Buyer’s a purplebelly. Killed more of my men than any other.”
“Refusing to give this man the organs is tantamount to murder,” Shepherd Book said.
“Didn’t hear you moralizin’ ‘bout the man likely got killed to get those organs, Preacher.”
“Man was already dead; nothing I could do to change that. But we can prevent another man’s death.”
“He’s a gorram purplebelly.”
“He took a lot of sacred lives, Shepherd,” Zoe said. “Led the experiments with Zyklon-D.”
“Zyklon-D?” Simon gaped. “It killed 7 million people during the war. It was first used on Shadow, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, Shadow.” Mal jammed his hands deep into his pockets. “Let him die.”
“We need the money.” Kaylee studied the floor as she spoke. “Repairs don’t come cheap, ya know, and she got tore up real bad this time. Spent all I had on her.”
“Men change,” Book said again. “It’s been a while since the war. Likely he’s a different man now than he was when you knew him.”
Zoe crossed her arms. “Men like that don’t change, Shepherd.”
Shepherd Book bowed his head. “But for the grace of God, there go I,” he murmured.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” River traced an infinity sign on the tabletop. “And all the days of his life were sixty-four years, and he begat no sons.”
“What is it, River?” Kaylee asked.
“He’s going to die,” Simon said.
River spoke softly, and everyone leaned forward to hear her. “His secrets are eating him up from inside.” She looked into Shepherd Book’s eyes. “Confession is good for the soul.”
“Long-term exposure to Zyklon-D wreaks havoc on the body,” Simon said. “We started seeing it at the hospital about six months before I left. It alters the structure of DNA. Once the heart and lungs start to fail, it’s only a matter of time. A transplant may slow the progression, but there’s no cure.”
“How long, after the transplant?”
“Two years, maybe three.”
There was a long lapse of silence, and everyone but River made a point of looking down at the tabletop. River looked into each face in turn.
Mal lifted his head. “Guess I can live with that.”
As Serenity lifted off after delivering the organs and making repairs, Wash and Kaylee both held their breath, and Zoe watched the gauges on Wash’s console. Inara watched Sihnon drop away outside the window. Mal counted the money, and Jayne waited for his cut. Simon wondered whether to feel vindicated or ashamed, while Book kept silent vigil in his bunk. River slept soundly in her narrow bed.