3. Tortuga
Tortuga
Firefly
FR-T
Mal Reynolds watched with a grim expression as the tiny dot grew in the centre of Serenity's main screen. "Tortuga," he said.
Zoe nodded. "The meanest den of filth I ever set eyes on and never wanted to set foot on again. Remind me why we're going there now?"
"Because the O2 levels on this ship would barely keep a mouse alive and there's nowhere else we can reach?" Wash suggested.
"And remind me why we're going there? Seriously, sweetie; there are worse fates than asphyxiation."
"We'll be all right, though? The Captain has his friends there and they're actually going to kill us, aren't they?" he realised.
Mal shrugged. "Happen as they might have a less rosy recollection of the old days than I have," he admitted. "As I remember it though, weren't me that started it."
"It never is," Zoe noted. "Not as you remember it."
"We ain't here to debate my shortcomings as a material witness," Mal reminded her. "We're here for air scrubbers and to get minimal automatics back online. Jayne..."
"Oh, I know what I'm here for," Jayne leered.
Mal turned to face the big fighter. "You're here to keep an eye on Kaylee while she gets the parts we need," he said firmly. "No sightseeing, no drinking and no whoring. We leave when we're ready; you ain't with us, we leave you behind."
"Make that sound like a bad thing," Jayne grunted.
"You planning on taking all your guns with you?"
"Gorrammit! You wouldn't!"
"Ain't waiting, ain't stopping to unload. Get in, get the parts and get out, and whatever you do, don't mention my name to anybody. Anyone asks, Zoe's the captain of this boat and I'm a leper named Ted."
Zoe chuckled. "I knew my day would come."
Jayne looked confused. "Why Ted?"
"Because Ted ain't a name I ever used before," Mal replied.
Ahead, Tortuga loomed larger, a mass of gantries and prefabricated units sprawling out from a huge, twisted mass of broken spaceship hull.
"Kinda... eerie, ain't it," Jayne observed.
"The ISS Tortuga," Wash sighed. "The last evacuation vessel to leave Earth-That-Was. The one that never made it. They literally do not make them like that anymore."
Jayne leaned forward. "Sends a shiver down your spine."
"Never took you for a history buff."
Jayne shot Wash a disgusted look. "I'm talking about the value. A spaceship bigger'n anything in the Alliance fleet's gotta be worth a fair bit, even busted up."
"Oh, you hopeless romantic," Zoe drawled.
"Did you secure the Tams?" Mal asked.
"Yep," Jayne affirmed.
"Then..." Mal paused. "Jayne; did you tie them up?"
"Yep. Had to sedate the girl first of course..."
"I'll go and untie them," Zoe sighed.
"No time," Mal replied. "They'll just have to sweat it out in the hatch." He wrapped a scarf around his face and pulled up the hood of his ragged coat. "Make this one count, people. If she gets a whiff I'm here..."
The other three swiveled towards him as one. "She?" Wash asked.
Mal turned away. "Can we just pretend that I'm the Captain and that my word on this ship is law?" he muttered as he stomped away with an exaggerated hobble.
Zoe grinned. "I thought we were pretending I was the Captain!"
Firefly
FR-T
Mal Reynolds watched with a grim expression as the tiny dot grew in the centre of Serenity's main screen. "Tortuga," he said.
Zoe nodded. "The meanest den of filth I ever set eyes on and never wanted to set foot on again. Remind me why we're going there now?"
"Because the O2 levels on this ship would barely keep a mouse alive and there's nowhere else we can reach?" Wash suggested.
"And remind me why we're going there? Seriously, sweetie; there are worse fates than asphyxiation."
"We'll be all right, though? The Captain has his friends there and they're actually going to kill us, aren't they?" he realised.
Mal shrugged. "Happen as they might have a less rosy recollection of the old days than I have," he admitted. "As I remember it though, weren't me that started it."
"It never is," Zoe noted. "Not as you remember it."
"We ain't here to debate my shortcomings as a material witness," Mal reminded her. "We're here for air scrubbers and to get minimal automatics back online. Jayne..."
"Oh, I know what I'm here for," Jayne leered.
Mal turned to face the big fighter. "You're here to keep an eye on Kaylee while she gets the parts we need," he said firmly. "No sightseeing, no drinking and no whoring. We leave when we're ready; you ain't with us, we leave you behind."
"Make that sound like a bad thing," Jayne grunted.
"You planning on taking all your guns with you?"
"Gorrammit! You wouldn't!"
"Ain't waiting, ain't stopping to unload. Get in, get the parts and get out, and whatever you do, don't mention my name to anybody. Anyone asks, Zoe's the captain of this boat and I'm a leper named Ted."
Zoe chuckled. "I knew my day would come."
Jayne looked confused. "Why Ted?"
"Because Ted ain't a name I ever used before," Mal replied.
Ahead, Tortuga loomed larger, a mass of gantries and prefabricated units sprawling out from a huge, twisted mass of broken spaceship hull.
"Kinda... eerie, ain't it," Jayne observed.
"The ISS Tortuga," Wash sighed. "The last evacuation vessel to leave Earth-That-Was. The one that never made it. They literally do not make them like that anymore."
Jayne leaned forward. "Sends a shiver down your spine."
"Never took you for a history buff."
Jayne shot Wash a disgusted look. "I'm talking about the value. A spaceship bigger'n anything in the Alliance fleet's gotta be worth a fair bit, even busted up."
"Oh, you hopeless romantic," Zoe drawled.
"Did you secure the Tams?" Mal asked.
"Yep," Jayne affirmed.
"Then..." Mal paused. "Jayne; did you tie them up?"
"Yep. Had to sedate the girl first of course..."
"I'll go and untie them," Zoe sighed.
"No time," Mal replied. "They'll just have to sweat it out in the hatch." He wrapped a scarf around his face and pulled up the hood of his ragged coat. "Make this one count, people. If she gets a whiff I'm here..."
The other three swiveled towards him as one. "She?" Wash asked.
Mal turned away. "Can we just pretend that I'm the Captain and that my word on this ship is law?" he muttered as he stomped away with an exaggerated hobble.
Zoe grinned. "I thought we were pretending I was the Captain!"