Inara's Bad Day Part 1
This is another story in the Bad Day cycle. I just posted the Jinsu story on twitter and that got me to read the Zoe story which got me interested in finishing the Inara story. So same fair warning -- unfinished, very rough, but willing to ignore your comments if you want to make them. ;)
This is the continuation of a story I began with Zoe's Bad Day. If you're really going to read this one, read the "Zoe" story first because otherwise you'll be clueless. There's also a short prequel earlier in my blog about River, more or less, not really necessary for Inara's story (I think). The story is set after Serenity so no Wash or Book. If you read "Zoe" before last week, just know that I deleted the lame one-paragraph ending. It was just a placeholder for when I figured out what the story arc was. Not needed anymore.
This is all straight first draft. I'm not doing any researching yet, not using any Chinese yet, just trying to get the story down. I haven't even reread "Zoe" yet. I'm doing this mostly because I'm very good at procrastination, and my announcing that I was writing it was kind of a push to actually starting it. ;) You're welcome to comment, critique, whatever, and it's my privilege to totally ignore you. I'm also not going to correct and re-post an entry; if I change something that has reverberations you'll see it in a later entry or the finished story.
Inara's Bad Day
The iaito balanced easily on Inara's hands as she centered herself and prepared to give respect. Distracting thoughts of Mal and the crew gradually faded into the background static of her mind. She breathed. And again. And --
Just at the most unbalanced point of her obeisance, the ship jumped sideways. She teetered for a moment, then pitched forward, the sword still held in her hands. She tried to toss it away. It slid more than flew, and when the ship twitched back, her suddenly increased momentum was too fast to catch herself. She barely had time to tilt her head away so that her forehead hit the iaito handle instead of the steel of its blunt blade. Dazed, she didn't connect her accident with the ship at large and wondered how she could have lost her balance like that. Blood dripped its way down her temple and cheek. She pushed herself back up, grabbed the cloth off her bedside table and held it to her forehead, then frowned in confusion at her tea set. It had been on that table; now, the teapot and one of the cups was shattered, the other cup having rolled across the floor to the cockpit curtain.
As the confusion cleared from her mind, fear took its place. Buddha's Peace, this can't be good! With the able assistance of her bed, she slowly climbed to her feet and almost willed away the darkness that threatened. She patted her forehead with the tablecloth again; the bleeding had stopped but the goose egg was already growing. "Mal," she whispered. Then "Oh, God, Serenity!" She turned quickly to the hatch, too quickly and almost lost consciousness, but she grabbed and hung onto the bed curtain until the dizzyness passed, then slowly made her way down to the infirmary.
In the infirmary she rummaged through the drawers until she found the dressings, washed her face, and gingerly applied a cream guaranteed to leave her scarless. There was no way to tie the dressing so she just held it to her forehead and made her way up to the galley.
She exclaimed in dismay at the sight of Zoe's soup bowl overturned, the soup running over the edge of the table to the floor. The whole 'verse is aligned against that woman ever eating properly! she thought to herself in disgust and detoured to the pantry to grab something to mop the soup up. Before she got there Zoe's voice detoured her again.
"I'm here." She returned to the dining area with the cloth pressed to her forehead. "What was that? Are Mal and the others okay?"
Zoe looked vexed. "Not sure and got more important things. You think that bump'll slow you down?"
"I think it's more blood than bump. What can I do for you?"
"Grab the packs and suit down in the cargo bay, load 'em in your shuttle. I'll be back to help." Zoe cocked her head then ran off down the corridor, calling back, "We're sending you back to the Wish, so prep the shuttle."
Inara stared after her, dismayed at the thought that Serenity couldn't make it back to the Wish on her own. If the ship was in that bad of straits, it could mean the end of them all! She wallowed in self-pity for a grand total of 3 seconds, then shook herself, dropped the now-meaningless dressing on the table, and ran out of the galley determined to have all of the packs and the suit up in her shuttle before Zoe's return.
She resisted the near-overwhelming impulse to run after Zoe screaming "What about Mal?" and marched determinedly down to the cargo bay. Better to expend your fear and anger on inanimate objects, she recited to herself, the text being a despised quote which surfaced each time her own anger surfaced. Inanimate objects will not object to being pushed around. Inanimate objects will not bleed or break fragile bones. Inanimate objects will not strike back. Hah! she screamed silently at her laoshi. You think you're so smart, look what happened to you! Dead in a shuttle crash! An inanimate object! Hah, she repeated sadly, then remembered she would have to fly the shuttle off Serenity as it was corkscrewing and wobbling through the Black. Her steps quickened in anxiety.
Three oxygen packs and a suit awaited her in the cargo bay, stacked right in front of the air lock. She thought about who was on the Wish: Mal, Jayne, Kaylee, River, and ... me. Another oxygen pack won't hurt the shuttle. She grabbed the suit helmet and hurried over to the lockers. There was an extra suit left besides Zoe's and Simon's. She pondered taking that one also, but decided four packs and one extra suit should be enough to deal with any problems. If one suit gets holed or torn, we can always cannibalize it in case another suit holes.
She hugged the pack tightly and tried to get a better grip on the helmet as she started up the ladder to the cat walk, but her gaze lighted on a locker she hadn't even considered. Emergency Rations. Always plan for the unplanned moment. She shook her head but the aphorism refused to leave her mind: ... the unplanned moment. She sighed, placed the pack and helmet on the landing, and rushed down the stairs. There was a bag hanging from the locker door already filled with various packs of dried rations; she slung it over her shoulder and hurried back up the stairs.
The shuttle looked abandoned with the tea set rolled every which way on the floor and her prayer mirror shattered. She ignored the mess -- Always do the first thing first -- dumped out the contents of the shuttle storage locker, and shoved the oxygen pack into the bottom compartment. There was enough room for all 4 with plenty of room in the suit compartment for 2 suits and the rations. She hung the rations on an extra hook, placed the helmet in its cubbyhole, and returned to the cargo bay for another load.
She was trudging tiredly down the ladder for her third load when she had to sidestep quickly to avoid Zoe's headlong rush. Zoe shook her head in apology. "Sorry, we gotta get you off right away."
"I've never unlocked in a tumble before." She took the suit from Zoe and led the way into the shuttle. "Is there anything in particular I should do to avoid hitting Serenity once I take off?"
She hung the suit in the locker, Zoe shoved the pack on top of the others, and they both turned to survey the shuttle as Zoe went over the important points of undocking. Zoe moved to clean up the glass from the mirror, and Inara picked up the fragile porcelain shards by her bed. The moment caught up with her and she sat abruptly on the bed. Staring down at the pretty red, blue, and white of her teapot now jumbled together in her hands, she listened numbly to Zoe's instructions. A period of silence caught her attention. She looked up, the grief twisting her fine features, the tears streaking down her face. Zoe crouched beside her and tenderly gathered the shards from Inara's hands. She gripped her by one shoulder. "No despair, mei-mei," she whispered. "We don't know yet! As long as we don't know, he lives."
Inara nodded, gulped, and smeared the tears across her cheeks. Zoe patted her shoulder, then gave her the same hankie she had given Zoe earlier that morning. She laughed and rubbed her face with it as Zoe dumped the shards into the trash bin and locked the lid down. Inara moved over to the cockpit and listened carefully to Zoe's instructions for the approach to the Wish and the docking maneuvers. At the end, she asked the most important question of all: "But do we have enough time?"
"I figger it's been about 20 minutes since the hit. They'd been on the Wish about half an hour so they've got at least 3 hours of air left. We're moving pretty fast now -- we could be beyond fuel's reach by the time we get Serenity fixed. But you could make it back to the Wish in an hour or less -- if we have any luck left at all."
"Luck. On Serenity?"
"We've made it this far. Between the air packs and shuttle life support, you should have plenty, even with the extra person."
Inara looked out the hatch at Serenity and sighed. "All in all, Zoe, I think I have the easier job. Good luck, chin-ai duh JEH-jeh.
The shuttle track extended fully and clunked into place. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes in a quick prayer, and throttled up. The shuttle rose a few inches, then she punched the throttle and veered slightly to starboard and kept Serenity's starboard engine just at the corner of her eye as she poured as much power into the little shuttle as it would take. She was well beyond Serenity's danger zone before she found the nerve to throttle back and even then might've kept going if she hadn't needed the fuel to make it to the Wish. It was the work of a moment to activate Zoe's autopilot program.
She sagged back in her seat. With her eyes closed, the pings and groans of the shuttle recovering from the unexpected and rarely felt hard G's reminded her of laoshi's old grav-sled. Its engine never ran smoothly and the grav effect was a little uncertain at times, but it was laoshi's favored object of everyday abuse and he knew it like the back of his hand. She knew her own little ship like the back of Mal's hand; it might be a little pony compared to Serenity's workhorse but it would eat up the miles better than anything else of its size.
Inara smiled a little and patted the yoke, opened her eyes to the Black, and strained to see the wink of the Wish though it was still far beyond visibility. The stars and planets shone sharply, their colors faint and fluid like tiny drops of oil on the matte black of an engine nacelle. How strange that I'm thinking in terms of mechanical things instead of velvet cloths and sparkling gems! she thought. Too many hours spent handing tools to Kaylee and exchanging ideas about love and life and Mal and Simon. In some ways Kaylee has even fewer inhibitions than a companion - it just doesn't occur to her that sex isn't a topic for general conversation. But she'll blush bright as a radish if you venture to tease her about love.
She was too restless to sit. I want to be at the Wish NOW! Jumping up gracefully, she pulled aside the drape that separated the cockpit from her living area and examined the room's contents. She had picked up the broken teapot and teacups, Zoe had cleaned up the mirror shards, and --
"Oh, NO!"
She rushed across the room and sank to the ground at the foot of her portable altar. Buddha lay in two pieces, his raised right arm broken off at the elbow. A fine priestess you are! Her eyes frantically scanned the rug for Buddha's missing hand but only a scattering of powdery plaster was within sight. Merciful Buddha! I need your fearlessness now most of all, she prayed, then sat back on her heels and closed her eyes. After only a moment of focus, she was able to calm her galloping pulse and distracted mind. Buddha's protection is here! She twisted and grabbed wildly and blindly at the rug. It had been as much a plea as a demand, but when she opened her fist, the Buddha's tiny arm lay on her palm.
She closed her eyes and offered a brief prayer of thanks. "Now, what to do with you?" she murmured to the little Buddha. She carefully cradled the statue and climbed to her feet, then stood for a moment somewhat at a loss. Most of the shuttle's storage space was already overflowing. I probably shouldn't have gone back to the training school for all of my things, but all of it has a purpose, even as a retired companion. Mal certainly enjoys it. She allowed herself a brief chuckle and an idea came to her -- she immediately strode to her old trunk, the one left behind when she first left Serenity behind. She clumsily unfastened it with one hand and lifted the lid: old clothes, old weapons, old dreams. She dug into a corner and came up with a bundle closely wrapped in an old table tapestry.
She untwisted the tapestry and rolled out her old red work lamp. It prompted a sad smile. She had packed it away the minute she severed ties with the guild, and now she looked at it as if it were a relic of days long past. It was irrelevant.
Casting the lamp aside, she carefully laid Buddha onto the heavy cloth, wrapped his fractured arm in a separate cocoon of sturdy satin, and laid it nestled against his cheek. Another satin cocoon wrapped the two together and she folded the tapestry tightly around the little idol and tied it with an old scarf as the final hedge against future breakage. She tucked him tenderly into the chest.
She took a few moments to straighten her living space. The lamp was tossed without thought into the waste bin, the remaining few fragments of plaster whisked away, and her little table covered with a new tapestry. The make-work soon palled, however, and she was back in the cockpit, straining her eyes for a glimpse of the Wish. When the police cruiser first streaked across the viewshield, she thought it was simply a flash of dust drifting in the cockpit. She forced herself to relax, reasoning out loud "No sense in arriving all hysterical-like, that won't do Mal any good at all!" She closed her eyes, breathed deeply and slowly, and let her thoughts drift away.
The screech of the preset alarm started her from a deep trance. Only an hour yet? she thought in some confusion. It seemed so much longer. Checking the fuel level -- half-empty, half-full -- she shut the engine down. The sudden absence of the rumbling and vibration was a bit unsettling; she had almost never used a shuttle so far from a planet that deceleration became a factor. She shivered at the silence.
"Mal, this is Inara, come in please," she sent out, knowing the chances of him receiving the wave yet were slim to none. "Mal, this is Inara, come in please."
No response, of course. She tried two more times per Zoe's instructions then shut the Cortex down until the next try in 15 minutes. She planted her elbows on the control board and rested her chin on the heels of her hands, staring wistfully out into the Black. Nothing moved. Space is very spacious -- let it accept your thoughts, there's plenty of room for everyone's. She smiled, shook her head a little at the homely text, and started to push away from the control board. A movement caught her eye. For a moment her heart leapt at the thought that Mal had somehow gotten the Wish moving or found a ride, but the movement slowed and resolved into an Alliance police cruiser. "This can't be good," she murmured, her eyes wide with dread.
The Cortex beeped. She froze. It beeped again and the cruiser jigged a little closer. Hurriedly she flicked switches and a gravelly voice blared out into the cockpit.
"--got here!" Inara refused to look down at the face she knew was grinning on the screen. She preferred to stare out at the man sitting behind the tinted viewscreen in front of her, his words dripping with mockery. "Your first mate didn't mention your absence. The whore with a heart of gold flying off to save the gallant hero and his wisecracking sidekick?"
"What do you want, Womack?"
"You know, I'm not quite sure. The situation is ... delicate."
The cruiser slid side to side in front of the shuttle, always maintaining its distance.
"I could just blow you to kingdom come. That would be mighty satisfying, but then you've never done anything particularly intentional towards me so it might be a little on the overkill side. Then again, who cares? My recruit sergeant always told me, 'Son, never use a knife when a machete will guarantee a kill.' He liked overkill." Womack laughed. "I personally hated that sonofabitch, but that little saying has done a lot for my careers as cop and capo."
"You're no capo, Womack. You're nothing but a thug living and working amongst scum who think rolling drunks is fine entertainment on a Saturday night."
He chuckled at her defiant words. "You oughta try it sometime! Oh, wait, you're a Companion -- I'm sure you've done you're share of doctoring drinks and rolling johns. Ain't never met a whore who hadn't, no matter how classy they disposed themselves."
"That just shows what high circles you travel in."
"At least I'm traveling. Whereas you appear to be coasting on your way to the Wish. Running low on fuel? Hoping to use what you've got left to make it to the Wish?"
He drummed his fingers on his control board. The sound jabbed into Inara's brain, shortened her respirations, pulled her fingers into fists of anger. Let him talk, just let him talk, she implored her more rebellious self. If you get him angry--
Another sharp tap and the cruiser braked right in front of her.
She grabbed wildly at the yoke but before she could do anything the cruiser slid upwards, off the viewscreen. In a blink Womack had returned to his position just meters off the bow of the shuttle. Inara slumped back in the pilot's seat, her relief too great to bother hiding it.
"Fun, huh?"
She stared stonily at the grinning face on the small screen.
"Yeah, I thought so. You know what would be even more fun? You sitting here in your little shuttle while I go see what trouble I can brew up for Mal Reynolds back at the Wish.
"No!" Inara couldn't hold back the desperate cry. The Cortex went dead. She jumped up and pounded on the viewscreen futilely as the little cruiser waggled its engines at her and, with a little trail of ice crystals that dissipated almost as soon as they formed, disappeared into the black.
She stared out at the stars for a few minutes, heedless of the tears running down her face. Eventually she sighed, turned away, wandered into her living area and looked around at all of the things she loved, all of the things Mal loved, until it suddenly struck her what an idiot she was being. "So there's nothing you can do at the Wish! she chided herself. "That doesn't mean you can't at least warn him." With that decision made, she felt the heaviness in her heart lift a little bit, just enough to let her think again. She returned to the cockpit and tried to raise Mal for possibly the last time.
Nothing but crackle and hiss. Finally after 10 minutes she heard "---nara."
"Mal!" she cried with relief. "Mal, you have to get out of there! Somehow, it doesn't matter how, Womack is here and he's coming to destroy the Wish.
"Yeah, I had ... --ling. I think we-- .... --til Womack gets here ... --sition and how much fuel you got exactly?"
She checked her gauges. She rattled off the numbers in her coordinates and added: "I'm at exactly 49% on fuel; will that be enough?"
Kaylee's voice broke in asking for Inara's speed, and there was a pause while presumably Kaylee and River and Mal conferred on best guess braking instructions. The pause lengthened. She was just about to call Mal again when River's calm clear voice stopped her with a new vector and sent her scrambling to input times and alarms into the autopilot computer. "Coast 48 minutes, brake at 50% power for 15 minutes, 85% power for exactly 3 minutes. There's an 87% probability you will be within 5 kilometers of the Wish at that moment."
Inara waited a moment for more data then broke in, her voice rising with her anxiety. "87%? What happens if I'm off by more than 5k?"
"Don't you worry about that, Inara!" Mal's voice was reassuring in its calmness. "Even if you're off, you'll have a bit of fuel left in main engines and the attitude jets will st-- .... --urself a push. We ha-- ... now. We'll see you in ... --arantee--"
The signal faded into a few crackles, then all that was left was the hiss of the universe.
"Mal," she murmured, her hope fading.
An hour and six minutes later, the engines cut off for the final time. The shuttle was very nearly motionless; only a slow lazy spin betrayed the fact that the stars weren't painted on the viewscreen. She didn't want to flip the shuttle back for fear of having gone too far and missing the Wish behind her. The sensors were next to useless: all they showed was a scattering of signals, all of them too small to be the Wish. She shivered and then forced herself to grab the control yoke and swing the shuttle slowly portward to pan the area. There was nothing here, nothing except --
That's it for now. I'm hoping all this story-telling nonsense on twitter will keep me at it long enough to finish the Bad Day cycle. You never know. ;)
This is the continuation of a story I began with Zoe's Bad Day. If you're really going to read this one, read the "Zoe" story first because otherwise you'll be clueless. There's also a short prequel earlier in my blog about River, more or less, not really necessary for Inara's story (I think). The story is set after Serenity so no Wash or Book. If you read "Zoe" before last week, just know that I deleted the lame one-paragraph ending. It was just a placeholder for when I figured out what the story arc was. Not needed anymore.
This is all straight first draft. I'm not doing any researching yet, not using any Chinese yet, just trying to get the story down. I haven't even reread "Zoe" yet. I'm doing this mostly because I'm very good at procrastination, and my announcing that I was writing it was kind of a push to actually starting it. ;) You're welcome to comment, critique, whatever, and it's my privilege to totally ignore you. I'm also not going to correct and re-post an entry; if I change something that has reverberations you'll see it in a later entry or the finished story.
Inara's Bad Day
The iaito balanced easily on Inara's hands as she centered herself and prepared to give respect. Distracting thoughts of Mal and the crew gradually faded into the background static of her mind. She breathed. And again. And --
Just at the most unbalanced point of her obeisance, the ship jumped sideways. She teetered for a moment, then pitched forward, the sword still held in her hands. She tried to toss it away. It slid more than flew, and when the ship twitched back, her suddenly increased momentum was too fast to catch herself. She barely had time to tilt her head away so that her forehead hit the iaito handle instead of the steel of its blunt blade. Dazed, she didn't connect her accident with the ship at large and wondered how she could have lost her balance like that. Blood dripped its way down her temple and cheek. She pushed herself back up, grabbed the cloth off her bedside table and held it to her forehead, then frowned in confusion at her tea set. It had been on that table; now, the teapot and one of the cups was shattered, the other cup having rolled across the floor to the cockpit curtain.
As the confusion cleared from her mind, fear took its place. Buddha's Peace, this can't be good! With the able assistance of her bed, she slowly climbed to her feet and almost willed away the darkness that threatened. She patted her forehead with the tablecloth again; the bleeding had stopped but the goose egg was already growing. "Mal," she whispered. Then "Oh, God, Serenity!" She turned quickly to the hatch, too quickly and almost lost consciousness, but she grabbed and hung onto the bed curtain until the dizzyness passed, then slowly made her way down to the infirmary.
In the infirmary she rummaged through the drawers until she found the dressings, washed her face, and gingerly applied a cream guaranteed to leave her scarless. There was no way to tie the dressing so she just held it to her forehead and made her way up to the galley.
She exclaimed in dismay at the sight of Zoe's soup bowl overturned, the soup running over the edge of the table to the floor. The whole 'verse is aligned against that woman ever eating properly! she thought to herself in disgust and detoured to the pantry to grab something to mop the soup up. Before she got there Zoe's voice detoured her again.
"I'm here." She returned to the dining area with the cloth pressed to her forehead. "What was that? Are Mal and the others okay?"
Zoe looked vexed. "Not sure and got more important things. You think that bump'll slow you down?"
"I think it's more blood than bump. What can I do for you?"
"Grab the packs and suit down in the cargo bay, load 'em in your shuttle. I'll be back to help." Zoe cocked her head then ran off down the corridor, calling back, "We're sending you back to the Wish, so prep the shuttle."
Inara stared after her, dismayed at the thought that Serenity couldn't make it back to the Wish on her own. If the ship was in that bad of straits, it could mean the end of them all! She wallowed in self-pity for a grand total of 3 seconds, then shook herself, dropped the now-meaningless dressing on the table, and ran out of the galley determined to have all of the packs and the suit up in her shuttle before Zoe's return.
She resisted the near-overwhelming impulse to run after Zoe screaming "What about Mal?" and marched determinedly down to the cargo bay. Better to expend your fear and anger on inanimate objects, she recited to herself, the text being a despised quote which surfaced each time her own anger surfaced. Inanimate objects will not object to being pushed around. Inanimate objects will not bleed or break fragile bones. Inanimate objects will not strike back. Hah! she screamed silently at her laoshi. You think you're so smart, look what happened to you! Dead in a shuttle crash! An inanimate object! Hah, she repeated sadly, then remembered she would have to fly the shuttle off Serenity as it was corkscrewing and wobbling through the Black. Her steps quickened in anxiety.
Three oxygen packs and a suit awaited her in the cargo bay, stacked right in front of the air lock. She thought about who was on the Wish: Mal, Jayne, Kaylee, River, and ... me. Another oxygen pack won't hurt the shuttle. She grabbed the suit helmet and hurried over to the lockers. There was an extra suit left besides Zoe's and Simon's. She pondered taking that one also, but decided four packs and one extra suit should be enough to deal with any problems. If one suit gets holed or torn, we can always cannibalize it in case another suit holes.
She hugged the pack tightly and tried to get a better grip on the helmet as she started up the ladder to the cat walk, but her gaze lighted on a locker she hadn't even considered. Emergency Rations. Always plan for the unplanned moment. She shook her head but the aphorism refused to leave her mind: ... the unplanned moment. She sighed, placed the pack and helmet on the landing, and rushed down the stairs. There was a bag hanging from the locker door already filled with various packs of dried rations; she slung it over her shoulder and hurried back up the stairs.
The shuttle looked abandoned with the tea set rolled every which way on the floor and her prayer mirror shattered. She ignored the mess -- Always do the first thing first -- dumped out the contents of the shuttle storage locker, and shoved the oxygen pack into the bottom compartment. There was enough room for all 4 with plenty of room in the suit compartment for 2 suits and the rations. She hung the rations on an extra hook, placed the helmet in its cubbyhole, and returned to the cargo bay for another load.
She was trudging tiredly down the ladder for her third load when she had to sidestep quickly to avoid Zoe's headlong rush. Zoe shook her head in apology. "Sorry, we gotta get you off right away."
"I've never unlocked in a tumble before." She took the suit from Zoe and led the way into the shuttle. "Is there anything in particular I should do to avoid hitting Serenity once I take off?"
She hung the suit in the locker, Zoe shoved the pack on top of the others, and they both turned to survey the shuttle as Zoe went over the important points of undocking. Zoe moved to clean up the glass from the mirror, and Inara picked up the fragile porcelain shards by her bed. The moment caught up with her and she sat abruptly on the bed. Staring down at the pretty red, blue, and white of her teapot now jumbled together in her hands, she listened numbly to Zoe's instructions. A period of silence caught her attention. She looked up, the grief twisting her fine features, the tears streaking down her face. Zoe crouched beside her and tenderly gathered the shards from Inara's hands. She gripped her by one shoulder. "No despair, mei-mei," she whispered. "We don't know yet! As long as we don't know, he lives."
Inara nodded, gulped, and smeared the tears across her cheeks. Zoe patted her shoulder, then gave her the same hankie she had given Zoe earlier that morning. She laughed and rubbed her face with it as Zoe dumped the shards into the trash bin and locked the lid down. Inara moved over to the cockpit and listened carefully to Zoe's instructions for the approach to the Wish and the docking maneuvers. At the end, she asked the most important question of all: "But do we have enough time?"
"I figger it's been about 20 minutes since the hit. They'd been on the Wish about half an hour so they've got at least 3 hours of air left. We're moving pretty fast now -- we could be beyond fuel's reach by the time we get Serenity fixed. But you could make it back to the Wish in an hour or less -- if we have any luck left at all."
"Luck. On Serenity?"
"We've made it this far. Between the air packs and shuttle life support, you should have plenty, even with the extra person."
Inara looked out the hatch at Serenity and sighed. "All in all, Zoe, I think I have the easier job. Good luck, chin-ai duh JEH-jeh.
The shuttle track extended fully and clunked into place. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes in a quick prayer, and throttled up. The shuttle rose a few inches, then she punched the throttle and veered slightly to starboard and kept Serenity's starboard engine just at the corner of her eye as she poured as much power into the little shuttle as it would take. She was well beyond Serenity's danger zone before she found the nerve to throttle back and even then might've kept going if she hadn't needed the fuel to make it to the Wish. It was the work of a moment to activate Zoe's autopilot program.
She sagged back in her seat. With her eyes closed, the pings and groans of the shuttle recovering from the unexpected and rarely felt hard G's reminded her of laoshi's old grav-sled. Its engine never ran smoothly and the grav effect was a little uncertain at times, but it was laoshi's favored object of everyday abuse and he knew it like the back of his hand. She knew her own little ship like the back of Mal's hand; it might be a little pony compared to Serenity's workhorse but it would eat up the miles better than anything else of its size.
Inara smiled a little and patted the yoke, opened her eyes to the Black, and strained to see the wink of the Wish though it was still far beyond visibility. The stars and planets shone sharply, their colors faint and fluid like tiny drops of oil on the matte black of an engine nacelle. How strange that I'm thinking in terms of mechanical things instead of velvet cloths and sparkling gems! she thought. Too many hours spent handing tools to Kaylee and exchanging ideas about love and life and Mal and Simon. In some ways Kaylee has even fewer inhibitions than a companion - it just doesn't occur to her that sex isn't a topic for general conversation. But she'll blush bright as a radish if you venture to tease her about love.
She was too restless to sit. I want to be at the Wish NOW! Jumping up gracefully, she pulled aside the drape that separated the cockpit from her living area and examined the room's contents. She had picked up the broken teapot and teacups, Zoe had cleaned up the mirror shards, and --
"Oh, NO!"
She rushed across the room and sank to the ground at the foot of her portable altar. Buddha lay in two pieces, his raised right arm broken off at the elbow. A fine priestess you are! Her eyes frantically scanned the rug for Buddha's missing hand but only a scattering of powdery plaster was within sight. Merciful Buddha! I need your fearlessness now most of all, she prayed, then sat back on her heels and closed her eyes. After only a moment of focus, she was able to calm her galloping pulse and distracted mind. Buddha's protection is here! She twisted and grabbed wildly and blindly at the rug. It had been as much a plea as a demand, but when she opened her fist, the Buddha's tiny arm lay on her palm.
She closed her eyes and offered a brief prayer of thanks. "Now, what to do with you?" she murmured to the little Buddha. She carefully cradled the statue and climbed to her feet, then stood for a moment somewhat at a loss. Most of the shuttle's storage space was already overflowing. I probably shouldn't have gone back to the training school for all of my things, but all of it has a purpose, even as a retired companion. Mal certainly enjoys it. She allowed herself a brief chuckle and an idea came to her -- she immediately strode to her old trunk, the one left behind when she first left Serenity behind. She clumsily unfastened it with one hand and lifted the lid: old clothes, old weapons, old dreams. She dug into a corner and came up with a bundle closely wrapped in an old table tapestry.
She untwisted the tapestry and rolled out her old red work lamp. It prompted a sad smile. She had packed it away the minute she severed ties with the guild, and now she looked at it as if it were a relic of days long past. It was irrelevant.
Casting the lamp aside, she carefully laid Buddha onto the heavy cloth, wrapped his fractured arm in a separate cocoon of sturdy satin, and laid it nestled against his cheek. Another satin cocoon wrapped the two together and she folded the tapestry tightly around the little idol and tied it with an old scarf as the final hedge against future breakage. She tucked him tenderly into the chest.
She took a few moments to straighten her living space. The lamp was tossed without thought into the waste bin, the remaining few fragments of plaster whisked away, and her little table covered with a new tapestry. The make-work soon palled, however, and she was back in the cockpit, straining her eyes for a glimpse of the Wish. When the police cruiser first streaked across the viewshield, she thought it was simply a flash of dust drifting in the cockpit. She forced herself to relax, reasoning out loud "No sense in arriving all hysterical-like, that won't do Mal any good at all!" She closed her eyes, breathed deeply and slowly, and let her thoughts drift away.
The screech of the preset alarm started her from a deep trance. Only an hour yet? she thought in some confusion. It seemed so much longer. Checking the fuel level -- half-empty, half-full -- she shut the engine down. The sudden absence of the rumbling and vibration was a bit unsettling; she had almost never used a shuttle so far from a planet that deceleration became a factor. She shivered at the silence.
"Mal, this is Inara, come in please," she sent out, knowing the chances of him receiving the wave yet were slim to none. "Mal, this is Inara, come in please."
No response, of course. She tried two more times per Zoe's instructions then shut the Cortex down until the next try in 15 minutes. She planted her elbows on the control board and rested her chin on the heels of her hands, staring wistfully out into the Black. Nothing moved. Space is very spacious -- let it accept your thoughts, there's plenty of room for everyone's. She smiled, shook her head a little at the homely text, and started to push away from the control board. A movement caught her eye. For a moment her heart leapt at the thought that Mal had somehow gotten the Wish moving or found a ride, but the movement slowed and resolved into an Alliance police cruiser. "This can't be good," she murmured, her eyes wide with dread.
The Cortex beeped. She froze. It beeped again and the cruiser jigged a little closer. Hurriedly she flicked switches and a gravelly voice blared out into the cockpit.
"--got here!" Inara refused to look down at the face she knew was grinning on the screen. She preferred to stare out at the man sitting behind the tinted viewscreen in front of her, his words dripping with mockery. "Your first mate didn't mention your absence. The whore with a heart of gold flying off to save the gallant hero and his wisecracking sidekick?"
"What do you want, Womack?"
"You know, I'm not quite sure. The situation is ... delicate."
The cruiser slid side to side in front of the shuttle, always maintaining its distance.
"I could just blow you to kingdom come. That would be mighty satisfying, but then you've never done anything particularly intentional towards me so it might be a little on the overkill side. Then again, who cares? My recruit sergeant always told me, 'Son, never use a knife when a machete will guarantee a kill.' He liked overkill." Womack laughed. "I personally hated that sonofabitch, but that little saying has done a lot for my careers as cop and capo."
"You're no capo, Womack. You're nothing but a thug living and working amongst scum who think rolling drunks is fine entertainment on a Saturday night."
He chuckled at her defiant words. "You oughta try it sometime! Oh, wait, you're a Companion -- I'm sure you've done you're share of doctoring drinks and rolling johns. Ain't never met a whore who hadn't, no matter how classy they disposed themselves."
"That just shows what high circles you travel in."
"At least I'm traveling. Whereas you appear to be coasting on your way to the Wish. Running low on fuel? Hoping to use what you've got left to make it to the Wish?"
He drummed his fingers on his control board. The sound jabbed into Inara's brain, shortened her respirations, pulled her fingers into fists of anger. Let him talk, just let him talk, she implored her more rebellious self. If you get him angry--
Another sharp tap and the cruiser braked right in front of her.
She grabbed wildly at the yoke but before she could do anything the cruiser slid upwards, off the viewscreen. In a blink Womack had returned to his position just meters off the bow of the shuttle. Inara slumped back in the pilot's seat, her relief too great to bother hiding it.
"Fun, huh?"
She stared stonily at the grinning face on the small screen.
"Yeah, I thought so. You know what would be even more fun? You sitting here in your little shuttle while I go see what trouble I can brew up for Mal Reynolds back at the Wish.
"No!" Inara couldn't hold back the desperate cry. The Cortex went dead. She jumped up and pounded on the viewscreen futilely as the little cruiser waggled its engines at her and, with a little trail of ice crystals that dissipated almost as soon as they formed, disappeared into the black.
She stared out at the stars for a few minutes, heedless of the tears running down her face. Eventually she sighed, turned away, wandered into her living area and looked around at all of the things she loved, all of the things Mal loved, until it suddenly struck her what an idiot she was being. "So there's nothing you can do at the Wish! she chided herself. "That doesn't mean you can't at least warn him." With that decision made, she felt the heaviness in her heart lift a little bit, just enough to let her think again. She returned to the cockpit and tried to raise Mal for possibly the last time.
Nothing but crackle and hiss. Finally after 10 minutes she heard "---nara."
"Mal!" she cried with relief. "Mal, you have to get out of there! Somehow, it doesn't matter how, Womack is here and he's coming to destroy the Wish.
"Yeah, I had ... --ling. I think we-- .... --til Womack gets here ... --sition and how much fuel you got exactly?"
She checked her gauges. She rattled off the numbers in her coordinates and added: "I'm at exactly 49% on fuel; will that be enough?"
Kaylee's voice broke in asking for Inara's speed, and there was a pause while presumably Kaylee and River and Mal conferred on best guess braking instructions. The pause lengthened. She was just about to call Mal again when River's calm clear voice stopped her with a new vector and sent her scrambling to input times and alarms into the autopilot computer. "Coast 48 minutes, brake at 50% power for 15 minutes, 85% power for exactly 3 minutes. There's an 87% probability you will be within 5 kilometers of the Wish at that moment."
Inara waited a moment for more data then broke in, her voice rising with her anxiety. "87%? What happens if I'm off by more than 5k?"
"Don't you worry about that, Inara!" Mal's voice was reassuring in its calmness. "Even if you're off, you'll have a bit of fuel left in main engines and the attitude jets will st-- .... --urself a push. We ha-- ... now. We'll see you in ... --arantee--"
The signal faded into a few crackles, then all that was left was the hiss of the universe.
"Mal," she murmured, her hope fading.
An hour and six minutes later, the engines cut off for the final time. The shuttle was very nearly motionless; only a slow lazy spin betrayed the fact that the stars weren't painted on the viewscreen. She didn't want to flip the shuttle back for fear of having gone too far and missing the Wish behind her. The sensors were next to useless: all they showed was a scattering of signals, all of them too small to be the Wish. She shivered and then forced herself to grab the control yoke and swing the shuttle slowly portward to pan the area. There was nothing here, nothing except --
That's it for now. I'm hoping all this story-telling nonsense on twitter will keep me at it long enough to finish the Bad Day cycle. You never know. ;)