Part 3
From the bridge, the chaos below registers in packets of sound.
Voices. Thuds.
Gunshots.
Screaming.
It almost drowns out the steady beeping of the fuel gauge, which has picked up in intensity and frequency as the last of their reserves trickle away. 17.6% and falling fast: three more minutes until the point of no return.
Suddenly, there's a rumbling jolt that rocks the ship, and Zoe's voice crackling over the comm: "WASH, EVERYBODY'S ON THAT'S COMIN'! GET US OUT OF HERE!"
Even with the sharp, sickening twist of fear at the way she's phrased it, her husband doesn't need telling twice. Wash rattles off the main engine sequence and pounds an open hand on the thruster controls. Serenity wrenches backward and spins into a pirouette that, if not the most graceful manouever she's ever pulled, gets the job done; they shoot away into the black, engine lit a bright burning yellow, and behind them, in the walls of the Academy, the ominous rumbling continues.
It would be too easy if this were the end, though.
Which is why a second beeping begins to harmonize with the first, and why, on Wash's radar, three sleek military ships flicker into view.
Voices. Thuds.
Gunshots.
Screaming.
It almost drowns out the steady beeping of the fuel gauge, which has picked up in intensity and frequency as the last of their reserves trickle away. 17.6% and falling fast: three more minutes until the point of no return.
Suddenly, there's a rumbling jolt that rocks the ship, and Zoe's voice crackling over the comm: "WASH, EVERYBODY'S ON THAT'S COMIN'! GET US OUT OF HERE!"
Even with the sharp, sickening twist of fear at the way she's phrased it, her husband doesn't need telling twice. Wash rattles off the main engine sequence and pounds an open hand on the thruster controls. Serenity wrenches backward and spins into a pirouette that, if not the most graceful manouever she's ever pulled, gets the job done; they shoot away into the black, engine lit a bright burning yellow, and behind them, in the walls of the Academy, the ominous rumbling continues.
It would be too easy if this were the end, though.
Which is why a second beeping begins to harmonize with the first, and why, on Wash's radar, three sleek military ships flicker into view.