Firefly Fiction

THE LAST FIREFLY

BY

CLAUDE L. PARISH

The mountain of loose metal and spaceship parts was eclipsed only by the compacted cubes of metal and spaceship parts. The daylight only lasted nine standard hours on Vega. Like the sun that provided it was in a hurry to reveal it and, once revealed, leave it behind in vain pursuit of something lovely on this small orb.

Shells recognizable as ship hulls were laid out by size and salvage worthiness. No respect was given to color, grace or history. Vega was, after all, the Junk Planet.

There were the few that could be repaired, given time and concern. The most reliable was the Firefly Class transport/cargo ship. Little more than a cruiser, it inspired loyalty in those acquainted with the intricacies and inbuilt redundancies of the bug-like ship. It could pass by a fleet unnoticed, being unarmed. It could also be felled by one loose bolt, as had happened more than once.

It was a target for some with evil ends. Sometimes those without evil ends but not so honorable intent would utilize the versatile ship.

But, they all ended up here.

On Vega.

The Junk Planet.

At least the ones that had quit flying. Rumors abounded of the mythical Firefly darting through the system in the outer rings, leaving a storied wake.

Joshua had taken charge of the scrap yard just over ten standard years before. He made a decent living at his job. He knew a lot about what went where. And most importantly, he hated junk. Hated it with a passion some people reserve for an enemy sporting team.

But, he was his own boss and junk was a going business.

What couldn't be salvaged was scrapped. Metal recycling was as natural as breathing for some folk. Joshua just sat back and watched the commerce.

"Hey, boss! We got a big 'un!!" The foreman, Alex Huang sounded excited. He usually didn't, so Joshua hurried out of his office to see what was on fire.

With no fire in evidence, he looked skyward at the delivery ship set on hover above the central receiving docks.

"Yep. Big 'un, all right." Josh said with his customary hayseed drawl which masked his intellect.

The transport was part of a larger convoy, delivering goods to the outer planets. Other, smaller ships brought food, clothing and medical supplies. This one ferried junk that was cast off of civilization for some last opportunity to be of use. In this case, the biggest chunk of cargo was an almost intact junked ship.

"Is that a Firefly?" Alex asked.

"Yup.." Joshua drawled again, this time smiling. "That's a Firefly." He watched as the ship was lowered to the ground. Nothing else mattered. It was clear to Alex that his boss was off in his own world.

"You a fan?" he asked, knowing his boss was enjoying his stay on Firefly World.

"Not particularly," he said with a growing look of new love on his face. "Been lookin' for this one, though."

"Is it special or somethin'?" The foreman struggled to understand.

"SHE" Josh corrected. "And, oh yeah. She's special or somethin'"

As the dust settled around the Firefly, Josh place his right hand on the hull of the ship and closed his eyes. Walking along, still touching the ship, he smiled as Alex had never seen the boss man smile before.

"She's special, Young Al," he said, lowering his hand and opening his eyes to see a ship that needed a lot of work. "She belonged to my grandpa."

Josh grinned with his mouth closed. He didn't know it, but when he did that he looked exactly like his grandfather.

"Maybe you heard of him. Malcolm Reynolds?" Josh turned to actually address Alex this time." Hero of Serenity Valley?Alliance burned up planets chasing him down."

"What's Alliance?"

"Old government. Gone now." He looked back at the grounded ship and the right corner of his lips turned slightly upward. "Everybody's independent now. Grandpa helped put 'em down permanent."

"Hey," Alex said, as if he was ignoring the history lesson."You gonna restore it?"

"HER!" he said, a little irritated." You bet your last credit, she's getting restored. Won't take much, either."

"That name on the side, there," Alex nodded toward the faded Sino-English name, faded but readable, but once lovingly painted in crimson gold and white. "You gonna keep it?"

"That was a name for blood, death and sorrow," he said, raising his hand to block the name with his left hand." I got no connection to Serenity Valley. Not like he did."

" Got a name all picked out. She gets a lady's name. She'll be beautiful again inside of a month."

Josh turned to face Alex again, this time he put his left hand on the younger man's right shoulder, leading him away from the old lady. "When I'm done, I'm gone."

Alex stopped and jerked his shoulder from Josh's lead. "But, this place is yours! You just gonna leave and let it go to waste?"

"Look around you, young Alex," he said in an ironic tone. "There's nothin' here but waste."

"Besides," he continued, "you can have it, ya like it so much."

"Are you serious?This place is mine?"" Alex was a jovial young man and real happiness was hard for him to hide. He jumped about three feet in the air, which, given the gravity of Vega, wasn't always a good idea. When he hit the ground again, his future former boss was smiling as well.

"I made some good coin here," he gazed around for a speck of loveliness, finding only one."No reason you can't do just as well. All I ask is a safe harbor when I need one."

"Absolutely!" Alex didn't know what else to say, but that never stopped him before."What are you gonna name HER?"

The kid was learning. Josh looked up at the paint stain that still said 'Serenity'.

"I'm naming her for my grandma, " he looked back at Alex and said wistfully, " The finest lady there ever was."

"Inara."

THE END

I've been thinking about my death lately. There's usually not enough time in the day to ponder such things, since the captain likes to see his crew moving around and picking things up or, in my case, flying them to places to be sold or traded.

It's not my death so much as it is the way I'll die. Whatever it is, I hope it's fast. And I hope it happens when I'm very, very old. Kids and grandkids to mourn and my wife still looking pretty as she does today.

She'll be able to find someone else. Even when she's a hundred years old, my wife will attract guys in their sixties, at least.

My death, here's hoping, won't be painful and it won't cause anyone else to die trying to save me. They can try. Effort is always appreciated. I'm just saying, don't lose a limb pulling me from under a collapsed building. Unless you can spare it.

Admittedly, I took more chances before I was a married man. I could chase space or dodge lawmen with a little effort. In fact, it took more skill to fly when I knew I had people depending on me to come home in one piece.

I hope to have a son someday. Maybe a daughter. Maybe both at the same time. When I look at my wife and think about how lucky I am that I married such a tolerant woman, I really hope I get the whole package. Wife, kids….a lemur. The dream!

Here's what I think will happen: It could be years and years down the line, but I'm pretty certain that when I do die, it won't have anything to do with flying. If I thought that, I may not be able to fly so much.

Ironically, flying is what keeps the thoughts of dying out of my head.

Maybe that's why the captain likes to keep us busy. Busy keeps death behind us instead of sitting on our doorstep. Not that we have a doorstep for death to sit on.

So, here I sit. Death lays in wait for me. He'll get me one day.

Not too soon, though.

I've got a lot of living to do.

Hey, maybe I won't even see it coming.

Too bad Shepherd Book left us, though. I would have wanted him to christen the kids.

Enough pondering . I've got a spaceship to fly.

I am a leaf on the wind.

Watch how I soar!

THE END

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is that an asteroid field?" the captain yelled. "Sure looks like one!" the pilot called back without taking his eyes off the forward viewscreen."There's no rocks on the charts and.....NONE on the scope. So, it ain't there!""What? A hologram? A big gorram hologram made to look like asteroids?"

"That'd be my first guess!" the pilot shouted, still committed to a straight line that would either plow through a hologram or get cataclysmically dinged by the curious mass of floating, spinning rocks."Can't you slow 'er down?" asked the captain."Just to take a look?"

"We get caught with what we're hauling, asteroid crash'd be a mercy by comparison," the pilot mumbled. "Besides, this AIN'T real!"

BUMP!

"Okay. That one was real," the pilot said as he banked away from the noisy rock that had just substantiated the idea of floating, spinning rocks of death blocking his escape from a motivated pursuer.Then, the pilot did something strange. He flew in close to one of the larger rocks. Close enough to reach out and touch it if not for the need to keep the windows closed in outer space. Without slowing very much, he ran the ship over the leading edge of the space mountain and.....

Nothing.

"That's what I thought!" he shouted and looked back at the captain. Looking forward again, he increased the ship's speed and ran her directly into the center of the swarm of giant space gravel without regard for mass or volume. There were hull impacts, to be sure. Small ones.

Little holo-projectors that the Alliance had set up as a sort of electronic fence to slow down ships who were doing what this ship was doing.

The area was known as "Smuggler's Black" and the Alliance Government had counted on most pilots not being crazy and slowing down at the sight of asteroids where none had been seen before. Even a safe and sane pilot would discover the ruse eventually. But, they would sit still long enough for a fed to catch up to them.

"You crazy bastard!" the captain slapped the pilot on the back.

"It's the job," he said cheerfully. "Crazy's just a by product. I never used to...." swiveling his chair about, he saw that the captain had already left the flight deck. "You are......" he flipped three overhead switches,"welcome."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When a man knows what he's worth, that's when other people try to tear him down. Nothing tears a man down quite like being fired by the very person whose life and livelihood you just rescued. He wasn't fired for the saving of lives. The captain fired him for being foolhardy. In other words, he made the captain look like a fool by ignoring imminent danger and making his own rules on how to act with a gun pointed to his head. Who needed a wild man flying their ship?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The captain of the new ship was trying hard to keep his voice down, but it carried back to the pilot's ears. He was 'whispering' to the woman who was maybe his partner. She wasn't buying the new guy. He bothered her. He heard THAT. She was bothered by him.

The pilot made out the names Crenshaw and Tanaka as the captain continued 'whispering'. If those names were used referencing his piloting skills, all he had to do was keep his mouth shut and he'd be kissing sky again in no time.

If their personal opinions as to his character were being discussed, he'd better forget buying that new shaving kit he needed so badly and start juggling waterfowl for a living.

The pilot was staring in the woman's direction when she and the captain turned around. He smiled a goofy smile and waved a hand at them.

"Now they know I'm a moron," he muttered under his breath.

Next thing you know, he's arranging his little plastic dinosaurs, a holdover from his childhood, calibrating his steering yoke to his personal specs and most importanlty, adjusting the pilot's chair. He would be sitting there quite a lot if the woman with the fierce eyes didn't rip his head off.

As it happened, the woman did not rip his head off. In fact, she grew rather fond of that particular head. Just seeing him enter a room made her smile like a school girl. She knew what he was worth and she was nowhere near tearing him down. Not in an emotional sense at any rate.

Her life had been unpleasant and more than a little difficult to endure so far and along comes this joker of a man who was only ever serious about two things. Flying and her. She had let him in to a place where no man had ever been welcome before. In her heart. And, yes, she DID have one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure about this?" he asked as a messenger drone whizzed by his face, nearly clipping his nose.

"It could wait, you know. How do we even know it'll work? Nothing like the real thing!"He spoke so fast that his words seemed out of sync with his lip movements. He spoke quickly whenever he was nervous about an idea the woman had.

"It works," she said, mocking a stern look at the pilot."People do it all the time. It doesn't hurt and you won't be getting the 'real thing' for at least a month if you don't get in there and deposit some of your liquid DNA!"

The sign above the portal read "Reproductive Assistance Center". The pilot smiled at his wife and gripped her hand firmly in his. With his free hand, he motioned for her to enter the building.

Their alone time was so rare and precious that when they found a place just to talk and laugh, they usually ended up talking about babies. Lots of baby pilots and warriors flying and shooting their way across the 'verse. It was time they did something more than talk. So, they were here. Planting a seed to be harvested at a later date. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had good times and close calls as people in their line of work did. The woman liked to recall the good times. The close calls she remembered were always about what a good man he was in a tight spot. When you come right down to it, she knew that she had chosen well. A man like him.......be with you until you die."

And on that day, that worst of all days, he showed everyone. He showed them that he was the best choice any of them could have made.

Pilot. Friend. Lover. Savior.

It's all there in the recent history 'casts. The pilot 'flew' a dead ship from the impossible height of the upper atmosphere of a beautiful, glowing planet and he landed it, sort of, without anyone aboard getting more than a few bruises.

A big man hit his head, but that was the best part of his body you could hit and not do any damage.

A lesser pilot would have cratered that Firefly and sent up a cloud of fire that could be seen from space. Not him, though. He was a leaf on the wind. He turned a mass of metal and fuel and people into a bubble that floated, sort of gently, to the ground.

When the ship came to a stop and he knew that he had done the impossible, he looked out the window and he smiled.

He smiled forever.

What happened after, everybody knows. The good guys won. The bad guys were exposed as bad guys and there was no coming back from what they had done and nobody was ever afraid of them again. A small band of heroes did some brave things. But it was that leaf on the wind that got them there. History books don't do well with details. I just thought you should know. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I love when you tell stories about my daddy," the little girl with the ever so slightly jutting chin said to her mother, her curly blonde hair a sharp contrast to the light carmel color of her skin. The woman smiled at her child. "He would love you," she said with that love in her voice reserved for her baby girl and her leaf on the wind that she lost five years back.

"He does!"

"Excuse me?" the confused mother asked.The girl reached under the pillow of her bunk she shared with her mother aboard their home in outer space. She felt around for the cube that her uncle had given her as a birthday gift. Bumping his head hadn't messed him up at all.

She pulled it from it's hiding place and held it up and squeezed the activation panel on top of the cube. A hologram of a man who was turning his head and forming a smile appeared and repeated.

The woman looked into the eyes of the hologram pilot as he smiled back at her from eternity. "He does," she said. "He really does."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE END