TITLE: "PREDETERMINED"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "FIREFLY"

PAIRING: RIVER/MAL.

RATING: PG-13.

STATUS: New. SEQUEL to "THE SECOND SORROW"

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed.

EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

WEBSITE: http://carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SUMMARY: "The crew are unhappy with Book's return but

it is nothing compared to what the Captain does next."

The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Firefly'

are the property and gift of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

No infringement of copyright is intended.

"PREDETERMINED"

A "Firefly" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

* * * * *

It was like some weird frozen tableau at the foot of the ramp. Figures trapped in a landscape, caught up in the pages of a story only the page kept moving and the characters were no wiser in their deliberations than a blind man walking in a snowstorm. Only Malcolm Reynolds knew differently. Call it a feeling, an instinct, a draw on his gut that felt the rightness and wrongness of things beyond anything common sense could weigh or fashion. Some folks said life was pretermined. Destiny and Fate walking hand in hand to the fields of freedom with as much detached joy as they did leading a man to the gallows. Now here it was. The thing of it. This moment in time. A choice hanging in the air above them like the executioner's ax. The crowd hushed and silent scarcely daring to draw breath. Stunned some might say. In ones and twos Pepper and his men drifted down the ramp. Not close enough to intrude but able to claim a ringside seat.

"You got all kind of nerve showin' up again."

The Shepherd looked calm and composed but a hint of sorrow darkened the shadows of his eyes. "I took no pleasure in what happened, Captain."

Mal raised his eyebrows. "*Zhen de? *Haoxiao*, I didn't hear no objectin' on your part." He paused but Book did not respond. "Since when did a Preacher take orders from a whore?