A Mighty Thorn In a Mighty Paw - Ch. 53
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Setting up the pieces...
CATEGORY: FICTION TIMES READ: 2980 RATING: 9.0 (PG) SERIES: FIREFLY
INT. PALADIN - BRIDGE
Captain Gibson strides down from the middle to the first level of the Bridge. The Tech is still working on his console.
TECH: Almost there, sir. I halted the door, but I'm still fighting for complete control.
GIBSON: It doesn’t matter now. They’ve boarded their ship. Not that it will do them any good. I don’t care if you have to weld them shut, those exterior doors had better remain sealed.
TECH TWO: They’re warming up the ship, sir.
GIBSON: Hoping beyond hope, I suppose.
TECH:(turns, excited, hand on his earpiece): Sir, Commander Madsen has Paul in custody.
GIBSON: Finally, some good news. Have him bring him here. Carefully.
INT. SERENITY - BRIDGE
River sits at the pilot’s console, flipping switches and pressing keys. Mal stands next to her, leaning on the console, staring out the windshield. Zoe stands behind him.
RIVER (calmly, as she continues flipping switches): You really should strap in. Things are going to get very... interesting.
MAL (sitting in the co-pilot’s seat): Define “interesting.”
River only gives him an enigmatic smile as she clicks the intercom. Zoe cocks her head and gives Mal a look.
RIVER: Kaylee, I need you to deactivate the thruster hydraulics and downgrade the core containment field.
INT. SERENITY - ENGINE ROOM
Kaylee looks shocked.
KAYLEE: River, that’ll...
RIVER (VO Intercom): No time for discussion. Reduce the core containment field by increments of five percent every thirty seconds.
Kaylee flips the hood of her rad suit over her head, sealing it. She looks ready to cry.
RIVER (VO Intercom, soothing): It’ll be okay, Kaylee. I promise.
KAYLEE: O... okay.
RIVER (VO Intercom): When I give the word, crank the field back to one hundred percent and strap yourself in. Dong ma?
KAYLEE (with more confidence): Shua.
Kaylee goes to work on a panel, flipping switches.
INT. PALADIN - BRIDGE
Serenity can be seen on the viewscreen, her thrusters shifted into lift positio
You can't take the sky from me
You can't take the sky from me
And I gotta wonder where Paul is in all this? Cuz he ain't with Madsen...
BEb
I just hope Paul gets out of there in one piece. I can imagine the crew needing some cash in the near future so they try to sell off seven (slightly used) military-grade hazmat suits. Nobody would ask any questions!
Once they get out of the hangar (IF, really, although who can doubt River's ability to pull off this escape?) they'll probably have to go to full burn pretty soon, which would torch the docking bay where the Alliance gunships are waiting, uncrewed, and it would also put them out of range of the Paladin pretty quickly. If Gibson restores control, Serenity will be hard-pressed to escape.
And what is Madsen doing with Powell and the "Thorn"? I don't think he's a friend of Serenity, he's probably just against some of the Parliament's more radical policies, like the Academy and fathers who program their sons with homicidal tendencies. Just a junior officer doing the right thing.
So much tension...WILL THEY MAKE IT? We'll find out soon enough! (I hope!)
-MG
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