Inferno – Chapter Six

No ownership stated, inferred, nor implied. I’m just writing for the sheer joy of it.

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River’s face was a mask of blankness as she stared out the window at Aberdeen. She reached up for the microphone.

“Captain, you’re going to want to see this,” she said evenly. “We’re approaching the planet.”

Seconds later Zoe, Jayne and the rest of the crew were on the bridge, looking at the approaching planet.

“Oh!” Kaylee cried, and buried her head in Simon’s shoulder. He held her tightly while her body was wracked by sobs of despair.

“Renzi de Shang Di, qing dai wa zhou” Zoe muttered, taking in the sight before her.

Aberdeen was surrounded by a halo of thick, black smoke. Even from space, large fires could be seen in some areas. The devastation was hard to grasp, even from their high eye perspective.

“River, can we make it down through that?” Zoe asked, worry in her voice.

“Unknown,” River admitted. “We’ll have to get closer in order to gauge the thickness of the smoke. It doesn’t seem to be everywhere, though,” River added, looking at her monitors. “We can likely find a thin area, penetrate the smoke, and then fly to the Frye homestead.”

“Let’s work it that way, then,” Zoe ordered. “Just to be safe.” She turned to the rest of the crew.

“Goldie, you and Kaylee to the engine room,” she ordered, nodding at Simon to go with Kaylee. “Jayne, you and Liam make sure we’re strapped down tight. This ride could get rough in a hurry.”

As the crew departed, Zoe looked at River. The little pilot’s face was drawn in concentration.

“River, can we do this?” she asked quietly.

“Yes,” River answered at once. “Likely be rough, though.”

“Take us in, then,” Zoe nodded, looking back out at the devastation.

Companion started bucking as soon as she hit atmo. River guided the ship through the worst of the smoke, emerging into a relatively clear patch of sky. Even in the clearer areas, the turbulence from the fire generated winds was rough.

Zoe reached out for the co-pilot’