The Return – Part 3

Serenity glided through the black of space toward its destination: Earth. The Firefly’s main engine propelled them, Mal telling Wash to leave the VTOL’s off cause they’d need the fuel for landings and take offs and there was no knowing if and when they’d ever find fuel again. The situation they found themselves in lay heavy on Mal’s mind as he stood on the bridge and stared out at the blue-green-white globe approaching. Serenity and its crew had been sucked through a wormhole in the fabric of spacetime, if what River and Simon had said was true and Mal had no reason to doubt the teenage genius or her brother, and now they lay more than forty light years from their home quadrant of space. Earth was the only inhabited planet or moon out here as far as they knew, and from the scans they had made so far, it didn’t look like Earth was very habitable anymore.

“No nav sats, telecom sats, or radio, microwave, infrared comms,” River said matter-of-factly from the co-pilot’s seat where she was scanning the planet. Zoe stood behind her with Mal standing between Zoe and Wash’s seat. Simon was seated in the third seat, behind River and Zoe, going through his encyclopedia, trying to find information on Earth and its main cities. Book was peering over his shoulder ready to offer any help he could while Inara just stood on the deck and stared out into the black, watching the globe approaching them through the vastness of space.

“Simon, where do you think we should head for?” Mal asked as he turned to look at the doctor.

“I think the northern most hemisphere would be the best location to look for anything or anybody,” offered Simon. “It held the largest cities and the most people.”

“And appears to have the most radiation,” said River.

That news was certainly not welcome. “What could have caused it?” Inara asked.

“I’m afraid our fellow humans most likely,” said Book.

Mal looked at the preacher. “War?”

“Yes,” Book began in a somber tone. “A nuclear war is the only reasonable explana