Dagger of the Mind, chapter 10
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Zoe Alleyne, playing for time
CATEGORY: FICTION TIMES READ: 2237 RATING: 10.0 (PG13) SERIES: FIREFLY
Author's Note: We head into the final showdown and near the end of our tale. Scroll-over titles added for those who want to see the Chinese translations and notes to Shakespeare references.
Shakespeare References: Macbeth, Act II Scene 3;
If it hadn't been so ludicrous, Mal would have entertained the notion they'd intruded on a very private, possibly adult moment between his pilot and first mate.
There they were, half-way down the corridor. Zoe, kneeling on the floor, shapely legs exposed, wearing Wash's garish, oversized shirt and not quite clutching a long, menacing knife. And Wash, bare from the waist up, planted in front of her, seemingly poised to throw the petite scalpels balanced in each upraised hand. Try as he might, Mal found it in no way reassuring that the color had drained from Wash's face and his eyes were big as saucers.
What's he waiting for, an engraved invitation? Mal couldn't understand it. He was sure he was shouting at the top of his lungs for Wash to throw the ruttin' blades. He'd seen the pilot hit a bulls-eye from over eight meters away -- with either hand! Callum wasn't as remote as that, and couldn't be standing in a more convenient trajectory. So why didn't the man throw? Had he shaved off all his sense along with the mustache?
Who are you kidding, Washburne? Wash's pulse and thoughts were accelerating, rapidly, trying in their different ways to compensate for the fact that the rest of him was frozen in place
Mal's not necessarily wrong. Whatever nobility and reason Callum had, he lost it long ago in Serenity Valley, for exactly the reason that was said. That's the side of the story Wash is forgetting. Callum does indeed have good reasons, even sympathetic reasons. But one doesn't pity someone so consumed by revenge such that innocent casualties like Wash and Kaylee become acceptable.
I daresay Mal's being more charitable to the man than he deserves. Talk to me of Callum's soldiers that Mal killed. It IS different, it is, because it was war, and they weren't civilians, and Mal didn't threaten to have his men rape the women, torture the men. A monster is still a monster, even if it was the designated heroes who made him that way.
Perspective. But then, that's what I like about this story. It's all about perspective. Mal was wrong, as well, and Wash is right to be wary.
I'm glad you are appreciating the ever-shifting perspective between Mal, Zoe and Wash.
Or I had the wrong chapter opened. I fail internet navigation. ^_^'
Good stuff though.
Just a nod to my own cleverness (sorry, guys!) but you'll notice that even when he thinks about working his way up to throwing the knives, the furthest he can get is a cardboard cut out, not the actual person.
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