Firefly - Kaylee's Last Stand

(Set after Objects in Space)

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The strawberries sat in the galley on the tabletop. The crew stared at them in utter horror. There were the tops of half eaten pits mixed in the with the fresh red berries.

"What do we know?" Malcolm said cooly. There was a slight tremble in his voice, so barely noticable that only Zoe picked up the tone inflection.

"Poisonous" Simon said simply, completely deflated.

"How bad?" Wash asked. His hand reached down and clasped Zoe's. He knew it was bad.

"On the outer rim worlds, its common with some of the crops. The chemicals used to enhance the speed of growth, sometimes they mix with the new Alliance pesticides..."

"What does that mean? To us. In simple language?" Inara asked.

Simon couldn't speak. His head hung low and he stared at his shoes. His hands wrung together tightly, a common tic of his when he was frustrated.

"It's called the 'Green Death'" Book said after a long pause, "Because the crop chemicals are green colored. Tell them son. Go ahead, tell them"

No one stopped to wonder why Book knew so much about Alliance terraforming and crop techniques. Not anymore that they questioned his knowledge of weapons, spaceship design and aspects of noted philosophers.

"I've seen three cases of it on Osiris. All from ships that had it and came running for help. It's airborne transmitted after the patient has been exposed and the infection reaches its latter stages in the bloodstream."

"How did you cure them?" Jayne said. The grim look on Book and Simon's face gave him the immediate answer.

"There is no cure, " Simon said quietly, "The ships were escorted by Alliance cruisers into space."

"Into space?" Wash asked.

"They were taken there to be incinerated by Alliance gunships" Book finished.

"She's seen it before," River interrupted as the whole crew looked at her.

The young girl walked towards the strawberries, fingering them one by one. "That's why she sealed herself in the airlock. She