TITLE: "PATH OF THE VULTURE"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "FIREFLY"

PAIRING: No specific pairing

RATING: PG-13.

STATUS: SEQUEL to "ONE JUST MAN"

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed.

EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

WEBSITE: http://carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SUMMARY: "Inara tries to decipher the words of a 16th

Century verse from Earth-That-Was convinced it hides a

message. Meanwhile the crew of Serenity embark on a

reluctant rescue mission."

The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Firefly'

are the property and gift of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

No infringement of copyright is intended.

"PATH OF THE VULTURE"

"Firefly" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

* * * * *

The words rolled off Inara's tongue with all the quality and flavour of a fine wine.

"Cuando mas alto subia,

Deslumbroseme la vista,

Y la mas fuerte conquista

En escuro se hacia;

Mas por ser de amor el lance

Di un ciego y oscuro salto,

Y fui tan alto, tan alto,

Que le di a la caza alcance."

The romantic writings of St John of the Cross, the Spanish mystic, flowed through her mind and transcribed themselves into the walls of her heart. Food for the soul.

"The more I rose into the height

More dazzled, blind and lost I spun,

The greatest conquest ever won

I won in blindness, like the night.

Because love urged me on my way

To make that mad, blind, reckless leap

That soared me up so high and steep

That in the end I siezed my prey."

Heart skipping a beat the Companion forced herself to read it not once but over and over again as if somewhere in the repetition the meaning would crystalise. The rising into the height could mean the Black, hitting atmo, but why 'dazzled, blind and lost'? And if 'the greatest conquest every won' was the 'prey' that meant it wasn't love but something else. Inara knew the answer was staring her straight in the face, all she had to do was