Jayne

Jayne had to admit that he was impressed – Hunter’s breath wasn’t even catching. “I have no choice, Corporal. They’ve got a pilot in the bay and a stranded ship. Who knows how far it’ll go this time? We can’t risk it. I have to get them off planet. Where’s the locker on 4A?” There was silence. Hunter cleared her throat. “I’ll find it anyway, Jack. Save me the time. And what are you doing still at your post? I gave the order.”

“Midway, sector three. Two doors from the end. And I had to make sure, Lieutenant.” His voice sounded oddly defeated.

“They’ve only hit the pad once, Jack. I have time. Get to your box and stay there. Hunter out.”

There was a small noise. “Clearing eastern horizon, Lieutenant. God go with you.”

“He will. Go.” Looking up past Jayne, she shouted to Kaylee. “Can you see it?”

“Just a few more rungs,” the mechanic’s voice floated down. “I can see the numbers.”

“Go on past it so I can open the doors,” Hunter replied. Upon reaching the doors, she pulled open a panel similar to the one on the lower elevator, yanking down on the lever. The lift doors hissed open slowly, and she dropped through them into a crouch. “Come on out,” she said. “Stay behind me.”

Suddenly more uneasy than ever, Jayne dropped out of the shaft onto the corridor, a queasy feeling in his stomach. Something wasn’t right. He whispered to Kaylee, telling her to stay behind him, to stay close. She grabbed onto one of his belt loops with a couple of fingers, flattened so close to him he almost laughed. Almost. Following Hunter down the hall, he pulled up when she stopped at a long, horizontal locker. Jayne knew what it was before she even opened it, revealing two rows of high-end Alliance rifles, each mounted on a rack with what looked like an ID pad on one end. He grabbed Hunter’s arm as she reached for a weapon.

“Tell me something,” he said. “We ain’t talking about a storm anymore. Are we.”

Hunter didn’t look at him, regarding the weapon shelf in front of her. “Not really.”

Jayne dropped her arm. “Then what are we talking about?”

The lieutenant stared at the gun for a moment. After a moment’s hesitation, she put her hand on the ID pad. There was a sharp hiss, and a warm voice spoke. “Hunter, R. Lieutenant. Identity Confirmed.” With a sharp click, Hunter lifted the gun off the rack, and grabbed some spare ammunition.

“The first time they came,” she said almost to herself, “it was during a storm. A huge storm – took up half the planet. Lightning, thunder – those that were there called it the Maelstrom. The Finger of God. And then they came.”

Jayne felt it then – the cold, gnawing fear in the pit of his stomach. Kaylee’s fingers tightened on the belt loop, the fabric creaking as she clenched her fist. He heard her murmur something that sounded like a prayer. “Wu de tyen ah,” he finally managed. “Reavers.”

Hunter nodded. “They come every few months now. They know we’re here. They know we don’t leave. They know where to find us. And they’re coming now.”

Real fear tightened Jayne’s chest and stomach as he looked over at the weapons rack. “Can I have one o’ those?” He reached out, nearly catching his fingers as Hunter slammed the locker shut.

“No. You shouldn’t need one. Use the one in your boot if you have to.” Jayne looked down. There, strapped to his leg, was his favorite handgun. He looked back up at her, not knowing what to say, knowing that he had been prancing around an Alliance base carrying a weapon, and she hadn’t said a word. Hunter smiled at him, almost patiently. She shook out her right hand gently, then touched her earpiece. “Lockdown 4 Alpha in two. Sequence 4-7.” Hefting the weapon in one hand, she used the other to pull up Wash.

“Mr. Washington,” she said as his worried face reappeared.

“Lieutenant,” he replied, looking nervous. “I’m glad to hear from you. I’ve been getting some weird-”

Hunter spoke over him, a humorless smile on her face. “I’ve got a joke for you, pilot. What’s red and black and dead all over?” Wash was silent, the same terror Jayne was feeling beginning to creep over the pilot’s face. Hunter’s smile widened. “I’ll give you a hint,” she said. “There’s two of them.”

Wash reached for the controls, but Hunter’s voice stopped him. “Everything’s being sealed off. We’re coming to you. We can’t go through the tunnels or below ground. We’ll surface in the cave beneath the blind arch about a half klick to the northwest of you. Give us five minutes, then start your engine. Start fast, come up fast, leave fast. I don’t want to risk them picking up your trace if I can help it. Dong ma?”

“Dang-ran,” Wash replied. “Hurry.”

The wolfish smile returned. “Don’t you worry. Just be ready. See you in eight minutes.”

Clicking off the comm, she turned back to Jayne and Kaylee. “Follow me closely. Don’t get ahead, don’t get too far behind.” Checking the gun, she hefted it and began moving down the hall, the easy, efficient lope Jayne had seen Zoë use.

The run seemed to go forever. Jayne heard two of the clangs meaning the doors had shut. Reaching down, he pulled the gun from his boot, wanting to feel more in control. He could feel the panels banging against his back and Kaylee’s fingers knotted in his belt. Time seemed to slow down, and he seemed to be watching from outside himself as they neared the final turn.

Carefully approaching the door, Hunter looked around it. It led into another cavern, and through the shallow cave, Jayne could see dust, sand and daylight. Large blocks and boulders lay scattered around. “They’ve only come to this area once,” Hunter said as she “I’m not even sure - ” her words were drowned out by a sudden engine howl. Jayne felt relief, glad that Wash had come sooner than expected when Hunter shoved him backward. “Inside!” he heard her screaming over the noise. “Get back inside! Go! GO!”

Jayne heard Kaylee screaming behind him. Backpedaling towards the door, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and hit the ground, shoving Kaylee sideways. Rolling over to see if she was all right, he came face to face with what looked like a rusty harpoon, smack in the middle of the door. From the way the door was bent, he knew in an instant that he wouldn’t be going back through. Instead, he pushed Kaylee in front of him. Ducking in a corner behind a large boulder, he did his best to protect the young woman with his body. Peeking over the top of the boulder, he saw that Hunter was already heading back toward them. Over the lieutenant’s shoulder, he saw what may have once been a large mule, but was now nothing but an abomination – a tiny Reaver vessel painted in blood, covered in bones, and full of screaming monsters.

Reavers. Half-men. Beasts. Demons. He didn’t care what they were. He just knew they wouldn’t take him alive. He peeked over the top of the boulder again and watched them come. He counted them. Too many. He could hear the howling, the screams, the wails, the obscenities. He wanted to shut his eyes and scream himself. Instead, he took aim, and fired. And fired again. And again.

Hunter threw herself down beside them, swearing fervently and without repeating herself. Rolling onto her back, she took a breath, then leaned over the boulder and began firing. The din was enormous. Jayne followed suit, careful to make sure each bullet was used proper. He felt like he was doing no good – Reavers didn’t die like men. They could take shots to the head, the brain, the back, didn’t matter. They didn’t stop moving until they were beyond what should have been dead. Beside him, Hunter was already slapping her spare magazine into her rifle.

Jayne heard Kaylee scream to look out. The next seconds were a blur. Turning, he saw something flying through the air toward the boulder, red and black and gleaming metal. He felt a painless thump and found himself shoved backward. He suddenly felt as though everything had gone into slow-motion. He could hear every breath, count his own heartbeats. Through the haze in his vision, he saw Hunter rise from her crouch, bringing her weapon to bear. There was a thud, and Jayne watched as the grappling hook slammed through her grey uniform, jutting obscenely out the other side. She staggered slightly, then was yanked violently forward. Jayne heard himself yelling as he struggled up, but Hunter was already acting. In one smooth motion, she slammed her hand into the butt of the gun, releasing a bayonet from the barrel. Swinging the gun in front of her, she sliced through the rope holding the hook, firing at almost the same instant. Jayne saw one Reaver drop, then another. Checking his own gun, he saw that he was almost out of rounds. He looked back over the boulder and saw Hunter firing again, then smashing her gun and the bayonet into another Reaver. Blood was blossoming from her shoulder and leg. With a twist, she yanked the bayonet from the Reaver in front of her, slicing across the neck of another. It fell to the ground, twitching.

There was a sudden silence, broken almost reluctantly by the sound of Hunter’s body hitting the ground.

Jayne stood up and stared. The cave was littered with corpses. He counted at least ten, not including one blood-soaked Alliance uniform. Kaylee popped up, concern overcoming her terror as she ran to the lieutenant’s side. “Back…” Hunter managed. “More will come. Pilot’s coming…” her voice faded as her head lolled back onto Kaylee’s lap.

Kaylee nodded. “I hear. He’s coming.” She looked up at Jayne, then back at the sealed door. “We can’t leave her. They’ll come back. They’ll…” she broke off. “They can’t have her. Simon… Simon can fix her.”

Jayne’s voice sounded harsh even to him. “We can’t take her.”

“We have to. She’s got nothing else.”

“Her own people will come. Leave her be.” He started as he heard another engine sound, this one deeper, different. Kaylee didn’t move.

“It’s Wash. We’re taking her.”

“Gorram it, girl! We can’t - ”

Wash’s voice came over the comlink. Kaylee reached gingerly into Hunter’s bloodied jacket to retrieve it. “I’m 30 seconds out,” he said. “Is everyone okay?”

Kaylee spoke, sounding older than she had a few minutes earlier. “Everyone’s fine. It’s safe to land. Hurry up. We’re taking on a passenger.” She looked at Jayne, her eyes dark with anger as she spoke over the whine of the approaching shuttle. “I’ll get the panels.”

Wash touched down delicately, dust swirling around the bodies and the dead mule. “Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze fuh ur-tze! What happened here?”

Kaylee waited until Jayne had lifted Hunter gently from the ground and was headed for the shuttle. She then stood and retrieved the panels from the rear of the cave, near the doors. Grabbing them, she ran for the shuttle, closing the door on her way in. “They found us,” she said. “She fought them off. We’ve got to get her to Serenity. Simon can help.” She looked down. “He has to help. She saved us.”

Dropping the panels to the floor, she pushed past Jayne, who sat on the floor holding the greyback, not knowing what else to do. Hunter’s face was pale, her lips bloodless. Jayne held his hand over a wound in her leg as he kept her upper body off the floor, the grappling hook still in her chest. He looked up at Kaylee as she sat next to him, then looked back down at the Alliance officer.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that they were already too late, and he found himself wondering why he cared if they were.