Getting Awful Crowded in my Sky (Fan Fic) WIP

[Dave]

Everyone forgotten about this?

Wash put Serenity down in a hollow, sheltered from the strong winds of Teros. Even so, after a few minutes sand grains had already begun to pile up on the window in front of him. Wash reached up and flicked off the three switches on the ceiling above him. He picked up a blue dinosaur from the top of the electromagnetic sensor panel, and stuffed it in his pocket. Then he climbed out of his pilot seat and went down to the cargo bay where the rest of the crew had now already assembled.

As the cargo bay doors slowly opened, the wind whipped up under them and into the cargo hold. Together with the sand, strong sunlight began pouring into the hold, and eventually the edge of the hollow became visible as the dust and sand settled. The most noticeable thing about the hollow was how strange the vegetation appeared, very un-Earth-like in form and colour. River was the first to hear something and she pointed to Simon at the ridge of the hollow. Voices could be heard faintly in the distance.

The crew of Serenity walked down the ramp together and out onto the soft friable soil. Almost immediately small children, who were climbing over the edge of the hollow and down into its base, surrounded them. The children had often come to meet a spacecraft landing, and seemed in high spirits. The children were very excited and the voices carried a long way, although through the strange accent it was difficult understand what they were saying.

Their expressive, wanting faces and outstretched hands were clear though. Kaylee reached into a jacket pocket and found a paper bag of boiled sweets that she offered. It was quickly snatched away from her, and after a short scuffle, distributed around the bigger, and healthier children. Kaylee was disturbed and a little upset by this; she wished she hadn’t offered them at all. What surprised her more was that some children had ignored the sweets completely, and still stood there with their twisted arms begging for something else that they craved.

But Mal sensed that it wasn’t sweets that these children had come for. Although superficially these children appeared to be well fed, they also seemed to have some kind of malnutrition. Some children were limping; some had small skeletal deformities and birth defects, while others had goitres. A few had spine curvatures and knock-knees. He had been to too many of these hastily Terraformed planets before, and knew that in the rush to colonise too quickly, the wanton abandonment by the Alliance, and the aftermath of the war, little thought had been given to mineral deficiencies that would exist on these new worlds. “Don’t fret Kaylee, it ain’t sweets they’re after!”

Simon did not have Mal’s experience, and he had only ever read about these conditions in a textbook. Rich Alliance families didn’t suffer these diseases, but he recognised the symptoms from his student training days, and slowly made the connection. “It’s a lack of Phosphate and Iodide from their diet, they want us to provide them with mineral supplements.”

“I don’t know what you call them in your fancy Alliance Core Planet hospitals, but they want space pills,” said Mal, “and we don’t have enough to supply a whole planet.”

“But they would be worth somethin’ here right?” asked Jayne, for once not far behind the reasoning of the others. He was already wondering which coloured bottle they were in, on the shelf in the surgery.

“If we have them, I don’t think we will be selling them,” said Book, looking to the Captain and Simon for a confirmation, but not receiving one back, “that wouldn’t be ethical.”

Mal was more worried about the security implications. “If these people think we have space pills, they could tear Serenity apart looking for them. For the moment I think we should pretend we just don’t understand them.”

“But we have to do something for these little children, Captain!” said Kaylee.

‘We have to help the little children, Captain’ mouthed Jayne to Kaylee while pulling a face. Kaylee pulled a face back at Jayne.

“I agree with the Captain…” said Zoë.

“Now there’s a surprise!” said Wash.

Zoë ignored her husband and continued, “…maybe we can find a way to help them before we leave, but first we need to repair Serenity.”

“I’m not sure that we can help them, mei mei,” Mal said to Kaylee, “if this planet ain’t got the right minerals, the Earth plants don’t grow right here, and any native plants they eat don’t have the right minerals either.”

“Captain,” said Simon, “I think I could synthesise the right supplements from the raw chemicals. The ship’s emergency flares will contain phosphorus, also the cleaning chemicals have sodium phosphate, and some of the photographic machines use potassium iodide. I just need some time to do it… and its probably more effective if I deliver them as an intravenous hypodermic shot than as a tablet to digest.”

“Okay,” replied Mal, “You try and make the space pills, or whatever it was you just said. Wash, Kaylee, and I will go and find someone to repair the ship. We’ll tell them we might be able to exchange repairs for medicines. That way we don’t need to mention the Lasseter yet. Zoë and Jayne, you secure Serenity and keep away any inquisitive kids or adults. I’ve seen people desperate for space pills before. Shoot them if you have to, but keep them out. Understand.”

They both nodded in agreement, though Kaylee and Book looked worried. “I’d like to remain here too,” said Book, “I may be able to help calm the children.”

“You make sure River doesn’t get into any kinda trouble while we’re away,” Mal told Book.

[Dave]

So, I'm the only person writing this?

Don't blame me if I'm taking it in a direction you don't like then...

For easier working I also copied the earlier posts, opened a Word doc. and corrected the spelling and grammar. I also changed it so it is all in the same tense, and now written as a story rather than a mixture of story/script, and split it into 3 chapters. I also changed 'kitchen' to 'galley', it being a more nautical term. Apologies if that offends anyone, I quite understand that this does not belong to me but to us.

I've attached it as as a txt. file to this post, but here is my next installment.

Chapter 3

Inara had been trying to contact someone on the planet by radio; if she could do some business here then the stay would not be totally wasted, but the few people on this planet she spoke with had never heard of the Guild, let alone had sufficient funds to pay for her services. If there was a backwater farthest away from the Alliance then this was it, which was fine with the rest of the crew considering their present predicament. If only they could repair the ship here. That problem was also proving to be a difficult one…

Mal, Wash and Kaylee had set off together towards the nearest settlement, with a number of children eager to show them the way. It had not been far to walk, but they found that it was only a collection of wooden shacks. They first came to a collection of barns and agricultural buildings filled with sprouting seed and rusty tools, and another shed in which something had died some time ago; the smell kept them well away. Everywhere they went they found only children, no adults, until their young guides brought them to a small house in the centre of the settlement.

This building was a little older and a little more substantial. It had a ground floor built of brick, covered in peeling white paint, with an upper story made of wood plastered with clay. They knocked at the door and found it unlocked. Inside was dark and dusty. The children indicated that they should enter, so they opened the creaky door and went inside.

The room was obviously a workshop of some kind. It was small, yet filled with engineering tools, motors and spare electronic parts; a strange mixture of the old fashioned and ultra high-tech. There was a thick layer of dust, but some areas were clean as if they were recently used. A humming noise came from a bank of Alliance-manufactured power generators that were in fairly good repair.

“Is there anyone home?” shouted Wash.

Mal didn’t say anything, he was less than impressed with this place, and seriously wondered if they would ever be able to repair the ship. Kaylee meanwhile had found something of interest on a workbench and was examining it.

“Who’s there?” came a reply from the top of the wooden staircase.

“Customers… I guess!” replied Wash, looking around the shop.

[Rik_the_Riff]

sorry it's taken me so long - couldn't figure out where to go with this. Hope folks are still reading...

"Then I suppose we can do business," replied the voice, as its owner descended the stairs. Mal was startled to see the grey uniform of an alliance naval officer, but the man who wore it was clearly old and retired, and on a closer look the uniform was visibly dilapidated, as if it had been worn without meaning for many years. The voice was like its owner - dry and rough, as if it had long since been sand-blasted by the unpleasant conditions of the world. "Were you on the ship that just came down?"

"Er, yes, sir. Reavers hit us about three clicks out, and we got lucky, but we took some damage, looking to get some repairs done."

Kaylee, however, was distracted. "Wow," she let out quietly, amazed by what she held...

[Dave]

Sorry, I forgot about this too - anyone else who cares to pick it up again is welcome.

"You were lucky!" said the Veteran, "Those darn Reavers mean we don't get so many visitors... and those we do are generally goram marooned here!"

"I guess we were lucky, Sir... that and a little fancy flying!" replied Mal, who looked over to wash, and allowed himself a small grin. Wash made a small theatrical bow.

"So, what can I do for you folks?" asked the Veteran.

Kaylee was eager to show Mal what she had found, but she didn't want to interrupt. She was almost bursting to tell him.