Starlight Chapter Three

By J.D. FarnWorth

  (072111) All rights belong to that of Joss Whedon, Fox and whoever else would lay claim to the Firefly and Serenity Verse. Don't copy or use this material without the permission of myself AND someone holding the copyright. It is for entertainment use only.

   Also, if you see a spelling error or any other issue, feel free to send me a note as many have in the past week. I will update with corrections so future readers will enjoy the story more and more. You can friend me on Facebook and follow me here. Search for Serenity Lost chapter one and you should find me easy enough. Also if you do have a Facebook account please Share my links with your friends. In the end it is all about keeping the verse alive.

Starlight station, Module one, Deck 3, July 12^th, 2504, 12:31

  Up until a few hours ago, Starlight had felt like home. Now the station felt more like a prison. Air passed through the vents as it always had, but the freedom to walk the emptiness was gone.

  Zack sat against the freshly welded door listening to the sound of boots hitting the deck. He felt closed in, more so than anyone else, he also had answered an advertisement and left a past behind. It had taken him days to talk his twin brother into the spacer’s life.

 

  They had grown up on Regina, a mining world. Where their father had staked a claim and became wealthy compared to the poor folk living in tents just down the road from their home.

  When his mother was pregnant, she became sick with what was later called, Bowden's Malady. It is a degenerative disease that affects the muscles and organs of its victims. It didn't matter that she had never been in the mine. She was stricken just the same.

  When they were born, they suffered from the same aliment.  He ended up with chronic bronchitis that is mostly controlled with an expensive medication called Pascaline. His brother wasn't so fortunate, stunted growth showed more and more as the years went on. Halfling, Space Dwarf, Minor Shrimp were just a few of the names called out by the groups of children that teased his brother.

   After ten years of suffering, their mother died and their father lost all hope and reason. The man they called father lifted them into an iron trolley and pushed the boys deep into the mine. They had always wanted to go see the mine that brought their family so much wealth. It should have been a great occasion, but at the end of the line they saw their mother's body under her imported thousand count sheet set. Before they could even scream their father pushed down on the plunger with both hands. With a violent rumble, he dropped the ceiling on his family, killing him instantly.

  If it wasn't for his brother's small size, they would have had little chance. Marty climbed to the surface to find help. Days went by before Zack was freed. He had been alone in the dark with what was left of his mother and father.

 

  Zack slammed his head against the freshly welded door, again and again. Starlight was a safe haven, but now he was trapped once more. 

* * *

  The crew gathered around the large table in the Caf-Deck. Everyone looked to the captain for what to do next.

  “Adam, do you have your EC unit?” asked the captain, pulling at his fresh uniform.

  “Sure,” answered Adam, pulling it from its holster and warming it up. The screen lit up and an Alliance symbol formed.

  “Give it to Gabe, and everyone else, lets relax and play some poker, and maybe have a snack,” said the captain, sounding a little like he was unsure of what to do next.

  Judy moved away from Gabe and onto the business side of the counter, saying cheerfully, “I am sure I can whip up something.”

  Gabe took the Electronic Clipboard from Adam and logged into the device.

  “That isn’t going to get me bound, is it?” asked Adam, looking confused.

  “No, but, you might get to make your first space walk,” answered Gabe, jokingly. He looked over to the captain's facial expression and refrained from laughing further. Without another word Gabe headed off to his cabin.

  The captain reflected, “I think I am starting to get the hang of the evil look.”

  “Oh, Cap! You have always looked evil,” said Judy looking around the room for support.

  Everyone laughed in the Caf-Deck as they relaxed for the first time since their uninvited guest had arrived. Judy rattled the pots around and started to prepare lunch for her captive audience.

  Jenny appeared through the open hatch, asking. “What is so funny?”

  “Judy was just telling us a joke, so we laughed. You know that the microphones on this deck have been malfunctioning for the last hour or so and if anyone is watching they might be a little more relaxed if we just seemed to be a happy go lucky crew,” stated the captain, once again trying out his evil look.

  “So, Gabe fixed, well, rather broke all of the cams or just this one?” asked Adam, smiling, trying not to look directly into the camera or at the captain who looked like he had a facial twitch.

  “There are three, one here, one in the corridor and one in the storage room. The have eyes on us, but no ears. So, if they see us sneaking around, they might start to think we are up to something,” answered the captain, slapping the table and laughing like a mad hatter.

  “And, are we sir, up to something, sir?” Adam asked, as he also laughed at the captain's antics.

  “Yes, that is the point of the laughter. Now does anyone know any jokes?” asked the captain. “Or am I going to have to use my evil look as well as my evil laugh.” He looked around the room at his crew with one eye closed and the other rolled back in his skull.

  Everyone chuckled including Adam. He was sure he was laughing for an entirely different reason and wondered if a strange gas had been pumped into the deck.

  Someone tapped on the wall and the captain started towards the hatch.

  “Not without me,” yelled Adam, standing as soon as he saw the captain rise from the table.

  “Are you sure you want to follow me?” asked the captain.

  “No, but I want to know what is going on and why Gabe took my EC unit.”

  “Very well, follow me and Judy you might want to put a hold on lunch,” said the captain.

  “That was what I was thinking, Cap,” she answered heading over to the table to play some poker.

* * *

  They entered the cabin and Gabe was nowhere to be found. The room already looked like the command center. It had debris on the floor and clothing spread from one side of the room to the other.

  “Gabe, you in here?” ask the captain.

  “Yeah, I'm in the head, come in,” he answered, sounding muffled from the closed hatch.

  “Hmm,” Adam muttered, looking towards the door nervously.

  The captain pulled at the latch and door popped open. He looked back at Adam for support. He decided he would run if Adam took flight.

  Gabe had been very busy setting up his equipment in the cramped compartment. He had taped three monitors to the railing, pulled in a power supply from the cabin and even mounted the EC unit on the sink.

  Gabe frantically typed on the keyboard linking each monitor to the station’s Prowler system.

  “So, what are you up to?” asked Adam.

  “We are finding out what those Moon-brains are up to,” answered the captain.

  “Can we get caught? I believe someone mentioned a space walk with suit optional?” Adam asked, nervously looking at the large man in the tiny room.

  “We won't get caught. These monitors are cloned to the three monitors on the control console. They only think that they are running things. I know my system better than anyone else. That is why I asked who was going to be running my station in the control room. The man they have up there has no idea what he is doing with the system that is in place on Starlight, it is a station computer as well as an interactive gaming computer,” answered Gabe.

  “So what does that give us?” asked Adam, waving his hand about. “I am just trying to catch up with the disobedience.”

  “Well, if you were up there, wouldn’t you be interested in what is going on and focus on the main events with the only three working monitors?” answered Gabe, pausing and looking up at the monitor.

  “Yes, but...” answered Adam, stopping to watch as he noticed the image flicker back and forth.

  The center monitor flashed to the hallway and then back to the Caf-Deck. The Prowler program identified each crew member in the Caf-deck and even Zack sitting alone at the end of the corridor.

 

  “They are looking for someone,” stated Gabe, looking to the captain.

  “Me? You think they are wondering if I'm up to something.” The   captain looking almost hurt by the mere thought.

  “Well, aren't you up to something, Cap?” asked Adam.

  “Well, yeah, but they don't know that!” Rod leaned back into the head to get a better look at the monitors.

  “You might want to slip back to the group. We will keep you posted,” stated Gabe, continuing to tap commands on the keyboard of the EC.

  The captain waited at the open hatchway leading to the corridor, “Let me know when they are looking back at the Caf-Deck and I will time my entrance.”

  “Good idea, be ready,” answered Gabe raising his hand up and dropping it to signal the captain.

 

  Up on the monitor, the view switched from the Caf-deck to the corridor. The captain appeared in mid stride walking down the hallway. The Prowler system identified him and followed him into the Caf-Deck. The Prowler program held and framed the captain relaxing at the table.

 

  Adam and Gabe watched for a few seconds before focusing on the right monitor.

  “Where’s that?” asked Adam, pointing with his out stretched hand.

  “That is where Marty and Zack fought, earlier,” answered Gabe, slapping his balled up fist into his hand.

  “And where is this other monitor focusing?” asked Adam, leaning closer to Gabe to get a better look.

  “One of the lower docking bays. Not far from Reception,” answered Gabe, leaning a bit closer to the monitor.

  On the monitor, they could see men moving light cargo from a vessel and walking out of view. They were dressed as orderlies from a Core Hospital. Light blue, with white skull caps, other than that, they heralded no other information of their purpose or where they had come from.

  “They work quickly, that is in Modular 4, where just this morning the captain 'fixed' the gravity. They must have a good engineer. Can you zoom in on that Cargo door?” asked Adam, pointing to the edge of the screen and a small tag mounted on the vessel.

  “Yes, but if they change the cameras even the shee-niou they got at my station would be able to detect our tampering,” answered Gabe, pulling his fat finger across his neck.

  “Do it and jump back out,” ordered Adam.

  The camera moved in close enough to see the ship’s identification tag; ‘The Betty, Firefly Class‘.

 

“Now back out!” barked Adam.

  The screen flickered once and jumped back to its previous magnification. On the screen, an orderly walked back up the ramp presumably to retrieve more cargo.

 

  Adam look on as Gabe continued to enter code into the Electronic Clipboard.

  “I think we are okay,” said Gabe.

  “Okay, what are they doing with a transport vessel?” asked Adam, moving away from the opened Hatch and closer to the bunks. He glanced at the lower and noted that it looked slept in even though this wasn't Gabe assigned cabin.

  “Ship that size could carry almost anything. It might even be armed to the teeth. If I had full use of the computer, I could figure out what kind of Firefly we are talking about.” Gabe leaned back and relaxed on the only stool in the little room.

  Adam mulled it over and said, “I would guess it is the an ex-military, it‘s markings are...”

  “Wuh duh ma huh tah duh fong kwong huh wai shung! Bodies!” Gabe interrupted Adam's thought and pointed to the monitor.

  Adam ran back almost sitting on Gabe's lap exclaiming, “What?”

  “Bodies! I see dead people!” shouted Gabe.

  On the center monitor, the orderlies pushed what looked to be bodies under white sheets down the cargo ramp of the Firefly and onto the loading dock, pausing to confer with another older man in glasses before pushing the gurneys off camera completely.

 

  “Maybe some kind of cover up?” asked Gabe.

  He was known by everyone on the station to be a conspiracy theorist.   This time he might be right. It was a thought that worried Adam, not the fact that there were bodies being wheeled onto the deck of the Starlight, but the fact that Gabe might be right.

  “Maybe,” whispered Adam, feeling a lump forming in his throat.

  The center screen flickered as the one of the casino cams auto focused on the banks of gaming machines, then panned out to show the whole casino, where gurneys lined up with a whole row of one armed bandits.

  “What in the hell?” whispered Gabe, sounding like he was going to hyperventilate, as he took shorter and shorter breaths.

  The right screen changed to a view of the other end of the casino.

  The left moved to an open station view that contained nine images of different points of view of the station. Each image changed as the operator updated the desired camera angles.

  With a squelch, a channel opened. Mr. Black filled the top right image.

  “Doctor Ryan, How many more?” asked Mr. Black.

  The scientist looking fellow wearing a white lab coat and dark glasses filled the top left frame of the multi-camera view, answered, “We have just three more and then we can begin.” The image panned out and he moved from body to body, examining each subject.

  Adam leaned back from Gabe asking, “Begin what?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” answered Gabe, not taking his eyes from the action unfolding in front of him.

  “I am going to inform the captain and see what he thinks,” said Adam, pausing at the hatch as he had watched the captain do a few minutes before.

  “It should be safe, I think that they’re more interested in what is going on in the casino,” Gabe answered, giving Adam the signal as he had the captain.

  Adam disappeared into the corridor leaving Gabe with his equipment.  Gabe reached out and pulled the hatch closed, letting out an evil laugh and saying, “After all it is a head.” 

Starlight Chapter Two

By J.D. FarnWorth

   (072111) All rights belong to that of Joss Whedon, Fox and whoever else would lay claim to the Firefly and Serenity Verse. Don't copy or use this material without the permission of myself AND someone holding the copyright. It is for entertainment use only.

   Also, if you see a spelling error or any other issue, feel free to send me a note as many have in the past week. I will update with corrections so future readers will enjoy the story more and more. You can friend me on Facebook and follow me here. Search for Serenity Lost chapter one and you should find me easy enough. Also if you do have a Facebook account please Share my links with your friends. In the end it is all about keeping the verse alive.

Starlight station, Module four, Deck 12, July 12^th, 2504, 10:31

Adam pushed off the bulkhead and was the first to make his way back onto the stairs. After he found his footing he reached out for Jenny and then Captain Rod. The three took to their feet as soon as they felt the gravity pull them back onto the decking, leaving Judy to find her own way off of the level.

“Stop at the junction,” ordered their out of breath captain.

“Aye, aye sir,” Adam managed to stammer out; he too suffered from lack of exercise.

On Deck 6, they stopped as the captain had asked and to catch their breath.

Captain Rod and Adam each showed signs of fatigue, Jenny however, didn't look like she had broken a sweat.

Adam and Jenny watched the captain open an unmarked door.

“What is in there, sir?” asked Adam.

“Weapons locker,” answered the captain, still breathing heavily.

“We have a weapons locker?” asked Jenny.

“Yeah, there is a weapons locker on this level and on deck one,” answered the captain, as he sorted the locker out.

“How did you know there were weapons lockers on the station?” asked Adam.

“I looked it up in the computer, just in case, we saw any pirates,” answered Rod handing a pump action shotgun to Adam.

Adam in turn opened the action and loaded a magazine into the receiver.

“You want one?” he asked Jenny, pushing a Black pistol gripped shotgun toward her.

She shook her head and looked back at the now present Judy.

“Judy?” he asked, holding out the shotty for her as he had for Jenny.

“Oh, hell yeah!” Judy exclaimed with glee.

This made Adam a little more uncomfortable with Judy, a feat that he thought impossible.

“Okay, what do we do?” asked Adam looking over from Judy to the captain who had armed himself with a shotgun and pistol of his own.

“We head up and see who the hell is on our station and what they want,” answered the captain chambering a round in his shotty.

“If this was a joke of Gabe’s, can I kill him, sir?” asked Adam.

“You are going to have to stand in line for the job,” whispered the captain Rod.

“Before we space Gabe, can I go hide somewhere?” asked Jenny.

“Yeah, just listen for the gun fire and wait for the cavalry,” Adam answered, raising his shotty up hitting the ceiling of the corridor with a thunk.

They headed upstairs and were careful not to make any noise. On the ramp they met Marty and Zack, who both joined them on their climb to deck one. The hatch to the control room door was open, and the light from the room spilled out into the corridor.
“Gabe, everything okay in there?” asked the captain.

“There goes the surprise,” whispered Adam.

“Yeah, I am just having a good old time with captain, Commander? None-of-my-Business, Oh, Commander Bizui,” answered Gage from around the corner.

“Gabe would you like to get shot?” asked Adam, who never made a claim that he either understood or liked Gabe's sense of humor.

“Sorry, I am having more than one conversation at the moment. You need to drop your weapons and get your ass in here before they kill the lot of us. His words, not mine, Rod,” answered Gabe, trying to sound more serious than normal.

“Whose words, Gabe,” asked the captain, showing no signs of emotion?

“Commander Bizui and the half dozen purple bellies that have really big guns pointed at...,” his answer cut short as a one of the soldiers hit him with the butt of his gun.

They could here Gabe's four hundred pounds hit the deck.

Judy pointed up at the camera and they relaxed. She was the first to lower her shotty and set it on the deck, followed by Adam and Captain Rod.

“So, what now?” announced Captain Rod?

“Get in here,” yelled a voice that they didn't recognize.

“Wait here,” whispered Rod to the other four.

Adam nodded and watched Rod disappear into the control room. After a few seconds he realized that Judy had her hand on his buttocks. He smiled and looked back at her saying, “Really?”

She only grinned and lightly squeezed.

* * *

Captain Rod stepped through the hatch onto the cluttered deck of the command center.

“So good you could join us, Mister?” asked the tall man who wore black and right down to his leather gloves. He was obviously in charge.

Gabe lay on the floor next to his chair with this head resting on a stack of Bento boxes. His chest rose and fell but seemed labored.

“I am acting Captain Rodney Wilson. Is your name ‘Bizui’?” he asked, looking around the bridge and the half dozen armed Alliance guardsmen, pointing the business end of the weapons at either Gabe or himself.

“My name is of no concern at this moment. Where is Captain Rutherford? He is the captain of the Starlight according to the records that I have,” stated the commander.

“See, he wouldn’t tell me his name either,” said Gabe waking from being brained.

“Shhh,” whispered the captain pulling him back up into his chair.

“If someone doesn’t answer my questions, I will have everyone on board bound over for dereliction of duty and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said the stranger sounding more weasel than man.

“He went for walk,” answered Gabe running his hand through his greasy hair.

“Captain Rutherford?” asked the man.

“Yes, Captain Rutherford stepped out and never returned. He is floating around here somewhere,” answered Captain Rod.

“Last time I saw him he was near the port side thruster. Cold as a side of beef in the cooler,” answered Gabe looking as the blood smear on his the palm of his hand.

“Bizui!” yelled both the captain and the man in Black. The captain and the Commander glanced at one another finding common ground in yelling at the communications officers.

“Alright, what gives you the right to call yourself captain?” asked the commander motioning the guardsmen to relax.

The soldiers slung their weapons but stayed within striking distance of Gabe and the captain.

The captain leaned against one of the dusty consoles and answered, “We reported the disappearance and the crew drew straws.”

“I didn’t get to draw a straw,” interrupted Gage.

“Understandable,” said the Commander removing his gloves and placing them into his pocket. He seemed to relax and nodded to the Master Chief and a few men. Following his silent orders they, left the control room to check on the rest of the Starlight’s crew. He turned his attention back to the captain.

“And you won your rank by process of a simple game of chance?” asked the Commander.

“No, I lost. No one wanted the job, so I lost.”

“Interesting. Captain Wilson, are you on duty?” asked the commander, running his finger over the console the stood between him and the captain.

“Aye, for the most part?”

“Mr. Blue, note the captain’s appearance and send reprimand into his jacket.”

“Aye aye, Commander,” answered Mr. Blue who by the markings on his collar held the rank of Petty officer Second class. He raised a black EC and began punching out information on the key pad.

“Now, captain Wilson, you and your crew will be dressed in uniform and in my presence in 15 minutes or Captain Rutherford wont be the only man floating near…” he paused, looking over to Gabe.

“Oh, the port side thruster,” interjected Gabe.

“Thank you, the port side thruster. Dohn ma?” asked the man in Black.

“Aye, sir,” answered Captain Rod.

The commander nodded and waved them away.

“Who is going to watch my post?” asked Gabe.

“Mr. Blue is well qualified to take your post,” he said and with a waved off his hand. The Petty officer holstered his pistol and moved to the console.

Gabe and the captain could tell that the Alliance soldiers were in fact a seasoned unit. Most of the orders the officer had given were more akin to telepathic communication. This only happens when a group spends years together. These weren't the regular blue bellies of the core worlds. They were the real deal, and the crew had just been dealt cards with nothing to show.

* * *

Down the corridor, Captain Rod and Gabe joined the rest of the crew. Judy gave Gabe a hug and then the captain.

“Did you hear that?” asked Gabe blushing from Judy's attention.

“No, what happened?” asked Judy.

“The guy just referred to this clown as a real captain,” answered Gabe hitting the young man in the shoulder.

“Really, does he know that your last job was an injector cleaner on the Basure?” asked Zack.

“It didn’t come up. Everyone needs to get into station overalls and meet me in the Caf-Deck in 15 minutes.”

“I’m not sure I have a set,” said Adam pushing Judy away just as she tried to hug him.

“You can have a set of mine. I have three sets I have never worn,” announced Gabe.

“You have been here the longest of all of us. How is it you still having three sets of unies?” asked Judy.

“Hell, I still have three sets of the Red's from Red Suns brief ownership of the Starlight,” answered Gabe, again feeling his head and glancing over to Judy.

“I'll have a look at that in a few, k' hon,” Judy answered, looking sympathetic.

Adam pulled at Gabe to hurry and sort out their clothing issues. Judy watched them head down into crew quarter and moved closer to the captain and whispered, “Captain, why are they here? They don't come out this far, it is one thing to own the station and have a few communication outposts, but to come in strong.” What worried her, the most was that she being this side of thirty, had never seen a purple belly up close. Sure, you see them all the time on The Core news and other shows on the Cortex. “But out here,” she whispered.

“No idea,” he answered motioning her away as the Alliance officer had done to his own men. She didn't move but instead gave him a puzzling look.

“Who are they?” she demanded.

“No idea. Alliance secret service, maybe. That is all I know. Now you have fourteen minutes,” said the captain, again shooing her off.

Captain Wilson turned to a comm-unit and opened a broadwave to all com stations. “Jenny, I am ordering everyone into standard Station jump suits. We have guests, and we will look the part. Everyone will meet me on the Caf-Deck in 14 minutes shaved and suited or you will go on report. Make this happen, people,” he announced, turning the channel off and headed toward his cabin. He wondered if this meant he could move into Captain Rutherford's cabin.

“Oh, that would be shiny,” he said aloud before he could catch himself.

As he passed the large portrait of Captain Rutherford and then the one of himself. It was a much smaller portrait, one of him wearing his crap covered overall from the Basure. He laughed, then ran back and removed it from the wall. He didn’t want to remind anyone of the dark days before he was Captain Rodney Wilson.

***

The Caf-Deck seemed full. Everyone was hard pressed to remember when they had shared a meal.

“So, who are they?” Jenny said as she ran a comb through her hair.

“I am not really clear on that, either,” said Gabe.

“You had enough time to take a shower,” asked Adam noticing Jenny's wet hair.

“I slipped into a guest cabin. I figured it was a good place as any to hide,” she answered pulling her hair back into a bun and asked, “Why are we taking order from them?”

“They are the ones with the guns, dear,” said Gabe flinching as Judy cleaned his head wound.

“I hate Alliance wankers,” said Judy throwing a bloody sponge into a pot sitting on the deck.

“We work for the Alliance, maybe not the gun toting, purple belly psychopaths, but still the station is owned by the Alliance,” Adam announced pointing to his badge on his jumpsuit.

Everyone looked at Adam at that point and laughed. Not at what the man had said, but at the sight of him wearing a uniform 4 sizes to big. It looked as if he had worn a blanket to the meeting. Despite the laughter he poked Judy's chest where the Alliance command patch was sewn on to her uniform.

“Oh, if I only knew you liked a girl in uniform.”

“Bizui,” demanded the captain.

“I never understood why the Alliance wanted a communication station this far from the Core. They seem to be heading out further and further every year. They even have a base on Greenleaf.”

Judy let out a stream of profanity in Chinese under her breath.

“Attention!” ordered the captain, looking over to the hatchway.

Everyone stood from the table as the Alliance soldiers and their commander marched into the already crowded dining room.

“Relax and take a seat,” stated the man in black, removing his gloves and walking over to the large urn placing his palm upon the metal surface. He checked the temperature of the water before pouring a cup. The Starlight’s crew sat and seemed to relax.

“Captain Wilson, is this your entire crew?” he asked, pouring a little tea into a strainer and dropping it into the water.

“Yeah, they are all present and accounted for,” answered the captain, he smiled thinking of the port side thruster.

“You can take a seat with them,” he answered waving his hand and motioning the captain to sit down.

Captain Rod noted the irony of the command and found room at the table.

“Everyone can address me as Mr. Black. It is not my name but it will do. I was never here. We will be your guests for a few days. No record of our presence will be noted in any log. You will be taking a day or two off from duty. We will be running some battle simulations for the next few days. You will hear things that you might want to ask questions about. Don’t. You will see things that you might want to remember. Don’t! We were never here, understood?” He stopped and stirred his tea.

Everyone shrugged and shook their heads.

Mr. Black sipped his tea and set in on the counter next to the urn. He then pulled his glove back over his hand and looked at the tips of his fingers.

“Aye, aye, sir,” answered Adam clearing his throat and looking about the table at his mates.

One by one they answered.

Judy raised her hand and asked, “Sir?”

Mr. Black pointed at the large woman, “Yes, who are you?”

“Judy Riley, Food service tech. Will we be restricted to a part of the station? I ask because there isn’t another working kitchen on board.”

“Understandable. Everyone is restricted to this deck and within fifty meters of this room,” said Mr. Black.

“It sounds like you are going to seal us in,” said Gabe out of turn.

Captain Rod shot Gabe a warning look. Telling him to set there and shut up. Gabe did so.

“I was thinking of shooting anyone outside the aforementioned area, but we could seal you in if you prefer,” he said looking over to a soldier with Master Chief Stripes and nodded.

“Aye sir,” answered the Master Chief turning and moved out into the hall in turn motioning and giving orders to the other solders.

“Okay, Captain Wilson. You will have an hour to have your crew get everything that they will need and get back here. Is an hour enough time?”

“Yes, sir, plenty of time and thank you sir,” the captain answered almost joyfully.

“For the amount of time?” asked Mr. Black.

“No, for not sending us out an airlock,” answered Captain Rod.

Gabe stood up from the table and started for the hatch. “Was that really an option?” he asked, turning back to the group.

Judy slapped Gabe in back of the head on their way out the hatch, causing him to whine once again.

“Captain Wilson, please stay for a moment,” said Mr. Black.

“Yes, sir.”

The two men watched the crew and the solders filter out of the small dining room and into the corridor.

“I did some checking, and your qualifications for being captain are lacking...”

The captain interrupted Mr. Black's labored pause, “Non-existent, for the most part, sir.”

“Exactly what I was thinking, but for thirteen months the station has run without one report being late, all protocols followed, and the communication relay hasn’t gone down once. Other than the staff dressing like they are on vacation on the shores of Ariel, everything seems to have run fine under your command.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I wasn’t complementing you.”

“Sorry, sir?”

“What I am trying to say is, if you follow my orders and don’t get in the way, I will make sure you will be noted as captain with full rights and status of the post, but, if you fail to keep the others in line. You won’t even get a job cleaning toilets for the Basure! Dohn ma?” asked Mr. Black again sounding like a weasel.

“Aye, sir, a great deal is on the line and I will not fail you.”

“Make your crew understands that if they fail to stay here they will be spaced and no one in this ‘verse will care,” said Mr. Black walking away from Captain Rod leaving the man by himself on the Caf-deck.

Captain Wilson sat down for a moment. He reached over to the comm-unit. “Gabe, I need to see you.”

* * *

Sparks flew from the hatch as the last weld was completed. They looked at one another as if the situation couldn’t get any worse.

Adam announced that, “I always said this place reminded me of a tomb.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” said Jenny as she started back down the corridor in the direction of the Caf-Deck.

“Hey, wait up,” yelled Zack.

“Hey, Zack, what happened to you?” asked Adam.

In the excitement no one had noticed his black eye.

“I fell,” answered Zack.

“Into my fist,” exclaimed freshly showered Marty.

“Really?” asked the astonished Adam.

Everyone laughed until Marty responded with a stern look and stated, “Really!”

The rest of the crew stopped and watched, Marty strolled down the corridor and disappear into the Caf-Deck.

“Okay, everyone, if you haven’t found a place to put your head, you better sort it out now. We will be in here for a while.”

“Look at you, sounding all captain-y,” asked Zack.

“Zack, that man with the gun made him captain,” answered Adam.

“You know I could have had that job,” said Zack looking put off.

“Yeah, but as I recall you were the one that held the straws,” answered Adam.

“Yeah, but no one said it was for a real promotion,” whined Zack. With that he grabbed his bunk roll and dragging it off into an open hatch.

Captain Wilson watched as everyone went about settling in. Adam disappeared into his temporary cabin and the others, one by one, found places to bunk. All he could think about was what Adam said. He touched the hatch. It felt warm from the weld.

He turned slowly and whispered one word, “Tomb.”

Just then, a boom could be felt as well as heard.

“That was another ship docking. Sounds like we have more uninvited company,” yelled Gabe.

Starlight Chapter One

By J.D. FarnWorth

(072111) All rights belong to that of Joss Whedon, Fox and whoever else would lay claim to the Firefly and Serenity Verse. Don't copy or use this material without the permission of myself AND someone holding the copyright. It is for entertainment use only.

Also, if you see a spelling error or any other issue, feel free to send me a note as many have in the past week. I will update with corrections so future readers will enjoy the story more and more. You can friend me on Facebook and follow me here. Search for Serenity Lost chapter one and you should find me easy enough. Also if you do have a Facebook account please Share my links with your friends. In the end it is all about keeping the verse alive.

Prologue

Out past Jubilee and Greenleaf, in the sector of space that was once know as New Vegas, floats a station like no other.

The sector, like its name sake was once a Mecca for the elite and the down trodden alike. It was a place that men could lose themselves in a perpetual night to remember; out of the prying eyes of law enforcement it was quite the destination.

The Starlight’s casino was known ’verse wide and only matched by the great casinos on Londinium. The food was excellent and the lodging was compared to the great companion houses on Sihnon. It was a wonder when they closed the station to the public in 2497.

The Red Sun Corporation took control of the Lexus in September of that year and by years end the station had gone dark. It had been rumored that the Red sun corporation had been losing money in the resorts on Mel Bourne and Greenleaf and for no other reason bought the Lexus Corporation to close the station down. Only a hand picked crew remained.

The station’s communication array became vital in 2502 during the hostilities on Jubilee so much so that Alliance command nationalized the station and replaced most of the hand picked crew with laborers from all over the verse. The later being cheaper and should something happen no one would ask any questions about a few missing lower rung employees.

Two years later, the skeleton crew resides over its systems. They fight the boredom of living aboard the behemoth station that is slowly falling apart around them.

Chapter one

Starlight station, module one, Deck one, July 12^th, 2504, 09:10

The control room was dimly lit by the flicker of the three large monitors above the main board. With 12 station consoles, the room was once the hub of every decision made on the station. Through the neglect of years and lack of a repair budget, only two control consoles remain functional.

It is a lonely post for communications officer Gabe Smith, a fat man more at home in a card room than employee. It is more than a rumor that he lost everything on Mel Bourne and was giving his job as a chance to work off his debts. When the Lexus Corporation was sold to Red Sun his contract went with the deal.

Gabe leaned into the microphone and flipped the switch. “Can anyone hear me?” He was hungry and tended to whine to get his way.

The intercom crackled reminding him he would have to repair the damn thing before it fritz out completely.

Jenny Horn's answer, sounded distant with a bit of a Londinium accent, “Yeah? What you need babe?” Every one knew she was from the inner Core originally but she chose never to talk about her past.

He keyed up her location and put her image up on the main screen. She was in the gym of all places. “For God’s ‘sack’! Does she ever work,” he thought.

In fact, like Gabe she also had gotten into a bit of trouble and was transferred here as head activities director for the station. Being that there is not much use for her skill set on a mostly abandon station she spends most of her time keeping fit and waiting for the call to return to New Melbourne.

“Jenny, love, I haven’t had breakfast. Can you sit watch for a few?” Gabe strummed the console with his meaty hand awaiting her response.

“Can’t you get someone else?”

The Core accent was too much for the fat man handle this early in the morning. Gabe leaped from his chair which fell back to the deck making loud noise that interrupted the Com channel for a few seconds. He paused and waited for the feedback to subside.

On the boarder of losing the rest of his patience he asked, “Well, who would you suggest? I just called out on 300 intercoms and you are the only one that bloody answered.” His own Core accent always made its way to the surface when he got upset.

Another tense pause, Gabe watched Jenny on the main viewer. She was making no effort to move toward the command center.

“Gabe,” a deeper voice of Adam Stark answered. “I will be up there in a minute.” He sported that educated hillbilly accent use on many Border Worlds.

“Thanks, Adam,” Gabe answered joyfully.

He switching off the intercom and turned the main monitor back over to Cortex to continue to watch a replay of the Rufflesteins, an animated program popular 15 years ago in the Core Worlds. He could hear the airlock open and close, down the corridor from the command center.

Adam strolled in and managed to miss the piles of food containers scattered across the room. “So, you look busy,” saying this as he ran his finger through the layer of dust covering one of the malfunctioning consoles.

“Never said I was busy, Ta ma de, I said was I was hungry,” Gabe answered grabbing his bulk and swung it around.

Adam looked on at the display of the gross dis-portioned man without responding.

Gabe smiled as what he perceived as discussed and announced, “It takes a lot of fuel to keep this ship flying.”

Adam pointed to the hatch and said, “You’re always hungry, just don’t take too long.”

“Be back after I get some chow and I take a crap,” Gabe said as he exited the command center.

“Too much information,” Adam yelled after Gabe through the hatch.  He turned back to the monitors and listened as the hatched closed down the corridor. The console was filthy. Adam cleared off the control panel and touched the keyboard.

The monitor reacted and as the Prowler program started. He watched as the computer identified each of the crew, marking each with a red circle. Gabe was walking slowly to the Caf-Deck. Acting Captain Rodney Wilson looked to be in the grav-room. Marty Hegel and Zack Hegel were in their bunks. Judy was playing draw poker on one of the working one-armed bandits. Jenny was lifting weights in the gym.

He zoomed in on the beautiful young woman until her torso filled the screen. Her body glistering with sweat made her skin shiny under the bright lights of the gym.

Adam touched the screen with the palm of his hand.  He hadn't heard the hatch close as Gabe walked up behind him and laughed at the daydreaming man.

“You want me to take a little longer?” he said, as he continued to eat out of his Bento box.

The younger man turned off the monitor and stood up. Without a word, he exited into the corridor.

Gabe listened for the hatch to close at the end of the corridor and turned the monitor back on. Jenny’s image filled the monitor once more. She had risen up and her head was cut from view. He reached out as Adam had, and touched the monitor.

“If you weren’t such a bitch, me and you could have fun,” he laughed at the thought of Adam. He reduced the image to a smaller window and went back to his lunch tray and the Rufflesteins.

***

The command center and crew docking is on deck one. Crew quarters, the gym and the Caf-deck is on the second and third decks. Module one connects to the casino module through a narrow circular ramp way. It was designed to close off the rest of the station to the nuts and bolts of the operation.

The station was built and towed out in four parts. The second module consisted of the main floor of the casino, restaurants, an auditorium and the bulk of guest rooms that lined the outside of the station. Giving the either a view of the stars or a view of the floor of the casino, depending on the taste of the individual taste of the guest making the reservation.

Adam headed down the dark corridor past the closed doors. He had once wanted to open each door and look inside. Most rooms on the station were still furnished with a nice bunk and head. The station had lost its luster since its heydays. He often compared this place to a tomb, the guests replaced by quiet dust bunnies moving along the decking with the air flow.

He slipped into his cabin and grabbed his electronic clipboard. Turning, he jumped as if he had seen a ghost.

“Just a halo image,” he whispered.

When he was younger he hadn't talked to himself, but that was before coming to live on this hunk of crap in space. Every once in a while someone would see a ghost, it was said that life in the black makes your brain compensate and Halo images from ones memory will play tricks on the eyes. He hoped that they were right and the station wasn't haunted by the ghost of the visitors that came and never returned home from this place.

Adam started toward engineering, on the way he stopped to check valves and adjusting the equipment. He didn’t know what half the equipment did, but he marked it off the list and moved on. This was his job, three times a day.

Back when the Starlight station had been lit up like a star cluster, his job was performed by no less than three people. If the task wasn’t performed three times a day, an alarm would sound in the control room. After two consecutive alarms, the damned computer would send notice to Jubilee and automatically place a reprimand in his jacket. If he was reprimanded at this job three times, he would be fired and bound for dereliction of duty.

“One more page,” he said, walking down the ramp way entering into the main casino.

The utility colored walls and decking disappeared in his peripheral vision, replaced by carpeted decking, which was dark purple with swirls of color. He imagined it was to force eyes up and onto hundreds of one-armed bandits that lay before him.

The casino was once the centerpiece to the station. Purple drapery and banners once hung from the tall ceilings lay here and there. Row after row of gaming machines and tables still stand like an army of thieves ready to separate guests from their wealth.

“You talking to yourself, sexy?” said Judy coyly. Her accent was definitely borderland hillbilly passing her from Greenleaf.

“Yeah, sorry,” he answered, Looking up and seeing Judy at her usual spot waiting for him to pass.

“Why not stay a while and give me some company?” She swiveled around in the tall chair and stopping just in time to reach out as he passed to grabbed his butt.

Adam jumped and moved directly away from her. She was at least 10 inches taller and weighed twice his 150 pounds.

“I am busy, Judy, and if I don’t get this done it’s my ass,” he answered, waving the EC into the air with one hand to punctuate his statement.

“That is what you always say,” she purred and releasing him.

He knew she had the choice of hundreds of poker machines. She only picked this bank because he walked this route six times a day.

As he reached the end of the row of machines, Adam turned and looked back. She waved her strong fingers at him and moved her lips without letting the words escape.

Adam muttered, “Did she whisper that she loves me? Yikes!” He shook the thought off and went through the hatch that leads to the third Module.

* * *

Judy watched him disappear as she always did. She had grown up on Greenleaf, in a settlement not far from Borha, the second largest city on the small planet. She was used to being popular with the men of her hometown. She left their company looking for a second chance as many of the settler’s youth where doing more and more.

Judy played another round of poker and smiled, thinking of Adam. She knew he didn’t want her, but he never came out and said so. She smiled and waved each day hoping he would return her advances.  She felt lonely in the black.

Back on Greenleaf, she had found an advisement that read. “Do you want to live the adventure of space travel?” It had been posted on the entrance to the Air-lock which was the only pub in town. On the back ground of the poster it showed men and women working together at some unnamed Space port.

“Some adventure,” she said, as if having a conversation with her poker machine. She pushed the replay button one more time.

“Player wins,” the machine announced sedately followed by a series of bells. The credits added to her player’s card and as stood up from the game.

“If I were only a winner of men,” Judy said, walking back to the Caf-Deck.

The Caf-deck was empty of crew but had an endless supply of hot water for tea and other drinks of choose. She poured a cup of hot water from the tall urn. Water piped in from somewhere filled the urn and left a reservoir of water for a crew of a hundred.

The tea wasn’t like the coffee back home, but she loved it just the same. She took a sip and it was hot. Blowing at it, she moved round the counter and bumped her head once again into the bulkhead and yelled, “Wuh de ma.”

“Aiya! Hunaile?” asked Zack as he wandered in.

She turned around, holding her forehead. “Yeah, something’s wrong! I hit my gorram head again.” She lifted her hand and exposed the red bump forming on her forehead.

Zack took a free seat and wiped the table in front of him with the turned down palm of his hand. “So, what’s for breakfast?” he asked.

Years before, the chairs and tables had been moved into the kitchen, along with signs that read Café and Dock. Sometime after the new crew arrived on board, someone had moved the letter ‘e’ to ‘dock’ and made a new sign that read Caf-Deck. The name stuck, and everyone referred to the only working kitchen as the Caf-Deck.

“I can warm up some soup from yesterday, along with some of those muffins you liked.” She stuck her head in the cooler to make sure that Gabe hadn't raided the food stuffs.

“Sounds good. Have you heard anything this morning?” Zack asked, glancing into the corridor.

“Such as?” she answered looking confused as Marty from his cabin three doors down screamed.

“Wei, what the hell! Is this piss?’’

“Like that for instance,” Zack said grabbing the muffins from her hand and headed for the corridor.

“What did you do?” demanded Judy broaching a smile upon her lips.

“Got that wun gwo pee brother of mine back for a year’s worth of practical jokes. Now to make my escape,” he answered stopping at the hatch way leading into the corridor.

“Dzai Gee‘en,” she called after him.

He waved as he turned the corner and broke into a sprint, pursued by a short man with a rather pungent odor.

* * *

The third module houses environmental controls and engineering for the station. It also would be the underbelly of the station. Waste treatment and recycling as well as Gravitation controls. Except for the deck area set aside for guest docking and reception the whole of module three was painted the same color as the outside of the station, a dull utility gray.

Adam stopped at a console marks escape lifeboats and emergency. He pulled the panel free and pushed his EC into the exposed port. It started his daily test automatically.

His thoughts turned to Judy once more. It wasn’t that she was heavy (she wasn’t), it was the fact that she just scared him. He was like a child compared to her size. He wasn’t sure what they fed the settlers on Greenleaf, but they were sure huge.

The EC unit made its ready sound and he moved on deeper into the stations systems.

Adam turned and stepped into the Grav-room. He motioned a hello to the acting captain.

“Ni hao! I trust that everything is ship shape?” Captain Rod said, wiping grease from his hands and moved across the room to the other control panel.

“Ship shape and in Bristol fashion, sir,” Adam said as he joined the captain at the grav-control panel.

“It is hard to believe that little control panel controls the gravity on every deck on the station,” stated the captain.

“Yeah, as long as we leave it alone, it should last for years without a major overhaul,” Adam said, without knowing where the captain was taken him. He watched the captain monkey with the controls before asking, “So, what are you up to?”

The captain didn't answer and continued to work the switches and key in codes into the computer. The captain was well trained as an engineer and really knew his craft. What worried Adam was the man's intention.

He watched as the tall man, went to one knee pulled the control board marked deck four supply room, from under the control panel.

“I just want to have a little fun. You might want to report a gravity malfunction on your EC,” the captain answered raising up and pointed to Adam's hand held.

“Ah, yes, and what should I mark as its expected repair date?” Adam asked as he started the repair note.

“Extended,” said the captain.

Adam looked up as the captain seeming to mull the situation over in his head.

“Order a new board for this console,” ordered the captain.

“What might I say is the reason for the new board, sir?”

The captain dropped the board and crushed it under his foot and gave Adam a crazy look. “Dong le ma?” asked the captain.

“Yes, captain, I will mark it as tread damage,” said the now smiling Adam, making a note in the log. “You know that they will never send us a part to replace that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I was kind of counting on it,” answered the captain.

“Just checking, Sir.”

“You ready to have some fun?” asked the captain referring to the new playground he had just created.

“Not just yet, I need to finish this up and upload the data, along with the tragic news of the loss of gravity in the supply room on Deck 13,” Adam answered turning and pushed the EC into the console and watched as another daily test started.

“Oh, Adam, that wasn’t just the supply room, that was the buss for the whole module.”

“Great... have fun captain!” Adam stated watching the EC’s readout of the percent of completion. He wondered if the captain had a touch of space madness. The stress of command seemed to weigh heavily on the leadership of this ghost station.

“Woo hew!” yelled the captain as he charged down the corridor.

“Why the hell did we make you acting captain?” Adam asked, pulling the EC from the port at the gravity station.

“I heard that,” called the captain.

“Don’t really care, sir.”

* * *

The Forth Module of the station was designed as the main storage.  When the Red Sun closed the Starlight, they auctioned off the food stuffs, and other hardware. In the end, it left the module an empty shell. The only thing they didn't sell was the Gaming machine. Most of the machines were outdated and there was a fear general that someone would want to start another casino.

Gabe pushed back in his chair and watched Zack run from Marty into the arena. He had no idea why Marty had the notion to kill his twin brother Zack, but he probably had his reasons. They didn't look like twins, Marty was much smaller. He had never taken the time to ask why Marty was a runt compared to that of his brother.

The intercom crackled as someone opened a connection, reminding him again to repair the gorram thing.

“Gabe, this is Adam, I am done with my rounds, and everything looks great. I am going to head down to Deck 13.”

“What’s going happening on Deck 13…?” Gabe said as he punched out the instruction to the prowler and zoomed in on camera 1309.

“Great, everyone gets to have fun but me,” he whispered.

There, on the monitor, was the rest of the crew jumping off the walls and were having the time of their lives, while he had to sit here.

“Wait, wait,” he said, switching from the crew and back to Zack and Marty. The little man had caught Zack and was now on top of the bigger man, beating him with his little fists.

“Okay, now this is more like it,” he said, panning another camera around to watch the fight from a different angle.

The control panel for the docking airlock went from Red to Green, setting off a series of alarms all over the control room.

“Warning, Warning boarding of unauthorized personnel noted this day at 0,7,1,2 on 2,5,0,4 point 1,0 point 2,9,” Stated, the computer’s automated alarm as it sent a message back home to Jubilee. It repeated as Gabe struggled to find the volume controls and locate the port of entry. He rushed back to the intercom.

“We have company at port 14 on deck 1,” he yelled as he heard a rifle's bolt slap a shell into its firing chamber. He shrugged and turned around to find the same rifle aimed at his chest.