Kind of a Belated Birthday Fic for Lytton: Serenity
Title: Serenity
Genre: SciFi, AU
Rating: M (just in case)
Characters: SenshixShitennou, MamoruxUsagi
AN: This was originally meant to be a one-shot birthday fic for Lytton, but then it started to grow and I have this multi-chapter thing half plotted out and not nearly complete.
It's Sailor Moon characters in the Firefly verse, if that makes any sense? Anyway, I abandoned it (temporarily) to work on (the ever delayed) Hooligans and to start on Hush, I AM still working on those (I really am, I promise) but this first chapter has been sitting here for AGES and I figured,'meh, why not? POST IT!' So, here it is. Also, I have tried to squeeze in as many sci-fi references as possible, just for your entertainment. Enjoy!
“Sir!”
Endymion didn’t hear Keanu calling him, the sound being drowned out by the distance and the fact that a cargo ship flew over their heads just at that moment. “Maybe we can try somewhere where the ships aren’t at least three times my age and won’t have me praying that we don’t crash and die in a hellish-fire every time we try and leave atmo?” He looked down at the petite woman standing next to him. She was wearing a neon blue cheongsam with pretty pink flowers embroidered into it, and was holding a colourful paper umbrella which did little to shade her from the powerful light of the large midday sun. Endymion suspected she simply kept it so she could twirl it in her hands, hypnotising people who watched the swirls of green, blue, yellow and red as they spun.
Nitty smiled and then shoved her husband lightly with her delicate shoulder. “Those kinds of ships cost money we don’t have,” she said before she began to wander away, still twirling her umbrella, having seen something which had caught her eye amongst the scrap heap barely fit to be called ships. “Mr salesman, sir? What class is that one?” She asked, her sweet voice raised to get the salesman’s attention.
The owner of the used-vessel dealership, hearing her query, quickly wrapped up a conversation with one of his employees. “Don’t forget to pick up those power converters from Toshi’s Station!” he said. Endymion noticed how quickly his scowl turned to an over-exaggerated smile as turned to look at Nitty. “Which one ma’am?” he asked, making his way towards her.
Nitty pointed at the ship in question and walked closer to it, “That roundish one there.”
“Oh!” The portly man sped up to a trot towards her, “That’s good spotting ma’am! She’s a Falcon class… quite common in the war, known for her sturdiness. She’s fast too,” he pulled out his handheld and began scrolling through a list on its screen with his finger, “She’s got two Girodyne SRB42 sublight engines, although the previous owners made some heavy modifications, including the impressive gun cannon right there…”
Endymion watched as the salesman made his best pitch and smiled to himself because he knew it was futile. A quick glance at the hunk of metal his wife was asking about told him everything he needed to know. Falcons were old models, originally commissioned by the military as transport vessels and as such, finding spare parts would be too troublesome to be worth it. Plus, this particular Falcon looked like it had seen more than its fair share of warfare and he didn’t trust that it was structurally sound, more than likely its frame would be full of fractures and breaks, a death-trap waiting to spring on innocent and unsuspecting smugglers like himself and his sparse crew of two. Whose ever ship it had once been, they’d used it to the point of no return and there was no way he was going to be suckered into buying it.
Endymion scanned the area around him, the dealership was full of ships like the Falcon and any ones which seemed flyable were completely unsuitable for his purposes, nothing seemed to call out to him and he was becoming frustrated at his dim prospects. Nitty may have been joking, but she was right, they needed more money to find something decent but they just didn’t have it. They were stuck in a catch-22, to afford a ship that didn’t look condemned they needed coin, to get the coin, they needed a ship. If he wasn’t the extremely stubborn type, he would have given up and accepted the security job offer from Uranus Enterprises on Neptune II by now.
“Sir!” Keanu called out again, this time louder.
“Yeah?” Endymion turned around, finding it difficult to spot his friend between the rusty ships, shuttles and scrap.
“I think you should come and see this.”
It sounded serious. Although whenever Keanu spoke, it always sounded serious.
“Where are you?” Endymion asked, walking towards where he thought he’d heard Keanu’s voice coming from.
The tall, white-haired man appeared around a corner and signalled him over with a wave of his hand. Nitty, seeing the motion, decided to abandon her interest in the Falcon and investigate. Being left on his own in mid-sale speech, the salesman followed as well.
“What are we looking at?” Endymion asked. “It looks like a bug and a bird got together and had a big, fat, metal baby.” Granted, it was in better shape than the other ships in the yard, but it definitely wasn’t winning any beauty contests.
Keanu gave a brief glance at his former commander and then looked back at the ship in front of him. “I’ve found her.” His voice held a certain finality to it.
“Come again?” Endymion asked, confused and frowning. He noticed that Keanu had folded his arms, a sure sign that it was going to be almost impossible to argue with him. The man could be a pain in his royal behind - he was tall, overly imposing, always thought he knew better (often he did) and naturally colourless. Most people would see Keanu as nothing more than a ghostly-thug, especially when they first met him: black cargoes; black, heavy boots; a tight grey t-shirt; and a black vest; short, gunmetal hair; gunmetal eyes; and the gunmetal dog tags of his former unit hanging from his neck. The man looked like a walking gun, matching the silver and black Mare’s Leg strapped to his hip. But he was loyal and passionate, he just never expressed it as loudly as his sister did. He’d follow orders unhesitatingly from those he trusted, even when he knew it was the wrong decision. Keanu’s way was usually to guide people to the right answer, rather than tell them directly. So if he questioned something, or took a stand, it was always for good reason.
Still, Endymion couldn’t help reverting back to his original thought: Keanu was a pain in his royal behind. He took a good look at the ship in the distance. It was larger than what they’d had in mind, and likely it would cost more to repair than to buy: it was missing a good few panels of the outer hull and he doubted the engine could run, more than likely it would have to be replaced entirely. It was nothing like the dream-ship they had discussed -less than two decades old, light, fast and small enough to be manned by a crew of five or less. “This is nothing like what we’re looking for.” Keanu remained silent, letting Endymion continue on. “I wanted something newer.”
“You know we can’t afford it. Be realistic, Sir.”
Endymion wanted to hold on to the illusion no matter what his former Lieutenant said. “We could if it was small enough. This has three decks, at least. I wanted something with two, maybe even just the one.”
“You’ve considered the possibility of taking on passengers,” Keanu countered, “We’ll have the space with that one.”
Endymion thought back to the multiple conversations he had had with Keanu and Nitty. Taking passengers had been an idea he’d liked, it was easy money and it would lend legitimacy to their main intended business (cargo-hauling and smuggling, or as Nitty preferred to call it: backwater bargaining), but it had been scrapped in favour of getting something which wouldn’t need a crew of too many. The less people Endymion was forced to trust, the better. He looked at the ship again and found another point of argument. “It has two shuttles. What do we need two shuttles for?”
“We can rent one out.”
“Passengers, a crew of- how many do you think you need to keep that thing in space? Eight? Fifteen?- and semi-permanently renting out the shuttles? What do we need all those extra people around for? No Keanu, this is going to be my ship and I want it private: Nitty, you, me, a pilot, an engineer and that’s all, and preferably the last two in one person.”
“That’s not possible. You can’t fly a ship and run back to keep the engine going at the same time.”
“It is possible, we just have to find someone with some speed on them. Or better yet, you can learn how to fix an engine and I’ll pilot the ship, then we won’t need any more than the three of us.”
Keanu smirked, his muscular arms still crossed. “You’re an average pilot at best, we’re going to need better than that, and unless it’s got a trigger attached to it, I sure as hell don’t get along with anything mechanical.”
“Fine, I can be the engineer, you can be the cook and Nitty can fly,” Endymion suggested, teasing.
“Nitty?” Keanu raised his light eyebrows.
“Would you rather she try to fix something and blow us all to smithereens?” Endymion asked, dryly.
“Are you talking about her being the cook, or the engineer?” Keanu’s lips had a ghost of a smile on them, a sure sign that he was amused. “Because it could be either.”
Endymion felt it was his duty to defend his lady’s honour. “Watch it, that’s my wife you’re mocking.”
The tiny smile didn’t move. “You were mocking her too.”
“I’m allowed, I’m married to her.”
“And I begged her not to do that but she never does listen to me.”
“Frak you.” Endymion seemed genuinely affronted by the comment. “What’s so bad about being with me?”
Keanu was not fazed in the least. “You’re unreasonable and overly-picky.”
Endymion called him a goat-lover in Mandarin.
A few moments of silence passed as the two men stared at the ship. “Nitty would enjoy the company, you know how she likes to talk to people,” Keanu stated eventually.
Endymion’s mouth tightened. If there was one thing which could change his mind about a point, it was if it made life better for his wife. But he decided to be stubborn in this argument, he’d been thinking about his idea of setting up a cargo transportation operation for a long time and had made very specific plans: which areas they were going to head for, what cargo they might take (true, they would be limited with a small ship, but it would be a sacrifice he'd be willing to make), how much they were going to spend on a ship, which people they could trust as middle men, it had all been set in his head. “The less people who know about us, the better, we don’t want to attract the Silver Millennium in any way.”
“It’s inevitable. We’re going to attract the attention of the SM at some point, probably at a lot of points. It’s the nature of our business venture. Better to have a vessel big enough to carry something worth a decent pay load for the times we’re successful, and have enough power to give us a decent chance of running when we’re caught.”
“Your faith in our success is inspiring.” Endymion said.
Keanu cracked a small smile again, this one with a hint of sarcasm. “I’m a realist.”
“Oh!” Nitty exclaimed, having just turned the corner and spotted the vessel.
Endymion turned to his wife. “Oh?” He asked as she made her way beside him. “Is that a good ‘oh’ or a bad one?” He was sincerely hoping for the latter.
“It’s a ‘that’s-certainly-an-intriguing-looking-ship oh’.” She tilted her head and squinted her bright blue eyes. “I like its shape. It’s cute.”
“Darlin’, we’re not buying a ship on the basis of it being cute.”
“Here, Nitty,” Keanu pulled her lightly over to his side and pointed, “Look at its name.”
Endymion followed Keanu’s finger, focusing on a faded symbol to the left of the engine-wing. The writing was difficult to read due to the distance and the washing-out of the paint, but there was enough to make out what it said. He glared at Keanu for not mentioning that tid-bit before.
“Oh my stars!” There was no uncertainty about that sound, Nitty’s eyes shone suddenly and went wide. Endymion figured she must have been able to make out the name as well.
“Serenity!” She beamed, “Look! She has the same name as me! Endy it’s a sign!” she turned her excited gaze onto her husband. “What do you think?”
Endymion sighed, giving in and placing his hand on the small of Nitty’s back. “She’s perfect" he said, watching his wife and smiling softly. He resigned himself quickly enough to buying the ship, letting go of his dream with reluctance but knowing that he had little other choice. It wasn't like he wasn't used to having his hopes suddenly dashed and needing to readjust at a moment's notice. The two people next to him were the only family he had. His whole plan, his ideas about the future, of finding a ship and getting as far away from the reach of the SM as possible, was all to make a good life for them. He sighed at the responsibility he’d shouldered on to himself but accepted it all the same. He’d made a promise when the war had ended that if he and Keanu managed to get out of those damn SM prison camps alive, then he was going to take care of his best friend and said best friend’s sweet, beautiful sister. He’d do a better job at protecting them than he’d done of protecting his first family, that was for sure.
Looking at the siblings now all he could do was bow to their wishes, no matter how much he wanted something different. If they wanted that vessel to be their home, then who was he to argue? But it didn’t mean he had to like it. “I’m not paying any more than planned, though. She looks like she’s going to need some pretty fancy fixing and we’re going to need as much of our coin as we can spare for it.”
“Oh, we’ll get by, I’m sure. Mr salesman?” Nitty said, excited now that the idea of actually having their own ship was becoming a reality.
“My name is Mr Cobb, as in ‘Mr Cobb’s Used-Ship Dealership’! And I’d appreciate you not walking so very fast, it’s hard to catch up.” He was now wiping his brow profusely, obviously still offended that his sales-pitch concerning the Falcon had been cut short with so little regard.
Nitty was undeterred by his annoyance. “What class is this one?”
“It’s a Firefly,” he said, placing his handkerchief back into his coat pocket. “She’s pricier than some of the others since she’s relatively new here.”
Endymion gave the man a dubious look. “Judging by the state of it, I wouldn’t call it new. Out of date and rundown, maybe. She has to be, what? Thirty, forty years old?”
The salesman smiled. “I said it was relatively new.”
Endymion smiled back. “Give us some details on it, Mr Cobb. What is she made of?”
“Let’s see…” Mr Cobb pulled out his handheld again, “She was originally designed to carry cargo, Firefly class, as I mentioned before. She can carry ninety tonnes, eighteen passengers, fusion-explo engine in the back and she reaches a pretty decent rate of acceleration.”
“How does she handle when she flies?” Keanu pointed to the wing engine, “Do those secondary propulsion engines have VTOL capability?”
“Yes sir, they do.” Mr Cobb flicked through the notes on his screen, “But wouldn’t you prefer something closer to the Falcon? It’s faster. Fireflies aren’t nearly as impressive.”
“I’ve heard they can be pretty reliable,” Endymion commented.
“Oh, well sure, but that’s only because they’re not the most technologically equipped. They’re simpler to fix but that’s because they’re simple ships. You won’t find anything special about a Firefly. Now the Falcon on the other hand-”
Endymion tried not to laugh at the salesman’s blatant attempts to get rid of the apparently unsalable Falcon. “I think we’ve set our hearts on Serenity, what’s your asking price for her?”
“More than you could afford, son, if you’re standing by the previous figure you gave me.”
“I’m sure we can work something out, Mr Cobb.” Keanu crossed his arms again as he spoke, his voice deepening even further.
Nitty recognised the look and pitied the poor salesman. Between the combination of charm her husband was about to lay on, and the stoic, deliberate stare of intimidation by her brother, Mr Cobb stood little chance of successfully swindling them out of their money. She stood back, twirling her umbrella and smiling as she watched the men barter for their new home.
Next part is here
Genre: SciFi, AU
Rating: M (just in case)
Characters: SenshixShitennou, MamoruxUsagi
AN: This was originally meant to be a one-shot birthday fic for Lytton, but then it started to grow and I have this multi-chapter thing half plotted out and not nearly complete.
It's Sailor Moon characters in the Firefly verse, if that makes any sense? Anyway, I abandoned it (temporarily) to work on (the ever delayed) Hooligans and to start on Hush, I AM still working on those (I really am, I promise) but this first chapter has been sitting here for AGES and I figured,'meh, why not? POST IT!' So, here it is. Also, I have tried to squeeze in as many sci-fi references as possible, just for your entertainment. Enjoy!
“Sir!”
Endymion didn’t hear Keanu calling him, the sound being drowned out by the distance and the fact that a cargo ship flew over their heads just at that moment. “Maybe we can try somewhere where the ships aren’t at least three times my age and won’t have me praying that we don’t crash and die in a hellish-fire every time we try and leave atmo?” He looked down at the petite woman standing next to him. She was wearing a neon blue cheongsam with pretty pink flowers embroidered into it, and was holding a colourful paper umbrella which did little to shade her from the powerful light of the large midday sun. Endymion suspected she simply kept it so she could twirl it in her hands, hypnotising people who watched the swirls of green, blue, yellow and red as they spun.
Nitty smiled and then shoved her husband lightly with her delicate shoulder. “Those kinds of ships cost money we don’t have,” she said before she began to wander away, still twirling her umbrella, having seen something which had caught her eye amongst the scrap heap barely fit to be called ships. “Mr salesman, sir? What class is that one?” She asked, her sweet voice raised to get the salesman’s attention.
The owner of the used-vessel dealership, hearing her query, quickly wrapped up a conversation with one of his employees. “Don’t forget to pick up those power converters from Toshi’s Station!” he said. Endymion noticed how quickly his scowl turned to an over-exaggerated smile as turned to look at Nitty. “Which one ma’am?” he asked, making his way towards her.
Nitty pointed at the ship in question and walked closer to it, “That roundish one there.”
“Oh!” The portly man sped up to a trot towards her, “That’s good spotting ma’am! She’s a Falcon class… quite common in the war, known for her sturdiness. She’s fast too,” he pulled out his handheld and began scrolling through a list on its screen with his finger, “She’s got two Girodyne SRB42 sublight engines, although the previous owners made some heavy modifications, including the impressive gun cannon right there…”
Endymion watched as the salesman made his best pitch and smiled to himself because he knew it was futile. A quick glance at the hunk of metal his wife was asking about told him everything he needed to know. Falcons were old models, originally commissioned by the military as transport vessels and as such, finding spare parts would be too troublesome to be worth it. Plus, this particular Falcon looked like it had seen more than its fair share of warfare and he didn’t trust that it was structurally sound, more than likely its frame would be full of fractures and breaks, a death-trap waiting to spring on innocent and unsuspecting smugglers like himself and his sparse crew of two. Whose ever ship it had once been, they’d used it to the point of no return and there was no way he was going to be suckered into buying it.
Endymion scanned the area around him, the dealership was full of ships like the Falcon and any ones which seemed flyable were completely unsuitable for his purposes, nothing seemed to call out to him and he was becoming frustrated at his dim prospects. Nitty may have been joking, but she was right, they needed more money to find something decent but they just didn’t have it. They were stuck in a catch-22, to afford a ship that didn’t look condemned they needed coin, to get the coin, they needed a ship. If he wasn’t the extremely stubborn type, he would have given up and accepted the security job offer from Uranus Enterprises on Neptune II by now.
“Sir!” Keanu called out again, this time louder.
“Yeah?” Endymion turned around, finding it difficult to spot his friend between the rusty ships, shuttles and scrap.
“I think you should come and see this.”
It sounded serious. Although whenever Keanu spoke, it always sounded serious.
“Where are you?” Endymion asked, walking towards where he thought he’d heard Keanu’s voice coming from.
The tall, white-haired man appeared around a corner and signalled him over with a wave of his hand. Nitty, seeing the motion, decided to abandon her interest in the Falcon and investigate. Being left on his own in mid-sale speech, the salesman followed as well.
“What are we looking at?” Endymion asked. “It looks like a bug and a bird got together and had a big, fat, metal baby.” Granted, it was in better shape than the other ships in the yard, but it definitely wasn’t winning any beauty contests.
Keanu gave a brief glance at his former commander and then looked back at the ship in front of him. “I’ve found her.” His voice held a certain finality to it.
“Come again?” Endymion asked, confused and frowning. He noticed that Keanu had folded his arms, a sure sign that it was going to be almost impossible to argue with him. The man could be a pain in his royal behind - he was tall, overly imposing, always thought he knew better (often he did) and naturally colourless. Most people would see Keanu as nothing more than a ghostly-thug, especially when they first met him: black cargoes; black, heavy boots; a tight grey t-shirt; and a black vest; short, gunmetal hair; gunmetal eyes; and the gunmetal dog tags of his former unit hanging from his neck. The man looked like a walking gun, matching the silver and black Mare’s Leg strapped to his hip. But he was loyal and passionate, he just never expressed it as loudly as his sister did. He’d follow orders unhesitatingly from those he trusted, even when he knew it was the wrong decision. Keanu’s way was usually to guide people to the right answer, rather than tell them directly. So if he questioned something, or took a stand, it was always for good reason.
Still, Endymion couldn’t help reverting back to his original thought: Keanu was a pain in his royal behind. He took a good look at the ship in the distance. It was larger than what they’d had in mind, and likely it would cost more to repair than to buy: it was missing a good few panels of the outer hull and he doubted the engine could run, more than likely it would have to be replaced entirely. It was nothing like the dream-ship they had discussed -less than two decades old, light, fast and small enough to be manned by a crew of five or less. “This is nothing like what we’re looking for.” Keanu remained silent, letting Endymion continue on. “I wanted something newer.”
“You know we can’t afford it. Be realistic, Sir.”
Endymion wanted to hold on to the illusion no matter what his former Lieutenant said. “We could if it was small enough. This has three decks, at least. I wanted something with two, maybe even just the one.”
“You’ve considered the possibility of taking on passengers,” Keanu countered, “We’ll have the space with that one.”
Endymion thought back to the multiple conversations he had had with Keanu and Nitty. Taking passengers had been an idea he’d liked, it was easy money and it would lend legitimacy to their main intended business (cargo-hauling and smuggling, or as Nitty preferred to call it: backwater bargaining), but it had been scrapped in favour of getting something which wouldn’t need a crew of too many. The less people Endymion was forced to trust, the better. He looked at the ship again and found another point of argument. “It has two shuttles. What do we need two shuttles for?”
“We can rent one out.”
“Passengers, a crew of- how many do you think you need to keep that thing in space? Eight? Fifteen?- and semi-permanently renting out the shuttles? What do we need all those extra people around for? No Keanu, this is going to be my ship and I want it private: Nitty, you, me, a pilot, an engineer and that’s all, and preferably the last two in one person.”
“That’s not possible. You can’t fly a ship and run back to keep the engine going at the same time.”
“It is possible, we just have to find someone with some speed on them. Or better yet, you can learn how to fix an engine and I’ll pilot the ship, then we won’t need any more than the three of us.”
Keanu smirked, his muscular arms still crossed. “You’re an average pilot at best, we’re going to need better than that, and unless it’s got a trigger attached to it, I sure as hell don’t get along with anything mechanical.”
“Fine, I can be the engineer, you can be the cook and Nitty can fly,” Endymion suggested, teasing.
“Nitty?” Keanu raised his light eyebrows.
“Would you rather she try to fix something and blow us all to smithereens?” Endymion asked, dryly.
“Are you talking about her being the cook, or the engineer?” Keanu’s lips had a ghost of a smile on them, a sure sign that he was amused. “Because it could be either.”
Endymion felt it was his duty to defend his lady’s honour. “Watch it, that’s my wife you’re mocking.”
The tiny smile didn’t move. “You were mocking her too.”
“I’m allowed, I’m married to her.”
“And I begged her not to do that but she never does listen to me.”
“Frak you.” Endymion seemed genuinely affronted by the comment. “What’s so bad about being with me?”
Keanu was not fazed in the least. “You’re unreasonable and overly-picky.”
Endymion called him a goat-lover in Mandarin.
A few moments of silence passed as the two men stared at the ship. “Nitty would enjoy the company, you know how she likes to talk to people,” Keanu stated eventually.
Endymion’s mouth tightened. If there was one thing which could change his mind about a point, it was if it made life better for his wife. But he decided to be stubborn in this argument, he’d been thinking about his idea of setting up a cargo transportation operation for a long time and had made very specific plans: which areas they were going to head for, what cargo they might take (true, they would be limited with a small ship, but it would be a sacrifice he'd be willing to make), how much they were going to spend on a ship, which people they could trust as middle men, it had all been set in his head. “The less people who know about us, the better, we don’t want to attract the Silver Millennium in any way.”
“It’s inevitable. We’re going to attract the attention of the SM at some point, probably at a lot of points. It’s the nature of our business venture. Better to have a vessel big enough to carry something worth a decent pay load for the times we’re successful, and have enough power to give us a decent chance of running when we’re caught.”
“Your faith in our success is inspiring.” Endymion said.
Keanu cracked a small smile again, this one with a hint of sarcasm. “I’m a realist.”
“Oh!” Nitty exclaimed, having just turned the corner and spotted the vessel.
Endymion turned to his wife. “Oh?” He asked as she made her way beside him. “Is that a good ‘oh’ or a bad one?” He was sincerely hoping for the latter.
“It’s a ‘that’s-certainly-an-intriguing-looking-ship oh’.” She tilted her head and squinted her bright blue eyes. “I like its shape. It’s cute.”
“Darlin’, we’re not buying a ship on the basis of it being cute.”
“Here, Nitty,” Keanu pulled her lightly over to his side and pointed, “Look at its name.”
Endymion followed Keanu’s finger, focusing on a faded symbol to the left of the engine-wing. The writing was difficult to read due to the distance and the washing-out of the paint, but there was enough to make out what it said. He glared at Keanu for not mentioning that tid-bit before.
“Oh my stars!” There was no uncertainty about that sound, Nitty’s eyes shone suddenly and went wide. Endymion figured she must have been able to make out the name as well.
“Serenity!” She beamed, “Look! She has the same name as me! Endy it’s a sign!” she turned her excited gaze onto her husband. “What do you think?”
Endymion sighed, giving in and placing his hand on the small of Nitty’s back. “She’s perfect" he said, watching his wife and smiling softly. He resigned himself quickly enough to buying the ship, letting go of his dream with reluctance but knowing that he had little other choice. It wasn't like he wasn't used to having his hopes suddenly dashed and needing to readjust at a moment's notice. The two people next to him were the only family he had. His whole plan, his ideas about the future, of finding a ship and getting as far away from the reach of the SM as possible, was all to make a good life for them. He sighed at the responsibility he’d shouldered on to himself but accepted it all the same. He’d made a promise when the war had ended that if he and Keanu managed to get out of those damn SM prison camps alive, then he was going to take care of his best friend and said best friend’s sweet, beautiful sister. He’d do a better job at protecting them than he’d done of protecting his first family, that was for sure.
Looking at the siblings now all he could do was bow to their wishes, no matter how much he wanted something different. If they wanted that vessel to be their home, then who was he to argue? But it didn’t mean he had to like it. “I’m not paying any more than planned, though. She looks like she’s going to need some pretty fancy fixing and we’re going to need as much of our coin as we can spare for it.”
“Oh, we’ll get by, I’m sure. Mr salesman?” Nitty said, excited now that the idea of actually having their own ship was becoming a reality.
“My name is Mr Cobb, as in ‘Mr Cobb’s Used-Ship Dealership’! And I’d appreciate you not walking so very fast, it’s hard to catch up.” He was now wiping his brow profusely, obviously still offended that his sales-pitch concerning the Falcon had been cut short with so little regard.
Nitty was undeterred by his annoyance. “What class is this one?”
“It’s a Firefly,” he said, placing his handkerchief back into his coat pocket. “She’s pricier than some of the others since she’s relatively new here.”
Endymion gave the man a dubious look. “Judging by the state of it, I wouldn’t call it new. Out of date and rundown, maybe. She has to be, what? Thirty, forty years old?”
The salesman smiled. “I said it was relatively new.”
Endymion smiled back. “Give us some details on it, Mr Cobb. What is she made of?”
“Let’s see…” Mr Cobb pulled out his handheld again, “She was originally designed to carry cargo, Firefly class, as I mentioned before. She can carry ninety tonnes, eighteen passengers, fusion-explo engine in the back and she reaches a pretty decent rate of acceleration.”
“How does she handle when she flies?” Keanu pointed to the wing engine, “Do those secondary propulsion engines have VTOL capability?”
“Yes sir, they do.” Mr Cobb flicked through the notes on his screen, “But wouldn’t you prefer something closer to the Falcon? It’s faster. Fireflies aren’t nearly as impressive.”
“I’ve heard they can be pretty reliable,” Endymion commented.
“Oh, well sure, but that’s only because they’re not the most technologically equipped. They’re simpler to fix but that’s because they’re simple ships. You won’t find anything special about a Firefly. Now the Falcon on the other hand-”
Endymion tried not to laugh at the salesman’s blatant attempts to get rid of the apparently unsalable Falcon. “I think we’ve set our hearts on Serenity, what’s your asking price for her?”
“More than you could afford, son, if you’re standing by the previous figure you gave me.”
“I’m sure we can work something out, Mr Cobb.” Keanu crossed his arms again as he spoke, his voice deepening even further.
Nitty recognised the look and pitied the poor salesman. Between the combination of charm her husband was about to lay on, and the stoic, deliberate stare of intimidation by her brother, Mr Cobb stood little chance of successfully swindling them out of their money. She stood back, twirling her umbrella and smiling as she watched the men barter for their new home.
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