High Flight

This wasn't supposed to be a stand-alone, but the talk of poetry-inspired writing made me think of this scene, and I think it kind of works without having to know the whole context of it in my fic. For those who have read my series, this goes in story number 12, still in development, and follows sometime after "What Begins With an Apple."

(Later)
Arrrggghh. Can't seem to load my story from my thumb drive on this computer. I will try again later. Sorry.

I remember you mentioning this, some kind of scene with Mal and River and all kinds of metaphor. Should be good!

ah the hidden track! i'm thinking - bonus feature, easter egg...

and also that Aliasse has mucho da bad mojo since no/one can post properly while she's on holiday!

Alright, here 'tis...
Still a little bit raw and under-developed (you'll see the wires showing in some spots) but mostly in shape. I'm appending the poem that got this started, in the next post.

HIGH FLIGHT

“River, we’re bound for Bernadette,” Mal stated as he entered the bridge.

River merely looked at him and waited for him to complete his thought.

“Bernadette’s in the Core,” Mal continued, as he seated himself in the pilot’s chair and automatically began running down the checklists that every pilot went through at the change of watch.

Thank you, Captain Obvious. River avoided the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that all these obvious statements were leading up to the crux of the matter. She just wished he’d get to it without all the tedious preliminaries.

“Core means controlled airspace,” Mal added, looking at River as if he knew just what was going through her mind. “Now, we ain’t hardly done any controlled flight since you started piloting, just a landing here and there. But this is different. Soon as we enter the White Sun [in Chinese] System, everything’s controlled airspace. Can’t go nowhere without a filed flight plan. When we get past [reach] [somewhere], I’ll contact [somewhere] Center and activate our flight plan. From then on, we’ll be flyin’ as directed by the flight controllers, on standard vectors, right through to the approach to Bernadette. We get into the vicinity [neighborhood] of Bernadette, they’ll handoff to Bernadette Approach, and when we get atmospheric, they’ll most likely direct our helm from Shinjuku Tower.”

“That makes you uneasy.”

“Damn right it does, Albatross. We’re flyin’ right into the Core, to Bernadette of all places. We just come from Beaumonde, where the gorram Blue Hands come after us, and your face and your brother’s re-appeared on the bulletin. Blue Sun Research Division is headquartered on Bernadette, and yeah, I think that’s enough to make me uneasy.”

“We shouldn’t go.”

“We should. We got legitimate business there.” He met River’s stare with one of his own, held it for a moment, then broke. “Well, okay, we also got illegitimate business there, but we’re solid.” Thank goodness for the legal cover cargo. Papers and everything on it. Wouldn’t do for an independent owner-operated transport ship to fly into a busy company-dominated port city like Shinjuku with an empty hold and a lame story about hoping to pick up a cargo there. Such-like transactions didn’t raise an eyebrow out on the Rim, but would be a red flag to Port Authority in the Core.

“It ain’t no joke, flyin’ into controlled airspace,” Mal continued his captain-y lecture. “The Space Traffic Controllers ain’t the Law, and they don’t necessarily share info with the Law, but the fact is they got an ID on us, the whole time we’re there.” He absently scanned the ship’s log, approved the course settings, and accepted River’s transfer of the helm to his flight desk.

“Albatross, you’re gonna be flyin’, but as a trainee. Either me or Zoe gotta be up here, to stay within the letter of the law, since we’re licensed pilots and you ain’t. I don’t want to call no unnecessary attention to our ship, so we just go easy and follow the rules.”

“There are lots of rules.”

“More ’n you can shake a stick at, Albatross.”

“Makes it a little more difficult to slip the surly bonds of earth.”

Mal smiled, and a little puff of air passed through his nose. Albatross knew how to make him laugh. “Yes, I’ve read that poem, too. And I’m here to tell you that the flight regulations in the Core require that you double-check that all them surly bonds been completely and properly slipped before you take to the air.”

“Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth—” River intoned.

Mal grabbed the electronic paper with the current STC “Notices to Space Travelers” printed on it. “Sunward climbs must not exceed maximum climb rate permitted for spacecraft utility class rating,” he declaimed, pretending to quote from the regulations.

“—Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—”

“Oh, no you ain’t, Albatross. Not in front of no Core Space Traffic Controllers you ain’t done them hundred things.”

“—wheeled, and soared, and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there—”

“Like that’s a big deal in a VTOL craft. Tell me something special you can do, Albatross.”

“—I’ve chased the shouting wind along and—”

“Shoulda checked the weather report. Them shoutin’ winds can do a number on the primary buffer panel, you ain’t careful.”

“—flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue—”

“Black. It’s called The Black. How long ago was this damn poem written, anyhow?”

“—I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew—”

“You ever fly through a flock a’ birds, Albatross, you gotta check the thrusters for damage. Believe me, I know. I’ve had worse birds than eagles go through my engine.”

River gave him a queer look, as Mal’s face darkened with the memory of Niska’s good right hand Crow. Then she continued.

“And while, with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space—”

They both took a deep breath, in concert. Flying through space brought a sense of ease and freedom; they both felt it.

“—Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”

“Pilots are advised that opening the airlock in order to touch the face of God may result in sudden decompression,” Mal mock-quoted. “Protective equipment is mandatory for all high-atmospheric and super-atmospheric extra-vehicular activity, including god-touching.”

* * *

When Zoe entered the bridge a short time later, she found Mal extending a hand in River’s direction, saying only, “Put out my hand—” before they both snorted with laughter and doubled over their control consoles.

“You wanna share the joke?” she asked with all the severity she could muster. It was hard not to crack a smile herself, the mirth of the two lost souls of Serenity was so infectious.

Mal wiped his streaming eyes and controlled his snorts of laughter, waving at Zoe to give him a moment. “You been seein’ to things?” he began, attempting to fall into business with her. The sides of his mouth still crept upward, and his eyes danced with contained amusement.

“Sir,” she began her report, “I done a hundred things—”

Gales of laughter cut her off before she could get another word in.

* * *

Inara entered the dining room and immediately heard hoots of unrestrained laughter coming from the bridge. She followed the sound and found Zoe and River sitting in the pilots’ chairs, laughing their asses off, while Mal stood doubled over in the gap between them, his eyes streaming with mirth.

“No!” Zoe was laughing so hard her ribs hurt.

“Danced the skies—” River gasped out.

“Gotta wear three-point harness during periods of severe sky-dancing, it’s in the regulations,” Mal choked out, and they all started shrieking with laughter again.

Inara couldn’t help but be drawn in, and smiled widely as the three members of the bridge crew gradually leveled off from the heights of laughter.

“High in the sunlit silence—” River supplied.

“You all know what sunlit silence means,” Zoe offered. As soon as the eyes of all three were on her, she deadpanned, “Engine failure in atmo.”

More whoops of laughter followed. Inara didn’t know what game they were playing, but she couldn’t help laughing along with them.

“Wash’s favorite line was ‘I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air’,” Zoe told them, then added in a voice reminiscent of Wash quoting flight regulations, “Pilots flinging eager craft through footless halls of air are reminded that they alone are responsible for maintaining separation from other eager craft.”

They could all just see Wash saying that, and they all laughed and smiled, a little more moderately this time. “That was one of Wash’s favorite poems,” Zoe added. “Had it tacked up over his side of the bed down in the bunk. Not the John Gillespie Magee standard version, but the one with annotations from Space Traffic Control.”

“I don’t know many pilots who can’t quote from it,” Mal responded. “Bet Wash could recite the whole gorram thing.”

“You shoulda seen his shadow puppet version,” Zoe replied.

“I am truly sorry I missed that,” Mal told her, smiling still, but with heartfelt sincerity. “That had to have been a sight to see.” He wiped his eyes again, the remains of humor covering the other emotions [contained in those tears]. “天啊 Tiān ā [God], I miss that man.”

Zoe was silent.

“We all do,” Inara added [agreed].

“He’s still here,” River said. They all looked at her. “He’s here, on the bridge. Wash’s spirit inhabits the bridge. He’ll never leave [Serenity/ ].”

“You know,” Mal offered tentatively, into the silence, “when I’m up here alone, late at night, I could swear Wash still…uh…talks to me.” He stopped. The three women were staring at him.

Zoe nodded, and waited. Mal seemed to have lost his momentum and stalled. “Talks to you, sir?” Zoe prompted, at last, somewhat sharply.

“Um…yeah,” Mal replied softly. “Not…literally. But it’s like he’s in my head, tellin’ me things I should oughtta take mind of...just being himself…bein’ Wash. Good sense wrapped in a humorous package.” He hoped he didn’t sound too deranged, telling them he was in the habit of conversing with the shade of departed Wash on the bridge.

“Good sense,” Zoe echoed. “What’s he tellin’ you, sir? Advising you how to avoid ambush?”

Mal’s smile returned. “Zoe, you know he never did have but one point of view on that. That our jobs were all too damned dangerous, even the milk runs.” Out of habit, he flipped the three check switches on the panel. “Nah, he gives me advice about…you know.”

“No, sir, I don’t know.”

“About, uh…well, you know, he’s the only married fella I know.”

“He gives you advice about marriage?” Inara’s voice conveyed her interest.

Mal looked away. Despite his best efforts, a red flush was creeping up his neck.

“What’s he tell you, sir?” Zoe asked.

“It’s really none of your business,” he mumbled.

“Just curious, is all,” Zoe pressed.

River looked eagerly at him, all ears. Inara held him in an expectant gaze. Dang it, the women were all gangin’ up on him. “Just tells me not to be such a stubborn [in Chinese] sonofabitch / 混蛋 húndàn [bastard] all the time,” he grumbled, and straightened up. “Just got…captain-y things to do,” he claimed, and left the bridge briskly.

The three women stared at each other in the silence left in the departed Captain’s wake.

“It’s still his watch,” River observed.

And here is the poem, with FAA annotations, that inspired this series of scenes. The superscripts have disappeared, but oh well. The "FAA supplement" is anonymous, as far as I know.


High Flight, by John Magee, with FAA Supplement

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth1,
And danced2 the skies on laughter silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed3 and joined the tumbling mirth4
Of sun-split clouds5 and done a hundred things6
You have not dreamed of—Wheeled and soared and swung7
High in the sunlit silence.8 Hov’ring there9
I’ve chased the shouting wind10 along and flung11
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious12, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights13 with easy grace,
Where never lark, nor even eagle14 flew;
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space15,
Put out my hand16, and touched the face of God.

NOTE:
1. Pilots must insure that all surly bonds have been slipped entirely before aircraft taxi or flight is attempted.

2. During periods of severe sky dancing, crew and passengers must keep seatbelts fastened. Crew should wear shoulderbelts as provided.

3. Sunward climbs must not exceed the maximum permitted aircraft ceiling.

4. Passenger aircraft are prohibited from joining the tumbling mirth.

5. Pilots flying through sun-split clouds under VFR conditions must comply with all applicable minimum clearances.

6. Do not perform these hundred things in front of Federal Aviation Administration inspectors.

7. Wheeling, soaring, and swinging will not be attempted except in aircraft rated for such activities and within utility class weight limits.

8. Be advised that sunlit silence will occur only when a major engine malfunction has occurred.

9. "Hov'ring there" will constitute a highly reliable signal that a flight emergency is imminent.

10. Forecasts of shouting winds are available from the local FSS. Encounters with unexpected shouting winds should be reported by pilots.

11. Pilots flinging eager craft through footless halls of air are reminded that they alone are responsible for maintaining separation from other eager craft.

12. Should any crewmember or passenger experience delirium while in the burning blue, submit an irregularity report upon flight termination.

13. Windswept heights will be topped by a minimum of 1,000 feet to maintain VFR minimum separations.

14. Aircraft engine ingestion of, or impact with, larks or eagles should be reported to the FAA and the appropriate aircraft maintenance facility.

15. Aircraft operating in the high untresspassed sanctity of space must remain in IFR flight regardless of meteorological conditions and visibility.

16. Pilots and passengers are reminded that opening doors or windows in order to touch the face of God may result in loss of cabin pressure.

River quoted the same poem, in another chapter of one of my fics, Chapter 5 (on FFF.net) (either Ch 9 or 10, I think, on fanfiction.net) of the story Bandiagara, which also made use of extensive quotes from Douglas Adams and Oscar Wilde. It was another Mal and River scene.

Great story - silly and heartfelt all intertwined, just like Wash

And I love that the planet has a saint's name!

Oh my gosh. Delight.

I did some research, and unfortunately Bernadette is not a world included in the New Canaan run, so I can't tell you what the proper authorities and permits are. But that does mean you can make them up.

“Now, we ain’t hardly done any controlled flight since you started piloting, just a landing here and there. But this is different. Soon as we enter the White Sun [in Chinese] System, everything’s controlled airspace. Can’t go nowhere without a filed flight plan. When we get past [reach] [somewhere], I’ll contact [somewhere] Center and activate our flight plan. From then on, we’ll be flyin’ as directed by the flight controllers, on standard vectors, right through to the approach to Bernadette. We get into the vicinity [neighborhood] of Bernadette, they’ll handoff to Bernadette Approach, and when we get atmospheric, they’ll most likely direct our helm from Shinjuku Tower.”

White sun is Bai hu, white tiger. To get into the White Sun system you have to go through an Asteroid belt called Halo, there might be communication relays out there and there's also a ring of stations, given the oh creative names of station 2a, 2b, 2c, and etc. up to 2k. Bernadette is the first planet in orbit. Jump point for settlers heading for the rim (they have to fill out a form). There's a place that's just called Central Office, capital is called New Tombstone. The only remaining ark that made the transit from Earth is preserved on the planet as a museum.

Up to you if you use any of that.

this was a beauty. and now i can see what you mean about 'scenes'. love it when River's in eye-roll mode. And Wash - Wash and Mal; good to see some depth to a relationship we only saw explored in War Stories and OOG. i do surely miss the magic switches, good to see them get clicked again.

all in all, much fun and also touching (and i don't mean grabbyhands).

and thank you for revealing the poem(s) (which, wow, great pieces and very fitting), your use is very sure and reminds me i have a ton of Amelia Earhart stuff i keep meaning to utilise but never do.

i'll confess that hearing Mal call River 'Albatross' so often kept me thinking a little too much of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PJix23IeF8
but since doug adams was a semi-python that's another kind of channelling almost
And i could hear our BDHs in all the right places; you got good dialogue going on!

I may have overdone it with the "Albatross" -- I'll have to re-read and see if I can't pare out a few of those. I like to have Mal refer to River that way from time to time when she's flying. Especially when they get to the part about larks and eagles...and Albatrosses. However, no need for her to always be a bird.

ebfiddler987 wrote:I may have overdone it with the "Albatross" -- I'll have to re-read and see if I can't pare out a few of those. I like to have Mal refer to River that way from time to time when she's flying. Especially when they get to the part about larks and eagles...and Albatrosses. However, no need for her to always be a bird.

or it might just be me and my brain/memory/monty python default mode!

Bytemite, thanks for the info from the Book (?). I have my own headcanon background for Bernadette -- and it doesn't involve a city called Tombstone! Ha,ha. You'll see when I finally get the Bernadette story put together. Let's just say I've named the city where most of the action takes place Shinjuku after a VERY busy and crowded area of Tokyo, and leave it there for now. See what I was saying in my other thread about when your Headcanon Goes Off? In my head, Bernadette is just totally not a "Tombstone" kind of place! (is there a goofy grin emoticon?)

:B Is the best I can think of.

Yeah, I don't know about tombstone either, because it's a coreworld. But I guess it's called that because it's the jumping point for settlers, and maybe there's a lot of people there trying to take advantage of all these people trying to put together a new life for themselves? Maybe outside the big city, where the Alliance has more trouble enforcing, and new tombstone is a nickname that has become more well known than the city's original name?