 |
Home/QuickSearch + Random + Upload + Search + FAQ + Contact |
 |
Disclaimer: The usual stuff about these characters and situations being mine, this being a non-profit endeavor, etc., etc.
Author's note: This story is a sequel to "Cat and Mouse Games" and is part of a story arc. To understand events and references in this story, you probably need to have read that one. (If you haven't read it, go on and read it. This will still be here when you get back.) This story takes place the day after "Cat and Mouse Games" and a couple of weeks after the events in the episode "Objects in Space." Events in the unaired episode "Heart of Gold" are taken into consideration, but without any real direct spoilers you wouldn't also have figured out from "Objects in Space." This series goes AU following "Objects in Space" and does not reference events from any other unaired episodes.
Content warning: There's some violent content that may be disturbing to some people, but probably nothing more than you might see in an actual episode.
"Are we there yet?" Mal stuck his head into the bridge and saw Wash wrestling with the controls, Zoe standing by his side.
"Keep your shirt on. We just hit atmo, so we should be down in a few, assuming I don't kill us all in a fiery crash." Wash turned to his wife. "Sweetie pie, could you let Inara know she's free to go? I kinda have my hands full at the moment."
She took the comm mic down and said, "Shuttle one, we just hit atmo. You're cleared to go."
Inara's voice crackled over the speaker. "Thank you, Zoe. I'll see you in a few days."
Mal felt a sting that she hadn't even said good-bye, although she'd have to come back to return the shuttle and she was probably planning to say her good-byes then. He knew he'd been an ass the night before -- hell, for the past few weeks -- but she wasn't entirely innocent on that account, either.
When did things get so complicated?
"How much longer?" he asked.
"My, aren't we impatient?" Wash teased. "I never knew you to be so eager to talk to Badger."
"I ain't impatient to talk to Badger. I'm impatient to get us another job, and we're already late for this meeting."
"You think the job'll still be open, sir?" Zoe asked.
"Only one way to find out. I'll need you with me, and arm up."
"Expecting trouble, sir?"
"I always expect trouble. That's why I'm still alive. And Badger hasn't exactly been pleasant the last couple of times we've dealt with him. He screwed us over and left us hanging with that one cargo, and then later he held my crew prisoner. There's no tellin' what he has in store for us this time."
"Why do you even deal with that hwoon dahn?" Wash asked.
"I must admit, I've got half a mind to bypass him and go straight to Warrick to see if he's got any work for us, but there are a lot of folks what don't take kindly to cutting out the middle man. That ain't the way it's done, and if Badger got too pissy about it, he could make sure we get cut out of all work in this sector."
He turned his attention to Wash. "I'll need you and the Shepherd to head out for supplies while we're in the meeting. Only what we absolutely have to have to keep us alive a couple more weeks. Until we get this job, we're awful short on cash, as in having next to none."
"Maybe we could sell off a few of Kaylee's spare parts."
"Good idea, but you'll have to be the one to ask her. I doubt she'd be too receptive to a suggestion from me right now."
"You're really going to make her get rid of that cat?" Zoe asked.
"I surely am. A spaceship ain't no place for animals."
"We hauled cattle, sir. Last time I checked, those were animals."
"That was different. That was a job. We don't need any pets around here."
"As I said, we always had cats on board when I was growin' up. They keep the mice, rats and bugs at bay, plus it's just nice havin' 'em. You know, people who have pets tend to be healthier and live longer."
"Oh, is that a fact?" Zoe wasn't usually one to spout medical factoids, so his suspicions were aroused. "And did the doctor feed you that particular bit of information as part of his grand plan? I thought I warned him about goin' behind my back."
She looked him square in the eye. "He told me because I asked him for any information that might be useful in gettin' you to change your mind. This wasn't his idea. It was mine. You got a problem with it, deal with me."
"Why do you care so much about that damn cat?"
"Because you're being so gorram stubborn about it. I don't see what harm having it on board could do, and I can see a fair amount of good. You just don't want to back down."
"Okay, could you two take the great cat debate somewhere away from the guy who's trying to land a spaceship on a very windy day?" Wash said. "I'd much appreciate it."
"Sorry, honey," Zoe said, planting a kiss on the top of his head.
Mal watched the sign of affection with his usual sense of discomfort and wondered once again if Inara had possibly been the least bit right about him and his intimacy issues. "Zoe, I'll see you in the cargo bay when we land," he said, then turned and headed out of the bridge.
He looked for Kaylee in the engine room, but she wasn't there. He found her sitting on the floor of the passenger commons with River. The two of them were playing with the cat, using a balled up black sock that probably belonged to the doctor as a cat toy. The moment Kaylee saw him, she gathered the cat into her arms and held onto it, a defiant look on her face telling him that he would get her cat when he pried it from her cold, dead fingers.
"Relax, Kaylee, I ain't takin' your cat just now. I've got a meeting to get to, so I don't have time for it at the moment." She just glared at him, and he felt himself weaken. He couldn't bear to hurt Kaylee. Then he recognized his moment of weakness and steeled himself. It was for the best, really. "Maybe Badger will know someone who needs a pet. And we won't give him to anyone you don't approve of." He knew he'd probably dug himself in pretty deep with that promise. She wasn't likely to approve of anyone but herself, unless he could find a family with small children who desperately wanted a pet and who would tug at her heartstrings.
She just turned her back to him. "Okay, I know you ain't talkin' to me just now, but you can listen to me, and you'd better, 'cause this is important. I don't want you leavin' the ship here unless I'm with you. Don't even step outside. Zoe, Jayne and I'll be meeting with Badger, and the Shepherd and Wash will be getting supplies. Inara's already off meeting a client. That leaves you, River and the doctor, and I want the three of you stayin' out of trouble, dong ma?"
He turned to River. "River, that goes doubly for you. Don't even show your face outside the boat while we're here. You got that?"
"No going outside," she repeated dutifully.
"Good." He tried to think of something else to say, but couldn't, so he just turned and headed for the steps to the hatch into the cargo bay. As he passed the infirmary, he noticed the doctor inside putting all his equipment away and generally tidying up. After New Lafayette, he felt better about leaving the girls and the doctor alone. The boy could handle himself in a fight, if it came to that, and Mal knew he'd die before he let any harm come to either River or Kaylee.
Zoe was already in the cargo bay, having come down the front stairs. "Where's Jayne?" Mal asked.
"Don't know. I told him we were ready to go as soon as we landed." There was a slight jolt as the ship settled onto the ground, and she added, "Which is right about now."
Just then, Jayne came down the front stairs. "Get a move on," Mal called to him.
Jayne took the last few steps two at a time, then came up to Mal and ducked his head. "Uh, Mal, do you need me for this meeting? See, I got an errand to take care of while I'm here, a real important one."
"An errand," Mal repeated.
"Yep, an errand. I want to make sure I get it done before we head off for the job."
"Well, we don't usually keep you around for your diplomatic skills, although I think you see eye-to-eye with Badger better than I do." That wasn't exactly a compliment, but he was sure that by the time Jayne figured that out, he'd be long gone. "Just so long as you're around for the job itself. That's the important part. Don't be gone longer than two hours."
"Thanks, Mal!" He looked eager and excited as Zoe opened the airlock doors and lowered the ramp. As soon as the ramp hit the ground, he was gone.
"Aren't you just dying to know what his errand is?" Zoe asked.
"With Jayne, I'm not sure I want to know. He probably picked up something back at that whorehouse and he don't want our doc dealin' with it, but now he's gotta get something done fast before anything vital falls off."
Zoe was still laughing as they walked down the ramp and out into the morning sunlight and the hustle and bustle of the Eavesdown Docks. "Remind me again why we keep coming to this world," she said as they wove their way through the crowd.
"'Cause it's where the work is."
"We've got how many jobs here in the past six months? One as I recall."
"True. We got some of our crew here, though."
"Is that a blessing or a liability?"
"Sometimes, I wonder. But they've all come in handy from time to time. The doc and the preacher, particularly. The boy may just grow up to be worth something, after all."
"If he gets the chance to grow up."
Mal had nothing to say to that, for he was thinking the same thing. If he had anything to say about it, the boy would get his chance. It would be all kinds of hilarious if the almighty Alliance could be thwarted by a little doctor and his crazy sister. That one small victory might almost make up for losing the war.
As usual, Badger's gang of armed thugs met up with them before they got to Badger's den. "Well, if it isn't the welcoming committee," Mal said as he kept his hands where the goons could see them. "Don't you feel special, Zoe, to get this kind of reception?"
"I am truly honored, sir," she said, also raising her hands.
The lead thug gestured with his weapon, and Mal and Zoe started walking. "You know, this was really unnecessary," Mal said as he walked. "We know the way just fine. But I guess you wanted to provide an escort to keep us safe in these dangerous streets."
The goons didn't respond. He imagined they'd have to look up the big words to know what he was saying.
He had to blink to adjust his eyes to the dim light of Badger's headquarters. The loathsome little man was in the process of inspecting the contents of a crate while a smuggler who made Jayne look as fancy as Simon in comparison stood waiting nervously.
"It's not what I asked for," Badger said at last. "You don't follow my instructions, I don't feel obligated to pay you."
It was nice to know he wasn't the only one Badger screwed over, Mal thought as he waited impatiently. Maybe it wasn't personal, after all. Badger was just an all-around son of a bitch.
Badger took his time wrapping up his business with that smuggler, then fiddled around with the files on his desk for a few more minutes before he looked up and acted like he'd just noticed Mal's presence. "Ah, Captain Reynolds. There you are. I was starting to wonder if you were going to grace us with your presence."
"I talked to you day before yesterday and let you know when I'd be here," Mal pointed out.
"And Zoe, lovely as always. Where's that big gorilla sidekick of yours?"
"He had other business to attend to."
"Be sure to send him my regards."
"Okay, enough with the small talk, Badger. I prefer to spend as little time around you as possible, so it's best if we limit the socializing. What's the job?"
"You're late, Mal. And don't go trying to pretend that you're really early this time because we both know that you're more than a day late."
"I ain't tryin' to pretend I'm not late. That's why I got word to you day before yesterday that I'd be late. We ran into a little engine trouble. Anyway, we're not really all that late, considering how far we've come. You can't rightly judge travel time when this kind of distance is involved."
"You're still too late for my purposes. The customer don't care much about your excuses. All he wants is someone reliable. You, my friend, are not reliable."
"What? I'm reliable. I always get the job done, and you damn well know it."
"You weren't here when you were supposed to be. How was the customer supposed to believe that you'd get the delivery done when you were supposed to? I 'ad to give the job to someone else."
"Of all the ..." Before Mal could get into a good rant, Zoe put a hand on his arm and shook her head. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths and count to ten in both English and Chinese. Then he said, "If you knew you were going to give the job to someone else when we were late, then why didn't you say something before now so we didn't have to come all this way for nothing?"
"I 'adn't made my mind up yet at the time." Badger moved behind his desk and sat down, trying to give the illusion of being a captain of industry, even if he really was nothing more than a worm. "But seein' as you came all this way, it don't seem fair for it to be for nothing. Let's see if I can find you a little something. There must be some job you can do."
The last thing Mal wanted was to stand here begging for Badger's scraps, but he reminded himself that they needed the money. Just enough money to get away from here, get fuel and more provisions, and then they could strike out to some other sector and find real work. This was the last time he wanted anything to do with Badger.
Kaylee sat on a crate in the back of the cargo bay and watched all the people who walked past on the street outside. The people watching was better from her lawnchair outside, but the captain had said to stay on the ship, and she was doing her best to obey. She still had hopes that if she was very, very good, the captain would let her keep Cat.
Cat had tired of playing with River and Kaylee and wandered off. Then River decided that she should probably help her brother in the infirmary. She still felt bad about clocking him upside the head and leaving that big knot and was trying to make it up to him. And that left Kaylee alone to amuse herself. That was okay, though. She liked watching the people. They were all so different, like they'd come from all over the place, and she was sure that every single one of them had a story to tell. Sometimes, she tried to make up her own story about a particularly interesting-looking person.
Cat jumped into sight, chasing a bug that had flown in through the open ramp. Then he moved forward toward the ramp, and she prepared to chase after him. It would be sad if after all her begging the captain to let her keep him, Cat wandered off on his own. But instead, he found a sunny patch on the decking and lay down.
"Hey!" a voice from behind startled her. Simon.
"Hey, yourself," she said, turning around to see him standing in the hatch that led back to the infirmary, and she had to force herself to finish the last word when she got a look at him. He looked so good. It was funny, when she first met him, what she'd liked most was how rich and fancy he looked in his nice suit, but since then she'd come to the conclusion that he looked his best a little mussed. Right now was just perfect. He wore dark slacks that clung to him in interesting places and a white shirt open at the collar with his sleeves rolled up. His dark hair fell across his forehead, a lock or two dropping in front of his eyes. He looked good enough to eat.
"What are you up to?" he asked.
"Just watchin' the world go by. Where's River?"
"She went up to the dining room to draw. She likes it when we're planetside and sunlight comes in through the windows. It's strange. I don't recall her being this interested in art back home."
She patted the crate next to her. "Come join me."
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea. The captain said I should stay out of sight."
"You would be out of sight. This is far enough back that nobody can see you from the street."
Looking just the least bit doubtful, he stepped through the hatch into the cargo bay and walked over to join her on the crate. She noticed he was barely limping. "Your leg must feel better," she said.
"It does. Rest has wonderful restorative properties."
Cat got up from his sunny spot and came back to investigate the new arrival. He rubbed up against Simon and Kaylee's ankles, then began stalking back and forth in front of them, his tail held over him like a flag. "He looks like he's on patrol, don't he?" Kaylee said. "I wonder what he's thinkin'."
"If River were here, she could tell us."
"You think she really can read minds?"
"I don't know. There's really no other explanation for what we've seen her do. It seems to go beyond intuition or even just being extremely observant. What I don't know is how it works, or if it works all the time. I can't tell if she's reading us constantly and only chooses to talk about the important things, or if she just gets flashes every so often."
"What about tellin' the future? 'Cause she seems to do that, too."
He sighed and looked distressed. "That's even harder to tell. I don't know if it's her subconscious fears coming true, or what. Like her prediction that I would be in danger. I could probably predict that much, just based on the way my life is right now. Is that telling the future, or is that just being afraid of something that's very likely to happen? In a way, she seems to function apart from our timeline. Maybe what sounds so crazy to us is her getting the past, present and future all mixed up. Not to mention things she's heard out loud and things she's read from our minds. And if we think that's frustrating, imagine what she feels."
Kaylee paused for a moment and tried, really tried to imagine what it would be like to be River. River was her friend, and she felt like she owed her that much. But as much as she tried, she couldn't wrap her mind around it. "Poor kid," she said out loud.
She watched Cat some more. She could swear he was marching in step to a beat only he could hear. "Do you think the captain will really make me get rid of him?" she asked.
He put his hand on top of hers where it rested on the edge of the crate and she barely managed not to gasp out loud. "I don't know," he said, apparently not noticing her reaction to his touch. "But when I first came on board he went from threatening to hand me over to the Feds or throw me out the airlock right away to saying he was going to dump me at the next world, and, well, here I am. He's even gone to some effort to make sure I stay on board when he could have easily been rid of me." He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "He's been known to change his mind."
She shifted her hand ever so slightly under his so that their fingers were interlaced, and he responded by squeezing her hand so that they were holding hands, sort of. She felt like she was on the verge of falling right over the edge. How was it that he could do more for her with the slightest of touches than most guys could do with their whole bodies and a whole lot of trying? She figured it was because she knew that the slight touch meant so very much to him. To those other guys, she'd sometimes been little more than a warm body and a moment of pleasure. Truth be told, there had been plenty of times when the guys were a warm body and moment of pleasure for her, and there was nothing wrong with that, so long as that was what they both were looking for. But this was different. It was for real, and she was willing to wait for him to be ready for her. She wasn't even interested in finding someone else for the meantime. Just being around him, being next to him like this, was enough for now.
She sighed in contentment. She couldn't think of too many things better than sitting with him like this, hand in hand. Well, she could think of plenty things better, but most of them involved him and they weren't at the stage for those things yet. He must have misread her sigh, for he said, "Don't worry. I'm sure it will work out. I know Zoe is on our side, and the captain usually listens to her."
She was just about to say something in response when he tensed up and went pale. She turned to see a group of men with weapons standing at the foot of the cargo bay ramp. "River, run," he whispered. Then he turned to Kaylee. "Stay back," he ordered. He gave her hand one last squeeze, then let go, stood and moved forward.
"Simon Tam?" the man at the head of the group asked.
Simon raised his hands as he walked forward, like he was going to surrender. "Simon, no," Kaylee whispered. Her heart pounded against her ribs, and her hands shook. Then suddenly he took off in a sprint, ducking between the men and racing out into the crowded street. Once the men figured out what happened, most of them turned to chase after him. A few of the others stayed behind, like they were guarding the ship.
In spite of Simon's order, she couldn't help but stand and step forward to the edge of the ramp so she could see what was going on. It was hard to tell what was happening out there in the crowd. She couldn't see Simon at all. Maybe he'd got away. Then a shot rang out and somebody screamed. They just kept screaming, long and loud. And then her throat started hurting and she realized she was the one doing the screaming. She clamped her hands over her mouth to shut off the scream.
The armed men came back, and in the middle of them was Simon. His hands were chained behind his back, and one of the men dragged him roughly by his right arm. A red stain spread across his sleeve from a spot on the upper part of his left arm, and his face was all bloody, with blood flowing from his nose and from a gash on his forehead. One side of his shirttail was untucked, and his clothes were dusty, like he'd been on the ground.
As he was dragged past, he caught Kaylee's eye, and she forced herself to be brave and strong for his sake. She didn't want him worrying about her. He held her gaze until he had to turn his head to see her and stumbled because he couldn't see where he was going. His guard shoved him, let him hit the ground, then pulled him back to his feet. She was still watching him go when one of the men still at the ship said, "Where's the girl?"
Still shaken by what she'd just seen, she could only say, "What girl?" Then she realized they were probably talking about River, and she knew she wasn't going to tell them anything. With any luck, River had picked up on Simon's warning and was hiding by now.
"Search the ship," the man told the others. Cat arched his back at him and hissed, and the man moved as though he planned to kick the cat, but Kaylee reached down and picked Cat up, then backed away.
She knew she ought to do something as the men upended crates and generally tore apart the cargo bay, but she couldn't think of what she could do. There were so many of them, and they all had guns, and she was all by herself, except for Cat. She knew they were probably tearing the rest of the ship apart the same way, and she knew the captain would be very, very angry about that. If only he'd come back soon and put a stop to it, but he hadn't been gone all that long. Everything that had happened just now had taken only seconds, even if it felt like hours.
And Simon was gone. They'd taken Simon away, and he was hurt and bleeding and she hadn't been able to help him.
The men came pouring back into the cargo bay from all parts of the ship and reported to their leader. "Nothing. No sign of her, sir," one of them said. "Are we sure we got the right ship?"
"The boy'll tell us where she is by the time the commandant is done with him," the leader said. "Come on." Then he turned to Kaylee and said, "We'll be back. Tell your captain not to leave until we come back to talk to him."
Now she was alone again. Still holding Cat, she backed up until she hit a wall, then she slid down the wall to the floor as sobs wracked her body. Cat licked her cheek, then slithered out of her arms and took up a guard position in front of her. She wrapped her arms around her knees, buried her face against her knees and cried her heart out.
River clung to the handholds on the hull of the ship, her eyes squeezed shut against the onslaught of sensations. Most of them weren't visible, but closing her eyes seemed to help. Sounds, smells, feelings, pain, hurt, fear, despair, anger and confusion all assaulted her, and she couldn't process them, let alone sort them out. Simon would call it sensory overload and take her back to her room to lie quietly with the lights out. He'd sit silently beside her, not even touching her because he knew that was too much for her, but his silent presence helped ground her.
Simon. She fought back a sob. She had to be quiet, very, very quiet, so they couldn't find her. She'd already sensed the approaching danger before Simon's warning whispered in her brain. As much as the warning scared her, it also sent a warm glow through her. It meant that he understood, that he believed in her, that he wasn't trying to pretend anymore.
But he was hurt. She felt his pain as surely as if it were her own, and she hated it because she knew the pain was for her. He'd been trying to buy her time by running and fighting, even though he knew his capture was inevitable. It had worked, though. While the angry men were chasing him, she'd had the chance to climb to the upper hatch and out through the airlock. They'd searched the whole ship, but never thought to look outside. Just like the Alliance officers who'd found them near the ship full of ghosts, their thinking was too limited. They only knew to look inside things like boxes, ships and rooms. They never saw what was on the outside.
The angry men were gone now, and Kaylee's pain washed in waves up through the hull. It wasn't physical pain like Simon's, but rather the pain of a broken heart. River longed to go to her and tell her that Simon was too strong to be lost for good, but she knew that would be wrong. She had to save herself, and by saving herself she'd be saving Simon for Kaylee. As long as she was free, they wouldn't dare kill him.
She climbed slowly and carefully down the side of the ship, using the handholds that were designed to keep people from floating off into space during extravehicular activity. Now, though, gravity tugged her downward. The ground was warm and rough under her bare feet when she landed. Simon always told her to put her shoes on, and now she wished she'd listened.
She slipped between ships, emerging on another street. There was no sign of the angry men, no interest in her from any of the people on the street. This was a marketplace, where people came together to buy and sell. The sensory overload hit her again, and she stood swaying with her eyes closed until she could get each of the sensations settled into its own place. After everything was properly sorted out, one sound remained -- music. She opened her eyes to see two young boys standing in the marketplace. One played a flute while the other beat a drum. They were sad and hungry, and not enough coins lay in the hat at their feet. But their music was so joyful that River momentarily forgot all her cares. As if acting on their own accord, her feet began to dance. She gave herself over to the swirling music, dancing and spinning until all the fear went away.
When the music ended and she returned to her body, she saw that a crowd had gathered and the boys' hat was full of coins. The boys were smiling now, as happy as their music had been. One of them reached out and took her hand. "Come with us," he said. She had nowhere else to go, so she went.
"Where did a preacher learn to bargain like that?" Wash asked as he drove the mule back to the ship. "Isn't there a commandment against cheating merchants?"
"Not strictly," Book said, maintaining a carefully enigmatic expression. "It might fall under the category of lying, which is generally frowned upon, but you may notice I told nothing but the truth. If he wanted to throw in those vegetables as a bonus, that was his decision to do so."
"Well, anything that gives us a little variety in our diets is okay by me, as long as none of us gets struck by lightning."
"How bad is our financial situation?" Book asked. He doubted he'd get a straight answer to the question from the captain or Zoe, but Wash wasn't one to cling to pretenses.
"Pretty damn bad, from the sounds of things. That's why we were swapping spare engine parts for food. Kaylee wasn't happy, but I suspect she thinks that cooperating might help her change Mal's mind about the cat."
"So, we need this job from Badger?"
"Pretty badly. Mal has to be downright desperate to be going to Badger for work these days. Times are tough all over."
"Ah, home, sweet home," Book sighed as Serenity came into view. He never would have thought that this battered-looking ship would come to feel like home, but it had. It was his home, and its crew was his family. He'd never married or had children, but now he felt he had a ship full of children, nieces and nephews.
Wash reached the bottom of the ramp and swore as he drove up into the hold. "What the hell happened here?" he muttered. The cargo bay was a mess, with crates, boxes and equipment all overturned and scattered around. "Maybe River had another one of her spells."
"No, not even River could do this kind of damage." Book jumped off the mule, then spotted Kaylee crumpled up against the wall, her body shaking with sobs. Her cat sat beside her, its ears perked up and alert. It meowed as Book approached as if to ask where he'd been when she needed help. "Kaylee, honey, what's wrong?" he asked, kneeling beside her.
She raised a puffy, tear-streaked face to him and tried to speak, but only sobs came out. He took her into his arms and let her cry against his shoulder. Behind him, he heard Wash on the comm, trying to raise anyone else who might be on the ship. There was no response. Wash came over to where Kaylee was. "Kaylee, what happened?" he asked.
She fought for control, then managed to blurt out, "They got Simon." Book closed his eyes and sent a rapid, silent prayer to heaven on the boy's behalf.
"What about River?" Wash asked.
She shook her head. "I don't know. They searched the ship. They made a big mess. The captain's gonna be so angry. But they went away without River. I don't know where she is. But they got Simon and took him away, and he was hurt." The tears started again, and Book held her. He doubted they'd get much more out of her for a while, and there wasn't much they could do until the captain got back.
Wash opened the weapons locker, took out a gun and stood sentry by the airlock door while Kaylee sobbed and Book tried to think of a way he could help.
Simon had a recurring nightmare in which he was arrested and handcuffed, much like he was now, and dragged through the corridors of the hospital so his former colleagues could laugh at him. Sometimes his father was even there to criticize him. Now he felt like he was living that nightmare, only he was pretty sure it was real. Instead of being at the hospital around people he knew, though, he was being dragged through the streets of Eavesdown, where all of the people gawking at him were strangers whose opinions didn't matter much to him. That made the reality a distinct improvement over the nightmare, except for the pain. In the dream, it didn't hurt so much, but now his left arm felt like it was on fire, and there was a sharp pain in his side.
But it wasn't his injuries that concerned him. He was far more worried about what had happened to River. He'd tried to buy her a little bit of time by forcing the lawmen to chase after him, and he hoped she'd managed to take advantage of it to get away. It would be nice if River's mental telepathy thing worked two ways, so she could send as well as receive and let him know that she was okay. He imagined he'd know soon enough if they had her. He doubted he'd live very long after they got River into custody.
He was more than a little bit concerned about Kaylee, as well. He hated her having to see him like that. He hated being the one to make her look so scared and sad. The sound of her scream still rang inside his head. That was exactly what he'd been so worried about, and Inara had been right. Even though nothing had really happened between them, she was still hurt by what had happened to him. Had he wasted what little time he might have had to steal a few moments of joy from life?
Then again, he was beginning to wonder if he should just keep his hands off Kaylee. It seemed like something bad happened every time he touched her. She fell asleep in his arms, and he got the hell beat out of him the next day by Jayne's old crony. He held her feet in his lap while he told her stories about medical school, and he got attacked and shot by a bounty hunter that night. Now he put his hand on hers, and he got shot again and arrested. It was enough to give him a complex. The universe seemed to be telling him that it wasn't meant to be. At least so far he was the one to get hurt, but he hated to tempt fate and take the risk.
They reached what appeared to be a police substation and shoved him inside. So far, it looked like all of his captors were local law enforcement, not Federal marshals. He couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Okay, we'll need to book him," the lawman holding him said. "Prints, pictures, DNA, the works. Make sure we got the right guy. And get a medic down here. We need to take care of that gunshot wound."
An older man, presumably a higher-ranking officer, came out of an inner office and said, "Hold off on that. I just got word from Central that he was supposed to have been taken straight there. They want us to hold him until they come for him. They'll take care of booking."
"They're always stealing the credit," Simon's captor complained. "This is our bust. We're the ones who found him."
"On their tip. Just put him in the cell."
"What about the medic?"
The older man shook his head. "They want as few people as possible having contact with him."
One of the other lawmen unlocked an iron-barred cell, and Simon's captor pushed him inside, then sat him down on a bench at the back of the cell so he could lean against the wall. When the cell door shut with a final-sounding clank, Simon's current situation caught up with him and he had to fight back the panic. He'd be okay, he told himself. Kaylee would tell the captain, and the captain would find him. Or River would know what happened and be able to tell the others to come get him. They'd always come for him before. As long as he wasn't in Alliance hands, he could hold out some hope, and he'd even escaped the Alliance a couple of times.
That didn't help much. His heart was still racing, and he could feel his pulse pounding in his temples, so his blood pressure was likely elevated from all the adrenaline rushing through his system. He resorted to an old trick he often used to calm himself in stressful situations, mentally diagnosing and planning the treatment of hypothetical patients. Then he almost laughed out loud when he realized the absurdity of that. He didn't need a hypothetical patient because he had a very real one right here: himself.
Self diagnosis, that should be interesting, especially because it would be based entirely on the way he felt instead of using scanners, instruments or even his hands. He could perfect the technique and write a journal article on diagnosis from within. He'd have to use a pseudonym to get it published, though. He suspected the Alliance had suspended his medical license. Couldn't have any dangerous fugitives out there treating patients.
Unfortunately, his self-diagnosis exercise would be about as useful as his hypothetical patient because with his hands chained behind his back, there wasn't a lot he could do about any problems he ultimately diagnosed. Maybe he could give the medic some pointers, if they ever got a medic to him.
Okay, first the big things. His airway seemed to be fine. He was breathing freely, although his side hurt whenever he took a deep breath. He was a little woozy, but he suspected that was just because his head was spinning from all the things that had happened to him. He'd taken a blow to the head when they captured him, but he didn't think he had a concussion. It had been a glancing blow that had done more to cut him than to knock him out. He had a mild headache, but no disorientation, dizziness or blurred vision, and he was fully conscious. That last part was rather unfortunate because he was in a lot of pain.
He didn't seem to be going into shock. His pulse was rapid, but it was also strong, and his blood pressure felt like it was on the high side instead of dropping. He tried glancing down at his left arm, but he couldn't see much aside from the blood stain on his sleeve. The blood hadn't spread as far as his elbow, which he took as a good sign. If the bullet had hit a major blood vessel, there would be far more blood than this. It didn't look like he was likely to bleed to death anytime soon. He couldn't tell if the bullet had gone straight through his arm, or if it was still lodged inside. He couldn't see the back of his arm to see if there was an exit wound, and his arm just hurt in general, so he had no way of knowing if it was from one wound or two. He suspected the bullet was still in there. A through-and-through wound tended to bleed a bit more, depending on what it hit, because the bullet itself could serve as a bandage of sorts, keeping the blood inside. He tried tensing his bicep to see if he could feel the bullet, and he almost passed out from the pain that caused. Very bad idea.
Okay, so he had a bullet in his arm. That wasn't so bad. As long it was removed before long, he should be fine. He'd just have a scar on his arm to match the one on his thigh. On the bright side, if the police medic removed the bullet for him, it would save Zoe the trouble. He knew she didn't like having to play medic. It was rather amusing that an experienced soldier like she was could be so squeamish about removing bullets.
If the wound didn't get dealt with soon, then he'd have problems. It would be asking for an infection. But surely they'd treat him -- unless they were just planning to kill him, anyway, and then an infection would be the least of his problems.
The pain in his side that intensified when he took a deep breath was a good indication that he had at least one broken rib, probably courtesy of a swift kick one of the lawmen had given him when they had him on the ground. His lungs felt clear, with none of the bubbling or pressure he'd expect from a punctured lung.
So, in summary, he had a gunshot wound to the upper arm, a broken rib or two and various superficial cuts and bruises. That wasn't so bad. He could probably talk even Jayne through treating injuries like this. The pain was bad, but nothing he couldn't deal with.
Oddly enough, as much pain as he was in, what bothered him most was the tickle on his upper lip where the blood from his bloody nose was drying. He was dying to scratch it, but couldn't with his hands bound behind his back.
As long as the captain and the others found him soon, he should be okay. He just hoped they hurried.
More lawmen came into the station, and the older man emerged from his office once more. "Where's the girl?" he asked.
"No sign of her, and we tore the ship apart. We told the girl there not to leave until we had a chance to come back and talk to the captain."
"You just said there was no girl."
Simon felt sick. He hadn't considered the possibility that anyone might ever mistake Kaylee for River, but he supposed there was a chance that if someone were sent to Serenity to get "a girl," they might get Kaylee.
"Different girl. This one didn't look a thing like the picture. I think she was crew. There wasn't anyone else on the ship."
"If the rest of the crew was gone, maybe they had this girl with them."
"Are we sure we got the right ship?"
"The tip came from Central, and it was solid."
"Do we know where they got it?"
Simon wondered, too. Who would know that Serenity would be at that place, at that time, and that River and Simon would be on board? After the debacle with Early, the captain and Wash had scoured the Cortex to make sure that Simon and River weren't specifically linked to Serenity, but the warrants still said they might be on an unidentified Firefly. Early must have done his own research to track them, and he wouldn't be telling anyone anything ever again.
It was also more than a little convenient that the lawmen had struck when Simon and River were more or less alone on the ship, without the captain, Zoe, Jayne or even Book to defend them. He couldn't bring himself to believe that the betrayal had come from within. As much as he doubted the captain's motives for keeping them on board, he couldn't imagine Mal Reynolds selling anyone out to the Alliance, or allowing anyone on his crew to do so. Besides, if someone on Serenity were going to turn them in, they would have been betrayed long before now. Then again, they had been betrayed before, on Ariel, and nobody but the crew knew they were inside the hospital. He really didn't want to think that anyone on Serenity had given them up. That was the one safe place he knew of in the entire universe, and he'd hate to lose that safety.
Simon tried to think through the events of the past few days. He doubted anyone on New Lafayette could have given the tip. Even if they had figured out who he was, they had no way of knowing that Serenity's next stop was Persephone. Why were they even at Persephone? He seemed to recall the captain mentioning a meeting with Badger, one of his usual contacts.
And then he had to bite his lip to keep himself from screaming out loud. Badger, of course. He remembered the obnoxious little man in the bowler hat. River had mimicked him, convinced him she was from the same place he was from. He'd got a good look at both Simon and River while holding the crew hostage. It was a pretty good bet that he'd eventually run across the warrants, and now he'd set them up. Simon was sure of it. And he should have seen it coming, if he'd even thought to stay on top of the ship's business. He'd been too trusting in the others to keep them safe, but it was ultimately his own responsibility. He wanted to bang his head against the brick wall, but he really didn't want to add a concussion to his list of injuries.
The senior officer came over to his cell and said, "Son, where's your sister?"
Simon tried to look as innocent as possible. "What sister?"
"Don't play games with me, boy." He turned away and addressed his men. "The girl's the one they really want, but I've already called in Central. I guess it's their problem now. They'll be here for him soon enough."
Okay, now would be a really good time for the captain and the others to show up. But nobody came.
"I shoulda killed him. I should have ripped the heart right out of his chest with my bare hands," Mal said as he and Zoe navigated the streets of Eavesdown back to the ship.
"It would have been messy, sir."
"Yeah, probably. But it would have felt really good, and I'd have been doing the universe a favor. I can't believe he let us come all this way when he'd already given the job away, and then he made us stand around all that time, only to come up with nothing. This whole trip has been nothing more than a gorram waste of time."
"What'll we do now, sir?"
"We gotta get us a job, that's for certain. Maybe we should go straight to Warrick, cut out the middle man, whether or not Badger likes it. And then after we find enough of a job to keep us flying for a little while, I say we steer clear of this sector for good."
"Sounds like a wise plan, sir."
"You don't really think so, do you?"
"I just don't think you should be makin' any big decisions right now while you're so angry." He started to protest, but she raised a hand and he forced himself to hear her out. "Not that I don't agree about not dealin' with Badger. But there's still plenty of work to be found in these parts with the right connections. Maybe Inara --"
Now he did cut her off. "Inara ain't part of the crew anymore. Not that she ever really was, but we got no call to try to use her connections."
"I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
"Forget about Inara," he snapped, more harshly than he'd intended. Problem was, that was easier said than done.
They walked in silence until they reached the docks and Mal caught sight of his ship. As usual, just looking at her settled him down, even as it stirred up some other part of his being. Badger had left him feeling weak and powerless, but looking at this ship and knowing it was his made him feel strong again.
As they got closer to Serenity, he noticed Wash standing on the cargo bay ramp, a rifle in his arms. Mal's pulse quickened, and he quickened his pace to match, to the point he and Zoe were almost running by the time they reached the ship. Wash came down the ramp to meet them. Behind him, Mal could see overturned crates and Kaylee sitting on the floor, crying against Book's shoulder.
"Wash, what happened?" Mal asked.
"They got Simon."
"What?"
"I don't know much of the details -- Kaylee's not making a lot of sense right now -- but it appears they came after Simon, then tore up the ship searching for River. It doesn't look like they found her, but we don't know for sure yet." As he spoke, Zoe moved next to him and took his hand in hers. Mal kept his eyes averted from the familiar gesture of affection.
"Is Kaylee okay?" Zoe asked.
"She doesn't seem to be hurt, but she was scared half to death, and she's a bit upset."
Judging by the degree of sobbing that was going on, that was the understatement of the century. "Zoe, check out the ship and see if there's any sign of River." She ran off and disappeared through the hatch that led to the infirmary and passenger quarters. Mal and Wash entered the cargo bay, then Mal went over to kneel by Kaylee.
"Kaylee, honey?" he said as gently as he could.
She lifted her tear-streaked face from Book's shoulder. Her eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed from crying. "Captain, I'm so sorry. I know you said to stay out of trouble and I tried but they came and they messed the ship up."
He put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Kaylee. I don't care about the ship right now, just as long as you're okay. You are okay, aren't you? They didn't hurt you?"
She shook her head. "Didn't lay a finger on me, thanks to Cat here." She just wasn't going to give up on that cat, but that was the least of his concerns right now.
"Now, Kaylee, I know you're scared and upset, but I need you to be brave for me right now. If we're gonna be able to help Simon, you need to pull yourself together for a little bit."
"You're gonna help him, right? You'll get him back?"
He knew better than to make promises he couldn't be sure of keeping. What he said was, "I'll try my best, but you're gonna have to tell me exactly what happened here."
She took a deep breath and made a visible effort to get herself under control. "Well, we was sitting here in the cargo bay, watchin' people on the street." She pointed to a crate at the back of the bay. "We were back there, so nobody could see in from the street unless they were lookin' right at us." She gasped. "You don't think they saw him, and that's why they came after him? I asked him to come join me, he didn't want to." She started shaking again, the sobs welling up from her belly.
"No, Kaylee, no. It's not your fault. They likely came here already knowing he was here. They would have found him no matter where he was on the ship when they searched it. Now, what happened?"
"Like I said, we were sittin' there, talking." She blushed a bit, and he wondered if talking was all they were doing. "And then he must have noticed them 'cause he whispered for River to run -- I guess he figured she'd read his mind -- and then he went like he was gonna surrender. There were all these men waitin' just outside the ship, and they all had guns. Then he just took off runnin' but they caught him." A sob escaped, and a tear trickled down her cheek. "They shot him and roughed him up some, and then they took him away. That's when some others searched the ship, and it looks like they made a real mess, but they didn't find River. The head guy said I had to tell you not to leave until they came back to talk to you."
"Is there anything else you can think of?" She shook her head miserably. "How many Feds do you think there were?"
She gave a little gasp, as if just then realizing something. "They weren't Feds, Cap'n. They wore uniforms, but they weren't no purple bellies. I think maybe they were the local cops. And they had real guns, not those laser pistols or sonic rifles or other fancy stuff like the Feds use. When they shot Simon, it was a real bullet, and he was bleeding." That thought set her to crying again.
"How bad was he hurt?" Mounting a rescue effort wouldn't do much good if the boy was already dead.
"I don't think it was too bad. He was just shot in the arm, and it looked like they beat him up a bit, but he was walking."
"And you don't think they got River at all?"
"They talked about not finding her, even wondered if they had the right ship, and they went away without her, as far as I could see."
"Well, Zoe's looking for her now, in case she hid."
"You'll find him?"
"Like I said, I'll do everything in my power to try." He turned to Book. "Take her upstairs and make her some tea."
Book nodded, then helped her stand up. "Come on, dear, let's go find you someplace more comfortable than this floor." He walked with her, his arm around her, to the stairs, the cat following close behind.
Mal then turned to Wash. "Get on the horn to Inara. They may come to search her shuttle next. Or, hell, River might even show up on her doorstep. Also, see if you can get her to check with her contacts to see if she can dig up anything. She knows just about everyone who's anyone in this world -- and I do mean that in the Biblical sense -- so we may as well get some use out of that." He couldn't bring himself to ask for Inara's help with his business, but this was on Simon and River's behalf.
Wash left, up the same stairs Book and Kaylee had taken. Then Mal realized there was still one person on the crew unaccounted for -- aside from the missing River. Jayne. That son of a bitch. Now he had a pretty good idea what Jayne's "errand" had been: selling out the Tams. He must have learned his lesson on Ariel and gone to the locals instead of the Feds. Mal had thought he'd learned his lesson in a different way, but apparently the money was still too good.
He found a crate that was still upright and leaned against it, his hand on the butt of his sidearm, while he waited for Jayne to get back to Serenity.
Inara poured tea for her client and handed the cup over. This was her favorite part of any engagement. It was the one time she didn't have to pretend at all. She liked meeting and getting to know new people. It was the rest of the encounter that was essentially a lie, more so lately.
She'd just opened her mouth to start the conversation when there was a noise from the shuttle's cockpit -- the radio. She had the system set only to pick up on signals sent with an emergency code, so this was very likely urgent. Or Mal being Mal. Keeping a smile on her face, she said, "Could you excuse me for a moment? I have to take this. It's an emergency signal."
"Go ahead," he said.
She let her smile drop as she passed between the curtains into the cockpit and grabbed the mic. "What is it?" she demanded, not even pretending to sound patient.
"Inara, oh, good. Glad I got you," Wash's voice said. Some of her irritation faded while her muscles tensed. She couldn't imagine Wash willingly participating in one of Mal's pranks. If it was Wash, it might even be a real emergency.
"What's going on, Wash?"
"We've got ourselves a bit of a situation." She detected more than a hint of strain in his voice. "Simon's been arrested. They came to the ship and got him."
She fumbled behind her for the pilot's seat and collapsed into it. "Oh, God. What about River?"
"We don't know. It doesn't look like they got her, but we can't find her. That's part of why Mal told me to get in touch with you. They may come to you looking for her, or, knowing River, she may show up there. We thought you should know, just in case."
"Thank you."
"One more thing, it looks like it was the locals, not the Feds, who got him. You've got contacts here. Anything you can do to track down any information at all would be most helpful."
"Yes, yes, of course." He mind was already cataloguing everyone she knew on this world who might have a law enforcement connection. Then another thought made it past her shock. "What about Kaylee? How is she taking it?"
"She's still crying her eyes out. She was there when they got him. They didn't hurt her, but she's devastated."
"Oh, poor Kaylee. I have an appointment to finish, then I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Thanks, Inara. See you in a few."
She took a few moments to gather her wits before she rose from the pilot's seat and returned to the chamber in the rear of her shuttle. She felt like her world had just been turned upside down. Even though she was leaving Serenity, she hated the thought of the little family she was leaving behind being torn apart like that. But she couldn't afford to show her distress to her client. He was paying her a great deal of money for her assistance in escaping his own worries. He didn't need her worries infringing on his time. By the time she passed through the curtains, her calm smile was firmly in place.
But her control must not have been as good as she hoped, for he immediately said, "Inara, what is it?"
"I just got some bad news. Something terrible has happened to a very dear friend." She sat next to him on the sofa and picked up her teacup. "Now, where were we?"
He put a hand on her arm. "You're very clearly distressed. We can reschedule for another time."
"That might be a good idea," she said, deeply relieved. She wasn't sure she could have gone through with the whole appointment with her thoughts so busy elsewhere.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You don't happen to know anyone who works in local law enforcement, do you?"
Jayne whistled to himself as he made his way back to Serenity. It had been a pretty good morning. He'd found just what he was looking for, and at a decent price, which left him some money for a drink. Or two. Plus, a damn fine woman.
Mal was waiting for him at the top of the ramp. He didn't look happy. Jayne was fairly sure he wasn't late. He'd only been gone two hours. Next thing he knew, he was looking down the barrel of Mal's gun. "Huh? Wh--?" he managed to stammer.
"'Bout time you made it back," Mal said, his voice icy and his eyes looking even colder.
"I haven't been gone that long, just as long as you said."
"Where've you been?"
"Like I told you, I had personal business. What's this all about, Mal?"
"What kind of personal business?"
"The personal kind."
"Care to specify?"
He didn't, really, but seeing as how he was being held at gunpoint, he figured there was no harm in admitting it. "I went shopping. Got my Ma a present." He held up the paper-wrapped package to show proof of where he'd been.
"Open the package."
"What? But I got it wrapped up specially."
"Open it." Mal's gun hadn't wavered. Jayne wondered if maybe all that talk about Mal being nuts wasn't just talk. Still, a crazy man could shoot him just as dead as a sane man, so it didn't make much difference. Jayne put the package on top of the nearest crate and tore it open to reveal pink fabric decorated with flowers and Chinese lettering.
"My son," Mal read. He unfolded the fabric with his free hand to reveal more lettering. "Went to Persephone." Another fold. "And all I got." Another fold. "Was this." Mal unfolded it the rest of the way to show that the mass of fabric was actually a big t-shirt. "Lousy t-shirt." Mal looked up at Jayne. "Good grief, Jayne, a family of four could go camping in that thing."
Jayne tensed at what he thought sounded kind of like an insult to his Ma, but Mal was still holding a gun on him, so it was probably best to hold his tongue. He settled for saying, somewhat defensively, "I got it extra big so she could sleep in it, and in case it shrank."
"And it took you two hours to buy a souvenir shirt that's available in at least half a dozen stands within a five-minute walk from the ship?"
"Well, I had to decide what to get, and I had to go to each place to make sure I saw all the kinds they had, and then I had to find a place that had one in her size, which wasn't easy. And I might have stopped for a drink or two, and a whore." He shook his head, sure that this had nothing to do with his gift for his mother. "What th' hell is going on here, Mal?"
"You ratted them out again, didn't you?"
"What? Ratted who out?" He thought for a moment, puzzling it out. "You mean the doc and his sis? They got took?" He cheered a bit at the idea, then forced the smile off his face. It probably wasn't smart to act happy about that sort of thing, not with Mal holding a gun and himself being the number one suspect.
"They got Simon. We don't know yet about River. So that's what your 'errand' was all about, wasn't it? You had to go tip off the authorities."
"What? No!" Exasperated, Jayne shook his head again, trying to make sense of all this. "God, Mal, how stupid do you think I am? Do you really think I'd be dumb enough to rat them out, after what happened the last time? I know that if either one of them gets so much as a bruise, I'm the one you're lookin' to blame. 'Sides, I learned the hard way that the Feds'll just welsh on the deal and pinch me while they're at it."
"Which is why you were conveniently away from here when they got him."
"No, Mal, that ain't it at all. I didn't call the Feds, okay?"
Mal's eyes narrowed. "Who said it was the Feds?"
"Well, they're the ones who want 'em, right?"
The gun lowered a bit. "It was the locals who got the doc."
"Oh? Oh. So, you see, it wasn't me."
"Then who was it?"
Jayne pondered that, thinking of all the things that had happened recently, everyone they'd seen or talked to. Then several ideas all clicked into place with a thunk that made his head hurt. If this was what it was like to have big ideas fall into place, it was no wonder River was crazy, with all those thoughts in her head all the time. "I bet it was Badger," he said when he was sure the notion still made sense inside his head. "He got a good look at both of 'em when he was watchin' us while you were off fighting your duel. River came out and did her crazy mind readin' thing on him, and the doc was right there, too. You know Badger don't miss a thing on the Cortex. He's bound to have seen the warrants and put two and two together, then squealed. Did you get the job from him?"
Mal shook his head and holstered his gun with a sigh. "Nope. He said we got here too late. And you may just have a point about Badger. But why the locals and not the Feds?"
"Badger may've figured he had a good way of getting the locals to turn a blind eye to him, if he gave them a prize that could get 'em in good with the Feds."
"Jayne, I do believe you're actually thinking here. Don't that make your head hurt?"
Jayne scratched the back of his head. "Well, now that you mention it ..."
"Tamade! I should have known. I gorram sure should have known Badger would turn on us if he had the slightest chance. And I fell for it. I might as well have just handed that kid over to the Feds myself."
"See, I told you it wasn't me." Mal turned and headed out of the cargo bay and Jayne grabbed the t-shirt before running after him. "So, what do we do now?"
"We get this place cleaned up, then we figure out a way to get him back."
"Aw, you mean we gotta get 'im back?"
They went up to the dining room, where chairs were turned over and dishes were scattered on the floor, some of them broken. Kaylee sat holding a mug between her hands. Her shoulders shook, and the preacher sat next to her with a hand on her back. Wash came in from the foredeck. "I got hold of Inara," he said. "She's going to check around with her contacts, then come back here."
Mal nodded. "Good. Where's Zoe?"
"I guess she's still looking for River."
Just then, Zoe came in through the aft hatch. "There's no sign of her anywhere. Her drawings were up here." She pointed to some papers lying on the floor. "She may have gone up through the top hatch if she got advance warning."
Kaylee sniffled. "She did. Simon warned her. He tried to buy her time."
Mal clapped his hands together, then rubbed them. "Okay. Then we'll just assume that she's free. That'll make it easy to get her back. I'm sure she'll find us, wherever we are. That leaves Simon as the main issue, and a more challenging one."
"You're going to try to break him out?" Jayne was glad Zoe was the one who'd asked the question. Mal was less likely to shoot her.
"No harm in trying."
"Yes, yes there is. We can't pull off a jailbreak. We can barely pull off a train robbery, and we can't do that much without serious complications. Find River, fine. That's the important part. We can keep her safe. But we try to get a prisoner out of jail, it risks all of us, even River. You know that's not what he'd want."
"Zoe may have a point," Jayne said. "You know, keepin' River safe and all."
Mal banged his hands down on the dining table so loud it made all of them jump. "I can not believe we're having this conversation. We wouldn't be having this conversation if it was any one of you, and he's just as much crew as any of us. Hell, maybe even more so considering how many of us owe him our lives. We wouldn't be here now at all if it wasn't for him. We'd be stuck on that rock with no engine and no parts. And that's aside from the fact that he planned the best heist we've ever done. Not to mention the fact that it's my fault he's in this mess."
"Sir?"
"Jayne, you wanna tell 'em your theory?"
Jayne blinked in surprise, not used to being called on to offer his insight on anything. "Well, the way I see it, it was Badger who squealed. This whole meeting was a set-up so Badger could get the reward, or so Badger could get a favor out of the local cops."
"Wow, Jayne had an actual theory," Wash said. He looked like he almost might have been serious.
"And a good one, too," Zoe added. "But how's that your fault, sir?"
"Because I fell for it. I knew Badger got a look at 'em last time we were here. And Badger wouldn't even have been on the boat if I hadn't got myself mixed up in that little duel. So, we're goin' after him. It's not like the Feds have him, anyway. So long as he's with the locals, I think we stand a chance." He looked around the room, and when nobody protested, he said. "Okay, then. We're stuck here until the cops come back to talk to me, and we'd have to wait on Inara, anyway. Let's get this place cleaned up. Anyone comes up with a plan or any ideas, let me know."
Simon had lost track of how long he'd sat in the cell. His wounds had settled in to a dull, generalized ache, and he was thirsty. The front door to the police substation opened, letting in a shaft of sunlight. A pair of men stood silhouetted in the light. "Prisoner transfer to Central Command," one of them said. The door shut, and Simon saw that the two of them wore the uniform of the local police. Still no Feds.
"Over there," the officer at the desk said, gesturing toward the cell. He got up from the desk, a ring of keys in his hand, and opened the cell. "He's gonna need medical attention once you get him booked. We were under orders to limit contact while he was here."
The two men didn't acknowledge him. They just stepped into the cell. One of them grabbed Simon by his right arm and jerked him to his feet. For a second, he thought he was going to pass out as his head felt suddenly light and the room spun, but he was able to stay on his feet as the two men from Central marched him out of the cell, then out the front door. They shoved him into the back seat of a vehicle, where it was difficult to sit with his hands cuffed behind his back. All the aches and pains came back to life with a vengeance. His guards didn't appear to notice his discomfort. They just sat stony-faced in the seat across from him. There were no windows in this part of the vehicle, so he couldn't tell where they were or where they were going.
After several minutes, the vehicle came to a halt. The door opened, and the guards pulled Simon out into what looked like an underground parking facility, then walked him into a building. Inside, an elevator stood open. They shoved him inside.
As the elevator went up, lights blinking in sequence, Simon wondered if his father's threat never to come for him again really held true. Not that his more recent offenses were the kind where he could be bailed out, but he knew he'd need a very good lawyer, and he knew the Serenity crew couldn't afford that. Surely his father wouldn't leave his only son hanging out to dry like that. But deep down inside, he knew he would. His father had given up on him long ago. No, he was on his own now.
The elevator stopped on the twenty-fourth floor, and he and his guards stepped off. That was odd. Usually intake and processing were on the first floor, so prisoners could be properly booked as soon as they entered the building, but judging by the elevator buttons, this was the top floor. He looked for anything that looked like what he was used to seeing in police stations, but it was just a long, faceless corridor interrupted by the occasional door. He got the distinct impression that he was in an office building. That was very, very odd, and somewhat unsettling. At a police station, he would have certain basic rights, but without the usual procedures, there was no guarantee. He could vanish completely, and there would be no record of him. Worse, it would make him nearly impossible to find. The panic rose in him again, and it took every bit of self control he had not to let it show.
They came to an open doorway and ushered him inside. The room was small and windowless, furnished only with a table, a chair on one side and a stool on the other. A guard pushed him down to sit on the stool, then they left the room, shutting the door behind them. Alone in the quiet room, Simon could hear his heart pounding. His pulse roared in his ears. He knew he was in very big trouble, and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse from here.
"Shuttle One to Serenity, I'm making my approach," Inara said. She hadn't thought to see Serenity again so soon, and she hadn't been prepared for the lump that formed in her throat when she saw the ship. She felt a pang of guilt for being the least bit glad of an excuse that allowed her to come back and perhaps even stay a little longer without having to back down.
"We're ready for you," said Wash's voice. "Any luck?"
"Not really. I don't suppose you've had any word?"
"Nothing. Mal'll give you the whole story when you get docked."
"Docking in five, four, three, two ..." She felt the ship lock onto the shuttle, then finished the docking sequence and steeled herself for returning to Serenity. As she expected, Mal was waiting for her outside the shuttle door.
"Got any news for me?" he asked as they walked across the catwalk. He looked impatient and distracted, which was something of a relief to her. As long as they could focus on Simon and River's fates, they wouldn't have to deal with any other issues.
"Nothing encouraging. Mal, there's no record of his arrest."
"What? Maybe they have him booked under a different name."
"I thought of that. There's no record of any arrest that even remotely fits the situation. They haven't booked him at all. Are you sure he was really arrested? It could have been bounty hunters."
"Kaylee was pretty sure it was police. They wore uniforms, and there's no need for bounty hunters to disguise themselves like that. They'd have just killed him. I imagine we'll find out for sure later. They're supposed to come back to question me. We've got a land-lock on us. Maybe it was Feds, after all?"
Inara shook her head. "I checked on that, too. The Alliance doesn't seem to have any idea that he's in custody. And yes, I did make sure we were checking in such a way that we wouldn't let them know."
"Gorramit," he swore. "This complicates things more than a bit. They don't have him booked, then we don't have a way of finding him."
"You're planning to mount a jailbreak?" No matter how hard she tried to resist, he had a way of stirring her heart when she least expected it, for the oddest of things. She fell for him every time he went off on some noble, Quixotic crusade that shouldn't stand a chance of succeeding, but which always did.
"I was hoping to try. It would help, though, if we knew which jail to break him out of."
"But you don't even like him. And now you're going to risk everything to get him back?"
"He's on my crew, and I helped get him into this mess by having my head firmly up my ass, so I figure I kind of owe it to him to help him out of this mess."
"How can this possibly be your fault?"
He shook his head. "Looks like Badger squealed, probably making some deal to save his own hide. This whole trip was a trap, and I fell for it."
She frowned as she remembered one other detail she'd come across during her research. "Mal, there is another possibility here. It seems that a very high-ranking member of the local police force is under some kind of Federal investigation on ethics issues."
"And handing the two Most Wanted over to the Feds would make a damn good bargaining chip," Mal finished her thought. "That's why they haven't booked him. This ain't exactly official business. Well, this makes things more interesting. And easier."
"Easier?"
"It's no longer a jailbreak we have to plan. There's nothing illegal about getting someone who isn't actually in custody out of a place, and it's not like they could file charges against us without it showing what the honcho's up to. Of course, there is the minor problem of us still not knowing where he is. But I do think they'll keep him alive, and they'll wait until they get River before they hand them over. She's the real prize. That means as long as they don't have River, we still stand a chance of getting the doctor back."
The reached the top of the foredeck stairs. "Where's Kaylee?" she asked.
He gestured with his head toward the doorway decked in little white lights. "In her bunk. She's still crying. I knew her getting mixed up with that boy was askin' for trouble."
Inara shook her head sadly. "And I knew that it would hurt her just as much even if nothing else happened between them. You can't control the way you feel about someone, Mal."
"You can try." Abruptly, he turned and headed toward the dining room. She went to Kaylee's door and knocked.
"Kaylee, mei-mei? Can I come in?" She took the loud sniffle as a yes and climbed down the ladder. Kaylee sat curled up in a corner of her bunk against the wall, the cat in her lap. Her face was red and blotchy with tears, and her eyes were bloodshot. "Oh, sweetie," Inara said, sitting next to her and putting an arm around her. Kaylee buried her face against Inara's shoulder.
"'Nara, you came back," she said, her voice shaking.
"For a little while. I couldn't leave you alone at a time like this."
"Were you able to find out anything to help Simon?"
"I don't know. I learned something, but I don't know how much it will help." She decided against telling what she'd learned because, in spite of Mal's optimism, she wasn't sure it was really good news. "I think Mal is coming up with a plan."
"He'll get him back," Kaylee said, her voice sounding firmer with her utmost faith in her captain.
"How are you doing?" Inara asked.
"I'm okay. I just -- I just can't get the picture out of my head of them taking him away, in handcuffs and bleeding. I was so scared, but he didn't look scared at all. He had his head up high, and he looked so brave. He looked right at me, and I will never, ever forget the way he looked at me." Her body shook with sobs. Inara held her and stroked her hair as she tried to fight back her own tears. She couldn't imagine how traumatic that incident must have been for Kaylee.
Eventually, she stopped shaking. After a long pause, she said, "'Nara?"
"Mmm hmm?"
"How do you know when you're in love?"
Oh, God. This was the worst possible time for Kaylee to be thinking in those terms. There was a very real chance that they'd never see the young doctor again, and if Kaylee convinced herself that she loved him, now that he was gone, she was guaranteed heartbreak. This was different from allowing herself to love him despite the danger he might face. It was admitting to feelings after the danger had already struck, when it was too late for any good to come of those feelings. "I don't know," she said. "I think it's different for every person. Every relationship, even."
"Before they took him, we were holding hands," Kaylee said dreamily. Inara didn't have to see her face to know she was smiling. "Well, not exactly, but kinda." She pulled away from Inara and sat up straight. "He was tryin' to make me feel better about Cat, and he put his hand on mine, and then our fingers went like this." She demonstrated on her own hands, putting one on top of the other and interlocking the fingers. "And we just sat like that, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Just having him there like that made me feel all warm inside."
She ducked her head, letting her hair fall in front of her face. "I know I'm not a professional, like you are, but I've done my share of things, and I've enjoyed pretty much all of 'em, but this is different. It feels different. Every time I look at him, I feel like my heart is gonna explode right out of my chest. Do you think that's love?"
"I don't know, Kaylee. I think love tends to sneak up on you when you're least expecting it, when you're not looking for it. It's impossible to define."
"I just wish I knew how he felt about me."
"He likes you." Inara didn't feel like she was betraying a confidence. It seemed very clear to everyone, except perhaps Kaylee, how Simon felt about her. Besides, in spite of Mal's optimism, she seriously doubted Simon would be coming back, and in that case, she felt sure he'd want Kaylee to know.
"How do you know?"
"He told me."
"I wish he'da told me."
"Hasn't he, though? You told me he said you were pretty."
Kaylee turned pink and became very interested in the pattern of her bedspread. "He was sorta drunk at the time."
"It's my experience that men become more honest when they're drunk. They're more likely to say what they really feel. Besides, you only have to look at Simon to see how he feels about you. The way he always holds your chair for you at dinner, opens doors for you, insists on carrying things for you."
"That's just him being polite."
"Have you noticed him acting that way toward me, or Zoe? I've also noticed that he looks at you, a lot. He's watching you whenever you're in the room. You're about the only person who can really make him smile."
"He has such a nice smile. I wish he'd smile more often."
"You're one of the few things in his life that gives him a reason to smile."
Kaylee pondered that, nibbling at her lower lip while her eyes focused on the distance. After a long while, she said, "I think I do love him. I just hope I get the chance to tell him."
"So do I."
Simon wasn't sure how long he'd sat alone in the room before he heard the door behind him open. A tall, broad man stepped into his field of vision and came around the table to take a seat in the chair facing him. The man wore a uniform much like those worn by the lawmen who'd arrested him, but with more braid, medals and other decor. The uniform's buttons strained across his chest and belly, giving the impression that he'd put on a considerable amount of weight since the uniform had been made.
The man regarded Simon for a long moment, as if he expected Simon to say something. Simon just looked back at him. He'd had plenty of practice playing that game with his father over the past couple of years. While he'd been waiting, he'd decided upon a strategy. He knew that they would most likely ask him where or how to find River. He also knew that his chances of remaining alive were higher as long as they thought that he knew how to find her but was refusing to tell them. The moment they found her or realized that he couldn't help them, he became expendable. It really shouldn't be too difficult. Since he didn't know where she was, he should be able to hold up under any kind of torture. All he had to do was convince them he was holding back.
So far, though, they weren't going in for the torture, other than leaving his wound untreated. This man facing him looked civilized enough. The man finally broke the silence. "Doctor Tam," he said.
Simon just stared at him, trying to maintain an expression of mild defiance.
"I realize I have you at somewhat of a disadvantage. I know all about you, but you don't know who I am."
"And then there are the handcuffs. That's a disadvantage, too. Not to mention the bullet in my arm."
His captor chuckled. "The warrant for your arrest somehow neglected to mention that you have a sense of humor. I like it, though. It should make this far more interesting than I thought it would be. Before we get started, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Commandant Morris. I run the law enforcement operations on Persephone."
"And you seem to be doing a very fine job of it, sir. One of the more interesting arrests I've had so far. A little more brutal and bloody than I'm used to, but I realize things do tend to get rougher away from the Core."
Morris laughed again. "You really are going to be fun, aren't you? Now, we may as well get down to business. I'm sure you know what I'm going to ask you."
Simon put on an expression of obviously feigned innocence. "I have no idea. I really doubt your people shot me, cuffed me and brought me here for a medical consultation, but I would recommend that you reduce your portion sizes and get a little additional activity. Cardiology isn't my specialty, but I'm familiar enough with the basics to spot the warning signs."
A vein stood out on Morris's neck, but otherwise he kept his cool. Simon felt the least bit giddy about being able to get away with being such a smartass. Mal Reynolds would have knocked him out by now for talking like this.
Morris shook his head. He was also using an obviously faked expression, but he was faking concern. "Now, son, there's no need for you to talk like this. I'd prefer to keep this as pleasant as possible."
"A bullet and a broken rib are quite pleasant."
"Where's your sister?"
Simon hesitated, glanced aside, then looked Morris in the eye and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. My sister's been off at school for several years." He maintained eye contact to a count of three, then blinked. He had plenty of experience with trying to look like he was telling the truth when he was lying. This was the first time he could remember deliberately trying to look like he was lying.
Out of nowhere, someone backhanded him hard across the face, and he fell to the floor. It stood to reason that a high-ranking officer wouldn't have gone alone into a room with a suspect. The other person must have been standing behind him the whole time. Simon tasted blood in his mouth. Morris's voice above him said, "Don't lie to me, boy, or things will become even more unpleasant. Now, I'll ask again. Where is your sister?"
"I told you. She's. At. School." He tried to give the slightest bit of a defiant grin as he spoke. The grin faded fast, however, as a booted foot made contact with his side, causing a sharp stab of pain. There went another rib. He was pretty sure he heard that one crack.
"Enough!" Morris snapped. "Get him back on his seat." Simon nearly passed out as the guard grabbed him roughly by his injured arm and put him back on the stool. There was a roaring in his ears, and he felt blackness closing in on him. He closed his eyes and took a couple of breaths through clenched teeth, breathing as deeply as he dared with freshly broken ribs.
"Now, let's try this again," Morris said pleasantly, as though he hadn't just let his thug take a couple of swings at Simon. "I need to find your sister. While you are a valuable prize in your own right as far as the Alliance is concerned, your only worth to me is your knowledge about your sister. Things will go much more smoothly for you if you cooperate."
"In other words, you'll kill me quickly instead of slowly. Or just turn me over to the Feds for them to kill me. I'm really not seeing the incentive for cooperation here."
"Why don't we just give you some time to think about it?" Morris nodded slightly, then another blow from behind struck Simon on the head. This time he was hit by something harder and heavier than a fist, and he hit the ground again. His last conscious thought was that he now very likely had added a concussion to his catalogue of injuries.
The group gathered in Serenity's dining room was tense and quiet. Jayne was double-checking his guns. Kaylee had emerged from her bunk and sat with Inara. She'd stopped crying, but she still looked pale and strained. Mal just wished he could get the waiting over with. He couldn't do much of anything while they were landlocked and very likely under surveillance. He hated feeling useless when he knew that two members of his crew were in danger. This was the kind of situation he had nightmares about.
It came as a relief when Zoe's voice came over the comm. "Sir? There's someone here to see you." It must be the lawman who'd said he'd return to talk to Mal.
Mal got out of his seat. "Okay, remember what we discussed. The doc and his sister were just passengers for a short time, and we didn't really get to know them. Jayne, you're with me. Stay back from the hatch, but be ready if I need you." Jayne studied his array of weapons like a connoisseur, selected a couple, then followed Mal to the aft hatch and then down the stairs. Kaylee's cat came with them, but that was the least of Mal's worries at the moment.
Zoe stood in the cargo bay, facing down a lawman who wasn't quite as tall as she was. Once Mal approached, she met his eye, nodded and went up the stairs, as though she was heading up to the bridge. But she stopped on the upper catwalk, behind the lawman. So, they were more or less even. The lawmen had two back-ups standing on the ramp, and Mal had his two people in place.
"What can I do for you, officer?"
"You may be aware that we apprehended one of your crewmembers this morning."
"Passenger."
"Excuse me?"
"He was a passenger. Not a member of my crew. And, to be perfectly honest, you did me a big favor in taking him away like that. I was about ready to kick his jing tzahng mei yong duh ass out, myself. He was behind on his fare. He had today to pay up, or he wasn't leavin' Persephone with us. Not to mention the fact that he was playing games with my mechanic's heart. I don't take kindly to passengers interfering with my crew."
The lawman blinked, like this wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. "I was under the impression that he was traveling with a sister."
Now it was Mal's turn to look surprised -- at least, to pretend to. "Sister? So, that's what she was. I had no idea. He kept her in their quarters the entire time. I think about the only glimpse I got of the girl was when she first came on board."
"Do you know where she is?"
"I thought you folks must have got her, what with your searchin' the ship so thoroughly and all. Haven't seen her all day. I know she ain't in her room."
The lawman glanced back at his associates, then returned his attention to Mal. "So you have no idea where she might have gone?"
"Like I said, I only saw her once, the whole time she was on my ship. That doesn't give me too much insight as to what she might do in a crisis. What do you want with a kid like that, anyway? I can see the boy being trouble -- probably a con artist of some sort -- but the girl?"
"That information is restricted."
In other words, they didn't know, either. "Well, you're welcome to look around again and make double sure she ain't here anymore, if you like. And then I'd most appreciate it if you'd release that land-lock so we can get out of here. I'd like to minimize any risk that I'd get stuck with either of those two again."
"Believe me, Captain, there's not much chance of that." He nodded to his men, who came forward. "Search again." Mal moved to follow them, but the lawman held up a hand. "You'll stay with me."
"Okay." There was a long silence. At last, Mal said, "Fine weather you folks are having around here." The lawman just stared at him. The cat came into the cargo bay from the aft hatch where Jayne had been standing. It approached the lawman, sniffed his boots, then flicked its tail in disdain and hissed before stalking off. That was almost enough to earn it passage for the time being. It took all of Mal's self control not to grin.
Finally, the other two lawmen came back, shaking their heads. "No sign of her, sir," one said. "The rest of the crew don't know anything, either. Though the big one said she was 'crazy as a loon, so there was no tellin' what she might do.'" He read this last bit from a small notebook, which he then tucked into a pocket.
The leader addressed Mal. "Very well, then, you're free to leave. Thank you for your cooperation, Captain, and we regret the inconvenience."
The moment the lawmen were clear of the cargo bay ramp, Mal hit the controls to raise it and close the airlock doors. He called up to Zoe, "Tell Wash to get her fired up. We're outta here."
He nearly bumped into Jayne on his way back to the aft hatch. "I thought you were gonna put the cat out at Persephone," Jayne said, nodding toward the cat that was sitting on a crate and grooming itself.
Mal sighed. "I can't. I promised Kaylee I'd find it a home, and we don't have time for that now. Besides, she already lost Simon today. I can't get rid of her cat, too."
Jayne grinned like a little kid, then hurried to return his expression to its usual sullen glare. "Makes sense," he said with a nod.
They reached the dining area, where everyone gathered there looked up as Mal and Jayne entered. "Good work, people. I believe we're in the clear. We'll be departing shortly."
"What?" Kaylee cried. "You're just leavin' 'em here?"
"We're coming back, don't worry, Kaylee. But there's nothing we can do for 'em from Serenity." Before she could protest, she noticed the cat that had followed Mal and Jayne into the dining room. She gave a wordless squeal of joy, jumped up and threw her arms around Mal's neck before turning to pick up the cat and hug it. He couldn't help but smile as he watched her. He supposed he could put up with the cat a little while longer if it made her stop crying.
He crossed through the dining room to the foredeck, and then made his way to the bridge. "Wash, get us to a nice, safe orbit, preferably one where we can avoid any patrol ships. Zoe, let's get shuttle two prepped."
Simon woke to the charming sensation of a Unification Day fireworks display going on inside his skull and the feeling that the world was tilting crazily. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to avoid even the slightest movement until he felt a bit more settled. But then the rest of the aches and pains kicked in. His upper left arm throbbed, and he felt a stab of pain on both sides with each breath. Still nothing too serious, though. His lungs felt clear in spite of the pain, and the fact that he'd regained consciousness was a good sign.
He tentatively opened his eyes. It took a few seconds for the world to come into focus, and then he wasn't sure whether or not it really was focused because all he could see was white. He moved his eyes -- making sure not to move his aching head -- and saw something dark at what seemed to be a great distance. Judging from the way he was lying, it must be his own bent knee. Good, so he hadn't developed some strange form of blindness. Only then did he notice that his hands were no longer bound. It wasn't much, but it was the one thing about his life that had improved lately, so it was worth a cheer. A totally silent, non-moving cheer, but a cheer, nonetheless.
Now that he was a little more awake, he realized he was lying halfway on his stomach and halfway on his right side, with his right arm partially trapped beneath him. They must have just dropped him on the floor, then unfastened his handcuffs and hadn't bothered to move him into a more comfortable position. He tried getting his right arm under him to push himself to a sitting position, but it had gone numb and wouldn't support him. Instead, he rolled over on his back to get his weight off his arm. A second later, the pins and needles rivaled the gunshot wound in his other arm for pain. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes while he waited for that pain to pass.
After a minute or two, he opened his eyes again and tried to get his bearings. He seemed to be in an utterly featureless white room. There were no windows, and he wasn't sure he could see a door, but that could be because he was lying on his back and had a limited field of vision. He tried once more to roll over onto his right side and push himself to a sitting position. This time, it worked, but the movement made his head spin. If there had been anything in his stomach, it would have come up. He fought back the dizziness and nausea and tried to get a better look at his surroundings, even as he felt cold sweat bead on his forehead.
He still couldn't see a door. Surely they hadn't sealed him into a tomb, he thought, forcing back the panic that arose at the thought. They still needed his cooperation. They wouldn't just shut him away. They wouldn't get the reward, or the leverage or whatever else it was that they wanted. The door had to be there. It just blended into the walls.
He doubted he could get to his feet unassisted, so he half crawled, half dragged himself to the nearest wall, then pulled himself slowly to his feet. His left arm wasn't cooperating, and just trying to use it was intensely painful, so he let it hang limp at his side, although that didn't feel so good, either. The effort of getting this far had exhausted him, so he leaned against the wall and tried to regroup. What he wanted more than anything in the world right now was a drink of water. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton. It hadn't been long enough for him to be dangerously dehydrated, but he hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day -- he was seriously regretting skipping breakfast -- and if this continued there could be a problem.
After a few minutes he started working his way around the room, running his fingers along the wall in search of some seam or depression that might indicate a door. He finally found something and gave an experimental push on that segment of wall, then had to step quickly out of the way as a narrow bunk unfolded from the wall. That was nice. It sure beat lying on the floor. The mattress, as hard and lumpy as it looked, was tempting, but he had work to do. He skirted the edge of the bunk and found another depression on the wall. He pushed, and a toilet like the ones on Serenity unfolded from the wall. It was nice to see that his accommodations weren't entirely primitive, but until he got some water, that really wouldn't be an issue. He shoved the toilet back into the wall.
The next seam in the wall turned out to be a retractable sink. He all but wept for joy when water streamed out of the faucet. He cupped his hand and used it to bring water to his mouth, forcing himself to stop after a few mouthfuls of water. It wouldn't be a good idea to make himself sick. He swished the last mouthful around in his mouth, wincing as it stung on the inside of his cheek, then spat it out into the sink. The water was pink with blood, but no teeth had come with it, so that was a good sign.
Next he splashed water on his face, trying to wash away the dried blood that had been tickling his upper lip. He wished there were a mirror so he could see what he was doing, but it wasn't like he was expecting to compete in a beauty pageant anytime soon, so it really didn't matter what he looked like. He imagined he looked something like hell on a bad day.
Now that he knew he wasn't going to die of dehydration, he felt invigorated enough to continue searching the room. On the far wall, he finally found a set of seams that could be a door, but he couldn't get it to open or move. Not that he was expecting to be able to just walk out of there, but the fact that he couldn't open it meant that it probably was a door and that he was definitely trapped. He made his way back to the bunk and sank wearily onto it, tired from his efforts. This appeared to be a cell designed for holding a prisoner, even though it didn't look like any jail cell he'd ever seen and it wasn't in an actual prison. The commandant's personal accommodations for his own ends, perhaps? Simon was more sure than ever that he was being handled outside the law for some purpose that had very little to do with the charges against him. Morris really wanted River. But why, if he wasn't interested in the reward? She would make a very good bargaining chip if someone needed the Feds to look the other way or wipe the slate clean. Great, now he was a hostage for a petty bureaucrat. On the whole, he'd far rather be dealing with bounty hunters. At least they were reasonably honest, in their own way. When politicians came into the picture, there was no telling what would happen to him.
"Okay, here's the plan," Mal told his assembled crew. "Wash, you're going to fly the shuttle. We need our best pilot on the job. We never got around to putting any identifying markings on the shuttle, so we should be able to sneak past air control without anyone figuring out that we're linked to Serenity. Zoe, you're with me. First thing we'll do is see if we can find River."
"What about Simon? He's the one we know is in trouble," Kaylee protested.
"River's the key. Zoe wasn't wrong about what she said earlier. Simon would want us to make sure she's safe before we worry about him. Besides, about the only way to guarantee they keep him alive is to make sure they don't get their hands on her. They get her, they don't need him anymore." Kaylee shivered, but she nodded.
"How do you plan to go about finding River?" Zoe asked.
"This is River we're talking about. I imagine she'll find us if she wants to be found. We just have to put ourselves in a place where she can find us. Once we get her, things may go easier. She may even be able to tell us where her brother is. It's night down on that part of the world, so we'll wait to arrive down there at first light. In the meantime, I think it would do all of us good to get a little rest." He hated the idea of leaving River alone down on Persephone in the night. Eavesdown wasn't a savory place in broad daylight, and it got worse at night. But he also knew that the girl had more survival skills than he could imagine. He wouldn't be at all surprised to find that she'd landed on her feet and was doing fine. Hell, give her a couple of days and she'd be running the place.
He headed for his own bunk, but Book stopped him. "I think I should probably go with you in the morning," he said. "A Shepherd has ways of getting in and out of places with a minimum of bother. I'd have an excuse to check on the various local jails to see if I can find him. And I have a few contacts of my own on this world. I was in an abbey here for years."
"I somehow doubt that your Shepherd contacts will do us much good."
"People come to the abbey from all walks of life, Captain," Book said cryptically.
Mal remembered the magic ident card that had got them in and out of the Alliance cruiser and nodded. "Okay, you're with us."
Simon was awakened by someone pulling him to his feet and binding his hands behind his back. He had no idea how long he'd been asleep. He hadn't even been aware of being asleep. The last thing he remembered was lying down just for a moment to make his head stop hurting. Letting himself fall asleep had probably been a very bad idea with a head injury, but alone in an empty, featureless room there had been little to keep him awake.
One guard took him by the right arm and walked him to the spot on the far wall that he'd identified as a door. A panel had slid aside to provide an opening. Once they were through, it slid shut, disappearing again as part of the wall. So, he'd been right about that. He wondered what time it was. There was no way of telling, with no windows and no clocks, and he'd had two periods of unconsciousness. He felt like it was the middle of the night, but that could have just been because they woke him up. By the time they had him seated in the interrogation room, he was fully alert and wary.
Morris came in after only a few minutes. His appearance made Simon suspect that it really was the middle of the night. He had a bad case of five-o'clock shadow and had bags under his eyes. "So, Doctor Tam," he said as he took his seat. "I hope you've had time to think about how precarious your current situation is. Now, I'll ask you again, and I hope you'll rethink your answer. Where is your sister?"
Simon decided it was time to change his story -- like any bad liar would. "I really have no idea. Didn't your people search the ship?" The problem was that he was telling the absolute truth, and if Morris realized that, the game was over. Simon tried making his gaze shifty and smirked a little bit, like he knew something that Morris didn't. He was prepared for the blow to the head that came next, but it still knocked him to the ground and made him see stars.
"Oh, so it's a new lie now, is it?" Morris said with a chuckle. "Would you care to reconsider?"
"What makes you think I'd tell you, anyway?"
"Gentlemen?" The kick to the side caught Simon by surprise, and he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming when the boot connected with an already sore spot. Both guards joined in with gusto. Simon realized he was fortunate that his hands were bound behind his back. His arms, wrists, hands and handcuffs actually protected his kidneys and spine, which should minimize the damage. All they were doing now was bruising and breaking ribs. They were causing him a lot of pain, but they weren't causing any life-threatening internal injuries.
If Morris thought this was going to loosen him up, he was sorely mistaken. For one thing, he couldn't form a coherent sentence right now if he tried, and he wasn't sure he could even find his voice. All he wanted to do was pass out, then he decided there was no reason why he shouldn't. It wasn't like he was going to get a medal for bravery out of this. He surrendered to the welcoming darkness.
First thing the next morning, Mal gathered his crew for their final directions. "Jayne, you'll be in charge back here, but no funny business. I swear, if you do anything to double-cross me, I will find you and kill you."
"Mal!" Jayne sounded genuinely insulted, but there wasn't much he could say, considering the number of times he had tried to pull a double-cross.
"Kaylee, I want you keeping an eye out. You spot anything, especially any interesting Alliance activity, you let Wash know right away."
"Yes, sir, Cap." She looked considerably more optimistic this morning, though Mal noticed that her eyes were still rimmed with red.
"I'll help her," Inara offered.
"Wash will stay with the shuttle, so keep the lines of communication open, but don't use them enough for anyone to track us. Everyone got it?"
They all nodded, then everyone took their places. As Wash went through the start-up sequence in the shuttle, Mal leaned over his shoulder. "Be sure to fly under the radar. Make sure nobody can tell where we came from. And do you know of a safe place to hide out while we're down there?"
"Don't worry, Mal, I've got it under control. You just worry about planning your little rescue mission. I'll handle the getaway."
Mal took a seat as the shuttle peeled away from Serenity. He was ashamed to admit that his plan consisted entirely of making himself available so that River could find him, but when dealing with someone with River's unique abilities, it was probably as good a plan as any. Simon's case was more problematic. There was no way of knowing where the boy was, and without that information, there was no way to get him out.
True to his word, Wash settled them in an out-of-the-way hangar. Before they all left the shuttle, Mal said, "Maybe we should split up. Preacher, you go do your thing, whatever it is. Zoe, see if you can get any idea where the doctor might be. I'll go hunting for River. Meet back here in four hours, unless you're really on to something. Let Wash know if you're gonna be late."
As Mal left the hangar, he wondered where River might go, but it was difficult to get into her mindset because he wasn't crazy. Well, not the same kind of crazy. He couldn't think of any kind of pattern in the things she tended to find fascinating. She loved the EVA suits and being outside the ship. She had that weird knack for weapons. She liked music and dancing. Hell, once she'd been drawn to dead people.
He heard the sound of music nearby and figured it was worth a shot. Around the next corner he found a large open-air marketplace. The market was crowded with people trying to get first pick of the day's merchandise. He wandered casually around the market, trying not to look like he was looking for anything or anyone in particular. He wore a different coat and had on a hat, so he wouldn't be immediately recognizable to any lawmen he might encounter, but he knew that no disguise would fool River.
The music came from a corner of the market square, where a lively crowd had gathered. He paused to see what the fuss was about. It didn't seem like much, just a couple of boys playing a flute and a drum. And then he noticed the dancing girl. She was veiled in pale, shimmering fabric so that her face below the eyes remained a mystery, but that only added to her allure. She moved gracefully but with absolute control as she spun around the little square of street that served as her stage. Mal was no expert on dance, but he got the distinct impression that she had been well trained. This wasn't the typical street performer. She was absolutely mesmerizing, and more than a bit sexy. Then she twirled past him and gave him a wink that sent a flush to his cheeks. A second later he went cold when she whispered, "Naughty thoughts, Captain."
He bit his tongue before he forgot himself and said her name out loud. By the time he recovered his wits, she'd danced her way around to the other side of her audience. Now that he knew who the dancing girl was, she wasn't nearly as alluring. She was just a kid, and crazy on top of that. Still, the girl could move in very interesting ways.
The musicians finished their song, and they and River took their bows, collecting coins from their audience. Mal lingered until most of the crowd had dispersed, then waved River over and flipped her a coin. She gave him a little curtsey of thanks, then said softly, "Follow. Carefully." Then she ran over to the boys to give them her haul. They picked up their instruments and props and headed to the other side of the market square. Mal kept them in sight while he meandered through the market, pausing at one point to buy a piece of fruit from a vendor, which he ate during their next song. River whispered something to one of the boys, and they packed up again, moving down the street, with River twirling and dancing the entire way. Mal followed from a distance, wondering where River was taking him.
Zoe stepped into the third police substation of the morning and blinked to let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light. So far, she'd hit most of the stations in the general area of Eavesdown docks. Even if the doctor hadn't been booked properly, as Inara's information seemed to indicate, chances were that if he'd been taken by lawmen, he'd spent at least some time in a police station.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" the officer at the front desk asked.
"I sure hope so," she said. "My husband didn't come home last night, and I got word he was brought in for brawling sometime yesterday. But nobody seems to know where they took him, and I kind of need to find him before I can decide whether or not to bail his sorry ass out." She glanced around the small station and noticed that the holding cell was empty.
The officer at the desk said, "Well, we haven't had anyone brought in for brawling or drunk and disorderly in the past couple of days."
"You sure? 'Cause I've already checked all the stations hereabouts, and nobody's seen him there, either. Maybe you'd know him. He's about my height, maybe just a little shorter, dark hair, too good-looking for his own good."
The officer exchanged a glance with another officer who sat nearby, and Zoe fought to keep her expression neutral. She would bet anything that these men had seen the doctor. They'd certainly reacted to her description of him. "Brawling, you said?" the officer asked.
"That's what they told me. Of course, they weren't exactly sober at the time, so they could have been mistaken. I guess he could have been brought in for something else."
The officers exchanged another look, and the second man gave the first a slight shake of his head. Not meeting Zoe's eyes, the first officer said, "Sorry, ma'am, haven't seen him."
"Thank you for your help, officers. I suppose if he can't be bothered to contact me himself when he gets in trouble, then he can just rot. Have a nice day."
She finally let herself smile as she left the station. Jackpot. She wasn't sure what good it would do her, but she knew where the doctor had once been, and she knew that the local law wasn't admitting they had him, which backed up the captain's theory. The hard part would be finding out where he was now.
It seemed to Mal to take forever to get across the city as he followed River and her musicians. Every few blocks they had to stop and play, and he would move ahead to study a store window or lag behind, just to avoid looking like he was following them. She'd managed to fend for herself pretty well, and he'd hate to ruin it by leading the law to her. So far, he didn't notice anyone in uniform in any of the crowds that had gathered to watch the dancing girl, but that didn't mean he wasn't being followed. He wasn't exactly wearing an elaborate disguise. He'd alerted Wash by radio a while back that he would be late to the rendezvous, and Wash had informed him that everyone else seemed to be in the same boat, and that so far no one had questioned the shuttle.
Finally, they came to the plaza in front of a large municipal building. It was lunchtime by now, and the noon crowd was plentiful around the central fountain. River earned a fair amount of applause and a decent pile of money with her dancing. Mal bought a sandwich off a street vendor and tried to blend in with the rest of the audience. As River worked the crowd collecting money at the end of the performance, she caught Mal's eye and nodded her head toward the municipal building. "They're hurting him, you have to hurry," she said softly, her eyes full of worry.
"That's where he is?" Mal asked, equally softly. She nodded. "Okay then, we'll come back for him, but first we have to get you out of here. We've got a shuttle at --"
But she cut him off with a finger to her lips, or to the area on the veil over where her lips should be. "Don't talk. Think." He tried to clear his mind, then gave a vivid mental picture of where the shuttle was. She nodded, then moved on to collect money from the rest of the crowd. He finished his sandwich, then headed back to the shuttle on a roundabout route.
Zoe was already there, sitting on her husband's lap as he sat in the pilot's seat. Mal cleared his throat before he came the rest of the way into the cockpit. They quit nuzzling on each other, but Zoe remained sitting where she was. "Get anything?" Mal asked her.
"I think I found where they first brought him, but they're keeping quiet about it. Wouldn't admit to even having anyone fitting that description, and they looked really sneaky about it. But he's not there now, and that's all I got. How about you?"
"Found River, and I know where they're keeping him."
"Sorry, lambie pie, but I do believe he wins this one," Wash said to Zoe, who playfully pinched him in return.
Mal ignored them. "Can you bring up a schematic of the city on this thing?" he asked.
"Sorry, not on this little boat, but I'm sure Kaylee can get something on Serenity. Want me to give her a shout?"
Mal shook his head. "No, we'll be heading back there in a bit, anyway, and I'd rather keep radio silence for the time being. It does look like he's being held in an unofficial capacity. They've got him in the main municipal building, and as I recall, the local jail is nowhere near. In fact, there's no police operations at all in City Hall other than admin staff."
"So you think this local commandant Inara told you about wants to use them to get himself out of trouble with the Feds?" Zoe asked.
"It's looking more and more like it."
"But how are we going to find him in that place? And get him out?"
"Still workin' on it. But first things first. We've got to get River out of here, and then we can worry about the doctor."
Simon wondered if they'd forgotten about him. He'd been awake for several hours and no one had bothered him yet. After last night's beating, he'd come around to find himself lying on the floor once more. He'd eventually gathered the strength to get himself onto the bunk. The mattress wasn't the most comfortable he'd ever had, but it was better than lying on the hard floor.
His whole body hurt, which made it difficult to assess his individual injuries. He suspected he had more than a few bruised and broken ribs now. Every breath was excruciating. But he was breathing freely, and that was a good sign. The last thing he needed right now was a punctured lung. That would kill him without medical attention, and given the lack of treatment for his wounded arm, he doubted he'd be getting medical attention.
He still wasn't sure how much time had passed. He thought of this time as "morning" because it came after he woke up, but for all he knew it could have been late evening. Judging by the amount of stubble on his jaw, he'd been a prisoner for at least twenty-four hours. He felt like he usually did before he shaved in the morning, or perhaps a little scruffier.
The gunshot wound on his arm wasn't as intensely painful as the combination of all the broken ribs, but it still hurt. The dull ache was changing to a burning sensation, which he didn't consider a positive sign. It was too soon for a full-fledged infection to have flared up, but one certainly could have started by now. If he didn't get that bullet out of his arm today, he could be in trouble. He'd tried to look at the wound, but it was at a spot on his arm that he couldn't see without moving his arm, and his arm wasn't cooperating. He'd probed at it with the fingers of his good hand, but that had turned out to be intensely painful, and not very illuminating, so he'd given it up pretty quickly.
He felt dizzy and lightheaded, but he wasn't sure if that was from the concussion or from the fact that he'd had nothing to eat since dinner the night before he'd been arrested. Even then, he hadn't eaten much because he'd gone after Kaylee when Inara made her announcement. The only water he'd had was what he'd managed to scoop into his mouth during the times he felt strong enough to get to the sink. It was all part of the torture, he knew, along with the disconnect from the world outside and the interrupted sleep. They were trying to weaken him and make him feel disoriented.
Unfortunately, it was working. He was tired, weak, lonely, scared, hungry and in a great deal of pain. But he also believed firmly in what he was fighting against, so firmly he didn't think they could break him. And even if they did, there wasn't much harm he could do because he really didn't know where River was. He wondered, though. She must have escaped, somehow. She had her ways, so he was sure she would have found safety or made her way back to the ship once the coast was clear. That is, if she was having one of her more lucid days. There were times when she didn't know when to hold her tongue, even when she was in danger. During those times, he wouldn't put it past her to walk up to an Alliance officer and mention that they were looking for her.
He also wondered what was happening on Serenity. Did the rest of the crew get in trouble for harboring him and River? Was Kaylee okay? Would they even try to help River or find him? He tried to tell himself that the captain had always come for him, even in the early days when he'd been quite open about his dislike for Simon and River. Surely he'd try now that Simon was actually proving to be useful. Or maybe he was still mad about the incident with the cat.
To be honest, Simon wasn't sure he'd blame them if they just left their biggest headaches behind. It wasn't their fault that Simon had been captured, and Simon and River's presence on the ship endangered everyone else. This would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of the problem without having to make an agonizing decision. The captain would do what was best for his crew. But Simon hoped he didn't. He'd never been overly fond of the cramped little ship that was a constant reminder of what he didn't have, but it beat his present circumstances by a long shot, and now that he was away from the ship, all he wanted was to get back there. As much as he hated to admit it, it was the closest thing to a home he had right now.
Now he wasn't so sure how long he'd been awake. This experience was certainly an opportunity to observe the effects of external stimuli on circadian rhythms. How much of a body's daily cycle came from within, and how much resulted from things like the amount of light, mealtimes and other patterns?
He didn't enjoy the beatings at all, but the waiting was its own kind of torture. What did they have in store for him next, and when would they come for him again?
The Shepherd came back to the hangar, a grim smile on his face. Mal met him outside the shuttle "I think I have a good idea where they may be holding him," Book said.
"In the main municipal building," Mal answered.
Book looked surprised, and just a bit miffed that his thunder had been stolen. "Yes, but how did you know?"
"River told me."
The Shepherd grinned broadly. "So, you found her. Is she safe?"
"She's safe. She should be joining us shortly. So, what else did you find?"
"It appears that Commandant Morris has quite a reputation. He uses his position to secure his own, personal power, usually at expense of the law. He has the top floor of the municipal building as his private domain. He even has his own holding areas for dealing with prisoners outside the usual boundaries of the law."
"Sounds like a charming character."
"Yes, quite. He's managed to get away with this for so long by greasing the right palms at the right time, both above him and below him. Or by the right threat directed at the right place."
"Thus the private jail."
"Exactly. But he got caught by someone who couldn't be bought, and now the Feds are launching an investigation. Now he has something the Feds want -- or feels that he will soon."
"You believe that they're holding the doctor in that private jail on the top floor of City Hall?"
"There's no evidence, but from all accounts, that is where they'd hold him if Morris is the one who has him. I'd say that the fact that River says he's in the building is a good clue."
"The real trick will be getting in and out of that place."
"It will be complicated. It won't be like getting into that Alliance hospital."
"Yeah, especially considering that the genius who came up with that plan is the one who's missing."
"It will take certain documentation, uniforms, the right badges."
"Can you get those for us?"
"My contacts are working on it, but it will take time. We won't be able to do anything for at least another day or so."
Mal closed his eyes and sighed. He'd hoped to have both Tams on board and Serenity well on her way by then. The longer they waited, the more difficult this would be, and the more dangerous it would be for River. "I just hope the boy can hold out that long," he said. "River told me they were hurting him."
"I imagine they are," Book said softly, his eyes full of concern. "But I have taken steps to reduce the opportunities for possible harm."
"And how would you go about doing that?"
"Morris can only play in his private torture chamber when he doesn't have official duties. One of my contacts is making sure his schedule remains quite full for the next couple of days."
"One of your contacts, huh?" Mal said, but before Book could respond, someone slipped through the side door to the hanger. Mal recognized the shimmer of veils. Next thing he knew, he had an armful of girl as she threw her arms around him and held on tight. He awkwardly patted her back. "It's okay, River, it's okay."
"Captain!" she said with a sob.
"We'd best get going now," he told her, extricating himself from her grasp. Book put an arm around her and guided her onto the shuttle. Mal followed, shouting for Wash to fire it up.
The trip back to Serenity was tense and quiet. Mal gave River a quick rundown of what they had planned to help her brother, but she didn't seem to register anything he said. It was almost like she'd used up her store of sanity while she was off on her own and was retreating back into insanity now that she was safe. Her eyes were vague and unfocused, she muttered nonsense to herself and she picked at her skirt and veils. Mal would have hoped that she could have held it together a little longer because the last thing he needed to deal with right now was a crazy girl, but he was glad just to have her back and have one less worry on his shoulders.
When they reached Serenity, Inara and Kaylee were waiting on the catwalk. Kaylee gave a cry of joy and hugged River. "Wow, River, that's a great dress," she said.
Inara took her turn hugging River while Kaylee asked, "What about Simon?"
"We know where he is, but it'll take some doing to get to him," Mal told her. "Now, you go take River and get her something to eat, then go and pack a bag for her." Kaylee just stared at him. "Go on, now." Still looking confused, Kaylee took River's hand and led her away. Mal then turned to Inara. "You got anyplace safe you can get to anywhere near here? I mean, absolutely safe, no worry of the Alliance, no ties to the law in these parts."
Frowning, she said, "Yes, I do have one long-term client I would trust with anything, but it's out of shuttle range."
"How far would we have to go to be in shuttle range?"
"At least half a day."
"Then go give Wash the course -- just to where you need to be so you'll be in shuttle range. Don't tell him where you're going."
"Mal, what's this about?"
"I want you to take River there and stay there until we get Simon back."
"What? But what about Simon? Half a day, and then half a day back -- it would be a whole day longer before you get him out of there."
"Inara, listen to me. You know that they're asking him where she is, and I can pretty much guarantee that they're not askin' politely. It's a bit too risky to keep her in the one place he knows she might be. Now, I know he's probably stubborn enough to hold up under torture, just for the sheer joy of being ornery. But I'd rather not take the chance."
"So you're going to leave him there to be tortured another day?"
"Look, he's given up everything for her. You know he's willing to die for her. His priority would be to keep her safe at all costs, so that's what I'm doin'. Besides, we won't have everything in place to get to him for another day, at least. Now, go. You're wastin' time. And set up a rendezvous point with Wash for when we're ready to pick you up, so we don't have to broadcast a location."
With a worried look over her shoulder, she climbed the stairs up to the bridge.
Simon was bored. There wasn't a lot to do in a small, empty room when he didn't feel like doing anything more than lying on his back and pretending he wasn't in pain. He'd slept enough that he no longer felt like sleeping. He supposed Morris was having a busy day. His schedule was too tight to pencil in a brutal interrogation.
The longer he lay there, the smaller the room seemed to be. It was about the size of his room on Serenity, but it didn't feel nearly as welcoming. This room was harsh and cold, while his room was softly lit and seemed almost cozy. One other big difference was the fact that there, he could open the door at any time and go anywhere he wanted to on the ship.
Although he was trying his best to maintain a positive attitude, he had to admit that his physical condition was beginning to concern him. Every breath was agony, and while he felt sure none of the broken ribs had punctured a lung, there was the distinct possibility of a bruised lung, given the extensiveness of the damage. It was hard to tell if he was short of breath, he had to breathe so shallowly to minimize the pain.
He was fairly certain that the wound on his arm was infected. It felt hot and swollen, and he suspected he was a bit feverish. As deep as the wound was, and as bad as his overall condition was, the odds were that the infection would get into his bloodstream before long, causing septicemia. That could very well kill him if he didn't get antibiotics in time. His future was not looking very bright at the moment.
The first thing he'd do when he got back to Serenity would be to get an IV going and restore his depleted fluids, then add an extremely powerful broad-spectrum antibiotic to the drip. Then he'd have to get someone to remove the bullet and drain the wound. After that, he looked forward to lots and lots of painkillers. In fact, once he got himself stabilized, he planned to retreat to his room with some serious drugs and stay doped up for about a week or until the worst of the pain started to fade.
He restrained himself from laughing when he realized how funny his fantasy was. Most people in his situation would be daydreaming about a steak dinner and some payback. "Yep, I'm a doctor, all right," he said out loud. His voice sounded strange, or maybe it was just that this was the first sound he'd heard in hours.
The cell door slid aside and in walked two guards. He tried to sit up so they wouldn't get the pleasure of yanking him upright, but his body refused to cooperate. One of the men looked at the other and said, "He doesn't look so good. Maybe we should bring in a doctor."
"I am a doctor," Simon pointed out. "I could tell you what to do."
The other guard shook his head. "You know what his lordship said. No doctors, nobody brought in from outside." From the tone of his voice, Simon guessed he wasn't too fond of his boss. Simon couldn't blame him, and he wondered if that was something he could use. The guard was actually fairly gentle about pulling him to a sitting position, then letting him get his bearings before bringing him to his feet. The other guard moved to cuff Simon's wrists, but the injured arm didn't want to move backward. It must have been more swollen than Simon thought. Instead, the guard cuffed his wrists in front of him. "I hope the boss doesn't mind. It's not like he's up to giving us any trouble, anyway."
The hallway seemed to have grown longer, but that may just have been because it took more effort for Simon to take each step. The way he felt, he'd probably pass out soon after Morris asked his first question, before the guards had a chance to take out all their frustrations on him.
This time, Morris was already waiting for him in the room. "Ah, Doctor Tam," he said, as if this were a social call. "Sorry to have neglected you all day, but I am a busy man." His tone grew harsher. "Which means I don't have time to play games with you."
"I don't mind waiting. Really."
"It doesn't matter anyway. I just brought you here to let you know that my people found your sister. I have her now."
Simon felt like the floor had dropped out from under him, taking his stomach with it. Then he got over the initial shock enough to think about what Morris said. "No, you don't," he said. "If you had her, you wouldn't be wasting your scarce free time talking to me. I guess you thought I was too weak to figure it out and would then tell you where she had been. Come on, you can do better than that."
"Very good, Doctor. You continue to impress me. I may not have your sister, but you might also be concerned about that pretty little mechanic from your ship. I understand you were holding hands with her when you were arrested. That's so very touching."
"I wasn't arrested. I was kidnapped. To be arrested, I'd have to be booked, arraigned and charged with a crime." Simon tried to focus on the legalese instead of even letting himself imagine that Kaylee might be in trouble. The captain wouldn't let anything happen to her.
"Come now, you don't have anything to say about the girl? I'm sure you wouldn't want any harm to come to her."
Simon forced himself not to react. If they did have Kaylee -- which he was pretty sure they didn't, not after all this time -- the more concerned he acted, the more dangerous it would be for her. At any rate, no matter how much he cared for Kaylee, his priority would have to be his sister, especially with no proof that Kaylee was actually in danger. Besides, he really didn't know where River was, so it would be absolutely impossible for him to cooperate, even if he wanted to.
"Sorry. I don't know what you're expecting from me. If you want to use everyone I've held hands with as leverage, I could give you a list, but it might take you some time to get them all rounded up." That wasn't entirely true. Given the rigors of his medical training and his more recent obsession with finding River, his social life over the past few years probably wasn't much more exciting than Shepherd Book's.
Morris nodded, and the guard behind him struck him across the back with a nightstick. At least they were mixing things up a bit. He was getting tired of the kicking. "You know, very soon I'm going to start suspecting that you don't have anything to tell me," Morris said.
"Let me guess, you were always a slow learner." This time the nightstick hit him on the right side of his face, very near his eye. He'd very likely get a black eye out of this, but that would be the least of his injuries.
"If you don't have anything to tell me, you become useless."
"You wouldn't be the first person to call me useless."
The next blow knocked him off the stool so that he landed on his bad arm. He nearly passed out from the pain, but he made an effort not to move. If they thought he was unconscious, maybe they'd leave him alone.
"Sir, I think he's past the point where he could be broken -- if he even knows anything," said a voice Simon didn't recognize. It must be the guard who was so handy with fists, boots and nightstick. "The reward for him is still pretty high. Maybe the Feds can get something out of him."
"I'm not going to the Feds with a partial prize. I need all the leverage I can get," Morris said. "Give him something to think about, then take him back to his cell."
Simon wondered what "something to think about" would imply. The guard wasn't particularly imaginative. He just kicked Simon a few more times until Simon obliged him by blacking out.
Book and Mal bent over the display showing the plan of the municipal building. "Up here is Morris's domain," Book said, pointing to the top floor. He tapped a button and adjusted the display. "The easiest way in is through the parking facility back here."
"How do we get in?" Mal asked. Although the preacher had pulled off something like a miracle just to get this much information, Mal still felt impatient. He hated waiting, and this trip back to Persephone after dropping off Inara and River felt endless. He imagined the time was going even more slowly for the doctor.
"It's key card access at the door, then a key is required to get the elevator to open on the top floor."
"So, the real trick is to get one of those keys."
"I'm working on it." Once again, Mal wondered about the Shepherd's past. He was sure there was a good story there.
"I don't suppose we can just waltz in and get him out."
"It won't be that easy."
"Somehow, I figured as much." It was never easy.
"There are security cameras in the elevators, so we'll have to wear uniforms to avoid detection. Word has it that they won't look too closely during the night shift, just as long as they see a uniform."
"And, let me guess, you're getting uniforms, too."
"Of course."
"What do we do once we get to that floor? I doubt they'll just have his name on the door."
'That's where it gets complicated. We'll just have to search." He knew there had to be something complicated about this plan. It looked like this was it.
"So, what happens if this Morris guy shows up while we're there? No, wait, let me guess, you've taken care of that, too."
"It pays to maintain old friendships."
"So, I guess that's the plan, huh? Go in at night, knock on a few doors, find our doctor. But what about getting out?"
"That's not as challenging. I suppose they believe that the locks on the cells are enough to keep prisoners in. It just requires the same key card to get out through that back door. Oh, and we'll have to go out down the stairs. Security likely will notice if they see a prisoner in the elevator."
"Twenty-four flights down? I hope he's not hurt too badly."
"Maybe we should take Jayne, just in case."
So, there it was. A perfect plan. Which meant something was bound to go wrong. He just hoped the doctor was still around for rescuing by the time they got to him.
Simon woke in his room on Serenity. He'd never been so glad to see those simple wallhangings he was sure Kaylee had chosen. She'd added so many little homey touches to the ship. He'd never realized how much this room had come to feel like home to him. They must have come to get him while he was out. But wait a second, why did he still feel so sick? He tried to raise his head to look around, but a soft voice nearby said, "Hey, take it easy, sweetie." Kaylee was there, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Kaylee? You're okay? They said they had you."
She smoothed his hair back from his forehead. "Don't be silly, they were just messing with your mind."
"I'm sorry, so sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. I shouldn't have waited so long to say, to do anything. I almost missed my chance."
"Maybe you still did. You know it's a bad idea. You'll only end up hurting me, anyway." It took him a few seconds to register what she was saying because her voice was as bright and cheerful as always, even though her words were harsh.
"What?" He blinked and shook his head. "Wait a second. You're not real. This isn't real."
"You're right. I'm just a manifestation of your subconscious."
"And now I know you're not real. You don't talk that way."
He closed his eyes tightly, and when he opened them again, he was lying on the floor of his cell. Damn. He tried to sit up, but that wasn't happening. He rolled onto his side to drag himself to the bunk, but before he managed to move any distance, he collapsed weakly. Okay, so he'd lie on the floor. He just wished he could get to the blanket because he was shivering. Had they lowered the temperature in here just to make him even more uncomfortable?
No, no that was probably fever. The fever was going up. Not good. Not good at all. It was time to face the facts. He was very, very sick, maybe even dying.
"Now, what kind of attitude is that?" He blinked, and he was back in his room. The captain stood over him. "I took you on 'cause you weren't weak, but here you are just lyin' there feelin' sorry for yourself."
Was the man insane? What did he expect? "Okay, in case you haven't noticed, I've been shot. I've been beaten. I haven't eaten in days, and- and I'm sick. Really sick, I think. So excuse me if I'm not up and around and feeling optimistic right now."
"And do you expect to get better just lyin' there? I don't see anyone comin' to bring you medicine."
"I don't see anyone coming at all. Where have you been, anyway?"
"You know, son, it's about time you learned to take care of yourself. How do you expect to survive with the Alliance after you if you can't get yourself out of a spot of trouble?"
"But I'm a prisoner. And -- and I'm sick and I'm hurt and I'm tired ... and I'm delirious and talking to myself." Once again, Simon realized he was still lying on the floor of his cell. But the imaginary Mal had been right, he wasn't going to get better just lying there and feeling sorry for himself. Jayne had managed to get them away from the Federal marshals by taking advantage of an opportunity when he saw it. Now, what kind of opportunities might present themselves here?
As far as he could see it, the only opening was when the guards were taking him from his cell to the interrogation room. If he could immobilize his guards, it might give him a chance to get away. He'd never seen anyone else in the hallway. From there, he wasn't sure what he could do. Not the elevator. It was very likely equipped with security cameras. But there might be stairs leading down. If he could get into the main part of the building he could get help. He wasn't officially arrested, so once he got around people who weren't part of Morris's team, there would be little Morris and his people could do to him. One or two floors down should do the trick.
Of course, that assumed he could even stand on his own. But he had two choices, the way he saw it. He could lie there, give up and die, or he could go out fighting. The choice was obvious to him. If no one was going to come for him, he had to take care of himself.
"So, you're sure you can get all those uniforms, and the ID badges and the card keys?" Mal asked Book for at least the third time during the trip down to Persephone.
Book kept his voice calm. There was no point in further agitating the already agitated captain. "Yes. I'm positive."
"You better, 'cause it seems to me we don't have much of a plan without 'em." Mal's eyes narrowed. "You care to explain to me just how it happens that you can get your hands on those things?"
"It's a very long story. Suffice it to say that there are benefits to keeping in touch with old friends."
"Must be some good old friends," Jayne said with a snort.
"Very good."
"So, you think the doc's still alive?" Jayne asked.
"More than likely," Mal answered before Book had the chance to. "They don't want him dead. They want River, and he's the best way to get to her. My worry is that they've already handed him over to the Feds when he didn't prove very useful."
"Maybe they broke 'im."
"Somehow I doubt it," Book said.
"Besides, it's not like he knew where she was," Mal added.
"We're making our approach for landing," Wash's voice came over the speakers from the cockpit. "So far, we've only had the standard queries from landing control. We've got full clearance."
True to Wash's word, the shuttle soon came to a rest. Mal opened the hatch to reveal that they were in the same hangar they'd used the last time -- or one very much like it. "The rest of you wait here," Book instructed. "I'll be back shortly."
Mal didn't look happy about still more waiting, but Book figured it would be good for him. It wouldn't hurt him to learn a little patience, and to learn to rely on others.
Simon wasn't really asleep, just lying still with his eyes closed, trying to conserve what little strength he had left, when he heard the door slide open. He kept his eyes shut. The weaker and more helpless they thought he was, the better a chance he'd have. He made a show of blinking groggily when the guard shook him by his good shoulder, then he opened his eyes to see a single guard in the cell with him. For once, luck had turned in his favor. One guard would be easier to take out than two.
"Boy, you look awful," the guard said, stating the obvious. But apparently he didn't look too awful to drag down the hallway and interrogate some more, for the guard pulled him to a sitting position and cuffed his hands in front of him. One more stroke of luck. As the guard dragged him to his feet, he noticed that the cell door stood open. This was his chance. The guard was taller than he was and easily outmassed him, but Simon had the element of surprise on his side. The guard wasn't expecting his injured and ill prisoner to fight back.
Simon waited until they neared the doorway, then suddenly threw his entire body weight against the guard, slamming him into the wall. As the guard fell, he raised his knee to catch the guard under the chin. The guard hit the floor, then didn't move.
Strengthened somewhat by the adrenaline coursing through him, Simon knelt by the guard and took the key to the handcuffs off his belt, then liberated his hands before putting the cuffs on the guard. It was a complicated procedure with one good arm. For a moment, he contemplated putting on the guard's uniform, but even if it would have come close to fitting, it would take far too long even if he had the use of both hands. He took the guard's handgun out of its holster, made sure the safety was on, then stuck it in his waistband. Then he slipped through the doorway to find the hallway empty, hit the control panel to close the door, and hurried down the hall in the direction of the elevator and stairs.
The initial adrenaline rush had begun to wear off by the time he made it down two flights of stairs. His legs felt wobbly and weak. He opened the door from the stairwell, ready to shout for help, and saw a dark, empty space. It was night. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he cursed himself. He'd totally forgotten that he had no idea what time it was, or what day it was. And then a shiver went through him as he realized that he was lucky he'd been wrong. He'd focused so intently on getting away from Morris that he'd forgotten that he was a Federal fugitive. The last thing he needed to do was attract a lot of attention in a municipal building.
Which meant it was all up to him. He had to get down the remaining twenty-two flights to the one exit he knew about. It didn't matter that he was sick and weak. If he was going to live, he had to do it.
Mal was on the point of a total meltdown by the time Book returned with a large bundle. "About damn time," he muttered, but Book only raised an eyebrow.
The Shepherd unwrapped his bundle to reveal a stack of local police uniforms, which he then distributed to Mal and Jayne. "I can't guarantee an exact fit because I had to guess at your sizes," he said.
Jayne looked suspiciously at his uniform. "What are you staring at?" Mal snapped. "Hurry and get changed. We ain't got all day."
He busied himself with pulling off his boots, stripping off his clothes and changing into his own uniform. When he finished, he looked up to see that Book was already changed, in a uniform that looked like it was tailored to order. Jayne's uniform strained a bit at the seams, while Mal's jacket sleeves didn't quite cover his wrists. "So, will we pass?" he asked the Shepherd.
"You'll do."
"You got the card key?"
He patted his pocket.
"Okay, then, let's go to the rescue."
Simon had lost all track of how many stairs he'd gone down. There were numbers on each door he passed, but he usually got the numbers mixed up in his head by the time he got to the next landing, so he gave up looking at the numbers. He'd rather be pleasantly surprised at running out of stairs than know just how many floors he had left to go.
All this exercise made him breathe heavily, which made his injured ribs hurt like hell. Each breath was an experience in sheer torture. At the same time, the fever made him lightheaded. He'd fallen more than once, adding to his array of bruises, but at least that was so many stairs his legs didn't have to carry him down. That healing gunshot wound on his thigh that he'd almost forgotten about had come back to haunt him, competing with the ribs in the pain department. So far, the ribs were winning.
He took another tumble, coming to rest on a landing. This time, he let himself look at the number on the door. Five. He only had five more floors to go, or less, even, if he was heading to the first floor and the exit he remembered wasn't in the basement. He could do that much. He grabbed the handrail and pulled himself to his feet, then had to cling to the handrail until his head stopped spinning. When he opened his eyes, he was back on Serenity, making his way down the stairs from the top deck to the infirmary. He made this trip several times a day, so he was sure he could do it one more time.
"Hurry, Simon! We need you in the infirmary!" a voice called to him. Kaylee? It was Kaylee's voice. She was the only person on the crew who called him by name, anyway. "River needs you!" He hurried his pace, desperate to get to the infirmary to help his sister. He rounded a bend at a landing, which should lead him to the last flight of steps before he got to the infirmary. He ran the last flight, only to find himself back in that seemingly endless stairwell.
Shaking his head to clear it, he tried to get his bearings. He was hallucinating, which was not a good sign. He only had a few more flights to go, though. He wasn't sure what he'd do after he made it out of the building, but first things first.
He fell again, but this time because he'd tried to go down a step when there wasn't a step to go down. He was at the bottom. He let himself lie still for a moment to rest his aching legs and ease his breathing. Then he sat up, grabbed the doorknob and pulled himself to his feet. The door opened easily, and he stepped from the stairwell into the same vestibule he remembered. The only thing between him and freedom was a single door.
A single locked door, he soon discovered. He wanted to scream in frustration, but he lacked the lungpower. He'd made it all that way, and now he was trapped inside. He wouldn't go back, though. They'd never get him again. He remembered the gun in his waistband and pulled it out. Sooner or later, somebody was going to come through that door, and he intended to use that opportunity to leave, even if he had to step over a body to do so.
"Ah, this must be the place," Book said. He led Mal and Jayne down a ramp into a dark underground facility full of police vehicles. Mal didn't like having to let someone else take point, but Book was the one who knew his way around.
"I don't like bein' around so much police stuff," Jayne muttered.
"Relax, Jayne, they'll think you're one of them," Mal reassured him, even though he had to admit to sharing Jayne's sentiments.
They reached a blank metal door. "Time to see if my friends came through," Book said as he pulled a card from his pocket. He waved it over a sensor, and the door opened.
Then all three of them immediately took a step backward as they found themselves staring at the business end of a gun. A second later, Mal realized that the gun was held by a very battered, bloody and deranged-looking Simon Tam.
The End
To be continued ... (soon)
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Shanna
|
Home/QuickSearch + Random + Upload + Search + FAQ + Contact |
|
| ||