Disclaimers: Everything belongs to Joss, except for one character of my creation ----------------------------- **Mousing over the Chinese should reveal the English translations on most browsers. If not, translations follow the story. ----------------------------- **********F.Y.I. to those leaving comments...Some of you have been wondering about the timeline between Alex's escape and what's going on with Mal and Co. I have left it undetermined how long she goes without rescue, but when I wrote it I was not trying to parallel her escape exactly with where Serenity was at the time. So I'm thinking she's not out in the woods the whole time the crew is trying to get to her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Where the hell is Mal?” Wash had yelled into the ‘com until he was hoarse, and had searched everywhere he could think of that Mal could conceivably be. He was running out of ideas. “Honey, last time I saw him he was here.” Zoë was as stymied as her husband. Neither of them had seen Mal since he had last left the bridge, and that had been several hours before. Wash sighed in exasperation and ran his fingers through his hair. “I found his contact at the prison more’n two hours ago, and I’ve looked everywhere...you and Jayne didn’t lock him in the hold, did you?” Zoë thought he looked slightly hopeful. She smiled and shook her head. “Not me, but I can’t speak for Jayne. I think he’d like to ‘bout now.” Wash snorted. “Not sure I wouldn’t,” he mumbled. “The prison official—Officer Logan is his name—said we can’t park on prison grounds...I really need Mal to talk to him, see if there’s any way around this.” “Way around what?” It was Mal, finally, stepping onto the bridge and looking a good deal more pulled together than he had before. “Where have you been?” Wash asked. “I looked everywhere for you!” “I heard ya on the ‘com,” Mal answered, waving a dismissive hand. “I just had...stuff...to take care of.” Wash frowned but didn’t pursue it. “Did’ja find me a contact?” “Yeah, and we can’t set down there.” Mal pursed his lips, thinking. “Get him for me, will you?” “That’s been the plan all along,” Wash moved to the communication console to send the ‘wave. “Name’s Logan.” Mal moved in toward the monitor as Logan appeared on the screen and greeted him. “Officer,” Mal said. “My name is Malcolm Reynolds. I captain a ship called Serenity. We’re hopin’ you can help us find a friend who ‘waved us for a rescue.” Logan looked like a man who had way more on his plate than he cared to handle. “Captain,” he said shortly, “I already told your pilot you can’t land here. Only official vehicles.” “I understand, officer, but our friend called us for help, and we’d like to oblige,” Mal replied. He thought for an instant. “Do you have a roster of staff and who’s been accounted for?” Logan moved off-screen momentarily and then reappeared, holding a small hand-held device. “What’s the name?” “Morgan,” Mal said. “Alexandra Morgan. She’s a nurse.” There was a pause as Logan searched his database. “She’s listed as unaccounted for,” he finally said. Mal frowned. “There’s a bunker here,” Logan said. “It’s for the staff, in case of a situation like this. It hasn’t been cleared yet, so a lot of staff is still not accounted for. It’s likely your friend is in there. We’ll know more in a day or so, if you want to ‘wave again. Meanwhile, though, only official vehicles will be allowed here. I’m sorry.” Mal was silent for a moment. “We’ll ‘wave again,” he finally said with a sigh. “Thank you.” He cut the ‘wave. Wash looked at him expectantly. “Now what?” “We ‘wave again tomorrow,” Mal said. “And what then?” Mal stood up. “Depends if she’s in the bunker.” “Sir,” Zoë said, “If they find her safe in the bunker, and she can be extracted by a rescue ship, can we turn back? The idea of all the Feds bein’ there...” Mal didn’t answer right away. He gazed out the window into the black. “Let’s just see if she’s in the bunker,” he finally said.

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She wasn’t in the bunker. Wash and Mal had ‘waved the prison repeatedly, as they got closer to Zargon, until the bunker was finally cleared and they got word that Alex had not been found. Mal decided to make one last plea to Logan. “Officer, what options do we have here? This woman ‘waved us that she was in danger. She has family on Boros who need to know what’s become of her.” And so do I. Logan was firm that they could not land on prison property. But he offered them an option. If they wanted to park away from the prison and search the surrounding land they could—at their own risk. “I can’t guarantee your safety,” he warned Mal. “Prisoners have escaped into the woods. And if you enter prison grounds, even on foot, you will be taken into custody and your ship will be boarded and searched.” Mal thanked him and cut the ‘wave. “So what do we do?” Wash asked. “We do what he said,” Mal replied, staring at the darkened screen. Wash raised an eyebrow. “Mal, that’s a lot of land to cover. You really think she’d be out there somewhere?” Mal didn’t answer. “What if we don’t find her? What then?” Mal still didn’t answer. Wash shook his head and turned to the controls. “ Ai yah tien ah ,” he muttered. Mal looked up sharply. “What?” “I said, ‘it’s the best plan ever, sir’,” Wash said brightly, flashing Mal a toothy grin.

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The reaction of the rest of the crew was about like Wash’s—and about what Mal expected. Even Kaylee, supportive of the trip from the start, looked doubtful. No one was eager to traipse aimlessly around in the freezing cold and snow in the unlikely chance the nurse was out there—with the likelihood of running into someone unsavory being a whole lot greater than the chances of finding her. “We’ll park and fly over in the shuttles first,” Mal told the rest. “Get the lay of the land. Then we’ll split up and go on foot.” He looked at Simon. “You’ll need to stay on the ship with your sis. Keep her quiet. Jayne and Zoë fixed up a spot in the hold in case anyone comes on board. Air won’t last long, though, so you’ll only get in there if it’s absolutely necessary. You wear an earpiece, get ready to move if I say move.” He turned to Inara. “I’d like to use your shuttle for flyover if it’s not a problem,” he said. Inara nodded. “I ain’t gonna ask you to search on foot, though. No need for you to get involved in this any more than necessary.” Jayne snorted his displeasure. “Is there a need for me to be involved?” “Jayne,” Mal said, “We gonna have an issue here?” “We already got an issue.” “Preacher,” Mal said to Book, “You can stay on the ship if you like. You’ve been in enough scrapes since you came on board.” “I would rather help with the search, if it’s all the same to you,” Book replied. Mal shrugged. “Well, I won’t refuse the extra set of eyes, that’s for sure.” Jayne raised a hand. “Shepherd can take my place.” Mal ignored him. “We’ll be there soon. Don’t know how much daylight we’ll have, so be ready to move.” He paused. “Thank you, all of you,” he said. “I couldn’t do it without you.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHINESE: Ai yah tien ah = Merciless hell ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go to Chapter 11.

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