CHAPTER 10 Mal burst through the doors of the abbey, Zoë only half a step behind him. Rushing down from the roof, Jayne met them in the sanctuary, reading Mal’s intense look as a sign of trouble. “He has her! He has Inara!” Mal fumed. The crew gathered round, listening intently as Mal and Zoë recounted their morning. “Poor Inara!” Kaylee moaned. “Did she look injured?” Simon asked. “She seemed fine,” Zoë answered. “We saw Prio on the shuttle with her. He’s taking her back to wherever he’s been hiding her. Wash has to be there too if Inara saw him.” “A powerful man like Prio could have a dozen safe houses around town,” Book pointed out. “It’s possible he’s not even keeping her in this city.” “He is,” Alegra interrupted, her voice soft, her eyes a million miles away. “Prio has only one refuge—it’s the place we escaped from.” Mal waited for her to say more, but her breathing became shallow, her mind lost in the memory. Mal looked at Simon and River, who had both gone a little moon-eyed as well. “Great,” Mal chuckled. “At least we know it’s low security.” “It took me years to infiltrate that place,” Simon intoned. “How are we ever going to get in?” “I know the way,” Alegra spoke up. “I know the way,” Tyler repeated, coming to her side. River stood as well. “I know the way.”

*~*

Simon’s protests were unnecessary—Mal had no intention of taking River. He had no intention of taking any of the kids, but after spending twenty minutes trying to decode Alegra’s directions, he gave up and just brought her along. He hadn’t much developed a notion of how to storm the place, but just in case, they stocked up on rounds before going. Hiring a cab to get across town, Mal tried to flesh out the details of his plan. “What’s the layout?” he asked quietly, even though the cab driver seemed to be actively ignoring them. “Standard square, very few windows, up to four parallel hallways on the floors with no labs.” “Standard square means limited exits,” Zoë said. “What if our primary route is cut off?” “The floor layout and exits are posted in the halls,” Alegra said. Mal raised his eyebrows in surprised, so she explained. “In the event of a fire or something. Just don’t try getting out by any of those exits and you’re fine.” “And how are we gonna find the others? Just walk around knocking on doors?” Jayne asked, doubtful. “We’re ain’t exactly incon-suspicious.” “If anyone asks, say you are escorting a subject,” Alegra shrugged. “On your way to or from. People there have seen it all.” As Mal exited the cab, his jaw dropped at the sight of the place. All he saw was a wall of solid concrete rising twenty feet in the air, topped by iron spikes. It looked like a fortress. Alegra smiled, “Now you’ve seen the front door.” She led them westward and after half a mile, the height of the wall dropped slowly and eventually the solid wall was replaced with evenly spaced iron bars, with the intention of looking ivy league. Through the bars, huge buildings stretched for miles. The fencing changed again as the campus backed up to a woods. A formal sign told them they were now entering “Andover World Forest – No Trespassing After Sunset.” The barred fence gave way to a more practical grating and barbed wire that promised 10,000 Volts to anyone that crossed it. “How big is this place?” Mal muttered, growing concerned. “About five miles on a side, protected.” Alegra began following a river bed deeper into the woods. Dust from the trail caught in the dappled sunlight and branches cracked loudly underfoot. After tottering across a log bridge, the path steeped steadily uphill. As they returned to the fence, Mal noticed a small gap and he hoped that Jayne would fit through it. Hell, for 10,000 Volts, he hoped he would fit through it. “They never repair this,” Alegra mused. “I don’t know why.” “Maybe they do and people just cut it open again.” Alegra ducked nimbly through the fence and waited while the others proceeded more cautiously. Jayne opted to pass his weapons first, then slithered through, sweat beading from his face. Mal knew that should push come to shove, they would never make it out this way quick enough. “The building we’re looking for is about one mile past here.” “What makes you think he’d take Wash and Inara there?” Zoë asked. “It’s where he goes. I call it the Black Box. Every other building on campus has a documentable purpose… classified, but documentable. But what occurs in the Black Box stays there. It is where Prio crosses the line of morally questionable activities that are government sanctioned into the full-fledged acts of inhuman cruelty driven by morbid curiosity… some of which are also government sanctioned.” “God love the Alliance,” Mal grumbled. As the forest thinned, Alegra led them along the tree line, but eventually, she cut out into the broad daylight making a beeline for one of the buildings. Mal and the others followed hesitantly. Jayne was getting antsy, wanting to either find cover or run. He turned often, checking for potential snipers, but the campus was quiet. Finally, he broke the silence. “If this place is all guarded up the way you say, how are we supposed to get in?” Alegra pointed to an unremarkable building up ahead. “Through the window.”

*~*

Kaylee and Book entered the auction yard just as the doors opened. The ships were lined in a semi-circle facing a courtyard, each with their best face forward. Folks milled about, browsing the merchandise, but onboard inspection was prohibited at this juncture. While Book signed in, Kaylee looked for Serenity. It stuck out like a sore thumb against the other ships, most of which were twice her size and much cleaner. But someone must have seen the beauty in her because the starting bid had been upped to 86,000 credits. What would they do if the bid broke 100? “You think they cleaned her out?” Kaylee whispered to Book as he came up, flipping through the auction catalog. “Doesn’t even look like they cleaned her up,” Book said, running his hand along the damaged landing gear. Kaylee wince as if the scrapes on the hull were on her own body. “Do you think she’ll fly?” Book asked. Kaylee circled to the engines. “Looks like she plowed into a brick wall and fell outta the sky. No tellin’ from out here.” Book offered a paper insert from the program. “This is the mechanics report from the auction book. They’ve refused a tour even though this ship missed all the inspection previews.” “Alls this says is she’ll run well enough to get her to a repair shop.” “They do offer a complimentary detailing. I guess they haven’t cleaned her out.” Kaylee gave a frustrated sigh as she stared at the lock doors. “I’m breakin’ in,” she determined. “Are you sure that’s wise?” Kaylee shrugged. “We’re goin’ to fly her outta here whether we win her or not, right? Better to make sure she can fly.” Book raised his eyebrows. “I thought I had volunteered myself for the legal part of the job.” “It’s as legal as the money we’re buying her with.”

*~*

River hadn’t spoken to Simon since he had forbidden her to join the rescue party. She and Tyler had gone to the roof to watch the others depart. Wei was already there, circling, running his hand along the high brick edge and kicking up the loose gravel on the roof top. Simon knew that River was angry, so he decided to give her time to decompress and went in search of food. Unlike Serenity, the abbey had quality fresh food that made him homesick. He couldn’t believe how close he was to his former home, yet he still couldn’t go back. Simon polished off the last piece of a blueberry pie, his eyes closing in an indulgent sigh. Soon, he and the kids would take the mule to the auction yard, then they’d take Serenity to pick up the others, and hopefully all fly out in one piece. It was a simple plan with room for lots of complications before it completely fell apart. Mal’s plans always needed wiggle room. Not knowing how long it might take to coax Wei back down the stairs and onto the hover mule, Simon headed for the roof. River sat cross-legged in the center, reading and revising a bible. But otherwise the roof was empty. “Where are the boys?” Simon asked, concerned. He hadn’t noticed them come down stairs. “Boys are gone.” Accustomed to cryptic answers, Simon knelt calmly until he was face to face with River. “Gone? Gone where?” River met his gaze. “They went to the Academy to help the others.” Simon jumped up in alarm, his feet running in two directions at once, alternately toward the door to try and stop the boys and back to River. “Don’t worry,” she said calmly. “They know the way.” “Way?” Simon repeated in a panic. “Wei is barely functional! And Tyler is just a kid. How could you let them go?!” “I couldn’t go with them,” River laughed. “Someone has to fly the ship.”

*~*

The building was so unremarkable, Mal couldn’t imagine it containing anything more or less reprehensible than the others they had passed. The open window disturbed him though and Mal grabbed Alegra’s arm, jolting her to a stop. “You’re just goin’ to climb through an open window?” “What’s a place like this doin’ with an open window anyhow?” Jayne asked. “Trust me.” She climbed lithely through the window, then motioned the others to follow. Mal climbed in, scanned the room, and stopped dead, jaw dropped. Zoë and Jayne nearly plowed him over as they came in the window behind him. The window led into a break room with a few couches, a table, and a refrigerator. On one of the over-stuffed, green couches, Tyler sat, consulting a hand-held computer. “Where’s Wei?” Alegra asked. “He went to the second floor. Says there’s something there he needs.” Feeling he’d been duped, Mal nearly exploded. “You planned this?!” “He knows the way,” Alegra answered. Jayne chuckled. “What? You didn’t see it coming?” Alegra ignored Mal’s fuming, keeping her attention on Tyler. “Did you find them?” “The man has been everywhere between the basement and four. The lady is only ever in the basement or somewhere undisclosed with Prio.” Tyler made little quotation marks with his fingers as he said “undisclosed.” “Where is Prio now?” Mal asked impatiently. He often wondered what the point of being Captain was if no one listened. Tyler shrugged, indicating that he didn’t know. “His office is on Two?” “I’ll take Two,” Mal said. “Alegra, Zoë, go to the basement work up. Jayne take Four, work down.” “What about me?” Tyler asked, jumping off the couch. “You stay here and try not to get dead.” “Jayne will pass easier through the halls if Tyler is with him,” Alegra spoke up. “People in this building don’t blink at a gunman accompanying a subject.” “Fine. Don’t kill anyone you don’t have to.”

*~*

Kaylee started in the engine room, clearly torn apart and only haphazardly repaired. Despite the auction catalog’s claim, the ship probably wouldn’t have made it to the nearest repair station. She recognized Wash’s handiwork on the engine, bypassing safety systems and dumping raw energy wherever he needed it. Serenity would break atmo, but once there, a new fix would be needed. Kaylee worked carefully, trying not to think of how little time she had. The catalyzer was looking weak again and the compressor strained, but it would hold. Working her way forward, she passed through a gauntlet of damage in the hallways. Most of the ripped wiring affected onboard electrics, communications, and conveniences—nothing necessary for escape. She tipped up most of the wall paneling, only keeping open the few damaged comm lines If she had time, she’d fix those before takeoff. The cockpit was a bloody mess and Kaylee worked hard to mask her fear for Wash. She hoped he’d managed to inflict as much damage as he’d taken. The console seemed fine, though with the electric off, it was difficult to diagnose. The lock on the bridge door had been broken open. What had Wash been trying to do before his capture? You can’t fly away from someone on the same ship as you… for that matter, the whole reason they left the ship in the first place was because of the land lock. With a sinking suspicion, Kaylee dropped below the main console, willing the wiring to tell its story. The grav line spoke. “He dumped the whole bout of energy into the engine!” she exclaimed. Suddenly, the damage to Serenity’s hull made more sense. Wash had essentially thrown the weight of the Earth onto the ship trying to dislodge it from the land lock. He could have blown up the whole ship and himself with it! Kaylee, traced the cross feed of the wires and started the disconnect. This trick was easy to do, but not so easy to undo. She quickly rerouted the wires, then headed for the main grav feed line that ran under the floor of the cargo bay. This could take days to fix, but she didn’t have days. How long could an auction last?

*~* ******** Go to Chapter 11