((Brief author’s note: This simultaneous business means that all this is happening at the same time. Because of the restrictions of writing to linear storytelling, I’ve mentioned that all this simultaneous stuff happens at the same time, and the order is only important in this presentation, similar to cutting between shots on television. If I do say so myself, I think this is pretty cool: I spent a long time figuring out the order for this.)) Start of simultaneous sequence: Serenity: Feds search the cargo bay and infirmary (search part one) As the Alliance searches the cargo bay, five feds make a mess of the room, moving boxes the crew themselves hadn’t moved for months aside in the proceedings. They aren’t too careful about the shifting about, either, and boxes are strewn about, contents spilling on the floor haphazardly, creating a hazard in itself. When they figure out they aren’t finding anything, they leave the room in shambles, and move back to the infirmary area, giving it the same treatment. Unlike the cargo bay, however, they notice that the infirmary is well stocked with medicines too expensive for a ship like Serenity to have. As for why common soldiers know this, it’s by chance that one of them has had some baseline medical training. As they complete their search of the infirmary, the leader nods, and they move methodically to the next part of the ship. * * * Simultaneously: Alliance ship: Cell three: Perspective: Simon and Jayne In this cell, it’s dead silent. Simon is sitting in the corner worrying about his and River’s safety, knowing that if the Alliance puts their names to their faces, River’ll go right back to the Academy, and Simon will go to jail. Once he’d started thinking about the Academy, he went back to his odd little repast: wondering what exactly the Alliance had been doing to his sister. He knew they’d been cutting into her brain, and he knew she was going crazy. What he didn’t know was why they were doing it. He’d figured the what, the how, and the when, but he was left with only a wide heading of “the Alliance” for the who, and for the why, he was stumped. Top three percent of his class indeed: he could save a man’s life with minimal observation, but he couldn’t figure out why the Alliance would do something like that to a person. Jayne, in typical stoic fashion, is silent. It’s probably just that he was attempting to think, and that, by definition, requires his entire concentration. Or else Jayne couldn’t find anything else to do, so he simply sat there like the statue of him had on Higgins’ moon: staring out into nothingness. Well, at the floor, anyway. And the floor had never felt so afraid in its entire existence. * * * Simultaneous: Serenity: Feds search the passenger dorms (search part two) The heavy steps of Alliance soldiers tromp through the passenger dorms, making far more noise than the crew did when it walked through such areas. These soldiers also paid it far less heed: beds lay made and tidy before their coming, and mattresses and sheets lay strewn about afterwards. Possessions too, were looked through and tossed about the room when they were done. Some of the paper screens were damaged, and all of them were left open when the soldiers tromped out again, reassembled briefly, and headed off towards the kitchen. * * * Simultaneous: Alliance ship: Cell four: Perspective: River “She’s so alone. Vulnerable. She’s as lost without him as he is without her.” River is alone in her cell, rocking back and forth on the bed. Her eyes reflected great sorrow and confusion, though there was a certain eerie clarity to them – she understood perfectly what she was saying. “He doesn’t know why he’s here, and it’s all because of me, but I didn’t mean it, no, I didn’t. Now everything’s gone wrong, and no one can be happy again; everyone’s alone, and everyone’s lost. I don’t want to be the cause of more trouble to him; he’s lost as he is, wandering about. He doesn’t know why he’s here, and everyone’s been taken.” * * * Simultaneously: Serenity: Feds searching the shuttles (search part three) While they had found nothing in the other shuttle to make a mess of, the soldiers entered Inara’s shuttle with a wary eye; there were many places behind the silk trappings in which things could hide. They searched under her bed, flipped the mattress over, and pulled down much of the hangings in the room, only some of which came out of the ordeal unharmed. Her incense sticks were accidentally knocked off a table, and the ceramic pot in which they were sitting shattered. As with most of the other places they visited, the shuttle was a shambles after they were through, though this looked much worse: it looked like a normal shuttle without all it’s Companion-y dress-up clothing. * * * Simultaneously: Alliance ship: Cell five: Perspective: Inara and Rose Inara and Rose sit uncomfortably silent in their small cell in the face of adversity. Neither knew each other, nor had even the slightest idea who the other was. There was no real reason to have a conversation, so for the longest time, there wasn’t any. “Does this sort of thing happen often?” Rose paused. “It doesn’t seem like it’s much that you would get into, the crimes that the Captain’s into according to those people.” Inside, Rose knew she just needed to not be thinking; she needed to talk, or to do something. Doing something isn’t an option in such close quarters as this room, though, so she’d opted for talk. “The crime, yes. The crew of Serenity takes jobs as they can, whichever side of the law they can find on them. Generally, though, they’re not caught. As for myself, I’m a Companion.” Inara was very graceful, Rose noted, and she sat upright on the bed in the corner of the room. “Companion… ?” She’d heard this term when the Captain had declared, with much bemusement, that she was most definitely not one. “Yes. Companion.” As Inara could still see Rose’s confusion, she elaborated further. “You’ve never heard of Companions? The Captain would tell you that I’m what others would call a whore. It’s probably more like a geisha, if you’ve heard of them. It’s a highly respected job, and it’s not all about the physical act as it is, if you can excuse the repetition of the term, companionship.” “Right.” Rose stopped. It was the reaction Inara was the most used to; people closing up to her if they hadn’t known about her being a Companion before. A beat. “That would explain the Captain’s reaction.” * * * Simultaneous: Serenity: Feds search the dining area (search part four) In the dining area, chairs are taken from the table, the table is searched under, and all the cabinets are opened in the kitchen. A mess is made of the two rooms, and it is certain that some of that food is ruined, even in its resilient Blue Sun packaging. All the stuff on the table is scattered about by one of the frustrated soldiers, and the others look at him as if this is common. When the leader looks sternly at the errant soldier and the junior officer backs down, it is learned that this is the most junior of those present, and the newest addition to the group. They spend an uncanny amount of time here, because they peek into the pantry, checking for who-knows-what, but doing it thoroughly, as this is a commonly traversed area. The chaos of the cargo bay is nothing compared to what the soldiers do to this room, because things are easier to shift about, and they are all a mite frustrated by the time they’ve gotten here. Eventually, though, they leave the dining area, and head for the crew quarters. * * * Simultaneous: Alliance ship: Cell one: Perspective: Kaylee and the Doctor “I’m the Doctor, by the way,” stated the Doctor as soon as the fed had left the doorway. “I still haven’t a clue as to where we are yet, though.” “I’m Kaylee, Serenity’s mechanic,” she says cheerily in response to the first part, but then, more apprehensively, she continues. “This is an Alliance ship. Surely you know what that means? We’ve been brought in because of the nature of our work, the crew of Serenity. We take what work we can get. Sometimes it’s on the right side of the law, sometimes it ain’t. It’s all just a matter of perspective of right and wrong, you know. Alliance thinks it’s wrong.” “So you’ve been on the wrong side of the law. It happens to everyone once in a while; I’ve actually been on the wrong side of my people for a long time now...” He trails off, pausing for a moment. Not thinking about this now, he berates himself, and continues. “But, Kaylee, did your captain show you something that isn’t normally on the ship? A blue box, perhaps? And maybe there was a little tool on the floor nearby, approximately the size around of your finger, and maybe the length of a hand span?” The Doctor was cataloguing information for the future, trying to determine what state to expect the TARDIS to be in when he got back, and more specifically, where his sonic screwdriver was. “I’ve seen the little tool thing, yeah, and he was asking me to look at that box, but I didn’t have time, with the Alliance sneaking up on us like that.” After a moment Kaylee remembered something, though, and her face lit up. “I’ve got that tool you’re talking about right here, in my pocket, I think! Lemme see if I can’t get at it… you did want it, didn’t you? I figured it had to be one of the two of yours, and I think I heard the Cap’n say it dropped out of ‘his’ pocket, and you’re the ‘he’ of the two of you.” As Kaylee reached into her pocket with one hand, she had to twist the other all manner of crazy ways to try to get to the aforementioned item, but once she’d gotten it free, the Doctor looked vaguely happy for the first time since this whole venture had begun. “Can I see that? Because if it’s still working after its mild mistreatment, poor thing, our chances of escape just increased exponentially.” At his request, Kaylee handed it over, and he was positively as delighted as a child in a sweets store, because he swiftly determined it worked. “This,” he said, grinning wildly, “is called a sonic screwdriver. It can get you out of pretty much anything. Including,” he paused, pressed it against Kaylee’s bonds, and activated it. When activated, a high pitch sort of warble came from it, as well as a blue light around that head bit Kaylee’d noticed earlier. He turned it off as the cuffs came off. “These. Nifty little tool, if only I can…” he trailed off, turned the screwdriver around in one hand, gave it to the other, and activated it again. “There!” His cuffs came off also, and he turned it off again. But just then, a fed and two soldiers appeared at the door, which opened to admit them. “You,” the fed declared, gesturing to the Doctor, “will come with us.” The two soldiers stepped slightly to the side, the fed went back through the door, and with a shrug, off went the Doctor. “I guess I’ll talk to you later, then, Kaylee,” he said, just before the door closed again behind him. And thus, Kaylee is left alone.

This one was for you BEB. I'm just lazy, and didn't wanna break the flow before the story got started by telling you so. But I told you last chapter. >.>