(Disclaimer: the song lyrics are by Leahy, off the album 'In High Places,' not written by me.)

"It's late and it's getting dark..." Simon started.

"So quit complaining, and hurry up!" River insisted. Simon growled under his breath.

"Come on, sweetie," Kaylee said, swinging herself and Simon around so that she could aim those pretty eyes of hers straight at him. "I... I think that we're close. I know I've said that before, but River thinks that it's right down there too. The girls at the store really recommended this place for down-home cooking and good hospitality, so... it's just a little bit further, right? And if we can't find it there, then we'll just go to the next cafe we see, which won't be far, since as you've pointed out, there seems to be one on every other street corner. Alright?"

"Umm..." Simon drew in breath to agree with her, when from down the street River called out 'I found it!' and kinduv made the whole thing academic. Kaylee laughed out loud and held his arm close to her as they caught up. Simon hadn't even noticed his irepressible sister running on ahead.

When he got his first look inside the Mellow Moose, Simon decided that it was possibly a bit too down-home for his tastes - but maybe he shouldn't be quite so judgemental. After all, the Canton tavern on Higgins' moon had definitely been even more - well, rustic than this place, but even there he'd enjoyed himself some - once he'd loosened up some and done his best to take things as they came. And... and it had been one of the first times he'd really gotten to spend some time alone with Kaylee and realize how much he liked her - though even that, he'd manage to mess up more than a bit through sheer idiocy...

And he realized that he was the only one standing out on the street and looking through the door, and hurried inside to find his girls.

"Gosh... I actually feel overdressed around here," Kaylee said as he got close. She and River were sitting at one end of a long table - there were other people around, but none terribly close to them, and Simon was disappointed that River had taken the chair next to Kaylee because he'd wanted to be ablt to take her hand in his or touch her arm. But sitting across the table where he could stare at her had its upside as well.

It was definitely true that all three of them were dressed up to the nines, and that did make them stick out pretty far among the simple clothes of the roadhouse staff and most of the customers. Kaylee had eventually settled on a short blue skirt and a long-sleeved, high-necked white sweater, with a kind of glitter and shine to its fabric. River was in an expensive blue-gray dress with a shallow v-neck, a slit in the front of the skirt, shiny little stones sewn into the trimming, and two chiffon-ey trains trailing behind her. Kaylee had persuaded Simon to get something as well, but he'd settled for a new shirt, in a shade of blue that she said was flattering. They'd all been carrying bags of old clothes, and a few other things that the girls had insisted on picking up...

"Okay, I think that we leave something to mark our seats, and head up there to get food," River said, pointing to one of the walls of the room, where a number of customers were waiting in line. Simon hadn't even wondered if they would have wait staff at the table at a place like this yet. So he draped a jacket over the back of his chair, and the bags were used as placeholders as well - Simon tried not to worry that someone would simply make off with them. Hopefully their tablemates wouldn't allow such a thing.

"Okay, so you've got that 'pickup' to make tomorrow," River said to Simon as they waited in line. "What? I didn't... it was hard not to hear you two talking about it - and I don't know what it is you're getting, really I don't. If you don't want me there, then I'm nowhere near."

"Well... we'll see," Simon said, sighing slightly. Having a telepathic, brilliant, slightly unbalanced, immensely talented bratty younger sister was something that Simon had to admit might drive him to premature gray hairs. "Umm... do you want to head back to the ship once we're done here tonight, Kaylee? I mean - for the night?"

"Hmm? Ohh... yeah, I'd rather just be in our room, I admit." River rolled her eyes up to a startling degree when Kaylee said that, so much so that it looked like she'd be able to examine the contents of her own frontal lobe. "And I'm not even really planning for tomorrow, I admit - just looking forward to tonight. Oooh... lemme see." The line in front of them was moving fairly quickly, and Kaylee had just spotted a sign indicating the 'Table doat price.' "What's a doat, anyway?"

"It's a corruption of Table d'hote, in french," River said boredly. "Meaning that you have limited choices and a fixed price for the meal." Kaylee put down one fifty-credit note for all three of them, and was told in a very bored tone that they didn't give change.

"Umm, that's fine." Each of them got a small bunch of tickets that were good for various courses of the Table doat meal. Appetizer was a salad that looked fake, but a pretty well-done imitation, small bowl of dumpling soup, and a few crunchy breaded things. "Well, looks like the courses are plentiful and the portions are pretty big," Kaylee commented as they finished picking out beverages and maneuvered their trays back towards the table. By the time they'd returned to their seats, it was pretty clear that they had new neighbors.

"Hello darlin," an older, brown-skinned man in an extremely fuzzy blue sweater said as River started to settle next to her. "You doin' okay there? Alright - just let me know if you need more room, or to pass a bottle of the hot sauce or anything."

"Is there salad dressing?" Kaylee asked, and this request was passed further up the table.

"Hi there," a little boy, possibly the grandson of River's neighbor, said to Simon. "You and your girlfriends are dressed so fancy - are you from off-planet?"

River and Kaylee both erupted into giggles. "Umm, yes, we're all visiting Boros, but only, erm, the girl straight opposite me is my girlfriend," Simon quickly disclaimed. It was only afterward that he realized that this was the first time he'd used that term in talking to a stranger - in fact, it might have been - no, he'd said it to Kaylee herself when they were alone, but not to any of the rest of the group. "The girl who's sitting across from you is... is River, and she's my little sister. Do you have a sister here?" Simon guessed he knew the answer, since there were a couple of little girls around the same age further down the table, but he thought it was nice to ask.

"Yeah. Does having a sister get any less annoying when you grow up?"

Simon wasn't quite sure how to answer that question.

-----------

The first few courses were finished in proper succession -- after the starters came a fisherman's pie, and then a slab of meat along with bread and a bowl of mixed boiled vegetables. The Devaran clan, who were their neighbors up the table, were very friendly - they all lived in the outskirts of the city, and several of them worked in the local hydroponic works. All of the children, especially, had lots of questions about space travel and other worlds, which the Firefly-ers answered as best they could.

Just as Simon and Kaylee were about to go back up for pudding, River gasped and pointed over Simon's shoulder. He turned around, squinted through the crowd, and gasped. "Garcia! What's he doing here?"

"I... I'm not sure yet," River muttered.

"And... and how did you know that was him?" Simon asked. "You never met him - right?" But River didn't answer, and Simon realized that she could have seen the man's face in his mind.

"What - who is that, Simon?" Kaylee asked. "And where is he?? I'm not sure which guy you're talking about."

"Umm... he's standing next to the wall, beside the window with the, umm, with the trapped fox design on it." Kaylee made a disappointed sign with reference to the stained glass pattern he had referred to. All of the windows were in elaborate colored designs of rough outdoor living, hunting and portaging and so forth. "He... he was one of the people who - who helped me get into the academy and sneak River out." Simon leaned forward close to Kaylee to whisper this much, which meant that he couldn't keep his eyes on Garcia. "The first one who I met - or maybe I should say he met me."

"Oh." Kaylee considered that. "I... I thought you said that it was those other people who got River out."

"I... I didn't want to incriminate myself in too much, back then - just in case," Simon admitted. The exact story of how River's escape had been effected hadn't been the business of Serenity's crew at the time, he'd thought. "And... and he actually helped us all once - on Ariel."

"Ohh." Simon knew that Kaylee was putting the pieces of that cryptic statement together - the faked documents that Simon had used to put together a hospital theft in Saint Lucy's. "But *why* would he be here on Boros - and coming right towards our table..."

"I... hello," Garcia said to River, who waved at him as he headed between their table and the one that was next over on Simon's side. "Have... have we met? Your face does look familiar, but..."

"Not exactly, but you do know me," Simon said, turning around and offering Garcia a hand. "Hi there Garcia."

"Well, of all the little moons... Simon Tam!" Garcia shook, and turned back to River for a moment. "You must be Simon's precious little sister - I've seen pictures, but they didn't do you justice." He took a half-step back to look at the table. "And who's your lovely friend?"

"Umm - Jose Garcia, Kaylee Frye, chief engineer of the transport 'Serenity,'" Simon said. "She and I, umm..."

"Oh, right, I'd heard that you'd taken a post as medic on a little transport ship," Garcia replied affably. Nobody, of course, was saying much that would indicate that this was anything but an everyday meeting of long-lost acquaintances. "The two of you make a cute couple - congratulations."

"Erm, thanks," Kaylee said. "Nice to meet you - and what brings you to Boros now?"

Garcia hesitated, looking at River and Simon. "Umm... well, that's quite a long and interesting story, but I suppose it'd bear telling to the three of you. Not here, though - I wouldn't want to hold up your dinner."

"Well... I, I guess that you could come by our ship in the morning - that'd be okay, right?" Simon looked at the girls, who nodded. "We're docked at the city center."

"Whoo." Garcia whistled. "Well, you'll need to leave my name with the guard - they don't let just anybody into the yard there."

"Of course," Kaylee said. "Bill Garcia, right?" Garcia nodded.

"And maybe you'll be able to tell me a little of what got you into the high-priority parking lot," he said. Nodded, waved, blew a kiss to the girls with a grin, and headed off.

"Hmm," Simon said, wondering exactly what Garcia's story was all about. Something to do with the covert anti-Alliance stuff he had been involved in before? That might have something to do with why he thought he could trust Simon and River, and their friend, with it - and why he wouldn't want to talk about it in public. Maybe he was delivering secret information to the provisional government, or trying to expose Alliance sympathizers who might start counter-revolutionary groups here.

"Oooh, I know this dance!" Kaylee suddenly exclaimed, rushing around the table and grabbing his arm. Sure enough, some new song was playing and various people were shuffling around, getting ready for a rustic dance in the area bare of furniture next to the dining tables.

"Umm... I'm not so sure I do..."

"Just give it a try," Kaylee implored him, and Simon found himself rising to his feet and taking her arm in his.

"Ooh, dancing!" River excaimed, getting up herself.

"I, uhh, I think it's a couples dance," Simon said hurriedly. "You can't go in by yourself..."

"I'll partner River!" This was Myecki Devaran, the oldest of the third generations, who was thirteen years old and only about two inches shorter than River herself. River waited for him before heading out onto the floor, and Simon couldn't think of another objection. She did love the music and movement of it so much, after all, and nobody seemed to find *this* arrangement suspicious.

He was never too clear on the patterns and the steps of the dance itself, simply trying to follow Kaylee's lead and more subtle cues - and missing very slightly, more often than not. He had a notion of the overall formation switching from pairs to lines and squares, and then back again. But the music started to tug at his heart and soul - fiddles and other strings, a very battered old upright piano and harmonica and a set of drums that didn't quite fit with the others. And two dark-haired women were singing...

"Coyote plays, and shadows the moon - he's all alone in the midnight air. He runs like never before, toward the hum and the roar, Will he find a home and stay?

And all the while, the city sleeps. It won't be long before they take to the streets. They'll be dripping in things, oh the shine and the rings Of all the pirated gold, what can be bought can be stole."

Kaylee whipped him around into a furious spin, arm in arm, Simon nearly losing his balance but grinning at the light-headed sensation.

"And on and on Coyote runs, against the hum and roar. No sight no sound, no sacred ground just people wanting more...

HEY - there's a light out on the horizon, it's shining Another day, to find another way.Yeah, the moon is high The tide is out, but it's rising, it's turning again So take a chance -- be lost or borne away..."

As Simon danced on, saw River and Myecki near to him and Kaylee, he got a sense of an independent passion that he'd never really understood from reading or hearing about the war. The struggle between rural energy and the safety of city living, the conflict between the wild thing and the hunter, it all seemed to be tied up into this music.

"Coyote wakes, and runs with the wind. Heading west he's returning again. He hits the edge of the town, and then he circles around Don't know if he will stay."

Briefly there was a switch of partners, so that Simon found himself dancing with his little sister, but soon Kaylee was back.

"And the people sleep, with open eyes. There's a predator just outside. You can hear its roar, with the crack of every door Day and night, he's ready to fight.

And on, and on, the city goes - it's racing more and more. No sight, no sound, Just sacred ground can stop its hum and roar."

As the chorus started again, Simon caught Kaylee's eye and whispered thanks - which he couldn't even hear himself over the music. But she grinned, and shook a bit extra to the music, which made her curves vibrate slightly under the sweater and started to make Simon wonder how soon it would be before they could return back to the ship and make love again. A brief instrumental played, fiddles and a pipe that Simon hadn't noticed until this point - lonely and soulful, like the beauty of the desolate plains.

"Run, coyote, run and never never go astray. It may be night, but dark is light and night is day Don't change your coat or stain that pretty shade of gray... And let the world go change your ways...

Be strong: don't give into those shiny, fancy, empty things. They'll only strip your heart, your mind, your soul, your wings... Escape the hum, escape the roar now while you can. Or let your scent be known to man..."

The words suddenly created an odd metaphor in Simon's mind - he was a domesticated dog trying to live among the coyotes, at least for a while. He had been born to the shiny fancy things, but bit by bit he had started to escape those parts of his heritage. And Kaylee - was she wild, or tame herself??

"So go, oh little children, go and don't you be afraid. Chance the current and the loss, or be borne away. Take back yourself, take back tonight, take back the day. And then show the world the way, (show the world the way...)"

As the song ended, many of the dancers were panting with physical and emotional exertion, and a wave of applause broke out for the musicians. "Okay, now I think that we've worked up a good appetite for our dessert," Kaylee said in his ear. For a moment, Simon hoped that she was talking about something else, before he followed her back to the table and saw her pick up the little white ticket next to her tray.

"I think that they have iced yogurt," River said, smiling.

----------

Mal was shaking his head and grumbling when he got back to the ship. As he passed through the cargo bay doors, he had even gotten so far as speaking a steady stream of chinese words.

"Meeting with the Boros government went well?"

Mal looked up and saw Inara on the infirmary steps. "Umm... actually no it didn't. Could ya tell?" Inara nodded slightly. "They... they want me to stand for election in two months!!"

"As in, for government office here?" Inara burst out incredulously. Mal didn't even take offense, as that had been pretty much his own reaction. "Well... come to think of it, I suppose I can see a few of their reasons, but..."

"They want to trade on my war history and make a big announcement of my involvement in the broadcast," Mal said bitterly.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant."

"'Once we can protect you, Mister Reynolds, and remaining discreet about any participation from your crew." Mal swore venemently again. "Participation! Wash gave up his life for that go-se broadcast, and all of the rest of us damn well nearly did..."

"And aren't the people here on Boros, including the provisional government, doing more or less what you hoped they would with that information?" Inara asked quietly. Mal looked up at her. "They've rejected Alliance control - rejected the notions of those who would seek to improve them, and trying to go their own way in the Verse. To be an inspiration, maybe, to other worlds that want to break away. I... I can understand if you're frustrated at the real-world necessities involved, but don't lose your faith in what we did because of something like that."

Mal smiled slightly, and headed up the stairs. Inara shrugged and led the way back to her room. "Y... you're right, I should try to not let it spread over. I was just surprised by the suggestion. Don't want to be a figurehead, a symbol to the people of Boros, like that statue of Jayne on Higgins' moon. And - and I'm not the type of man who'd actually be a good administrator and public servant in that fashion, pretty sure."

"Umm... I'm not convinced that you'd be a bad one," Inara mentioned. "And... and a planet never has enough truly good people working in government, I think - even the best systems are filled up mostly with people who are 'more or less good enough.' I... I do think that you'd be more or less good enough - and also that you'd be less happy than most in a position like that. But the final decision has to be your own."

"I... I think that I've already made it," Mal muttered. "I am flattered, in a strange way, and I do wish them the best, but I won't do it." He sighed. "On the other hand, I think that I've learned just enough diplomacy of late to realize that it would be smarter to not give them that answer right away." He looked up at Inara to see what her reaction was. "Make them think I'm considering it, maybe think up the best way of refusing, and give the others a chance to enjoy Boros' hospitality and maybe find some opportunities while we're here."

"That... that does sound like a wise course of action." Inara sighed slightly.

At first Mal wasn't sure that she meant it. And then something belatedly hit him - Inara was concerned with something else - maybe something that she'd found out in the city this evening. "What... is something wrong?"

"Actually, yes. I received some disturbing news - a report has been lodged with the Guild that I was killed on Paquin, during that misadventure with the Operative and his confrontation with you." Mal drew in a breath. "Since nobody witnessed my leaving with you, and I wasn't in contact for so long after, this disinformation has managed to gain some credability. And... and the one time I was able to wave to Paquin, not long before we got to Persephone, the reception wasn't terribly good, so they weren't able to vouch that it was me..."

"And you didn't go back to Paquin," Mal said, seeing how it all fit together. "So the Guild on Boros said that you were an impostor, claiming the true Inara Serra's rights and privileges for your own reasons?"

"They - they wouldn't have been so discourteous as to say it flat out," Inara muttered, sitting down in her room. She looked at her lap and blushed slightly. "But - but my rights and privileges as a guild member, as you say, have been suspended until the matter of my identity can be clearly resolved. Nobody here on Boros' surface knows me well enough to vouch that it is truly me before the Guild."

"And none of us count as witnesses, of course," Mal said.

"Well, the guild doesn't *know* any of you," she put in with a 'try to be reasonable' tone.

"Alright - I suppose you want to get this resolved as soon as possible?"

"As - as quickly as it's safe to get things straightened out, yes," she assured him. "I... I've had my life in danger before, but it's somewhat disconcerting to be officially dead."

"And what's the best way of doing that?" Mal prompted. "Do - do you need to get back to Paquin, or Sihnon, or..."

"No, it needn't be that far," Inara quickly said. "Turns out that there's an old classmate who I know pretty well on Boros' larger moon - Ares. I can take one of the shuttles there, and meet with Kazia. If everything goes right, I'll be gone for a day at the most."

Mal felt an odd wave of fear travel up his spine. "And - and if things *don't* go right?" he asked.

"Um - I guess I don't know. Why are you so worried?"

"Well - Ares has an unsavory reputation to me. The shipyards that the Alliance built up there..."

"Are almost all in the hands of the Boros independents now," Inara shot back, "and those that aren't are worried about how long they're going to be under siege and so on. Nobody's going to worry about me."

"And the purple bellies aren't the only thing you might have to worry about, going off to a moon by yourself," Mal insisted. "There's a revolution going on around here - a fairly friendly and merry thing, it looks from here in the city, but... but I wouldn't want to think of a thing happening to you, when we're so close to..."

"Well, I thought that you might react that way," Inara admitted, her lovely face shining with quiet feeing. "And I do mean to do it anyway. So how about if I invite you to come along?"

"Really?"

"Why not?" Inara shrugged. "You can play bodyguard to your heart's content, we can spend some time together and cover some more ground in untangling the Gordian knot of our convoluted feelings, and maybe it'll even keep you ducked down out of the provisional government's way, so that they can't press you for a quick answer."

Mal thought about all of that - especially the 'spending time with her' part, and grinned. "Alright, when do you want to leave? Should we take your old shuttle?"

Inara laughed softly. "Umm... not until morning at least, and surely. It'll be nice to put her to some good use - but you don't handle the controls yourself, right??"

"Okay, okay," Mal sighed, not even trying to play the captain's authority card. "Well, I'll see about getting her stocked with emergency provisions and such." Inara shot him a dubious look. "Hey - bodyguard's perogative. I've still got an uncertain feeling about all of this, and making sure that we're prepared for just about anything is a precaution that I insist on."

"Very well. Don't bother with too much weight, though." As Inara spoke, Mal went out of her room to start getting ready - and bumped straight into Jayne.

"Oh, hey there Mal - I was lookin' for you," the mercenary said excitedly. "Got a job, right here on Boros. Not one for the whole damn crew, but I could use a partner, I figured, and thought that I'd ask you."

Mal blinked in confusion, very surprised that Jayne had even been keeping his eyes open for work in the festive city. "Umm... well, that's nice, Jayne, but I've already got some plans made."

It wasn't immediately clear if Jayne had even heard him. "Oh, this is SWEET, Mal! Some Alliance official took off and disappeared when things started to shake up on Boros - well, actually, I imagine that a lot of 'em did, but this guy was involved in the Department of Energy, and it turns out that a lot of key replacement parts, and schematics for the planet's power distribution grids, are missing now. Somebody saw his ship headed up into the Ravenor mountains, and I figured that there probably isn't a better pair of guys on the whole planet to retrieve the bounty than..."

"JAYNE," Mal said as clearly as he could, and plenty loud. "Wish you plenty of luck, but I'm not not your partner on this one. Inara is - well, she's been reported dead, and I've got to escort her up to Ares moon so that she can prove she's still very much alive with the rest of us."

"Reported dead?" Jayne blinked. "What, by someone who knowed about the fight at Mister Universe's place?"

"No, the one back on Paquin," Inara filled in helpfully from her doorway.

"Okay, well, makes sense," Jayne said after a moment. "No sense having the ambassador back with us if she's listed as a dead Companion, I guess. Take ya long?"

"A day, according to plan."

Jayne chuckled slightly. "Okay, so we'll send the rescue party out after you in four or five." Inara rolled her eyes.

"One suggestion, though - maybe you should ask Zoe if she's up for this job," Mal suggested to Jayne. "Could be good for her to have something to focus on like that."

"Hmm." Jayne considered. "Yeah, that's a mighty good idea. She'll be a big help."

Mal nodded. "Okay - you fixin' to use the other shuttle?"

"Umm, yeah, I s'pose so."

"Then as owner, I get ten percent of the fee."

"Okay, okay." Jayne now did some mental arithmetic. "Okay, you and Inara in one shuttle, heading to Ares. Me and Zoe, in the other, up hunting in the mountains. That leaves Kaylee, the doc, and River here mindin' the boat."

"Yeah, I guess that it does," Mal admitted. "Sounds alright. I trust Kaylee, and the others mostly, come to think on it. They shouldn't get into much trouble here in the heart of the city, after all."

"I suppose," Jayne muttered. "Any idea where Zoe's to be found? Dining hall, her bunk?"

"I haven't seen her since I've been back, but I haven't looked in much of the ship," Mal admitted.

"Don't think she was in the dining hall last time I passed through," Inara offered.

"Right - oh, that's another thing," Jayne said. "Speakin' of Zoe's bunk - does she still get to keep a big room, now that she's not sharing?" Inara let out a gasp of surprise at the inappropriateness of the remark. "I mean, I liked Wash a heap of a lot, but..."

"Do you want Zoe's bunk yourself, Jayne?" Mal asked, his voice becoming slightly hard.

"Actually no, wasn't for myself I asked. Just with Kaylee and Simon sharing..."

"Kaylee invited Simon to move in, and I don't think that they want a bigger room," Inara said.

"And anyway, Zoe's the first mate, she's been with me since the beginning, and that's why she's got the second biggest bunk," Mal said flatly. "She and Wash moved in together when they decided they were getting hitched up, which left Wash's room free for Kaylee, and you got Bester's bunk because it was free at the time." Mal stared Jayne down. "Do I make myself sufficiently clear?"

"That nobody's movin' unless somebody gets kicked off the ship?" Jayne asked.

"Or maybe if the people involved come to a free decision to switch," Mal agreed. "But no hinting to Zoe that she doesn't deserve her accomodations. I even hear of such a thing getting back to her..."

"Alright, alright, I get you," Jayne admitted, and stomped off towards the stairs.

Mal looked back towards Inara, who shrugged and then offered him a small smiled. "You handled that okay, I guess."

Mal nodded and wandered away, trying to figure out what gear he needed to pack.

----------

The next morning, the sunlight streamed down on the buildings of the city as Mal wandered into the shuttle. "Hey, how're we doing?" he asked.

"Umm... just trying to figure out how it is the Boros people expect me to file a flight plan, and then we'll be on our way," Inara muttered, bending over the flight control computer with an irritated air about her. Mal considered saying something, then sat down very quietly, in the copilot's chair, and concentrated on resisting the urge to touch any of the controls. After about five minutes the program that Inara was working at pinged softly, and she sighed, sitting back. "Okay, that's it. You all ready to go?"

"Umm, yeah I think," Mal said, looking down at his usual travelling clothes without being sure why. Maybe he was nervous about meeting an old friend of Inara's again - and one that wasn't a bit of a renegade who'd chosen to run a whorehouse on a distant moon, but a successful companion in good standing who apparently lived in a palacial mansion sitting on a huge tract of moon. "All stocked up with just about anything I think that we might need - shouldn't total more than two hundred or so in weight..."

"One ninety-two - I already checked," Inara said, and Mal blinked. Quickly she went through the seperation and takeoff sequence, and Mal realized that she was maintaining a very particular path up into the sky, that would be clear of other ships coming in for a landing. "Okay - twenty-three minutes or so until we get out of the atmosphere," she said then, switching control over to the autopilot. "Anything in particular you want to talk about, or do I get to pick the topic?"

Mal grunted in surprise at the sudden switch from businesslike to conversational. "Umm... I can't think of anything at the moment, except to say that you look nice this morning." Inara smiled in reply - she was in one of her more casual outfits for the trip - a blue skirt that wasn't quite knee-length, and v-neck reddish brown silk shirt, and two braids of her dark hair were pulled back from her forehead to form a nearly-complete circle around to the back of her head - like a coronet except made of hair instead of gold.

"Okay, how about this," Inara said. "What was Shadow like for you when you were young, before the war?" Mal blinked. "I... I realize that it's a personal question, but maybe that sort of thing will help - we're both private people, and for all the time we've spent together I don't think I've either learned much about your background or shared much about mine. I want understanding between us, Mal. Is that something that you can do for me?"

"Erm, well I'll try," Mal muttered softly. "Let's see. I grew up, as I believe I've mentioned, on a cattle ranch of Shadow. My mother was single when I was growing up, not widowed, and I at first I didn't ask much about the circumstances around that. Later I heard that she'd had a short affair with a foreman from a far-distant farm who'd been around on some sort of business. But - well, I guess it don't matter too much. She ran the farm in those days with her older brother, who had a steady woman and a daughter, a cousin around my own age."

"Alright," Inara said, as if she were giving her stamp of approval to the story so far.

"I was five when my uncle died of an accidental fall - and there was a blasting row between mother and Aunt Jevva when Uncle's contingencies were read - he'd left the land in his sister's name, though everything else he had in the world, which wasn't much, was for the care of his daughter and to Jevva. About a year later, Jevva found another man, a tourist from Londinium - he contracted marriage with her on the last day of his holiday and took her off the world with him when he went home. And took cousin Lees with him. Ain't ever heard of them since."

"But I never was lacking for much in those years myself. Mama and I loved each other something fierce - there were other young-uns living in the ranchhouse and nearby to make friends, and just about every field hand in the place seemed to figure it was his duty to treat me as his own son. Learned a lot there about the value of hard work, of building up strong character, and how to treat people right. And soon I was being sent off to the schoolhouse down the road to learn other things - reading and writing words, making up sums - then 'verse history, making and reading maps, alge and geo, some of the classic lits in the library."

"Yeah, that does sound like a pretty good way to grow up," Inara admitted.

"I suppose. The ranch was doing well, even after the Alliance proclaimed their dominion over Shadow, and started sending tax collectors in. The year I was twelve, my mother was even able to send me to a livin' school off in the countryside near Clipse town. Learned a lot there - art and poetry and working a computer, the basics of space navigation, but it weren't a good fit otherwise. I was powerful homesick, never having been away from my stomping grounds for so long, and being so upset I started to act out - back-sassing the professors, and getting into fights. Losing many of them too, which had never happened before."

"Because before, you were the son of a ranch owner," Inara filled in. "That probably protected you in ways that you never saw."

"Perhaps that was it," Mal admitted with the trace of a smile. "Anyway, I didn't go back to the school after New Year's holidays, and some of the surly attitude stayed at home with me. Most of it was focused on a new target - the Agricultural Inspector."

"I told you earlier how the Alliance was demanding tax from us, but this was a development that had popped up while I'd been away at school, and it was worse. A department of Agricultural standardization had been set up, and now Mom couldn't hardly wash her hands 'less it was in the approved Alliance fashion. They told us what to plant, where, and how - that we had to use new devices, and tend to the beasts in certain ways, and dump new chemicals onto the land to 'get rid of pests' that we had never even got before."

"Not all of the new stuff was entirely stupid, I'll admit, but some of it was powerful idiotic. Mom and I both tried to argue with the Inspector, because we knew this land from personal experience, but it was just no use. They wouldn't believe anything but what they'd learned in school - and when it came to any attempts at outright refusal, the officials didn't hesitate to fine farms, arrest workers, or even seize the land and put somebody new in charge entirely."

"It was around this time, actually, that something else new started - my own first affair of the heart." Inara smiled very slightly in response to this. "The girl's name was Tarin, Tarin Lornitt, and she was the daughter of a field hand and a childsitter on the plantation next door. A little shorter than me, with middling-brown hair, lean body, and an incredible passion for life. I was head over heels, and was even talking about making things legal, and running the ranch together once Mom was willing to step aside - or maybe take a portion for ourselves, even though having to deal with those Inspectors myself was enough to take all the joy out of the notion of working the land."

"But things didn't work out that way."

Mal was silent for a long time as the shuttle climbed. Inara cleared her throat, and that got him started again, sort of. "I... I didn't see what changed all of our plans - though I heard enough from those who were witnesses. The plantation where Tarin lived had come in 'under quota', and the owners tried to challenge that, arguing that it was the herbicides that were ruining the crop. The inspectors came back after a few days and said that they'd come to their own conclusion - that Tarin's father had been negligent in spreading the fertilizer, and they directed the owners to dismiss him. Mister J and his wife didn't want to, but their choice was between letting a good man go and losing everything, and they laid him off."

Mal took a deep breath. "Tarin attacked the inspector who had cost her father his job. Busted his nose in, fractured a hip and two ribs. I was kinduv proud of her, in a weird way - but it was an open and shut case, and she was sentenced to ten years in Riverside. That day that she was found guilty, was when I realized I had to find a different way to convince the Alliance that they needed to keep their noses out of our lives than words. Took me a few years to decide that had to be guns..."

"Oh, Mal," Inara said. "Did - did you ever see Tarin again?"

"Oh, yeah," he said absently. "Visited her a few times at the prison, and then - well, when things were just starting to get violent on Shadow, Independents captured most of the Alliance prisons, offering suitable candidates the opportunity to enlist - anybody who was inside for crimes against the Alliance or Alliance officials, among others. Tarin volunteered quick. We were never in the same company or anything, but she and I met up quite a few times, when we could. It wasn't like it had been before - she'd been in prison too long, and I'd been through a lot as well - but it was some comfort to be together now and then."

"Oh. Did she... is she--"

"Her regiment was one of the first to move into Serenity Valley. Five hours after the fighting started, Tarin was blown into tiny little pieces by artillery. Friendly fire, they call it, though I'm not sure that a gun's really friendly even to the person who's holding it. Zoe and I hadn't even landed on Hera when it happened. Got an official spacegram to notify me of her death, since her mates knew that we used to be sweeties."

"Oh, god," Inara moaned. "Well, that's enough sharing from you, I guess. We're coming out of the atmosphere now, and I'll set the spiral course for Ares, and then take my turn. Sound good?"

"Sure I guess." Mal was staring out at the blackness of space, and the incredible vista of Boros under him. If you knew where to look, you could still see the craters and scars that the planet had acquired for itself during the Unification War.

TO BE CONTINUED...