Love, Loyalty and Serenity

Events take place sometime after the end of the series and before the movie so I could have Inara, Book and Wash onboard (I don’t deal well with change).

Chapter 1

“Cap’n, it’s past leaving time,” Zoe reminded Mal Reynolds. It was the third time she’d anxiously approached him where he stood, up to his ankles in hot sand just outside Serenity’s open cargo hold, peering into the empty desert beyond. He glanced over at his second-in-command; her eyes radiated fear and suspicion. She didn’t like this world at all, not after the near-catastrophe their most recent job had precipitated. Mal Reynolds remained in place but his worried expression mirrored her concern and unease. “Just a few minutes more. She’ll be here.” “Sir, the shuttle can catch up to us off-world.” “Zoe, just a few minutes more. She said she’d meet us here.” “Cap’n, you want I should fire up the engines?” Kaylee made an appearance now in a nagging repeat of Zoe’s performance. Kaylee’s fingers twitched, running in a line from her bruised, scratched shoulders, across her ripped overalls and down to a bruise on her left shin. Her face contorted for only a brief second, but long enough to relay to Mal and Zoe that their flight mechanic was in no small amount of pain. They were all hurting after their ordeal, some more than others. The Captain turned and strode up the cargo bay ramp as if to say enough was enough; it was time to cut their losses. “Alright, Kaylee, darlin’, crank her up. Zoe, get Wash to start a search for the shuttle. We gotta find Inara.” “Yes sir,” Zoe agreed.

Mal tried to figure out where this stinking job had gone south as he flew away from the desolate world where they’d spent the last three days trying and failing to carry out what should have been a milk run heist. He’d got word that a shipment of food and medical supplies had crash-landed on the unpopulated, desert side of a rim world. His contacts reported they had picked up all they could carry; they’d told Mal where to find the remainder of the goods. Mal had been grateful for their generosity in sharing the find. Times had been lean lately. Picking up the scraps under someone else’s table was better than starving.

At first blush, it had looked like way more than leftovers. Mal and his crew had whooped with excitement as they’d begun loading the goods onto the mule for transport to Serenity’s nearly empty cargo bay. “Like takin’ candy from a baby,” Jayne had gushed. “There is a free lunch after all,” Book had agreed. “Something’s smelly,” Zoe had glowered. “Too easy. Crashed or not, stuff like this doesn’t get left to sit for long. And most of these things aren’t damaged, like they weren’t even in a crash. We should be careful, Cap’n.” “You’re getting more and more paranoid every year,” Wash said. He was scooping and throwing into the mule everything he could get his hands on. “Hey, we’re not alone,” Simon cried. He pointed to the hills surrounding the crash zone.

Simon was right; the site was no longer undiscovered. It had taken every instinct they had to leave the supplies where they lay and high-tail it back to the ship. The thugs chasing them had a weapon they’d never encountered before; a blue ray gun thing that cast a glowing force field, like a net, over the ship and prevented them from taking off. Apparently, in the time since Mal had gotten word about this find, the window of opportunity had closed. The locals had found the site, taken what they could use, baited the site with some pretty treasures and now lay in wait for unsuspecting ships to come by looking to help themselves.

After a fight that left him bruised and bleeding, the attacking mob had overtaken Mal and boarded Serenity with loud victory hollers. Mal’s last thought before being knocked unconscious was a vague sense of relief that at least Inara had escaped all this by going to visit a client on a neighboring planet.

The ship was flying smoothly through the black, giving Mal time to stretch his feet out and relax with a sigh that shook his entire body. They’d managed to escape, in spite of the attempt on their ship. He closed his eyes, only to be greeted with overpowering images from the last two days of hell. He should have suspected something; should have known that nothing was ever easy out here on the rim planets. The locals didn’t want the goods; they wanted ships. Now they just had to wait for scavengers to land in their ships, all safe and sound, so they could trap them, hold them on the ground and board them. It was such a good plan Mal almost wished he’d thought of it first. It was a good plan until they tried to take Serenity, Mal thought smugly.

Mal had come to in the cargo hold. He couldn’t believe how stupid his captors were; he wasn’t even bound. He could hear them above, ransacking the common areas of the ship. “Zoe?” He whispered as loud as he dared. There was no audible answer, but a piece of crumpled paper had hit him in the temple a few moments later. He’d looked up at the catwalk to discover Zoe and Jayne, armed and ready. They’d retreated into hiding as soon as they were sure Mal had caught sight of them. They must have made it back to Serenity way faster than Mal; they’d escaped detection.

The next few hours had been tricky, but the crew of Serenity prevailed in the end. Kaylee, Simon and River had somehow gotten away outside the ship. They’d found the marauders’ camp, jumped the men operating the force field and had disabled it. It had just been a matter of time before they’d all managed to subdue the men inside Serenity, force them back outside and take off. Nobody had escaped unscathed, the ship was a mess and their cargo was lighter now, but nobody had been seriously injured, either. All in all, not the worst day they’d ever had.

Mal had ordered Wash to fly them to a spot on the other side of the desert where they’d earlier agreed to rendezvous if things didn’t go according to plan. Inara hadn’t shown up at the appointed time. In spite of his reluctance to leave caused by Inara’s failure to show up when she’d said she would, Mal wanted off this go se planet in a bad way. There was a good chance the locals would be back, this time for revenge, if they lingered too long in one place. So they’d finally left, and now Mal was growing increasingly worried.

“Serenity, come in,” a shaky voice emitted from the comm in front of him, jolting Mal back to the present. A wave was coming in. Inara’s pretty face came onscreen. She was breathing so hard she could barely talk and her eyes were desperate. A dark streak ran down the side of her jaw. It looked a lot like blood.

“Inara, it’s Mal. Where are you? What’s wrong?”

“I’m on Icarus. In the Amity Mountains. I need help.” A cold shot of adrenaline flooded his body.

“What happened?”

“I’m being held prisoner at Lord Zarlock’s blockade. It was a trap. Help me! Ai ya! Someone’s coming.”

The connection filled with static then went dead. Mal was immediately consumed with fear for her, Inara, his passenger, his friend, his sweet obsession, though he’d been careful to never let on to anyone how he really felt about her. The words “help me” had ignited a terrible dread inside his heart. She was injured; she had certainly been deathly afraid. A trap, she’d said. Who was this so-called friend she was visiting? He had to find her; he had to get her back. There was no other possibility.

“Zoe, I need you on the bridge,” he yelled into the intercom. River appeared just then, out of nowhere, and slipped light as a feather into the cockpit.

“Where to?” She asked.

“Icarus. River, go… ”

“Go fast as we can,” she finished knowingly. Mal placed a hand on her shoulder and held onto her as she ably steered the controls. How ironic that he was leaning on her, a fragile slip of a girl, for support. But he was. He depended on her now; he could hardly remember when it had started, but it was true. He took for granted the mysterious connection that joined their consciousnesses, could almost sense her the way she anticipated him. He squeezed her shoulder; she looked up with dark, empathetic eyes. Don’t worry, Cap’n, her look said. She’s still alive. We’ll find her. She reached up and touched his hand.

“Thank you, mei mei,” he whispered.

A/N: I know, I know; Inara gets kidnapped, Mal rushes to the rescue-- it’s been done-- but hopefully my take on the plot will be new and different enough to entertain and give you readers your “Firefly” fix! More to come soon…