A/N: Thanks for the reviews; it was great encouragement to keep on with the story! Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Love, Loyalty and Serenity: Ch 2

Icarus was a not a planet in its own right, but a large moon circling a giant gas planet. The solar system that was home to Icarus also contained the desert planet the crew of Serenity had recently fled but that smaller, denser planet was much closer to the star at the center of the system. Large enough to hold an atmosphere, the cold moon Icarus had been terraformed by the Alliance long ago, but was located so far from the core planets, and so far from its own sun, that living here had never really caught on. Although the energy from its star was too feeble at this distance to create a temperate climate, the surface temperature was warm enough to sustain life due to widespread geothermal activity. Now the moon was home to a few families of means who’d built formidable estates for themselves. Inara had been there before and had told Mal intriguing stories of the riches stockpiled away in the huge ancestral homes of Icarus; the stories had him itching for a chance to accompany her on a visit and see it for himself. She’d gone to visit a friend this trip, a woman who had left the Guild and married a self-proclaimed baron. Companions rarely got married, but such an event was more common out on the fringes of civilization where companionship of any type was difficult for the hard-working locals to attract. Her friend Fariah had been needling Inara for a visit for many cycles now; she was lonely, she complained, and never heard any of the Guild gossip anymore. Inara was sometimes in this quadrant and Fariah made her promise she would come visit if she ever got close to Icarus.

“Okay, Zoe, where are the Amity Mountains? We need to find the homestead of Lord Zarlock.” “I’m pulling up the chart now; here it is. River, take us towards the north pole of the moon. Look for a chain of mountains running east to northwest. As for where the estate is, I’d guess we just look for habitations. We’ll have to hope there aren’t a lot of choices.” “Tracking Inara’s pendant,” River returned. “What?” Mal asked, incredulous. “Inara’s pendant. It transmits her coordinates.” Mal always got the impression that River was just a smidge away from losing patience with the rest of them whenever she attempted to explain something. “Since when?” Zoe asked. “Always,” River replied in her typical laconic fashion. “Jing ze. Where is she?” Mal said, leaning over River’s shoulder to look at the console, searching for an indication of Inara’s whereabouts. “Here, in that settlement there.” “Go! Land us out of sight of the main building. I don’t know what we’re walking into, Zoe; get everyone ready who’s willing to risk it.” “I dare say that will be everybody,” Zoe replied.

Mal left Zoe, River, Kaylee and Wash behind with Serenity. Simon, Jayne, Book and Mal were actually a better team without the others, although nobody ever said so out loud. Simon wasn’t much help with the fighting but his services always seemed to be needed directly afterwards. He had a level head and managed to stay out of the line of fire. He’d saved all their lives at one time or another.

Mal sometimes brought River along on jobs, for she had proved her worth on many occasions as a warrior. But she was changeable; unpredictable; today he felt more comfortable leaving her with Wash and the others. For months now, Wash had been teaching her how to pilot Serenity. The girl was a natural and Wash knew it, but still, he taught her for hours each day; he seemed to enjoy her company. Mal knew how he felt. The girl kinda got hold of a body and wormed her way into their heart.

Mal crept up the last few feet to the top of the rise and cautiously peered over to get a look at the estate spread out in the valley below. “Jayne.” “Cap’n?” Jayne settled down next to Mal with a lightness of movement in direct contradiction to his large, muscle-bound frame. “Take a look. What would you say happened down there?” Mal handed his binoculars over. “Looks like a hostile takeover,” Jayne said after a minute. “Part of the outer wall’s all blown to bits, debris all over the yard…” Jayne adjusted the eyepiece and trained it on the side of the mountain. “And bodies, down there, see?” He pointed.

“Yeah, I see,” Mal replied grimly. “We’re splitting up. Get a count of how many hostiles we’re dealing with. We’ll meet back up at the tree line, down there, in 30. Stay on comms.”

“Wait, Cap,” Jayne said. He pointed down into the courtyard of the mansion. The front door burst open and a group of men exited. They were hairy, dirty, wild things wearing ragged uniforms. From the color of the rags covering their backs, Mal guessed they’d been Browncoats at one time. Blood mixed with the dirt on their clothing and skin. Each one staggered under a bag stuffed with valuables from within the house. As they watched, the door opened again and a large, red-haired bear of a man strode into the courtyard. He had a wood box under one arm. His other arm was wrapped tightly around the throat of a woman who could barely walk. Even from a distance, Mal could make out her black curls, rich dress and impossibly dainty sandals, somehow still colorful and bright, a stark contrast to her surroundings. She appeared to be on the verge of collapse, but each time her body crumpled her captor jerked her roughly back onto her feet by the neck.

“Is that?” Jayne whispered.

“It’s Inara.” Mal felt sick.

The door opened again and two more men sauntered out. The group conferred together and then walked towards the outer gates.

“There’s eight,” Jayne confirmed. “You think that’s all of them?”

“I’d say yes; they’ve done their job and they’re headed back to wherever home base is. They don’t look to be in a hurry; I’d guess nobody’s left alive inside. Zoe,” Mal whispered into his radio. “Have River keep on tracking Inara. She’s being moved. We’re going after her; be ready to come pick us up.” He turned to his comrades.

“Let’s go.” The rough terrain and cold wind did nothing to slow them down. They were men possessed. The gang they were following was making no attempt to cover their tracks, but Mal urged his team on faster and faster, knowing their ship was likely hidden nearby and they would lose them at any moment.

“They stopped,” Jayne whispered.

“Spread out. Surround them. Fire at will—but don’t hit Inara.” The four crept to points surrounding where the thugs were sitting. Mal could hear the red-haired leader talking on his radio, calling for a transport to come get them. Almost immediately he heard the whine of the ship’s engine over their heads. Looking up he saw nothing but low clouds at first; then the ship slowly descended out of the swirling mist like a ghost materializing. Mal glanced around at the locations he knew his teammates to be. He saw nobody; they’d thankfully taken cover. His heart sank as he watched the ship settle into the clearing. The four of them would be committing suicide to attack now. He was losing Inara and it hurt worse than any pain he’d ever known.

He could see Jayne across the clearing. He’d stepped out of the bushes just far enough to where he knew Mal could see him and was staring with wild eyes, challenging Mal to do something, anything. Mal shook his head and swallowed back bile. They couldn’t attack now. Jayne closed his eyes in pain-filled frustration but stepped back into the cover of the bushes.

The ship’s hatch opened and the group in the clearing jumped up as soon as the way was clear to board. Inara screamed when her captor dragged her onto the ramp. She kicked and fought like a wild thing. The man holding her laughed, grabbed her face and planted his mouth squarely across her mouth and nose in a brutal parody of a kiss. Mal saw her go limp and still in the vice-like grip of her kidnapper. He had to clamp his own hand across his mouth to keep from crying out.

An electric hum filled the air. Four pairs of desperate eyes looked up to see Serenity hovering above their heads. The men on the ramp yelled and ran inside their ship for cover. The ramp was closing when the hum grew louder and higher in pitch. A blue force field fell into place over the enemy ship. The paralyzing effect was so complete that even the ramp stopped in midair.

Mal roared in triumph. Kaylee must have stolen the ray gun weapon on the other planet. She never ceased to surprise him. Jayne, Simon, Book and Mal stormed towards the grounded ship and its half-closed hatch with one mind and goal. Serenity was landing behind them now, still holding the force field in place. Mal knew Zoe and the others would soon be right behind them.

“Let her go!” Mal growled at the man still clutching onto Inara’s still form. The thug was backed up against the door of the ship’s cockpit; apparently the control to open the door had been frozen in place along with the rest of the ship’s functions.

“Stop or I’ll kill her,” he answered. “Drop your gun.”

Mal tossed his gun down. “Let her go, and we’ll all just walk away.”

“Get off my ship.”

“Wang bao dahn…” Jayne spit out. He had somehow slipped into place across from Mal. With a lightning movement, he neatly shot the guy in the forehead. With powerful grace he whirled at a sound behind him and shot another in the same instant. Mal dove for his discarded gun and killed a man skulking in the shadows just before he could fell Jayne. Within a few seconds, it was all over. Mal turned to see Wash and Zoe standing on the partially open ramp behind him, guns drawn. They’d finished off the leftovers.

Mal turned his attention to the crumbled figure lying against the cockpit door, still partly covered by the dead kidnapper. He was at her side in two long strides. With an outraged cry he shoved the body of the red-haired thug off of her and scooped her up from the floor. Around her neck glistened a gold-chained amulet set with a brilliant blue stone. Large enough to hide a transmitter chip, Mal realized.

She was dead weight in his arms.

“’Nara?” He said. She lay curled against his chest pale and motionless. Her lips were pale, almost purple. He swallowed back hot tears, unable to bear the thought that they were too late.

“Simon!”

The doctor was helping him hold her in an instant. He placed two slender fingers on her reddened neck.

“She has a pulse,” he confirmed. “Her throat is bruised and she’s having trouble breathing. We have to get her to the infirmary right now.”

“And get off this go se planet,” Jayne added.

“Look around on the way out, kids,” Mal called, ever the mercenary even as he gently bore his precious burden back to his ship. Behind him his crew began quickly picking through the hold, grabbing whatever they could carry that looked to be of use.

“That’s enough; close the hatch,” Zoe urged as Jayne went back for seconds. “Let’s go. Now if not sooner.” But there was no bite behind her bark. This was who they were: scavengers who needed everything they could get their hands on just to survive. After a seconds’ hesitation, Zoe followed Jayne back into the enemy ship for one last run.

Translations: Mei-mei: sister Jing-ze: ingenious; brilliant Wang bao dahn: dirty bastard Go se: shit