Chapter 5: Gravity Check

Mal managed to intercept Inara as she was leaving her shuttle. The companion’s attire was decidedly toned down and was most likely her idea of casual. He couldn’t help but snort. She still was dressed more luxuriously than most women dressed when attending a formal occasion. Not for the first time he wondered at the psychological damage the guild had wrought on her during her training. Her morals were all upside down and backward and she couldn’t kick back and just be herself no matter the occasion. She seemed not to be able to see anything from a viewpoint that didn’t sync up with the guild’s. No doubt about it: the gal was seriously messed up. Problem was that despite all that, he respected her. She was one sharp fortune cookie; even though they didn’t see eye to eye about her so-called profession. And he hated her profession. Hated her practicing it… And that made what he was about to do crazy as all get out… “Inara,” he greeted her. “Sorry to hear about your cancelled plans.” She snorted. “Yeah, I can see just how broken up you are.” “The good doctor unable to hold up his end of the agreement?” he smiled. “It was a last minute change in the on-call schedule,” she explained. “Not his fault, but by guild rules he still had to pay me.” “So then, there’s no way he can meet you? You’re free for the evening?” “Apparently.” Annoyed, she made to push her way past him on the stairs, but his hand shot out and gripped the railing, forming a barrier. Mal put on his most charming smile and turned to face her. “Then would you do me the honor of keeping me company for an hour or so before you visit Zoe?” Her mouth dropped open, but try as she might no words would form. “Dinner,” Mal explained. “I’m talking about taking you out to dinner somewhere nice. Think you can put up with me for a bit?” With an effort she seemed to recover her poise. “What’s the occasion?” she asked. “No occasion other than that we find ourselves on a nice planet and you aren’t off entertaining for a change. Thought we could relax over a good meal and chat.” She looked at him warily. “That’s all? You won’t start in about my profession again?” “Promise.” “I don’t know, Mal…” she sighed. “I really should drop in on Zoe and you’re busy trying to figure out what’s up with Wash…” “Jayne and Kaylee are looking out for Wash and as for Zoe; I doubt she’ll mind if you show up a little later on. Probably catching some sleep, anyway.” His grin got larger. “Now then, how do you feel about Old World Italian food?” Inara smiled and took his arm. “I would even put up with you for a meal like that,” she laughed. Mal puffed out his chest and led the way out. He felt elated to finally have gotten the companion to agree to spend some time with him. He had tried more than a few times to get her to see how he felt about her, but they always seemed to be dancing around the truth of it. Way he saw it, she found him a threat to her continued existence as a companion, and rightly so. What they had going was a stalemate. He wanted her but would only pursue her if he felt she would be willing to give up her profession to be his woman. She avoided him because she was not about to get into such a situation in which she had to make that decision. Now maybe it could work out and maybe it couldn’t. All he knew was that he couldn’t just leave it be without giving it a try… and some personal time together was a step in the right direction. Hell, he had the time to spare and tonight, so did she. “Here’s to an enjoyable meal and good company,” he said, as they left Serenity.

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Simon had only just begun to feel at home on Serenity. Part of that feeling was tied up in the fact that his status had been changed from paying fugitive passenger with a crazy sister to crewmember, as in ship’s doctor… with a crazy sister. Still, times like this, when the rest of the crew were gone, the ship felt too large and empty. It felt more like a prison than a home. So he busied himself in making a meal for himself and River. He wasn’t the best cook on board, but he wasn’t half-bad, either. After leaving Zoe in good hands at the hospital he had sought out a local market and purchased some much needed fresh vegetables, then splurged on some rice. He was just finishing his sweet and pungent vegetable stir fly when River wandered in. She looked over his shoulder, inhaled deeply and actually smiled. “Just like Mom made us,” she said. “Well, close enough anyway.” “Bends but won’t break,” she muttered. He took the food off the stove and fixed her with a look. She had that dreamy, far away stare on her face, which meant that her consciousness, was wandering again. There was no denying that she knew things that most people couldn’t know; that she could predict events before they happened. And he had learned to trust her mutterings. “What bends but won’t break?” he asked, curious. “Stronger than they think,” she continued. “He just doesn’t want to be that way. Hides it. Makes them think he’s weak and strange…” “Who, River? Are you talking about Wash?” She smiled but didn’t answer the question. Her eyes were focused once more. “Let’s eat!” she said, grabbing plates and utensils for the two of them. Simon sighed. He’d get no more out of her at the moment, but at least his sister was in one of her coherent states of mind.

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“Still no sign of him, huh?” Kaylee jumped and then clutched her chest. “Gorram it, Jayne! What you trying to do, scare me to death?” The big man snorted with amusement. “No, but that will teach you to be on your guard, dong ma?” She moved back into the stairwell she had been peeking out of and turned to face him. “How’d you climb those stairs so quiet like?” “Trade secret,” he replied. “So, still no sign of our mysterious pilot, eh?” “Nope. He ain’t come back yet.” “Well, how about we go grab a bite to eat and then come back? Ain’t like it’ll change anything.” Kaylee thought about it for a minute. Mal had gotten up with Jayne and ordered him to come over in case things went wrong. The big guy might come across as a bit slow, but when it came to fighting, he was smart as they came. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to sit and eat a spell…” she commented. “Hell no! We’ll eat in the bar downstairs. That way we can still keep an eye on who’s comin’ and goin’.” “You buying?” That brought him up short. “Tell ya what – I’ll flip you for the right to do that.” Kaylee smiled and dug out her favorite coin, one she had doctored so that it would nearly always land tails up. “You’re on!” she said with a grin. Feeling generous for once, Jayne flipped the coin and let her call it. She called tails and as expected, easily won the toss. It brought a scowl to the big man’s face, but only for a moment. The thought of good food quickly put him back in a good mood. “Well, come on then!” he urged, as he turned back toward the stairwell. Together they took the stairs, excited by the chance to eat some good, planet side food.

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Wash entered his hotel through the adjourning bar and surreptitiously checked the hallway before moving quickly to the stairwell. He felt a strange pricking on the back of his neck as he passed the third floor landing and began to turn back towards the stairwell door when it was thrown open violently. He jumped and tried to make a run back down the way he had come, but the two men who entered already had their guns drawn and pointed at him. Wash put his hands up. “Hey,” he said. “I’m just using the stairs!” “That don’t matter any when your name is Washburn,” one of the men sneered. He holstered his weapon as his partner kept his gun centered on their captive. Serenity’s pilot felt himself spun around and frisked. “He’s clean,” the thug commented. The other man finally spoke up. “Lead the way up to the fifth floor,” he commanded. “Keep your hands where I can see em. And if you even think about running or trying something, I will shoot you dead on the spot, dong ma? We’d be perfectly content to take the lesser payment being offered on your dead carcass.” “Um… I’m sure you’d still rather take the bigger payment option,” Wash threw back over his shoulder. Then he began to climb the stairs.

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Zoe punched the video com and waited until Simon appeared on the screen. “Well, hello,” the doctor said, clearly surprised to see that it was her. “Is everything all right? You’re not feeling worse, are you?” “No doctor,” she replied. “I’m just real sore right now. Other than that, I feel fine.” “Well, take it easy,” Simon reminded her. “You’ve been through quite a bit and your body may still remind you of that by making you feel faint or exhausted. You could even pass out…” “Doubt that,” she answered. “Been through trauma before. Worse than this, even. I was back with Mal fighting the enemy the next day.” “Yeah. OK then, just don’t forget to get that test I told you about before you check out tomorrow, all right?” “What’s it for again?” “To check on your progress,” Simon explained, although he wasn’t being completely truthful. “It checks your hormone levels so we can be certain that there isn’t any sort of imbalance after what you went through.” Zoe raised an eyebrow, a sure sign that she didn’t entirely believe him. “Fine. Just tell me; has Mal returned from dinner yet?” “No, no one aboard except myself, River and the shepherd.” “You heard back from Kaylee or Jayne yet?” “No.” Zoe frowned. “Ok then. See you tomorrow, doc.” Without further adieu she cut the transmission and then attempted to hail Jayne on his comlink. When that proved futile, she got out of bed and began dressing. Before donning her pants, she bound up her abdomen to provide more support to the area that the surgeon had opened earlier that day. A wave of dizziness hit her and she took several deep, measured breaths until it passed. A check in the mirror showed that she was a bit on the pale side, but otherwise presentable. The RN on duty at the main desk was startled to see her. “What are you…” she began. Zoe interrupted her. “I’m checking myself out. Spare yourself the speeches. Give me the gorram papers to sign and go fetch my gun.” One look at her face and the nurse quickly began to get everything necessary for her discharge in order. Zoe bit her lip impatiently. She knew something had gone wrong at Wash’s hotel, which meant that her husband was in some serious danger, not to mention Kaylee and Jayne. Good thing she had managed to get Kaylee to give her the hotel name earlier on. Wasn’t anything short of death going to keep her from tracking them down and doing what she could.

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Wash watched his captors move around the room and waited for a chance to begin freeing himself. After marching him up to the fifth floor, the two men had pushed him into the hotel room located directly below his own room. He had quickly been gagged, had his hands bound behind his back and in addition tied to the chair he was seated in. One of the men took a vid scan of his face and forwarded it, to the military, no doubt. He knew he didn’t have much time in which to get away before it would be all but impossible. Finally the opportunity presented itself. Thug number one paid a call to the toilet and fortuitously, thug two was seated at a desk, partially turned away from him. Wash managed to strain against his bonds enough to start picking at the seam inside the waist of his pants. He felt sweat begin to bead on his face under the effort of working at the thread with his thumb and forefinger. His pulling against his bonds had tightened the rope around his wrists and he was in danger of losing all feeling in the very fingers that he most needed. Finally the thread came loose and he was able to slide his thumb into the thumb knife he had hidden there. The knife had a thin strap that fit around his thumb and supported a small, hooked blade no longer than his actual thumbnail. It folded completely flat and was easily overlooked during searches. He began to quickly saw through the rope that bound him.

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Kaylee sat in the chair where she had been placed after her hands were bound and tried not to look as terrified as she felt. She and Jayne had been nabbed as soon as they passed the third floor stairwell landing. Jayne had managed to knock one man senseless, but had in turn taken a rifle butt in the head. He had been unconscious the better part of thirty minutes and Kaylee knew he would be hopping mad when he woke to find himself hog-tied on the floor. They were both in Wash’s room. Their three captors milled about the room, talking to each other in low voices so that she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Finally one man went back outside and she was able to make out that he was to guard the stairwell. The man Jayne had knocked out was pacing the room and angrily nursing his black and blue jaw. He had spat out several teeth since regaining sense and now viciously kicked the bound and unconscious cause of his pain. “You son of a bitch bastard!” he yelled, landing several more kicks. “My gal is gonna kill me when she sees what you done to my looks!” “Aw shutup, Paulie,” the other thug commanded. “Why don’t you go down to the bar and get yourself a bag of ice for that face of yours? At least then I don’t have to listen to you yowling.” The thug named Paulie spat on Jayne and left the room, apparently taking the other man’s advice to heart. Just then Jayne groaned, stirred, groaned again and then lifted his head to look around. Kaylee watched as realization of their predicament dawned on the big man.

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It took Wash the better part of ten minutes to fish out his thumb knife and then cut his way through enough of his bindings to get his hands free. He might have been able to do it faster, but he just hadn’t wanted to take the chance that the thug at the desk would hear him. While he had worked at the rope, there had been a commotion from the room upstairs: his room. There had been a loud thump, pacing and finally some loudmouth yelling about his face. Obviously something was also going on up there and although he had little idea what it might be, it was most assuredly tied to his predicament. Noting that the man at the desk was still unaware that he was free, Wash carefully transferred his thumb knife to his forefinger and listened for the man who had gone to the head. No sounds. No toilet flushing… The man had, fortunately for him, parked it. Again he turned his attention to the man at the desk. There was a mirror on the wall in front of the man, but so long as Wash approached from a diagonal, directly behind the turned away man, he had a good chance. He rose from his chair, dropped the ropes and in four quick steps had his knife against the seated thug’s throat. “Don’t even think of moving,” he whispered in the man’s ear. “Or I’ll slit you from ear to ear.” To drive home his point, he allowed the blade to nick the man, whose eyes, reflected in the mirror, were filled with terror. Reaching down, he took the man’s gun and without a moment’s hesitation, brained him with it. Wash put away his thumb knife and carefully arranged the unconscious thug at the desk with his head on his crossed arms. When the other guy emerged from the toilet, he would think his friend had gotten lazy and decided to take a nap. He tucked the gun in the back of his pant waist, then he moved to the other side of the bathroom door and waited. It took another five minutes, but the other thug finally flushed and emerged from the small room, wafting out a horrendous stench as he did so. He froze when he saw his buddy sleeping at the desk and that was all the distraction Wash needed. A kick to the back of the man’s calf dropped him to his knees. In a second he had the man in a Japanese death-lock: a rear choke which cut off the main carotid arteries on one side of the neck. The lock resulted in unconsciousness within seconds or death if held longer. Wash released the man once he passed out and quickly went about tying him up with the very rope he had himself been tied with. Then he headed out the door and toward the stairwell. He was about to find out what was going on in his room.

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“Mal!” Malcolm Reynolds wiped his mouth with his napkin and answered his comlink. “Yes, doctor?” “I think you ought to know that the hospital just called me. Zoe checked herself out and she certainly hasn’t shown up here.” “Thank-you, Simon.” Mal closed the transmission and flagged down their waiter. As the man left to get the bill, he tried to raise both Kaylee, then Jayne, with no success. “My God,” Inara breathed. “Something must have happened at the hotel.” “That would be my guess.” Mal took the check from the waiter, looked it over and handed him cash. “Keep the change,” he said, already heading for the door. Inara was hard pressed to keep up with him as he hit the street and made for the port authority and the landing pad which held Serenity. “Mal!” she called from her position two steps behind him. He slowed and allowed her to catch up. “Shouldn’t you head off to see if you can help them?” she asked. “Nope. Zoe’d be already seeing to that,” he answered. “With Wash, Zoe and Kaylee all off ship, I’m the only one left who can get her fired up and ready to go. I’d best be seeing to that cause I’m thinking we’ll be making a fast getaway. If’n Zoe needs help, she’ll call for it.” “Is there anything I can do?” “Yeah. You can thank me for the wonderful dinner, conversation and dessert for starters,” he smirked, pleased at himself. He risked a glance at her face and saw that she wasn’t more than slightly annoyed with him. “Well? I’m waiting,” he prompted. “Maybe I prefer to wait and thank you in a manner that’s a bit more… intimate,” she purred. He slowed almost to a stop, so shocked was he. Inara smirked over her shoulder at him as she boarded Serenity first. “Damn that woman,” Mal murmured before remembering the situation at hand and moving in the direction of the bridge. He wanted to be ready when Zoe called.

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Wash paused at the stairwell door and decided instead to walk up the corridor past the elevator, hang a right and take the stairs in further down that wing. Exiting on the sixth floor, he backtracked in the direction of the elevator and the intersection his room lay near. He stopped with his back pressed against the wall with the other wing on his left. The stairwell was around the corner and on the right. From his position it was just visible. Fishing around in his pocket, he produced a coin and flipped it so that it hopped off the carpet and struck the bottom of the stairwell door with a slight ‘clunk’. As expected, another thug made his appearance, pushing open the door and peering through the opening. The man was carrying a rifle, of all things. Not exactly low profile in a public hotel. Chances were that the government had bought out all the other rooms on the floor…had everyone else moved. Good thing he hadn’t taken the elevator. It was probably bugged with vid. Wash moved forward and delivered a tremendous punch to the thug’s right kidney. In that instant the man’s right hand reflexively dropped from the rifle. He grabbed the man’s right wrist and spun the man ninety degrees so that he was nearly facing towards him while pulling the arm straight up behind the man. A swift kick to the gut and an upward yank on the arm drove the thug straight down into the carpet. He held him pinned to the floor by driving straight down on the arm, pressing the man’s right shoulder into the carpet. A kick to the head ended the fight. Wash tossed the rifle into the stairwell and picked the unconscious man up…

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Kaylee cringed as their captor kicked Jayne again. He had been trying his bonds and none too subtly. Not that it would be possible for him to do so in any manner that wouldn’t be obvious to their host. “Don’t let me catch you trying that again,” the man warned. “Cause next time I’ll break one of your arms and time after that it’ll be a leg. Understand?” Jayne nodded, but Kaylee could see he was as angry as she had ever seen him. The veins were standing up in his face and neck and his brows were all drawn down and mean. She hoped he’d get the chance to pay the man back. She wanted to be there when he did. Just then there was a knock at the door. The thug looked through the peephole and threw the door open. “Damn it, Stan…” he started to complain. Before the man had finished talking, Kaylee noticed that the other thug was out cold and being held up by someone else. Their host noticed at the same time, but it was seconds too late. As he started to draw his gun, the unconscious man was tossed at him. Kaylee’s eyes widened as she recognized Wash, but that was nothing compared to their expression when he swung a gun up and shot their captor dead on the spot. Not certain that she wasn’t hallucinating, she looked over at Jayne, whose own eyes were bugging out. Nope, not hallucinating, she thought. Wash stepped over Jayne and pulled off her gag. “Wash!” she gasped. “Wode tìan ! How did you…” Then she froze. Another thug, the one with the damaged jaw, appeared in the doorway. “Watch out!” she yelled. Too late. The man in the doorway dropped his bag of ice and pulled out his gun. There was a loud report and red blossomed from the man’s head as he fell over, dead. Kaylee and Jayne tensed as they waited for whatever was out there to show itself. Wash leveled his gun up and moved towards the doorway. He immediately dropped his arm as Zoe stepped into sight. She was carrying the rifle she had used on the thug. “Look what someone left in the stairwell,” she commented. “Amazing what some people will throw away.” Moving past her husband, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Hi honey,” she said, then went to untying Jayne. Wash looked thoroughly confused, shook his head, tucked away his gun and then moved to untie Kaylee. “Zoe!” Jayne shouted as soon as his gag was off. “You should have seen him! He fooled the idiot with some dead guy and then shot him like it was nothing!” “It’s true, “ Kaylee added. “He was amazing!” Zoe’s face hardened as she looked over her shoulder towards Wash. “Don’t surprise me that much given all that I’ve learned today about the man I married.” She gasped as she finished releasing Jayne and straightened up. “Oh Zoe!” Kaylee gasped. “You ain’t even supposed to be out of the hospital! You better sit down!” “Hospital?” Wash, who had been watching his wife the entire time he fumbled with Kaylee’s bonds, looked deeply concerned. Zoe cut him off before he could start asking questions. “I’m fine. It can wait until we get the hell out of here, don’t you think?” With that she led the way out with Kaylee and Jayne right behind her. “But Lambie-toes!” Wash called after her. “Won’t you help me pack? I need to gather my things.” When there was no reply, he began throwing his things in his bag and sped off after them with it half-open and clothes hanging out all over.

To be continued...