Into the Blue Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Joss, Fox, Universal Own em’. I’m just playing. No money being made.

This fic takes place just over two years after Serenity (BDM) and has the established couples of Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoë/OC and Jayne/River.

A/N:

Thanks again Chris for the beta…

Into the Blue

Chapter Six –

Reagan Tam sat quietly in the navigator’s chair on Serenity’s bridge smiling as she watched her daughter fly the old transport ship into Beaumonde’s atmosphere. Never in her entire life had she ever envisioned her daughter, born into wealth and blessed with an astounding intellect would find happiness out here in the black flying an old transport ship.

Some sadness tinged Reagan’s thoughts. The thoughts centered on the fact that she had failed her darling little girl when River needed her most. When Simon had approached his parents about River’s coded pleas for help in leaving the Academy, They didn’t believe Simon. They were so blind in their trust of the Alliance that Reagan and Gabriel Tam thought it was one of River’s games.

After Simon had disappeared and broken River out of the Academy she had become suspicious of the system she had trusted her whole life. Gabriel had told her to remain quiet. Saying that he would take care of things. Then two and a half years ago, a man had approached her one day while she was shopping. He was polite but this man gave her chills. The man asked her if she had heard from her son or daughter recently. Reagan felt that if she had given the wrong answer her life was forfeit. She had never been so frightened in her life.

“Right to be frightened Mom,” River said from the pilots seat, “The Operative would have killed you without thinking twice.”

Reagan gasped. It had been the first time she had witnessed River’s reading abilities first hand, “River, did you… Just read my thoughts?”

The young physic smiled apologetically at her mother, “Sorry Mom, It’s hard to for me to block thoughts sometimes, especially if they are tied to strong emotions. Particularly thoughts from those I love. Sometimes the thoughts are so strong, it’s as if someone spoke them aloud to me. I can control it better now but sometimes I still respond to thoughts like I would to speech.”

“That must be very difficult dear.”

“Sometimes it is. It has taken me a long time to differentiate my thoughts from those of others. That’s why I was so… crazy when Simon first rescued me. That’s why Jayne and I fit so well. His thoughts are straightforward. He helps me focus.”

River turned her attention back to flying the ship, “Going subsonic…”

Allan nodded from the Co-pilot’s seat. He reached up and keyed the com, “We’re subsonic Inara, launch when ready.”

“Detaching in three, two one…” came her reply over the speaker.

A small lurch could be felt as Inara’s shuttle detached. Pulling away Allan saw Inara do a slow barrel roll before steadying on course for the executive pads located in New Dunsmuir’s uptown area. She was taking Simon and Kaylee shopping for supplies and clothing for the elder Tams.

Allan shook his head, smiling, “Inara trying to get Simon to loose his lunch?”

River giggled, “Inara is a highly skilled shuttle pilot. If Simon wasn’t looking outside, he probably never felt a thing.”

Allan laughed a bit, “True, especially since Kaylee is with him, she can keep him rather… distracted.”

Allan heard a small chuckle from behind him, Turning he smiled at Reagan quickly and turned back to helping River fly, “Coming up on the dockyards…”

“Acknowledged,” River said quickly. Grabbing the overhead microphone she called port control, New Dunsmuir, Port Control, Firefly Transport Serenity ready for docking, approaching the hold point.”

“Affirmative Serenity, stand by.”

The port here fascinated Allan. It was heavily congested with ships of every shape and description moving about. The individual ship berths were so close together than no ship was allowed to land under it’s own power. Ships had to hover just outside their assigned berth while a crane attached to the ship and moved the ship to its berth. Takeoffs were allowed but landings were too tricky for the average pilot to handle in the close confines of the port. While River, Allan and of course Wash were he still alive could have easily landed safely, the rules were the rules.

River transitioned Serenity into a hover. Moment’s later a metallic clang announced that the crane had attached. Slowly River reduced power, ensuring that she could take over if the crane failed. Once the ship was fully suspended from the crane, River began to shut down the engines while Allan extended Serenity’s landing gear. With a gentle thump, Serenity was on the ground.

“We’re on the ground folks,” Allan called into the com as he got up to head for the engine room to secure the engines.

River turned to her Mother, “Mom, it would be best if you and Dad stayed in the dorm area while we’re here. Allan will be on and off the ship while we refuel. I’ll be going with Zoë, Jayne and the Captain on the meet. We will be gone a few hours,” River smiled, “I need to change into my working clothes, I’ll see you before I leave,”

River ran from the bridge to her now shared bunk to change.

XXXXXXX

Ten minutes later the crew had gathered in the bay. Zoë was in her usual working clothes, a form-fitting shirt under her leather vest, dark pants and a jacket. She had her Mare’s leg strapped to her thigh and a small pistol in a shoulder holster. Allan called it her “dressed to kill” outfit.

Mal was in his usual clothing of tan pants and a brown shirt. And of course his ever-present suspenders and duster while Jayne was in his nearly trademarked cargos and T-shirt topped off with a jacket to ward off the cool spring air.

River ran down to the bay and Jayne couldn’t avoid ogling his fiancé, River was in tight hip hugger jeans, a black tank top and charcoal colored leather jacket. Her usually, wild hair pulled back into a single ponytail.

“Where’s your gun baby girl?” Jayne asked River.

“Shoulder holster. Don’t want to appear dangerous. I leave that to you,” she replied with a smile.

Mal chuckled at that. Turning to Allan he said, “Get her fueled… and top off the water as well. Got a long haul once we make the pickup.” Mal tossed a small bag of platinum coins to Allan to pay for the fuel and water.

“Got it Cap.”

Five minutes later Zoë pulled the Mule out of the bay, carrying the others to the meeting. Allan wandered down the ramp, flagging down a port worker to give his fuel order. Ship fuel came in several grades. Serenity usually ran on the cheapest available. Allan knew this but the engineer in him bristled at the idea. While adequate for the job, the cheapest fuel didn’t have as much energy per unit as the higher grades of fuel. Also the impurities tended to gunk up the fuel lines. Kaylee had been complaining about fuel line deposits the last few days. Allan decided to give the ship a little treat and pulled out some of his own credits.

Smiling, he addressed the fueling tech as he approached, “Afternoon,” Allan said in a friendly tone.

“Good afternoon sir, what can I do for you?”

“Need a top off, grade one if you have it, if not two will be adequate. Also need the water topped as well as dumping the waste.”

The tech smiled, “Of course sir, won’t be cheap… the fuel I mean. Don’t usually put the good stuff in these older ships.”

“Been having some sludge problems with the cheap stuff, need to blow her out a bit,” Allan replied as he slipped a twenty platinum coin into the man’s hand as he shook it.

“No problem sir, get right on it. Tell you what,” The tech said with a smile, “I’ll get you the filtered water rather than the usual city water.”

“I appreciate it,” Allan said as he slipped the man another ten. Tipping always worked.

The fueling, waste and water taken care of, Allan then checked that the life support system was recharging itself using the outside air. Satisfied that Serenity was taking care of herself, Allan went to check on the Tam’s.

“How you folks doing?” Allan asked as he descended into the lounge area outside the infirmary.

“We are fine Allan,” Gabriel tam replied, “Although a bit bored.”

“Be glad it’s boring,” Allan chuckled, “Exciting around here usually means Simon has work to do.”

I noticed you have a limp Allan,” Reagan Tam said.

“Yeah, a little reminder of the injuries I got a few months back. Had a bit of a fall, Broke quite a bit stuff when I hit. If not for Simon and Kaylee’s sister Sara, I’d probably be dead.”

“What happened?” Gabriel asked.

“Well I told you about my ship right?” Allan asked.

“Yes”

“Well I got it running with Kaylee’s help. Ship needed some serious overhaul work so I was planning on having her Father’s shop on Kelly work on it. We were almost there when we had a run in with some pirates. Well my ship got damaged and was heading for reentry out of control. I bailed out in my… well a kind of life pod, unfortunately the automatic systems failed and I was forced to manually deploy my personal parachute. When I did it I was only about two hundred feet off the ground… needless to say I hit pretty hard.”

“My goodness,” Reagan replied.

“Wasn’t pretty,” Allan continued, “Broke my left arm, left leg in three places, and dislocated my ankle on that side as well. That’s what’s causing the limp. Broke my right leg as well. Throw in a few busted ribs, bruised lungs and a kidney. Not to mention a concussion and I’m lucky to still be breathing, let alone walking. I can get by with a little bit of a limp. It’s healing but it takes a while.”

“I might be able to help with that,” Reagan said, “Before I married Gabriel I was a physical therapist.”

Allan smiled, “I’d appreciate that Reagan”

XXXXXXXXX

Mal was uneasy. Their contact for the job was very late. Mal, along with Zoë, River and Jayne had arrived at the seedy bar over an hour ago.

“I’m not likin this Sir,” Zoë said quietly. Mal nodded in agreement.

“Me either Zoë. Not like one of Sir Warrick’s contacts to not show.” Mal glanced across the room to where Jayne and River were playing pool. River made eye contact with Mal and shook her head slightly. She hadn’t seen their contact either.

“We’ll give him another ten minutes. If Stevens don’t show by then, we’ll high tail it back to Serenity,” Mal said to his first mate.

Meanwhile Jayne wasn’t all that happy. He and River had been playing pool for nearly half an hour and he’s only taken three shots. Two of them break’s. He loved River to death and while he considered himself a fair pool player, he couldn’t compete with his genius fiancé who could calculate the motion of every ball after a shot in her head in the time it took him to take a breath.

A sudden thought crossed his mind. They could make a killin running a table somewhere. River could come off all sweet an innocent and then clean out the house. Jayne smiled. Might have to think on that a spell.

“Cheating at pool isn’t very sporting,” River said sweetly.

“Ain’t cheatin when you’re as good as you are baby girl,” Jayne replied.

“That is true. I suppose… Contact’s here,” River suddenly said, “I sense apprehension.”

“That ain’t good,” the big man said as he laid down his pool cue and moved to where he could cover Mal and Zoë. River did the same.

Seeing Jayne and River stop playing and move from the table. Mal started to look around the bar. Seeing the way River and Jayne had moved, Zoë’s hand instinctly moved to the mare’s leg Winchester strapped to her thigh.

Nervously, their contact moved through the crowd to Mal and Zoë’s table.

“Captain Reynolds,” the man said.

“Mr. Stevens, Long time no see. Good thing you showed, we were about to leave.”

“I apologize for my tardiness. We had a few problems at the warehouse.”

Mal was suddenly on edge, “What kind of problems?”

“Nothing to concern you Captain, just a small fire, defective wiring as far as I can tell,” Mr. Stevens said, “Please be assured that Sir Warrick’s goods are unharmed. They will be delivered to your ship by 21:00 tonight.”

"That’s all and good but where is the delivery? Sir Warrick was a bit vague about the destination.”

“Whitefall.”

Mal tried not to look startled at the destination, “Who’s reciven the cargo,” he asked nonchalantly.

“Man name of Daniels, Starting up a ranch there, and he needs the supplies you’ll be carrying. Some local woman seems to think she runs the whole place and is giving Daniels a hard time. He’d like to avoid this woman if he can.”

Mal nodded, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, “What would this woman’s name be?”

“Calls herself Patience.”

“Wuo de ma,” Mal muttered.

XXXXXXXXX

Zoë pulled the Mule into Serenity’s bay. She had remained quiet on the trip back from the meet, however her mind was racing. The last person they needed to deal with at the moment was Patience. After shutting down the Mule, Zoë remained in the drivers seat.

Mal looked back at his first mate, “Something botherin you Zoë?”

“Something don’t feel right bout this Sir.”

“I’m not real fond about goin to Whitefall m’ self,” Mal said, “But Sir Warrick’s never steered us wrong before.”

“I know that Sir. But he’s just the cargo supplier on this one. This Daniels fella put the order in with him. Just gives me an uneasy feelin is all.”

Mal nodded in agreement, “Givin me an itchy feeling m’ self. We got near on a week till we get there to figure out a plan.”

Zoë snorted, “You remember how most o’ your plans turn out?”

Mal glared at his first mate, “Everyone’s makin a fuss…” Mal started to say but was cut off by the sound of Inara’s shuttle returning.

XXXXXXXX

Promptly at 21:00 a large hover van backed up to Serenity’s bay. Several men exited along with Stevens and began to unload the cargo into the ship. It took nearly all hands to stow the large load. Jayne, Mal, Allan and Zoë arranging the crates while River and Inara checked the load against the manifest. Forty minutes later the cargo was secure and the door closed.

“Albatross, you an Allan get us in the black, once we’re on course, we’ll turn in. been a long day.”

Five minutes later Serenity lifted off from Beaumonde and climbed into the black.

XXXXXXXX

Allan kicked open the hatch to his and Zoë’s bunk. Tiredly he descended the ladder, closing the hatch behind him. Turning to look at the bed, he saw Zoë seemingly asleep. Undressing quickly, Allan slid under the covers and spooned up behind her.

“Ship on course?” Zoë mumbled sleepily.

“Mmm, hmm,” Allan mumbled as he kissed Zoë’s bare shoulder.

Zoë lay quiet for a few minutes. Allan knew she wasn’t asleep from the tension he could feel in her shoulders, “Something wrong?” he said quietly.

“Something don’t feel right about this run,” She replied.

“River see anything?”

“Not really, said something felt wrong to her too. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.”

“We’ll just be careful then,” Allan whispered, “Who’s this Patience woman anyway.”

“She run’s most of Whitefall. Mean old bitty. Shot mal in the leg once over salvage rights. Last time we dealt with her she tried to set up an ambush, Jayne took out the snipers and me an Mal had a bit of a shootout with her men. Mal got a graze and I took a hit in my armor.”

“Real nice lady,” Allan said bitterly, “Just make sure you wear your armor this time too… don’t want to see you get hurt baby.”

Zoë rolled over and faced her lover, her lips meeting his, “ Don’t worry baby, I always do,” she whispered.

“Good, now lets see if I can do something to help you relax.”

“Got something in mind?”

“Oh, a few things…”

XXXXXXXXX

The next few days went fairly quickly, Gabriel and Reagan Tam spent more time with the crew. Learning about them and their lives. The Tam’s had always looked down upon people from the rim, but after spending time with the crew of Serenity. Their opinions had been changed forever.

Gabriel finally had a long sit down discussion with Jayne and River. Most of the crew didn’t know the content of the conversation but afterwards the tension between the two men seemed to have diminished. River certainly seemed happier.

Reagan hadn’t warmed as quickly to Jayne but she had quickly accepted Kaylee as the perfect woman for Simon. The pair spent hours laughing and talking about Simon. Most days you could find Kaylee working in the engine room while Reagan sat in Kaylee’s hammock talking about whatever came to them.

River took it upon herself to teach her Father how to fly the shuttles. While an accomplished hovercar pilot, he had never flown a shuttle. Gabriel even began using Jayne’s weights in the bay as a way to try to stay in shape since he no longer could go to the health club like he could on Osirus, Jayne spotting for him.

With Reagan’s expertise, Allan’s limp had nearly disappeared in three quick days. He had been walking on it wrong. After a bit of work and an improvised support, Allan was walking almost normally. It felt great to be able to walk like he used to.

All in all, things were going well. That’s what made Zoë tense about the job. Things were going too well.

The night before arriving at Whitefall, Mal called a meeting after dinner to plan the cargo drop. He had spread a large topographic map of the drop coordinates out on the table in the galley. The entire crew gathered around.

“Way I figure it,” Mal began, “That if this job is on the up and up. This Daniels fella don’t want interference from Patience. If that’s the case I want to set up a plan to hold her off iffin she decides to crash the party. On the other side, if this is a setup, I want to be ready fer that as well.”

“Good idea Sir,” Zoë replied.

Allan looked at the map, “This looks like a good spot to park the ship. Secluded, good cover and only six miles from the drop point.”

“I agree,” River said.

Okay, we’ll land there,” Mal replied, “This is gonna take nearly everyone. Inara, I’m gonna need Allan and River on the ground for this to be safe. Can you and Kaylee handle Serenity for the short hop to and from the hidin spot?”

“Of course Mal,” Inara replied with a smile.

Mal, smiled back at her, “Good ‘nough. Now, I want Jayne with Zoë and me at the meet in the Mule. River, I need you and Allan set up on overwatch. Probably have Zoë drop you two off in a shuttle couple a hours early. The terrain looks to have some good spots here and here,” Mal said indicating the map.

“That looks workable Mal,” Allan said, “I’ve got a couple of decent sniper rifle’s in my weapons stash.”

“You do?” Jayne asked.

Allan chuckled, “Yep, Nearly forgot about em’ till today. Guess I need to dig em out and get them ready to go. One’s perfect for River and I’ll take Bertha.”

“Bertha?” Mal asked.

“Yep, Big Bertha… only gun I ever named. Unlike some other people here at the table,” Allan said with a smile as he looked at Jayne and River.

“This I gotta see,” Jayne said with a grin.

XXXXXXXX

Allan popped the latches on a large crate in the cargo bay. Opening the cover He heard a low whistle from Jayne.

“What is that?” The big merc asked wide-eyed.

Allan smiled, “That my large friend is Big Bertha. She’s a Barrett, fifty caliber sniper rifle.”

“Shiny.”

Allan opened a smaller rifle case and pulled out another weapon, “I think you’ll like this one River,” Allan said, “It’s custom built 7.62 mm sniper rifle. Semi automatic, twenty round clip. Last time I shot it I was getting two inch groups at five hundred yards.”

“This is a wonderful rifle Allan,” River replied, putting it to her shoulder and testing the fit, “What is the recoil like?”

“Pretty light actually. The flash suppressor is also a muzzle break. And it can be fitted with a sound suppressor. There’s one in the case for it. It’s not totally silent but at any distance over one hundred yards all you hear is the crack of the bullet.”

“This is even better then Vera,” River said with a grin while Jayne grumbled.

“It’s yours River. Consider it an early wedding present.” Allan said as he handed her a large box of ammo.

“Don’t I get somthin?” Jayne asked like a petulant child.

“Yep, you get to help me make two ghillie suits.”

“Ghillie whats?” Jayne asked, a confused look on his face.

“Ghillie suits… camoflage,” Allan replied, “Dave Chin, the head of my protection detail back on earth was a military sniper. Taught me all his tricks. A properly set up ghillie suit will let a bad guy almost step on you and he’ll just think you’re a bush.”

“Let’s get started then,” River said.

Three hours later, Jayne and Allan had fasioned two basic ghillie suits. One for Allan and one for River. River’s was made from one of Wash’s old flight suits donated by Zoe and Allan’s was made from one of his own flight suits. Once done, Allan and River began to clean both their Rifle’s. Making sure they were ready for any possible action.

Another hour later, Jayne and River headed for their bunk while Allan headed for his and Zoe’s. Entering the room, Allan saw that Zoe was fast asleep. Not wanting to wake her, Allan quickly undressed and slipped into bed. He was asleep in minutes.

TBC