One To Many- chap 4 --------- Options & Fate ------------__________________________________________________________________________________

Malcolm Reynolds awoke with a drum beating inside his head. His eyes had barely cleared when he noticed a figure standing outside his prison cell.

“Good morning captain.” It was the voice of lieutenant Riley, “adventurous night…..wouldn’t you say?”

“ What happened?” Mal found his ability to speak unhindered by the gas he‘d taken into his system a few hours before.

“ Oh, your questions will be answered soon enough Mr. Reynolds, but first, I have a few of my own…..coffee?”

He affirmed the coffee question with a quick nod of his head, which started the drumming inside all over again. Still Malcolm Reynolds wasn’t about to turn down anything that would help the throbbing in his brain feel better.

The lieutenant walked back over to the desk where Judge Dillon had started his interrogation the day before.

“ Deputy Demmers, if you please.” The lieutenant quested the lawman to unlock Mal’s cell door.

The captain became aware of the night shift guardsman unlocking the door. A look around told him that he was in his jail cell alone. Where had Jonathan gone? Looking at the deputy he noticed a bandage around the lawman’s head, and a frown upon an unhappy face. Malcolm knew it was there because of him, from tipping Demmers chair over the night before. He had banged his head against the desk on his way to the floor. Mal ignored the deputy’s stare as best he could.

“ Over here,” came the lieutenants voice.

The Serenity commander looked over to see the officer motioning to a chair next to the desk. A fresh cup of java awaiting him on the desktop.

“ No restraints this time,” Riley called to the injured deputy. Mal went to occupy the seat next to the Alliance officer.

“So, not much sleep last night I gather?” Riley spoke.

“ No, I had a bit of a nightmare,” the captain answered.

“ Well the nightmares could end with a little help from you Mal. We aren’t the bad guys you know.”

Malcolm Reynolds wasn’t about to debate this boy about good, bad, evil, righteousness. It was enough to know that your upbringing, often times determined your outlook on the universe. Simple reasoning, you learned what you live. He was the product of a rich and privileged environment, so his ideals would reflected as such.

“ Now Mr. Reynolds, there’s a little question about someone known as River,” his eyes were unblinking as he looked straight into the captain‘s face.

“River?” Mal’s voice was somewhat quizzical. He was never good at lying. Well, maybe this time he hadn’t actually lied, still deceit wasn’t one of his strongest suits. He preferred the truth, even if it got him into trouble. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the headrest of the chair.

“ Yes, River. You mentioned that name last night,” Riley spoke.

“ Pardon sir,” there came a feminine voice that the captain did recognized. He cracked his eyelids a bit.

“Yes?” The lieutenant queried.

“ Judge Dillon won’t be joining us today. Something about overseeing claim disputes over on Turtle Creek.”

Through the narrow slits in his eyes Malcolm noticed a woman in uniform standing there. She wore the beret of an Alliance field soldier.

“ Thank you sergeant Meadows,” Lieutenant Riley said to the girl standing in front of him. The lieutenant looked over at the captain of Serenity.

“ Captain you remember Sergeant Meadows? She foiled an attempted jailbreak last night, “she‘s up for a commendation for her brave deed, ” the lieutenant and his comrade eyed the prisoner intently. Mal became full aware of what had happened to him and his crew at that point.

“ Yes, she deserves every bit the golden Alliance cow prod metal of distinction.” Mal said opening his eyes fully.

The lieutenant and also the sergeant smiled over the captain’s obvious unhappiness about being taken down so easily.

“ See, I don’t leave situations up to happenstance Mr. Reynolds,” Riley said, “ having the local authorities guarding you at night was a bit more then I dared to risk. Sergeant Meadows here was more than ready to volunteer for an all night watch over the stable, so to say, and it’s a good thing as it turns out. You see one of the locals tried to break his friend out of the lockup, name’s Thomas Reinhardt, if I remember correctly. Anyway, being the town drunk is one thing, but having your drinking buddy locked up behind bars makes for a quite lonely evening. Reinhardt came in, drugged deputy Demmers and opened the cell to free Jonathan Bixby, not realizing you were in the cell with him. A quick push and you knocked that fellow out cold, good work,” the lieutenant smiled at he Serenity captain.

“Of course even had you managed to escape I feel confident we would have recaptured you during the day, but who needs all that aggravation, right?” He looked over at the soldier standing there, “Stupendous work sergeant!”

“Thank you sir,” the disciplined woman looked at Mal.

“ Sorry captain Reynolds, but you didn’t leave me much choice. Myself against a band of three armed fugitives? I had to improvise. A knockout bomb did the trick.”

Riley continued,“ Now, although it was a feeble attempt, I can’t have the intoxicated residence of Watsonville trying to break their friends out of jail. He almost let the real persons of interest out by accident. We let Reinhardt and Bixby go,” he said, “ the focus now being on finding the rest of your crew. Where are they Mr. Reynolds?”

At than moment the lieutenant’s pocket com began to tone.

“ Excuse me,” he broke away from questioning Serenity‘s commander.

“ Yes? Yes corporal Clay, still waiting on Intel of the others……Oh, you have them in custody? Excellent! They were caught in the desert and are now at FO Detention Center ? Great news! You and Singleton come with the shuttle to pick us up , we‘ll hold them at Fort Oliver until the Rune Logan arrives………see you in two hours,” Riley ended his communication.

“Fantastic news captain! The rest of your crew have been captured and are awaiting us at Fort Oliver. Justice will be served, and I will say to you sir, that your cooperation will be noted in the log as less than appreciable.”

“That really hurts,” Mal voiced sarcastically.

************************************************ In a couple hours Private Singleton landed the Alliance shuttlecraft in the designated area outside the small town of Watsonville. Malcolm, Zoe and Jayne were all escorted aboard the small spacecraft and readied for transport.

“ Tell Judge Dillon that we appreciate his hospitality and cooperation, and we thank the law authority and good townsfolk of Watsonville,” lieutenant Riley told Deputy Demmers, “ I’m sure that interested parties will be contacting you at some point and recognition will be in order,” he said, then gave a salute, “farewell to you sir.” He closed the shuttle door and gave the order to his second in command to fly to their next destination.

“ Sergeant Meadows, take the pilot’s chair! Get us to Fort Oliver ASAP!”

“ Yes Sir!” She answered.

The young officer then wandered over to the rear compartment which harbored the three fugitives.

“ Captain Reynolds, shortly you and your crew of villains will be delivered into the hands of higher justice. I am not aware of the crimes that you have committed sir, but surely they are atrocities of the utmost lawlessness if my superiors have enlisted myself and my crew to get involved. See Mal, my select service doesn’t allow me to be involved in petty crime. Bank robbery, cattle thievery, that’s not my job. I go after the bigger fish, and I always win. But let me just say that this venture has been one of the easiest catches of my entire career. Not much effort at all really! I wasn’t old enough to fight in the war of Unification, but I’m thinking that it’s a wonder how the independents were able to resist for so long?” He cracked a smiled.

Malcolm Reynolds knew that Riley’s last statement was a jab at the independence leadership during the war, or it’s lack of. Who was he to debate the young lieutenant, at least while he was in ropes? He did whisper a little prayer though, which was unusual for the captain, that soon the young officer would be eating his words.

The Alliance vessel flew for about an hour before the crew became aware that they were descending. This was puzzling. Even to lieutenant Riley. He was sure that they hadn’t been aloft long enough to have reached their destination of Fort Oliver. He ventured up to the shuttle’s bridge to find out what was happening.

“ Why are we landing?”

Sergeant Meadows turned her head to view her superior.

“ We’ve been intercepted by an Government ordained vessel sir and ordered to land post haste!” She pointed to the Intel flashing on the shuttle monitor.

Riley looked at the code.

“Ducks?!!”

In five minutes lieutenant Riley’s shuttle was on the ground. Another craft landed next to it. The craft was void of markings, and although it’s shape was unrecognized, it’s design was superior and spoke of high ranking.

Two gentlemen emerged from the craft. Odd that they were wearing apparel of the most tailored suits. They approached the lieutenant’s vessel.

“ Good noon gentlemen?” Riley spoke, and was a bit flustered and curious as to why such a event should be happening out in the middle of nowhere?

“ Good day to you sir?” one spoke, “You have persons of interest aboard?”

“ Lieutenant Riley sir, and yes I do,” the young officer stated.

The man to the left flashed his credentials. It was evident that these fellows were way up the ladder of government high achy. Their credentials supported by the residential seal of Parliament itself.

“ We are here to claim your passengers,” one said. The men’s faces remained void of feeling, almost expressionless.

“ I am in total cooperation with the authority.” Riley said, “ The fugitives Malcolm Reynolds, and two of his party, Zoe, and heavyweight Jayne Cobb, are all in lockdown in the rear compartment,” the lieutenant said

“ You know the names of the parties of interest?” One of the suits asked.

“ Yes, and there is also someone named River being held at Fort Oliver. We were enroot when you flagged us to stop.

“ I see,” said the taller of the two suits.

Odd that they were wearing blue latex gloves, but lieutenant Riley always viewed the manners of the special agents of the government MIB forces as confusingly over-the-top.

“ May we see the prisoners?” the taller man questioned.

“ Sergeant Meadows would you escort the official to the holding cell,” he said.

She gave a salute and led the man inside.

“ Now lieutenant will you and the rest of your men accompany me to my shuttle?” the shorter of the two requested while reaching inside his top pocket. He pulled out an odd looking metal device about the size of a straw, and engaging a button it extended outwards on each end. Maybe it was a communicator of some sort? But the lieutenant really didn’t know what it was.

“ No problem sir,” He stated.

They each entered the MIB shuttlecraft in single file.

End Part 4