The Teaser Pony

By Mikelesq

Concept: The crew of Serenity provides passage for horse with an unusual talent, and a woman from Simon’s past.

Rating: R

Feedback: Please. E-mail Mikelesq@aol.com

Spoilers: For all episodes, including the three unaired episodes. Do NOT read if you’re remaining spoiler free until the DVDs. Takes place approximately three weeks after “Objects in Space,” and presumes that “OiS” was the final episode chronologically.

Legal disclaimers: "Firefly” characters and situations are owned by Joss Whedon and the producers of the show. The story is entirely fiction. Distribute if you like.

Part V

“Wash, we’re getting close,” Mal said into microphone of his earwig, as he, Zoe and Jane approached the fence that enclosed a log cabin.

“You’re coming through clear,” Wash replied from Serenity’s cockpit. He leaned forward toward the speaker on the control panel, wincing from the pain that shot through his side. Inara stood behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m alright,” Wash said, raising an open hand. “Kaylee, how’s the calibration on the sensor?”

“Perfect,” Kaylee said, adjusting a small dial on the instrument panel overhead.

“Did you send the wave to Marsh’s men?” Mal asked.

“Yep,” Wash answered. “I told them you were on the way. There was a spike in the relay signal when they established the transmission link, the same one I picked up when we signaled them from orbit. Judging by the feedback, I’d say they’ve got receptor dish set to pick up any chatter on the Cortex inside the planet’s gravity pull. Farther, maybe.”

“That makes sense, Sir,” Zoe said, gesturing toward a metal disc on the top of the cabin’s roof.

“So far it’s what we’d expected,” Mal said.

“Yeah,” Jayne grumbled, checking Vera’s chambering mechanism. “We’re right on top of everything, except for that part where we’ve been suckered from the beginning.”

“Wash, keep the engine hot,” Mal said, looking back toward Serenity as she rested in the clearing a mile back. “We may need a quick exit. Is everyone stowed away?”

“River’s in her room,” Wash responded. “And Simon and Doctor Brakestone are down in the Med Bay catching up on lost time.”

Kaylee’s eyes fell.

“Talking,” Wash quickly added. “They’re just talking.”

“No time to worry on them now,” Mal said. “Stay sharp.”

Mal pushed open the gate, and began walking toward the front of the cabin. Zoe and Jayne followed close behind. They paused about fifty yards back, and Mal stopped and surveyed the layout. There were no trees or structures, other than the cabin itself, that could provide cover, but the front wall had two small windows, so they could expect snipers to be hiding inside. A raised porch encircled the cabin, but the narrow rail would only provide minimal cover. Two horses were tied to one of the posts to the far left of the cabin, despite the hitching post right in front of the porch. Someone had taken the time to remove them from the line of fire, which meant that the same someone had expected a firefight to occur.

“What took you so long?” Marsh bellowed as he emerged from the front doorway. Two men followed, each carrying a shotgun.

“Had to make a stop,” Mal shouted back. “There were a few shots traded, but here I am. What are you doing here?”

“Funny thing,” Marsh said. “The minute you left, I started feeling lonesome for ol’ Barney. We’ve been through a lot together. Thought I might buy him back.”

“He’s worth more than thirty,” Mal replied.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Marsh said. “I’ve got your money. Three hundred platinum, hard cash.”

“Word is that Barney’s worth a bit more,” Mal growled. “What I hear is that Barney’s worth an even fifty thousand. Course, that also means he’s worth twenty years in an Alliance penal camp. Any way you count, that’s a bit more than we bargained for.”

Marsh smirked, then said:

“Well, I’ll be damned. You are one clever sonuvabitch. What tipped you off?”

“That’s a tale I’ll save for my grandkids,” Mal replied. “For now, let’s just focus on the problem at hand.”

“I intend to,” Marsh said. He raised a finger to the radio bud in his ear, and whispered an instruction into the microphone. A second later, a man leaned out of one of the windows, pointing a rifle at Mal. In an instant, another gunman emerged from the second window, then a third man turned from the right corner of the building, cocking the hammer of a revolver.

Jayne and Zoe raised their guns in response, but Mal held up a hand and yelled to Marsh:

“There’s no need for violence. I’ve got a deal worked out, and I think it’ll suit both of us just fine.”

Marsh scowled. “I got three men inside for each one showin’, so if you got a proposal, I’d suggest you make it quick.”

“Way I figure,” Mal said, “you sold me a horse. He’s mine, and he’ll stay mine. You told me I had three hundred comin’ my way. You hand over the money, I’ll take Barney where he won’t be trouble to me and mine, and we’ll call it even.”

Marsh stared at Mal for a moment, then smiled.

“You’re something, Mal,” Marsh said. “You’re a real piece of work. It’s downright entertaining, the things that come out your mouth. Now, I wasn’t sure you’d show. If you’d caught on to my plan, I figured you’d just take off and sell the horse to someone else. If you showed here, I thought it meant you were still in the dark, or you wanted a bigger piece of the action. I was ready to consider giving you a piece. Hell, there’s plenty of coin to go ‘round. But showin’ up here, makin’ demands you know ain’t in the cards, well that’s just a hoot an’ a half.”

“It’s like you said when we made the deal,” Mal replied. “You owe me. Ma put you up back on Shadow. I got you that gun runnin’ deal during the war. Funny thing about those rifles you sold us, how the broadside your ship took from that Alliance scout knocked the coolant seals out of whack. Just the kind of defect you don’t notice. That is, until you’re in combat and half your unit’s belly shot, tryin’ to return fire with a gun that’s all jammed up. Funny how those things happen.”

“Maybe not so funny,” Marsh said, pulling his pistol from its holster. “Maybe it’s just one of those things that happens when a man gets in a practical way. It was a nice little deal you set up for me with your Browncoat friends, but the money the Alliance paid me to gum up the works, well, that was just too good to pass on.”

“A lot of them with those guns were my friends,” Mal growled. “One of ‘em was me. This is the second time you put me in harm’s way, Marsh.”

“Who knew you’d survive the first?” Marsh shot back, slowly raising his pistol and pointing it at Mal. “Hell, I’d have done you a favor. Here you are, all ready for a showdown, puttin’ you and your crew into a fight that any man with sense would know he can’t win, all on account of some fool sense of honor and justice and all that crap. You’re one of a kind, Mal. No matter how many times you get your tail kicked, you just never change.”

“Maybe,” Mal muttered.

Marsh pulled back the hammer of his pistol, but as he aimed, a crash sounded from behind the cabin. Marsh and his henchmen glanced backward, wondering if Mal had set up an ambush, but then Marsh put a finger to his earwig and shouted:

“What the...? What? How do you...? Dammit!”

In the clearing behind the cabin, Mal could see men scattering in every direction toward the woods.

One of the snipers at the window exclaimed:

“The Feds are comin’! There’s a cruiser in orbit! They’ve launched transports!”

He then retreated into the cabin and ran for the backdoor. The sniper at the other window was already gone. The man crouching at the corner of the cabin stared at Zoe and Jayne, waiting to see if they intended to shoot. When no shots came, he each turned and ran for the woods.

Marsh and the two men at his sides stood ready. They knew that any attempt to get back into the cabin would leave them vulnerable to a shot in the back from Mal and his crew. Marsh yelled:

“Mal, you bastard! You of all people, runnin’ to the Feds!”

“What can I say?” Mal replied. “It’s just one of those things that happens when a man gets in a practical way.”

Mal watched Marsh closely, waiting for Marsh to make his move, and hoping it would come long after Marsh’s men were a long way off.

------------------------

“Cruiser Vespucci,” Book said, his head tilted toward the comm unit on the shuttle’s control panel. “This is Foxtrot One. We are holding orbit, awaiting Foxtrot Two and Three. Repeat, we are holding orbit above the target area. We estimate deployment time at three minutes after initial descent into the atmosphere. Repeat, estimated time to deployment is three minutes after initial descent. Foxtrot Two and Three will be in formation within four minutes. Radio silence will be maintained until descent.”

Book switched off the comm unit, then checked Shuttle Two’s trajectory. While communications monitors were inexpensive, it was unlikely that a den of smugglers would have long range scanners that could detect an orbiting ship. However, in the interest of maintaining the charade as completely as possible, he dropped the shuttle’s orbit two hundred kilometers, then engaged the autopilot.

Book checked the chronometer on the control panel. He would transmit the next false message in three minutes. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out his Bible, and thumbed the well-worn pages to the Beatitudes.

-----------------------

Amelia entered Inara’s shuttle, glanced over her shoulder, then pulled the hatch shut. She walked quickly over to Inara’s communications station and turned on the power. When the menu appeared on the screen, she selected ‘WAVE TRANSMIT-CORTEX,’ typed ‘Alliance Cruiser Zheng He,’ in the search field, then waited for the Cortex to engage. After a moment passed without a connection, she checked the signal gauge. The needle indicating interference was pegged beyond the ‘HIGH’ mark.

“Piece of crap ship,” Amelia muttered, turning and grabbing a small shoulder bag. She reached into the bag and pulled out a hand transmitter. She slid the power switch and waited for the screen to illuminate. Then the hatch suddenly opened. She tossed the transmitter toward the pillows on Inara’s couch, then turned to face the door.

“Anything wrong?” Simon asked, stepping into the shuttle.

“Simon, you scared me,” Amelia gasped.

“Sorry,” Simon said. “I didn’t think I’d be intruding. I thought you were checking on Wash?”

“I was,” Amelia replied. “I just needed my medical kit.”

Simon glanced at the bag in Amelia’s hand.

“A bit small, isn’t it?” Simon observed.

“Oh, not this,” Amelia said. “This is personal. I wanted to freshen up a bit.”

Amelia smiled, then added:

“As you may recall, you did smear my lipstick a bit.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Simon responded. “Appearances don’t mean much out here.”

Simon walked over to Amelia, and as he stood above her, he turned his head and stared at the control panel.

“Sending a wave?” Simon asked.

“Oh, yes,” Amelia said. “I was just letting the clinic know that I’d been delayed.”

“You haven’t been delayed,” Simon said. “You’re still early. In any event, the Captain told Wash to block any outgoing transmissions until he returned.”

“Goodness,” Amelia said. “Your Captain certainly is careful when he’s doing business.”

“Actually,” Simon replied, “he’s most careful when a passenger can’t be trusted.”

Amelia’s lower lip trembled slightly, then she quickly responded:

“Simon, you can’t possibly mean...?”

“The shuttle’s communications are linked to the bridge,” Simon interjected. “We know what you were doing.”

Amelia pursed her lips. “I suppose you’ve known longer than that.”

“Suspected is a better word,” Simon said. “I’d hoped I was wrong.”

“Always the idealist,” Amelia said, pulling a small pistol from her bag and pointing it at Simon. “Get to the controls. We’re leaving.”

“You came well equipped,” Simon observed.

“Every girl’s got one purse that has everything,” Amelia answered. “Move!”

“Don’t be a fool,” Simon said, his eyes staring past the gun in Amelia’s hand and into her eyes. “There’s nowhere for you to go.”

With her gun trained on Simon with her right hand, Amelia reached into her bag with her left hand and pulled a small black box out of her bag. She slid open a panel on the box and pressed a button inside. The lights outside the shuttle flickered, then went dim.

Simon reflexively looked toward the hatch door. In his moment of distraction, Amelia swung her leg and kicked Simon’s thigh. His leg collapsed in pain, and Simon fell to the floor.

“Funny about a gunshot wound,” Amelia said, pulling a pair of metal handcuffs from her bag and slapping one of the metal rings around Simon’s ankle. “The damage to the muscle will heal rather quickly, but any trauma to the affected region can tear the scar tissue rather easily.”

Simon struggled to regain his focus as Amelia fastened the other cuff to the leg of Inara’s bed.

“You probably should have worn a brace while you were recovering,” Amelia said, walking quickly past Simon as he made a feeble attempt to grab her.

“Of course, you know what they say,” Amelia continued, sitting behind the shuttle’s controls and starting the ignition sequence. “Doctors make the worst patients.”

-----------------------

Both Mal and Jayne turned as the shuttle detached from Serenity. Mal squinted, trying to determine the shuttle’s path. Nothing about his plan to deal with Marsh involved launching a shuttle.

Fortunately, Zoe stayed focused on Marsh, and leapt at Mal, pushing him to the ground as Marsh fired his pistol. Jayne spun around and fired a volley of shots at the cabin. Marsh and his companions crouched behind the meager cover offered by the porch rails, and returned fire.

“Thanks,” Mal muttered, rolling from beneath Zoe.

“Glad to, Sir,” Zoe replied, rising to one knee and firing at their attackers.

Mal reached for his pistol as he surveyed the area. None of Marsh’s other men seemed to be returning to the fight. That left Marsh and his two hired guns. Even odds.

Mal aimed his pistol, jerked his hand back as a shot ricochetted on the ground in front of him, then fired three shots. While none of the rounds connected, they did provide enough cover for Jayne to take a careful shot and drop one of Marsh’s thugs. The other, knowing that the tide had turned, crawled into the cabin and scurried toward the back door.

Only Marsh remained. He knelt on the porch, using one of the narrow posts of the railing for cover.

Mal slowly rose to his feet, his pistol trained on Marsh. Zoe stood up, her rifle at her shoulder. Mal glanced quickly to his left at Jayne, who held Vera at his hip. Mal then began a slow, deliberate walk toward Marsh.

-----------------------

“Where are you taking me?” Simon asked, struggling in vain to free himself from the shackle around his ankle.

“Out of range of your friends’ jamming signal,” Amelia replied, her eyes set ahead as she piloted the shuttle.

“Mela, please,” Simon said. “I don’t know why you’re doing this....”

“Of course you don’t,” Amelia snarled, adjusting the shuttle’s accelerators. “You’d have to have something resembling sense to understand.”

“You’re a doctor! You’re supposed to help people! What you’re doing is murder!”

“What I’m doing is surviving!” Amelia screamed. “If you think for one minute that I wasted the better part of a year on godforsaken moons by choice, then you’re as blind and pigheaded as you were when...!”

Amelia gasped as the shuttle lurched forward. She grasped the control yoke in both hands, using all her strength to pull the shuttle out of its descent.

“What are you doing?” Simon gasped.

“I’m not doing anything!” Amelia growled, her eyes darting across the controls to find a reason for the shuttle’s malfunction. “I can’t keep....”

Amelia scowled at a gauge on the control panel.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Amelia cried, frantically adjusting dials.

“What’s wrong?” Simon asked.

“My luck and your crew,” Amelia sighed. “Hang on.”

Before Simon could argue the absurity of asking him to ‘hang on’ while he was cuffed to the furniture, he slid down the floor, his arms flailing helplessly as the shuttle went into a steep dive.

-----------------------

Marsh crouched behind a post on the porch. He heard the footsteps of Mal and his crew crunching on the gravelly path as they slowly approached. He was alone, outgunned, and knew that he could expect no mercy. He gulped down a breath of air, then rose, firing quickly as he backed toward the door.

At first, it seemed to Marsh that time had stopped, and the world was a photograph, a captured moment in time. Then, he realized that only he had stopped. His legs ignored his will to move. He glanced down at his shirt, and saw the blood seeping into the fabric. He looked up, and saw Mal’s pistol aimed steadily at his body. No shot came. None was necessary. Marsh silently wondered if this proved the myth about never hearing the shot that got you, or if his own gunfire had drowned out the noise. The irrelevance of the question only occurred to him as he fell against the cabin wall and slid to the ground.

Marsh looked up, and saw Mal standing above him. He noticed that Mal held his pistol casually at his side, then realized that his own gun had dropped from his hand and lay far from reach.

Marsh licked his lips, reflexively trying to dilute the salty taste of blood that stung his throat.

“Mal,” Marsh gasped. “I...I gotta know. Did you really call the Feds?”

“No,” Mal admitted.

“Figures,” Marsh sighed. “Course you didn’t. That...woulda been smart.”

Marsh smiled weakly before his throat clenched, and his head slumped to his chest.

“Zhou ma,” he heard Mal curse. “I can’t even kill a man without gettin’ insulted.”

Marsh heard nothing after that.

------------------------

“Wash!” Mal shouted, walking up the loading ramp. “Why the Hell did we launch the gorram shuttle?”

“We didn’t,” Kaylee replied, running down the stairway with Inara following close behind.

“Well, who did?” Mal asked.

“It was Doctor Brakestone,” Inara explained. “She took off with Simon after Wash caught her trying to get on the Cortex. She must have forced Simon to go with her.”

“I guess Simon’s plan to bird dog her must’ve worked,” Kaylee added.

“Yeah,” Mal said. “And of course it worked at exactly the wrong time. Did she get out a signal?”

“Nope,” Kaylee said. “Wash jammed all frequencies the minute she tried.”

“Well, let’s get after her,” Mal said. “We’ll pick up Zoe and Jayne after we catch up to Doctor Brakestone. If she gets out of range of our jamming signal....”

“That’s the problem,” Kaylee interrupted. “We’re stuck.”

“What!?” Mal exclaimed.

“Just before she took off,” Kaylee said. “She sent out a pulse, fried the control circuits. She must’ve set a few surge charges while she was on board. I can bypass them, but it’ll take time.”

“Time we don’t have,” Mal said. “She won’t have to go far to get a clear channel, with us on the ground.”

“That’s the thing,” Kaylee said. “She’s on the ground, too.”

“She landed?”

“Not by choice,” Kaylee said.

“I flew in on fumes when I returned to Serenity,” Inara explained. “Wash tracked the shuttle as it took a hard dive about twenty miles from here.”

“We didn’t understand it until we checked the maint readings,” Kaylee added. “With all that was going on, nobody thought to refuel the shuttle. I’m surprised she got as far as she did.”

“Our plans collapse, our oversights save our skins,” Mal groaned.

“It looks like they’re on foot,” Inara said. “Doctor Brakestone must have a hand comm unit. She’s been sending out regular signals, trying to contact the Alliance. She won’t have to go much farther before she’ll be able to connect.”

“I’ll go after them,” Mal said. “I’ll take the mule.”

“It don’t work,” Kaylee said. “She had a charge on that, too.”

“This girl’s good,” Mal muttered. “Think she’s for hire?”

“Mal, if she gets off a signal....” Inara said.

“We’re all humped,” Mal finished. “What about Shepherd Book? If he breaks orbit, he could catch ‘em.”

“We got no way to ask,” Kaylee replied. “Wash lets down the interference long enough to signal him, that leaves the channels open to the Feds.”

Mal clenched his teeth, weighing options. He then reached forward, grabbed the silk sash that Inara wore as a belt, and yanked it from her waist.

“Mal!” Inara gasped. “What are you doing?”

“Makin’ do,” Mal replied, quickly tying a series of knots in the sash.

------------------------------

“Keep moving,” Amelia ordered, pointing the gun at Simon with one hand, and glancing down at her comm unit in the other.

“Sorry if I’m slowing you down,” Simon said, limping ahead of her. “You should have thought about that before you kicked me.”

“I had to improvise,” Amelia said.

“I’m surprised you didn’t just leave me behind,” Simon muttered.

“I couldn’t risk you’d use the shuttle to jam my signal,” Amelia replied.

“Not much of a risk if you’d just killed me,” Simon said.

“They prefer you alive,” Amelia explained.

“How nice to be wanted,” Simon sighed.

“Just keep walking,” Amelia instructed.

Simon took a few more steps, then turned and asked:

“How long?”

“Simon, don’t start,” Amelia warned.

“Before we met?” Simon continued. “Was it an act all along? Did they...did they aim you at me?”

Amelia swallowed, drew a breath, then said:

“No.”

“Alright, after that,” Simon said. “How long? Was it before we started seeing each other? Before we got engaged?”

“Do you really want to know?” Amelia snapped. “Do you really? Fine! It was right around the time you started asking so many damned fool questions about that sister of yours!”

“Not so foolish,” Simon said. “My suspicions proved correct.”

“Oh, did I say foolish? I’m sorry! I keep forgetting that you’re a genius! You’re so intelligent that you threw away everything we had, everything we worked for, and you wound up out in the middle of nowhere, and wrecked both of our lives!”

“I’m sorry if saving my sister from murderers cramped your social status.”

“Don’t you dare!” Amelia screamed. “You egotistic son of a bitch! How dare you pretend that you’re the only one who matters!”

“If I thought I was the only person that mattered, I wouldn’t have given up everything I had....”

“And everything I had,” Amelia shot back. “I worked so hard, gave up so much to be a doctor. I could have rested on my laurels, went through the motions and lived on my father’s money, but I chose to go to medical school, to become a doctor, to help people. Then, out of nowhere, I find out that a copy of the neurology final exam was ‘discovered’ in my memory files. Funny, because a week before that, an Alliance inspection ‘discovered’ a crate of narcotics on one of my father’s ships. I thought it had to be a mistake. Of course, it was. It was your mistake, you idiot!”

“So you agreed to spy on me?”

“I agreed to try and talk some sense into you,” Amelia growled. “To try and keep you focused on what was important! Everything would have been perfect, if you hadn’t been such a damned fool!”

“I suppose it’s hard to argue with that,” Simon said. “After all, it took me over two years to catch on to you.”

“Was it a guess?” Amelia asked. “Or have you just become even more paranoid since you left?”

“It’s not ‘paranoia’ if everyone actually is plotting against you,” Simon replied. “And it wasn’t a guess.”

Simon reached into his pants pocket. He froze as he heard Amelia pull the hammer back on her pistol. He raised both hands, then slowly dropped his right hand back toward his pocket, reached in with two fingers, and pulled out the silver mirror that River had discovered.

“To ‘M’ from ‘S’,” Simon recited, gesturing toward Amelia with the hand mirror. “To Mela, from Simon. Rich girls don’t pawn their silver to pay for their passage between backwater planets.”

“Interesting,” Amelia replied. “Of course, I might have sold it for less practical reasons. Perhaps I was just ridding myself of an unpleasant memory? Or perhaps it was stolen?”

“I considered that,” Simon said. “But that just led to other questions. Like whether it was too much of a coincidence for us to find ourselves on the same ship. Or whether a girl who spent most of her childhood in boarding schools would have learned enough about her father’s cargo ships to pilot a Firefly. Unless, of course, she’d been making a point of reading about Firefly class ships.”

“More of a hands-on training,” Amelia corrected. “They’ve had me flying on every Firefly I came across ever since you left Persephone.”

“Funny you mention Persephone,” Simon said. “That was the question that really bothered me. A federal agent was after me on Persephone. He booked passage on the same ship as River and I. It seemed strange. If he knew that I had River, he should have arrested me on the spot. It was almost as if he knew that she’d be waiting on Boros if I’d missed her. It seemed impossible that the men who’d saved River would be careless about our plans, and I hadn’t told anyone. Well, except you.”

“I suppose I’m responsible for your escape,” Amelia said. “If I hadn’t told them your timetable, they would have arrested you, and they’d have River right now. That Fed knew just enough to let you escape. Ironic, really.”

“Not exactly ‘ironic,’ strictly speaking,” Simon said. “And he didn’t let me escape. He’s dead. The Alliance has left a trail of bodies as they’ve hunted us. The way I see it, you’re responsible.”

“And you’re not? Let’s face it, Simon, the one person in all of this who made most of the choices is you.”

“I made the only choice there was to make. I chose to save River’s life!”

“And how many lives would you have saved at the hospital? Hundreds? Thousands? You traded a brilliant career, a career that gave you the opportunity to do some real good, and for what? To save one person? And patch up a band of pirates who’d kill a dozen men over the price of a horse?”

“You don’t know them,” Simon growled. “And if you think I’d rationalize away my sister’s life, you obviously don’t know me.”

“I didn’t want this,” Amelia said softly. “I wanted you. I wanted us to have everything we deserved. I can’t have that anymore, Simon. If you’d loved me more, enough to...I’m sorry, Simon. I really am. I wish there was another way, but there isn’t. My father could lose his business, even go to prison. They could take everything he worked for, everything I worked for. They’re holding all the cards. I can’t be a doctor, I can’t be anything unless I do what they say. We could have had a good life together, Simon. I wanted that. But, now....”

Amelia’s voice trailed off. The barrel of her pistol dropped slightly. Then, she raised it again, set her jaw, and said:

“Now, I just want my life back.”

Simon looked into Amelia’s eyes, then said:

“I understand.”

“Then you also understand what I have to do,” Amelia said. “And you know that I’ve...accepted...what will happen to you when this is over. I don’t want to shoot you, Simon. But I will if I have to. So start walking. They want you alive, but they made it very clear that, compared to River, you’re expendable.”

“Well, how about that,” Simon said. “It turns out, I agree. I’m going to stop you, Amelia. You may kill me, but I’ll die trying to stop you.”

“So, why go this far?” Amelia asked. “What, have you been stalling? Waiting for a miracle? My God, you are a fool. I don’t know what kind of luck has brought you this far, but let’s face it, the calvary isn’t going to come riding in to save you now.”

Simon drew a breath to respond, but was interrupted by a soft noise in the distance. Both he and Amelia turned toward the horizon, and saw a man on a horse galloping toward them.

“Now that’s ironic,” Simon observed.

“Shut up, Simon,” Amelia growled, backing away. She stared at the approaching figure, and recognized Captain Reynolds as the man on the horse. He held a pistol in his right hand, and would be in range within seconds.

“He’s a better shot than you, Amelia,” Simon warned.

“I’m out of choices,” Amelia said, quickly turning her head aside to look at Simon, then returning her focus to Mal. “He can’t keep me tied up and drag me across the ‘verse forever. He knows he has to kill me, and I know I have to kill him. I’ll get one shot, and he’ll get one, and maybe it’s my day to catch a break. He’s a practical man, Simon. Much more practical than you. I’m guessing he’s the one who’s made the tough choices that have kept you alive.”

“That’s a fair statement,” Simon muttered.

“Then stay quiet,” Amelia ordered. “Just stand there while...agh!”

Amelia winced as a stinging light caught the corner of her eye and blinded her. She blinked through the tears, turned her head, and saw Simon holding the mirror in his hand. Only now the reflective side was facing her, and the sunlight flashed off the glass as Simon tilted it in his grasp.

She only grasped the meaning of Simon’s action in the moment before a loud crack echoed through the air. A moment later, she collapsed to the ground. In the next moment, her body shuddered as the pain of her wound shot through her body.

She felt nothing after that.

Mal pulled the sash in his left hand that he had tied into a makeshift rein, bringing Barney to a halt. He kept the pistol he held in his right hand trained on Amelia, until he saw that she lay motionless, and that the wound from his bullet was positioned squarely in the center of her chest.

Mal climbed down from Barney’s back, and walked over to Simon’s side. Simon’s gaze remained fixed on Amelia.

“You alright?” Mal asked.

After a pause, Simon nodded once.

“Shepherd Book is due to get back to Serenity by noon,” Mal said. “They’ll have him fly to the other shuttle, and he’ll get us back.”

Simon stood silent.

“Look,” Mal said. “There’s no practical way for us to get Doctor Brakestone back to her family, or much of anywhere. But, if you want, we can have the Shepherd fly us back here, and I’m sure he’ll say a few words fittin’ for a proper....”

Mal stopped as Simon tossed the mirror to the ground next to Amelia’s body.

“Leave her,” Simon stated, then turned and walked in the direction of the abandoned shuttle.

-----------------------------

Mal stopped Barney as they got close to the ship. Since Serenity now sat at the entrance to Marsh’s cabin, Mal concluded that Kaylee and Wash had repaired the damage done by Amelia’s sabotage. He could see both shuttles were docked on Serenity. Book had brought Zoe with him to Inara’s shuttle. A quick transfer of fuel had left the Shepherd on his way back at the helm of one shuttle, with Zoe and Simon in the other. Barney had provided Mal with his transportation back.

Mal climbed down from Barney and led him toward the ship. Inara stood at the loading ramp, as Zoe, Book and Jayne stacked supplies by the cabin’s porch.

“Well,” Inara said as Mal approached. “The hero returns.”

“Well, thank you kindly,” Mal replied.

“I was talking about the horse,” Inara said, her lips twisting into a sly smile.

“I shoulda figured,” Mal said. “But I can’t disagree. I didn’t think we’d make it, as far out as they were, but ol’ Barney really came through when it counted.”

“I guess I was wrong about him,” Inara admitted.

“Yep,” Mal agreed. “He may not be much in the way of breed, but I guess he had more goin’ for him than meets the eye.”

“Sometimes that’s the way of things,” Inara said.

Mal and Inara stared at each other for a moment. A gentle breeze from the east pressed the crimson satin of Inara’s dress against her slender figure. Mal quietly inhaled the fragrance of Inara’s perfume in the wind. Given time, he might have recognized the scent to be the same as the marigolds that grew wild on Shadow.

“Well,” Inara said, absently looking toward Serenity. “I suppose I should check to see if my shuttle is still in working order.”

“Yeah,” Mal said. “I suppose that’s a good notion.”

Inara pursed her lips, then turned and walked up the ramp.

Mal led Barney over to the porch. Marsh’s two mares were hitched to the post by the front of the cabin. Mal tied Barney’s silk bridle to the post, then walked over to Zoe and Jayne.

“Where we stand?” Mal asked.

“Just gettin’ what we can,” Jayne said.

“The ship’s ready to go when we are, Sir,” Zoe added.

“We buried the bodies down the basement,” Jayne said. “Shepherd's prayin’ over ‘em.”

“The Shepherd's finished,” Book said, emerging from the cabin door.

“Good enough,” Mal said. “Once Inara’s done checking her shuttle, we can leave.”

“I thought she already did that?” Jayne said.

“Yeah, well, she’s doin’ it again,” Mal replied. “What did we get?”

“Some equipment,” Jayne said. “Plus, and this is a surprise that’s pleasin’ on all accounts....”

Jayne reached down and picked up small steel box. He opened it, and showed the contents to Mal.

“Three hundred platinum,” Jayne continued. “Plus another hundred on top. Looks like Marsh came ready to trade if we were still in the dark.”

“I don’t think he’ll miss the extra,” Zoe stated.

“I’d say we earned it,” Mal concurred.

“Everything we came for,” Jayne said. “Plus guns, ammo and supplies that’ll fetch a good price, if we don’t want ‘em. Not to mention we still got Barney.”

“True,” Zoe said.

“The doctor said he’ll just piss out the drops,” Jayne said. “That leaves us a teaser pony we can sell to whoever. Nothin’ like gettin’ paid twice.”

“You may want to consider that carefully,” Book said. “That’s a dead man’s horse. A dead drug runner’s horse on top of that. Could raise questions we don’t want to answer.”

“We could let him go cheap,” Jayne proposed. “Find a buyer on the sly. Hell, that’s what we do, ain’t it?”

“What do you think, Sir?” Zoe asked Mal, who was staring over at Barney.

“Jayne,” Mal said, “give me your knife.”

Zoe, Jayne and Book exchanged perplexed glances. Mal held his open hand out toward Jayne. Jayne shrugged, pulled the knife on his hip from its sheath, and handed it to Mal.

Mal walked over to the hitching post, then reached under one of the mares and cut the strap from the saddle. He pushed the saddle from the horse’s back, then walked around to the other mare and cut away its saddle. He untied the two horses from the post, led them toward the open gate, then removed the reins from their heads. He walked behind both horses and gave each a slap on their hindquarters, sending them galloping out of the gate and across the plain.

Mal walked over to Barney, untied the sash from the post, and led him toward the gate. He then removed the sash, and stood back to leave Barney’s path clear.

The horse took a cautious step forward, then turned his head toward Mal.

“Go on, Barney,” Mal said. “You earned it.”

Barney took a step out of the gate, then a second, and then began to trot out toward the open range. He was in a full gallop as he disappeared in the distance.

As Zoe, Jayne and Book looked on, Mal walked back to the porch, lifted one of the crates, and said:

“The ship was startin’ to smell like chu fei anyway.”

END PART V