Of course, her shuttle didn’t have the sensor array the much larger Serenity had. Inara knew that, and was accustomed to it, but she still found herself shocked when the Alliance cruiser thundered into view, breaking to a halt from its incredible cruising speeds. They had been holding at Vaughan’s ring, in high orbit of its outermost moon, for almost two hours. River had been quiet, fortunately, content to play with Inara’s clothes. Inara let her—she seemed careful enough with them, even refolding those she discarded. Some of the effects had been comical, but some of Inara’s outfits had looked surprisingly good on the girl. Right now, she was putting on a dress that clung to her form, covering her from the floor up to a hood over her head and a veil hiding the bottom half of her face. Inara loved that dress—it showed everything, but revealed nothing. It fit her better than it did River, but nonetheless, the girl looked good. She had a dancer’s grace, and could, for the most part, carry off a companion’s studied lofty attitude. Inara just hoped that she could pull it off herself just then. Despite her bravado to Simon and the others—and her genuine confidence that everything would go fine—the two of them would still be traveling on an Alliance military vessel for most of a week, and the price on River’s head was still staggering. They’d stay on the shuttle for most of that time, of course, but Inara would still be expected to make an appearance at least once or twice. Hopefully, River could—and would—stay hidden and undetected on the shuttle. That plan, like all the best-laid ones, did not survive its implementation for as much as two minutes. “Unidentified shuttlecraft,” the cruiser announced its demands, “this is the Alliance cruiser Qinhai. Identify yourself and transmit your registration codes immediately.” The officer who was addressing her appeared on her commscreen. He looked grim and slightly offended, like Alliance officers out among the Outer Planets usually did. “I.A.V. Qinhai, this is Inara Serra. I’m registered to the Firefly-class transport Serenity. Transmitting my information now.” Unasked, she included her Companion license. “You should have my information logged, with passage arranged for my shuttle from here to New Canaan.” There was a pause, and the officer looked away to a different screen, as they checked her information. Inara caught herself holding her breath. She’d obviously been spending too much time with the captain. “Ms. Serra,” the officer spoke finally, with at least an attempt at friendliness, “that is correct. Please proceed to dock at port eight.” Inara smiled. Now that she was a paying customer, suddenly they could manage a ‘please.’ And they claimed the government wasn’t a corporation. She put the shuttle in motion, gliding towards the docking port. “Serenity shuttle, hold please.” She froze. The vid had popped on again, and it was an effort to keep looking composed. No, she told herself determinedly. All her papers were in order. Nothing was wrong. All she was feeling was her dread at what she expected to find at Chapterhouse New Canaan, and she would *not* let it control her. With a steady voice, she asked, “Is there a problem, officer?” “We did an infrared sweep of your shuttle, ma’am. Part of a standard random security sweep. I’m informed that we read two live humans on board your shuttle, and you’ve only been registered as a single passenger.” “I…” Inara was lost for words. What to say? How to explain? She hadn’t even noticed that River was standing by her side when the girl suddenly stuck her head between Inara’s and the commscreen. It was a good thing, too—the fact that the vid did not capture her face right then—because her mouth dropped open in shock. River, despite seemingly betraying herself to the people who were actively hunting her, remained perfectly calm. Well, not calm—more… *bubbly*. “Sorry, sorry!” she squeaked. “That’s me! I’m Milady Serra’s apprentice. I’m not registered with the Guild—not yet, not yet, but I will be! I mean, that’s why they must have left me off of the transport manifest. But Milady Serra is letting me come along! Do you need to see my ident card? I have it around here somewhere, I know I do!” It took Inara a while before she figured out what was off about River’s voice—at least, aside from her tone and the things she was saying—but then she got it. She was speaking with a flawless Three Hills accent. “That won’t be necessary.” The officer sounded pained. “We’re on a schedule.” Calling out a string of superfluous thanks and well-wishes, River darted aside again. Inara only just managed to get her face under control again before the officer could see her again, managing to turn the last of her shocked and confusion into a mild annoyance. She had to play along now; there was no other choice. Only when River looked at her over the top of the commscreen did Inara realize that she was still wearing the hood and the veil. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief—if River had shown her face on vid, even a casual security check of the footage might have had them both thrown in the brig for a one-way trip to the Core. The relief easily turned into a friendly smile she presented to the officer. “Sorry about that,” she said. “She’s… She still has much to learn.” “Yes yes. Quite all right. Please continue to your assigned docking port.” Inara suspected that at some point during River’s lengthy outburst, the man had been chastised by his commander for not having them on board yet and delaying the cruiser. Trusting that luck to hold, Inara asked, “Are you sure it is no problem, officer? The passage fee…” “No problem. You’ve been booked as providing your own meals on board your shuttle, so it makes little difference to us. Please proceed to the docking port.” With a smile, she did as he said and opened the throttle, her shuttle gliding forward once more. It was somewhat worrying, she thought, how little surprise she felt that River’s plan—insane as it would have sounded had she explained it in advance—had worked to perfection. Mad the girl might be, no one could debate that, but more and more, Inara began to see that there was a method to it. Poor Simon’s desperation to comprehend what had been done to his sister was easy to understand—there was something about her, just under the surface, that just begged to be understood. Immediately after the shuttle had been firmly attached to the cruiser, the larger craft began to accelerate to its cruising speed. River, so lucid minutes before, sat down in the middle of the room and began absently nodding her head as she began to call out increasing speeds. She couldn’t possibly be accurate, though—it was almost impossible to tell they were moving at all. There was a knock at the door. Double-checking the atmo-seal, Inara went to open it. She wasn’t surprised to find the armed guard that was standing outside. The young pup of an officer that led them *was* surprised when she blocked the door with her body. He swallowed hard. It was painfully obvious that the man—the boy, more like it—had never met a companion before. She’d seen variations on that look often enough to know it for what it was. Good. The soldiers appeared unimpressed, but they were Alliance. They would not act without the proper orders. “Yes?” she demanded. When he managed to pry his eyes off Inara, he tried to look beyond her, into the shuttle, but her robes did a good job of blocking the way. “Erm,” the officer said finally, “Ms. Serra, welcome to the I.A.V. Qinhai. I’m Lt. Gaydos. If you need anything while you’re flying with us, I’m the guy to contact. Eh…” She didn’t move. “Thank you, Lt. Gaydos. I hope you do plan on having these men force their way into my shuttle. A companion’s workspace is protected under the McKean Privacy Act. Sixth paragraph. Entrance without permission or warrant is punishable with forced labor.” The Guild had lobbied hard to have their workplaces included in that document. As far as Inara was concerned, it had been worth every penny. “And as there’s only a single space in this shuttle…” “Ah, no, no of course not! They’re merely here as a standard security precaution, ma’am. A lot of unlawful types here in the wilderness, you understand.” He paused, apparently noticing that he was rambling a bit, and took a deep breath. He was much more composed when he continued. “I won’t need to see your shuttle, Ms. Serra, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you and your apprentice to accompany me to out infirmary. Some of our crew were infected with a new strain of Peyton’s Flu while on assignment on Three Hills. We’re inoculating everyone on board as a precaution.” “If it is all the same, my apprentice and I will simply remain on my shuttle.” “I’m afraid that’s just not possible, ma’am. I have strict orders.” Inara’s brain raced, but she couldn’t see any way out of this. It was a risk, but they would just have to be careful. She turned to River—checking to see if she still had the veil on—and then paused with her mouth already open to speak. But she couldn’t use River’s real name, of course, and she didn’t dare make one up on the spot that River might not respond to later. Instead, she decided to simply snap her fingers. “Come,” she added, and thankfully River rose to follow. They made the long walk to the infirmary mostly in silence. Lt. Gaydos kept watching them intently—and eventually Inara realized that he was paying more attention to River than to her. Did he suspect something? If he did, apparently he was not certain enough to demand to see River’s face, because they reached the infirmary safely. Inara accepted the injection without complaint. To the nurse’s credit, she barely felt it at all. When it was River’s turn, however, the girl suddenly backed away. One of the soldiers blocked the entranceway, but thankfully, River stopped before she got there. “I… I’m sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I… don’t much like needles.” Inara wondered how much of the naked fear in River’s voice was part of her act. Not much, was her conclusion as she watched her walk back to the examining table. To Inara’s eyes, perceptive to the minutiae of the human body as they were, it was clear that every step forward cost River her full effort and determination. When she finally sat down, her arm trembled under the nurse’s steady hand. On the walk back to the shuttle, Inara put an arm around her shoulders, and wondered about the things that had been done to her to instill such a fear in her. Unfortunately, she was not the only one whose curiosity in River had been increased. “So…” Gaydos started to ask, “em, what’s your name? If you don’t mind me asking?” “I don’t mind. Kim. Kim Ostrander,” River replied without hesitation, in a voice steady enough to pass. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Kim. I’m Lt. Greg Gaydos. I just wanted to ask, is that a Three Hills accent?” “Yes it is! But I didn’t like it much there! When Milady Serra picked me to be her apprentice, I was so proud! And my parents, too!” Gaydos smiled, which only made him appear even younger. “I was born there myself,” he said. “Lived there before I managed to enroll in the Alliance Military. Didn’t care much for the place myself. Where are you from exactly?” Continuing to look straight ahead, Inara held her breath. Had River talked herself into a corner? As far as Inara knew, she had never been on Three Hills. If Gaydos was suspicious enough to keep asking questions, he’d start poking holes in River’s story sooner rather than later. “From just a few miles east of Oak Hill. My parents own a pig farm—my brothers all work on it, but I think those animals are disgusting!” “You’re kidding,” Gaydos said. “I’m from Oak Hill myself. Did you ever come to town?” “For the Midsummer dances, every year since I was seven!” “Heh. Maybe I even saw you there.” Inara breathed out. She didn’t know how River knew all these details, but she was not going question it. That *must* have persuaded him. If only he didn’t ask any further now. “Have you been apprenticed to Ms. Serra for long?” “Oh, it seems like forever! It’s been… it’s been over four months now.” Gaydos nodded. “Well. I was glad to be rid of that place, but I have to say it’s nice to talk to a girl from home—I didn’t get to go planetside while the Qinhai was out there this time. I was hoping you’d know some more about who took the flu and passed on, but I guess you’ve been gone too long for that. Anyway… perhaps I’ll speak with you again while you’re flying with us?” River giggled. “Perhaps.” She cast a quick glance at Inara. “That is… if Milady Serra doesn’t need me, if I don’t have lessons…” For an instant, Gaydos’s eyes widened, and he swallowed. Inara reckoned that was the moment he wondered what a lesson between her and River might consist of. “Eh… eh… Of course,” he managed. “That goes without saying.” They had finally arrived at the shuttle. Inara raised an eyebrow at Gaydos, just for effect. “I’ll need my apprentice back now, please.” “Oh! Yes, of course, I’m sorry ma’am.” He gestured a command to the soldiers, and gave River one last look before he followed them down the corridor. Inara didn’t relax until the door was safely shut behind them. River pulled the hood and veil off her head. She was staring straight ahead, her eyes a million miles away. “Questions... Suspicion... Not logical.” She turned to look Inara in the eye. “Data incorrect. Danger. I think I miscalculated. He shouldn’t have been interested.” There wasn’t anything specific that triggered it, but suddenly everything clicked in Inara’s head. The way Gaydos had kept glancing at River, the way he’d tried to pry information out of her—especially the look on his face at River’s reaction to the needle, which Inara had only glanced from the corner of her eye at the time. She couldn’t help it. She laughed. River cocked her head, puzzled. “I don’t think…” Inara tried to explain between laughs, “I don’t think Lt. Gaydos is suspicious of you at all. I think he *likes* you.” Suddenly very pale, River frowned. “Hormonal stimulation. Unpredictable. The chromosomes are all tied up! There is danger. I must not see him again. Hide in the walls.” She appeared to be working herself into a panic. And Inara just couldn’t stop laughing. Finally, a reaction that made perfect sense from a young woman still in her teens. She gave River a big hug, and patted her back. “Oh, I’m sure we can weather this storm.”

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