Part One

The Firefly-class ship sailed through the salty air of Poseidon, headed towards one of its busiest ports. The crew of Serenity had picked up a job on the planet, and the ship had just arrived to pick up the precious cargo: a good two-dozen crates loaded with fresh fish. As the ship set down in an empty space on the docks, it’s front door opened, revealing its crew, ready to load the ship with Serenity’s first legal cargo in a long time. Times were getting better, which meant that illegal trade was laying low. People could run legal jobs for good money, with no chance of getting into any trouble. At least not with the authorities, that is. Two men were standing near the crates of fish, dressed in common clothing, trousers and coats, and their holsters swung loose at their waists, only one of them actually armed. One of the men, white-haired and wrinkly, aged well, warmly greeted the crew of the ship. “You must be Cap’n Reynolds. I’m George, and this here’s my associate Fang.” Fang smiled at the mention of his name. He had only two teeth in his mouth, and they did appear to be the fangs of a wild animal, one on either side of his lower lip. “He’s all bark and no bite, though, cap’n.” The white-haired man smiled and laughed heartily as he waited for the Captain to make introductions. “Yes, I’m Malcolm Reynolds, and this here’s my crew. I’m so glad we could make a deal, George- business has been slow for us, and we finally picked up some decent jobs here and there. Can we start loading up the cargo?” “Go right ahead, I’ve got yer money right here. I’ll tell ya what- I’ll throw in an extra bonus for makin’ it here so fast - I though ya said ya wouldn’t be here for another day or so.” “Well, we took some short routes to get here.” The Captain smiled to reveal a set of yellowed teeth, that in conjunction with his rough black stubble and smell of alcohol wiped the smile of of the white-haired man’s face. Somehow, Malcolm Reynolds didn’t quite meet the old man’s expectations. The Captain turned to face his crew, who were waiting for instructions. “Zoe, Jayne, start loading up this cargo. I want to be off planet in an hour.” The two women he addressed started to carry the large crates of fish into the belly of the ship, and the Captain took the bag of credits from George, and thanked him. As soon as the cargo was loaded up, the door closed, and the ship’s engines flared to life. Within minutes, they were barely a speck in the distance. “Well, Fang, they seemed like nice folks when I talked to ‘em before. Course, it was only an audio transmission. I guess ya shouldn’ judge people based on their ugly looks, though, right Fang?” Fang smiled, and nodded. George led him off the docks, to a shop nearby. The sign above the door said “George’s Fishin’ Industry”, painted in old-fashioned gold letters. Putting his coat up on a peg near the door, he sat down at his desk, which was covered with old pictures and paperwork. “Well, Fang, it looks like I got someone tryin’ to talk to me. Should we see who it is?” He pressed several buttons, and the wave came through to his screen. “Hello, this is Captain Reynolds. Good news, we just arrived at Poseidon now, about a day ahead of schedule. If you give us some coordinates, we can set down and load up the cargo for you and be out of your way shortly.” The man on the screen was not the same man who had claimed to be Malcolm Reynolds just an hour before. This one was clean-shaven, with decent teeth, and brown hair, not the jet-black hair belonging to the man who had just left the planet not five minutes ago. Well, it looks like we have an imposter, thought the white-haired man. “Captain Reynolds, how nice to see you here early - why don’t you set down here, at these coordinates. We’ll be waiting for you there.” The white-haired man smiled.

* * *

A few minutes later, Serenity set down at an empty space on the docks. Inside, Mal, Zoe, and Jayne stood waiting to meet George, and to take on the cargo. “Why are we transportin’ fish again, Cap’n?” Jayne asked, waiting to open the cargo bay door. Mal smiled. “What’s the matter, Jayne, don’t you like the smell of fish?” At that moment, the door opened, to reveal half a dozen armed men wearing long coats, all of them pointing their guns at Serenity’s crew. As the men rushed in, Zoe raised her hands in surrender and turned to Mal. “No pun intended, sir, but this smells a little fishy.” “This is what I get for taking a legal job? Let’s go back to wobbly-headed geisha dolls next time.”

To Be Continued…