Chapter II

It had been another long night. It always was, ever since Wash was gone. The space beside her while she slept was eerily empty, and nothing seemed to feel right about it. Sometimes she could swear she saw him here or there. But, like anyone else, the crew had moved on fairly quickly and gotten back to doing their jobs. As she had to also, if she wanted to make a living on this boat. She was walking through the corridors when she bumped into Inara. She never had a good feeling about that woman, since day one. "Hello," Inara said in a gracious manner, like always. A little too gracious for a hooker. "Hello," Zoe nodded back. "Do you know where Malcom may be?" Zoe stopped to think about this for a second. She was about to say Mal was out dealing with Mina, when Serenity began to make a lift off. A few moments later, from the dining room, she heard Malcom say, "I believe you've got some explaining to do." "I think I have an idea," Zoe said, and both of them moved to the dining room, observed the guest, and then watched the scene roll out. **** Mal wondered if he had asked the question too loudly, because Kaylee, Simon, Zoe and Inara had all taken the time to join them. "I don't know what you mean?" the man half said, half asked. "Well, first of all, what're y'doin' on our ship?" Jayne inquired, but was waved off by Mal. "I can handle this," Mal said, and sat down at the table, across from where the guest had seated himself. "What're you doing on my ship?" "I followed you." "Obviously." There was silence in the room. They had all seated themselves, or found a comfortable place to watch from, as if it were a skit they had prepared. "I was a client of Mina's. She's dead, my crew's dead, my ship's destroyed, and more than likely whoever shot her in the head saved your asses from destruction. Most call me Drifter, but my real name is Archalyas if you must know." "Saved us?" Simon asked, suddenly interested in the newcomer and what he had to say. Archalyas sighed, and shook his head, before he answered; "Yes, saved you. My crew was asked to break into an Alliance base and download some information. We barely got in before the Alliance through a wave of fighters at us, and too many soldiers to count. I barely made it out of there alive." "But obviously y'did make it out alive," Jayne said, through a mouthful of a fruit he had found to eat. "That part, I thought, was pretty obvious," Archalyas responded. "Alright, alright. But why are you on my ship?" Mal asked again. "I need a job," Archalyas responded simply. "And you think I'm going to give you one?" Mal asked sternly. "The Alliance'll be chasin' us any day now if they find out we have that information." "Who says I have the information?" The room went silent. "Do you?" Zoe asked. "Part of it," Archalyas said, not wanting to lie to these people. His best chance right now was to be honest, and hope they didn't throw him out at the nearest world. "Part of it?" Kaylee asked, "Doesn' sound too honest t'me," adding in her own two cents to the conversation. "I had to stop the download in mid-transfer...if I wanted to live." "And we all feel much better 'bout that, don't we?" Jayne's sarcasm almost made Mal smile, but he contained himself, trying to keep as straight a face as possible. Sometimes, his job sucked. Then again, it was better than being under Alliance control. Mal took into consideration the benefit of a new crew member. He felt bad just replacing Wash, after all, Wash wasn't replaceable. But the fact was, Serenity did need a full time pilot, not just him and River filling in now and then to make sure the ship was on course. "We will give you sanctuary for a week. Prove your worth, you can stay," Mal said after awhile. "Thank you," Archalyas responded. Mal got up and left the room, before anyone could question his decision.

****

Archalyas watched at the man left. "I'm assuming he's your captain?" "Yes, he's our captain," Jayne said, and followed Mal, obviously out to start an argument over it. "Welcome aboard," Simon said, trying to be as civil as possible, knowing how it felt to be the outcast. "I'm Simon. The doctor." "I'm Kaylee," Kaylee added, trying to backup Simon, even though it wasn't really needed. "Cool," Archalyas said, and looked around. "What about the captain and the big guy?" "Malcom and Jayne. These are Zoe, and Inara," Simon said, introducing the rest of the crew. "You're forgetting River," Zoe said. "Oh, yes. River. You can't miss her, she's the only other crew member." "Right," Archalyas said, and got up. "I'm gonna take a walk around." With that, he left the room and began a search around the ship.

****

"Mal, what da hell d'ya think you're doin'?" Mal stopped, then turned around. "Jayne, this is my boat. I'll go about doing the pickin' and choosin' of who serves and who doesn't, and most of all, how my boat is run. You got any objections, I could always cut your paycheck and drop you off at the nearest planet." Jayne stared at Mal. A bit snappy today, wasn't he? "I just asked a question." "And the man saved my life. He deserves a chance," Mal stated. "Plus, if he does anything I don't like, you can always shoot him." Jayne nodded and smiled. "Keepin' him's a great decision, cap'n." Mal smiled, and continued to his room. Jayne went the other way, whistling happily.

****

It wasn't a very big ship, with the exception of the cargo bay, where Archalyas now resided. The crew had gone back to work, and the woman named Inara had seemingly disappeared. Zoe had said something about her having a shuttle. How could such a small ship house a shuttle? He was on a odd platform overlooking the main cargo bay. While he didn't really like heights, he didn't think it would collapse or anything. It was still intact, after all. He didn't notice another presence, until she was right beside him. She took a seat, with her legs crossed, and stared at him. "Hello..." Archalyas said. She was just staring at him. As if she was zoned. It was a moment or two before she responded, but it was a polite, "Hello," and then she looked down at the cargo bay. "What are you doing?" Archalyas blinked. "Sitting here. I was about to go find the captain." "He's busy." "Oh," he paused for a moment, then got up. "What's there to do on this ship?" "To do?" "Games? Recreation? It's small, but you guys don't have a pool room? Or anything?" "Pool room?" River was obviously curious about the newcomer. "Oh, never mind," Archalyas said, and just continued to walk. She followed him.

**** "Whata you think 'bout Drifter?" Kaylee asked. "His name's Archalyas," Simon said. "Yeah, but he said that folks call him Drifter, so I'll respect that." Simon stared at Kaylee for a moment, before shaking his head and smiling. "What?" "Nothing," Simon said. "I got to get to work and start the checklist." "Checklist?" "Captain wants to know what we have for medical supplies. We haven't restocked in a long time," Simon said, and then abruptly added. "And the way we go through them..." "Yes, you best be to that," Kaylee said, and leaned in to give Simon a good bye kiss. It was received without delay, and seconds later Simon had disappeared, leaving Kaylee alone. She turned to the engines. "Gotta keep ya shiny," she mumbled to herself.

**** "Captain, do you honestly trust him?" Zoe asked. Mal sighed, then looked at the room around him. His quarters. He barely ever spent time here. Half the time he didn't even sleep, instead wandering the ship all night to make sure nothing went astray. A fear that was unneeded. "No," Mal said after awhile. "But, Zoe, let's face it. The ship would run much smoother with an extra hand. And I know you don't like the idea of replacin' Wash, but it's gotta be done sooner or later. Preferably sooner. And if this man proves his worth to me, he's got the job." Zoe stared at the ground absentmindedly. Mal knew exactly what she was thinking, yet she couldn't just sit there without putting up a fight for her husband. But, in the end, she did exactly that. It was Mal's ship, and he did what he wanted and felt was best, or in this case, needed. And she respected that. "Okay, sir," Zoe said. Mal nodded, "Thank you." "For what, sir?" "Respecting my decision," Mal said. "But I would now ask you to leave." "Leave?" "The room, Zoe." "Oh," Zoe said, and nodded. She got up and left, leaving the captain to himself. "Oh boy," Mal said to himself, looking around the room, and collapsing on his bed.