KING D. AUGUSTUS III - BEGIN LOG ENTRY : 7 July 2528: 22:50

Ok. So, how do I start this? I guess I should start at the beginning. My official title now is King Dekterius Oliver Augustus III. It’s a long one, huh. My friends and family call me Deke. I was born here on Londinum into a high class court family in which my father, King Phillip Oliver Augustus II, was King of Londinum years before I was born. My father had taken ill this past year and finally last week he lost his battle to sickness. Therefore, I was crowned King. I have no mother. She died after having me. I have lived all my life as a Prince. I collected a number of friends and a greater number of enemies over the years. I have only been to two planets, here and Persephone. I have never really had an adventure to speak of. That is, until ten years ago when I was fifteen. So, as you may have guessed, this is my first entry as King. Yet my first entry will not involve mundane activities as tradition calls for. No, I’m a more open kinda guy than that. I will have more personal insight of my own on the goings on in my court. Hee, my court. Sounds weird. However, there is one thing I must do now before I begin the standard entries. It is more like a promise to myself, and indirectly to my father. I cannot let it fade into memory any longer. In the next few entries, I will finally disclose an event that, up till now, officially never happened. My father at the time warned me that the event would be detrimental to the court if exposed. I always felt since that it would be a disgrace to the people involved if I didn’t expose it. My father said throughout my life, “Wait until you are King” or “When you are King you can do whatever you want, but right now you are not King and I am.” Well, here I am. I’m King and he’s dead. So, without further adieu, let me begin. Let’s go back ten years. 2518. I was fifteen. I was more or less a bratty kid then. Spoiled. I had an overabundant ego. I would challenge people. I had several babysitters in my childhood. It got to a point where people were afraid to apply for the position. I was constantly in trouble with the law. The criminal acts I performed were more along the lines of harmless pranks. I was never bound by law due to my direct connection to the leader of the entire planet. Though, that didn’t give me license to do anything I wanted. My father saw to that. Sitting here now thinking of how I used to act then makes me cringe. The next thing that happened brought me down to reality. I had an interest in bracketball and still do. My father thought it would take my mind off other nefarious activities I was fond of. It did, for the most part. Well, there was one night when I was at the practice field and after kicking a few I retired to the locker room. Once I entered the darkened locker room, I heard voices inside. I recognized one of them being my only friend and confidant, Bishop Oscar Mandalay. The other was the deep sinister voice of my father’s newly recruited Chief Court Advisor, Gus Busby. Oscar was the only being who wasn’t afraid of me. He would always have my father’s permission to scold and punish me as he saw fit. Therefore, Oscar was the only person I ever trusted. In the locker room, my presence being obscured from their view, I could hear them not talking, but shouting at one another. At that time, I didn’t know what the argument was about. All I knew then was that it was heated enough to kill over. At least on Busby’s end. As I was peering around the corner to see full view, I witnessed Busby suddenly stick a knife into my childhood friend’s gut over and over again. It is an image that will never escape my memory. The next minutes after that were a blur. I remember squealing, thus announcing my presence to Busby. I remember then starting to run. Busby dropped Oscar like a rag doll to the floor and he started running after me. Busby was middle aged at the time and I wasn’t. So, I was quicker and got away. Needless to say, I spilled the whole thing to my dad that night and in no time, Busby was in Court custody. His trial was set to start in less than a week. We buried my friend and Bishop Mandalay the next day. It wasn’t long until all people of Londinum knew I was to be key witness. Everyone including Busby. I don’t know if my dad already knew, but Busby was known in parts to be a bit shady. That proved true when he had hinted to my dad while in captivity that he couldn’t guarantee my safety in a week. That sounded like a threat to me as well and I was only fifteen. But, I wasn’t scared. I was too headstrong and stubborn to realize the danger I could be in. My dad was scared enough for the both of us. It didn’t matter that we threatened Busby back. He warned that his “connections” would come after me at any time till the trial unless he was freed before it started. My father was frantic. He had other advisors but none seemed competent enough to give him advice. Which was the whole reason why he hired Busby in the first place. His new advisors suggested I be taken off planet in an undisclosed location. My dad knew he couldn’t use any of his people because he could not tell which had been infected with Busby’s connected money. He had to use an outsider. That’s when one of the advisors stated, “Miranda.” Anyone reading this remembers that name and the true version of what happened on Miranda. It was such a travesty that the Almighty Alliance had been involved in such a cruel act to indirectly kill millions of people and then cover it up. The exposure of the Alliance had happened barely six months before my troubles started. The Alliance, of course, did its best to cover up the cover up and explain themselves, but the damage was done. The entire ‘Verse knew better. The Alliance lost a lot of control over many systems after that information was out. They really never recovered. The Parliament was dissolved eventually and The Coalition was formed, which wasn’t much better, but it gave more freedom to more central worlds. Outside planets just kept to themselves. Which really wasn’t all that much different. Ok, enough history lessons. Go read a history wave ‘chive. There was one aspect to the Miranda exposure that was not well known to the galaxy. Who had done it? Who actually took the challenge to go up against the Alliance and succeed in publically making them look like assholes. King Phillip had his ways to find out. He had researchers search through waves on anything linking to the people who were involved. It took a precious day, but it was found. A wave was found where a Firefly was amidst the fighting between the Operative’s army and the Reavers. It was seen crash landing into a hangar. There showed a crew of seven making their stand against the Reavers while also trying to get to the mainframe so as to project the evidence ‘Verse wide for all to see. My dad personally looked into the crew of that Firefly and found some interesting facts. Malcolm Reynolds was its Captain. From there, my dad found the connection to him and the ship’s name, Serenity. The crew had survived years of taking on odd jobs for just enough coin that almost always placed their lives on the line. That particular mission on Mr Universe’s moon took the life of their pilot. My father thought long and hard on the crew of Serenity. King Phillip Augustus II wasn’t like Kings of Londinum of old. He had honor and he had the ability to see honor in others without even meeting them. After studying Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his First Mate Zoe Washburn, he found the honor inside them. He knew that this was the crew for the job. They would stop at nothing to fulfill the objectives of the mission. With all of that already decided, I was not thrilled. My father presented them to me and I saw them as rugged and careless. When I think about it now, I was only against them because I was against securing me as a cause of my over developed ego at the time. In my stubborn teenage mind then, I needed no one to keep me safe. I had the notion I could protect myself from any harm. And I wouldn’t listen to anyone who would tell me otherwise. It’s times like this when I reflect on my youth that I just want to go back in time to kick the living go sei out of that brat. Regardless of my attitude, my father ordered a wave to hail the crew of Serenity to Londinum as soon as possible. It took another precious day, but they did arrive. They all were led to an obscure end of our palace. I watched them from afar as they walked in awe at the spectacles of Londinum. I gathered as much that this was their first visit to my father’s kingdom planet. The ornate decor of the architecture kept them gawking to almost no end. It was typical of guests we had invited to our planet. Outsiders rarely were invited. We on Londinum are private people. The Alliance could never intervene in our affairs. The simple reason being, if it were not for us, there would not even be a ‘Verse. For those who need yet another history lesson, Londinum was the very first official planet to be terraformed. There were prototypes outside the known galaxy, of course, but Londinum was the first to have settlements and then a royal hierarchy was established. This planet is probably the closest to the customs of the Earth That Was. Ok. Back to the record. You really must get a wave ‘chive. I can’t keep giving you these history lessons. The crew of Serenity proved my theory of being so rugged from the look of them. Captain Mal Reynolds wore a long brown coat with a glorious ancient pistol hidden underneath. He set himself straight and confident. His first mate, Zoe, was striking with a stoic demeanor about her. I couldn’t imagine getting anything past her. The ship’s mechanic was a girl. I had never heard that before. She had hints of grease on her clothes and face. She was escorted by arms with a rather handsome fellow. This must be Simon Tam. He and his sister were cleared of any bound law since Miranda. He was also the doctor. Simon and Kaylee looked liked they would never separate. There was hardly any space between them as they walked arm in arm enjoying the scenery. The younger girl had to be River Tam, Simon’s sister. She even looked mysterious. She wasn’t dressed in the ratty clothes the others wore. Her thin dark blue skirt almost moved along with her. She held so much grace in her movement that she didn’t just walk...she glided. I can’t describe it better than that. There was another man with them who looked more like a criminal. This must be Jayne Cobb, the ship’s public relations. From the look of him it was hard to imagine he could relate publically. Tall, rough, and armed to the teeth. Then there was the Companion. Technically, she was the only one of the crew that was qualified to speak to the King. But, since this was an unofficial mission, my father threw tradition out the window. To say she was merely beautiful would be an insult. I was hoping she had not heard of my actions from a few years prior. In one of my many pranks, I posed as a well to do gentleman of age and I had called for the need of a Companion. When she had arrived, my father found out and he paid her anyway for her troubles. It was yet another instance of mine that had been swept under the rug. When they all arrived in the far wing of the palace, they were greeted first by my father’s court aides. Their purpose was to brief the crew on Royal court rule. It had been embedded in me since I was four. Only address the King as such or His Majesty. Do not speak until spoken to. No sudden movements that can be construed as a violent act. The Prince shall only be referred to as The Great One. Hee, I like adding that last one to mess with people. Anyway, the room where the meeting took place was a special soundproof chamber where recordings could not penetrate from the outside. That didn’t include recording devices already inside the room. I was given such a device on my twelfth birthday. It was disguised as a ring and it could record any conversations within a twenty foot radius. More or less it was a toy. I have saved the files from those conversations pertinent to this event for the time I would document it. On that first meeting when the King addressed the Serenity crew, I was in the next room recording everything. I didn’t trust these people that much. Anyway, here is the first file. Let’s see how this works.

UPLOADING FILE 2418 4.15 09:35 -

KING PHILLIP: As my advisors have indicated in the wave to you, I have requested your services for a mission of the utmost importance. A cowardly act was committed within my court and my son, Prince Dekterius, was witness. The perpetrator is in captivity, but he has men on the outside that he has said he will use to harm my son if he is not released.

MAL REYNOLDS: So, you want an outsider to protect him.

KING PHILLIP: You are very astute.

JAYNE COBB: Ass-what?

COMPANION SERA: Be silent, Jayne!

MAL REYNOLDS: Thank you, Your Majesty. I do have a knack for sizing up a situation.

KING PHILLIP: A very prized gift. What we want to happen is to transport my son off planet as soon as possible.

MAL REYNOLDS: Anywhere in particular?

KING PHILLIP: I will leave that to your discretion. I simply do not want to know. The less information I have, the less Busby’s contacts have. All I ask is that my son is secured for the next seventy-two hours. I want him well enough to testify his eyewitness accounts to bound Busby by law for the rest of his natural life. Any questions?

MAL REYNOLDS: Just one. Of all the people you have at your beck and call, why us?

COMPANION SERA: Mal, it is inappropriate to question His Majesty’s decisions.

KING PHILLIP: It’s all right. He is entitled to an answer. I chose you based on your actions involving your exposure of the Alliance actions concerning Miranda. As you stated, I need an outsider. Unknowns. Who better to hide from nefarious criminals than those who associate with them. No offense.

MAL REYNOLDS: None taken. I suppose you know we ain’t popular with the Alliance either. The Coalition aside, the “purple bellies” still want our hides.

KING PHILLIP: Truth be told, I was not popular with the Alliance myself. The difference is, I could afford to be. The Alliance still cannot touch me.

ZOE WASHBURN: You can guarantee Alliance won’t interfere?

KING PHILLIP: I cannot guarantee anything. I will say that, if I am asked, you and your crew are unknown to me and will have full deniably from the Royal Court of Londinum.

COMPANION SERA: Most gracious of you, Your Majesty.

KING PHILLIP: Now, I would like to discuss the terms of compensation.

COMPANION SERA: Any compensation you offer will be more than adequate for the job we are–

KING PHILLIP: Is 200,000 square enough?

-END FILE

Let me stop the file right there. This is the first time I attempted this. It took me twenty minutes to upload that recording in the journal. I wanted to comment on various things on it so if I keep shutting the file down each time I’ll be here forever. It’s already eleven at night now. I know these recordings by heart, so I will just scribe them as I go. Much easier. Now, having said that, my father’s bid for the Serenity crew’s compensation shocked them all. I could tell they were silently overjoyed and I suspect that they had never had a job where their take was so grand. Needless to say, they accepted. The only problem was me. I heard Mal ask, “So, where is the little tyke?” My dad motioned to the door to one of his aides and he opened it revealing myself. Granted, I wasn’t the easiest teenager to deal with then. The last thing I wanted at that time was to go with a bunch of filthy strangers on some unknown planet. That animosity showed in my reaction to them. “So, these are my protectors for three days? They don’t look like much.” “Looks can be deceiving,” Mal stated. “Yeah, deceivingly ugly,” I shot back. “Dekterius, that is not proper manners,” cried my father. “These people will help keep you safe until the trial.” I scoffed, “Of course, they will. You’re holding their precious coin hostage.” “That’s enough,” my father scolded. “You will go with them and that’s an order. Go and pack some things enough for the time you’re with them.” “No! Why are you making me do this? I can stay here. I can handle myself.” My demeanor always caught my father off guard. The King could negotiate treaties and he knew how to manipulate Ambassadors into getting what they both wanted without literally asking. Yet, he could not figure out how to handle his own son. He would always let Bishop Mandalay handle me. Now, the Bishop was dead. It didn’t seem to affect the crew of Serenity. Immediately after I said that last remark, the one they called Jayne quipped, “Oh, this is going to be so worth the coin.” “See,” I cried, “all they think about is money.” It was then Mal’s turn to try to win me over. “Now, son, coin aside, I do believe your father...Majesty knows what’s best for you. We have a very big ship with many hiding places that even I don’t remember where they all are. We can keep you safe.” “Really? You’re last pilot wasn’t safe enough and he got himself killed.” I really did not think when I said that. Suffice to say that the tension from the crew grew tighter. The first mate Zoe made to lunge toward me and for a second I thought she would have succeeded if it weren’t for Mal holding her back in time. My father was about to scold me again, whatever good that would have done. Mal Reynolds had another approach. “Ok, listen to me now, son. You don’t know us. You know about our crew and what’s past, but that’s only on the surface. You best not be questioning our pledges of your safety on an incident that you know nothing about. Contrary to your sizing up of us, I can assure you that despite the great amount of coin we’ve been offered, we can just as easily turn it away and that’ll leave your little unspanked fanny at the mercy of Busby’s men. We can find other jobs. If that’s the attitude your going to give us, to Hell with the gorram coin.” At that point, I realized I may have met my match. Not even Oscar would have talked to me like Mal had. His outburst, though inappropriate, was effective. I answered with an indignant, “Fine” and went to pack my things. After I did, I came back into the same room and by then most of the crew were back to their ship. Mal was acting as escort and he waited along with my father for me. I said farewell to my father and he treated me to a borderline tearful goodbye. Mal then led me back to the hangar where they landed his ship. All I had known about the craft was its name and make. As a kid, me and my friends would have various flatcards of all sorts of spacecraft and we would trade amongst ourselves for the better ones in our collection. The most popular ones was a Skylark fighter, a 250B Hawkwind, and the rarest and greatest fighter known to man was a JW Stargazer. It never failed that in all of our collections there was always one ship always left untouched for trade. An Aught 3 Firefly. It was just a cargo ship with no real purpose. When I came upon to see Serenity, I couldn’t help but remark, “What a hunk of go sei.” I had said this too loud and Kaylee, the girl mechanic, barked back at me, “She’s not go sei!” Mal told me, “It’s best to watch what you call Serenity around Kaylee, my boy.” “Hey! My name is Deke, not boy.” “Ok, Deke. Get your ass in there.” I walked up the ramp and Mal shut the main door. The Companion approached me to show me to my bunk to the back of the ship on the first floor. The hangar seemed larger from the inside than from the outside. I set my things down on the cot as the Companion instructed me where the kitchen was on the second level and that they had plenty to eat. I kept calling her Companion and she then instructed me to call her Inara. It was weird calling a Companion by first name without monetary issues involved. I stood aside while I watched Mal’s crew perform their duties. It was astounding how loyal they were to him. I’ve watched the King’s army during drills and they weren’t as efficient as this group. They did their duties without question. Mal wasn’t the sort of Captain that barked orders and you had to do them or else. It almost seemed like he presented his commands in such a way that let you know it had to be done but he was allowing you to perform it. Now that I had ten years to think about it, that method created confidence in the crew and at the same time loyalty to Mal as well. At one point I heard Mal speak to the younger girl. “River, can you reset that course for Jiangyin and get us going?” “Aye, captain,” she replied as she herself headed up the stairs. It took me a moment and then I went into the first of my many outbursts of the trip. “Hold it! She is your pilot?” Mal just looked at me as if there was nothing wrong with it. “That’d be so.” “She isn’t old enough to drive a hover taxi, let alone a spacecraft.” Mal answered simply, “What our little Albatross lacks in physical age she more than makes up in mental age.” First, I had no idea what an Albatross was. Second, I couldn’t believe that this ship was run by three females and two of them had direct control of the ship. Regardless of my confusion, the girl pilot, River, said something back at Mal that made no sense. “The chicken is scared to go across the road with fertile eggs.” Mal just nodded his head and addressed me. “There, does that comfort you?” “You all are crazy,” I commented. “Pretty much, but you should have met River before Miranda.” River looked at me and said, “Excuse me, but I have to pilot a ship. If I can remember where I put the joystick, that is.” She proceeded to head up the stairs. Mal spoke to me again. “Ok, are we done here? We have to make a stop on Jiangyin to drop off shipment and get paid on another job–” “What?” Another one of my outbursts. “What the hell do you mean? I thought you were to keep me safe?” “And if you stay and keep to the ship, you will be. Kaylee and Simon are staying here so you won’t be alone.” I smirked and said, “They seem to not want any company as much as they’re together.” “Ain’t it the truth. Now, you’re all welcome to the food in the kitchen but that’s all the places I’m permittin’ ya to go.” “I thought there were hidden places you don’t even know about?” “And if you’d like, I can get Jayne to help you find one and hide you inside for this whole time.” I reluctantly accepted the situation and I went off to my bunk and sulked. There was not anything to speak of until we got to Jiangyin. So, on that note, I will continue this entry in the morning.

KING D. AUGUSTUS III - END LOG ENTRY : 7 July 2428: 23:45