Firefly: "The Queen Esmeraldas"

Disclaimer: If I weren't just a poor college student and could finance the series myself, I would, but I can't. So all I can do is just play around in Joss Whedon's 'verse. Also, I don't know a lick of Chinese so I haven't bothered to put the translations because they're probably horribly wrong. If it were Japanese or Latin, well, that'd be another story...

Episode four of my second season of Firefly: While killing time when Inara attends to business on a Core world, the crew comes across a damaged ship drifting in space. Investigating leads to a confrontation with pirates over a piece of stolen cargo that's very important to the Alliance.

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Sweat beaded the brow of Simon Tam as he worked under the hot light of the infirmary. He quickly wiped at it with his forearm, never taking his eyes from the subject lying on the table. This needed to be perfect, but every move he made seemed like a tiny disaster. The infirmary was a mess of red, and Simon no longer thought he could salvage the appearance of his patient. His hands had never failed him in such a way, and failure in general was something Simon wasn't used to. He tossed the surgically sharp shears onto the nearby tray and stepped back. There had to be a way he could fix things.

"Doing it all wrong," said River from the door, startling Simon so bad he practically tipped over the tray.

"River!" Simon admoninshed in an out of breath voice. River Tam walked into the infirmary, dressed in her typical flowing dress and barefeet, and looked sadly down at the operating chair. "It's awful, I know. I just couldn't..."

With a pained sigh, River reached down to examine the patient herself. Simon winced over the sharp tearing sound that filled the confined space, and he cringed at the sight that was revealed. It was horrific. River didn't seemed perturbed by it in the least, however. She simply dragged the tray over towards her and set to work. Throughout the second phase of the operation Simon found himself pacing around behind River, looking every bit like the concerned relatives he used to deal with back on Osiris. Every few moments he'd look over River's shoulder and make a noise like a running commentary over what she was doing.

By the third time, she sent him an annoyed look that forced him back up against the counter.

"You're happy," said River into the quiet.

"Well, not at the moment," Simon replied, looking dejectedly at the chair.

"You are," River repeated firmly, reaching up to push some of her hair over her ear with sticky fingers. "Your pocket's burning."

Simon's jaw fell open and his right hand instinctively clasped around the box there. He clicked his mouth shut, knowing there'd be no keeping secrets of River. He'd been too busy trying to keep that secret from else; especially Kaylee. He wanted it to be a surprise.

"I won't tell," she promised him with such a profoundly mature look that tore at his heart. "I'm good at keeping secrets. They're all I have to keep me company."

"River..." said Simon, moving to comfort her in his arms.

"I'm happy for you," River continued on, looking back down at the procedure going on beneath her. That approval made Simon smile and he relaxed back against the counter. "But you're not happy for me."

The hurt was like a whipcrack in front of his face, making him flinch involuntarily. "I am happy, mei-mei," said Simon softly. "You're doing better, and I admit that, but Kyo... Kyo's too old for you."

"He's your age, Simon," said River, shooting a shrewd look at Simon. "You're older than Kaylee."

"But Kaylee's older than you," Simon retorted carefully. "It's different."

"No. No different. We're not different," said River mysteriously, and Simon got the distinct impression she wasn't comparing herself to him. "We're more similiar than you think. He doesn't like the mirror, because it reflects a guilt that isn't his."

"River, what're you--"

"All done!" said River brightly in one of her mercurial shifts. Simon looked down at the operating chair to see a small, perfectly wrapped gift sitting there. Tiny spaceships decorated the white paper and the ribbon was a nice frosting pink in color. He couldn't help but smile, knowing that Kaylee would love the gift he'd bought her on Ambrosia. "You never could wrap," River chided Simon before blowing a raspberry at him.

"You're such a brat," chuckled Simon fondly. "Do you remember Mom's birthday? I thought I was going to beat you that year; thought my present was going to be the best, and then you had to--"

"Mal? We've got a bit of a situation," said Kyo Nagiama, Serenity's pilot, over the com.

"Need to go," sighed River, looking straight up towards the ceiling. "You should hide that," she added just before dashing out of the infirmary. "Finder's keepers!"

"Wha--River?" asked Simon, rushing out after her.

The big mercenary, Jayne Cobb, stepped past the infirmary with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. It felt nice to have another workout partner on board the ship, especially when it worked up a good appetite for Jonah Hex's cooking. He stroked the stubble of his Van Dyke, lost in the prospect of another one of Hex's meals, when a bright object caught his attention. A present looked decidedly out of place in the infirmary, or anywhere else on Serenity for that matter. With his face scrunched up in contemplation, Jayne stepped into the infirmary and picked up the gift.

It fit snugly in his big, meaty paw and he gave it an experimental shake against his ear. There wasn't a ticking sound to be heard, and the contents certainly didn't have the heft like a grenade. After taking a cursory glance around the empty space, Jayne shrugged and carried the gift off with him.

"Finder's keepers," he muttered under his breath.

*****

"What's the situation?" asked Captain Malcolm Reynolds, who was currently hovering behind Kyo's pilot seat. Zoe Washburne, second-in-command, Kaylee Frye, ship's engineer, and Jonah Hex, the cook, were already filling up the flight deck, and Mal could hear another three sets of shoes clamor up from the aft of the ship.

"Got a distress beacon," said Kyo, tapping the overhead screen to bring up its location on the display. "It's automated. I've tried hailin', but I'm gettin' no return signal. Ship's an aught-six Trans-U. Registry pegs it as the passenger liner Lightfoot. Last port of call was...Medea, just three days ago. They're two days overdue for Persephone."

Mal stared through the front windows of Serenity at the ship off in the distance. The engines were dead, and it was drifting on what little momentum that remained. In the light of a distant star, Mal could just make out scorch marks on the elongated ship. That, coupled with a missing fin and engine, told him it'd been on the losing end of a fight.

"Don't take more'n a half-day to get to Persephone from Medea," said Kaylee with a concerned frown.

"Can you get anythin' else?" Mal asked Kyo, looking over Kyo's shoulder at the screens.

"She's runnin' on back-up," Kyo reported, calling up chart displays on another screen. "Minimal O2 levels and little else. Seems like their transmitter's down, which explains why I'm not gettin' a response. I think it got pulsed."

"I'm sure I needn't tell you what standard procedures would be," said Jonah Hex, the one-eyed albino, from behind the co-pilot's chair.

"And I'm sure I needn't tell you why we'd like to avoid Feds," said Mal, turning his head to look at Simon and River.

"Do we leave them, sir?" asked Zoe, her eyes clearly revealing to him how much she disliked that option.

"Damn right we oughta leave 'em," came Jayne's gruff voice from the far back. "Am I the only one that remembers the last time we stopped to salvage a ghost ship? Reavers?"

No, Jayne certainly wasn't. Mal remembered it perfectly, as he'd been the one to kill a Reaver convert. He was, for once, grateful that Inara wasn't on board. They had to drop her off on Medea for her annual Guild check-up, and in the process she'd been able to line up a series of clients. He tried not to think about the clients part, but if trouble were to arise of the Reaver scale, at least she wouldn't be in the thick of it.

"We're near the Core, Jayne," said Zoe, who frowned deeply when she turned her head to address Jayne. Wondering about his first-mate's reaction, Mal turned around himself to spy Jayne Cobb, big tough mercenary, with a cutely wrapped package under his arm. Kaylee seemed on the verge of giggling, while Simon seemed to be choking on his own rage. "That--ah--Reavers--um--Sir?" Zoe addressed Mal, completely at a loss of how to proceed.

"Jayne, might you wanna explain the package you got tucked under there?" asked a bemused Mal.

Jayne, misinterpreting Mal's comment at first, looked straight at his fly to see if it was zipped. In the process, that brought the present into his line of sight, and he smoothly transitioned into dropping it into his hands. "Oh, this? This here's...ah..."

"Kaylee's present!" Simon finally managed to choke out loudly. Kaylee's eyes widened and shone like suns at Simon's declaration. The girl looked so excited and pleased, Mal thought she might blow up in a cheerful cloud. "I don't--"

"Oh, right! Yeah. Kaylee's present," said Jayne over Simon and held it out to Kaylee. She snatched it ecstatically from Jayne's hands before turning to Simon.

"Thank you," Kaylee told him before giving him a quick, chaste kiss on the lips. "I'm gonna go open it now!"

"Kaylee, get back here we've got work...to..." Mal tried to order her, but she'd disappeared quicker than a rabbit. His jaw worked around in impotent frustration as he looked to the ceiling briefly for some patience. "He-ku? Simon?"

Simon turned to Mal with a deeply apologetic look on his face moment before he shot an irritated glare at Jayne.

"Told you to hide it," River told Simon smugly.

"Can we please conduct business like adults?" declared Mal to no one in particular. "River, are you gettin' anythin' from the ship?"

River cocked her head to the side, as if listening to space itself. Her eyes unfocused--yet simultaneously appeared to focus on the ship in the distance--and she played with the tips of her hair as she walked up behind Kyo's seat. "Someone's crawling in the dark. Afraid of the Queen. Off with his head."

"I'll go prep the infirmary," Simon informed everyone before leaving the flight deck, taking care to give Jayne a wide berth and a glare on the way out.

"I'll go see what I can do to assist him," said Hex.

"This is stupid, Mal," growled Jayne irritably. "This is gonna be trouble. You know it's gonna be trouble. When's anythin' ever gone simple for us? I say just leave, and keep on cruisin' 'til it's time to meet Inara."

"There's a man out there," said Mal firmly, but softly. "Ain't gonna leave him to be picked up but some hundan who'd just as soon shoot a man in the belly, than help him out. Now you don't gotta help with this, but keep in mind; if there's somethin' of value? Don't be expectin' to get a cut."

Mal and Jayne stared each other down for a long moment. Mal was wholly serious, and he didn't expect Jayne to understand. Jayne didn't stay on Serenity when she ran out of gas; Jayne wasn't the one who got shot and double-crossed. Jayne broke off the staring match first, with something akin to reluctant humility at the tempered steel he saw in Mal's eyes. He gave Mal a sneer to save face before marching out of the flight deck. "I'll be in my bunk."

"Zoe? Kyo? I want you with me on this. River? I'm leavin' Serenity in your hands," ordered Mal. "Oh, and River--"

"I'll give a hollar if things go sour," River promised in a sing-song voice as she slid into the chair once Kyo vacated it.

*****

Serenity docked on the port side of Lightfoot with Kyo taking the point. He had been a pilot and captain for the Independent Air Force, and out of all of them, had the best knowledge of Close-Quarter Combat, and ship incursions. His Peacemaker pistol was specially designed for Independent pilots to puncture body armor of Alliance soldiers who might invade a ship. Mal followed up in the middle, with his old, side-load pistol cocked and ready. Zoe took up the rear with her sawn-off rifle aimed behind them for any sneak attacks.

The ship smelled of stagnant death and smoke; a familiar fragrance for the three war veterans. The dim, blue emergency lights was an added reminder to Mal of the time Serenity had been dead in space. Visibility was difficult because of the smoke that hadn't yet been filtered out through the under-powered vents. In spite of that, they could tell that the cargo hold's infrastructure was badly compromised with dark burn marks. Cargo crates and bags were strewn apart and torn open. It looked like a fiery tornado had passed through the cargo hold.

"Passenger quarters are to the aft, crew dorms are behind the bridge," Kyo told them softly.

"River said there was a survivor," said Zoe.

"Yeah, but she didn't say crew or passenger," replied Mal, grimacing in slight irritation; it would've been the smart thing to ask. "All right. Stands to reason a survivor would wanna stay near the bridge in case help came a callin'. We'll head there and work our way back."

Kyo lead the way towards the forward doors in the gravely quiet cargo hold. Lightfoot's systems were so shot, none of the exposed wires were even sparking, and any fires from the attack had long since burned out due to the low oxygen levels on the ship. Kyo pressed himself against the right side of the door and directed Mal to press against the left side. Zoe hovered in front of Mal, and after seeing everyone was set, Kyo hit the flickering button to open the door.

The hiss of the door was exceptionally loud in the silence. After waiting three seconds, Kyo peaked around once, and then once more, before stepping into the corridor completely with his gun aimed in front of him. Nearly half the wall lights were inoperative, and had plunged most of the corridor into darkness. Unlike Serenity's crew dorms that dropped down, Lightfoot's were like a cramped apartment hall, but the recessed doors gave a little more shoulder space.

Kyo had taken three steps into the hall when the middle most door on the port side hissed open. It was one of the doors completely submerged in darkness, and because of that fact, Kyo had kept his gun trained on it the whole time. He took a step back and cocked his pistol to tell the survivor they were armed.

"Wouldn't do anythin' stupid," said Kyo evenly, seeing the glint of a gun in the dim lighting. "Just come on out with your hands up and let's discuss things."

"You with them?" whispered a fearful voice from the shadows. "You one of them?"

"No, sir," said Mal over Kyo's shoulder. "We're just us. Stumbled on your emergency beacon. Thought we'd investigate."

"All right," said the voice hesitantly. "I'm coming out."

All three of them watched the door as a figure emerged with his hands up. From his right hand, dangled a small pistol on his index finger. Kyo slid forward carefully, keeping his gun trained on the man, and quickly retrieved the gun. He slipped behind the man and prodded him in the small of the back, indicating that he should move forward. Mal kept his eyes squarely locked on the survivor, who appeared to be about his age, with a face of nondescript features, as he backed up. Zoe led the way out of the corridor and back into the cargo bay.

"Care to explain what happened here?" Mal asked, holstering his gun as a show of good-faith. Zoe lowered her rifle slightly, but Kyo kept his gun trained squarely on the man while he examined the taken silenced pistol.

"It was pirates," said the man fearfully, covered in sweat and grime. Mal noted that even his clothing looked nondescript, with plain trousers, a torn shirt, and a burned jacket. "They attacked us six hours out of Persephone. We barely managed to escape, but--but they killed everyone else on board."

"Uh huh," said Mal, taking another look around the cargo hold.

"Thank God you found us," the man sighed in relief. "Have you reached an Alliance ship? Will they be here to pick us up?"

"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you?" said Kyo, catching the man's immediate attention. He held up the small, black pistol with a silencer as he holstered his own revolver. "It's a standard issue, PP-33 with suppressor. Only Feds carry them. He's a mole, and the clip's half empty. Saw an empty one on the ground at his feet back by the door."

"Don't seem like pirates have E.M.P. cannons neither," Mal told the man with hands akimbo. "Alliance standard operating procedure mandates that a ship that don't stand down will be pulsed and tractored in. Only other ships I've seen with E.M.P.s are Reavers, but then that's to be expected when one takes in the amount of scrap they've pulled."

"It's possible!" said the very nervous man, who began to look like a cornered mouse by three wild cats.

"You can buy a small moon for the price of an E.M.P.," scoffed Zoe with a slight raise of her brow.

"I see," the man growled angrily. "You're all vultures! You're doing an illegal salvage! Do you have any idea what the Alliance will do to you once they arrive?"

"Think you oughta be more worried 'bout what we might do to you if you don't tell me why these poor folk had to die under your watch," said Mal coldly.

"That's classified!" said the mole smugly.

"Not any more," said Kyo before he struck the mole at the base of his neck, knocking him unconscious.

"Zoe, get Jayne up," said Mal as he toed the body onto its back. "Thinkin' our boy could use some motivatin' to get that tongue workin'."

"We're not usin' River?" asked Zoe, who'd already holstered her rifle and removed her portable com.

"Need her at controls," Mal shook his head. Kyo was already searching through the mole's pockets for any clues. Unsurprisingly, underneath the man's jacket was a shoulder holster with a slot for the silencer. At the right hip, Kyo extracted the man's ident-card, but also another object. It was the same size as an ident-card, but completely transparent save for a small, blue crystal sealed in the middle of the card's upper-half. He handed both over to Mal, who turned it over in the light.

"I'll see what I can dig out from the controls," said Kyo before he walked back towards the bridge.

*****

A long, sleek ship cut through the black like a sword. All of her engines were quiet, but her teeth were bared in the shape of cannons peppered along the sides. It was crafted in the shape of ships from the Earth-that-was; a high, narrow prow that hooked like a blade near the bottom, and in place of a mast, there was a heavy artillery cannon gleaming in starlight. The bridge towered above that, beyond the safe confines of the heaviest shielding. She was as black as the space around her; a shark drifting through waters.

On the dimly lit command bridge, sat a woman on a richly ornate throne, surveying all those beneath her. She had pale, ivory skin and luxurious blonde hair as yellow as a sun. Piercing green eyes stared out at the window before her, while a long finger traced her thin lips thoughtfully. A black coat fit tightly around her frame, with a white scarf fashioned around her neck and tucked into a blood red vest. Snow-white cuffs from her frilly undershirt poked through the rolled cuffs of her coat, and tight black pants stretched around her lithe legs until they reached her black, leather boots.

"What's our status, Mr. Hawk?" she inquired softly in a frigid tone. Everything about her was expressionless and cold, but beneath the facade was a twitch of irritation.

"Nothing on scope, ma'am," said the young man at the front most terminal; his eyes washing over the variety of screens that surrounded him. "Our fuel supply is low, though. Recommend we land on Persephone or Medea."

"Keep searching, Mr. Hawk," she commanded dismissively.

"'Keep searching?'" boomed the massive man hidden in the dark corner of the bridge. He stepped out of the shadows to reveal his seven-foot frame of imposing muscle that rippled under his dark skin. "We keep this up and we'll be as dead in the water as them! Bad enough you had us battle that Alliance cruiser and that we nearly blew up our target! Hawk! Set a course for Persephone, right now!"

Only her right arm moved, but it moved like a bolt of lightning. In the space of a blink, the woman had drawn a brilliant, well-polished golden pistol that molded itself perfectly into her hand. She spared one more movement to draw back the hammer of the gun, before remaining as still as a serene statue.

"You will remember, Mr. Juma, that Queen Esmeraldas is my ship," the woman said without looking at him. "What I say is law. If you disagree, we have an airlock to accommadate you." There was a deathly edge to her soft voice that drew the collective breaths of everyone on the bridge.

"I know we got a job to do Mirage--"

"Captain Mirage," emphasized the woman.

"Captain," hissed Juma through gritted teeth. "This job ain't worth our lives!"

"My decision; my crew," said Captain Mirage. "I informed you all of what you were signing up for. Do not pretend like I have misled you in anyway. We have a job to do, and we shall carry it out. I will hear no further commentaries from you in regarding my decisions. Are we clear, Mr. Juma?"

"Crystal," growled Juma, his voice a burning inferno in contrast to Mirage's icy demeanor.

"Captain!" said Hawk from his terminal, whirling around to flash a boyish grin at Mirage. "I've picked up a signal! It's a small vessel, but it could be the Lightfoot."

"Lay in a course, Mr. Hawk, and proceed as quietly as possible," ordered Mirage before she uncocked her pistol and holstered it. Juma folded his thick arms across his massive, bare torso and sneered into the abyss. This would be his last job under Mirage; one way, or another.

*****

"C'mon, Doc, I didn't mean nothin' by it," said Jayne in the infirmary as both he and Simon stood over the Alliance mole.

"You stole something from the infirmary," Simon told Jayne tightly as he ensured all scalpels were locked away. "You stole something of mine."

"So? It was just sittin' there," shrugged Jayne, timing his look down to coincidentally miss Simon's pained and exasperated expression that was all too common when the two had to deal with each other. "He gettin' up soon? 'Cause I'd like me some teeth. Thinkin' it'd be very fashionable 'round my neck, or maybe an earring?"

"I don't--are--are you--" stammered Simon. He ended up closing his eyes and counting to twenty before gifting Jayne with a real answer. "Kyo hit him very hard. I think he might have a concussion. Doesn't look like he'll be coming around any time soon. You're welcome to watch over him until then. I can't think of a more frightening thing to awaken to."

"Real funny, Doc. Y'know, since we got time, I'm beginnin' to wonder which is sharper; your wit or my knife," Jayne returned, brandishing his large hunting knife in the air.

Simon was spared any retort, or impending violence, by Mal emerging into the infirmary with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked down at the Alliance mole and addressed both men, "Not up yet, huh?"

"No," said Jayne almost petulantly as he jumped onto the counter. "What gives, Mal, you promised torture!"

Mal's face took on a silently pained expression and he tugged unconsciously on his left ear. A thin, dark line was the only reminder of Niska's gentle touch; that and the occassional nightmare.

"That I did, and I'm thinkin' you'll get it soon enough," said Mal without taking his eyes off the unconscious body.

"Still no answers?" asked Simon from the other side of the infirmary, showing off his own distaste for torture in his face.

"Kyo's pulled up the passenger manifest and ran it 'gainst the Cortex; no hits on a fugitive. Then again, Alliance mole ain't the sorta thing that shows up as your standard occupation on the Cortex," commented Mal dryly. "Man wasn't being wholly truthful neither."

"Imagine that," drawled Jayne sarcastically.

"Logs show Lightfoot ran into the Alliance cruiser Magellan six hours out," Mal continued, ignoring Jayne's comment. "They stopped, but a few minutes later they went along their course towards Persephone 'fore gettin' pulsed. Kyo's tryin' to clear up the sensor logs and any waves that might've been sent out, but the system's a mess."

"Still ain't up?" asked Zoe before she entered the infirmary. Mal scooted aside to give her some room.

"Nope," said Jayne disappointedly, using his knife tip to clean out his finger nails.

"Zoe?" asked Mal, turning to his second-in-command.

"Found another mole," reported Zoe, her eyes locked on the unconscious body. "He was shot to death. Most of the passengers that weren't burned to death, or crushed had been shot."

"O di-yu, mo-fei zhe cheng-wei geng-huai?" Mal breathed in exasperation. "Is there anythin' else?"

Zoe nodded and Mal felt half-inclined to just throw his hands over his ears. "They weren't the only ones armed, sir. We found another passenger, Arnold Jennings, dead with his revolver next to him. Looks like there were some kinda firefight that broke out, and most of the passengers and crew were caught in the crossfire."

"And there's no bulletin about him on the Cortex?" asked Simon with a frown.

"None," said Zoe. "Cortex shows him an assistant to the Magistrate down on Medea. Magistrate's office has him puttin' in time off for a vacation, and he booked his trip to Persephone."

"Then he must've stolen something from the Magistrate," said Hex in his gravely voice, who was wiping his hands on his apron. "Something very valuable and highly classified for them not to issue a bulletin. Did you find anything?"

Mal fished into the front pocket of his shirt and withdrew the strange card for everyone to see. "Our boy had this on his person. Ain't too sure what it was, but I'm willin' to bet it's what this Jennings stole."

"That's a data file," said Simon, who'd stepped forward to peer curiously at the object. His eyes darted from the thin card to Mal's demandingly inquisitive look and back again. "My Dad had one of these. They're made to store sensitive pieces of information because of the impossibly demanding encryption built in. Normally you'd need a specially built pad to decode them."

An idea struck Mal, and he looked over to Zoe to see her brow quirked and a half-smile tugging at her lips. "Simon, your sister didn't happen to hack into your daddy's data file, now did she?"

A fond, nostalgic smile crossed over Simon's face that told them the answer before his words could. "Dad didn't know whether to ground her for life, or to reward her with something extravagant. Mom ended up taking her on a shopping spree."

Mal clasped the data file tightly in his palm and turned to hit the com switch, only to find River standing beside Hex in front of the infirmary door.

"Ears were burning," she explained before holding out her hand expectantly. "Shouldn't take too long."

"All right, little one," smiled Mal as he dropped the data file into her hand. She beamed like Kaylee had earlier when she'd received the present, and bounded out of the lower level in a similar fashion. That reminded him... "Where is Kaylee? And what'd you give her?" he asked of Simon.

Simon's mouth hung open for a moment as he contemplated his answer. It didn't help that four sets of eyes were directed at him, nor that he was trapped in a very confined space. He saw the unconscious Alliance mole on the operating chair and found his out. "I think it'd be best if I were somewhere not here when our friend wakes up. Excuse me," he said hurriedly before leaving the infirmary.

*****

"Magistrate Derryl, you seem very distracted this evening," said Inara in a voice that conveyed politeness, concern, compassion, and a hint of sensuality all in one. It also sounded completely normal and not at all the understatement it really was, for Magistrate Derryl had spent the last fifteen minutes pacing the length of Inara's shuttle.

Magistrate Derryl stopped his pacing on the opposite side of sofa and table to stare at Inara behind his small, fashionable, wire-rimmed glasses. He clasped his hands infront of himself to prevent them from trembling as he idled, and gave a deep sigh. He wasn't much like any Magistrate that Inara had ever serviced. For one thing, he only wore clothes that looked rich enough for his station, but so simple that they might've been worn by anyone. His face was creased with worry lines, and his hair was peppered and buzzed short; all remnants of his former life as a soldier.

"My apologies, Inara," he said softly while removing his glasses. "Something...terrible has happened."

Inara gently prodded Derryl to speak with just the tilt of her head and the precise frown on her forehead.

"I allowed something to be stolen from my possession."

"You allowed it?" Inara asked without any accusation.

Derryl gave her a very sad and hollow smile before taking a seat next to her. "Let's say I've had a crisis of faith. You know I served under the Alliance during the war. I supported Unification. I thought I was right; that the Parliament was right..."

"And then Miranda," supplied Inara needlessly. She'd been hearing this from more and more of the Alliance men she serviced. Not all of them believed it, but they all wanted to talk about it.

"I was out there, on the Rim," sighed Derryl who pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. "I ran into Reavers, but at the time Parliament had more pressing concerns with the Browncoats. At the time, I thought they were just...extremists from the Independent camp. Gods, I didn't know. It wasn't so hard to think that after a piece of shrapnel ended my field career, and gave me a command of my own here in the Core."

"Out of sight, out of mind," agreed Inara genially, leaning close but not touching him just yet. "But this thing that was stolen?"

"Is very dangerous," said Derryl, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "One of my assistants, Arnold, turned out to be a spy for the growing Rebellion. I caught him in the process of stealing it. He gave me this sob story about him being from the Outer Rim and losing his family to Reavers. I felt for the man then, because my own loyalties were in question..."

"But you feel you've made a mistake?" asked Inara gently, brushing her fingers ever so slightly against his knee.

Another hollow laugh emerged from Magistrate Derryl's lungs as he threw his back against the sofa. "Many, I'm afraid. I tried to cover it up. I scrambled two undercover Agents to retrieve it from Arnold, but it seems that Arnold wasn't alone in this endeavor. My mistake has cost me an Alliance cruiser, and the lives of every crewman on board. It won't take long for Parliament to send an Operative to investigate, and then to discern what has been stolen. My life is over."

"What could have been stolen to justify such a punishment?" asked Inara in true horror, but masked by the softness of her voice.

"The keys to hell," said Derryl vacantly. "The keys to hell."

*****

Kyo reclined back in the pilot's chair of Serenity, eyes drifting around the various screens and scopes. Yes, they had River as their own personal early detection system, but it was best to keep up old practices. The main thing to look out for were Alliance cruisers, due to the highly illegal nature of salvaging. More than that, Kyo had been put on edge by the attack on the Lightfoot. Only Magellan registered on Lightfoot's sensors, but there'd been a wealth of discrepancies in the logs. They could've been a result of damaged or corrupted systems on the ship, but instinct told Kyo different. The Alliance mole had said there'd been a pirate attack, and something in his tone of voice had Kyo convinced, even if that hadn't been the whole truth.

Before he could really register it, River was hovering over his shoulder. That bothered him. All his professional and military career, the cockpit and the pilot's chair were his domain. People hovering over his shoulder irritated him, because by extension, all of the flight deck became his personal space. It was just himself, the ship and the black. Even River wasn't excluded from this particular rule.

Realizing his thoughts, River bowed her head slightly in an apology, but remained stubbornly over his shoulder.

"The Queen is coming. We need to prepare a welcome," she said softly, her eyes glued to the black.

Kyo frowned as his hands glided over the various screens and displays. Serenity read everything was all quiet, but he trusted River. Sure, he questioned her judgement when it came to himself, but overall he trusted River. Kyo worked his mind over every tactic of ship stealth he knew. The answer was so obvious, he nearly slammed his head against the console in embarassment.

"Mal? We've got company," said Kyo over the com while he dialed up the thermal scope. Any ship, no matter how silent they might run, exuded heat. More so, if a ship had any sort of hostile intentions in mind. Against the background noise of space it barely picked up, but the fact that it was moving steadily towards them gave it away.

There was a steady clamor of boots in the background before Mal's voice broke out from behind him. "Alliance?" he asked, hovering over Kyo's shoulder.

"Move," said River to Mal, and Kyo had to duck his head to cover his embarassed laugh. Mal could only just frown at River in confusion, and look around for anything on the floor.

"Thinkin' you might be in her spot, sir," said Zoe fondly in reminiscence, but also with a genuinely amused look.

"I--wha?" asked Mal and Kyo had to move his hand up to cover his mouth. "Just tell me what sort of company we've got."

"The ones that weren't invited, and make a mess that we've gotta clean up," retorted Kyo.

"Got anythin' for me, little Albatross?" said Mal to River.

"I can't read her," said River with a slight frown. Kyo frowned as well. River should be able to read anyone, except... "She's like a statue. She wants the data file, and she'll do anything to get it."

"Speakin' on that particular subject," prompted Mal.

"Few more minutes," smiled River brightly.

"Well, get back on it," said Mal, nodding back towards the mess hall. River shot Kyo one last look before skipping off to her little brain teaser. "Guessin' we'll have to do this the old fashioned way. When'll they be comin' up?"

"Uh, they've been here for quite a spell," said Kyo, looking back up and over towards Mal. "That would be the reason why I called, y'know?"

"I don't see anythin'," said Kaylee. Mal snapped his neck around at the sound of his engineer. "What're we supposed to be lookin' at?"

Mal was about to ask Kaylee just where in the sphincter of hell she'd ran off to when Hex spoke up from the co-pilot's console, "I've never seen a ship like that before. It has to be a custom job."

"An expensive custom job," amended Kyo.

"Well, would someone care to paint me a picture, 'cause I don't..." Mal trailed off as he watched a star wink out into the black. Another one. And another one. Mal adjusted his eyes as best he could manage, and barely made out the outline of a ship gliding towards them. He couldn't pick out any details beyond those, and wondered how Hex and Kyo could manage it.

"I'll tell Jayne; have him arm up and lock the infirmary," said Zoe before she ran out of the flight deck.

"I'll get to the engine room and warm up Serenity 'case we need to make a quick getaway," said Kaylee, already jogging towards the far end of the ship.

"This what you call the 'old fashioned way?'" asked a very amused Hex as he pulled his shoulder-length, snow-white hair back into a ponytail.

"Don't know where these people get their ideas," replied a smirking Mal.

"We're bein' hailed," said Kyo, gesturing over towards the side screen. He tried to lean forward as much as possible while Mal pushed the button and then dialed in the video. Mal's jaw practically hit the floor at the sight that greeted him. Even with the grainy image on the old screen, the face of the woman that filled it looked absolutely flawless. Her skin was white as ivory, and her hair seemed to practically glow. He wished they could spring for a color screen to see her features better. She was more beautiful than Inara, though he'd never admit that to her; he was more intelligent than that.

"This is Captain Mirage of the Queen Esmeraldas," said the woman in an even, but pleasant voice.

Mal amended his previous statement. This Mirage was more beautiful than Inara, but only in the sense that she looked like a living doll. She had none of Inara's life and vitality, which were the far more attractive qualities in Mal's eyes.

"That explains 'the Queen' River was talking about," muttered Hex in a rumbly undertone. Mal gave a barely perceived nod.

"This is Captain Reynolds of Serenity, how can we help you?" asked Mal pleasantly, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

"I believe the question is, how may we help you?" replied Mirage, who was staring almost unblinkingly at Mal. He was growing quite disconcerted by the minute.

"I'm sorry, you were the ones who hailed us," laughed Mal over their not-so-accidental misinterpretation.

"Your ship is not responsible for the distress beacon?" inquired Mirage; the very slight tilt of her head the only indication that it was in confusion.

"No, that'd be the ship we're docked to," said Mal, nodding towards the Trans-U that buffered the space between Serenity and the still camouflaged Queen Esmeraldas.

"Ah, I see," said Mirage pleasantly. "I mistook it for one ship."

Kyo gave a stifled snort of laughter, which Mal replied with a baleful look.

"Thinkin' you may need to get them pretty eyes of yours checked, Captain," suggested Mal with an over abundance of helpful cheer.

"I'll look into that," promised Mirage, matching Mal's tone perfectly, yet her voice still had a monotonous quality to it; and she still hadn't moved her face in the slightest. "I suppose there's no need for us to stop by and assist you."

"Stop by? So that ain't your nigh-invisible ship that I'm starin' into at the moment?" asked Mal with a deadly edge to his otherwise happy voice.

Captain Mirage grew deathly silent on the other end, and while her face remained as statuesque as ever, Mal got the distinct impression she was both impressed and aggrivated that her ship had been detected.

"I apologize, Captain Reynolds. I won't underestimate you again." While the tone seemed apologetic in her pleasant cadance and smoothness, Mal couldn't help but hear the threat lurking behind a gossamer veil. It made his spine tingle in a very uncomfortable way.

Outside the window, Hex, Kyo and Mal watched as the Queen Esmeraldas became visible in space. The tingle in Mal's spine became a full-fledged quiver all the way down to his boots. With the running lights now on, Mal could see the wickedly sharp prow of the Queen and the full length of its black hull. She was easily long enough and wide enough that Serenity could be her shuttle. Small cannons were peppered along the port and starboard sides, and a heavy artillery emplacement sat on the deck, just before the elevated bridge.

"Well, I'll be much obliged for the kindness," coughed Mal uncomfortably. "I'm sure I'll enjoy it more'n the Magellan did."

"Then I suggest we conclude business quickly," said Captain Mirage. "This isn't far from a highly used lane of transport between Medea and Persephone. Lightfoot's emergency beacon had to have been sounding off for two days, assuming they activated it the moment they ran. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before another Alliance vessel crosses our path."

"And what business would that be?" asked Mal innocently.

"Please, Captain Reynolds, I've apologized for underestimating you; don't underestimate me," challenged Mirage. Kyo nudged Mal in the shoulder and nodded towards the screen between them. Queen Esmeraldas had acquired a target lock on them. "If you know of the Magellan, and if you recognized my craft while we ghosted, logic indicates that you know about the data file. It's my mission to retrieve that data file, and I make it a point to complete my missions."

"Well, I sympathize with you, Captain, I surely do," said Mal and meaning it, "but I don't care very much to have my ship held at gunpoint. Seems to me you won't get much precision out of them cannons of yours, and my Firefly won't take much peltin'. Wouldn't want to blow up that data file, would you?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Captain, that Trans-U isn't much larger than your Firefly and it's still in one piece," replied Mirage pointedly. "My gunner is a fair shot, but I concede your point. Let's settle this like two professionals, and I won't have to test my gunner's skills."

"Just tryin' to look out for me and mine," said Mal seriously, leaning close into the monitor. "Now you say you got need for that data file, and I'll hand it over freely 'cause it ain't no use to me. What I won't do, Captain Mirage, is be shot in the back. So I'm lookin' for a bit of insurance here."

"I'm afraid all I can offer is trust," said Mirage simply. Kyo nudged Mal again to show Queen Esmeraldas had taken off the target lock and shut down their weapons. "We'll use Lightfoot as a buffer. Queen Esmeraldas will move further away and we'll lauch a shuttle to dock with the Lightfoot's starboard hatch. The trade will be done in Lightfoot's cargo hold. Give us fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes," nodded Mal before clicking off the channel. Mal straightened up and looked out towards the Queen Esmeraldas, which was indeed backing away. Kyo shifted back against the pilot's seat and stretched his back some. His eyes darted towards the com screen, as if he might catch some glimpse of the face that'd been there so recently. The voice hadn't changed much in all those years; it had to be her.

"How fast can you detach us from Lightfoot?" Mal asked down to Kyo.

"We talkin' safely or mild risk of decompression in the cargo bay?" was Kyo's wary reply. The look Mal gave him said plainly "Whichever one's faster." "Won't take but a few seconds."

Mal gave a curt nod before dashing off towards the engine room. He needed to have a discussion with his engineer about a plan.

*****

Mirage leaned back into her throne on the bridge of the Queen. Her cold emerald eyes remained rooted at the flip out screen on her left hand rest. There was something odd about Serenity. No, she had to amend, there was someone odd on Serenity. It wasn't Captain Reynolds, nor the albino behind him; they'd pegged normal to her senses. She was, however, absolutely sure that it was a Reader. She knew this because of the tingle in her brain of someone trying to pick it. The problem was the person didn't give up. The tingling persisted and she was having a hard time concentrating.

It couldn't be possible, Mirage knew. Not another Reader. There were only the two of them left now, right? Was he even alive anymore? When was the last time she'd seen him? And it couldn't be him, because he'd been trained to keep his thoughts closely guarded just like her. Mirage wanted desperately to unlock her box of thoughts to probe this new Reader, but the risks were too high. As safe as they were, she never knew when a Cleanser might get wise.

Of course, her curiousity didn't feel like being reasonable or rational at the moment. Oh, Mirage hated passion with...well...a passion.

The very slow and steady tapping of her fingers on the arm rests of her throne was the only tell that she was irritated. The presence was still prodding at the box in her mind, along with any other surface memories. Without tapping into her abilities, she could tell the person was young and unskillful.

Too late Mirage realized the murderous intent radiating off behind her; the heavy boot falls; the click of a Dynamo-Watter.

"You always got distracted when making a deal, Mirage," sneered Juma angrily, his laser pistol humming loudly over the rumble of the Queen's engines. "You're fast, but you ain't faster than light."

"Shen-mei-shi... Juma, just what in the hell are you playing at?" shouted Hawk, rising up from the pilots console, his hand reaching for the sidearm strapped to his chair.

"Don't even think about it, Hawk," growled Juma, never tearing his eyes away from Mirage. From the shadows at the aft of the bridge, where the doors were, emerged three other crewmen with shotguns cocked and aimed. "You just sit right down and stop the Queen from moving."

"You've sparked off one too many poppers, mate," said Masterson, the tactical officer in charge of weapons and targeting in his Titan drawl. The spry, weedy, dark-haired man raised up his hands, but gave the mammoth second-in-command a murderous glare.

"Shut your hole and arm the cannons," ordered Juma, his bassy voice making the ship tremble. "Target that Firefly!"

"Juma, you've really got your head screwed on the wrong if you think I'm taking orders from you," said Masterson through gritted teeth.

"Allens! Tucker! Cuff the Captain here!" barked Juma, and the two men closest to Mirage stepped up behind her. "Hands out Mirage. None of them fancy moves or you'll fancy yourself with a hole in your head, dong-ma? Masterson? Hawk? You got any gripes with me, you better be ready to kiss the black."

Hawk pressed his lips into a thin line as his fair skin turned red in anger. It clashed lividly with his buzzed, white-blonde hair. Masterson saw Hawk's fingers twitch for his gun and shouted out, "Don't, Hawk! It's no good, mate. Leave it."

"Masterson?" hissed Hawk in near betrayal as they watched Mirage's slender wrists become bound by the heavy, brass colored bindings. Masterson's head shook slightly, but his eyes never wavered from Mirage's serene and completely neutral face.

"Do as I said," barked Juma, who was now free to turn his bulky pistol onto Masterson.

"Who're you foolin', you git?" snapped Masterson scathingly. "Shoot us and you're just as liable to blow Serenity to atoms before you disable her!"

"You're thinking I'm aiming to kill, when really I've got no problem with maiming," was Juma's reply with the most sadistic smile that Hawk had ever seen. Masterson paled and his hand slapped the console impotently. "Yeah, I pegged you two for dandies the moment I seen you. You wouldn't have lasted a day in the war! Now do as I say, and leave Serenity to me."

*****

"Finished my homework," said River once Mal had explained his plan to a very apprehensive Kaylee. He watched as River leapt up from the table in the mess hall, handed him Simon's pad, and then ran off towards the bridge. "Going to play now!"

Jonah Hex smiled beningly from his spot behind the kitchen counter, and Mal gave an innocent, one-armed shrug. When Mal looked down at the small screen in his hands, and the plans that read across the screens, he felt all color drain from his face.

"O di-yu, wu-yi!" exclaimed Mal before he slapped the com to his right. "Zoe? Get to mess hall jin-kuai!"

"What is it?" asked Hex, coming around from the kitchen counter to stare over the pad.

"Sir?" frowned Zoe with Jayne and Simon trailing behind her. Mal passed the pad over to Zoe and wasn't at all surprised to see her own caramel face loose a bit of color. "This is what they want? You can't--"

"I know, Zoe," nodded Mal stiffly as he began to pace the length of the mess hall, his hand touching the back of every chair.

"What is it?" asked Simon. Both he and Jayne were now examining the pad with Hex, but none of them could come to a conclusion.

"It looks like blueprints for a skyplex," hypothesized Hex. He turned his right eye on Mal for confirmation.

"Not just any skyplex," said Zoe tightly, looking decidedly uncomfortable as she fumbled with her simple, string necklace. "That there's the plans and command codes for Charon."

"Charon?" echoed Simon, thoroughly confused. "Charon's the skyplex over Londinium. I've been there quite a few times. Some days you can see it even from Osiris. Is there something valuable?"

"Credits? Gold?" Jayne perked up instantly; thinking that this might be a worth-while salvage after all.

"Nothin' of value to us," said Mal directly to Jayne. His eyes then caught Zoe's and he gave a slight, self-depricating laugh. "Well, not anymore anyway."

"You've lost me," said Simon.

"Charon's a defense platform that protects Londinium and Sihnon," Zoe told them. "It doubles as a skyplex so that folk don't think nothin' of it flyin' above their heads. It's the reason we never pushed too far into the Core during the war. Never had the ships to overwhelm it, nor the codes to disarm it."

"Are all skyplex's like that?" wondered a somewhat intrigued Jayne. He got that bright, almost endearingly psychotic, grin on his face that he saved for big, impressive weapons. "Shiny! Let's steal one!"

"No, Jayne," answered Mal, staring at the brass lamp on the center of the table. "Charon's the only one. Gotta protect Parliament, after all."

"Why doesn't anyone know?" Simon directed his question to Mal and Zoe. Mal's first thought was to ask Simon if he'd lost his brains back on Miranda, but common sense kept his tongue trapped. Simon had to be wondering that if the Independents knew, why not the rest of the 'verse?

"No confirmation," was Mal's answer. "Ain't never got solid proof the Alliance actually built Charon for that reason, but there were stories. Bad stories."

"Worst of all were the possibility of mushroom makers housed there," said Zoe softly.

Simon frowned in confusion. Apparently, from the horrific gasps that escaped Hex and Jayne, "mushroom makers" were pretty bad. "Mushroom makers...?"

"Tactical nuclear missiles," said Hex, his already scarred face twisted into an even more grotesque visage. "Remnants of Earth-that-was. Hard to make them these days without radioactive material."

"That's not--"

"One of those'll take out half a fleet, let alone what it'll do to a city," sighed Mal, rubbing his face. One simple salvage job was all he wanted; something to kill time until Inara was done.

"What do they want the Charon's command codes for, sir?" was Zoe's question, and it was a very good one.

"Don't rightly know, but I aim to find out," said Mal with a hard expression. "Jayne, check on our purple-belly. If he's up, I want his version of things pronto! See if you can't get River to help you out, some. Meanwhile, I've got myself a pretty cold captain to wave. Deal's gone and changed."

Mal had trudged back to the bridge to find Kyo's hands gripped tightly around the control yoke. The wave screen was on, but it wasn't Captain Mirage's face looking back; it was a hard, dark face that practically filled the screen with muscular girth. Another thing Mal couldn't help but notice was that Queen Esmeraldas had drifted closer, presenting its port cannons to Serenity.

"Fancy that, I was just gonna call you," said Kyo tightly, his eyes never leaving the giant warship. "Thinkin' there's been a change of command over on the Queen."

"Reckon so," said Mal before flicking off the mute. "Well now, Captain, there's just somethin' diff'rent 'bout you. Did you style your hair in the last ten minutes? 'Cause if you did it for li'l ol' me, well I gotta tell you--"

"Shut up, Captain," the man boomed, his voice so deep it seemed distorted through the speakers. "My shuttle's headed for Lightfoot now. I expect to see the data file lying on the cargo bay floor, and not a soul around."

"And I don't expect to do a gorram thing 'til we get some rules laid out," said Mal icily, leaning over the console to glare right at the man. "Plans changed. I wanna know why you want that data file, and if I don't hear the right answer, you can just go right ahead and blow us to hell. I'll be sure to take the data file along for the ride, dong-ma?"

"Got stones, Reynolds," growled the man. "But I'm afraid I can't tell you on account of the fact that I don't got all the answers myself. I'm just the delievery boy, and we're making a good deal out of this."

Mal saw Kyo turn his head slightly in inquiry. Mal muted the microphone to answer Kyo's question. "River uncoded the data file. It's got the command codes for Charon." Kyo's eyes practically bulged out of his brain as his jaw slackened like it broke a hinge. "Ain't plannin' on handin' it over 'til I know who wants it and why."

Kyo nodded as he turned his attention back towards his controls. In the wrong hands, Charon could be the worst kind of weapon. Sihnon and Londinium would be sitting ducks for any psychopath. Mal hated the Alliance, sure, but there were such a thing as innocents. Besides, the war was over for them all.

Mal clicked on the microphone again to address Mr. Ugly, "Fine, it'll be waitin' for you." He shut down transmission altogether before pulling down the radio from overhead. "Kaylee? Hope you've finished up in there. You got company comin' of the unfriendly variety, so I'd suggest you get yourself into gear and get back here!"

"I'm all set for a quick release," said Kyo once Mal had shut off the radio, still in the dark as to Mal's plan. "Just give me the signal. And...well...try not to be mad in the event we all find ourselves sucked out into space."

*****

Dexter didn't think this day could possibly get any worse; there was Arnold Jennings and the whole mess on Lightfoot; there was that pirate ship and the fight; and there was that other ship and that hundan who'd knocked him unconscious. The nauseating pain that pulsated from the back of his head made him wish he'd never signed up to be a Fed. The harsh lights from above didn't help him any neither.

"Oh hey, you're finally awake, huh?" came a gruff, rumbling voice that made Dexter's throat retch. An object moved over his head to block out the hot lights, and the sudden contrast made him wince. It took another few seconds for Dexter's eyes to adjust on the object. Though ghosts of the light still lingered, he picked out a very harsh, gruesome face leering down. A wicked looking knife emerged not long after. "Now the Cap'n wants some answers, so I guess I oughta ask you some questions. But the thing is, I've been waitin' an awful hard time for you to wake up. So what say we get straight to the pain, huh?"

Ah. Dexter stood, or rather laid, corrected; his day had rapidly gone worse. Since his day had gone so far south, apparently his stomach felt it was only fair to have something come up. Namely his lunch. All over this man's face and shirt. That balanced things out nicely.

*****

Mal stood in front of the cargo bay doors, perhaps the worst place to be once Kyo's maneuver began, but he needed visual confirmation. He stared out through the diamond shaped porthole and into the cargo bay of the Lightfoot. On the opposite side, he saw the doors open and a group of similarly garbed, grubby grunts emerge with shotguns out. The data file was left in the center of the cargo bay, just like they'd organized in the deal. He licked his lips in anticipation; waiting for them to move out far enough from their end of the cargo bay so he could give the signal.

He smiled the moment they hit the middle of the destroyed cargo hold. Like the sword of Damocles, his finger hovered over the handheld com. Just when he was about to hit it, a motion at the far end caught his attention. Something slipped down from the wreckage on the roof; a thin, lithe figure in a very familiar floral dress. No doubt about it, especially with the knowing look she shot right at Mal before disappearing into the Queen's shuttle.

"What is that girl up to?" ground out Mal in frustration, pressing his now very tense body up against Serenity's door.

Thick boots and an odor that smelled suspiciously like vomit made Mal realize he was no longer alone in the cargo hold like he'd asked. "Mole's up. I took care of him good and proper, but not before he spilled his guts. Well..." shrugged the merc, giving Mal an unsettling gaze. "Anywho, he said that Jennings fella was a spy for the Rebellion. Didn't know what was on the data file, but he'd been told by his boss that it was somethin' important."

"The Rebellion?" groaned Mal, banging his head against the thick doors. The grunts were already retreating back into their shuttle with the data file, and River going along with them. His pistol wouldn't do much against their shotguns, and the Lightfoot's cargo bay had no adequate cover for the siege. He had to hope River had a plan. "If the Rebels're choosin' to hire those fellas, I'm thinkin' it'd be better if we just dump the data file."

"Uh, Mal?" said Kyo over the com. Mal clicked down the button before giving a noncommittal grunt that he'd heard. "We've got an Alliance ship travelin' hard towards us. They'll be here inside of five minutes."

"This can't be happenin'," said Mal to no one in particular; utter disbelief written over his face. "How much more complicated can things get? Why can't things ever be simple with us?" Realizing Jayne was standing besides him, Mal said in all seriousness. "I'm hopin' you left that Alliance boy alive."

"Uh, kinda?" coughed Jayne uncomfortably.

"Ren-nai. Gei-yi wo ren-nai." muttered Mal under his breath. "Jayne, you best take that Fed and dump him in the Lightfoot. Take the Doctor too, so as to make it look like an accident, but you've only got a few minutes," he ordered as he stalked towards the flight deck.

As Mal charged up the catwalk to enter Serenity's "neck" corridor, he nearly bowled over Kaylee who'd been on the way down. "Cap'n? What's goin' on? I ain't heard the big boom we planned, and I got to thinkin' somethin' went wrong."

"Oh, you ain't far wrong, little Kaylee," said Mal tensely as he stormed up by her. Mal clicked the com on again. "What's the Queen doin'? I'm sure she knows all about the fine guests we'll be entertainin' real soon."

"Their teeth're gleamin' right in my face, but they're waitin' on their shuttle to dock before they make a move," said Kyo with a bit of feedback now that Mal was on the corridor. He and Mal clicked off the com simultaneously and Kyo addressed Mal face-to-face. "I'm thinkin' we're not long for this 'verse the moment that shuttle docks..."

"Wouldn't bet on that," said Mal, leaning against the bulkhead on the ceiling. "River's in that shuttle. Girl's got some sort of plan I'm hopin'."

"What?" said Kyo, and Mal didn't miss the flicker of concern in his narrow, gray eyes. Like a wolf, Kyo reared up his head to look at the retreating shuttle; Mal swore even his ears perked. After a moment, the look faded into something of grim determination. "Alliance ship'll be here not long after River docks. That could save our bitty ship from bein' blown to kingdom come, but then--"

"How'll we get River back," sighed Mal wearily as the shuttle slipped underneath the Queen Esmeraldas to dock.

"This is River we're talkin' 'bout, sir," said Zoe forcefully. "She'll find a way."

"That she will, but I aim to help her as much as us lowly folk can," grinned Mal. He pushed back from the bulkhead and turned to address Kaylee. "Right, Kaylee, I think it's time to tell folk my plan 'cause I'm thinkin' it'll need some tweakin'."

*****

They'd been easy to handle. The shuttle was too cramped for her acrobatics, but Kyo had been teaching her how to dance whenever he couldn't sleep. Whenever he couldn't sleep, she could sleep. Everyone was loud, even in sleep, but Kyo was always quiet. Mirage was quiet too. River liked them because they were quiet. But Kyo was more; she'd been drawn to him like a beacon. There was a connection between them that anchored her in the real world and brought the sun back in her skies.

Her plan with him was working. He'd touched her. Mal had told him, and he'd touched her. He hadn't thought it, just reacted it, and River had almost purred at the sensation. Like Ambrosia. It was so frustrating to see all, hear all, feel all, but never be able to put it into words. Proportionally, the tongue was the strongest muscle in the human body, but wasn't strong enough. Those two moments, minds connected and thoughts flowing freely, had been a hand pulling her from the depths of the ocean. She could breath; she could gasp; she'd been freed.

River had feared the same sort of connection with Mirage. She'd been jealous; a shameful, irrational fear that had never once entered her heart before. It was like a bitter piece of licorice. She didn't like that emotion, not when she'd grown used to knowing things. She prodded at Kyo's door; pressed her ear up against it; did the same with Mirage's box. River understood. Hands of blue had touched them too.

The door to the shuttle opened, but River was ready; been ready for the last ten minutes. Focus. Radar. Scope. Tactics. A pirate opened the door, wondering why the shuttle had flown in silently, and River grabbed the man's rifle to jam the stock against his throat. He collapsed to the floor like a fish out of water, but River stepped over him smoothly. Without taking sight, she tossed the rifle like a boomerang to knock out the pirate to the right. The last one thought to surprise her by leaping down from the top of the shuttle with a knife, but River had expected him. At just the right moment, she snapped her leg back, and her heel cracked against his chin. He fell to the floor like a broken puppet, but River just walked on.

*****

"Think we could...you know," said the pirate to the right, leering at their former captain. She hadn't moved in the slightest since she'd been escorted to the dark, cramped brig. Her arms had been bent at the elbows and cuffed snugly behind her back, keeping her from reaching any concealed weapons in her coat. A thick chain anchored her to the wall, but inspite of everything, Mirage hadn't shown any indication of emotion or reaction since the mutiny.

The other pirate sighed and shifted around to look at his. "Listen, you haven't been on the Queen long, so you haven't seen the Captain in action. Give her an inch to breathe, and she'll snap you with a pinky. Now we've got her nice and snug, and if doing that is what you want, I'm pretty sure Juma's got some idea of how to do it. Until then, I suggest you wait."

"Ain't never seen a woman like her," said the lecher, nearly dropping his shot gun as he stared. His partner groaned and prodded him to keep his gun up and alert. "Aw, she ain't doing nothing!"

"You're right," said Mirage softly, her eyes focused on a spot through the door. "I won't be doing anything."

The door cranked open to reveal a elvish, young woman, standing with her legs set shoulder-length apart. Before the guards could take in the scene, she'd swung her right leg around in a roundhouse kick that nearly took the head off the lecherous guard. Simultaneously she spun her torso around to jam her left elbow into the other guard's face, breaking his nose with a crack.

"I expected you sooner," admitted Mirage, her eyebrow moving up ever so slightly in amusement.

"Time is fluid," shrugged the girl before she bent down to remove the keys. Mirage noted in amazement that the woman didn't even bend her knees. She was quite flexible. Along with the keys, the girl removed the fancy, golden handgun that Mirage used. She didn't even look at Mirage when unlocked the binders, or when she handed the gun over. Mirage was very intrigued now. She wanted to pause and examine the girl's mind thoroughly. As far as Mirage knew, the girl shouldn't exist.

"No time," grinned the girl impishly, which was mildly disconcerting on her otherwise angelic features. "We have company, but we have a plan."

"Then let's take back my ship," bowed Mirage slightly, gesturing for the girl to leave first.

*****

"I told you, we tried to render aid to the Lightfoot, but them hundan pirates didn't leave no survivors!" Mal told Captain Wessell of the Alliance cruiser Columbus. "In case you haven't noticed, they've got some rather big and illegal cannons pointed at my bitty ship! We couldn't exactly send off a 'Hello.'"

The young looking captain on the other end turned his head off screen for a moment. Kyo tensely, slowly began to switch knobs and press buttons on the console. He respected Mal--he really, really did--but this plan was all sorts of crazy--not that his were any more sane. Ever so gently he coaxed Serenity to detach from Lightfoot without Columbus or Queen Esmeraldas realizing. That was the easy part. It was the other part that made Kyo think Mal had gone over the edge.

"Seems I find myself in an interesting position," said Captain Wessell in a tone that made Mal's blood run cold. "Firefly-class transport; suspected of harboring the two fugitives Simon and River Tam. Illegally crafted and customized pirating vessel, Queen Esmeraldas; wanted in half the known system for robbery and murder. They may very well give me command of a small moon, if you are that Firefly, and if that ship is Queen Esmeraldas."

Mal lowered his head off the screen and heroically held back a whole wealth of curses that could fill up the flight deck. They were going to be pinched by the Feds, something that Mal did not want under any circumstance. There hadn't been a backlash from the Feds since Miranda; no escalation of warrants for Simon, River or any of Serenity's crew, and, more importantly, no Operative shadowing them. Still, the old warrants hadn't been erased and Mal knew the bigwigs at the Alliance would want nothing more than to torture the ones behind Miranda.

"Detach from Lightfoot and prepare to be boarded," ordered Captain Wessell. A pregnant pause filled the flight deck. Mal looked at Kyo incredulously, only to find a mirrored expression aimed right back. Finally, something was going right for a change.

"Roger that, Captain," said Mal with as much weariness as he could muster.

"Don't entertain the thought of rabbiting, Captain Reynolds. We will pulse you if you so much as turn," warned Captain Wessell before the wave went dead.

"Oh, well, they'll only pulse us instead of blowin' us to dust on the spot," remarked Kyo, harkening back the events of Wu Yo. "Guess they were just answerin' the distress call. Must not've known just what's been stolen."

"Are we detatched?" Mal asked, eyes intently focused on the citylike, vertical ship in the distance.

"Yup," said Kyo, who had his hands ready at the wheel for the craziest stunt of the century. "What about River?"

"River can handle herself," Mal told him, putting a hand on Kyo's shoulder for comfort. "Trust me, I seen what that girl can do with Reavers."

Kyo was not the least bit settled by that fact. With an inward, weary sigh, Kyo edged open his door ever so slightly. He knew--he just knew--this would be the beginnings of a very bad habit, and he would curse River until the end of the 'verse for it. The tingle of his brain, like it was somehow trying to leave the confines of his skull, told him he'd opened enough. It alarmed him just how easily he could pinpoint her. It was like they'd been standing face-to-face, looking each other directly in the eye, but not knowing it because of an obstruction.

No, Kyo was forced to amend. She's always seen me. It's more like a one-way mirror turned into a window.

In a microsecond, he'd been aware of all that she'd done and was planning on doing. Another microsecond later and he'd given his answers. Communication was flawless and clear. He hadn't had that sort of freedom in a very long time. In fact, the tingling had recessed like a cool, shiver-inducing balm had been rubbed over his mind, and he felt a whole heap of weight get winched off his shoulders. Only three seconds had passed, but her laughter ringing across his very heart made it feel like an eternity; he could get swallowed up in it if he wasn't careful.

*****

"Columbus is gettin' rather shirty with their hails, Cap'n," drawled Masterson from his tactical console. Juma growled in reply, not fully registering what the man was saying as his attention was focused on his cargo. He wondered why they hadn't heard from the hangar and especially why he didn't have the data file in his hand.

"Power up our engines, Hawk," barked Juma, tapping his laser gun against his thigh in agitation. "We're running for it."

"You're out of your bloomin' mind, you are!" Masterson exclaimed in exasperation. "You've got all our guns pointed at that ruddy Firefly, and you've got our arse presented beautifully for that Alliance dingy to kick! We run, they'll blow us out of space!"

"Didn't ask for your opinion, Masterson, and I don't ever expect to," said Juma, glaring something fierce at Masterson. The thin, scarecrow of a man ground at his teeth impotently, which nearly made Juma smile. There wasn't anything the tactical officer could do, and they all knew it. Juma was stronger, faster, more experienced, and had the better weapon.

Finally, the heavy blast doors cranked open and Juma let out a breath of irritation. Juma whirled around, intent on chewing out the men he'd sent on the mission, only to find something totally unexpected awaiting him. Mirage came striding switfly through the doors, her coat flowing behind her like the wrath of God.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Those shots were thunderous in the confused silence on the bridge. Hell, the four men who got shot were too confused to even realize they were dead. Four shots in under a second. That wasn't possible and Juma knew it. People had to sight their targets! The way Mirage had gunned down his men, it was like she'd known where they'd been standing all along. Muscle moved his laser pistol to aim at Mirage, but his mind had been unhinged enough to hesitate on pulling the trigger.

That hesitation was enough for a little slip of a girl to appear in front of him. Her ninety pound, five foot, eight inch frame looked positively dwarfish against his seven feet, three-hundred and ten pounds of muscle. His brained unhinged further as it tried to process just what in the sphincter of hell was going on, but the girl had no such notions. Her kick was perfect; when hard muscle had struck his wrist and knocked the gun from his hand, it left a tingling sensation, undoubtably from nerve damage of some kind. When she kicked again at the inside of his right knee; white-hot, searing pain shot down the inside of his leg, all the way to the bottom of his foot. The pain awakened Juma's warrior instinct, but it was too late; the girl landed one last kick right at his family jewels. A high-pitched squeak passed through Juma's lips as nauseating waves of pain crashed against his abdomen. His heavy frame crashed to the cold steel, paralyzed by pain.

Masterson let out a tearful guffaw at the sight of Juma being taken down by a ninety pound girl, before sobering up to look at his Captain shame-faced.

"Cap'n..."

"Let River handle tactical," Mirage ordered, unflappable as ever. She'd holstered her pistol and taken her seat like nothing out of the ordinary had passed. Masterson had to move out of the way quickly when the girl skipped over to his console. He gave Hawk a curious glance, which the boy could only answer with a shrug, but he did seem entranced with the girl.

The girl, River, operated the console like she'd been born to, and Masterson found his manhood threatened quite severely. As he watched her press buttons over the glowing red dash, his mind began to process just what she was doing; disabling the auto-lock and enabling manual angling.

"Cap'n?" asked Masterson.

"Mr. Hawk, please coax Queen Esmeraldas into presenting the starboard guns at the Alliance ship," ordered Mirage in that cold, monotone voice. Oh how pleased were Hawk and Masterson to hear that voice again. "River," was all Mirage said to the girl at Masterson's right. The dark-haired girl gave a sharp nod before closing her eyes.

"'Scuse me for askin' this, Cap'n, but just what the bloody hell's goin' on 'round here?"

*****

Kyo had received River's message loud and clear. Not since he was growing up had he kept a connection running this long. Of course, back then, that had been their chief method of communicating without arising the doctor's suspicions. They never did figure out a way to monitor them doing it, but back then they never had cause to worry.

River's timing couldn't have been better as Columbus's engines roared to life off in the distance. In fact, if Kyo didn't know better, he could've sworn River had planned this whole entire thing down to the very last detail. A pleasant giggle and a warmth of coyness confirmed his suspicions. Yes, she was a genius.

"All right people, let's cross our fingers and hope for the best," said Mal into the ship-wide com.

"Thinkin' we'll be needin' to cross a lot more than that, sir," quipped Zoe from the co-pilot's station.

Kyo and Zoe shared a brief laugh under Mal's scowl, before Kyo quickly shot Serenity around. Warning klaxons blared, but Kyo didn't have to check them to know that Columbus had locked on with their E.M.P. "Now, Kaylee!" ordered Mal over the com.

Lightfoot's maneuvering thrusters activated via a trigger that Kaylee had rigged. The main drives were fried beyond repair, and the back-ups were too low anyway, but the maneuvering thrusters still worked fine. Kaylee had pre-programmed them to do just one maneuver when she pressed the remote, and that's exactly what happened. Lightfoot rose until it was completely vertical, right when Columbus fired off a pulse. It became Serenity's impromptu shield, as the dilapidated Trans-U absoarbed the light blue beam.

"Kaylee, give me a full burn!" said Kyo the moment their crazy plan worked.

"Done!" Kaylee answered back a moment later. Without needing an order, Kyo slammed back the switch and Serenity lurched forward under the full thrust of the engines on a course back to Medea. After all, it was about time for them to rendezvous with Inara anyway.

"Well, that's certainly one for strategy manuals everywhere," exhaled a very relieved Kyo. He sat back against his chair and flipped on the auto-pilot. It was time for Serenity to soar freely for a while.

"They're not followin' us?" wondered Zoe, who began to check the scopes and screens.

"Oh, I think they've got problems of their own right now," chuckled Kyo mysteriously as he stretched out his legs.

*****

A few hours later, Inara emerged from her shuttle as Serenity hovered in a low orbit over Medea. She was amused and surprised to find everyone standing on the cargo hold floor, seemingly waiting for her arrival.

"I hope I haven't kept all of you," she commented, a slight smile on her face and her brow raised.

"We're just happy to have the Ambassador grace us with her presence," Mal bowed slightly as a ripple of chuckles emerged from the floor. Inara almost frowned at the fact that Mal was wearing his gunbelt. That was a clear sign that something had gone wrong while she was missing, and she deeply wished it had nothing to do with Magistrate Derryl's confession.

"More like we're just lucky to be able to pick you up in the first place," commented Kyo while he walked down from the second staircase. Inara's brow raised even further at the easy, but truly relieved smile on Kyo's face. It was the same sort of smile that the rest of the crew currently wore. She could even discern it through the ugly scar on Jonah Hex's face.

"I suppose you've had some excitement while I was away again," said Inara teasingly to Mal and Kaylee. She then turned to address Kyo, "It seems that's always the case when I leave for my inspection."

Kyo grinned back before he made his way towards the middle of the catwalk, standing right under the rear of the Mule. It was then that Inara realized one person seemed to be missing. Wherever Kyo was, River wasn't far behind--or at least in a position to observe him.

"Where's River?" asked Inara, somewhat worriedly. She didn't miss the scowl on Simon's face, or the accusatory glare he gave Mal behind his back.

Serenity shuddered slightly and Inara directed her gaze towards Mal. "Should be her now," he answered and nodded to Jayne who was standing near the controls.

Inara watched in confusion as the thick, tan doors of Serenity split open. River stood there, and for a moment Inara was vividly reminded of the blast doors opening on Mr. Universe's hidden world. It vanished once River drew her heels together and clasped her hands behind her back like a giddy child. Simon immediately rushed to her and began to examine her for any injuries. River rolled her eyes at Simon's protectiveness, but in doing so her eyes immediately fell upon Kyo.

A second figure emerged through the doors, and this one intrigued Inara greatly. She was a moving statue of poise and absolute control. Many Companions in training would swoon at the amount of control this new figure presented. There was more than that, though. The length of her stride; the set of her shoulders; her fine, but simple, clothing; and that golden gun to match her hair all told Inara this woman had power. That certainly explained the need for Mal to be armed.

"Captain," greeted Mal tersely.

"Captain," answered the woman. Her tone was remarkably similar to the ones Inara would hear on automated Alliance waves, or receptionists. Her face, however, held none of the false gaiety of receptionists.

"Play nice," River warned, finally slipping free from Simon to walk with ethereal grace up the stairs.

"You got any idea what that data file has on it?" asked Mal harshly.

"No, nor is it my intention to learn its secrets," replied the woman evenly. Mal made to speak, but her hand immediately went to the grip of her gun. Mal, Zoe and Jayne all followed suit. "I am serious, Captain Reynolds. My mission was to retrieve the data file from a spy for the Rebellion. Should the Rebellion choose to relinquish the information for the purpose of another mission, then I will readily accept it."

Inara almost groaned. Leave it to Serenity to get involved in something as serious as Magistrate Derryl's problem. She wondered just what transpired in her absence, however. The tenseness in Mal's jaw told Inara how much he felt the other captain needed to know the contents of the data file. Irritatingly, Inara couldn't read the female captain as well. If she'd tried any feminine wiles on Mal, Inara could judge her training, but at the moment it seemed much too reserved to be Guild training.

"It's the command codes for Charon," said Kyo from the catwalk. The other Captain's face snapped up immediately, as if that had been the first time she became aware of Kyo's presence, and no one could mistake the surprise and recognition that flickered over her pristine features. They then slid over to River, who was standing beside Kyo.

"That's right," said Mal, his eyes never leaving the woman's face. "The command codes for Charon. You know what that means, Captain? You trust them Rebel boys to have a finger on the trigger?"

The woman turned her vivid emerald eyes onto Mal's own steel blue. A long moment passed as a battle of will went on between the two captains. "The data file was destroyed on Lightfoot," she said slowly. "Now, I suggest we all leave Medea's orbit before we receive unwanted attention."

"Take it Columbus is--"

"Dealt with, Captain Reynolds," finished the woman shortly, and no one missed the glare the woman gave River, or the one she received in return. "May we never meet again."

"Same here, Captain," nodded Mal before the woman disappeared through the doors. Mal nodded towards Jayne who closed the doors behind the woman.

"Kyo, take us out of here," said Mal. "Hex? Thinkin' we could all use some chow."

"Damn right, one-eye," grinned Jayne. "I worked myself up an appetite today!"

"What did I miss?" Inara asked Kaylee as she descended the stairs. Everyone else began to filter out through the infirmary's door, while Kyo and River walked up the stairs to the flight deck.

"Simon got me an early birthday present," grinned the young mechanic before she linked arms with Inara. That certainly hadn't been the answer Inara expected, and so she cast a questioning look at Simon, who was waiting patiently at the door.

"And what did he get you, mei-mei?"

*****

Mal remained seated at the dinner table in the mess hall long after everyone had cleaned up. Hex's homecooking settled warmly in Mal's stomach and did wonders at relieving some pressure on his mind. Jonah Hex'd never seemed like the type to be a good cook, what with that long, jagged scar from his hairline to lip going right over his left eye. Still, the man could do wonders with even protein rations. Mal remembered Book saying something about how spices made all the difference. Book should've met Hex.

Even after three months going on four, Mal kept wishing Book was still alive. He hated that he missed Book more than Wash, but these days Mal'd been missing more guidance than humor. On the table, Mal rolled around the blue-tipped node that contained Charon's command codes. River, bright girl she was, made a copy of all the information and downloaded it into one of Simon's blank nodes. Only now it felt like an entire roller sitting right there on his table. What the hell was he gonna do with the command codes for Charon?

"Would those be the spoils of the day?" came a familiar, smoky voice that made his breath catch for a moment. He looked up to see Inara emerge from the flight deck corridor. She was dressed in a satiny, cream colored shift with a forestlike robe around her.

"Can't say," said Mal; his voice thick with hours of disuse. He coughed to clear his throat and palmed the node. "Right now I'm half-inclined to toss this out the airlock."

"Do you believe the Rebels would've used Charon for a terrorist attack?" inquired Inara softly, slipping into the chair at his right. "They could merely want it to disable the defense protocols."

"Then what?" snorted Mal, rubbing the back of his neck wearily. With his other hand, he stuffed the node back into his shirt pocket. "They disable Charon, so what'll they do next? Assault on Londinium? Sihnon? Somehow I doubt they've got the manpower for it, 'Nara. Them boys wanted Charon to use as a weapon; one to paralyze the Parliament and give the Rebels a fightin' chance."

"Tactical nuclear missiles?" said Inara almost disbelievingly and Mal just tapped his pocket as a reply. "I can't imagine that even the Alliance would use them."

"You'd be surprised," said Mal darkly, thicking back to Wu Yo and Prospector's Hill. "Odd, ain't it? That I'd be doin' the Alliance's work for 'em."

"Mal," said Inara in a warning tone, laying her hand on his. Obviously Inara wasn't going to suffer any of his dark moods this night; not that she suffered them any night, day, hour or any other time. He was learning; contrary to belief, old dogs could learn new tricks. Now, this was when he found himself missing Wash. Advice on women; wouldn't you know it, the moment Mal owns up to his feelings, the only married man on the boat finds himself nothing more than a memory. Wash would've found that hilarious. "You did what was right."

"'Nara, I don't do what's right," Mal gave a very self-depricating laugh before he leaned forward on the table. "I do what I do to get by. Ain't no right out here in the black."

"Is that why you felt the need to warn the other Captain?" asked Inara pointedly. Mal exhaled sharply, but he had no answer for her.

"Time's gonna come, 'Nara, when a line's gonna be drawn," sighed Mal, feeling decades older than he should as he pushed himself onto his feet. "Twelve years ago, I knew where I stood, but I ain't the same. I'm a captain now, and part of my captainy life is lookin' out for me and mine."

"A part of you wants to fight and a part of you doesn't," Inara had concluded simply, and all Mal could do was shrug.

"Things were easier then," he called out to her over his shoulder as he made his way back to his bunk. "Knew where your enemy was; knew who you could count on. Survival on a battle field weren't half as hard as survivin' on the black. 'Course, this life's a mite more peaceful than the war. Sometimes I think Tracey had it right."

Inara gracefully, but with a certain rush in her movements, rose from the table, and crossed towards the bulkhead seperating the corridor from the mess hall. Her right hand fell on the vines that Kaylee had painted long ago, pulsing with the life of Serenity herself.

"Mal," she spoke just as he'd pushed open his bunk. He paused, face shrouded in shadow, but his profile still visible. "Things are different. It's not a decision you have to make alone. This is not something you have to go through alone."

Mal stood there for a moment, though everything was too dark for Inara to infer anything from his body language. He gave a slow nod--one Inara would like to believe was of gratitude--as his boots connected with the ladder rungs.

"Oughta get yourself to bed, 'Nara. Might be needin' some of that beauty sleep 'fore we hit our next destination," she heard him deadpan moments before the door fell closed. Inara let out a sharp breath of her own and felt the muscles in her lips tense slightly. The man was still incorrigible.

*****

Kyo reclined back against the pilot's chair, with his legs stretched out under the console and his hands folded onto his lap. He'd slept like this many times on the old Wolfhound to the point that it almost seemed natural. Of course, his neck and back usually protested the naturalness of it all--and the drool on his shirt wasn't a pretty sight--but somehow a bed just didn't make him feel comfortable enough. Maybe it was the black streaming by, or maybe it was just the connection to a ship.

After the long events of a very full day, everyone was nestled nicely into their dorms; even River for the time being. Their connection was still open, partially because Kyo hadn't the heart to close it again. It felt...right, to feel her presence on the ship. He was also able to hedge off nightmares before they began, and thought hopefully that it might be the end for them altogether. The other upside was that she could no longer surprise him, so he'd been able to see the kiss she wanted to plant on him a million miles away.

Kyo smiled at the memory when her lips suddenly met door instead of his own. She might not be able to surprise him anymore, but he could sure as hell surprise her. He was the expert of the pair. Whatever Blue Sun had done to her, they obviously hadn't gotten around to training her like they had him, which was something he'd been trying to rectify. Her brilliance amazed him. She caught onto every concept he introduced and mastered it completely. She just lacked experience and imagination. Which was why he was purposefully trying to keep their relationship slow.

The Cortex buzzed, breaking him out of his reverie. He'd been expecting it ever since revealing his presence to Mirage in Serenity's cargo hold.

"Mei-mei," he greeted with a pleasant smile as her face appeared on the screen.

"Ge-ge," she greeted in return, a rare smile gracing her own face. "How long has it been? A decade?"

"A little more," nodded Kyo, leaning his head back against the headrest. "Pirating, eh? Adventurous. Wouldn't have thought that a career for you."

"My xin-ai was a pirate," said Mirage sadly and Kyo asked nothing further. Enough sadness had permeated their lives. "Queen Esmeraldas was the ship he built for me. My continued usage of it is my continued tribute to him."

"Ke-gui, mei-mei. I wish you continued success," Kyo told her.

"And you as well, smuggler?" said Mirage in her even rarer teasing moods.

"Among other things," chuckled Kyo good-naturedly. "I'm surprised you signed up with the Rebellion. That...that never seemed your sort of thing."

"I am surprised you have not," retorted Mirage, her face a mask again so that only Kyo could see the tenderness still present. "That has always been your thing, as you put it."

"Did my fighting in the Unification War," said Kyo solemnly. "Made captain in the Independent Air Force. Just looking to...live, these days."

"And live you have, I suppose," said Mirage, gliding over the obvious uncomfortableness Kyo had in speaking of the war. "That girl, River, is very special. Very special."

"I know," exhaled Kyo wearily. River had been the reason Kyo did not want to speak through telepathy. River could've easily dropped in on their conversation without even realizing it; the girl was too good. This way, however, Kyo would know when River awoke. He inclined his head towards the back of the ship, just to check visually, but River was still sleeping soundly in her dorm.

"This should not be possible, Kyo," Mirage said pointedly, her flawless brow creasing ever so slightly. "We were the only experiments, were we not?"

Kyo swerved his chair so that he could peer squarely into the screen. "We were," he told her. "River's just...well, I guess they must've started it up again."

Mirage sucked in a deep breath through her teeth and shut her eyes. This was the most agitated Kyo had seen her since they were children. He half-expected a curse word to come flying from her lips. That would've given him a heartattack on the spot.

"If you think that's bad, it gets worse," snorted Kyo hollowly.

"Worse? How worse?" asked Mirage, her face a mask of barely contained agitation.

"River's not like us, Mirage. River's a real person with a family and everything," said Kyo thickly, his eyes as close to tears as they'd ever been.

"A real... They experimented on..." Now would've been the opportune moment for a curse, but Mirage still had enough restraint. She just leaned back against her own chair; a mirrored look of profound horror and sadness mingling over her pristine features. She covered her face with a hand, just to gather herself up, before addressing Kyo with a look of business. "Kyo, what else do you know from her?"

"Nothing," frowned Kyo mimicking Mirage's posture out of habit. "I've been reluctant to establish a connection with her. Why?"

"Why?" asked Mirage incredulously. "You honestly cannot tell me that you have never thought there might be others beside her." The stricken look that crossed Kyo's face gave Mirage her answer. "Oh, ge-ge. There were twenty of us. Can you imagine how many of her there might be? If any of them are nearly half as good as she--"

"It's not our problem, mei-mei," said Kyo, looking down to avoid a piercing stare that might've poked out his eyes. "We're safe. Cleansers don't even know we exist. They think we were deleted with everything else."

"How can you say that?" demanded Mirage angrily. "You of all people should--"

"Don't!" warmed Kyo, snapping his head up to meet Mirage's glare head on. "Don't you dare, Mirage! You weren't there. You didn't sit beside each one when..." Kyo trailed off, his voice thick with emotion. He could feel his eyes burning with unshed tears and his nose threatened to unleash a fountain. "I can't, Mirage, not again! It was...it was hard enough to accept River this far, and her I can manage, but...but...I can't do it again...I..."

"Ge-ge! Ge-ge, please! Dui-bu-qui! I am so sorry," Mirage apologized hurriedly, her hand rising up to press against the screen.

Kyo collected himself just in time; his emotional outburst had awakened River. "I have to go. River's up and..."

Mirage nodded in understanding. Secrecy had been ingrained into their lives from the very moment they could think. "Take care, ge-ge. I hope to see you again, sometime before another decade."

"You take care of yourself, mei-mei," said Kyo before he shut off the com. Barely even a second after Mirage had vanished from the screen did a flash of movement pass the corner of Kyo's eye. He looked up towards the door and found River leaning against it, watching him with her head tilted.

"You were loud. You're never loud," River told him with a slight frown.

"Everyone's loud, River," sighed Kyo, feeling his shoulders sag against his chair. "Even Mirage got loud back when were young."

"One of the nineteen," said River knowingly and a sad smile tugged at Kyo's lips. He kept it hidden as he dropped his head down.

"Yes, lai. One of the nineteen."

He felt River's hands on his own; felt her hair brush against his knees; felt her forehead connect against his as she sent him comforting thoughts and feelings. Memories of her mother brushing her hair; shopping in the mall when she was six after being teased for her intelligence; a hug after she'd fallen during her first ever dance recital. Comfort. Things he never had.

"Tell me about them," she asked. Kyo had to look up--his immediate reaction to deny her request--but that's when he finally saw her. Love; devotion; compassion; understanding. A loneliness and isolation mirrored only by his own. She wanted to be free of it by sharing, and he hadn't let her. Now she wanted to do the same with him.

"All right, lai. I'll tell you about them."

*****

The body of Magistrate Derryl crashed into a bloody mess on the gray, concrete floor. Most of his already pale features were washed out by the harsh, conical light that filtered down from above. It never took long. They always broke quickly, no matter the training. A finely polished, wingtipped shoe kicked Derryl onto his back and gave a sigh.

Two men stepped into the shaft of light, their faces thrown in harsh shadow by the overhead light, but it didn't matter. They were all equally capable. They'd been made equally capable. They simultaneously tightened and straightened their narrow ties before tugging on their blood-splattered blue gloves. He didn't have to see their faces to know their expectant, polite grins on their faces.

"Can we confirm Magistrate Derryl's claim?" asked a voice from the darkness; the man who owned the shoe that had prodded the body. "Have we lost Charon's command codes to the Rebels?"

"We can confirm two dead Federal Agents," spoke the man on the left.

"We can also confirm the destruction of the Magellan and the Columbus," spoke the man on the right.

"We can also confirm the body of Arnold Jennings on the passenger liner Lightfoot," said the man on the left.

"Very well," sighed the mysterious voice dramatically. "I shall assume the command codes are in the hands of the Rebels. They are most certainly becoming a nuisance."

"What are your orders, Mr. Khan?" asked the man on the right.

"Close Charon," said Mr. Khan decisively. "Make up a story--any story. I want Charon disabled and powered down until our scientists can recode the defense platform. This is the short-gap solution, of course. It appears war might be inevitable. In that case, I believe it is time to revist an old experiment; one that obviously has been made a success."

"Mr. Khan?" inquired the man on the left in slight confusion.

"Contact Dr. Leeds. Have him call up Project Gilgamesh. The children might be needed," admitted a resigned Mr. Khan.

"I thought the Academy was shut down because of--"

"I, above all others, am aware of the reason the project was shut down. I gave the order to shut down the project, after all," said Mr. Khan with a decidedly sharp edge.

"O-of course, Mr. Khan," stammered the one on the right apologetically.

"Besides, they are only an end to a mean," continued Mr. Khan; his voice echoing distantly over his retreating footfalls. "We shall need them to capture River Tam."

The two figures shared a look that communicated volumes. "Wouldn't it be safer if we just increased the bounty?" inquired the one on the left.

"No," said Mr. Khan; his voice even fainter than before. "Parliament is exercising a mind of its own. That much became obvious when they sent an Operative to eliminate Dr. Mathias and River Tam. Discretion, gentlemen. Discretion. Tell the Prime Minister all he needs to know about Charon and Magistrate Derryl. Let him come up with his own counter-measures against the Rebellion; Project Gilgamesh will be ours."

------

Author's Notes, Jusitifications, and...well...Excuses:

Ah, the plot finally thickens. Yes, I'm making a distinction between Blue Sun and the Alliance. Blue Sun control finances, but Alliance is still the representation of the people. Alliance has the Operatives, but Blue Sun has their men with the blue gloves, who I've named Cleansers. They clean up any loose ends for Blue Sun.

This went through more incarnations than I'd care to admit, and I almost gave up on this episode entirely, despite the reveal at the end. It was hard to write as this is all suspense and running around, but little real action. Especially because I was so adamant in making this a sort of Mexican stand off between Serenity, Columbus and Queen Esmeraldas.

Mirage and Queen Esmeraldas is, in fact, based on the Galaxy Express 999/Captain Harlock universe by Leiji Matsumoto. In case you haven't noticed by now, I do have a tendency to pay homage where the genre's applicable.

Originally, Simon, as a doctor, was supposed to be adamantly against torturing the Alliance mole. And it fits with character, but I just couldn't figure out where to properly fit it. Every time I tried to insert the scene, it seemed to screw up the pacing (and the humor). And as for Simon's gift to Kaylee...well...that's not really my secret to give, but I'm sure we all know what was burning his pocket in the beginning.

I'm not exactly sure whether nuclear missiles would exist in 2500's, but I needed something with an awful lot of devastating fire power. Hydrogen bomb maybe? It was just easier than coming up with something exactly like it, but wasn't it. And the node that Mal has at the end comes from the deleted scene in "Serenity," when Simon's looking up the battle of Serenity Valley in his handheld. I have no idea what those colored things are called, but node's as good a name as any.