Set 1 year after BDM to 18 months after BDM - No Serenity crew. Slight spoilers for Coded in Brown.
The tall, dark-haired man hefted his duffel bag over one shoulder and walked up the ramp on the Lilac, an Orion class transport that was bound for Highgate. Least they coulda done is paid for my ta ma de fare out here.
Jamie Monroe looked around the big cargo bay, seeing the cargo stacked against the walls. Passengers are just gravy on here, I'd wager. Doubt they'll even have a decent wireless cortex signal for me to get online with.
The "purser", probably the first mate of the boat, directed the oncoming passengers to bunk areas; the ship didn't have a big galley, and he suspected that the food would be eaten in the bunk, with a come and get it attitude.
He found his room; barely wide enough for two bunks and an aisle between them; at least it's semi-clean, and good thing that rats can't generally survive aboard boats.
He set his bag down on the bunk, and rifled through it; he pulled out his datapad. Checking the signal strength indicator, he smirked and nodded. Yep, no signal.
"Hello." he heard behind him, and turning, he saw a tall black man wearing a charcoal grey tunic and dark blue pants. He had a strap over his shoulder, likely a map case or something.
"Howdy." he drawled, testing out his Rim accent. Might as well start now.
"I believe I have been assigned to this berth." the newcomer said, in a Londinium accent.
"Well, have a seat then. What's yer name?"
"Thank you. You may call me Marcus." The two men stared at each other a moment. "I must say, this is quite a coincidence."
"Howzat?" he said, trying to figure out what the man wanted by the expression on his face; somewhat unsuccessfully. He had good control.
"Somewhat amazing that two such as us should meet out here, on the way out to the Rim; Jamison Clancy Monroe." The man's hand began to sign, in such a sequence that told Jamie exactly who he was.
"Ni! Zhe Zhen Shi Ge Kuai Le De Jing Zhang." he said sardonically.
"Quite the happy vacation." Marcus said sarcastically, agreeing. "I am glad of it, however; that two such as ourselves might have this chance to talk. Ours is normally such a lonely profession."
"I should shoot you myself."
"I'd prefer you didn't; if only because someone else has already promised to do so."
"Why are you here then?"
"Because I know that you were not privy to the same information as I was...because I thought you might deserve to know."
"About..."
"Miranda. And what exactly happened to River Tam."
Monroe dry heaved again, his head over the pull-out privy. He had made it through the Miranda Broadwave signal that Marcus showed him (he had seen it only once), made it through the description of what Marcus himself had done in pursuit of Reynolds and Serenity; he lost it when Marcus began showing him the R. Tam Sessions on a small capture screen.
"I am sorry." Marcus said, putting away the screen. "I know it is difficult to bear. You deserved to know the truth."
"Why would they do that to her?" he whispered, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
"Why, indeed. Even I do not know that. I only know that they took a girl that was an unquantifiable genius, a true prodigy, and bit by bit, cut away her sanity, making her into a weapon they sought to control."
"Like yourself?" Jamie muttered darkly.
"Hardly. Although I could be rightfully accused of the sin of pride, pride and arrogance of the rightness of my positions, even I can be convinced of a new way. Hence my presence out here."
"Whatever. Get outta here. Leave me be with the new nightmares you gave me."
"Very well."
"Wait-one question."
"Name it."
"Why?"
"Because you deserved to know. I know your temperament, Jamison. You won't be in government service much longer. Knowing the way that fate works, I even predict that you might meet Reynolds and his crew one day. I would suggest that you keep the worst part of your past from coming out right away, however; they would not look very kindly on it."
"Fine. Get outta here."
Marcus nodded a slight bow, then departed, leaving Jamie to stew in dark memories and nightmares.
After less than a month of nightmares and drunken barfights, earned while trying to drink the images out of his head, Jamison found himself down and out, discharged from government service.
He set foot on Persephone again, just the duffel over his shoulder as his only possessions.
From his previous visits to Persephone, he knew who to talk to for work; which is how he found himself in front of Badger.
"'ey there; Jamie, think ya said? What brin's ya my way?"
"Lookin' fer work, Badger."
"Thought you was workin' fer th'Alliance?"
"Bit of a disagreement. Find myself workin' for myself. I'm good with computers and computer security; need some help with your own network?"
"Nah, got a guy does that." Badger said. Jamie smirked and pulled out his datapad; in less than 10 seconds he had accessed Badger's network, and started messing with the display settings of the cortex terminal on his desk. Badger sat stunned for a moment, then grinned. "Think he'll be gettin' fired now. Got m'self a new guy does that."
Jamie grinned. "Long as I'm not exclusive to you'm fine with that."
"Start o' a beautiful frien'ship." Badger grinned.
Time began to pass quickly for Jamie Monroe; he developed a reputation for getting any information, access to any network; he wasn't rich, but he began to get somewhat comfortable; he had a little room of his own to sleep in semi-permanent like. He didn't have a woman; apart from that beautiful spacer lady in the bar 2 months after he made it to Persephone, he hadn't even had much interest. He tended to live like a hermit, so he didn't much get out.
It was a sad existence, living hand to mouth; he knew it. It also meant he didn't garner much attention.
That was why he was surprised when the Blue Hands found him in the market one evening, while he was buying food. There wasn't anybody around when the two men in suits approached, wearing blue gloves.
"Jamison Clancy Monroe?" one of them said. Jamie started at the use of his full name.