FOURTEENTH LEG
ST ALBANS

Inbound from Deadwood: - silk , gems, processed foodstuffs, medical raw materials, civil and industrial parts from Dyton Colony

'We're heading over to St Alban's next. Gotta lead on some fine ice wines.'

'Not a good luck place for us, sir.'

'Nowhere is. Our contact is Tracy Smith's pa. His vineyard had a real good crop the year after we brought Tracy home, but he can't move it. He distilled some of it too. Says the brandy is real good. Eight years in the cask. We can buy all we want or take the lot on consignment. '

'Brandy or moonshine, sir?'

'He made his own grapes into his own wine and his own wine into his own brandy.'

'So no papers, then. Sir.'

'We won't get the price we would with certs. But we won't be paying what we would with cert, neither. We can do a taste test, too.'

"Kaylee will like that.'

'Reckon she's recovered from that apple cider she tried on Dyton.'

'Doc should test it for wood alcohol, too.'

'Fair point. that would be some useful paperwork.'

'So cash or consignment?'

'I'm aiming to sell it all on Hera, mebbee sooner if I got a buyer.'

'I'll ask Perse if he knows anyone.'

'I'll ask Perse if he knows anyone.'

Perseus Alleyne was unable to help. His employers did not deal in beverages, which were bulky for the value. He did pass the names of some hoteliers and restauranteurs on Hera and before, but told Mal to keep the company name out of it.

'The Company can't afford to deal in black market goods. We'd all be fired if that got out.'

'I'm your sub, Perse. Your the only one the Company can fire. An this is grey market only. The drink is the real thing just lacking in the paper department. Real eight year old St Albans icewine, bargain prices.'

Perse sighed. 'Just keep my name out of it.'

It was winter on St Alban's, as usual.

The moon's very short hot summers, less than four months above freezing, but those twelve weeks had temperatures in the thirties. Crops grew fast or not at all and the genetically crafted grapes that flourished in the short summer were very high in alcohol-producing sugars.

Like most of the St Albans farmers Farrell Smith, father to Mal and Zoe's dead comrade, Tracy, had grown for the local market, the miners and factory workers who could not grow their own fresh produce of afford imports. Smith had concentrated on small fruits, most bush crops that grew on new growth, avoiding losses when fruit bearing son growth froze in band winters. Most farmers sold their supplies cops to the canning and freezing company all owned by Blue Sun, which paid just enough to keep their suppliers coming back.

Smith had come to grapes when his parish priest asked him to supply grape juice for communion. The fresh juice was unexpectedly popular, quickly finding a secular market which brought it to the attention of other congregations who asked for grape wine for their rituals.

Smith learned to leave some of his grapes on the line past the first freeze of the winter, which dried the grapes and concentrated the sugars. Icewine was a luxury product, worth the cost of export to more prosperous worlds.

While Mal and Smith discussed fees and costs, Kaylee and Tracy's brother Rand waked down to the family graveyard to visit Tracy's grave.

"Surprised the captain and Ms. Washburne ain't coming,' the boy said.'Seems you only knew him for a couple days.'

'We had sorta a moment,'Kaylee said,"I mean, nothin come of it, but it coulda…if… well he kinda panicked when the organleggers come after him.'

'Organleggers? Why were they after him?'

Realizing that Mal and Zoe had been vague with the family about the exact circumstances of the trooper's death, Kaylee gave a brief explanation of the events at Space Bazaar when they had received Tracy' unresponsive body by maid and were followed by bounty hunters, looking for the precious organs he carried.

She didn't mention that Tracy had actually died of Mal's bullet, fired as the hysterical youngster held her hostage .

They passed an outbuilding on the way back from the cemetery. 'That's our distillery,' Rand explained.'Wanna see?'

Kaylee was always fascinated by new kinds of equipment, and had been making her Inter-Engine Wine almost since she had joined the crew. She accepted the invitation with pleasure.

Inside the shabby building shone. Tall stainless steel vats gleamed angles tubing sparkled. A steam disinfector purred in a corner, sanitizing glass bottles for the next batch of aged brandy. In contrast a second room held real wooden barrels still aging brandy in strict climate control.

'The ones with the red tags is ready to go, but the buy as is older. This'll be the good stuff. The Tracy batch from the year he died.'

'Y'all still miss him.'

'Mama does, mebbee daddy. I almost don't remember him. He was in the last three years of the war, with your captain and first mate, right? An he only come home for a bit for he quarrelled with daddy and left you brought him back in a box. Eight years ago now. I'm twenty so I was three when he left the first time and twelve when he left again.'

'I only knew him for a few days,my own self. He had a real ingratiating manner.'

'Mmmm. I ain't gonna speak ill, but Daddy more of less kicked him out both times he left. Reckon he were'nt willin to pull his weight. Allys looking for and easy berth.'

'As a soldier?'

'Didn't say he was smart.'

Kaylee asked some questions about the distilling equipment and was told the Smiths threw out near ten percent of the brandy they distilled.

"Well, I say, throw out. It gets sold as cleaning fluid. If somebody drinks it, it won't kill'em but it's got lot of fusel oil and other impurities. We could go with less, some distillers only toss one percent, but Daddy is fussy like that. You should try our potato vodka.'

'This'll put hair on the soles of your feet,' boasted Farrell Smith, pouring a glass for Zoe and Mal, 'And make childbirth a pleasure.'

Mall tossed back the liquor and coughed as his throat caught fire. 'What proof is this?'

"One sixty six, but no worries. It's so pure you cannot get a handover. Have another?'

'No, no. I'd rather take my time. This is a proper sipping drink.'

We get the water from a glacial spring on our own property. They some minerals in it will do your body good. When you've finish that let me give you an taste of my buffalo grass formula.'

'You make shine from grass?' asked Zoe cautiously sipping her own glass.

"Vodka,' Farrel corrected.' Just a few strands in the bottle to give a delicate whisper of llavour. Tastes like the smell of a field ready for harvest.'

'How are harvests these days, Mr. Smith?' asked Mal. looking out at the snowbound fields.

'Farrel, please, sergeant. It's been a little warmer past five years. That's standard years, our orbit is twelve of those.'

'Closer to Red Sun?'

'Wobbly axis. St Alban's has six month with the south hemisphere facing from the sun and eight month facing away repeatin through those twelve years.'

'So in twelve standard years you get fourteen summers?'

'Ten. But the ten further away is colder. Not famine cold but the Northern Glacier grows near to the equator. That's why we we make our money in warm years, if we can.'

'You know you'd do better on consignment than cash.'

'Too much risk. I got school fees for the last two kid and youngest boy is want to go to Academy. We're hoping for a scholarship.'

'Know what you mean. We got three kids on crew and they're doin good in their level exams.'

'Emma's not innnerested in Academy though. She wants to be a pilot like her daddy.'

'I thought that lil gal was your pilot?'

'Now. My husband passed for our girl was born.'

'None of us are dead while our names are spoken.'

Zoe was silent.

A small man bounced up to Serenity's entry, opening the door unannounced and letting in half a blizzard.

' 谁离开他妈的开门？' shouted Mal. scrambling down the companionway, pistol drawn. Jayne and Zoe were on the catwalk, guns aimed.

'Hi, sis?' said Theseus Alleyne. His hands came down as he heard safeties being snapped shut. 'should I have made an appointment?'

'Sorry, 小弟, We had a problem a few yeas back and we normally have all the doors locked.'

Theseus had a peripatetic business, moving form one world to another, one community to another, turning vats of fats and vegetable oils from abattoirs and restaurants into bio-diesel fuel, an important product in a Verse with no petroleum. He had met the crew of Serenity by accident on Lazarus off Heinlein but their paths had not crossed since then.

By setting up a table in the partially empty cargo bay, Serenity was able to acommdate Theseus, his wife and twins, to dinner that evening.

Over many cups of tea, the adults exchanged news, gossip, and tales of their adventures.

Mal was very taken with Zoe's younger brother. When they had met briefly before, he had been distracted by caring up legal matters related to the disappearance of a passenger, a homesteader who, it was discovered during the voyage, had impregnated his pre-teen daughter.

In this more relaxed atmosphere, he found Theseus' frank manner and entrepreneurial spirit much to his liking.

'The farming planets are best for buying stock to make bio-diesel, but they also make their own, so not much market. The biggest market is the terraforming companies. We do a regular run, but we're always looking for new markets.'

'You may find New Canaan needs more biofuel than usual. They had a nasty earthquake that played merry hob with their own plants. And destroyed a lot of crops.'

'Was the central plant hurt?'

'Hard to tell. The cast didn't have much info near in and when we left the system it was old news. A quake on a terraformin planet? It's not news, it's Tuesday, reckon,' said Zoe.

Mal grunted. 'Our main cargo here is from Perse. You been in touch with him?'

'Not really. Not my favourite brother.I was the youngest and always the smallest kid. Good thing I had a big sis to protect me.'

'It was running your mouth that mostly got you into trouble,小弟.'

'Zoe protected me. Girls get their growth sooner'n boys, so she was bigger than our big brothers at the time. She slapped them into place.' Theseus grinned. 'Remember the time I talked Perse and Sock into a spacewalk just before we went into atmo?'

'At lest they had enough sense to untether before they got a fiery death.'

'They was some mad when Daddy had get a shuttle to pick 'em up after he figured out where they was.'

'Daddy was madder. You hadda hide in the vents until Daddy cooled down.'

'I wasn't hiding, I was stuck.'

'Unless you figured a way to use the jakes from the vents, you was hidin.'

'I admit it, I have never been a brave man.'

'My daddy says a smart man knows enough not to get into spots where bravery is necessary.' Theseus' son added.

'Yer daddy ain't a fool , ' said Mal.'Verse'd be a safer place in'n more followed that advice.'The entire crew stared at their captain. "What?'

Theseus had a few suggestions for disposal of the icewine and offered to call ahead to assure the potential customers of Serenity's bone fides. He scoffed politely at a finder's fee, but Zoe and her sister in law,more aware of the costs of raising children, quietly made and arrangement for half of one percent of the final price.