A/N: Thanks to Badkarma00 for previewing and critiquing. The suggestions definitely made for a better story. Thanks also to Fabledfigment and anyone else who may recognize a piece or two here and there.
This is my first attempt at a fanfiction reviews and critiques are welcome.
Prolog
The six foul looking men and one woman looked distinctly out of place in the sterile room dominated by a huge black conference table. Each dressed in his or her version of Rim scum sheik, from the monstrously obese woman wearing raw Fleagian silk that glittered as it struggled to restrain the rolls of fat bulging against it, to the cadaverous man with dead eyes dressed in the clothes of a core dandy. The underlying sense of filth that they exude resists any attempt to be disguised by pretty clothing. They represented the worst of the Rim drug lords, whore masters, pirates and slavers. It almost appeared as if someone had consciously gathered the living images of the seven deadly sins in one place. They snarl and growl at each other in an instinctive dance of dominance thrown oddly out of sync by their discomfort. Fingers tug at sleeves and hands grope at waistbands seeking the reassuring feeling of weapons not there.
The snarls fade when the door opens. They gape at the sight of the two strange men that step into the room. Short hair, pale skin, identical pale blue suits with bright blue gloves on their hands, the men exude a sense of wrongness that causes even these tiānshā de èmó to ease back. Blue hands clasped in front of them the two men stood at the head of the black table. Holograms of Serenity's seven crew members appear down the center of the table.
The two men with hands of blue each speak, one then the other as if they share a single brain, each sentence following on the other as if spoken by one person. "These seven people travel together. We wish you to separate them. Single them out one at a time and capture them, use them, do whatever you wish to them, except you may not kill them – yet." Except for these two." River and Simon Tam's holographs enlarge. "These two you will not touch. You will not even touch any of the others if one of these two is present.
"These instructions are not negotiable. You may fail to take them, but if touch the two or kill one of the five prematurely there will be consequences." Almost as one the scumlords spasm, their eyes darting from one face to the next as the pressure in their heads builds. The hugely obese woman is the first to gasp as she notices blood running out of the nose of the man across from her. Her hands fly to her own face and she examines the blood smeared on her fingertips. As if pulled by a string, the gazes of the scum lords return to the unmarked faces of the men with hands of blue. Just as quickly as it came the pressure is gone.
Seven openings appear in the table and sterile packets of blue gloves appear in front of each of them. You will leave one of these gloves when you take one of the five. It is important that these be placed where they will be found." Beneath the glove packets is a sheet covered with skin colored, centimeter square patches. "Have the people involved in the capture wear one of these patches if you wish to have any success. These patches will dissolve into the skin and last for 30 days. When you capture one of these five, place one of the patches on the prisoner at the base of the skull. You will need to replace the patch every 30 days until you hear from us. It would be to your advantage if you can place the patch while your victim is yet unaware."
"You will each receive 50,000 credits in advance. An additional 25,000 may be earned with the proof of capture for each of these people." Once again the table regurgitated packets in front of the seven people. "The necessary information about these people is also contained in these packets."
The door opened and the men with hands of blue walked out.