No More Waiting
Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly.
Chapter 1
Investigations
Captain Malcom Reynolds sat in the shuttle, navigating it back onto Serenity. He noticed that Inara's shuttle was still there, and was actually surprised. I know I told her not to see any clients, but she was so insistent…and she has been funny ever since that one time…
"That one time" was referring to an incident where Inara, after getting angry about Mal when he wouldn't let her leave the ship right away, slipped on the ground and hit her head. Simon had called in a "minor concussion," and after about a day of rest Inara was up and about, but she had basically gone completely crazy. Mal thought it was a minor thing that would pass shortly. Seeing Inara's shuttle in dock suggested it might have.
Mal docked the shuttle and got off. Nobody greeted him when he entered until he went into the cargo hold, where Zoe was sitting. "Nice to have you back, sir," she said.
"Everything go all right while I was gone?" he asked.
"Well…not exactly, sir."
"What do you mean?"
"Inara's gone."
"Gone?"
Zoe nodded.
"Gone where?"
Zoe shrugged. "I think somebody might have shot her out the airlock in the middle of the night."
"You're joking, right?"
"No, really. We can't find a trace of her."
"You can't be serious."
"I am dead serious, sir. I don't know what happened to that crazy whore, and frankly, I couldn't care less."
"Wait a second…"
"You should have heard the names she called you, sir," Zoe said, her eyes filling with rage. "I wanted to kill her."
Mal raised his eyebrows. Zoe cleared her throat hastily. "Not that I would, sir…you know I would never do anything like that without your permission…"
"Of course," Mal said. "I…I think I'm going to…er…go to my room…"
Mal bolted out of the cargo hold. He went into the cockpit, where Wash was sitting, looking murderous. "Have you noticed anything funny about your wife?" Mal asked.
"No," Wash said angrily. "Why, have you?"
"Uh…"
"Just leave me alone!"
"What's wrong with you?"
"I'll tell you what's wrong with me!" Wash gestured all around him. "Don't you see?"
"See what?"
"Exactly! There's nothing there!"
"Nothing where?"
"My dinosaurs!"
Mal blinked. Sure enough, the dinosaurs were gone.
"What happened to them?" Mal asked.
"Inara," Wash growled.
"What did she do?"
"She chucked them out the airlock."
"Why the hell did she do that!"
"They weren't presentable enough for Mr. Bun tyen-shung duh ee-dway-ro…"
"Who?"
"Inara's client! She brought him onto the ship!"
"She did what?"
"You heard me! She brought a client onto the ship, and she messed everything up for him!"
"And she chucked your dinosaurs out the airlock."
"Yes!"
"So you chucked her out the airlock."
"What! No, I'd never…I mean, I know she's gone missing, but…come on, Mal!"
"Oh no, I understand," Mal said, walking out of the cockpit. But his suspicions were growing. Obviously Inara disobeyed orders. That would make Zoe really mad…plus she called me bad names! There's two reasons Zoe would kill her. And Wash's dinosaurs are pretty close to him…he may have killed her for revenge…or maybe it was a collaboration between the two! I'd better talk to somebody else about this…
Mal walked over to the engine room, where he was sure Kaylee would be. He knew how much Kaylee liked Inara, so he figured she would be able to clear things up on what Inara really did, but when he walked in, Kaylee immediately ran up and started screaming at him in a tone of voice Mal had never heard before.
"Synchronizers!" she screeched. "Every single one! All ruined! The entire ship is a walking garbage can!"
Mal looked over her shoulder. The entire engine room was a mess. "What happened?"
"Space monkey if I ever saw one!" Kaylee said, still screaming. "Inara's client, the wanna-be mechanic, came in to do a little 'fixing' of our 'broken' engines! He tore the whole place apart! And what did Inara do? She giggled! She thought it was hilarious! I swear, if we ever find that little piece of…"
"I'll be going now," Mal said. He turned around and walked away, hearing a crashing noise and an enraged scream coming from behind him. All right, can't go to Kaylee. Who here on this ship has got some sense, anyhow?
Mal headed over to the sickbay, but only River was in there. Not what I was going for, but what the hell.
"Do you know what happened to Inara?" Mal asked.
River looked up, her eyes wide. "No more waiting."
"What?"
River looked down again.
"Okay," Mal said. "Do you know where Simon is?"
"In the fuel's shuttle."
"In what's shuttle?"
"The fuel of evil."
Mal sighed. "Do you mean Inara?"
River nodded.
"All right…"
Mal hurried over to Inara's shuttle, where he heard loud noises coming from inside. When he opened the door, he ducked as a box hit the wall above his head and came crashing to the ground. Simon was heaving in the back of the room.
"Uh…" Mal said.
"Doesn't matter anymore, does it!" Simon said in a crazy voice, picking up the box. "I've probably already broken everything inside…"
"Are you…"
"All right?" Simon interrupted, his left eye twitching. "What do you think!"
"I…"
"It was in here!" Simon said, shaking the box. "I didn't have any of it in the lab, but the drug was in this stupid Companion's first aid kit! I don't know what they could possibly need it for, but I remember seeing it when Inara let me borrow some of her stuff! Of course, she didn't let me borrow this!"
"What, exactly?"
"I know what's wrong with River! I know what drug can save her! And it's in this box!"
He hurled the box at the other side of the room. "It's locked!" he shouted. "Voiceprint opening! I couldn't steal it, and what did she say when I asked her if I could have it! That she might need it! I told her she would never need it, and she stuck her tongue out at me and said some very rude things! I swear, I might have killed her if somebody else hadn't beaten me to it!"
"Really," Mal said.
"What, you think I did it?"
"No, I'm wondering why you're so sure she's been killed."
"I know you just got back, but you must have realized by now that everyone else on this ship has something against her, too!"
"Of course," Mal said. "Well, I'll talk to you later…"
Mal left, and heard another thud as he continued walking. This is insane! Is there ANYONE on this ship who doesn't have a personal grudge against Inara!
Mal walked up to Jayne's room. He knocked, but there was no answer. He heard a sob coming from inside. What…
Mal opened the door. Jayne was lying down on his bed, crying into his pillow.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" Mal asked.
"She burned it!" Jayne said, sitting up.
"Inara burned something of yours," Mal said.
Jayne nodded vigorously. "She burned my hat!"
Mal's face softened. "The one your mother sent you?"
Jayne started crying again as he nodded.
"Did you kill her, Jayne?" Mal asked softly.
"Hell, I wish!" Jayne said. "Somebody else prob'ly done it…or she might just be hidin' someplace…hidin' an' laughin'…at me…"
"I'm sorry," Mal said insincerely. He left. There's only one person I haven't talked to…
Mal opened the door to the Shepherd's room. He was sitting there, reading his Bible. He started laughing, but it was a menacing laugh.
"Er…" Mal said.
"Special Hell," Book said, laughing evilly again.
"What's so funny?" Mal asked.
"Inara's gone to the special Hell," Book said. "She can rot there for all eternity…"
"What are you talking about?"
"She brought her little friend along onto the ship, and they told some stories. One was about how they went to a movie and talked the entire time!"
"Oh…talking in the theater…"
"One of the greatest of all sins!"
"And you wanted to send her to that special Hell a whole lot faster?"
"Thou shalt not kill," Book said.
"Uh-huh. Well…see you later, then."
Mal left the room. He's a suspect…everyone's a suspect! And there's still the possibility that they all killed Inara together…