Written Jan/Feb 2012
Posted: feb 6th, 2012
Title: Touchdown: Safety
Author's note: This story takes place soon after all of the episodes of the TV series, and prior to the events of the movie Serenity
Inara sat in her shuttle and wondered whether Mal was ever going to be able to fence the antique laser pistol called the Lassiter. It had been over a month since Mal and his band of bandits successfully stole the antique from the planet Bellerophon.
In the intervening time, Mal had to return one of his old army buddies to his family after a shootout left him dead. After that, Mal and his crew helped one of Inara's old Companion sisters who ran an unsanctioned brothel far from Guild protection.
It had also been many weeks since Inara had a customer. After successfully surviving an encounter with a crazy bounty hunter who somehow managed to board the ship while in mid-flight, Mal and his crew were now headed toward the Core, to a planet called Londinium.
It would be the first time the Serenity landed on Londinium. One of the two capital worlds of the Alliance, Mal had tried very hard to avoid the planet. However, he finally relented to Inara's suggestion that he allow her to help him fence the Lassiter laser.
While on Londinium, Inara would also see if she could pick up a client or two.
Kaylee and Wash were excited about spending some time on Londinium. Just as Wash had been excited a while back when the ship landed on Ariel, he wanted to take his wife Zoe out to someplace nice.
Mal walked up to the cockpit.
"Any trouble with checkpoints or Alliance patrols?" asked Mal.
"None whatsoever, Captain Harbatkin," responded Wash. The official papers for the ship listed the captain as an alias of Mal's. Mal didn't much like his name popping on Alliance radars.
Mal was also able to find a gig for the Serenity that would be a reasonable cover for the ship going to Londinium in the first place. Not that ships necessarily needed a reason to travel throughout the system, but it was good to have a legitimate task that he could use to explain to any alliance customs officials as to why they were arriving on Londinium. Serenity was delivering three crates of antique toys to a toy collector on Londinium.
Mal went down to the cargo hold to take a peek at his cargo. Characters from cartoon shows back on Earth-that-was. There were three characters called Smurfs. All three of these characters had blue skin. The older smurf wore a red hat with red pants, and had a white beard. The younger male smurf had a white hat with white pants, wore a pair of eyeglasses, had a pencil tucked above his right ear, and held a brown book in his left hand. The female smurf wore a white hat, a white sundress, and white high heeled shoes. She had long flowing blonde hair. Mal was intrigued by the toys. He never really had toys while growing up on Shadow. He had a toy racecar, and a model of a spaceship. But he never had any figures of characters. Not even the action figures that most young boys grew up with.
"I believe the blonde one is named Smurfette," said Reverend Book. Book just walked into the Serenity's cargo area and saw Mal studying the toys. He then joined Mal in front of one of the crates.
"You know of these ancient cartoons?" asked a surprised and amused Mal.
"When I was a child, my mother showed me a few of their comic strips. Papa smurf, and brainy smurf," said Book as he pointed to the other two smurf characters.
Mal looked at some of the other toys. There were four green toys that appeared to be hybrids of humans and turtles. He wondered whether this was what some of the ancestors on Earth-that-was thought space aliens looked like. The four turtles each had a different color headband wrapped around their eyes, and each seemed to have a different type of hand combat weapon.
After a minute, Mal re-sealed the crate and decided to head back up to the cockpit. No point in staring at the antique toys.
"Inara, we'll enter atmo in a few minutes," came Wash's voice over the intercom into Inara's shuttle.
"Thanks Wash," she said.
Her shuttle was prepped for launch and she would disengage from the Serenity before the ship landed.
Durran Haymer had been disappointed for a few days. Perhaps even a week. A wealthy collector of Earth-that-was artifacts, one of his most prized possessions had been stolen recently. To add insult to injury, his artifact was stolen by a woman he once loved.
The Bellerophon authorities had managed to detain Yolanda, but only because her comrades had seemingly double-crossed her and taken the antique for themselves. Regardless, Haymer had been sure he would soon get his antique laser back. It would be impossible for the thieves to sell the item. Now, as the time passed, it seemed maybe the thieves would get away after all.
After a few weeks of being held in Bellerophon, Haymer agreed that the local authorities had obtained as much information as they ever would from the prisoner. She would be transferred to Alliance authorities for further interrogation, as they seemed to have her implicated in other crimes across the system. Haymer had considered perhaps dropping the charges in hopes that she would rejoin him at her side. But he concluded that she was never really his to begin with.
"Inara Serra, I would like to introduce you to my friend, Vinh Wing," said Nalia.
Inara had been convinced by her old friend Nalia to escort Mr. Wing to a ball. Wing was a childhood friend of Nalia's, and she had often worried about his introversion and shyness around females. Nalia was a musician, and met Inara while both were entertaining a high ranking official on Londinium several years ago. They became fast friends, but only saw each other once in a while. Wing felt strange paying for the company of a female. Nalia had told him that Inara just wanted to go to the ball and Inara wasn't looking to get paid. In reality, Nalia promised to pay Inara out of her own pocket.
"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," said Vinh Wing. He was very polite and even gave a half bow before taking her hand and kissing the top of it.
"Please, no ma'am," said a smiling Inara. "Call me Inara."
"Sure. You can call me Vinh."
"So… Vinh Wing. Any relation to Atherton Wing?" asked Inara.
"I don't think so," said Vinh. "It's possible though. We're a big clan. Friend of yours?"
"Not exactly."
Atherton Wing was an elite on the planet Persephone. He had been one of Inara's dates until a confrontation between Mal and Atherton led to a duel. Atherton had been described as quite a dandy, but lethal in sword duels. Inara determined that the two Wings probably were not related. Atherton Wing had a Caucasian background whereas Vinh had an Asian background. Still, perhaps related through marriage or adoption.
"I'll leave you two together," said Nalia as she walked away. She winked at both of her friends, but Vinh was determined not to take advantage of Nalia's friend.
"Here you are, sir," said Mal.
After Serenity had landed in one of the somewhat more rural areas of Londinium, Mal, Wash, and Jayne had taken the mule to deliver the three crates to their intended recipient.
"Ah, excellent," said the slightly overweight antique toy dealer. He had been anticipating this delivery for a few weeks now. Bartholomew Flake had spent the 8 years of his adult life collecting rare books and toys that were related to ancient cartoons of Earth-that-was. His passion stemmed from when he was a child, but as an adult, he served as a locater and gatherer of the antiques for very wealthy clients. He himself could have been a much wealthier person if he had not so often taken a lower commission in return for some of the antique toy figurines. But he was quite happy being mildly successful and having a barn full of collectibles.
Bart opened up the crates and inspected the contents. His face lit up in joy. He hadn't had a delivery in almost a year. These antiques were often hard to find. He grabbed a pouch of gold and silver coins from one of his pockets and tossed it over to Mal.
"Captain Reynolds, I believe your payment is in order," said Bart.
At first, Mal bounced the pouch on his hand to feel the weight of it. Then, he opened up the pouch and scanned the coins. He nodded.
"Good doin' business with you, sir," Mal said in a slight drawl. "I reckon by the look of it, you are plenty satisfied with the merchandise."
"Very," replied Bart.
Bart was about to close the crates and motion for his assistants to help carry them to his transport. But he stopped Mal.
"Captain Reynolds," said Bart as Mal and his crew were about to turn and walk away.
"Yes?"
"I have a tradition. Sometimes, after I deliver the goods to my clients, I will take one of my new acquisitions as my own as part of the payment. The only toys I needed to get a hold of for my client were these Ninja Turtles," said Bart as he pointed to the four human-turtle hybrids that Mal had took a peek at earlier. "You may pick one or two of the remaining toys if you'd like, as a thank you for keeping them in such pristine and mint condition during transit. Most people think it absurd to carefully handle what used to be children's playthings, and would transport them in a callous manner. You took care to treat them in a fragile way."
"Not a problem, Mr. Flake," said Mal. "It was part of my job. Deliver the cargo in a respectful-like manner."
"Still, captain. If there is anything that you think you would want, now would be your last chance."
Mal was convinced to take a quick look over the crates of figures and other toys. He decided that he would try to spot a doll for Inara. He went over to the third crate which was half filled with dolls. The first few were interesting. They were apparently from a line of princesses. One was a mermaid with red hair. The second was fully human, but her prince appeared to be some sort of hybrid lion-man. The third pair caught Mal's eye. Both the prince and princess were human. But they were dressed in unique garb. Mal could see that one of the other princesses was dressed in a traditional Chinese robe, but all of the rest were dressed in western European-style ballgowns. The one Mal was looking at right now was dressed in something different.
Mal held up the princess doll.
"What fashion of attire is this? Is it Chinese?" he asked.
Bart smiled.
"Not exactly. Back on Earth-that-was, there were some minor cultures in addition to the Western/Anglo culture and the Chinese/Sino culture which both eventually combined to form the alliance. The doll you are holding belonged to a culture typically called Arab. Geographically, they were between China and Europe. The doll's name is Princess Jasmine. Her prince is Aladdin."
"I see," said Mal. He thought the dolls were exotic enough that Inara would like them.
Bart could see that Mal was a little rough around the edges. Not the typical well-heeled resident of one of the Core planets.
"The couple has an interesting backstory," said Bart. "Well, they all do. This one here was a mermaid princess who wanted to be a human being. This one was an enchanted prince who was turned into a beast until he could find someone to love him despite his grotesque appearance," he said as he pointed to the mermaid and the beast dolls.
"The ones you are holding," continued Bart "are characters in a story about class divisions. The princess was lacking a suitable mate. The prince, in this case, was not a prince at all, but a poor peasant who stumbled onto a genie. The young boy had three wishes. After having fallen in love with the princess in a random encounter in the city, he wished to be a prince so that he could court her. His second wish was used up to save his life from a rival, a rival who had also turned the young man back to a peasant. The genie had one last wish to give, and offered to turn the young man back into a prince. Instead, the young man kept to an earlier promise and wished for the genie to be free from his lamp. Seeing the kindness in his heart, the princess chose the young man to be her mate regardless of his humble background."
"Interesting…" said Mal. In reality, he didn't find it interesting at all.
"It's a cute story, don't you think?" asked Bart.
"Sentimental," said Mal. "But ridiculous."
"Well, they are children's cartoons," said Bart. "Don't you think it's a good fable for the children? Be virtuous, be true."
"Such people wouldn't survive in the real world."
"Ah, but the meek shall inherit the Earth," said Bart.
"Sir, there are dozens of Earths in the 'verse, and the meek have inherited not a one of 'em."
Whoa, thought Mal. He felt a little bit of déjà vu, as if he had said that before. Couldn't have been to Zoe. To Kaylee?
"That's quite cynical, Captain Reynolds," said Bart. But he remained his cheery self. "I think you'll be surprised someday."
Bart then changed the topic.
"May I ask who these are for?"
"Who says I even want these?" replied Mal.
"Okay," said Bart. But he could tell they were for an object of Mal's affection. Perhaps even a woman from one of the core planets. The Aladdin story had resonated with the young captain.
"Well, whether you want them or not, I am considering those to be your gift," said Bart. He closed the lids to his three crates and his assistants began moving them.
As Bart walked over to his vehicle, he bid Mal farewell.
"Thanks again for the delivery. Live a happy life, Captain Reynolds," said Bart.
Bart's vehicle sped away, leaving Mal standing there and looking at the gifts Bart left him. He had one doll in each hand.
Jayne smirked.
"Good evening, cousin," said Vinh as a young lady approached.
Inara had her left hand on Vinh's right arm and the two of them made their way through the concert hall's atrium.
"It's good to see you out and about, cousin," said the young lady. She turned her attention to Inara.
"I'm Marie, nice to meet you." She was glad to see her cousin with a Companion. Marie was also another of Vinh's close friends or relatives who worried about his somewhat strong shyness. It wasn't always this way. When they were children, Vinh and Marie often played together and went out to public places. For some reason, Vinh's demeanor changed after the war. He was more reserved. Vinh had always been somewhat shy, but interacted well with others. He was now a little bit more withdrawn, especially with members of the opposite sex.
Inara liked Marie's fashion sense. She complimented Marie on it, and Marie returned the compliment as to Inara's style. Inara could tell that Marie's outfit was pricey. The Wing clan was quite wealthy. Marie's family was much wealthier than Vinh's, but Vinh led a comfortable life.
"How are you these days, Marie?" asked Vinh.
"Well, as a member of high society whose duty irrationally requires it, I am here to attend the benefit concert and then the charity ball afterwards. The third ball this month! When will this tedium end?"
Vinh laughed.
"Your question is amusing," said Vinh. "You realize that you need not attend if you find such things tiresome?"
"Unlike you, I am not a hermit, cousin," said Marie. She knew her social status required her make public appearances. "However, I am glad to see that you came out tonight."
Marie smiled. She had not seen her cousin in years. She then gave her cousin a hug and walked away. There were other guests she had to greet.
Mal, Wash, and Jayne made it back to the Serenity without incident. Sitting at the wooden dining table, Mal poured the golden coins out of the pouch.
Jayne smiled a childish grin.
Zoe and Wash were also happy. This was the most money they've seen in quite a while. Though, of course, they were hoping for even more of the gleaming coins if and when they could sell the Lassiter laser. Inara's contact wouldn't be on Londinium for another two days.
Mal took out a rag and started shining the coins.
"You know, them coins are worth just as much no matter how sparkly they are," said Jayne.
"I just like the look of it," said Mal. He wondered why anyone would ever prefer boring old paper credits as payment when compared to gold coins.
Inara found herself enjoying the company of Vinh Wing. She had some hesitation that he would be awkward, anti-social, and pretentious, but thus far he seemed to be a well-adjusted and easygoing person. She did detect a hint that he was introverted by nature, but he played well with others. She was glad she caved in to her friend Nalia's request. Some of the clients she had picked recently turned out to be less than gentlemanly. Atherton Wing came to mind.
After the concert, the two of them made their way to the ballroom. Inara could tell that Vinh was a little bored by the concert. It wasn't his type of music. But while conversing, she also got the sense that Vinh was at least a little excited for the ball. Although raised in the upper classes, he had only attended two balls in his life. The first one was a military ball, and he only went after he was practically ordered by his training officer to attend. He attended his second ball while in graduate school. He mustered all of his courage and asked out a girl he thought was quite cute. She agreed, but only as friends. Vinh did indeed have a rough time with the opposite sex.
"You must hate these concerts as much as your cousin Marie," said Inara jokingly. She almost caught Vinh nodding off during one of the set pieces. Inara herself thought the orchestra was quite entertaining. "I hope you have a more stimulating time at the ball."
"I am sure that with you as my dance partner, it will be enjoyable," said Vinh with a genuine smile. He had enjoyed the previous two balls, even with a lack of a romantic partner. There was no reason to think this third one would be any different.
Alliance forces had just taken custody of Yolanda when she glimpsed one of the agents scrolling through photos of dozens of at-large fugitives on his personal tablet computer. One of the pictures was of her, naturally. She had at least three warrants outstanding for her arrest, from various planets. But she was surprised to recognize another of the photos.
"Agent," she said in a nice tone of voice. "Do you think you can tell me who that is?"
Her hands were cuffed behind her back, and the agent didn't know to which photo she was referring. She had tried to indicate the photo by nodding at the screen.
"Which one?"
"Top row, third from the right. Gentleman with the short dark hair."
"I'm not sure," said the agent. He then punched in some commands and the photo took up almost the entire screen while the other photos disappeared. The agent then read some of the text under the photo.
"Doctor Simon Tam," said the agent. "Wanted for aiding and abetting the escape of his sister, River Tam, from a psychiatric detention facility."
She recognized the gentleman as one of the passengers on Malcolm Reynold's ship Serenity. She didn't seem to run into him the last time she was aboard the ship, while heading to Bellerophon. But the first time she had stayed aboard Serenity, she remembered him talking to Mal when she was first discovered in the ship's cargo hold.
"I know that man," said Yolanda. "I can tell you where to find him. But I won't give you any information unless you promise to set me free."
The agents guarding her were unsure. Although Simon Tam was wanted, it did not seem as if he was a higher enough priority to the Alliance authorities to warrant releasing a prisoner with multiple counts of grand theft, and possibly more to be discovered. She was also charged with assault. On top of that, there were some footnotes in her file that she should never be trusted. Nevertheless, the agents relayed the information to their immediate superiors.
Vinh Wing was having a good time. Although, he had been a little impatient with the long line for getting alcoholic beverages. He himself never really drank much, but Inara had asked for some, and he obliged. As he was standing in line feeling bored, Inara surprised him by standing in line with him.
"You didn't have to get up," said Vinh. They had just found their table and dinner was about to be served any minute now. Or… so they were told. The dance floor in the middle of the giant hall was mostly empty as everyone either got to their seats or lined up for a beverage.
"I'm your date for tonight," said Inara. She then held onto his arm again.
Inara decided to get some type of wine. Vinh wasn't sure what type. He got a mixed drink called a Midori Sour. It glowed neon green.
"That's an interesting choice," said Inara.
"I like sweet drinks," said Vinh. "Don't like the taste of alcohol much."
They walked slowly in the direction of their table.
"Nalia tells me you don't usually date much," said Inara.
Vinh shrugged his shoulders.
"Are you… sly?" asked Inara.
"Oh, no…" said an embarrassed Vinh. "Not that… not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that. You know, that's fine for people who are… I'm just… not."
Inara also felt a little embarrassed for bringing it up. Although Vinh was stuttering and uncomfortable as he responded, she sensed that he was telling the truth.
"I sincerely doubt she is telling the truth," said a young sergeant to his commander.
"I concur," said the commander. "Tell the agents to keep the prisoner detained."
"Should I contact the Blue Sun corporate security? They might be interested," said the sergeant.
"No, leave them out of this. Those guys are trouble."
"Understood."
The food was still yet to arrive. Vinh had been warned about this. The food always takes forever to arrive, said Marie.
As the guests became impatient, some of them requested that music be played and they took to the dance floor. Vinh was one of those guests. He and Inara had waltzed to two songs. Inara found him to be a reasonably graceful dancer.
"So, Mr. Wing," said Inara. "When you are not waltzing or nodding off at benefit concerts, what do you do with your time?"
"Not much, I lead a boring life," said Wing.
"So, a hermit, as your cousin describes you?"
"I guess," said Vinh. He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a bit of a lone wolf. It's just who I am."
"Well," said Inara. "You shouldn't be one. Experience the world. Mix with others."
"Sure," he said.
"What is your profession?" asked Inara after a few moments of silence. She recalled that he used to be an Alliance military officer. Perhaps he still was one. Maybe he had a desk job crunching numbers or something that kept him relatively isolated. Or perhaps he wasn't quite the recluse he professed to be.
"For the most part, I don't really work," admitted Vinh. "I don't really need to."
"Oh," said Inara. She wasn't sure why she was surprised. She just had the feeling that Vinh wasn't one of those types of people who lived off of their family's wealth.
"Sometimes, I act as a low level government official," said Vinh.
Yet another surprise for Inara.
"In what capacity?" asked Inara.
"I'm a reserve prosecutor for the Southern District of Londinium," said Vinh. "I'm usually active only about 8 or 9 weeks out of the year. Maybe a couple of months in the summers and a week in the winter. Makes life interesting sometimes."
"What type of prosecutor?" asked Inara. "Homicide?" She was wondering whether there was more to Vinh than meets the eye.
Vinh laughed. "Nothing that crazy. Londinium is a very peaceful planet. Not like some of the border or rim worlds. There are very few homicides here."
The music started playing lower in volume, and a quick announcement by the DJ informed the guests that the food was finally arriving. The dancers slowly left the dance floor and returned to their tables.
As the two of them got seated at their table, they greeted their tablemates. A couple from Sihnon. The gentleman was a financier and his lady was a doctor. The four of them got along very well. It turned out that the doctor had also been former Alliance military, in the medical corps.
"You were both grayshirts," said the man, named Hugo Hastings. Alliance military and law enforcement personnel were often called grayshirts because they wore gray uniforms. It was a contrast with the Independent military personnel, who were often called browncoats. Some of the border residents sometimes called Alliance personnel purple bellies, but that wasn't always accurate, as only ground troopers wearing armor had the purple armor over their torso. Most personnel only wore the gray uniforms.
"Feels like such a long time ago," said Vinh.
The conversation then turned into a political one.
"The war was never worth it, I say," said Hastings.
"I don't believe that for a second," said Vinh. "It was important to establish central authority over the border planets. It still is. There remains very little Alliance control over most of the border worlds."
While Inara had supported the Alliance in the past, in the recent years, she started to see things from the Independents' point of view.
"The border planets say they just wanted to be free. Something all human beings yearn for, don't you think?" asked Inara.
"That's false. The only people who take such a stance are those who would take advantage of the weak. Their cries of 'Don't Tread on Me,' were actually cries of 'Don't Tread on Me while I Tread on Others.' Have you ever visited one of those rim worlds? Utter chaos. There's freedom all right. Freedom to starve. Freedom to die of curable illness. Freedom to be enslaved into indentured servitude digging mud for the entirety of your life. Enslaved! There needs to be central authority from Sihnon and Londinium to protect the weak or else the strong local barons simply oppress their neighbors. Did you know there are even some planets where women are killed for not satisfying their husbands? Killed! And don't even get me started on the backwards planets where people are burned at the stake for allegedly being witches or wizards. It's like you dropped into the medieval ages. A fair and just society can only exist when there is law and order, and basic human rights for everyone," said Vinh. He wasn't loud, but he was passionate in his beliefs.
Inara knew all too well of the criticisms Vinh had mentioned. In fact, Serenity had visited planets where many of the living conditions were less than ideal and may have benefited from a little bit of law and order imposed by the Alliance.
"If that's how they want to live, I say, let them live that way. They have the romantic notion of self-reliance on the frontiers. Not dissimilar to the American Wild West. Who is to say that should not be an acceptable way to live?" countered Hastings.
"We shouldn't live in the past. Just because hunger and illness and even indentured servitude may have ran rampant in the ancient times of Earth-that-was does not mean such barbaric conditions should be acceptable today. We do not live in the Wild West. The Wild West wasn't even the Wild West! Allowing the strong to prey on the weak is never a good thing," said Vinh.
While the two of them strongly disagreed on this matter, they found other topics to agree upon. Hastings' wife, Jade, and Vinh talked about their parents. Both Vinh and Jade were of Chinese descent, and they shared similar stories of how their parents would always say that red was a lucky color, or that the number 8 indicated wealth and prosperity. Vinh and Hugo shared a surprising fondness for a sport called American football. Long deemed a sport for the unwashed masses, members of the higher classes tended to like other, more refined sports, such as tennis.
"Were you a doctor in the military?" asked Inara, directing her question to Jade.
"No, I went to medical school after my time in uniform," said Jade. "I worked in a biomedical lab when I was enlisted. You were an officer, right Vinh?" she asked.
"For a short while."
"Were you a combat officer?" asked Jade.
"Oh, I was in the Fleet," said Vinh. "I was a forward fire coordinator. I designated targets for the aerial bombers."
"Sounds exciting," said Hastings.
"It wasn't too exciting. Very routine. I was a safe distance away from the hot zones 99% of the time. Got interesting on several rare occasions."
As the four of them were about to finish their meal, the head waiter approached the table.
"Sir, are you Mister Vinh Wing?" he asked.
"Yes," replied Wing.
"I've got a personal communication for you," said the waiter. He handed Vinh a small handheld tablet computer.
"Thanks," said Vinh. He took his napkin and wiped his mouth. Then he activated the computer by touching the screen.
"Please excuse me," said Vinh as he got up from the table and walked to a more deserted corner of the ballroom.
"Ni hao," said the person from the other end of the communication.
"Ni hao, Steve," said Vinh.
"I hope you're have a fun evening," said John. "Surprised that you are at a ball. Didn't think you liked socializing."
"Doesn't happen often," admitted Vinh. "But I guess once in a blue moon."
"Speaking of blue moons, one of the Blue Sun corporate warrants just crossed the restricted confidential InterPol cortex. Normally just background chatter, but I remember you were interested in this one. Simon Tam?"
"Have the agents found him?" asked Vinh. He was visibly a little bit excited.
"Not exactly," said John. "The fed agents seem to have someone in custody who claims to have run into him in the past months or so. She won't give out any details unless she gets a plea deal. But the fed commander has decided she is not trustworthy."
"Where is she being held?" asked Vinh.
"She's in transit from Bellerophon. Prisoner transport arrives at Phoenix Correctional Facility within the hour." That was convenient. Phoenix floated in high orbit over Londinium.
"Xie xie, Steve."
"You're welcome."
Inara sat at the table while Vinh was taking his call.
A middle-aged gentleman stopped by her table.
"Excuse me, miss," said the gentleman. "Are you with Vinh Wing?"
"I am," she said with a smile. "My name is Inara."
"Inara, nice to meet you."
They shook hands. Inara could see that the gentleman scanned the room to try to find Vinh. He was unsuccessful.
"Please do me a favor. My name is George, I am the Deputy Station Chief, Metro South. Can you tell Vinh I asked him to please refrain from going after Simon?"
Inara nodded. "I will relay that message."
George then shook his head. "Knowing him, that would make him want to do it more. Please forget what I just said. Can you please tell him… that I would like to see him at my estate for the after-party?"
"I will relay your newer message, Police Chief George, is it?"
"Deputy Chief Johnstone. Thank you, Inara."
After Deputy Chief George Johnstone left, Inara scanned around and looked for Vinh. She couldn't find him either. Hugo and Jade had returned to the dance floor since their meal was finished. Inara got up from the table and walked to a more private area.
She opened a communication to Serenity.
"What's up, Inara?" asked Wash from the cockpit.
"Is Mal there?" Inara asked, in a somewhat low voice. She didn't want anyone around to hear the conversation.
"Sure, I'll get him."
It took about ten seconds for Mal to get on the line.
"Inara?"
"Mal, take the Serenity off Londinium, now."
"Why? What's going on? Did your Lassiter contact get busted?"
"No, this is about Simon. I think the Alliance somehow traced him. I don't know how."
"Simon's been onboard the whole time; he never left the gorram ship," said a surprised Mal.
"Just do it. Blast off. I'll call you when the coast is clear."
Inara wasn't completely sure this thing was about Simon, but it was a high likelihood. There were other people named Simon in the 'verse, but this coincidence was just too much. Better safe than sorry.
As Inara was speaking with Mal, Vinh made a call after he had hung up with his friend Steve.
"Joey, can you prep the Angelic? We're going on a little trip."
"Got it, boss."
When Vinh returned to his table, he found it empty. He saw that many of the guests had returned to the dance floor, and surmised that his tablemates were there. As he took a sip of his soda, Inara returned to the table.
"Hey, Inara, I'm being called away on something. Sorry to have to cut this short. You were great company."
"Where are you heading off to?" asked Inara.
"Oh, nowhere fun," said Vinh.
"One of your friends stopped by before I left for the ladies' room," said Inara. "A Chief Johnstone? He said he wanted to invite you to an after-party."
"Oh," said Vinh, a little surprised. He didn't quite know what that was about. Did Johnstone know about the possible Simon Tam breadcrumb trail?
"You can feel free to attend if you'd like," said Vinh. "I've heard the parties at his estate at quite elaborate. Tell them you're my guest and I'm sure they'll allow you in."
"Nonsense," said Inara. "I'm sticking with you tonight."
"That's probably not a good idea," said Vinh.
"It'll be okay. I've never seen a prosecutor in action before."
"I'm just going to be handling some paperwork. Boring stuff," said Vinh.
"It wouldn't matter," said Inara. "I would be very pleased if we could stay together for the evening."
Vinh wasn't sure why, but Inara had a certain charm that he couldn't completely resist. He relented and warned her that she should stay in a secure room as he was dealing with someone who was recently apprehended.
Inara and Vinh walked onto his personal yacht, the Angelic. It was a relatively small Seahorse-class, which was about two and a half times the size of Inara's shuttle.
Inara was impressed by the small yacht. Cozy. The internal lighting was bright, and everything was white, clean, and gleaming. It was as if Inara stepped inside Serenity's infirmary. The plush seating in the lounge was also to Inara's liking.
"This is my bodyguard, Joey," said Vinh.
Joey had just walked into the main saloon cabin from the cockpit.
"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," said Joey.
Inara acknowledged Joey with a nod.
"You should see his luxury long cruise yacht," said Joey. Joey could see that Inara was pleased with the Angelic's interior. "Firebird-class, over five times as long. Three decks. He shares it with his brother and cousins, but it's plenty nice. There's even stewardesses and an onboard chef!"
"Okay guys, strap in," said Vinh. "We're blasting off in 2 minutes. The trip should be quick though, we'll be there in less than 15."
Inara and Joey sat in the lounge while Vinh sat in his comfy navigator's chair. He wasn't an experienced pilot, but with this yacht, he didn't need to be. Everything was automated. Flight controls; navigation; engineering. The ship didn't really need a captain, pilot, or engineer. It was state of the art.
"Does Vinh get into a lot of trouble?" asked Inara. "Why does he need a bodyguard?"
"Oh, that's just something he came up with," said Joey. "I'm usually part of the security detail at his family's estate. I served onboard the Alliance cruiser with Vinh a long while back. But I couldn't quite get my life together after the war. He decided to employ me and one other person from our squad to his family's army of servants. Vinh's a good guy like that. My squad mate is a groundskeeper back at the Wing estate."
"You and Vinh were in the same squad?"
"Actually, no. We barely knew each other, but we ran into each other often at the commissary. We both liked the same breakfast cereal from when we were kids and we drank the same quirky soy milk. Half chocolate, half vanilla. I was mobile infantry. He was a fleet officer. Fleet and enlisted troopers don't usually mix well, but he was nice to me."
"I see."
"Are you… his girlfriend?" asked Joey.
Inara was a little surprised. She kind of thought others could tell she was a Companion.
"Just a friend," said Inara. "His date for the evening to the McKenzie Ball."
"Wow, a ball huh?" asked Joey. "I knew Vinh was rich and stuff. Never pictured him at a ball."
Inara thought that was interesting. She also found Joey interesting. This young woman was not from any of the Core planets. The way she behaved, the way she spoke.
"Who are you?" asked the grayshirt sergeant, with two agents standing behind him. "You have no authority here."
Vinh handed over his ident card.
"I'm a federal prosecutor from Londinium," he said. "A GS-11. Now, please bring me to prisoner 602409."
One of the agents scanned the ident card and confirmed Vinh's identity. The sergeant was annoyed. Being a buck sergeant, the gentleman in front of him was at least to 6 paygrades above him. Though, uniformed personnel went by the E/O payscale instead of the civilian GS scale. The sergeant gave his assent and picked up his walkie to order the prisoner moved to an interrogation room.
"Inara, please wait here," said Vinh. She nodded, and took a seat in the waiting area.
The sergeant and two agents led the way as Vinh followed.
The corporal at the guard desk had been smitten. Once the others left, he tried to get Inara's attention.
"Would you like to watch the interrogation?" he asked.
Inara was sometimes surprised at how easily other people would offer to do her favors. She nodded.
The corporal waved her over to his desk. There were three chairs, but he was the only one on duty at the time. Pointing to the left-most monitor in a row of five monitors, the corporal switched the picture to reveal the interior of an interrogation room. It was empty for now.
Vinh walked into the interrogation room. The prisoner had already been seated and handcuffed to the table.
"Yolanda, is it?" he asked.
"Sure," she said, smiling.
"Or perhaps Bridget?" asked Vinh as he threw a manila file folder onto the desk. "Or Isabella?" he threw a second folder down onto the desk. "Saffron? Oh, this one is interesting. Kai lin?" He threw two other folders down.
"I'm sure that's just some sort of computer glitch in the cortex," said the prisoner.
"Nine warrants and counting," said Vinh. "That makes you one special prisoner."
"What can I say? My daddy raised me to be a special girl."
Vinh took a large glossy picture out of his last file folder and showed it to the prisoner.
"What can you tell me about Dr. Tam?" he asked.
"What can you do for me about… all of this," she said as she gestured at the file folders Vinh had previously dropped onto the table.
"Well, you're going to jail for sure," said Vinh.
"That makes me sad to hear," said the prisoner, with a fake frown.
"What I can do is perhaps make your life a little bit easier while you're doing your time. Perhaps minimum security. Maybe even halve the time you wind up serving."
"I can get minimum security myself," said the prisoner.
"Okay, well… let's see," said Vinh as he pretended to flip through all the files. "I'm guessing you'll be doing hard labor on an ice planet somewhere. That sounds fun."
He pretended to walk away from the table and head towards the door.
"Wait," she said. She wasn't really interested in dealing. She was fairly certain that she could escape her confinement before even being brought before a judge for sentencing. But… she wanted to return a favor to her dear friend Malcolm Reynolds. Bringing some Alliance grayshirts to his front door would please her a fair amount.
"I can give you the transponder codes for the ship where Tam is hiding." She had them burned into her memory.
"He's on a ship?" asked Vinh.
"Yes. A Firefly-class transport boat. Her captain is a man named Malcolm Reynolds. He knows me as Saffron. He's a former Browncoat soldier."
She added that little tidbit to increase the fed's annoyance. Although he was dressed in somewhat fancy civilian duds, she had a feeling he was a grayshirt. At the very least, she had the feeling the fed would dislike the Independents.
"So Tam's on a transport boat, what's he doing? Hauling cargo?" asked Vinh.
"Something like that," said Saffron. "Malcolm Reynolds is a bit of a petty thief."
"You mean like you."
"I'm offended," said Saffron, faking offense, but in a coy and transparent way so that Vinh could see it was fake. "Anyway, he's not completely dangerous. Like I said, a petty thief. But he's a scrappy fighter. He's got two other shooters with him, his first mate and a soldier. His pilot and engineer will give you no trouble."
Vinh wondered whether this was some kind of weird trap.
"Thanks for the information. I'll see what I can do for you with regard to your sentencing."
"I haven't even been found guilty yet," said Saffron. "Aren't I presumed innocent?"
"Innocent," said Vinh. "I'm sure that word hasn't been used to describe you in quite a while."
Saffron leaned back on her chair and shrugged her shoulders.
After a couple seconds of silence, Saffron said "when you find him, please tell Reynolds I say hi."
Vinh nodded.
"Thanks for the transponder codes."
As Vinh walked out of the interrogation room, he thought he saw Saffron wink at him.
Vinh walked into a room adjacent to the interrogation room. There were a couple of agents in that room watching the screen.
"Can you guys get InterPol tracking to see if they can find the Reynolds boat?" asked Vinh.
"Already on it, sir," said one of the agents.
A middle aged woman entered the room and introduced herself.
"Prosecutor Wing, is it?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said. He could tell by her uniform that she was a higher ranking official at the prison.
"I'm Lucy Grayson, the deputy warden here," she said.
The two of them shook hands.
"Nice to meet you," said Vinh.
"I was wondering what your particular interest is in our prisoner here."
"No direct interest," said Vinh. "She claims to have information pertaining to another open case."
"Right," said Grayson. "The Simon Tam case. May I ask what your involvement is with that? I noticed you are in the anti-trust division at the prosecutor general's office?"
"Yes," said Vinh. "We have an ongoing investigation into a biotechnology firm. I can't tell you any specifics, as it is still in the investigation phase. But, let's just use generic hypothetical names. Biotech sells at least two drugs. One drug, we'll call Fire, is extremely popular and well in demand. The second drug, we'll call Grass, is effective, but has a strong competitor and is not as in demand at the hospitals. Biotech allegedly has some structure of sales that requires you to buy a certain amount of the less popular Grass drug in order to buy the more popular Fire drug. In the anti-trust division, we call this situation "bundling" and it is impermissible as an anti-competitive action. We were looking into this and Dr. Simon Tam seems to have been the only person who was willing to supply information about this scheme at the hospital he was working at."
"All this trouble for an anti-trust witness?"
"Yes."
One of the agents called the deputy warden to his computer screen.
"Well, Mr. Wing," she said. "It looks like you're in luck. One of Interpol's tracking stations near the border has just responded to your bolo."
She gave Vinh the information that was transmitted after the "be on lookout" alert was sent just several minutes ago.
"It looks like there are several fed marshals assigned to this," she said. She typed in a few sentences into the computer.
"Wow," she said, somewhat surprised. "It looks like this Dr. Simon Tam fellow is quite the popular character. This guy overlaps across so many jurisdictions. Emergency Situations Response Team; Scientific Investigations Section; and… Property Crimes Unit? Seems like one of the higher ups categorized his sister River Tam as "property" of the Blue Sun corporation? I'll also add that Anti-Trust Division is looking for him as a potential witness."
"Thank you, warden," said Vinh. "If you can send word to the marshals, I would strongly prefer it if they could be extra careful and bring Dr. Tam in alive. I can't get information out of a corpse."
"Understood, Prosecutor Wing."
"Hmmm…." said Grayson. "This is interesting. Normally, when a fugitive is wanted by multiple sections of the Marshal's office, they fight over who gets the case. This time, it looks like they're all hanging back. Seems that the only person at the marshal's services interested in this right now is an assistant deputy in the missing persons detail. Simon was reported missing by his father a long while back. They'll get to it by the end of today."
"That's okay," said Vinh. "As long as the boat is tracked, we'll eventually get to him."
"Would you like us to contact Blue Sun private security? They might be able to lend some resources."
"I'd prefer not, ma'am," said Vinh. "Those corporate security guys are a little bit crazy. Tam's going to have several unexplained bulletholes in him by the time I find him."
"I know exactly what you mean," the deputy warden said.
The agent sitting in front of the computer received yet another message and brought it to the Grayson's attention.
"I'm afraid I have some more bad news," said Grayson.
"Go ahead," said Vinh.
"It appears that the fed marshals in charge of Scientific Investigations and Property Crimes are of the opinion that because the prisoner has been deemed untrustworthy, their respective divisions will not devote any resources into following the lead, for fear of it being a wild goose chase. I'm afraid their decisions are final, unless you'd like to appeal to the Chief Marshal at the Department of Justice."
"That's okay," said Vinh. "I'll try to get some of my people at the Prosecutor General's office on this. Thank you for all of your help. If you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to get to."
"Sure," said Grayson. "Oh, one last thing, Mr. Wing."
"Yes?"
"Your lady friend was somehow able to charm her way into the desk corporal allowing her to watch your interrogation. Please remind her that all the information she may have seen and heard is classified."
"I'll do that. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."
"Good luck to you. I hope your first visit to Phoenix has been satisfactory."
"It was. Thank you for your hospitality."
The Serenity sped away from Londinium as fast as she could.
Mal cursed in Mandarin Chinese.
"That's a new one," said Wash.
"How did the feds know?" wondered Mal to himself. He counted himself lucky that Inara was coincidentally in a position to overhear this development. Mal and Inara arranged a pre-determined hiding spot for the Serenity. They would maintain radio silence and Inara would meet up with the Serenity at the designated rendezvous point on an isolated moon when the coast was clear.
The Angelic departed from the Phoenix facility and sped toward the last known coordinates of the Serenity. InterPol tracking had ceased monitoring Serenity, as the Marshal Service seems to have been uninterested and ordered the limited resources at the sensor analyst group to monitor other ships. Nevertheless, Vinh thought he would try to pick up a possible trail at the last spot the Serenity was placed before InterPol shifted their resources away.
As Vinh worked the controls of his yacht, Inara entered the cockpit. It was a tight fit, the cockpit was designed for just one person.
"A lawyer and a pilot. A jack of many trades," she said.
"I'm not much of a pilot," said Vinh. "This boat practically flies herself. Advanced computer systems."
"Well, it takes skill to operate the advanced computer systems. I am still impressed." Inara smiled.
Vinh smiled back. "I guess it's true, the geeks shall inherit the Earth."
"May I ask where we are heading?" asked Inara.
"To find an old friend."
Serenity reached the isolated moon that Inara and Mal had agreed upon. There were some rock formations on the surface that created natural cave-like structures that Serenity could tuck itself inside. The weird radiation coming from the planet below also threw off sensors so that Alliance patrols weren't able to scan the moon very well.
"We'll touch down in about 5 minutes," reported Wash.
"Good," said Mal.
The Angelic hovered over the last point InterPol had tracked the Serenity to.
Vinh Wing thought for a while. Where could Serenity have gone to? There was empty space all around him. No settlements nearby.
Inara wondered why Vinh didn't call any of the feds for backup. While watching the interrogation at Phoenix, she cursed herself for allowing Saffron to be apprehended by the Bellerophon authorities after trapping her in a waste disposal container. Who would have thought that would backfire? She should have thought, that's who.
But now, she was curious as to why Vinh didn't bring the feds down to bear. Perhaps he was waiting to actually locate Serenity before calling on reinforcements.
Vinh looked a little frustrated. He couldn't figure out what his next step should be. But he didn't want to give up either.
"Does Vinh often chase after fugitives?" asked Inara. She was sitting with Joey in the lounge portion of the main cabin.
"Not that I know of," said Joey. "Vinh doesn't usually handle this dangerous stuff. He's a court guy. He gets a kick out of attending court. He doesn't like this field investigative work. I think the fugitive is one of his childhood friends. He wants to bring him in safe and sound. Right now, the fed marshals have a dead or alive order. Vinh tried to change it, but I don't think he was successful. Blue Sun private security also has a shoot to kill directive. I'm not sure how Blue Sun is involved, but rumors are that they're pretty efficient at what they do."
"Did Vinh grow up on Osiris?" asked Inara.
"I don't think so," replied Joey. "He was born and raised on Londinium. Why? What's on Osiris?" asked Joey.
"Oh, nothing," lied Inara.
Inara walked up to the cockpit.
"Looking for the fugitive ship?" asked Inara.
"Yea," said Vinh. "I thought I'd be able to figure it out, but I'm having a bit of a mental block."
"Joey tells me you know the fugitive."
"Ha," said Vinh. He thought he had told Joey to stay silent about this. He tried to change the subject.
"Tell me, Ms. Serra: why are you so interested in this?"
"Perhaps in my normal routine, I find the lack of stimulus to be truly disappointing."
Vinh looked at her for a while. He usually had a decent instinct on when someone was lying to him. This time, he couldn't tell for sure. He was going to take a gamble and see how this unfolded.
"The fugitive, Doctor Simon Tam, and I went to pre-med camp together when we were very young. My mom wanted me to be a doctor. I was good at microbiology. He was good at… well… everything else. We were lab partners for two of our courses. I was quite happy for him when he got into MedAcad. I took a different route, couldn't quite stomach the thought of surgery. We lost touch over the years. I was saddened to find out he was a wanted fugitive. If I can just talk to him, I think we could get this all straightened out. I have family in high places. They have influence. This can be fixed."
Inara felt that Vinh was sincere. She took a gamble and offered to tell Vinh where Serenity was hiding as long as he didn't bring the fed marshals into it. He agreed.
"I think we've got company," said Wash. He was monitoring the radar screen.
"Who?" asked Mal.
"Looks like a racing yacht?" said Wash, a little confused. "I don't think they've spotted us. They seem to be in a stationary hover over the moon's surface."
"Inara had suggested maintaining radio silence. Let's stick to that plan. As long as it ain't the feds, let's just keep calm."
"Aye, captain," said Wash.
As the Angelic hovered over the moon, Inara tried to contact the Serenity. No use, they had shut off their communications systems. She was hoping to announce her arrival so that Mal would not come out with guns blazing when he saw an unknown ship with unknown people.
She pointed out the spot where she thought Serenity was hiding, and Vinh guided the Angelic to touch down about 100 yards from the location. She suggested that she disembark first and try to get Simon to come meet with Vinh.
As the Angelic landed, Mal got Zoe and Jayne ready for a possible confrontation.
"How did the gorram feds find us?" asked Jayne, holding onto Vera.
They were a little bit surprised when Inara approached.
"Should've known," said Mal, pleasantly surprised. The three of them lowered their weapons.
"I reckon the coast is clear?" asked Mal.
"I think so," said Inara.
"Stealin' a fancy racing yacht. Quite a criminal mastermind," said a smiling Mal.
"I didn't steal it, Mal," said Inara with a serious face.
"Oh, lemme stand corrected. Borrowed. You borrowed a fancy racing yacht," said Mal. "Hope your client doesn't miss it much."
She walked past Mal and into the main cargo hold.
"What, no hug?" asked Mal, jokingly.
"I need to find Simon," said Inara.
"Well, hello to you too!" said Mal.
"Oh, by the way, Saffron says hello!" shouted Inara as she climbed up the steps.
Mal cursed in Chinese.
"He's dead," said Simon.
"Say again?" said Inara. The whole crew was now at the dining table.
"He's dead," repeated Simon. "Vinh Mars Wing. Some of the pre-meds inverted his middle and first names and called him 'MarVin.' Then some started calling him just 'Mar' because the students matched him with a girl in our class named Marissa. The class called them Mar-squared. They were both painfully shy. It was almost ridiculous that they found each other. Though, the two denied they were attracted to each other. It turned out they were the only ones from Londinium in our entire class."
"How did he die?" asked Zoe.
"Battle of Sturges."
Mal and Zoe knew the battle well. It was the shortest yet bloodiest battle of the Unification War.
"Sorry about your friend," said Kaylee. He was visibly sad. She touched his arm and tried to comfort him.
"We weren't close, but he was a good guy. Dependable. Shy, but funny a lot of the times. He was witty. Fascinated with microorganisms. Thought they were the closest that he would ever get to examining alien life forms. He led a fire control squad, I think they went out in threes. They laser-painted targets for the fast jets to bomb."
"I thought he was Fleet?" said Inara.
"He was, but sometimes, the Fleet bombers needed more precise targets because the soldiers on the ground started to mix and the lines became blurred. The bombers couldn't just bomb the entire area. So he and his men got assigned to an army brigade and were sent down to the planet to paint more confined target areas. His entire battalion was wiped out in the battle."
"Well, he looks very much alive to me," said Inara.
"I remember the day well. The day I read his name off of a KIA list. There were so many names. But his was the only one I knew," said Simon.
"I'd like to meet this guy," said Mal. He wasn't sure why someone would pretend to be a friend of Simon's, other than an elaborate ruse to flush Simon out. But from what Inara was saying, Vinh wouldn't be difficult for Mal to deal with.
Inara had contacted the Angelic, and Vinh and Joey walked over to the Serenity.
Inara was outside, along with Mal, Zoe, and Jayne. Zoe and Jayne both held large guns, ready for trouble. Mal stuck with his trusty sidearm.
"Gun!" shouted Jayne. He had spotted the short barrel shotgun Joey was holding under her coat.
Mal, Zoe, and Jayne all brought their guns up. In response, Vinh unholstered his pistol, and Joey aimed her shotgun at Jayne.
"I have no quarrel with you, Malcolm Reynolds," Vinh shouted.
"Then why do you have weapons?" asked Mal.
"Why do you have weapons?" retorted Vinh.
"It's a dangerous world out there," said Mal.
"That it is," said Vinh.
Vinh slowly walked toward Mal. Each pointed their guns at each other's chest. Vinh stopped about 5 feet in front of Mal. They stared at each other for a few seconds. They both lowered their weapons, for now.
"I just need to speak with Simon."
"Well, that ain't about to happen. He's a part of my crew, and I protect my crew. Dong ma?" Mal crossed his arms over his chest after holstering his sidearm.
"Sy!" shouted Vinh.
Simon and River had been watching the seen from behind a few empty crates from above on a catwalk.
Although Simon did not recognize the voice, River did.
"Vinh," she whispered to Simon while they were still hiding. Simon was amazed. She had only met Vinh once, for a brief few minutes. And she recognized his voice by just one syllable.
Simon decided to walk down and meet with the person who claimed to be Vinh.
When Vinh saw someone who resembled Simon approach, he holstered his pistol. Simon walked closer, and recognized his old lab partner.
"Vinh!" he exclaimed. "I thought you died at Sturges!"
The two of them clasped hands and hugged briefly.
"I nearly did," said Vinh.
"What happened to you?"
"Wound up in ICU for over a year."
The two of them caught up a little bit. Simon talked about how he became a trauma surgeon and Vinh about how he wound up going to law school. Zoe, Jayne, and Joey all lowered their respective weapons.
"I need you to come with me, Sy," said Vinh.
"I've got to figure out what the Alliance did to my sister," said Simon.
"We can help you. I can help you," said Vinh.
"You're with the Alliance," said Simon. "You can't help me."
Vinh made a motion that appeared to Mal as if he was reaching for his pistol. Vinh saw that Mal was about to reach for his gun, so he opened his hand and indicated that he wasn't dangerous.
"I'm just going to open up my shirt," said Vinh. He reached slowly to expose his torso. They could all see that his left shoulder was heavily scarred. About a third of his torso, on the left side had a very strange translucent skin. They could all see his organs underneath. It was a little eerie. Simon could tell Vinh had at least one artificial lung.
"What… happened?" asked Simon.
"Sturges," said Vinh. "The Independents were outmanned and outgunned. They had to come up with something to level the battle field, so they went into chemical weaponry. Melted my flesh right off. I was supposed to die that day. The Alliance docs saved me. It took a while, but they saved me. They're smart; good at what they do. They can help River. Just bring her back."
"I don't doubt that they're good," said Simon. "But the Alliance docs were the ones that messed her up in the first place."
"I took a deeper look in the Academy where River was sent. While it was government-sponsored, it was really run by a government contractor arm of the Blue Sun corporation. Specifically, their military experiments branch. River was one of the subjects in a covert program to design some type of psychic soldier. From what I understand, she's was also implanted with some type of trigger in her brain to self-destruct. Blue Sun did this in case she fell into the wrong hands. If you don't let me help her, she may self-destruct."
"I can't trust the Alliance doctors," said Simon.
"Almost all Alliance doctors would never have allowed those experiments to take place. They'll help River."
"How can you be so sure? How are you going to separate the good ones from the bad ones? I can't take that risk."
"Then you're risking a trigger episode. I don't know what will happen to River if she's triggered."
"I will take that chance," said Simon. "I can only trust myself now."
Vinh sighed. He buttoned his dress shirt back up.
"What happened to me, on Sturges," said Vinh. "It was Blue Sun."
Simon wondered what Vinh was trying to say.
"Blue Sun designed the chemical. It would paralyze the target's limbs and melt te organs slowly, over the course of days While those affected were captured and dying in agony, they would be interrogated for any useful bits of information and promised a quick death if they would cooperate. The Alliance wouldn't deploy it. Said it was barbaric. So Blue Sun went over and sold it to the Independents. Believe me when I say I have no love for the Blue Sun's biosciences R&D branch. They're rumored to experiment on living humans, and I believe it.
Blue Sun and the Alliance government are heavily interconnected. I realize that. But you can't solve this alone, Sy."
"I can't take the chance that your doctors are in league with the Alliance doctors that started this all. I just can't…" said Simon.
Vinh wanted to keep going, but he relented. The two of them spoke for a while longer, about various topics. Vinh offered to shelter Simon and River at his family's vast estate if they were ever in need of a hiding place. Safety from those who would seek to harm River. Simon was grateful, but said he would stick onboard Serenity for now.
Before they parted ways, Mal approached Vinh to speak privately.
"Listen, Wing," Mal said. "My commanders in the Independent militias would have never tolerated the chemical weapon that was used on you. Never."
"That's okay," Vinh said. "The Independents rarely used chemical weapons. It was an isolated incident."
"Still…" said Mal.
"It was war. War is a nasty thing; makes men and women behave in awful ways. It's in the past."
The two former soldiers nodded to acknowledge each other in a silent goodbye.
Inara would be the last person to say goodbye to Vinh, even though Simon was arguably a closer friend.
She put a hand gently on Vinh's chest, where he was injured.
"Does it hurt still these days?" she asked.
"Sometimes," he said. She pulled her hand away.
"Be safe, Associate Prosecutor Vinh Mars Wing," said Inara. Rarely did anyone call Vinh by his full name.
"You as well, Ms. Inara Serra."
"It is ironic that you decry the cronyism and corruption of the border planets of the former Independents."
Vinh looked at her with a curious facial expression.
"You've made occasional mention at how powerful your own family is. How you can fix things for Simon. While you may have good intentions, doesn't that lead you to believe that someone with bad intentions may be equally corrupt regardless of whether they are in the Alliance core planets or a lawless rim planet?"
Vinh was amused. He didn't think he would get into a philosophical debate while saying goodbye. But he acknowledged that there was some logic to Inara's thesis.
"Still," he added. "At least in the core planets, people do not starve or die of curable illness. People have food and shelter. Order instead of chaos."
"To some, order is boring. Even oppressive. They prefer the chaos."
Vinh smiled. "I know it."
Inara brought her face close to Vinh's and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. 2 seconds.
Mal caught a glimpse of that. Part of him was irritated.
"Farewell, Vinh Wing," said Inara.
Vinh started to walk back to the Angelic, where Joey had been waiting for him.
Mal flipped the switch that slowly closed the cargo bay door.
"What now, Ms. Serra?" asked Mal.
"Now, Mr. Reynolds, we meet our buyer for the Lassiter."