AN: My First Firefly fic. Enjoy, please R&R
Chapter One: Beep Beep
Beep. Beep.
Captain Malcolm Reynolds lifted his head. He had fallen asleep at the control board. Not a very rare occurrence since Wash's death; though River proved a more than capable pilot, the treatments administered by her brother tended to take up large chunks of her time, leaving Mal to manage the helm along with his other duties. He was exhausted.
Beep. Beep.
The Communicator screen was going off. A message. Mal looked around as he adjusted to his newly-conscious state. No one else was there. Fairly safe. He checked the other boards. No tracking indicators. He took a deep breath and accepted the message.
An image appeared of a young woman with curly blonde hair and a serious, deep expression on her round face. "This is the firefly ship Serenity?"
"It is." The Captain answered, his guard up. "I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Who is this?"
"Captain Reynolds, my name may not be appropriate to disclose to you unless I am sure I have made a proper contact, and believe me, if I haven't, you may be happier that you do not know it."
Mal's level of suspicion escalated significantly at this. "Well, Miss Whoever-you-are, then I don't think it would be proper for us to continue this conversation."
"Please," she asked, suddenly pleading. "All you have to do is call over your intercom and ask for anyone called Caladrius and that they have a message from Talon."
This woman was crazy. "You've got to be jerkin' ma chain, Missie Talon or whatever yer called. Now stop wasting my time."
"Okay! Wait! If you don't want to call over, just please, ask the members of your crew at some point, and if any of them responds, then just, contact me through Channel 8B469F733. I'm given you my number and register there, and I don't have yours."
"Oh really, then how exactly did you contact us then?" Malcolm asked.
"I've been searching for your ship for a long time. I just used a close-range radar, I swear. Just please, try to find Caladrius for me, so much depends on it."
Suddenly the message cut out. Shocked, and rather intrigued, Mal stared at the screen for a good several seconds. The girl on the screen was desperate-looking to a rather pitiful extent. That could not mean good news. Desperate people usually brought him the most trouble. But then again, she had left him the option of never contacting her again, and there had been no strings attached. He'd ignore it.
Mal got up from his seat and walked back across the bridge. Thanks to that disturbing message, he probably would not be getting anymore sleep tonight. He went to the kitchen and pulled some protein from the cabinets. They were running low but they'd be docking on Persephone the next day and besides, he needed something to chew on.
It was a bit unfortunate. Though the Alliance was putting far less heat on them and they had more jobs and money available to them, things had not become any less stressed since Miranda. Wash was gone and his absence was strongly felt by everyone onboard, Zoe most of all. She walked around like a ghost now, barely saying a word unless directly spoken to, and then, her answers were pretty short. She argued less with Mal now as well, and didn't question him, which Mal did not like. He missed her respectful, but no less challenging questions and remarks. She criticized him in a way no one else on the boat could, save for maybe Inara. Always formal, always strong, always deferential, and always right on target. Zoe was always his second brain and without her, Mal had a much harder time making decisions, always wondering if he had missed something without Zoe pointing it out to him. But it seemed when Wash went, he took a part of them all, and an even bigger part of Zoe. Mal missed Wash's quirky, laconic sense of humor, and his clear-thinking. But there was also that calming ability he had to end an argument. He could always make peace in a dispute without letting anything be left unfinished.
With him and Book gone, it seemed the two of the primary sources of wisdom on the ship were gone, and having Zoe somewhat muted only seemed to make things worse. Sure, Kaylee was sweet, genuine, and comforting; and Inara was astute in her own way; but Inara was too threatening to him and Kaylee didn't have street smarts despite her genius intellect. Mal had not realized until now how very much he had depended on their influence. Zoe, sure, he always knew how valuable she was. Mal was always sure that if he lost Zoe, he lost himself. But until now, he had not managed to realize just how crucial Book and Wash were to the environment on this boat.
Since they had been gone, arguments were louder and more heated and tensions were higher. Simon tried to step in and take Wash's place in terms of discussion, but he was no good at it. That sense of propriety would never leave him and the fact was, Wash, for all his excellent qualities, was not a proper gentleman. Wash sharpened the edge, he was never on it.
The shocker was that of all people, River seemed to be the one who really stepped up to the plate in filling in parts of the void. Since assuming pilot duties, she had become more normal, more self-assured, more stable. She was conscious of her surroundings and situations and truly seemed to blossom. Now, she no longer blurted out cryptic phrases, but instead uncomfortably honest and blunt statements or very clear warnings when she saw something coming. Simon was at a complete loss as to the cause of this change, but Mal had an idea. It seemed to him that making River into a useful member of the crew and giving her some real responsibility was the thing doing such good. She seemed to have started getting better once she was no longer the helpless headcase constantly hovered-over and tended to by her brother with nothing to do but wander around aimlessly and take meds. Though she was not any more charming, she was definitely less psychotic.
Mal poured himself a glass of water. It was "night" now, or, in actuality, the period of hours when the crew slept. There was no noise. It bothered him.
--
Mal walked into the kitchen again that morning to find River and Simon at the table, eating. It was earlier than their usual breakfast time, so their appearance was fairly surprising.
"And what are the Tam siblings doing up so early, might I ask?" Mal asked, a small smile on his face. He sauntered over and ruffled River's hair. She smiled and giggled. Mal had taken to making those sorts of gestures toward the young lunatic now that she had melted his fear of her breaking his arm when it was in reaching distance and had become somewhat cute. Mal's face fell when he saw Simon's expression though, it was not happy.
"River woke me up early this morning and told me something. You want to repeat what you said to me?"
River shrugged. "Something happened when we asleep that you don't want to tell anyone about. Something you should talk about."
Mal removed his hand in annoyance. Last night he had poked his head into River's room to check on her. He didn't realize she could read in her sleep!
Simon glared at the captain. "I'd much appreciate it if you would share it with me now."
"Well, that's too bad for ya then since I don't have to or want to, Doc." Mal stared him down. Simon had an annoying habit of trying to assume authority and control during conversations. Mal found he had to remind the Doctor more often that he'd like as to who the captain on this boat was.
"But you should." River said in a sing-song voice.
The captain hesitated. He knew River was a reader, and he knew she was usually right about these things, but it went against his judgment to do so. His confidence took a hit at her words, which he did not appreciate.
"River, why doncha tell me why I should tell y'all about it?"
River stared at his with a cold steadiness. "Because there's money."
Mal felt his attitude change all of a sudden. "River, how much else d'you know?"
River suddenly gazed passed his shoulder. "Yellow and gold curls. Fear. Pleading." She looked back at him again. "That's it."
Mal scanned her face for a trace of a lie. There seemed to be none. He was not surprised, River did not lie. In fact, he could not remember a time where she had ever lied to anyone. He sighed and turned to Simon.
"Does the word 'Caladrius' mean anything to ya Doc?"
Simon's eyes lit up. "Yes. Yes it does. Was there anything else?"
"I got a message last night asking for a Caladrius, said Caladrius had a message from Talon."
Simon shot up from his chair. "Did they leave you means to contact me?"
"So yer Caladrius? Well, yeah they did. But first, I would appreciate some answers. What's Talon and why're they callin you Caladrius?"
Simon did not hesitate to explain, which Mal figured he would. When Simon knew he was cornered, he usually fessed up.
" TALON. The Test Academy Liberation and Opposition Network. They were the group that helped me get River out of the Alliance's lab. Caladrius was my code name."
"And why would they be contacting you?"
Simon shrugged. "I'm as clueless as you are. I was made to understand that after they got me to Persephone, I was not likely to hear from them ever again. They could be sending me a warning, or need my help. I have no idea, but if they're contacting me, it must be important."
"What's important?"
Kaylee was slumped against the doorframe of the kitchen, looking like she had just woken up. She smiled when she saw Simon and sauntered over to him, kissing him on the mouth. She then looked over at Mal and River and winked. "Mornin' Cap'n, Kiddo. Now what's important?"
"Hi Kayleeee!" River said in a sing-song voice. Kaylee smiled.
Mal grunted. "We were just discussing an important message that I received last night meant for Simon. Kaylee, could you call the others in here to discuss this?"
"Sure thing, Cap'n," Kaylee answered, her face alight with curiosity.
In minutes, a sleepy and rather irritable-looking crew (at least on Jayne's part) were assembled in the kitchen. Mal cleared his throat.
"I know it's early but I need y'all to have yer thinkin' caps on. Last night I got a message on the Communicator. It was for Simon, from the group that helped him get River out, called Talon. Now, we don't know why they have tried to contact Doc here, 'sidering he wasn't supposed to hear from them again. But they left a means of calling them and we need to decide if that's a good idea or not. Now, River, she's read some of the situation, but all she could get was that I needed to tell y'all about it, some blonde curly hair, high emotions, and that it means money."
"Simon, how much can you tell us about Talon from your experience?" Zoe asked, suddenly alert. Mal felt a odd warmth flow through him to hear Zoe taking a stand in this.
The former nobleman sighed. "Well, as I told Mal here, Talon is an acronym. It stands for Test Academy Liberation and Opposition Network. They're an underground group. I met them after making concerned inquiries in a couple of government offices after receiving some of River's letters. I was approached by one of their members at a party, who told me that my sister truly was in danger. At the time they were a very well organized and very secret group. At the meetings I attended, we wore hoods and were given codenames, with only a few other members knowing what our real ones were. It was built up by concerned relatives and Alliance employees and officials and while they were very well-connected, they required each member to fund their own rescue mission. They did not like us to grow attached to one another, and everyone was very independent. It was because of this that I had a difficult time trusting them at first, but they never betrayed me and they made it so I was able to save River.
"Despite the distance we kept personally, there was a sort of comradery, as we were all determined to achieve a goal, and everyone did their part to help. We also had to promise complete loyalty to the Network no matter what. We all had to bring something that would benefit everyone and in my case, it was money. But most of us were supposed to be hung out to dry once we got to Persephone. Though they were very well organized, they had not actually accomplished a rescue mission before River. I don't know if there have been any since, either, but if TALON is still alive, then perhaps they have. I don't know how exactly they could have found me, but I'm guessing it's through a connection to the government."
There was a pause. Then Jayne grunted.
"Well," he said, "That don't tell us much."
"It does give us some clue as to who exactly within TALON has contacted us though," Zoe replied, "Probably someone who knew who Simon actually was. Captain, did the person who contacted you give any indication that she knew Simon's real name?"
"Might've, but I really can't be sure. She seemed pretty determined to reach him, but other than that, not really."
"Even if she did, that won't matter. I'm willing to bet Vera that everyone in that organization knows who 'Caladrius' is by now! If not by public announcements, then through their government connections." Jayne argued.
Mal bit his lip. The mercenary had a good point.
"Well… Why would she work so hard to contact Simon in particular though, something tells me there might be a personal connection there."
"Can we be certain?"
"Why don't you describe her to me?" Simon asked, interrupting. Everyone looked at him.
"Well…" He said, "Everyone who ever knew who I was I knew too. We'd seen each other's faces. If you can tell me anything about who it was on the screen, I could probably tell you if I knew her."
The captain took a deep breath. It was a long shot, but it couldn't hurt. "Female. Young. Maybe a little older than River. Blonde curly hair, tanned skin, round face, large eyes, blue, but real-"
"- really dark? Almost indigo? Pretty? Full lips? Deep, sort of raw voice?" Simon said, cutting him off. Mal nodded.
Simon nodded. "I know her. Her code name was Bennu, but her real name is Dr. Roberadette Falk, or, as she preferred to be called, 'Bobbi.' She was a medical student at my school when I met her giving a guest lecture about internship, I remember it was not long after I started sensing something was wrong with River. Anyways, she's the one who brought me to TALON. She was one of the senior members and had a brother in the Academy with River. They were both offered the chance to go, but she turned it down. Anyways, she was the one who persuaded the other members of TALON to let River be the first rescued, placing me before her own brother. She was the one who helped mastermind our escape plan and gave me a glimpse of what was really happening to my sister. Outside this boat, I wouldn't trust anyone else. And if anyone from TALON were to contact me, it would be her."
Mal sighed. "Well, that's at least somewhat reassuring, but what do we know of her now? I mean, she could have changed by now. Why do you think she refused to give your real name?"
"Maybe she wasn't sure if we were trustworthy." Kaylee suggested helpfully. "Like, we could have turned him in the second we found out that our Dr. Joe Schmo was really the fugitive Simon Tam."
"That's a very likely scenario. She also would not have wanted an outsider to know anything about TALON or its connection to me."
"Alright, but should we let Dr. Fancy-pants here call her?" Jayne demanded. "I mean, old buddy or not, that don't guarantee security."
"Jayne's right," Zoe said, "She could be under alliance control now and setting a trap, or it could be an imposter."
"The likelihood of that may be less since Miranda. The Alliance is supposed to think you're dead." The captain mused.
"Supposed to don't make no guarantees either." Jayne reminded him. Mal sighed and looked at the Tam siblings.
"It's up to you. You wanna call her back?"
Simon took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes I do."