Inara's shuttle landed smoothly on the landing pad before Donovan Hock's estate. He descended the stairs of the grand entrance to greet her. She cut the engines and opened the door.
"Inara!" Hock said smiling, extending his hand to help her out of the shuttle.
"Donovan." Inara reciprocated the smile. "What a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance in person."
"Ah, the pleasure's all mine." Hock responded, looking her over. "You are even lovelier in person!" He kissed her hand. She offered him a brief curtsy.
"Please. Do come inside." Hock offered her his elbow. Inara linked arms with him and he led the way. The facade of his mansion seemed to be composed entirely of large windows, with concrete piers serving as the support structures. The occasional potted plant offered some greenery around an otherwise very modern, man-made building.
Two armed guards stood watch on either side of the double doors. They wore heavy armor with symbols Inara had never seen before- three horizontal rods within the outline of a sun. She assumed they must belong to some corporation offering security services. The guards nodded as the two entered. Inara offered a smile and nod to each. She was not unaccustomed to her clients using sentinels, bodyguards, patrol units… Any number of hired help designed to protect the wealth these men insisted upon boasting about. It was just a common peculiarity among the rich.
"I'm sure you'll find your stay here both comfortable and inspiring." Hock told Inara as they made their way down the corridor. He had emphasized the last word in such a way that amused Inara. She was a well-cultured woman due to her companion background. Fine arts and performing arts were among the fields she'd studied at the Guild and she had found herself to be talented at both. Hock surely knew this. Inara highly doubted from his composure and confidence that this was the first time contracting with a companion, but his smug look still insisted he had more to offer her that she'd ever experienced in an outing with a client.
They arrived at a large room which looked like a cross between an art gallery and a formal living room. The architecture of the mansion was very modern with sleek lines, right angles, and grey concrete. On either side Inara could see canvases of fine art expertly displayed. Each was illuminated by a bright light fixture and hung in modern gallery fashion. Arm chairs were dispersed into various sitting areas. Books lined certain walls, no doubt containing works of literature which were as priceless as the art on the walls. A fireplace crackled pleasantly in an alcove.
Hock eyed her, his smug grin growing. "What do you think?" He prompted.
Inara approached one of the dividing walls upon which hung various canvases.
"Picasso." She said.
"Ah, you recognize him." Hock came to her side.
"One of my favorites, actually." Inara turned to him. "Such a fascinating deconstruction of the elegance of human form into geometric shapes. He manages to display so many perspectives in one 2-dimensional plane."
"Have you any idea what it's worth?" He asked.
"I could never venture a guess." She responded. "Such work is priceless, regardless of how many credits anyone is willing to pay."
"Certainly," Hock seemed pleased with the answer. "Now you understand why I must post sentries at each entrance of the mansion and along the perimeter of the estate. This piece is go-upi compared the other priceless artifacts I have hidden in my vault."
Inara was slightly taken aback by his unabashed display of arrogance. She quickly hid her gut reaction and gave him the one he desired: Surprise. The game was on and she knew how to play it. Some of her clients approached their time together with shame and bashfulness. For those men, or women, she had to guide them through the union. Others, however, had a confidence and commanding presence that bordered on forcefulness. She was a registered companion and had worked with all kinds of clients. Hock's posturing was nothing new to her and his wealth unintimidating.
"I do understand," Inara said. "Please show me more."
"This sure is as desolate as a moon can get!" Mal shouted over the whipping wind. "I can't see nothing!"
"Maybe there ain't nothing here. No people." Jayne shouted back.
"Maybe we just can't see them past the dense dust storm." Zoe speculated. "Having to rely on the mule's instruments to navigate."
"Well," Mal shouted. "We got coordinates. Just hope there's something more than wind and dust at their intersecting."
Sure enough, in the horizon, a rectangular building began to take shape. The approach of their land speeder felt slow due to the flat terrain and dust storm which made gauging distances difficult. The navigation instruments indicated that the dilapidated building was indeed their meeting place. They parked the mule near it, but saw no other vehicles in sight.
These are strange circumstances for an exchange, Mal thought warily, fingering his gun.
Mal indicated that he would check out the building alone first. Jayne and Zoe hunkered down on the mule while he got on foot and headed toward the grey structure. Zoe, ever vigilant and mindful of the captain's safety, kept her hand ready to draw, just in case.
The building couldn't have been more than a 15 foot by 15 foot shack. Mal looked for windows or for any other way to peer in. He found one narrow one with a layer of silt, which he dusted off. The view wasn't great, but he was able to see that no one was inside. In fact, nothing was inside. This building certainly didn't look like it served any other purpose than providing shelter from the relentless dust storms of Odessa while shady business was conducted.
Mal returned to the group on the mule and told them the situation.
"Dongxi shi budu-i de." Mal growled. "These ain't the circumstances I expected when we accepted this job." Mal concluded. "This job came to us by a reputa... Well, semi-reputable businessman. This don't feel right."
"Could be a trap, Sir." Zoe shouted over the wind. "Maybe we should just leave this one."
"No ruttin' way!" Jayne demanded. "We came all this way. We gotta get paid."
"I ain't about to make a reputation for myself as a man who don't keep his promises." Mal shouted. "That's bad for business. 'Specially when there ain't hardly no offers anyhow." He bit his lip and cussed under his breath. "I'm going in. I ain't giving you orders to follow me, but… I'd take it as a kindness not to enter alone."
"Right behind ya, Mal." Jayne hollered after him. "'Sides. I'm ready to get out of this gorram wind."
"Got your back." Zoe agreed.
The three approached the building warily, hands near their holsters. They approached the door and opened it to reveal just what Mal had told them they'd find: nothing. The relief from the wind was a welcome change, but they found the empty room unsettling. They were accustomed to performing exchanges in open air, not confined within the walls of a tiny shack. Jayne hauled the cargo to the corner of the room that they agreed gave them the most tactical advantage, should something go awry. The trunk wasn't terribly heavy or cumbersome. The three readied themselves for anything.
The howling wind outside and lack of windows dotting the walls of the building masked the arrival of their cargo's recipients. Boots hit the dry ground and soon the door opened. Mal's heart leapt in his chest but he maintained his composure. In walked a strange alien wearing armor. His four eyes looked to be sizing up the smugglers as soon as he entered the room. He was followed shortly by a FENRIS mech and another alien comrade.
Mal quickly sized up the situation and got a sinking feeling the crew had finally gotten in over their heads. They were not used to working in Citadel space and were unaccustomed to the new technologies and evidently the strange peoples. He actively maintained his poker face and feigned a calm and collected composure.
"Humans." The alien said with disgust. "Where is our cargo?"
"Well, it's mighty fine to meet your acquaintance as well." Mal said with a tight smile. "We got it, but expect our promised payment first."
"No payment until we see the goods." His voice was deep and demanding.
"Alright." Mal said. "We're honest smugglers. We ain't trying to pull the wool over your eyes." He turned to Jayne, who looked paler than usual, and motioned him to pull the trunk forward. He stopped Jayne with his foot when he felt he'd gone far enough.
"Feel free to open it, but we won't take it kindly if you try to bolt before we receive our creds." Mal added.
"Is that a threat?" The other alien asked, closing the gap between he and Mal and glaring at him just a few inches from his face.
Mal didn't budge. "More like a friendly warning."
"Calm down, Trulik." The lead alien told his comrade as he used a code to open the trunk. The top flipped open to reveal little more than physical papers and files. He thumbed through them, eyeing Mal and his gang occasionally, as though expecting their faces to reveal some secret sabotage. "Looks good." He eventually said.
"Shiny." Mal said. "Then, we'll just be taking our creds and be on our way."
"Maybe we should forget the payment and take you instead. And I keep these creds for myself." The alien Trulik grunted, back in Mal's face.
"That ain't like to happen." Mal said, standing his ground.
"Boss doesn't want any more unruly, disgusting humans under foot." The leader said. "Just take the trunk."
He continued anyway. "Maybe I shoot you down like a feral varren and leave your body for the dust storm. It wouldn't be the first time a rotten human disappeared under the dust of Odessa."
"Trulik!" The leader warned. "Grab the trunk."
"Best do as the man says." Mal glared back with an unwavering expression.
"I don't like your attitude." The alien continued at Mal. "You humans are still new to the galaxy and act like you should be in charge. You think…"
"Damn it, Trulik!" The lead alien scolded. "You're such a pain in the ass. Boss told us to come get the papers and leave the creds. These foolish humans have already agreed to smuggle these valuable slave papers for nearly nothing."
Mal's heart sank at the term "slave." The leader picked up the trunk and started to head toward the door. "Give that human the creds. You're going to earn triple that when we get back to the base."
The alien Trulik snarled at him and threw the bag down on the ground as he turned to leave. Jayne quickly reached for it and counted their loot.
"It looks right, Mal." Jayne said surprised.
"Check the mule." Zoe suddenly clamored out behind the aliens.
The pair and their mech had already boarded their own land rover. The mule looked untouched. Zoe still felt skeptical, so she hopped on board and fired up the engines. It hummed happily. She searched for obvious signs of tampering, but found none. She gave an exaggerated shrug to indicate all was fine. Mal and Jayne looked at each other, then joined her on the mule.
"Did that really just go off without a hitch?" Jayne asked incredulously, having to shout over the wind again. "But, what the hell are those things?"
"Batarians." Mal replied remorsefully.
"They're ugly as pack of wild dogs." Jayne shouted, looking over his shoulder at the departing land rover.
"We ain't dealt directly with them before," Zoe shouted soberly. "Known for kidnapping human colonists in the Terminus Systems. Selling drugs. The like. Usually ain't no good."
"Wangba dan!"Mal cussed and buried his face in his hand. "I can't believe we just helped another tyrant stay ahead for pocket change. I never would've taken the job if I'd've known."
"Ain't your fault, Sir." Zoe consoled matter-of-factly. "You didn't know. Just trying to carve out a decent livin' for you and your crew. No shame in that."
Mal shook his head. "My sky's getting a might too crowded with foes. Problems wherever you turn. Ain't possible to make an honest living most places and maybe… Maybe there ain't no honest smuggling no more."
"Your next job's honest, Mal." Jayne shouted.
"Sure is." Mal agreed. "Ain't nobody losing in the next deal that ain't got it coming."