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Commander Harken watched from the bridge as the transport ship moved toward them.
"No mandatory registration markings on the bow. Make sure you cite them for that..." he began.
"Sir," an ensign interrupted. "We've identified the transport ship they were identified to. It was licensed to a group of families out of Bernadette. They were due to touch down in Newhall three weeks ago. Never made it. We've been hailing the vessel, get no response. It appears to be derelict," he informed.
Harken let this sink in. "Continue hailing. Once we've secured these vultures, we'll send a team over."
The radio operator turned and looked at them curiously. "Didn't we have a flag a while back on a Firefly?" he asked.
"Check," Harken ordered. The radio operator did as he was told.
After a few seconds of searching: "Here it is. Alert issued for unidentified Firefly Class, believed to be carrying stolen Alliance goods and a runaway girl."
"Runaway? From what?" asked Harken.
"Doesn't say, Sir." Harken barely refrained from swearing. "40,000 of these old wrecks in the air and that's all they give us? Well, I won't have any surprises on a routine stop. We run into any trouble, we shoot first. Brass can sort it out later."
Simon helped Jayne and Book load the cargo into the smuggling hold. Mal came around the corner into the cargo bay and everyone looked up expectantly.
"What was it? Was it Reavers?!" asked Jayne, visibly shaken. Evie moaned at the mention of the terrifying creatures and Inara rocked her a little and murmured something soothing in her ear.
"Open the stash, pull out the goods," Mal answered, already opening the cover to the smuggle hold.
"What?" complained Jayne. "I just got done putting it in!"
Mal didn't even bother hiding his frustration. "Yeah, and now I'm telling you to take it all out again!"
"Why for?" asked Jayne, never one to blindly follow orders.
Mal sighed and put his hands on his hips and shot him a warning stare. "I got no notion to argue this," he lectured. "In about two minutes this time this boat's gonna be crawling with Alliance."
"NO!" Evie shouted and shot out of Inara's lap. "They'll take me back to him!"
Zoe, Wash and Kaylee all appeared, catching the last bit of information but having enough self preservation to say nothing. "We haveta run!" said the girl. The color had drained from her face and Mal wondered whether she preferred the Reavers to going back to Badger.
"Can't run. They're pulling us in," Mal answered, approaching her cautiously, hands about to land on her shoulders to reassure her.
"If they find me they'll make me go back," she said, pulling away, backing up until she hit the hull, then sliding down it and rested her head in her hands. Mal looked at her, wanted to go to her, but felt the situation he was dealing with needed more delicacy than he had time for. He looked to Jayne.
"Stack everything right here in plain sight. Wouldn't want to seem as if we're hiding anything. Might give them the wrong impression."
"Or the right one," Wash quipped.
"That too," Mal answered without even looking at him. "Now come here, bao bei," Mal coaxed softly. She looked up at him, hesitated, then looked furious.
"What? Why?! Are you going to put me in 'plain sight' too?" she asked, getting to her feet, but wearing that 'rabbit about to run' look rather than going to him.
"Don't get tetchy. Just do what I say, else we can revisit that wholllle lesson about minding me again, zao gao," Mal said, patience short.
Evie got up and very slowly, hesitantly went to him. He took her in an embrace. "You get to leave the ship again, at least," he joked and then batted her nose with his finger. He hiked her onto his hip and walked toward the airlock.
