Chapter Fourteen: Sentencing
"I'm goin' crazy in here," Jayne mumbled as he paced. They had been left alone in the cell for nearly four hours. "I don't much care for waitin' to be told if I'm livin' or dyin' today."
Mal glared. "Your pacing ain't making this much easier, Jayne."
"I can't just sit here, Mal. We should be thinkin' up a plan or something."
"We're in a maximum security ship with thousands of armed officers. What can we possibly do?" Simon questioned.
"You're the one that broke in and out of an Alliance place before. You gotta know something," Jayne disputed.
The doctor rolled his eyes. "It took me a year, every dime I had, and establishing contacts to orchestrate River's rescue. This is hardly the same thing."
"Jayne," Zoe spoke as she carefully took him by the elbow. "Let's just sit down and think about this rationally."
He listened to her and sat on one of the various shelf-like surfaces. Simon and Kaylee comforted one another, and Mal was busy with River. Ever since she warned them that things were going to get worse, she hadn't said a word. She was seated on the floor against the corner, and her eyes were glassy and directed at her boots. Mal had taken a silent position beside her on the ground and occasionally placed a soothing hand on her shoulder.
Thirty minutes of painful quiet later, the door to the cell became transparent. An officer stood at the door and used a speaker system to speak. "Welcome to our ship!"
"This welcome isn't so welcoming," Mal snarled.
"I just wanted to inform you that we are moving you from this cell. Fifty armed men are on either side of this hallway, so I greatly recommend that you play nicely. Even the slightest indication of an escape attempt will cause the soldiers to open fire. Hurry along. You're seeing the commander."
The door opened and they reluctantly followed, figuring that they'd be dragged out if they stayed put. Similarly to before, they were surrounded by troops and guided to an armored room. Once inside, they were each held in place by their own personal brute. The commander was waiting for them, so he spun from the window of the ship with a wide and devious smile on his weathered face.
"At last, we have Serenity and her crew. It's really an honor to meet you. It amazed all of us that such a small ship could do so much damage. I've brought you here to decide your sentence. Firstly, Serenity will be destroyed within the hour. Now, as for you, I'll start with Simon Tam…" he walked closer and stood a few inches from Simon's face. "You are sentenced to death by the Alliance for your numerous crimes, one of which is treason. We believe it's a fitting ruling for all you have done."
Kaylee struggled against her guard. "Don't you dare lay a hand on my husband!"
"Husband? Well, that's something. Ms. Frye—or shall I say Mrs. Tam—you will also be executed since we do not require you. In light of this development, you will be killed before your husband so he can observe."
Simon attempted to break free, and that granted him a quick shock from a cattle prod of sorts from his soldier. Kaylee fought to get to Simon and also received a shock. Mal's glare settled on the commander. "Why are you doing this?"
"In time. All in time," the commander promised while moving to Jayne. "Ah, Jayne Cobb. I've heard that song about you. Can't say I liked it. But, the statue does you justice. Given that you are also no use to us, you will be killed with the newlyweds."
"Fine," Jayne spoke softly. "Just don't kill the rest of 'em."
"Don't worry, Mr. Cobb. They aren't going to be killed. We have a higher purpose for them. The Browncoats will stay with me. I believe they might have some useful information. As for our dear River Tam, we'll give her a welcome home party."
River shook her head. "She'll dance for everyone if you don't let her crew go."
"Serenity is a threat. That was proved three years ago. We are eliminating the ship and the crew to be certain that you won't interfere again. There's nothing you can do about that."
"Like hell," Mal replied. "You won't kill my crew, and you're never…never…taking River."
The commander waved it off. "Idle threats, and you know it. Now, soldiers, you know what to do."
Just like that, the soldiers started pulling Simon, Kaylee, and Jayne through the door. River was also being pulled, but she flipped out of the man's grasp. Mal and Zoe struggled to help her, yet they had the strongest guards of them all. Mal was helpless as the commander spoke the safe word, and he watched them carry River's sleeping body from the room.
"Men, bring them," the commander barked.
Mal and Zoe were dragged to chairs in the center of the room. Their legs were fastened to the chair with magnetic bands that stretched from ankle to ankle. The magnets were too strong to separate with force, so they allowed them to have use of their arms. Then, the men left and they had only the commander for company. He calmly sat across from them at the table with folded hands.
"So, you both are veterans of the Unification War. In all that time, you must have learned quite a lot about the Independents and how they run. You're going to tell me everything you know. Every soldier you met. Every tactical decision. Every secret base. Every weapon. And, everything you learned while you were on Newhall."
Neither Mal nor Zoe twitched.
"Someone has to start talking," the commander chimed. "I'll torture you until you speak."
"We've both been tortured," Mal replied calmly. "Nothing new to us. Face it, there's no way we're gonna talk. If you kill us, you can't get the info. Pain doesn't scare us. You're killing or taking everyone we care about. And, you're destroyin' our ship. What's the point of talking?"
The commander's eyes narrowed. "You'll get out of here alive and with a lot of money."
"What use is that?" Zoe pointed out. "There are things more important than money. There's friendship. Love. A home. You've destroyed it all."
Growing frustrated, the commander tried a different tactic. "Let's negotiate. What do you want? Other than your crew and your ship. You realize that you aren't getting any of them back. Might as well salvage the rest of your lives. You'll still have each other, like always. There has to be something."
Mal paused to think. He had to do something to escape the commander, save the crew, and save the ship. How could they get out of the restraints? They were magnetized. If Zoe got closer to him, maybe they could use the science of poles to drive the restraint away long enough for Mal to kick them off. They'd need to be alone. How could he get the commander to leave and come back with some type of weapon? That's when he got the idea.
Looking at Zoe, he gave her his best expression to secretly tell her to go along with the plan. "Zoe, I don't know what we could do! I know this is hard on you, seeing that you won't get to say goodbye to your boyfriend, Jayne Cobb."
She took a second to process what he wanted her to say. They shared a few more expressions that meant, "Sir, I don't get it..." and "Zoe, come on! You know this!" Her eyes lit up with understanding and she feigned tears. He pretended to console her. The commander was very perplexed.
"You're right, sir. This is very hard on me. I just wish that I had one more moment with him."
The commander grinned, thinking he had found a bargaining chip. "Say, I'll let you both have a goodbye with your crew…that is…if you start talking."
"What do you think, sir?" Zoe wondered.
He shook his head dramatically. "We can't."
"We have to," she argued.
"No, no. It wouldn't be right."
"Sir, you know what Jayne means to me."
He pretended to sigh and give in. "Okay, but only on a few conditions."
"You name it," the commander smiled.
"We can't trust that you'll really let us see them after we talk, so we'll only share half of what we know until it's a done deal. And, I would feel like a gorram traitor to my cause if I said anything. I swore I'd never talk. But, I wouldn't mind writing it down…"
The commander nodded. "That sounds fair. I'll go get a pen and paper. Just remember that there are cameras in here. I'll see everything you're doing."
"Understood. This poor, heartbroken woman must see her man at any cost."
With that, the commander briskly walked out. Zoe raised an eyebrow at Mal. "Good thinking, sir."
"Thank Jayne for fallin' in love with you. We can use the poles of the magnets to get out of these cuffs under the cover of the table. If the poles are the same, it'll push the magnet away so I can get out."
"Have you been reading?"
"No. I just listen real close when River talks. Act all upset again so you can move close-like."
Zoe put on her best fake cry and Mal helped to pull the heavy chair closer. He loudly said, "I know, Zoe. You just love him so much!"
"Stop saying that, sir," she growled under her breath. "We're just getting a drink."
He gave her a skeptical look and she tried to maneuver her restraint towards Mal. Sure enough, the magnets were so powerful that they didn't have to get too close. It came up and he easily slipped out of the restraints. The door reopened and he went back to consoling the "troubled" Zoe. Since it was a large table and he stayed put, the commander didn't think twice.
"Here's your paper and pen, Captain Reynolds. Start writing."
Mal paused and glanced at him carefully. "I'm having a hard time. I feel so disloyal…I'm a disgrace!"
"No. It's okay. You're saving yourself. That's what counts."
"Can I ask one more thing?" Mal asked in a weak voice. "Can you maybe make it so nobody else sees this? I don't want it hauntin' me in real images too. The ones I'll have in my head will be bad enough. If you do, I'll tell you everything I know. I know the secret weapon of the New Independents. We saw it on Newhall. You can know everything. Just don't let anybody watch me do this. I can't take it."
Though he was hesitant to comply, he figured the restraints would hold and he didn't need to worry about an escape. So, he went to the wall and shut down the cameras. He returned and pointed at the paper. "Go ahead, Captain. You'll feel better. I promise."
Shakily, he started to write. He wrote for a few minutes and tearfully shoved the first page towards the commander. The first two lines were things about the war before, and they were things Mal knew to be obsolete. The rest were random sentences such as: apples took my coffee to Greenleaf for a Buddhist shindig. As the commander continued reading and became increasingly perplexed, Mal leapt across the table and sent the ink pen into the commander's neck. River faintly told him of a similar attack she had carried out once before when she spoke of her nightmares, and it stuck with him. He might as well put it use.
"Where's my crew?" Mal demanded from the dying commander.
He choked on blood as he spoke. "I won't tell you."
"Do you want to know the secret weapon? Tell me where my crew is and I'll tell you. Maybe you'll live and get to stop the rebellion. You never know."
"Fine. Your crew…the ones to be killed…they're on the upper deck in the medical lab called T9. River…she's with the others…lowest deck. Your ship is where you left it. What is the ruttin' secret?"
"They're makin' their own Reavers for soldiers in their war," Mal told him. A second later, he kicked the pen further into the commander's throat, and he promptly died. "Let's get going."
He undid Zoe's restraints using his old ones. As he went for the door, Zoe stopped him. "Sir…how are we supposed to move about this ship without getting caught?"
"Oh. My plan didn't go that far."
Gorramit.