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Firefly: Deleted Scenes
Ficlet 45: Two By Two, Hands Of Blue
By Gamera Obscura
"How's about you shut that crazy mouth? Is that a fun game?"
-Jayne Cobb – Episode 2, "The Train Job"
(The following takes place between Episode 9, "Ariel", and Episode 10, "War Stories".)
Two looked over the railing at the open door below, its handle broken; stoically, he turned to One. "He's not going to like this," he said. One nodded, but did not speak.
Simon and River Tam had eluded them again.
The pair made their way back through the security substation, past the nine bodies they had created in their zeal to clean up the mess left by the presence of the Tams, and then exited St. Lucy's Hospital in Ariel City. Against the backdrop of the rising morning sun, they got aboard their shuttle, an armored black affair, and headed into orbit, entering the central docking bay of the I.A.V. Agamemnon, and took an elevator to the Bridge.
"Welcome, sirs," Captain Ellis said as they stepped into the command center.
"We will need use of your Ready Room," said One.
"Of course, sirs. It is at your disposal, as always," the Captain said, bowing her head slightly.
One and Two entered the functional yet opulent room, and sat down at a table facing a large vid screen. Using a blue-gloved hand, One pressed a button on a control panel and spoke. "Open a channel to Codex-9-4793 on Londinium," he said.
"Yes, sir," said the voice of the comm officer. "Connecting your call now."
After a few seconds, a black silhouette appeared on the screen. "Report," said a voice with a distorted, modulated tone. A man's voice with a Titan accent, the only hint the pair had to his identity.
"We do not have the Tams in custody," said One.
"What happened?" said the Man.
"According to reports from the Federal Marshall we spoke to, he had the Tams in custody, along with an informant that turned the siblings in," said One. "When we arrived, the trio had escaped their captors and fled the building."
"Where did the breakdown in custody occur?" asked the Man.
Two folded his hands, also clad in blue rubber, and spoke for the first time. "As we used the Diapedizer on all the surviving arresting officers, we can only speculate."
"'Surviving' officers?" the Man asked.
"Yes," said One. "One of the officers apparently had his neck broken. The Diapedizers were used on the remaining eight men, as per standard operating procedure to neutralize any who spoke to River Tam, excepting her brother. As I said, we can only speculate, but Simon Tam is not a fighter, and River Tam is not activated. As such, neither of them had the ability to kill a fully grown, trained Marshall with their bare hands. Our speculation is that the informant, who was being taken with the Tams into a holding area, killed one guard, and incapacitated the other."
"Do you have any recommendations based on these findings?" the Man sounded slightly irritated.
"We do," said Two. "We believe the breakdown in the chain of custody occurred not just because they were not kept under heavy guard at all times, but because the Parliament has allowed Federal officers to collect the bounty. As a result, the ranking officer, Agent McGuiness, attempted to collect the bounty himself, rather than allowing the informant to collect it. This informant, once betrayed, obviously turned on his captors and aided the Tams in their escape from St. Lucy's Hospital."
"Our recommendation," said One, "is to withdraw the offer of bounty to any arresting officer, or to offer an additional bounty of equal value to offset the possibility of the same thing happening in the future. Of course, it's a given that all involved will be Diapedized, so there is no budgetary earmark required in order to take this step."
"And do you think this will work?" queried the Man.
"Unfortunately, no," said One.
"While we believe it should be done for the sake of due diligence," said Two, continuing One's thought, "We have unfortunately squandered what is likely the best opportunity we will ever have to get the Tam's back by betrayal by an ostensible ally, or at least by this particular informant. Now that he knows that he will be arrested if he attempts to collect the bounty on the Tams, he will certainly never make the mistake of doing so again."
"As things stand now," said One, "our best hope is that one of the bounty hunters that has been in contact with us about the bounty associated with the Tams will bring them both in, or at least River. We've made it clear to them that Simon is optional, but River is not, and that Simon's bounty cannot be collected without the return of River, alive and unharmed."
"And what can we know about the informant? Is it possible to trace the Tams using his identity?" the Man asked.
"Unfortunately, the answer to that question is no as well," said Two. "We ran a check on the ident card the informant was using to contact the Marshalls, and it belonged to one Jasper Fitzpatrick, now deceased. He was apparently killed by Reavers on a ship full of settlers bound for Bernadette approximately seven months ago. That ship was searched by the crew of the I.A.V. Drake, and destroyed in interplanetary space as a hazard to the region."
"Our best guess is that the ident card was recovered during the search and found its way onto the black market," said One.
"Yes," said Two. "Federal officers are not above making a little extra coin selling found items on the black or grey markets. That's our best guess, based on the information we have at present, at any rate."
"I see," said the Man. "Based on this report, I think we'll go with your recommendation to offer an additional bounty for the arresting officer; that seems like the most logical avenue to explore, and as you say, there will be no budgetary outlay. In the meantime, I am assigning Three and Four, as well as Five and Six to the hunt; once they receive the necessary training on the subject they need from Doctor Matthias at the Academy, you will meet with them personally to brief them, and allow them to look over all materials collected thusfar in your search. I am therefore ordering you to Osiris at once."
"Yes, sir," said One.
"At once, sir," said Two.
"Is there anything else?" asked the Man.
"Not at this time," said One.
"Very well," said the Man. "Dismissed."
The viewscreen shifted to black for a moment, before displaying a Telofonix logo.
One and Two got up and re-entered the Bridge.
"By the order of the authority of the Allied Parliament," said One, "you are to ferry us to Osiris at maximum velocity, and inform us upon reaching a standard orbit."
"Yes, sirs," said Captain Ellis. "At once. Helm, set a course and engage at maximum velocity."
"Aye, Captain," said the helm officer, working his controls.
"If you need us, we will be in our quarters," said One. Both he and Two exited the Bridge, thankful that their heads were still attached to their shoulders.
O-O-O
Deep in a sub-basement nestled in the heart of the Parliamentary Governmental Complex on Londinium, the Man turned away from his vid screen, clasped his dark-skinned hands together, and stared at the sword leaning against his desk. "Failing that," he said to the sword, "I may have some work for you, my beauty."
(Author's Note: The Hands of Blue have always fascinated me. River is positively terrified of them, and as the Feds at St. Lucy's found out, there's a good reason for this. Like with encountering a doppelganger, meeting with the Hands of Blue is likely to end in death, regardless of whose side you're on. After the film, I wondered if the Operative came after the failure of the Hands of Blue, or if they were reporting to him. Perhaps, if there's time, there will be more of the Hands of Blue in Deleted Scenes, but as things stand now, with the exception of a nugget of an idea I have, this is the only time I have plans to portray them. Perhaps that seed will take root and we'll have the opportunity for some resolution. I don't know. I do not like the plots of the comics, finding their writing to be too simplistic and unworthy of the title of Firefly or Serenity that they bear, with the exception of "The Shepherd's Tale", which I plan to incorporate into the plot, but I have no intention of showing deleted scenes for "Those Left Behind", which tells of the fate of the Hands of Blue. If I show their fate at all, it will be a fate of my own choosing, and then, only if I can craft a better one than that of the comics. At this time, I have up to chapter 65 planned in advance, and that hasn't even gotten me to the era of the film yet, so this series could easily top 80 ficlets by the time I'm done. I hope you've enjoyed the ride thusfar, and stick with me until the end. Incidentally, I've had this crazy little idea to do a Deleted Scenes fanfiction anthology for every Star Trek series there currently is, starting with the Original Series. I'd want to have nearly one hundred ficlets written before I began publishing, however, as even a series based on the first 79 Original Series episodes could easily top 150-250 ficlets, and like this series, I would want to publish a ficlet every single day, to keep my fans happy and give them something to look forward to. What do you all think? PM me with your opinions.)
(Next Time: Paging Doctor Waldorf - A Doctor attacked by Mal and Zoe on Ariel awakens and begins to deal with an alarming and escalating series of circumstances within the hospital.)
