Chapter 7
Previously… They were getting too close… he could almost feel the electricity prickling through his skin…no… He became the electricity, shaking with it, a soundless roar rising in his throat as power burst through him.
A tug on his body, pulling him back, blood pounding in his ears…try to stay awake Riddick, don't lose consciousness… too late… exhaustion and darkness dragged him under.
"You angered her," Shirah didn't seem terribly concerned as he hauled himself to his feet from his position sprawled across a bed of soft verdant green moss.
"Yeah, I got that from the pointy finger in my chest and her calling me a lecherous fèi fèi gāng mén and a hào sè de lǘ zi, whatever that means," Riddick looked around. Mountains, green at the foot and damn near smoking at the top. "She's a little girl. Last time I looked she didn't have the right to sit in judgement on anything I do if it isn't harmful to anyone else."
Shirah's laugh suggested she knew something he didn't, "And you find her interesting."
Riddick rolled his eyes, "Girl's been programmed and screwed with and she's a Seer to boot. If I didn't find her interesting there'd be something wrong with me."
"Do not try to deal in deceit with me," Knowing eyes stared at him, implacable as time. "Your interest in her is not merely…academic."
"Fuckin'…" He cursed and shook his head. "She's a fourteen-year-old child. I already feel like nine kinds of pervert for just looking at her legs and enjoying it. And I have no damn business doing that. She grows up some…might be she's interested still. But until that happy day I keep my hands and thoughts to myself unless I'm training her."
"Of course," Shirah shook her head as she walked along the base of the mountains, a door carved into a stone wall opening before her as he followed. "You'll recall I spoke of possibilities? Potential?"
"She's got a helluva lot," Riddick conceded. "Girl is fuckin' smart."
"Look," Shirah gestured to a curved wall, painted with an elaborate mural. A large dark figure bore a sword, a smaller slender female at his side, a blade of her own in her hand. A world obscured in Shadow. The ground beneath them seemed to crawl, claws and teeth rising from it. Darker red tints highlighted parts of the figures, the large one's side, the small one's knee and skull.
"What'm I lookin' at?" He considered the cave painting. It didn't resemble any place he'd been. Even that hell planet hadn't had the earth come alive under them.
"A possible future," She turned slightly, pointed at another wall; a mural of gleaming grey and black walls, marbled floors, and disturbingly grotesque architecture. A crown of thorns rose over the skull of the same dark man, shadows behind him in the shape of a throne and a crowd of bloody black figures knelt in the foreground. "Another possible future." As if in continuation of that image the horizon stretched from the marble to an expanse of crawling, clawing earth where that same dark man stood alone, as if to take on all comers or die trying. The same world as the first painting? Or one so similar it made no difference?
"Just glimpses," He frowned. "Only two?"
"The future is always changing, you know that Riddick," Gently chiding him, Shirah's hand cupped his jaw. "Last of my children. Do not take for granted that with which you have been entrusted. Do not close your eyes to the potential before you. Do not ignore the possibilities in what may come." Tender smile, gentle hands, warmth…
River's hands were still soft, even with calluses developing on her fingers and palms from her training. The couch in the lounge was lumpy and the knit blanket over the back of it still smelled faintly of camphor for some reason. But somehow River had managed to pillow his head in her lap and was gently stroking his forehead.
"I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those that loved me, and alone." River sighed. "He is still a lecherous hump," She told him quietly. "But he shorted out the net. The man with the girl's name shot the window of the net… all the spiders but for one fell into the Black."
He rubbed his eyes and pulled his goggles back down over them before he opened them completely, "Mal got a line on where Saffron disappeared to?"
"Already on our way," River told him. "I am a part of all that I have met; yet all experience is an arch wherethro' gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades forever and forever when I move. How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use! As tho' to breathe were life! Doctor's orders are that you rest. Captain agrees with him."
"She's right," Simon's quiet voice was firm. "You channeled so much energy your heart was stuttering. Your pulse was thready and your breathing shallow."
"Last time I was unconscious for about an hour, got up and fought my way out of the slam I was in," Riddick informed him. "Didn't get to luxuriate on a couch even."
"Well you're not…wherever you were then," Simon wasn't budging. It would have been amusing if the kid wasn't seriously worried. "Here you're under a doctor's care and you will rest. For at least twenty-four hours now that you're conscious."
"Great," He sighed and looked up at River's amused face. "How many games of chess before I beat you do you think?"
He rested and played chess with River, conscious of Simon sitting nearby with a book in his hands. Doc Simon at least pretended to not be staring at him or obviously evaluating his patient for a potential relapse into unconsciousness. But he could almost see the questions bubbling up in the younger man.
"Go on and ask Doc," Riddick couldn't stand the wait anymore. When Simon just looked at him Riddick sighed, "You've got to have a thousand questions. Just ask."
"What's it like," Simon leaned forward slightly.
Well it was a simple enough question, even if the answer wasn't nearly as simple. He considered and tried to figure how to best describe it. "You ever go underwater, and you hold your breath…and it gets so you can hear your blood pounding in your ears, like every heart beat is a thunderclap?"
The Doctor nodded and Riddick was vividly conscious of River's gaze on him rather than the chess pieces. "It's a little like that when it begins… the Wrath…builds… and builds…" He rubbed his chest absently where the mark lay beneath his shirt. "The feel of it…like electricity in some ways but more… like the power is your heartbeat, it fills you like blood and expands…" He shook his head, "And at the same time, the 'verse is closing in on you. Everything is close and energy is everywhere, not claustrophobic…not that sensation of being trapped," Riddick clarified. "It's like…I can feel the energy of the entire 'verse. Like for a moment everything, everyone, is connected and that power flows through me."
"Why do you do this thing," River murmured. She must have heard Shirah, that whisper loud as a shout in his ears, without anger, simple inquiries that led to one unmistakable conclusion.
"Yeah," He nodded. "This time, maybe because I was deliberately trying to provoke the Wrath, I can feel…questions… like that energy asking why, what's the point of it." He was not going to mention his visions, not just yet. There was such a thing as stretching credulity a bit too far.
"It's not always destructive," Simon obvious recalled that blue fire dancing over River's arm and hands.
"No," He shook his head. "Little bursts of it, like flares, generally don't do harm to anyone. Never even tried to bring it like that before, to burn something out. It's always come when I've been in some danger, odds stacked against me so bad that even I might have trouble. I've heard it said Furyans are Spirit Warriors but I'm still not sure what it means as far as the Wrath."
"Energy," River looked at him. "Energy to cleanse or burn. To heal or wound. Motivation is all."
"Might be there's something to that," Riddick agreed. "It doesn't come much unless I'm angry."
"Does it always knock you out?" A more practical question. Simon excelled at practical questions.
"Once or twice I've managed to keep my feet," He answered honestly. Lying to a medic never ended well. "But it's rare. It's a lot of energy and it's like I'm the channel for it."
"Wrath purifies," River half smiled and moved her bishop. "Mysterious." She looked at her brother, "Plenty of time for questions later."
Simon nodded and went back to his book and Riddick went back to the chess game. He was going to lose this one unless he pulled a miracle out of his ass.
"A rare source of miracles," River smirked at him and he grinned. She wasn't wrong.
Simon finally relented enough to let him walk up to the bridge so he could see for himself things had been fixed. River wound her arm around his waist as if he needed help walking and Simon practically hovered but the kid was so worried it was hard to be irritated. And River's shaking argued for similar concerns.
He had no idea where they were headed, though Wash was at the controls. The console was lit up, Zoë standing behind her husband, looking things over, "We got it. It's not pretty, but we can steer enough to turn the hell around."
Mal nodded his satisfaction, "Nice work, Kaylee."
Kaylee was not impressed with herself, "Weren't soon enough to help."
The Captain, for all his occasional idiocy, especially with Inara, did know what to say to his mechanic, "Lot easier to pull things apart than to put 'em right. You're still the best mechanic floating." He kissed the top of her head affectionately even as she waved him away, but smiling still, so clearly a compliment was not a terrible thing.
"Captain, don't you know that kissing girls makes you sleepy?" Wash teased.
"Sometimes I just can't help myself," Mal grinned.
Riddick chuckled and that got everyone looking at him in the doorway, "I take it we're headed back to get Inara's shuttle?"
"She paid rent on it through the month," The Captain nodded. "And it chafes to just let that harpy get away with playing us."
Kaylee narrowed her eyes at him, "I heard Simon wanted you to rest. What're you doin' up?"
"Just checking on things," He rolled his eyes. "I've already got River and Simon acting like I'm going to fall on my face. Don't you start too."
"Ain't ever seen anything like what you did Rick," Mal was looking at him thoughtfully. "I expect if you lost your temper that blue stuff would pretty much knock out Serenity."
"Mal there's me getting pissed off at Cobb, and annoyed with something stupid, or just plain old mad," Riddick shrugged. "And then there's the Wrath. It's not something that jumps out of me for just anything. Only reason it started up in the galley that time was Cobb deliberately trying to screw with River when she was already freaking out about the Blue Sun logos."
"Warrior of Furya, Lóng Wáng, Ulysses," River murmured at his side. "Wrath rises in defense of those he deems worthy. Survival. Protector." Great, just what he wanted known throughout the ship, that he had a soft spot for a gangly half crazed girl child and most of the crew along with her. Mal didn't appear to have heard her, or he simply ignored it as trauma related mumbling. Thank fucking Christ.
"River touched you and that blue crawled over her," The Captain recalled. "Didn't do anything to her."
"Nope," He looked down at his trainee/apprentice. "Don't know what that's about."
"Rick, I'd really appreciate it if you'd sit, have a meal, try to rest," Simon spoke up finally. "I'm not entirely easy about you being up and walking after so much exertion."
"Oh, this is gonna get old real quick," Riddick sighed as he turned back towards the galley. "Fine Doc."
So, he missed all the fun of tracking Saffron down and hitting her, though he guessed Mal was owed that much. Inara was pleased to get her shuttle back, not that she'd been ungracious about the space in the dorms, but she was used to her own territory. And she'd pointed out making a living as a Companion but living in a dorm with three others were mutually exclusive.
He gave Simon a day and a half to fuss before he insisted he and River get back to work on her training. Truthfully, he was getting more than a little restless without something to do.
He and River were making their loop of the stairs, catwalks, mid-deck when Simon's outraged exclamation echoed through the lounge. It was their second week of running and her stamina was increasing with each day. He planned to add additional loops until they were running long distances at speed.
Mal was headed down the steps ahead of them and shook his head, diverting his course towards the infirmary.
By the time they were done with their run Jayne was pushing past them with a grumble, Mal was shaking his head and Simon was picking up the mess that was his infirmary.
"What'n the hell's going on with the merc now?" Riddick looked at Mal while he began his pullups.
"Oh, he tore the infirmary apart looking for medical tape, wanted to hide a gun under his clothes," The Captain shrugged. "Canton don't allow guns."
River was doing her own exercises, "Foolishness." She remarked, though it was unclear as to whether she meant Mal, Canton or Cobb. "A land where all things always seem'd the same! And round about the keel with faces pale, dark faces pale against that rosy flame, the mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came."
"What about shivs?" Riddick adjusted his grip slightly and began another set. He glanced at his little apprentice and wondered who the Lotos-eaters were on Canton.
"They tend to be fairly discouraging of all weaponry," The Captain shrugged. "Shouldn't be an issue. Ain't like we're robbin' the place."
"Yeah…" He frowned. "What exactly are we doing on Canton?"
"Got some goods to be smuggled out," Mal explained. "Contraband. We pick the goods up while Inara's doing her business and we leave when she's done. No one's the wiser we did more than walk around and look."
"Company moon doesn't seem like they'll want tourists," Riddick pointed out. "Got a plan B?"
"Figured to have one of the crew pose as a buyer," Mal told him. "Maybe Simon if we can get him off the boat. He's got the looks for it."
"We know where the goods are?"
"Gotta contact the man holdin' 'em."
He didn't like that answer. Too many things could go wrong. "And we have to leave the ship to make contact."
River didn't help, remarking ambiguously, "There is sweet music here that softer falls than petals from blown roses on the grass, or night-dews on still waters between walls of shadowy granite." She glanced at the two of them, "And thro' the moss the ivies creep, and in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep, and from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep." Riddick wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. He usually liked music but this sounded more than a little ominous.
"Canton ain't that big," Mal didn't seem worried.
That didn't give Riddick much comfort.
He could tell the air was noxious even before they opened the cargo doors. Simon was one of the first to note it, "Canton really...stinks."
Mal nodded agreeably, "That's what makes it such a great drop point. No one comes here that doesn't have to."
"I vote we do this job really, really fast," Wash suggested.
"Kessler's our man. He's holding the goods we're to deliver. We go in, make contact. Easy peasy," He looked at the First Mate. "Zoë, you're holding down the fort. Call ahead to Bernoulli, let him know we'll have his merchandise end of the week."
Wash was looking back and forth between the two of them, a bit forlorn, "Don't I usually stay with the ship?"
Zoë smiled, "I outrank you." She gave him a kiss, "Have fun."
Simon was looking around, half interested, half appalled, "So, this is a place where they...they make mud."
Riddick chuckled as Kaylee nodded, "Yep. Clay really. You'd be surprised how many things it ends up in. Serenity's got more than a few ceramic parts in her."
That got Simon's interest, at least for a moment, "Really?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
"Huh," The Doc blinked.
"Captain, don't you think Simon should come with us," Kaylee importuned the Browncoat.
"What? Oh, Kaylee, I don't—I don't think that..." Simon hesitated.
"You go on, boy," Book encouraged him. "See the sights. I can watch over your sister. I believe we've been developing a rapport."
Simon was still hesitant, and not unreasonably so, "I—I don't know, River can be..."
Book nodded at him, "Go on. I'm a Shepherd, after all. I should be able to keep my eye on a flock of one."
Riddick moved over to stand on Simon's other side, "She'll be all right for a while. She's working with Zoë this afternoon. Book could explain some of the finer points of comparative religion after. You said she doesn't have a lot of personal experience with it."
Simon was visibly torn and Mal ended up persuading him, "I'm not going that far, Doctor, and you might could maybe make yourself useful."
Riddick didn't pay too much attention to what followed, most of it passing in one ear and out the other as Mal teased Simon into playing Buyer. Part of his mind was planning out more of River's training and wondering if he could get Simon to join them. The kid could use some muscle and combat training sure wouldn't hurt either. Adjusting a few things to protect his hands wouldn't be difficult. The rest of his brain was taking in their surroundings, mud, bubbling springs of muddy water and elevated paths through said springs and mud. Everything was covered with a layer of grime. He managed to ignore Cobb's whinging and Simon's less than smooth attempts to act like a Buyer while they walked and they got all the way to the center of Mudville to see a huge statue of Cobb with a mean look on its face.
Simon was staring, "Son of a bitch."
Riddick folded his arms as he looked up at the statue, "That is…definitely different."
"Jayne?" Mal was staring at the same thing as the rest of them.
"Yeah?" Cobb seemed just as surprised. His face, barely visible beneath goggles and a hood, wore a stupefied expression, emphasis on the stupid.
"You want to tell me how come there's a statue of you here looking at me like I owe him something?" Mal turned to look at his merc and Riddick shook his head. The idiot really didn't have a clue.
The next words out of his mouth confirmed that, "Wishin' I could, Cap'n."
Mal shook his head, "No, seriously, Jayne, you want to tell me?"
Cobb shook his head back at him, his expression twisted with frustration, "Look, Mal, I got no ruttin' idea. I was here a few years back, like I said. Pulled a second-story, stole a lot of scratch from the magistrate up on the hill. But things went way South. I had to hightail it. They don't...put you on a pedestal in town square for that."
Riddick folded his arms and regarded the statue thoughtfully as Mal countered Cobb's argument, "Yeah, except I'm looking at some fair compelling evidence says they do."
"This must be what going mad feels like," Simon muttered.
"Does raise the question of how they know your ugly mug so well that they could sculpt a statue of you with such…accuracy," Riddick looked at the merc. "How long were you here before you pulled that job?"
"Maybe a day? Two?" Cobb shrugged helplessly.
Wash considered the statue with all the concentration of a serious connoisseur of art, remarking to Kaylee, "I think they captured him, though…you know... captured his essence."
Kaylee frowned, "Looks sort of angry, don't he?"
Wash nodded, "That's kinda what I meant."
Riddick winced as a whistle sounded through the camp and the foreman's voice bellowed over the town comms, "Shift four on duty. Shift four on duty."
Jayne was really nervous, as was evidenced by his jittery speech, "Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging around playin' art critic 'til I get pinched by the Man, how's about we move away from this eerie-ass piece of work an' get on with our increasin'ly eerie-ass day, how's that?"
Riddick looked over at him with a sneer, "Relax Cobb; you'll scare the women."
The Captain had returned to staring at the statue, "I don't know. This here's a spectacle might warrant a moment's consideration."
He put a hand over his mouth to conceal his smile as Kaylee swayed in place, "Everywhere I go, his eyes keep following me."
"Come on, gorram it. We got a job. Let's go do it, get the hell out of here," Cobb insisted. "I crossed the magistrate of this company town, understand? He ain't exactly a forgivin' sort of guy."
Eventually Mal and the rest of them gave in to Cobb's urging, though not before he had gotten comically freaked out about discovery. It would have been amusing if he wasn't so damned annoying. The bar they ended up in would be the likely place to make contact with Kessler, or so Mal said as they all trooped through the town to the tavern. Like most of the buildings it was made out of a combination of the mud brick and tin roof, half underground so the windows were resting on the street and six stairs led down to the main floor.
It was actually fairly sizable considering, a second story with rooms to let, a decent sized floor with a fellow playing guitar in the middle of the room and a fairly large bar across one wall. Mal guided them to a table under the second-floor stairs and balcony/hallway that led to the rooms.
Cobb was still muttering, like that wouldn't draw exactly the sort of attention he was so keen to avoid. "Can't be a statue of me. No reason for it. Flies in the face of every kind of sense."
"Won't argue with that," Mal nodded agreeably as a tray of clay mugs were brought over and distributed. Riddick took one sniff and shook his head. No way was he drinking that shit. If he wanted to kill himself there were cleaner ways than poison.
Wash, strangely enough, was braver than he was, or (and this was much more likely) didn't have as keen a sense of smell (or sense of self-preservation), and took a deep drink before spitting it out in disgust, "Zhè shì shén me làn dōng xi?"
Cobb, surprise surprise, was drinking with every evidence of enjoyment, or maybe he was just that desperate to be drunk or otherwise unaware. "Mm-hmm. They call it 'Mudder's milk'." He ignored Wash's gag, "All the protein, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus fifteen percent alcohol."
"It's horrific," Wash declared.
Simon shrugged, "Well, it worked for the Egyptians." Riddick looked over at the doctor curiously and that had caught Cobb's interest as well.
"What's that," The merc looked over at Simon.
Riddick had figured out several weeks back that if Simon wasn't taking care of someone he liked to teach things. And he enjoyed learning if he didn't think someone would mock him for his ignorance. The man had all sorts of knowledge, just most of it wasn't useful out in the Black. Simon smiled slightly, "The ancient Egyptians, back on Earth-That-Was." He explained, "Not so different from the ancestral form of beer they fed the slaves to build their pyramids. Its liquid bread. Kept them from starving and knocked them out at night so they wouldn't be inclined to insurrection."
Riddick nodded, "Yeah, slams do something similar." He looked over at Simon, "Didn't the British Navy have something like rum and water? Rationed out?"
"Ale mostly, because water would develop algae in the wooden barrels and they couldn't drink seawater obviously," Simon nodded. "You're thinking of grog, water and rum, a certain portion a day. It worked especially well when they had impressed their sailors."
"Thought a lot of their bosses did they?" Cobb sneered.
"Impressed as in, 'impressment'," Simon returned coolly. "The practice of abducting men off the streets or docks, or taking them off other ships, and informing them that they'd 'joined' the navy."
"Drafted," Riddick shook his head. "That's the more modern term," He explained when Wash blinked at him.
Kaylee was a bit astonished, but at least she tried to say something nice, "Wow, Simon. That was so...historical." She looked over at Riddick, "Uhm…"
"I read," Riddick shrugged. "Not much else to do a lot of the time. Can't carve shivs all day long." He was distracted from the conversation by Mal noticing a very well-dressed man entering the bar.
The conversation that followed did not contain welcome news and Riddick looked over at Mal once the fellow had left, "Easy peasy? Mal every time, and I mean every damn time, you say that something goes wrong."
Simon nodded his agreement, "I'm inclined to concur. Perhaps you might strike those words from your vocabulary Captain?"
Mal looked aggrieved, as well he might, but since Riddick wasn't exaggerating he couldn't really argue the point much. Although he did seem keen to debate the matter. He might have come up with something if the busker hadn't started singing, "Jayne…
The man we call Jayne.
He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor
Stood up to the Man and he gave him what for
Our love for him now ain't hard to explain
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne.
Our Jayne saw the Mudders' backs breaking
He saw the Mudders lament
And he saw the magistrate taking
Every dollar and leaving five cents
So he said, "You can't do that
to my people"
He said..."
Riddick winced and fought to ignore the singing, tilting his head as he regarded the merc. Mal had the same idea, "Um...Jayne?"
Cobb looked very uncomfortable, "Yeah, Mal?"
"You got any light you'd like to shed on this development?" Mal had an aura of very not thrilled, but his amusement at Cobb's discomfort seemed to temper his irritation (slightly at least).
The merc just shook his head, "No, Mal."
Simon's expression managed to mix both awed and appalled, "No... This must be what going mad feels like."
Riddick sighed as the singing continued to assault his ears. The Mudders were enthusiastic but they seemed to be mostly tone-deaf but for the leader with the guitar. "Our love for him now ain't hard to explain
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne…"
The Busker then proceeded to shed light on exactly why Cobb was such a hero, unlikely though it was, "Now here is what separates heroes
From common folk like you and I
The man they call Jayne
He turned 'round his plane
And let that money hit the sky."
Riddick looked at him and smirked, "Oh you complete and total moron." Leave it to the merc to screw up something that should be pretty fucking simple.
The look on Cobb's face had the distinction of being a unique combination of enlightened and pissed off, "Ohhh, I'll be gorrammed. That's where that cash went. I stole that money from Higgins just like the song says, lifted me one of his hovercraft. But I got tagged by anti-aircraft, started losing altitude. Had dump them strongboxes to stay airborne. Oh...sixty thousand, untraceable. And I drop it right square in the middle of mud-farmer central."
The Furyan rolled his eyes, "Because you fucking tried to head for upper atmosphere right away. Half assed it. You only get tagged by anti-aircraft when they can see you. Stay under the radar and they don't know what to shoot. Get past the perimeter and then head for the upper atmosphere." He looked at Mal, "How'n the hell has he lived this long? I'd've killed him out of sheer annoyance by now just due to the blatant stupidity."
Wash, now the worse for the Mudders milk, grinned at them all, "We gotta go to the crappy town where I'm the hero!"
Mal shook his head, sighing as the Mudders continued to sing, "The man they call Jayne!" Riddick exchanged a look of sympathy with Simon, another music lover to judge by his expression, as the Mudders went through another two verses and the attendant choruses on the virtues of the man called Jayne.
Finally, (thank Christ and all his Apostles) the singing stopped. "Thank fucking heaven for small mercies," Riddick muttered, and Simon nodded.
"Captain, now they're off the subject of me, shouldn't we be getting the hell out of here?" Those had to be the smartest words he had ever come out of Cobb's mouth.
Mal nodded, "I'd say that's a reasonable request, considering the circumstances."
Jayne muttered, "Ruttin' mudders."
The faintly uneasy feeling Riddick'd had materialized into the sensation of ants crawling over his skull and neck as they rose from the table and headed out of the bar. Straight into a crowd of Mudders, all of them enthusiastically shouting Cobb's name.
"Son of a bitch," Riddick shook his head as Cobb ran back in. Mal and the rest of them followed him, Riddick sighing with irritation. He wouldn't have even left the boat for this stinking piss hole if Mal hadn't insisted he'd need the help. Now he was stuck in mud central, wondering if he'd ever get the stench of the mud and Mudders out of his nose and Mal's plan was officially caput.
The fancy dress fellow drew the Captain aside and Riddick stood casually in front of them to block off their conversation, "What the hell's going on? This how people lay low where you're from?"
"Not generally, no," Mal conceded.
"Listen, friend. I came here to make sure a deal went down solid, not to get chopped up by the Canton prod crew and fed to the bog," The well-dressed individual pointed out.
Mal was, thank all the gods and their demon worshiping friends, better at bluffing than he was at sussing out trouble and making plans, "I understand your concerns, friend. This here's all part of our new plan."
Riddick had to give Kaylee credit, she wasn't unobservant, "Captain, how exactly is this part...?"
"Still working the details," Mal told her. Which meant, in Mal speak, that there was no plan yet, but he was working on one. Hopefully a better one than the initial plan. Although (and he was seriously considering telling Mal this very thing) if Mal said the words 'easy peasy' once more, Riddick was going to carve them into his liver.
Riddick looked at Mal, his only sensible conversation partner seeing as Wash was three sheets to the wind. "Mal, I'm pretty sure that we can come up with a plan much better back on the ship than here." He looked over at the mob of Mudders, "They are damn distracting." The Mudders were currently chanting toasts to Jayne.
Mal smirked, "They are pretty distracting at that aren't they. And Jayne's their big hero." He chuckled, "Well you were half right. I came up with part of a plan."
"Great. Let's go back to the ship, away from the noise and most of the smell, and we'll work on the rest." Riddick suggested bluntly.
The Captain nodded and moved towards Simon and Kaylee, neither of which were paying much attention to anyone but each other. Mal, with his usual subtlety and tact didn't notice the intimate air surrounding them and barged into the conversation, "It's time to get out of this nuthouse. Got some planning to work out."
Kaylee's look suggested the Captain had his head up his ass, "Now, Captain? Things are going so well."
Mal's reaction certainly gave credence to his mechanic's expression, "I suppose. Jayne's certainly feeling better about life, but..."
Riddick rolled his eyes, "Mal, she said things were going well." He nodded at Simon as Kaylee gave the Captain a meaningful look.
The penny dropped (finally), "Oh, 'well'." Mal looked at Simon, "Well, I tell you what. Jayne is stuck here with his adoring masses…why don't you and Simon hang around and keep an eye on him for me."
Riddick looked at the grimy but happy crowd and recalled just how easily a mob could turn, "Don't think it's a good idea for either of you to be walking around alone." He cautioned and if Mal was oblivious to romance in the air (though the stench of the mud likely drowned out the scent of romance) he did have a good nose for danger, nodding his agreement.
"He's right you two stay here together or come back to the boat together."
Kaylee and Simon toasted him, presumably in assent. Riddick grabbed Wash and slung one of the pilot's arms over his shoulder to help him walk.
When they got back to the boat River was giving Book slightly uneasy looks, clearly having misgivings about the wildness of the white hair springing around his face. Riddick chuckled as she bounced up from her seat on the steps when they came aboard. "He must save the preacher man; his brains are in terrible danger. The weight of the snow will cave in the roof."
Riddick shook his head, "River, if he wants his hair like that then he has to live with endangering his brains. We can't stop him." When River got like this he and Simon had figured her mind had gotten caught up in some theoretical idea that wasn't translating to actual life. A gentle reality check usually set her right again. As opposed to someone like Cobb calling her a ruttin' moonbrain and throwing things (occasionally at her). River was getting very adept at dodging not part of her training initially but it wasn't a bad addition, except for it being Cobb throwing things. "C'mon, give me a hand with the pilot man. He's a bit worse for the wear."
"Alcohol is a poison," River nodded and moved forward, dismissing Book's endangered brains from her mind. "I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking: I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of entertainment."
"Honey, we're home," Wash called merrily.
Zoë came down the steps, "Where you guys been? Mal, Bernoulli's chomping at the bit. Says he wants his merchandise yesterday."
Riddick smirked as Mal shook his head, "Yeah, well, we still got a few wrinkles to work out on the deal."
The pilot would have nothing of any business talk, excitedly informing his wife, "Did you know that Jayne is a bona fide folk hero? Got a song and everything."
"What? You been drinking, husband," Zoë looked skeptical, as well she might considering they were talking about Jayne Cobb.
"Oh yeah he has," Riddick nodded as River took Wash's other arm. "Where do you want the package lady?"
River giggled on the pilot's opposite side, "Special delivery."
Mal contrived to answer the first mate's question, "Don't make it any less the case."
"You're telling me that Jayne..." She was shaking her head.
"It's true. True enough…" The Captain shrugged, "We can use it, anyway. We talked a few pillars of the Mudder community into having a little Jayne Day celebration in town square tomorrow."
He was momentarily preoccupied by Wash nearly splitting his sides with laughter at the thought, despite River and Riddick trying to haul his slippery drunk ass up the stairs. "It should buy us enough of a distraction to get the stolen goods out from under the foreman and his crew of prods."
Zoë looked at her drunken husband, "You're really going to have to start again. Jayne's a what?"
"He's in no shape to explain anything," Riddick told her. "Let's get him up to the galley and pour some coffee down his throat, maybe steal some vitamins out of the infirmary and something to sober him up. Then you can hear all about the Hero of Canton."
"Hero of Canton…" Zoë's expression was indescribable.
Also funny as hell because both Wash and River began giggling hysterically. Riddick might've chuckled slightly himself.
The more Mal warmed up to this plan of his, the worse Riddick felt about it. "I'm tellin' ya, it'll be—"
Riddick cut him off, "Do not say the words 'easy peasy' Mal. Just don't."
"But—"
"He's got a point sir, that phrase does tend to attract a pretty bad sort of luck," Zoë pointed out before Riddick could snarl at their obtuse Captain.
"What crawled up your pì gu an' died," Mal looked at him quizzically and Riddick rolled his eyes.
"Doc an' Kaylee aren't back on the boat, so let's hope they're still at the bar," He began to tick off the problems. "River is highly suspicious of Book's hair and doesn't want to stay on the boat with it by herself. Despite accepting that she can't do anything about it. So she's tagging along." He rolled his eyes heavenward but that was a long wait for a train that didn't come even if he had intended to implore God for help. "And your merc, who is as big a moron as I've ever met, and I have met more than a few, is the distraction. He stole from the magistrate. You don't think the Magistrate has heard he's back by now?"
"You don't even like Jayne," Wash commented.
He took that as a question, "No. I don't. And if were just his neck on the line I couldn't care less if he got slotted into a hot box or chained on a gang of mudders. But your boat brought him here Mal," Riddick speared the Captain with a look. "You don't think the Magistrate of this rock will want a word or five with the boat Cobb crews on?"
"Wǒ cào," Wash caught on quick. "Mal I'm gonna move the boat. To somewhere that ain't a landing pad with the ability to landlock us."
"Wait a—" Mal began to protest but Wash was already halfway up the stairs to the mid-deck.
"It's a good notion sir," Zoë soothed him in her no-nonsense way.
"Solves one problem at least," Riddick nodded. He looked at River who was looking all around her. "You stay close."
"Shì," River nodded. "She must protect Simon and Kaylee."
"From who?" Mal frowned in concern. "You don't have any weapons either." He added hastily, "Not that I'm in favor of you carrying weapons until you're done with the trainin' Rick's givin' you."
River looked at Riddick and then at the Captain, her eyes sparking an eerie light in the irises, similar to the Wrath, "The girl is the weapon."
"Mal," Riddick warned quietly. "Not the time or the place for this discussion."
"No…" The Captain shook his head slowly, "No, I can see that it ain't."
Zoë had gotten the mule and drove it up beside them, "River, you want a ride?"
"How come I don't get offered a ride," Mal found something else to argue about. The man just seemed to like exercising his jaw. Normally Riddick found it amusing as hell, but at the moment, he just wanted to deck him. He had that itchy feeling again. They were not out of the woods.
"She's littler than you, and she hasn't been on the mule, you have," Zoë retorted with a smirk. "Got a coupla earwigs too. Wash'll let us know where we're parked."
The rest of the walk, and on Zoë and River's part slow ride, to the center of town and the bar was uneventful, though Zoë goggled at the sight of the statue and River gave it a look of distaste. "Plebeian, primitive, and overwrought with false heroism," She declared quietly. "O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil."
Mal gave her a startled look at that and seemed about to comment but was forced to enter the bar or hit his head on the lintel over the door. River followed him down the steps and Riddick followed her. The back of his neck prickled, and he looked behind him but there was nothing out of the ordinary beyond a crowd of Mudders waiting anxiously for Jayne Cobb to emerge.
River had taken a seat next to her brother who was cuddled next to Kaylee, both of them waking around the same time.
Kaylee smiled up at Mal, "Hey, Cap'n… Oh. Captain!" She seemed to suddenly remember that they were supposed to be back at the boat.
Simon regarded Mal with more than a little alarm. "Hey...Mal, uh, Mal... No, nuh-nuh-nothing happened. No, there was, uh, there was some drinking, but, uh, we, no we certainly didn't—" He was mercifully, or mercilessly depending on perspective, cut off by River covering his mouth with her hand.
Kaylee's expression was tinged with hurt but before she could comment River shrugged, "Simon worries Captain will think he took liberties with Kaylee's person while she was drunk and could not consent. Captain stands in loco parentis. It provokes the desire but it takes away the performance. Therefore much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes him and it mars him; it sets him on and it takes him off."
Now the mechanic just looked confused as Simon nodded, his mouth still firmly stopped by his sister's palm. Riddick chuckled, "She means Mal is considered the parent, the authority figure." He shrugged, "Simon's talked with me some about rules of behavior. Mostly because I have no frame of reference. The rest of it…not really sure."
"No, I would never! Not with Kaylee..." Simon managed to pry his sister's hand away from his mouth. "I wouldn't dishonor her like that. She's…" He blushed painfully as he looked at the pretty mechanic, "You're…good. A lady."
It was Kaylee's turn to goggle and Riddick shrugged again, "You are. At least to him. Engine grease and airs got nothing to do with it."
"Yeah, uh-huh," Mal rolled his eyes at the turn for the romantical nonsense. "Where's my hero?"
"There," Riddick pointed at the idiot coming down the stairs with a woman, singing that stupid song and demanding eggs and Mudder's milk. "Living legend my tanned muscular ass."
"Coulda done without that image Rick." Mal winced (though River giggled, Kaylee along with her) and quickly commandeered Cobb, "No, the living legend needs to come with us. He's got a little appearance to make."
"He does?" Of course Cobb didn't remember anything he'd been told the night before. Riddick rolled his eyes heavenward. The Almighty loved to test his patience.
"That's right. This job here's gone way past long enough," The Captain nodded.
Riddick sighed as he had to help herd Jayne towards the street, "You three stay here. Out of trouble." He tossed Kaylee an earwig, "Or get on back to the boat. Its been moved. Wash'll let you know where."
Kaylee nodded though how much she was comprehending through the haze of a hangover and Mudder's milk he couldn't be certain. River had snatched the earwig out of the air quick as a cat. "Oh yeah," He muttered as he climbed the stairs hauling Cobb along. "This is gonna go real well."
Mal was explaining the plan, again, to Cobb, "So, that's where the little 'Jayne Celebration' we got planned comes in. Should give us enough time to get the goods back onto Serenity."
Neither he nor Mal were prepared for Jayne to have a convulsion of conscience. Riddick would have bet money that moron didn't even have one, "I don't know. You think we should be using my fame to hoodwink folks?"
"You better laugh when you say that," Mal warned him.
"No really, Mal, I mean, maybe there's something to this. The Mudders? I think I really made a difference in their lives. You know- Me, Jayne Cobb."
"We know your name you jackass," Riddick rolled his eyes.
"You know, they threw a riot on my account?" Cobb was still trying to argue, "A riot..."
Zoë nodded at them as she rode up on the mule, "Oh my, is that Jayne? Is that really him? Pinch me Captain, I must be dreaming."
Mal just groaned at her playacting, "Wash get the ship set?"
"Safe and sound and away from those pesky magnetic landlocks," The First Mate nodded.
"Just get on over to town square, Jayne. Your fans are waiting," He looked around at the Mudders, "In fact I think you have an escort."
Riddick watched as the Mudders happily dragged Cobb off, "I don't suppose we could leave him here?"
Zoë shook her head at him, "Jayne's too sharp for that. Always leaves a trail of breadcrumbs." She winked and he couldn't help grinning (despite that itch in his skull) as they headed off to find the goods.
Digging the goods up didn't take long and getting them back to Serenity took even less time. Kaylee, Simon and River weren't at the boat though. "Zoë, pack down the cargo. Wash, you heat her up. We're blowing this mess inside half an hour."
Riddick finished unloading the last of the crates and Wash nodded, "Already there."
Mal looked over at Riddick, "Let's go get our wayward babes."
He nodded, "Little concerned they aren't back yet. Got my doubts that they've been caught up in the 'Jayne Day' celebration."
It didn't take them long to get around the crowd and over to the bar. Taking in the shambles that had been the drinking establishment took them a bit longer. "What'n the unholy fuck happened here?" Riddick looked at the bartender who was picking up broken chairs.
"That gǒu cào de gǒu niáng yǎng de came in lookin' for Jayne an' laid hands on that fella in the fancy fits. Said he heard tell they's on Jayne's crew," The bartender was clearly displeased to put it mildly. "Then the girl in the overalls tried to pull him off an' he smacked her 'crost the face. The slender fella wi' the pretty vest got all het up 'bout that an' got hisself punched good for his trouble."
"And they did all this damage," Mal was looking around at broken crockery, spilt Mudder's milk and fractured chairs.
"Naw, the little one, she took him on, told t'other two ta run, an' 'tween the two of 'em they done alla this," The man shook his head.
"Where are they now?" Riddick growled. He'd known something was wrong. Teach him to ignore his instincts. He should have dragged the three of them back to the boat or made them come with to get the cargo.
"The big fella, s'only got the one eye, he ain't quite got the better a her but he heard folks shoutin' from the square an' took off outa here. Girl followed him." The whoreson didn't even seem concerned that his customers were getting beat on, or that a little girl had been fighting and then pursuing whoever it was beat on them.
Riddick shook his head and headed back out, scanning the area for any sign of Kaylee and Simon. River would be closer to Jayne, "Mal. You got anything from Wash?"
"He just heard from Simon," Mal reported tilting his head as he listened to the earwig's transmission. "Wash is guiding the Doc and Kaylee to Serenity. We just gotta get River and Jayne."
"They'll be in the square, if whoever it is wants Jayne, it's kinda obvious where he is with all the chanting," Riddick rolled his eyes as he hurried towards the square.
The shotgun blast got him running, Mal beside him, and they arrived just in time to see River jump on the back of a very ugly man, interrupting the conversation/threats between him and Jayne. The ensuing tussle seemed to hold the Mudders spellbound. Riddick had to hand it to River, she was doing pretty good considering, but it was obvious her training was only half complete. Her muscle memory still conflicted with what was left of the programming. Maybe if they weren't trying to undo what the Academy had done she'd have fared better. As it was…
Riddick winced as the gruesome bastard grabbed River's hair and pulled, throwing her off his back. She landed better than he'd hoped, rolling like they'd been practicing and got up again, but he got there before she could launch herself back into the fight, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her back, "Time to beat a strategic retreat." He muttered.
"Stitch Hessian," River murmured. "Jayne's old partner. Betrayed."
"Uh huh," Riddick couldn't care less. "We're leaving." Priority was getting River out of harms way. She'd gotten Simon and Kaylee out, now he would get her out even if he had to throw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Mal would take care of Cobb.
He looked over to see Mal approaching Stitch. The Captain was rewarded with Stitch pointing a gun at him. "Now why don't you just let ol' Stitch speak his piece?"
Mal nodded, hands away from his belt, "Go on, then."
"Whole lot of money in a Magistrate's safe, weren't there, Jayne? Got away clean, too!" Stitch was near shouting, "But then our plane took a hit, and we're going down. We dumped the fuel reserve, dumped the life support, hell, we even dumped the seats! Then, there's Jayne, the money, and me. And there was no way he was going to drop that money." He sneered at Cobb and Riddick couldn't really blame him. There was only one way this story ended.
Some fool in the crowd called out, "He did. He dropped it on the Mudders."
Again, Riddick understood Stitch's reaction. "By accident, you in-bred dung-head! He tossed me out first! For six months, we run together, he turned me out before I could scream!"
"You'd have done the same," Cobb argued.
"No, never. You protect the man you're with," Hessian shot back. "You watch his back. Everybody knows that! Well, except the Hero of Canton."
"Years of love have been forgot in the hatred of a minute," River shook her head. He doubted it was love between the two men but any betrayal stung, she wasn't wrong. Riddick began to ease back, taking River with him. She was limping slightly and murmured, "This will not end well."
On that he could agree as Cobb challenged his old partner, "You gonna talk me to death, buddy? Is that the plan?"
"This is the plan." Stitch aimed and fired straight at Cobb.
"And this is where we leave," Riddick scooped his apprentice up in his arms and began to stride away from the screams of the crowd and the ensuing sounds of a fight. Cobb and Hessian could kill each other for all he cared. He was taking River back to the ship. Mal would take care of Cobb.
Author's Note: So it didn't seem to me, that it would be even remotely in character for Riddick to try and help Jayne. As far as he's concerned Jayne is Mal's responsibility. And while Riddick is changing somewhat, he hasn't changed so much, so quickly that he's going to go out of his way to help a merc. Especially not one who's made no secret of the fact that he'd like to turn Riddick, River and Simon into the Feds (not necessarily in that order). He's concerned with River, her brother and Kaylee. They're the ones who need protecting. Cobb got himself into the mess and he can get himself out.
Oh, River's quotes, sometimes they require a little more interpretation than others. Not everyone is versed in Earth That Was poetry after all.
Chinese Translations:
fèi fèi gāng mén (baboon's asshole)
hào sè de lǘ zi (lecherous jackass)
Lóng Wáng (Dragon King (mythology))
Zhè shì shén me làn dōng xi (what is this garbage)
pì gu (butt)
Wǒ cào (holy fuck)
Shì (is / are / am / yes)
gǒu cào de gǒu niáng yǎng de (dog-humping son of a bitch)
Quote Sources:
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those that loved me, and alone. – Ulysses – Alfred, Lord Tennyson
I am a part of all that I have met; yet all experience is an arch wherethro' gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades forever and forever when I move. How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use! As tho' to breathe were life! – Ulysses – Alfred, Lord Tennyson
A land where all things always seem'd the same! And round about the keel with faces pale, dark faces pale against that rosy flame, the mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came. – The Lotos Eaters – Alfred, Lord Tennyson
There is sweet music here that softer falls than petals from blown roses on the grass, or night-dews on still waters between walls of shadowy granite. – The Lotos Eaters – Alfred, Lord Tennyson
And thro' the moss the ivies creep, and in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep, and from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep. – The Lotos Eaters – Alfred, Lord Tennyson
I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking: I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of entertainment. – Othello – William Shakespeare
O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil. . – Othello – William Shakespeare
It provokes the desire but it takes away the performance. Therefore much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes him and it mars him; it sets him on and it takes him off. – MacBeth – William Shakespeare
Years of love have been forgot in the hatred of a minute – Edgar Allen Poe