"W'as that smell?" Kaylee asked, crinkling her nose as the walked into the shop.

"Books," Simon said, taking a deep breath. "Ink and paper."

"Smells all musty," Kaylee said.

"The books are made out of wood pulp, plant mater," River said. "They're decomposing. Data is stored more efficiently in binary form in synthetically produced computers. It takes up less space, there is not the threat of decomposition, and it is easier to cross reference and access."

"Oh," Kaylee said. "Guess that makes sense."

"Well isn't she a little smarty," A withered voice said from their right. Simon and Kaylee both jumped, and turned to look at an old man with thick glasses and clearly arthritic hands sitting on a low stool behind a tall desk. River didn't turn to look at him; instead she took a step further into the store, her quick brown eyes glancing over the many titles. "If she don't like my books she can leave."

"No," Simon said quickly, "No, I'm sure she likes your books just fine. Sometimes she's just, ah . . ."

"She don't always know how what she says sounds," Kaylee explained kindly. "Ya know how some people is."

"Humm," the man grunted. "You gonna buy anything or just breathe my air?"

"Ah, buy," Simon said, seeing very clearly that was the only answer that wouldn't get them kicked out. "We will buy something. I'm just not sure what."

"Well, alls we got we got out," the man muttered. "'Spect you know the Dewey Decimal system."

"Not by heart," Simon said.

"Six hundred," River called out, "Technology, applied sciences. Six hundred and thirty, agriculture and related technologies. Six hundred and thirty six, animal husbandry. Six hudred and thirty six point seven, dogs; point eight, cats."

"You lookin' fer books on breedin' cats?" the man asked.

"I don't -- I don't think so," Simon said quickly. "Kaylee, I should . . ."

"Go ahead," Kaylee said, "I kin brows."

Simon smiled at her, gratefully, and then hurried to find River who was, by now, lost in the stacks.

Once Simon was gone, the old man turned his attention to Kaylee, "You want something, Miss? Maybe something for him?"

"What?" Kaylee asked, a little startled.

"Are you here to buy a book?"

"Ta be truthful, I don't do much readin' myself."

"Humm," the old man harrumphed, clearly judging her. "What about the boy you're with. The one that chased after the other girl."

"She's his sister," Kaylee said quickly.

"Maybe you'd like ta buy him a book. He clearly appreciates them."

"I don't know what he'd want."

"Gent like that," the old man said, glancing towards where Simon had disappeared. "Who appreciates the smell of a bookshop, I figure I know what he wants."

Kaylee walked over to the large counter, "Kin ya show me?" she asked in a very quiet voice.

Four large, completely filled bookshelves away, Simon had caught up with River, who was no longer looking at books, but was peering through the spaces between them. He was about to say her name and ask what sort of book she would like, but before he could she spoke.

"Why is she here?" River asked, glancing at Kaylee through the stacks, with pure hatred.

"Who? Kaylee?"

River nodded.

Simon opened his mouth, expecting that he'd have a very good, very reasonable answer, because he usually did. But this time, much to his surprise, he didn't. "Because," he finally said. "It makes our story more believable."

"Because you want to marry her," River said, turning from her spying so she could look at him with clear contempt.

"What?" Simon asked, his voice an octave higher than usual.

"You want to marry her," River replied simply. "That's why they believe you'd go off, that's why you're not scared. You want to be with her, you don't want to be with me."

                "That's not true at all," Simon said, flabbergasted. "We couldn't tell the Alliance about you, you know that. And I do . . ."

"I'm a burden," River asserted. "I'm a problem."

"No," Simon said again, desperately. "Not at all."

"You shouldn't lie; you're not very good at it."

Simon sighed and looked away. Talking to River was, too often, a heart-and-soul breakingly difficult task, and often her lucid moments were as crushing as her mad ones. "River, I love you."

"Do you love her?" River said, almost accusingly.

"Do I . . . ."

"You don't have to lie to me," River said, turning around, making it clear the conversation was over. "I already know the answer." She turned to the stack of books behind her and pulled down the thickest volume on the shelf, it was so heavy that she nearly dropped it. She would have if Simon hadn't reached out and help her catch it "This is the one I want."

* * *

"Where the hell are the kids?" Mal demanded. If he'd been able to slam Serenity's hatch behind him, he would have.

"I assume your talking about Kaylee, Simon and River," Shepherd Book said calmly from the stairs.

Mal shot him a violent glance, before ascending, "Yeah."

"They went into the city, I believe," the shepherd said as he slowly walked down to the main floor of the cargo bay. "I'm sure they'll be back soon."

"Gan er nu," Mal spat. "We got us here a situation that's gonna take some workin' an' I can't exactly work it without them here." He tuned to Jayne and Zoë, who were, as ever, following him. "We need to find them, Jayne you ought'a . . . ."

"They will be back," Book asserted. "It'd be best to just wait, I'd wager."

"Really, Shepherd?" Mal demanded tetchily. "They give you a schedule, by chance?"

"They didn't want to be around when the Alliance toured the ship. We all thought it would be best if they slipped out the back hatch."

Mal starred at the shepherd, dumbfounded.

"I hope you agree," Book said. Having reached the main level of the cargo bay, he'd started walking towards where Mal, Zoë and Jayne were standing.

"The alliance toured Serenity?" Mal said, his eyebrows shooting up.

"They wanted to make sure it was up to code."

That actually made Mal laugh, "Code?"

"Did they forget that they searched the whole gorramn ship no more'n three months ago?" Jayne asked.

"I think they were too busy looking for Simon and River to concern themselves with code," Zoë said, taking a deep breath.

                "True," Mal said, "But that is a point. Why ain't they brought up the whole reaver incident?"

No one had an answer.

"This whole job has a stink about it," Mal muttered.

"Well what can we do, sir?" Zoë asked.

"Not a gorramn thing's what," Jayne said. "So's if it's all the same ta you, Mal . . ."

"Hey!" Wash yelled from the top of the catwalks. "It's about time you guys got back."

"What's the news Wash?" Mal called up as the pilot bounded down the stairs two at a time, using the banisters to propel himself forward quicker.

"Nothin' good," Wash called. "Is there a reason that the Alliance is sending me flight plans?"

Mal sighed and looked away, "Zoë, I'd be grateful if you could explain this to your husband."

"Yes sir," she said officially, then turning to Wash as he hit the floor of the cargo bay and walked towards them, obvious confusion and concern on his face. "We've got a job Honey. Government work."

"We got government work?" Wash said, amazed.

"Real honest wages?" Book asked, clearly impressed. "I hadn't realized . . ."

"Look, Preacher," Mal snapped. "I don't need any snobbish, sarcastic lessons on morality right now."

"Don't we hate the Alliance?" Wash asked, raising his hand. "I mean, with the whole war thing, and poor River, I was defiantly under the impression that we really hated the Alliance."

"You know what I hate even more?" Mal said. "Havin' those huai dans wonder why I'm turnin' down a perfectly legitimate, all-to-easy job. They got the power fer now, better ta do them a favor than piss them off."

"I don' see what the big deal is," Jayne said. "Job's a job. Who cares who for?"

Mal wasn't about to respond to that, he turned back to his pilot, "Now tell me truthful, Wash, you were here when the Alliance took their tour?"

"Yeah, I showed them around."

"And?"

"And what? I showed them around. They looked at the engine, looked at the controls up in the cockpit, looked at the infirmary."

"The infirmary?" Mal said.

"Yeah."

"Did they ask about the doctor?" Zoë asked.

"Ah, yeah, they asked if he was a real doctor or just some meng gu dai fu from a backwater planet believes in acupuncture and herbal remedies."

"What did you tell him?" Mal said, fury skirting around the edges of his voice.

"Cool it," the pilot said, holding his hands in front of him. "I told him I'd never seen the kid's credentials."

"I believe your exact words were 'We didn't ask to see his degree before he saved Kaylee's life, and we didn't need to see them afterwards.'" Book supplied.

"What did you tell them about when Kaylee got shot?"

"Well I sure as hell didn't tell them the whole truth," Wash snapped, a little annoyed that Mal was so worried, like he didn't know how to lie to authorities. "I said that we'd picked up passengers between Boros and Calloway and that there was an accident. Simon Tambarino just happened to be one of our passengers and after he saved Kaylee you offered him a job."

"Tambarino?" Jayne laughed. "Was the best you could do?"

"Hey, I was under pressure," Wash said defensively.

"And that explanation," Mal asked. "That was enough for them?"

"I guess," Wash said. "Didn't hurt that a Shepherd was swearing to its validity."

"Preacher," Mal said, wonder in his voice. "Did you lie?"

"I said that we were extremely lucky to have such a talented doctor on board," Book asserted calmly. "I'm not responsible for how they interpreted that."

"What happened next?" Mal asked.

"After that they moved on to the guest quarters."

"Did they see Rivier's things?" Zoë asked.

"Naw, they just wanted to see one of the rooms. I showed them an empty one, they asked if the others were like it, I said pretty much and they moved on to the engine room."

"They didn't ask to speak to Kaylee?" Zoë asked. "Or Simon?"

"Naw, I know they saw Kaylee and Simon coming in," Wash explained. "She was getting passengers and he was keeping her company."

"The fact that they rabbited, that didn't make them suspicious?" Mal asked.

"Don't think so," Wash shrugged. "It was Kaylee and Simon. What would you think if you saw the two a them sneak off together?"

"I'm too decent minded to think anything," Mal quipped. "But I see your point." He sighed and looked at the portion of his crew that he trusted the most, that he didn't have to stay up at night worrying over, that he knew would be able to take care of themselves if this thing turned sour. Not that he wanted them to have to take care of themselves, but at least, worse come too worse, they could. Now, the Tams and Little Kaylee, they were another story entirely; innocent kids who got thrown into a very corrupt and grown up world.

Then there was Inara, who wasn't innocent and wasn't a kid but she was still . . . well Mal still felt responsible for her.

"There's no reason to think that the Alliance here's connected us with River, even if they did see Simon. Wash's lie's close enough to the truth to hold a lake a water. Maybe that business with the Reaver did us a good turn, maybe after such a thorough search we're in the clear. In any case we gotta make the best of this Gorramn business and get it done as soon as possible. Wash, you heard from Inara?"

"Ah, yeah, she contacted me and was in a real snit, said the Alliance canceled one of her jobs."

"When will she be back?"

"She's got a client tonight and that she'll be here by seven in the morning."

"Ling," Zoë muttered.

"Well, 'spect she's got to get it in when she can," Mal said dryly. "Until then we gotta . . ."

"Cap'in?" Kaylee's timid voice called from outside. Mal turned and saw his little mechanic looking in on the gathering, chewing on her lower lip as if she'd done something wrong.

"Well now girl, I was just about to say how we were waitin' on you. Where ya been?" Mal asked.

"'Round," Kaylee said vaguely. "We were just wonderin' if we ought'a come back now or, you know, keep outta yer hair. What with the important Alliance . . . stuff."

"I'm thinkin' now would be a good time for y'all ta come back," Mal said. "Ain't no one here but what you see."

Kaylee nodded and smiled, "Shiny." She disappeared back to the street, presumably to fetch Simon and River. Two minutes later the three of them walked up the hatch. Simon, who looked as if he had been holding his breath since they'd left Serenity, was guiding River back into the ship. There was little worry that anyone would have recognized the young girl, her face was buried in a large book, too large a book to be reading while walking, but somehow River managed. Kaylee brought up the rear, looking for suspicious people, making herself somewhat suspicious in the process.

"Is everything all right, Captain?" Simon asked with no confidence in his voice. Mal wondered, for a second, what the young doctor would do if the answer to that question had been no. Would he have grabbed his sister and disappeared into the masses of people in the city and hoped against hope that would be enough to keep them safe? It was an interesting question to ponder, but Mal didn't really have the time.

"Seems ta be, although we're gonna be a bit touch and go for the next week or so."

"What do you mean?" Simon asked.

"Alliance commissioned us to take a group a passengers to New Dallas for them."

"And you accepted?" Simon said, his voice panicked. "Are you mad?"

"At them pushy government folk, hell yah," Mal said. "But it's a good job and it's good money. And it won't hurt fer us to be on the good side a the law for once."

"But Cap'in?" Kaylee asked, "What about . . ." her gaze drifted towards River, who was utterly consumed in her large volume.

"That's a problem, I admit. But it ain't one we can't work out. I got here a whole list a orders and regulations and such. Now that we're all here we're gonna sit down and go over them and figure a way to make this work. An' it will work. They've already inspected Serenity once and they ain't found a thing wrong. Less we do somethin' damn foolish, there ain't no reason fer them ta do anythin' but pay us."

Simon didn't look convinced.

"It'll be all right, son," Mal assured him, then turning to the rest of the crew. "I know we were all lookin' forward to a nice night out, an' you can still have it. But first we're gonna have to figure 'xatly how we wanna play this. So if we could maybe close up Serenity, Zoë?"

"Yes sir," she said, turning and jogging to the hatch controls.

"I think it might be best if the rest a us go ta the common area an' talk over how, exactly, this is going to work," Mal said as the hatch rumbled to a close behind him.

There was a general nodding and mutter of agreement.

"I'll just take River to her room," Simon said, ushering his oblivious sister towards their quarters.

"No," Mal said. "She's a part a this. There's times ta protect your sister, boy, and there's times to make her stand on her own two feet."

"Captain, I don't. . ."

"This is one of them latter times," Mal said forcefully. "Now come on."

"Yes sir," Simon said, tugging his sister's elbow slightly, following the rest of the crew.

"Good Phryxis," River muttered.

"What?" Simon said, truly confused.

"You should always follow Odysseus," River said, glancing up from her large book. "He may not know the way, but he does get home. Which is more than I can say for you."

Simon looked at her, unsure of what to say. The explanation had made perfect sense, if they'd been talking about Greek Mythology and not real life. "Are you talking about the book?"

"The book is talking about us," River answered. "Didn't you know? Why, why would you know? You can't believe me. No one can believe me."

"River, I'll believe you," Simon said, turning and trying to look her in the eye. He couldn't, she kept glancing away.

"No, you can't. No one can," River muttered again. "She'll slaughter everyone and no one will believe me."

TO BE CONTINUED . . .