Chapter 3: Out of Action
Mal, dressed in just pants and suspenders, was standing on one foot next to the bed when Zoe walked into the infirmary the next morning. His right ankle and foot, a refulgent purple, were tightly wrapped and he had splints on three toes.
"You set on getting better acquainted with the floor, sir?" she asked.
He hopped across to a closet and peered in. "I know there's a pair of crutches around here somewhere--I've used them before. Simon won't give them to me."
"Some nonsense about how you look like you could use some rest and you really should keep off the leg entirely for a day or two?" she surmised.
"Exactly some such!"
She crossed her arms and faced him squarely. "Listen to him, sir. You've looked more like hell than usual for the last week, and you've done yourself actual damage."
"I can't sit here in sickbay--we've got a job!"
She'd been expecting this argument. "You can't come on the job, sir. Jayne and I'll handle it."
"There should be three of us, in case there's trouble. We don't know these folks."
"That's why you can't come, sir. You'd be a liability."
He glared at her, but she just returned his look with the same calm expression she had used so often before. Mal was exceptional at inspiring trust in those following him, but he had never been able to tell when people were finally at their limit--most especially himself. Zoe's most important duty was pointing out to him when those limits had been reached. She chose these moments carefully: she never challenged him unless she knew she was right, and she never backed down. Eventually, he always did.
Oh, well. There was that one time about hiring that pilot. But she hadn't really put her foot down that time.
This time he held her gaze rather than looking away. "You be careful," he ordered. "Jayne's good in a fight--but watch your back."
"Always do, sir."
"I'll be up on the bridge. Report before you go in and as soon as you're done."
She nodded. "We shouldn't be too long. Most of the others are already gone. Kaylee and Wash are out getting supplies and salvage. The Shepherd's left for the local abbey. And Inara took off ten minutes ago."
"Just me and the fugitives from justice, then."
"Be easy on them, sir." She turned and started to go.
"Zoe!" he said before she could leave.
She turned back to him.
"How . . . you obviously weren't just out for a stroll through the cargo bay last night, since, you know . . ." He trailed off, waving his hand up and down to indicate his own semi-dressed state.
"I just woke up and knew you were in trouble, sir," she stated, as if it were the most normal thing in the worlds.
He nodded a few times. "Right. Right. 'Cause, after all the time we've been together, we have this sort of psychic bond." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "This hasn't exactly ever happened before, has it?"
"No, sir, not like this. This was a first." It was all she could do to not grin: frustrating Mal with her habitual brevity was always too easy. "You'll be hearing from me soon."
On her way out, she passed River stalking the infirmary like a commando with a pair of crutches in her arms. The girl flashed a bright smile as their eyes briefly met and then made a dash for the sickbay door.
Jayne was waiting for her outside on the mule. He sat on the back seat, obviously planning on riding shotgun. He was certainly armed for it.
She stopped short of the mule and stood with her hands on her hips. "Before we get moving, we've got a few things to get straight. Without the Captain along, there's one less set of eyes to keep watch on you. I need to know I can trust you--and, truth be told, I don't trust you, Jayne, not one bit."
Jayne squirmed on the seat for a moment and then jumped to his feet in dramatic indignation. "Rutting hell, Zoe. I've never done a thing to you!"
She stared him right in the eye. "No--but we started this relationship with you shooting a comrade and joining our side for better money. And I've got a strong feeling that you've been less than honest since you came on board. I don't know what arrangement you've got with Mal, and I don't much care. I just want to be clear: if you make any trouble for me, I'll take it as trouble meant for the Captain, and I'll kill you. Is that understood?"
Jayne swallowed. "Well, I, you--hell, yes, it's understood." He set his jaw and returned her stare. "I don't blame you for not trusting me," he grated, "and you've got no cause to believe me, but having a place on Serenity has come to mean somethin' to me. And I'll do what I have to to earn it."
The sincerity of his answer surprised her; she had expected more bluster. She rewarded him with a slight smile before climbing into the driver's seat. "All right, then. Let's go!"
On Serenity, Mal swayed on his crutches just out of sight of the mess, recovering his breath and steeling himself for the inevitable encounter with the doctor. He could hear Simon rattling dishes: the only path to the bridge that was navigable on crutches was directly past him. Rutting hell.
River, his shadow for this adventure, held a finger to her lips and flattened herself against the wall. She inched up to the opening, carefully peeked around, and abruptly pulled back, laughing silently. "Be not too tame, neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor," she murmured, throwing her shoulders back. Then she wandered around the corner in her usual aimless manner, twisting her hands together and smiling in a twitchy way.
Mal was fascinated. Which behavior was the act? If she was acting now, she was doing a highly convincing job: Simon took one look at her faraway gaze and ran to her. "Windy rooftop, weathercock," she said to him earnestly.
That was the distraction Mal needed. While Simon was trying to sort out her gibberish, he lurched through the dining area and up the few stairs. He thought he was home free when he heard Simon call out to him.
"Not now, doctor," he snapped without pausing.
Simon scrambled over and got in front of him. "Captain, you really shouldn't be up. That foot should be elevated--it's already badly swollen, and you're just prolonging your recovery."
Mal pulled himself as upright as he could and put on his stony captain face. "Doctor, I've got people out on what could be a risky job. They have strict orders to report in before and after the meeting, and I intend to be on the bridge to receive those reports. So, I'll tell you just this once--get out of my way!"
Mal took great satisfaction in the way Simon immediately backed off half a step. A moment later, though, Simon recovered his composure and actually laughed. "You know, Mal, I really shouldn't let you intimidate me. Look at you. You can't even stand on your own, and yet the slightest sign of impatience or displeasure from you has me throwing aside all my training and letting the patient push me around."
The captain's lip twisted in a dangerous smile. "Are you standing up to me, or giving in? 'Cause if you're giving in, this is the part where you step to one side and let me pass. But if you want to stand up to me, we can go a few rounds right here."
"Are you planning on shooting me?" Simon asked, waving a finger towards Mal's gun. "You once swore that if you ever shot me, I'd be armed."
"I'm sure we can find you a gun in Jayne's arsenal," the captain replied evenly.
"No guns. This is the part where we make a deal," Simon said. "I let you go to the bridge and keep an eye on things until the crew returns. Then, you come back to the infirmary and let me give you something for the throbbing, and you get a full night's rest."
"You're taking unfair advantage, doctor: I can get around most of the ship, but I admit the ladder is a mite daunting." He nodded towards his bunk. The hatch gaped open, as he'd left it the night before. "I reckon I've got no choice in the matter. Infirmary or guest quarters, they're both below."
"Then we have a bargain." Simon stepped aside and went back to look for River.
Mal gritted his teeth and continued on to the bridge. Once there, he eased himself into Wash's chair and leaned back so he could lift his right leg with both hands and gently place his foot on the console. "Tai-kong suo-yo de shing-chiou doh sai-jin wu di pigu," he hissed. This was going to be a long vigil.
"This don't feel right," Jayne said out of the corner of his mouth. He and Zoe had arrived at the rendezvous point a few minutes earlier to find an empty warehouse. They had glimpsed at least one person in an overlooking window before they had gone in, and there was no telling how many more were scattered about.
"I know," Zoe replied through clenched teeth. "Stay alert."
"Right. I was about to take a little nap!"
At that moment, two men entered through a door in the far wall. One was a close match for Jayne, tall and wide as a tractor. The other was a small wiry man with blonde hair and cloudy gray eyes. Both had guns strapped to their hips. They stopped some ten feet away, the larger man taking up a position slightly behind the other.
The smaller man addressed himself to Jayne. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Reynolds. We've heard good things about your discretion."
"Huh?"
"Captain Reynolds couldn't make this appointment," Zoe informed him smoothly. "He left me to deal with it. I'm his first mate, Zoe, and this is Jayne."
The man frowned. "We were expecting to deal with the captain himself. I made that clear in my communications."
"And the Captain meant to honor that request. But something came up that required his attention, and he felt sure that this meeting would go smooth."
"We don't trust any of our goods to a captain we haven't met. If I were to return with you to your ship, could I meet the captain there? We would like a chance to look the ship over."
Something about this exchange didn't feel right to Zoe. After all the trouble to pick a private meeting spot, this man seemed awful eager to approach the ship in broad daylight. "The Captain took a shuttle and will be rendezvousing with us after we leave," she said. She prayed that Jayne's face didn't portray too much surprise at that statement. "And unless your business is totally legit, we usually find it best to keep the customer and the ship from too close an association."
"Well, we are prepared to pay handsomely to have our items moved, but we will not do business if your captain chooses to snub us."
"We're sorry you feel that way." Zoe nodded to him politely and started to back away.
Jayne shifted uneasily behind her. "Gorram it! We can't just let a deal go because Mal's too proud to let on that he's hurt."
"Jayne!" Zoe hissed.
Jayne ignored her and addressed himself to the small man. "The captain's not taking care of other business. He's laid up in the infirmary after fallin' down a flight of stairs last night. He'd be here otherwise!"
Zoe froze, waiting for the reaction. It came with the sound of guns cocking behind them. She and Jayne both slowly turned, hands raised slightly, and faced two ugly specimens with guns nearly as big Jayne's trained on them.
"That's very interesting," the leader remarked. "Is anybody else with him?"
River stood on the landing in the cargo bay, gazing with unfocused eyes toward the raised loading ramp. She swayed side to side ever so slowly. Eventually she stirred and muttered, "Dark sail on the horizon!" She ran lightly down the stairs towards the infirmary.
Jayne was grateful that they had been tied up with their backs to each other: that way he didn't have to feel Zoe's searing glare. Not that he didn't deserve it; he'd screwed up good.
They were sitting on the ground, their arms tied around a supporting pole in the middle of the room. He could feel her hands digging into his lower back. Three of their ambushers had headed off to Serenity. The fourth was sitting at a table at the back of the room, lazily training a gun on them while he played a game of solitaire. He was cheating.
"Jayne!" Zoe hissed angrily. "So, how much money did they offer you this time?"
"Hell, Zoe, you can't think--"
"Oh, I can, and I do."
Their guard looked up from his game with interest.
"Look," Jayne insisted, "I haven't always been a huge fan of River and the doc. He gets on my nerves something fierce, and she likes to slice me up with kitchen knives. But Mal and me came to an understanding, and I wouldn't--"
A shot echoed through the warehouse and the guard fell backwards against the wall, clutching his shoulder. Shepherd Book rushed in from the side door, a semi-automatic in his outstretched hand. He disarmed the moaning thug, grabbed Jayne's knife from the table, and then backed up towards Zoe and Jayne.
"'Bout time, Preacher. I was beginning to think that our deus ex machina was never gonna show," Zoe remarked.
"Sorry. Four against one seemed like long odds. I waited until they cleared out and then checked the perimeter. This one is the only one they left behind."
"Gorram it!" Jayne fumed. "You just let me think things were hopeless! Get us untied quick!"
Book knelt and cut the bonds on Zoe. She scrambled to her feet. "Hurry! They took our comm unit. We have to get back and warn Mal."
She collected her guns from the table and then looked at their erstwhile guard with distaste. As soon as he was free, Jayne joined her in collecting his armament. He glanced at her face and read her indecision. He shrugged, pointed his gun at the man, and shot him right through the heart.
Book spun towards Jayne. His face was twisted with anger and distress. "Jayne! That was unnecessary--the man was already subdued!"
Jayne holstered his gun and looked the Shepherd in the eye, totally unrepentant. "He heard me mention the doc and his sister."
Book turned to Zoe beseechingly. She nodded once to Jayne and then put her hand on the preacher's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Shepherd, but Jayne did the right thing. We've got to protect our own."
"I thought that cat was already out of the bag! Aren't they after River?"
"Hard to tell. I get the feeling they're interested in the Captain."