Chapter 3: Services Paid For

Jayne lounged limply on a sofa in the receiving room. He'd rushed a bit, not wanting to keep Mal waiting, and he was feeling more drained than usual. He was also feeling peevish—here he'd gone and passed on a final tussle, and Mal was nowhere to be seen. Well, he hoped that was a good sign. He was having second thoughts about his plan to get Mal laid: the captain had a way of complicating simple things like sex and was like to wind up twice as miserable. Still, he'd picked out Ginny himself—she had a lot of spirit and was smarter than most of the others. Mal's type. And she'd looked pleased when she saw him.

He stretched his arms over his head and grinned. Yeah, she would treat him right. And she wasn't likely to be getting into any gunfights.

His mind slipped back to the girl he'd just left and he drifted into a comfortable doze. He woke with a start when somebody kicked his foot.

Mal stood before him, his hands in the pockets of his brown coat. "Let's get back to the ship."

Jayne bounced to his feet. "You took long enough," he grumbled. "Did you get it done?"

Mal stiffened and glared at him.

Jayne shook his head and chuckled. He glanced around to make sure they were alone and then dropped his voice. "The business. Do we have a job?"

Mal nodded and lowered his voice, too. "And payment in advance. The coat's a little heavy today."

Jayne grinned. "Knew you two would work it out."

"The lady was persuasive. C'mon"

They started towards the door, but Jayne suddenly stopped and grabbed Mal's sleeve. "What about the other business?" he asked with a leer. "Didja get that done, too?"

Mal looked pointedly at the hand on his arm. "Sheesh," Jayne said. "Next time I'll bring the preacher." He dropped his hand and led the way out.

Zoë joined step with them in the next block. "Good to see you, sir," she remarked. "You were in there long enough."

"Woulda been a shame to rush," Jayne rejoined.

Mal ignored her implication. "Important thing is, we got a job."

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Really? Gotta say, sir, that surprises me."

"Yeah. I'm still getting' used to the idea myself."

"Will we be taking off right away?"

"No—we've got something to pick up first. And we all need to confabulate before we do that."

Kaylee and Wash were both suspiciously quick to appear in the cargo bay when the trio returned. The engineer couldn't hide her curiosity. "Have we got a job?" she asked, leaning over the railing of the catwalk above.

The captain craned his head back to look at her. "We do, indeed. And we all have some things to discuss. Gather everybody."

"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" She scampered back up the catwalk to Inara's shuttle.

Mal and the others continued past the infirmary. Zoë knocked on doors as they passed and announced to any that might hear that they were all meeting in the mess.

Within minutes, everybody was gathered at the dinner table. They gazed at Mal with curiosity.

"Okay, people. We've got a new job. It's not a hard one, but it does raise some issues. We're gonna be taking on a passenger."

A number of glances flicked towards River. Simon frowned and raised a hand in protest. "Mal—you can't be serious. It's too dangerous for River."

"This passenger is no Alliance spy or bounty hunter."

"How can you be sure?"

"I'm sure." Mal's tone brooked no disagreement. "But we need to be sure that anybody who spends time on Serenity never thinks to tie the two of you to the notorious Doctor Tam and his fugitive sister. You'll have to take on other identities.

"Doctor, you are hereby demoted to platoon medic. Billy Williams was a medic under me on Hera. You're 'bout the same height and coloring. He was with us some four weeks afore he got blown to little pieces—there was no body." He paused and exchanged a long look with Zoë. She didn't react, but her calm gaze said she approved.

"Anyways," he continued, "turns out that he actually suffered a breakdown and I left him with local ranchers. To save face for him and his family, I reported him killed in action. Our paths crossed a little piece back, and now he's part of my crew."

"William Williams?" Simon asked with distaste.

"He does bear a resemblance to Billy, sir," Zoë noted. "The story might hold up, if the doctor doesn't perform any medical miracles in front of passengers."

"Let's all confine ourselves to minor wounds in front of guests," Mal suggested. "So, Doctor, you will now answer to Corporal Billy Williams. But, seein' as how the war is over, we'll just call you Billy."

Simon winced. "And how do I address you and Zoë?"

"You address the captain as Sir," Zoë interjected. "In the past you called him Sarge, and in moments of extreme emotion you might slip back into that. You mostly call me Zoë, but you also call me Hoity."

Jayne guffawed.

"A name I'll only suffer from those who served with me after boot camp and before Serenity Valley," she finished with a meaningful glare for her husband.

"You never call her that, Cap'n," Kaylee observed.

"And I'm the only survivor of those who served with her at Serenity Valley," Mal pointed out.

Simon swallowed and met the captain's gaze sheepishly. "I—I'm not sure I can do that convincingly. But maybe with some practice."

"You're gonna have to sell it, Billy. Get used to it."

The doctor nodded. "Yes, sir. What about River?"

Mal looked at the far end of the table. "Jayne? How you feel about having a niece or a little sister on board?"

The mercenary gaped at the captain in surprise and then turned his head to stare at his new relation. "Uh . . . 'kay. I guess she could be my sister Johnnie's daughter."

River grinned at him with pleasure.

"Why Jayne?" Simon demanded.

"She could be my sister," Kaylee volunteered.

Mal shook his head emphatically. "The time might come when River needs to jump ship for her own safety. If that happens, she should have someone with her who can protect her."

"And who'll turn her into the Alliance first chance he gets!" Simon objected.

Mal rested his gaze on River. She seemed unconcerned. "He won't."

Jayne's lip twitched nervously. "I . . . would never do that."

"What's her name, Jayne?" Kaylee asked.

River gazed at him expectantly, waiting to be christened.

"Well . . . let's see. Um . . . Maggie. Her name's Maggie."

She grimaced. "Can I be Annie?"

Jayne shrugged helplessly. "Sure. Whatever. Annie Maybell Custis."

Mal nodded, marking that issue settled. "Okay. Now, we need to justify our stop here, make it look like we came of our own accord. Kaylee—I want you to make some show of getting critical engine parts and fixing Serenity up. Give the impression we limped in."

Kaylee hung her head and regarded the captain sheepishly through her lashes. "I done that already, Cap'n."

"Huh?"

She raised her chin in defiance. "Cap'n Masters gave me money for fixing up Edinburgh. I told her I didn't think you'd like me taking the money, but she told me to spend it on the engines and not say a word. So while you were out, Wash an' me went and got a spare catalyzer and some struts."

Wash pushed his chair back in mock outrage. "Well, you're showing your true colors now, Miss Kaylee. You wasted no time in selling me out."

She grinned at him apologetically. "Sorry, Wash. You know I can't keep a secret."

"I'll know next time," he agreed.

"Well, that's good, Kaylee," Mal assured her. "But, you're right—I didn't want you taking that money."

"Sorry, Cap'n," she muttered, meeting his gaze with soulful eyes.

He looked away before he could break down and tell her he forgave her. He addressed the companion, his tone all business. "Inara, we'll stay through tomorrow to make it look like we're under repairs. If you've got any offers lined up, it might look natural for you to take a customer tomorrow."

She stiffened. "I've a few—nothing much worth my time."

"Well . . . you've got tomorrow to do business. I know it's important that you know our schedule as much as possible."

"If you think it important that I take on a client, maybe you'd like to help me choose one," Inara sniped.

Kaylee gasped audibly. All eyes turned to the captain.

"You ever want help pickin' out horseflesh, I'm your man. Meanwhile, maybe you could get Kaylee to help you—she thinks it's all very romantic."

Inara gathered her regal air about her like armor. "This is actually a little short notice," she said. "Where will we be heading when we leave here? Do we have a schedule for that?"

"We'll continue to Paquin, like we'd planned. See if we can still pick up the job we were heading for. An' there's a chance our passenger will be getting off there."

"Who is this mystery person, Mal?" Wash asked. "The long lost heir to the throne of Parsimonia?" Zoë placed her hand on his arm, her way of telling him to back off.

"Nobody we need to fuss over," the captain replied. "And that's all I'm gonna say for now. If the job falls through for some reason, there's no need for anybody to know more. But once we're out of port, I'll fill you all in."

"That'll be soon enough, sir," Zoë assured him.

"Good. Then we're done for now. Preacher, could I have a moment?"

Book blinked with surprise but nodded his head and followed the captain down the stairs towards the cargo bay. Inara stood and drifted off to her shuttle while the others burst into speculation regarding the new job.

Late the next afternoon, Wash spotted for Jayne while the bigger man grunted through his final set of chest presses. The preacher was the mercenary's usual partner, but he had gone into town and Wash had allowed himself to be recruited. He suspected that their new passenger was due to arrive soon, and he wanted an excuse to linger by the entrance and get a first look. From the number of glances Jayne was throwing towards the ramp, he had timed this workout for just this purpose.

"Here comes Mal again," Wash observed, following the captain's progress from the catwalk to the floor of the cargo bay.

Jayne heaved the bar onto its rests and sat up. He wiped the sweat from his face with a towel, using the motion to cover his own interest in the captain's perambulations. "What's that—eight times?"

"Nine," Wash corrected. "Hard to tell if he's waiting for the new passenger or for Inara to get back. This is how the man stays fit—lots of nervous energy."

Mal turned at the bottom of the stairs and walked towards the infirmary and the stairs back up to the mess.

"Must work," Jayne commented. "A reliable source says he's got energy and stamina to spare."

Wash smiled. "A reliable source? Zoë told me where you went for your clandestine meeting yesterday. You didn't happen to make a little return visit this morning, did you?"

Jayne shrugged and tossed the towel onto the weight rack. "I was a little rushed yesterday. And I wanted to find out if the money I put out setting Mal up was well spent."

Wash grinned like a schoolboy. "You set him up?"

Jayne took extreme care in selecting a dumbbell from the rack. "Yeah. He was acting so tragical after Nandi, I figured if he didn't get laid soon, he might never get it up again."

Wash's smile faded into a grimace. "Well . . . that was generous, and very . . . sensitive of you," he ventured. "I gather you took some time to talk to the girl in question?"

"Well—more'n a little time. But we didn't talk all that much."

"You mean you—with the one who—Jayne!"

"Why not?" Jayne asked. "She's the best one."

"Yeah, but . . . weren't you afraid you'd, you know, suffer in the comparison?"

"Nah. 'Sides, you fight with a man, sharin' a woman feels right." Jayne sat on the bench and began a set of concentration curls.

"Somehow I doubt the captain would see it that way."

"Yeah, he's got some funny ideas. Still . . . unnnhh . . . I don't see why he'd mind much."

"I think it has a lot to do with why he and Inara can't get together. Most of us like to think that we've got a woman all to ourselves," Wash explained.

Jayne paused with the dumbbell against his chin and looked the pilot up and down with disdain. "You're foolin' yourself, little man. Zoë may be yours now, but she and Mal must have a history that way. You just might be sufferin' by comparison."

"Okay, we're going to stop talking about this now," Wash asserted firmly. He busied himself changing the weights on the bar. Jayne smirked his way through his curls and moved around the bench to spot for the pilot when he was ready.

Wash was finishing up his second set when they heard a tapping on the entrance. Jayne helped him settle the bar and then crossed to the hatch and peered through the glass in it. He nodded once in recognition and stabbed the release button.

Shepherd Book, a small suitcase in his hand, stepped through. He turned and held out his hand to somebody behind him, obviously encouraging whoever it was to follow him through. Wash craned to see.

A little girl stepped hesitantly on board. She had the dark hair and almond eyes of a predominantly Chinese bloodline, and she clutched a doll to her chest with her left hand. Her eyes were red, as if she'd been crying recently. Wash's heart went right out to her and his feet followed.

"Is this our new passenger?" he asked Book.

Book set the suitcase down and spread his arms between the two to make introductions. "Yes, this is Lily. Lily, this is Wash, the ship's pilot."

Wash wiped his sweaty hand on his shirt and then extended it to her. She shook it solemnly.

Jayne suddenly appeared at Wash's side, performed the same motion to dry his palm, and extended his hand, too. He grinned down in what passed for a friendly manner and said, "And I'm Jayne. I don't fly the ship—I come along to keep everybody safe."

She took a step back and craned her head back to look at him. Her eyes got even larger.

"He's big, isn't he?" Wash remarked. "Don't worry, he's got a soft spot for little girls."

She reached out shyly and shook Jayne's hand. She snatched her arm back quickly once that was over.

"Has our passenger arrived?" came Mal's voice from above.

Wash turned and watched the captain descend the stairs and come towards them. "Captain Reynolds, this is Lily," the pilot said formally, stepping aside to make way for him.

"Welcome aboard Serenity," Mal said pleasantly. "We're mostly a cargo ship, so I'm afraid our accommodations ain't exactly luxurious. Still, we'll do what we can to make you comfortable."

"Thank you, sir," she said quietly. She glanced up at Book. He smiled encouragingly at her and took her hand. She returned her attention to the captain. "How long will I be on board?"

Mal cleared his throat. "Well, I don't rightly know for sure. We'll be going to Paquin first, and Wash tells me that'll take four days. There's a chance you'll be getting off there, but if that doesn't work out, then we'll just have to see." He looked at Book. "Shepherd, could you please show Lily her quarters?"

"Of course, Captain," the preacher replied, leading the little girl away.

Mal turned to the pilot. "Wash, Inara is due back any minute. I want us out of here as soon as she's aboard—but don't make it look like we're in too much of a hurry to leave."

"Right," Wash said. "Casual haste. One of my specialties, along with frantic inaction and direct circumlocution."

"I just don't want to draw any attention, if you get my meaning," the captain said impatiently, turning to mount the stairs again.

"I understand," Wash expounded, trailing after him. "Inconspicuous you want and inconspicuous you shall get. Our departure will be so tactful, no one will even realize that we've gone."

"Mal, I think we're being followed," Wash admitted, waving a hand at the proximity monitor. "The signal comes and goes, but I would swear there's a ghost out there."

"What happened to our tactful departure?" the captain asked, annoyed.

The pilot raised his hands defensively. "Hey—maybe we attracted attention to ourselves before we left port. Nothing about our exit was unusual."

Mal balled his hand into a fist and smote the back of the copilot's chair. "Okay. All the more reason to continue with our original plan to pick up the job on Paquin, right? We're behind schedule, so let's put on all reasonable speed and get there as fast as we can. And keep a close eye on those monitors."

"Right!"

"I'll set up a schedule of round-the-clock watches, just to be safe."

The next afternoon, Zoë found Mal sitting at the head of the table with a cup of coffee and a pile of paperwork. The rest of the table was covered with scattered dinosaurs; three of them were tumbled in a rough line where he had swept them aside with his arm before sitting down.

"Wash says we're right on schedule, sir," she reported, sitting down to his left.

"Good to hear," he replied. "Any more sign of company?"

She shook her head. "Not since that blip this morning. Wash is keeping a close watch. Any suspicions who it might be?"

"Lily's father. Alliance agents or bounty hunters after River. Niska's goons. Saffron escaped from prison and out for revenge. Reavers. Take your pick."

"List's gettin' long, sir."

"Yes, it is. I'm open to suggestions on how to shorten it."

Zoë's face got very hard. "We could kill Niska, sir."

Mal looked wistful. "One thing at a time. First, let's just get to Paquin in one piece."

"You really think there's a chance we haven't missed the job?" she asked.

"Not much of one," he admitted. "But it doesn't hurt for us to at least show up and give the impression we tried."

She nodded her agreement with that point.

"'Sides," he continued, "I'm sorta hoping we can deliver our passenger there. I thought we'd look up Tom and Bessie Wong. They have a girl just a few years older, and they could pass as her parents."

"Did Captain Masters really leave it up to you to find a new home for her?"

Mal frowned and nodded. "Yup. And I'm thinking that the faster we find her a home, the easier it'll be on all of us."

Kaylee crept through the hatch from below, put a finger to her lips, and then ducked behind the couch at the far end of the room. Neither of them reacted to her presence.

"My foolish husband is already totally smitten with her," Zoë said with a fond smile.

Lily scurried past them and disappeared into the kitchen.

Mal swept an arm towards the dinosaurs on the table. "They've been staging prehistoric dramas together. I missed most of it, but I think her dialogue is better than Wash's: You one-eyed son of a no-tail gecko—you ate my children and the last of the raspberry bushes. Prepare to die!"

"It would break his heart to hear you say so, sir."

"Well, I count on you to keep that our secret."

"Ready or not, here I come!" came River's voice from below.

Zoë lowered her voice. "Are you sure zhuōmícáng is a game you should be allowing, sir? If we take on cargo at Paquin, it could get awkward if our passenger knows all the secret places."

Mal shrugged. "Can't believe it'll matter."

River pounded up the stairs and burst into the room. She stopped and turned her head from side to side, listening. She had a huge smile on her face.

Mal leaned close to Zoë and whispered, "I think Annie's cheating." He stood up casually, picked up his cup, and walked to the kitchen for a refill. He leaned in the doorway to take a cautious sip and ostensibly to watch River's progress. He also effectively blocked her way to Lily's hiding place.

River met his eyes challengingly. "The Tuscans raised a joyful cry / To see the red blood flow."

He winked.

She laughed silently and glanced knowingly towards the couch. She paced around the room and sang, "Come out, come out wherever you are." She made a show of pausing in the middle of the room and considering. "Hmmmm," she mused. Then she disappeared down the stairs again.

Mal glanced over his shoulder. To his surprise, Lily was standing right in the middle of the galley: he hadn't seen her at all when he poured his coffee. He raised his cup in a toast to her and then went back to the table.

A moment later, Jayne's voice echoed through the ship from below. "Gorram it! Why do you find me every time?"

Mal looked at Zoë. She was struggling to restrain a laugh. "Looks like Jayne's it again," he observed.


zhuōmícáng hide-and-seek