Disclaimer: I do not own Serenity or her crew, all belongs to Joss and ME .....now go and shoot the movie already!!!

Notes: Sorry!!!! Thanx for all your kind feedback and the good wishes! My mother is out of the hospital and she´s gonna be fine!! Thanks again!!!

This chapter is short, I know but I´ll make up for it, I promise!!!

Kindred

            „ Can you do it?"

River returned the captain´s intense gaze without flinching, even though she was unsure of what to say.

Looks like you are playing with the big boys now, Jayne had said before they had entered to cockpit.

She could feel the tension in the air all around her, a jumble of emotion radiating off

the other people in the small, confined space of  Serenity´s bridge.

Jayne stood behind her, leaning against the closed door.

He was close, but just out of reach.

Wash sat in the pilot´s seat with his wife next to him. Zoë had propped up one

 elbow on the headrest, the other hand unconsciously moving over her holstered gun.

 The arrangement left River and Mal standing in the middle, facing each other.

" I don´t know …" River finally answered.

" I don´t know if it will work with Inara."

" It worked with me and Jayne….didn´t it?"

" Yes …but you were both close by. When I came into your dream from the Reaver ship …..I couldn´t hold the connection up for very long, I couldn´t manifest."

Malcolm Reynolds took a deep breath, trying to reign down on his emotions.

" We need to find out where they are taking her. She needs to know that we will be coming for her."

River understood. She could see why the idea of her dream-walking into Inara´s mind seemed like the perfect solution. But she still didn´t really know how she did that and she had told the truth…….she was not sure if it would work.

" I don´t know if I can reach her captain, I´m not going to lie to you, but I will try!"

He nodded.

" What do you need?" Zoë asked, her facial expression torn between worry and doubt.

" I need Simon to give me a strong sedative …..to put me to sleep."

" Fine, you do that …..Wash will keep on trying to get a lock an Niska´s gorram ship."

River turned to leave, already reaching for the other thing in her mind.

 She could feel Mal´s eyes on her again. There was something stirring in his mind, something else bothering him apart from the catastrophic situation they were caught in.

She turned around again, giving him a questioning look.

" Captain?"

" How did you know?" he asked suddenly, his voice dangerously low.

" How did you know what he would do ?"

" I didn´t …." River answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

" I just ……knew he wasn´t lying. I can feel it when people lie……as if the words don´t feel right."

She swallowed hard, but returned his look unflinching.

Mal could tell that was not all there was to it.

" What else did you …..see?"

" Nothing …I didn´t, but she did. She could see it in his eyes……the truth, she could see…..something resembling ….."

" What?"

River swallowed again.

" Kindred…she ….deduces that they have  things in common. In a way Niska is like her, she saw that. He kills, but not for personal pleasure ……he kills because he wants to, he enjoys the power it gives him, but he does not waste. He is a creature of necessity ….all business, there is no heart to it…."

Mal´s eyes narrowed slightly. An eerie silence filled the room as the others stopped dead in their tracks over River´s explanation. Mal had been there in Niska´s clutches. He had survived …barely….

" That gonna be a problem?"  Mal couldn´t help asking the question, trying to make his voice sound neutral.

A  bitter smile spread over River´s features.

" For him ….yes. She has deemed him a worthy opponent, a challenge …….a marked target."

Mal looked directly into River´s eyes, her pretty face  betraying nothing. There was a different look in those dark, knowing eyes now…..something that had not been there before.

She returned his look, her eyes for once cold and dispassionate and suddenly Malcolm Reynolds knew that it was not just her. There was something else too, peeking out…….the other thing looking out through River´s eyes.

That instant, River couls see his facial expression change from anger to confusion and then curiousity……..

Mal took a step closer, drawing a deep  breath.

It was utterly fascinating and a bit frightening. This was it, he told himself.

This was not just little River Tam, this was the whole package……the knowledge, the training, everything the alliance had created and bestowed upon Simon´s sister against her will.

She had made it hers. This was the part of River that had been added to her mind without her consent, the part that could and would kill in cold blood without a moment´s hesitation. And she had conquered it …..she controlled it, the ultimate weapon.

Then she blinked and it was gone, as though she had turned a switch.

" Captain?"

" Sir?"

Mal shook his head to clear his mind.

" Yeah ……shiny! You go and do …..that dream thing."

Echoes……

They were all around as River walked through the great hall that opened in front of her. The floor was made of dark, black marble, but it felt warm underneath her feet.

The hall was lit by the light of thousands of candles and the smell of burning incense filled the air. Giant pillars made of sleek, red stone parted the great hall into three equally breathtaking parts. Moonlight streamed through the glass ceiling so very high over her head.

It took a moment for the disorientation to subside…….. she could hear her own breathing echoing from the pillars and the dark walls.

" You know what this is …don´t you?"

River turned her head to the side. Her mirror-image was sneaking a quick look from behind one of the pillars like a playful child.

River looked up to the ceiling again, biting her lip. She wasn´t quite sure ….

" House Madrassa…." River whispered, marvelling at the beauty of the place.

The thing pressed it´s face to the cold surface of the red stone.

" Hurry up , little sister …….she is far away and we cannot dwell here too long."

River knew it was true, she could feel the strain on her body and mind ………they were reaching to far and it could not last.

She needed to find Inara now…….