Chapter 3
Buffy and Giles walked into the kitchen together to find the shepherd already waiting for them.
"Dinner is at 1800," he said.
"Yes," said Giles. "We thought we might pass the time with some tea."
The shepherd smiled and motioned to the table, where two extra mugs were already poured. "I thought you might."
Buffy and Giles traded glances, then sat down.
"You know, I've been on this ship for months," the shepherd said. "And nobody has ever signed up on account of my being here..."
Giles gently smiled. "I'm sorry. We are not what you think we are."
"I never said I believed you were. So, Mr. Giles, is it? Well, then. What's your business?"
"We're here about the Gem of Kadaari."
If the shepherd was surprised, he did not reveal it. He took a calm sip of tea, and said "A very interesting myth, that one."
"It's not a myth," said Giles.
"All right."
Buffy fidgeted in her chair. "So is there some kind of protocol for this? A secret password or something?"
The shepherd laughed. "Frankly, I'm not even sure I can help you, even if I did know where to find your gem. I am only a simple shepherd."
"I very much doubt that," Giles said. "This crew has been full of surprises. Am I to believe you aren't one of them?"
"You can believe whatever you wish, Mr. Giles. Although I am not entirely certain that someone who thinks that a mythical crystal is real should be lecturing me on what to believe..."
"Look, Shepherd..."
"You can call me Book."
"All right, Book. Believe what you will about the gem, but am I correct in assuming that you do believe in a power greater than yourself?"
"You are."
"Well, then you know that power has its dark side too. And...that darkness will wreak havoc on our home if we don't locate the gem."
"Well, now," said Book, taking another sip of tea. "By the look in your eyes, I'd say you do believe that much. Allow me to contact some of the elders at my monastery. You may have restricted cortex access, but I do not. Perhaps there is something to learn."
Giles nodded. "I would appreciate that. And Book, I..."
"I know, son. Let that not concern you. A shepherd never spills a confidence." With that, he drained the last of his tea and left them. None of them noticed the shadow lurking just out of sight on the steps to the bridge.
People began arriving for dinner just as Buffy and Giles were finishing their tea. The doctor and Inara arrived almost together, and she greeted him with a kind nod.
"And how is River today?" she asked him.
Simon shrugged. "Coherent, for one thing. I adjusted her medication again, and she's still sleeping off the new dosage. I'll take something back to her."
"What's wrong with your sister?" Buffy asked.
"Some bad, bad people did experiments on her. It's affected her brain. She's a little..."
"A little nuts," a gruff voice interrupted. Jayne lumbered into the kitchen and began foraging for a mug. "His sister, she ain't all there. You'll stay away from her if you ain't the same."
Inara angled her shoulder in obvious snub, then turned to Buffy and Giles. "What Jayne was trying to say," she said. "Is that River is a lovely, sweet-natured girl who has been through a terrible ordeal."
"Of course," said Giles.
"She's harmless," Simon interrupted. "She may be a little...a little odd. But she's harmless."
"-Jien tah du guai!-" snarled Jayne. "Are we all forgetting the time she..."
"Now, Jayne," said Inara. "Surely that is a topic not suited for a civilized meal." She turned to Giles. "I have been trying to place the opera you mentioned earlier. Was there an extra aria in the third act, with a long soprano solo? Because if there was, it might have been..."
Jayne's eyes widened. "He's one of them? One of them...them fancy-pants clients?"
"One does not have to visit a guild house to be a man of culture," Giles answered. "Although...among this lot, it would certainly seem that would be the easiest place to find a like mind."
Jayne frowned. "Was what an insult? Did this piece of -gos-se- just..."
"Oh, me too," Buffy assured him. "I wouldn't take it personally..."
"Food's ready," Simon called from the table. "We all here?"
The crew descended and dug into their meal.
"Well," said the captain, taking his seat. "Ain't this nice. Company for dinner. You folks settling in okay?"
Giles nodded, struggling to swallow a bland, tofu-like cube. "Yes. Thank you."
"So what's it like, living in Persephone?" the captain asked. "Never been there more than a day myself, but I got acquaintances...fellow called Badger?"
Giles shrugged. "Don't know him."
"You don't? But you're a prospector, is that right? Don't see how you'd get too far in a business like that, on Persephone, without running into ol' Badger."
Giles took another mouthful of food. "I get by."
"Thing is, it's his cargo we're hauling right now. Seems he would've mentioned you were local when he was loading it up, as you were coming aboard. You might not know him, but he would surely know you."
Giles put down his fork and smiled diplomatically. "I really couldn't say."
"And you don't SOUND local, either," the captain pressed. "Badger talks kind of like you and he sure ain't. But yet...Persephone is where I picked you up. And you told me your lady had never been in space before."
"And? I paid my fair, Captain. I agreed to follow all your rules..."
"Just don't like secrets is all. And if this gem you folks are hunting is gonna get me and mine into any sort of fix..."
Giles paled, and Buffy reached under her sock for her spare stake. The flunky, Jayne, has his hand on her wrist immediately. She twisted free with barely any effort, and he fell to the floor with a whimper, clutching his wrist.
"Now, see here," said the captain, smiling grimly. "This is just the sort of fix I was hoping to avoid. Doc, you go see to Jayne. Rest of you best head back to your posts. I think Zoe and me need to have a little chat with our new friends."
They let the others disperse, then gave the captain several minutes to pace in a menacing fashion before Giles finally spoke.
"Well, go ahead and ask us, then."
"All right," the captain said. "Few things about you and yours not quite adding up, Mr. Giles. First being how your little lady---and I mean that literal---managed to throw off Jayne without even breaking a sweat. And while we're at it, why she's walking around my ship carrying little wooden knives in her shoe?"
"Handy with the luggage too," said Zoe. "Noticed when you came aboard. Carried both of your bags like it was nothing."
"She's an extraordinary woman," Giles said.
"So's Zoe. Spent the whole war on the front with me, only other survivor from our original platoon. Tough as they come. Yet she still makes Jayne do all the heavy lifting."
"Captain Reynolds..."
"Then of course, there's that little story had my mechanic all upset. Said she heard you talking to the preacher. Said you told him you ain't quite what you seem."
Giles quirked an eye, looking remarkably unconcerned. "Is that it, then? Would you like to continue making veiled accusations, or can I tell you what's really going on?"
The captain sat back on his heels. "I'd like nothing better."
"Well, all right. This will sound rather crazy, perhaps..."
"You ain't met River yet, have you? Be tough to top her on the crazy front, and yet we still keep her around."
"Fair enough. I will say, firstly, that you are correct. We are not from Persephone. Rather, we are from the space where Persephone would be if it were in our world."
"Your world?"
"A parallel dimension. Do you know what that is?"
"The stuff of campfire tales?"
"Actually, it's a fairly established theory, although perhaps not true in the sense that many believe it to be. Do you believe in magic, Captain?"
"You mean, as in God? That what you wanted the preacher for?"
"God is something else altogether, I assure you. Let's come at this another way. You believe in forces, do you not?"
"You'd best be getting to the point real soon, my friend, -dong ma?-"
"I am attempting to. There are forces you believe in---force of gravity, force of nature...well, good and evil are forces too. And where I'm from, there are those equipped to monitor those forces and attempt to alter the balance in either direction."
The captain's frown diminished slightly.
"There are...areas, let's call them, where certain forces are more concentrated. More tremors on a fault line than away from one, more gravity on a planet than on a ship, and more evil on a hellmouth than anywhere else on the planet."
"A hellmouth," the captain repeated doubtfully.
"You wanted the story, I'm giving it to you. Buffy is something we call a slayer in our world---a girl with superior strength, reflexes and agility who with the aid of the council which I am a part of, is one of the variables maintaining the balance between the forces of good and evil."
"You know, this is actually making sense to me," Zoe said.
"What exactly does she slay?" asked the captain.
"Vampires, monsters, demons...or, in your terms, Reavers..."
Now, Zoe looked doubtful. "She fights Reavers? This little thing?"
"Hey!" protested Buffy.
Giles silenced her with a glare, then to the others said "You're welcome to test her---under controlled circumstances, of course. I see you have a small gym on board..."
Zoe nodded, and he continued his story. "Anyway, the hellmouth is one of our chief concerns. It's like a hotspot, if you will, where the forces on the side of evil are much more concentrated. Things...have a tendency to happen near one. We stopped a big thing from going wrong a few months ago, but we're worried that the hotspot might be heating up again. This gem we're looking for can stop that from happening."
"And this involves the preacher in what way?"
"Some time ago, his order was entrusted with keeping the gem safe for us. Unfortunately, it appears they've rather lost track of it. We arrived in Persephone with the intention of contacting the Order of the Shepherds and seeing if we might track it down. When we saw a shepherd strolling down the streets last evening, we thought he would be as good a place to start as any, and we followed him back the bar, where we met your charming mechanic. And that---that is out story. Truthfully."
"Quite a story," said the captain.
"It is."
"And if he tells you where to find your gem?"
"Then we hire a ship to take us there, using the generous assortment of coins provided by my employer for that purpose."
The captain nodded. "Looks to me like you've already chosen your ship."
"If you'll have us."
"Don't rightly know that every part of that story makes sense to me," said the captain. "Specially the part about you being from some kind of other world. But I heard lots of stories in my day I didn't quite believe that turned out true. You ain't no harm to us?"
"No."
"And she's not going to go around those pointy little sticks at people?"
"No."
"All right. We got three more days til we hit Antigone with this load for Badger. You have a destination for me by then, you can hire us out to take you there. Any trouble between now and then, you're off at Antigone. We clear?"
"Yes, Captain."
And that was that.
To be continued...
Chinese translations:
Jien tah du guai (like hell)
gos se (dog crap)
dong ma (understand)
Buffy and Giles walked into the kitchen together to find the shepherd already waiting for them.
"Dinner is at 1800," he said.
"Yes," said Giles. "We thought we might pass the time with some tea."
The shepherd smiled and motioned to the table, where two extra mugs were already poured. "I thought you might."
Buffy and Giles traded glances, then sat down.
"You know, I've been on this ship for months," the shepherd said. "And nobody has ever signed up on account of my being here..."
Giles gently smiled. "I'm sorry. We are not what you think we are."
"I never said I believed you were. So, Mr. Giles, is it? Well, then. What's your business?"
"We're here about the Gem of Kadaari."
If the shepherd was surprised, he did not reveal it. He took a calm sip of tea, and said "A very interesting myth, that one."
"It's not a myth," said Giles.
"All right."
Buffy fidgeted in her chair. "So is there some kind of protocol for this? A secret password or something?"
The shepherd laughed. "Frankly, I'm not even sure I can help you, even if I did know where to find your gem. I am only a simple shepherd."
"I very much doubt that," Giles said. "This crew has been full of surprises. Am I to believe you aren't one of them?"
"You can believe whatever you wish, Mr. Giles. Although I am not entirely certain that someone who thinks that a mythical crystal is real should be lecturing me on what to believe..."
"Look, Shepherd..."
"You can call me Book."
"All right, Book. Believe what you will about the gem, but am I correct in assuming that you do believe in a power greater than yourself?"
"You are."
"Well, then you know that power has its dark side too. And...that darkness will wreak havoc on our home if we don't locate the gem."
"Well, now," said Book, taking another sip of tea. "By the look in your eyes, I'd say you do believe that much. Allow me to contact some of the elders at my monastery. You may have restricted cortex access, but I do not. Perhaps there is something to learn."
Giles nodded. "I would appreciate that. And Book, I..."
"I know, son. Let that not concern you. A shepherd never spills a confidence." With that, he drained the last of his tea and left them. None of them noticed the shadow lurking just out of sight on the steps to the bridge.
People began arriving for dinner just as Buffy and Giles were finishing their tea. The doctor and Inara arrived almost together, and she greeted him with a kind nod.
"And how is River today?" she asked him.
Simon shrugged. "Coherent, for one thing. I adjusted her medication again, and she's still sleeping off the new dosage. I'll take something back to her."
"What's wrong with your sister?" Buffy asked.
"Some bad, bad people did experiments on her. It's affected her brain. She's a little..."
"A little nuts," a gruff voice interrupted. Jayne lumbered into the kitchen and began foraging for a mug. "His sister, she ain't all there. You'll stay away from her if you ain't the same."
Inara angled her shoulder in obvious snub, then turned to Buffy and Giles. "What Jayne was trying to say," she said. "Is that River is a lovely, sweet-natured girl who has been through a terrible ordeal."
"Of course," said Giles.
"She's harmless," Simon interrupted. "She may be a little...a little odd. But she's harmless."
"-Jien tah du guai!-" snarled Jayne. "Are we all forgetting the time she..."
"Now, Jayne," said Inara. "Surely that is a topic not suited for a civilized meal." She turned to Giles. "I have been trying to place the opera you mentioned earlier. Was there an extra aria in the third act, with a long soprano solo? Because if there was, it might have been..."
Jayne's eyes widened. "He's one of them? One of them...them fancy-pants clients?"
"One does not have to visit a guild house to be a man of culture," Giles answered. "Although...among this lot, it would certainly seem that would be the easiest place to find a like mind."
Jayne frowned. "Was what an insult? Did this piece of -gos-se- just..."
"Oh, me too," Buffy assured him. "I wouldn't take it personally..."
"Food's ready," Simon called from the table. "We all here?"
The crew descended and dug into their meal.
"Well," said the captain, taking his seat. "Ain't this nice. Company for dinner. You folks settling in okay?"
Giles nodded, struggling to swallow a bland, tofu-like cube. "Yes. Thank you."
"So what's it like, living in Persephone?" the captain asked. "Never been there more than a day myself, but I got acquaintances...fellow called Badger?"
Giles shrugged. "Don't know him."
"You don't? But you're a prospector, is that right? Don't see how you'd get too far in a business like that, on Persephone, without running into ol' Badger."
Giles took another mouthful of food. "I get by."
"Thing is, it's his cargo we're hauling right now. Seems he would've mentioned you were local when he was loading it up, as you were coming aboard. You might not know him, but he would surely know you."
Giles put down his fork and smiled diplomatically. "I really couldn't say."
"And you don't SOUND local, either," the captain pressed. "Badger talks kind of like you and he sure ain't. But yet...Persephone is where I picked you up. And you told me your lady had never been in space before."
"And? I paid my fair, Captain. I agreed to follow all your rules..."
"Just don't like secrets is all. And if this gem you folks are hunting is gonna get me and mine into any sort of fix..."
Giles paled, and Buffy reached under her sock for her spare stake. The flunky, Jayne, has his hand on her wrist immediately. She twisted free with barely any effort, and he fell to the floor with a whimper, clutching his wrist.
"Now, see here," said the captain, smiling grimly. "This is just the sort of fix I was hoping to avoid. Doc, you go see to Jayne. Rest of you best head back to your posts. I think Zoe and me need to have a little chat with our new friends."
They let the others disperse, then gave the captain several minutes to pace in a menacing fashion before Giles finally spoke.
"Well, go ahead and ask us, then."
"All right," the captain said. "Few things about you and yours not quite adding up, Mr. Giles. First being how your little lady---and I mean that literal---managed to throw off Jayne without even breaking a sweat. And while we're at it, why she's walking around my ship carrying little wooden knives in her shoe?"
"Handy with the luggage too," said Zoe. "Noticed when you came aboard. Carried both of your bags like it was nothing."
"She's an extraordinary woman," Giles said.
"So's Zoe. Spent the whole war on the front with me, only other survivor from our original platoon. Tough as they come. Yet she still makes Jayne do all the heavy lifting."
"Captain Reynolds..."
"Then of course, there's that little story had my mechanic all upset. Said she heard you talking to the preacher. Said you told him you ain't quite what you seem."
Giles quirked an eye, looking remarkably unconcerned. "Is that it, then? Would you like to continue making veiled accusations, or can I tell you what's really going on?"
The captain sat back on his heels. "I'd like nothing better."
"Well, all right. This will sound rather crazy, perhaps..."
"You ain't met River yet, have you? Be tough to top her on the crazy front, and yet we still keep her around."
"Fair enough. I will say, firstly, that you are correct. We are not from Persephone. Rather, we are from the space where Persephone would be if it were in our world."
"Your world?"
"A parallel dimension. Do you know what that is?"
"The stuff of campfire tales?"
"Actually, it's a fairly established theory, although perhaps not true in the sense that many believe it to be. Do you believe in magic, Captain?"
"You mean, as in God? That what you wanted the preacher for?"
"God is something else altogether, I assure you. Let's come at this another way. You believe in forces, do you not?"
"You'd best be getting to the point real soon, my friend, -dong ma?-"
"I am attempting to. There are forces you believe in---force of gravity, force of nature...well, good and evil are forces too. And where I'm from, there are those equipped to monitor those forces and attempt to alter the balance in either direction."
The captain's frown diminished slightly.
"There are...areas, let's call them, where certain forces are more concentrated. More tremors on a fault line than away from one, more gravity on a planet than on a ship, and more evil on a hellmouth than anywhere else on the planet."
"A hellmouth," the captain repeated doubtfully.
"You wanted the story, I'm giving it to you. Buffy is something we call a slayer in our world---a girl with superior strength, reflexes and agility who with the aid of the council which I am a part of, is one of the variables maintaining the balance between the forces of good and evil."
"You know, this is actually making sense to me," Zoe said.
"What exactly does she slay?" asked the captain.
"Vampires, monsters, demons...or, in your terms, Reavers..."
Now, Zoe looked doubtful. "She fights Reavers? This little thing?"
"Hey!" protested Buffy.
Giles silenced her with a glare, then to the others said "You're welcome to test her---under controlled circumstances, of course. I see you have a small gym on board..."
Zoe nodded, and he continued his story. "Anyway, the hellmouth is one of our chief concerns. It's like a hotspot, if you will, where the forces on the side of evil are much more concentrated. Things...have a tendency to happen near one. We stopped a big thing from going wrong a few months ago, but we're worried that the hotspot might be heating up again. This gem we're looking for can stop that from happening."
"And this involves the preacher in what way?"
"Some time ago, his order was entrusted with keeping the gem safe for us. Unfortunately, it appears they've rather lost track of it. We arrived in Persephone with the intention of contacting the Order of the Shepherds and seeing if we might track it down. When we saw a shepherd strolling down the streets last evening, we thought he would be as good a place to start as any, and we followed him back the bar, where we met your charming mechanic. And that---that is out story. Truthfully."
"Quite a story," said the captain.
"It is."
"And if he tells you where to find your gem?"
"Then we hire a ship to take us there, using the generous assortment of coins provided by my employer for that purpose."
The captain nodded. "Looks to me like you've already chosen your ship."
"If you'll have us."
"Don't rightly know that every part of that story makes sense to me," said the captain. "Specially the part about you being from some kind of other world. But I heard lots of stories in my day I didn't quite believe that turned out true. You ain't no harm to us?"
"No."
"And she's not going to go around those pointy little sticks at people?"
"No."
"All right. We got three more days til we hit Antigone with this load for Badger. You have a destination for me by then, you can hire us out to take you there. Any trouble between now and then, you're off at Antigone. We clear?"
"Yes, Captain."
And that was that.
To be continued...
Chinese translations:
Jien tah du guai (like hell)
gos se (dog crap)
dong ma (understand)