Chapter 3

Wash was reasonably certain that he was the angriest man in the 'verse at this moment. Zoe kept calling with updates on Jayne's progress in the big man-hand-holding contest, and he kept not finding his camera. One more look around the cockpit, and then to the devils with it, he'd just rely on his memory.

The camera remained elusive, and he was turning to leave when the flashing light on the console caught his attention. All-points waves were pretty rare, and Jayne would probably hold a couple of more hands. He opened the screen and read the message.

"Wu de ma...," he felt himself freezing, and pushed himself to grab the radio mike. "Zoe! Zoe! For the love of... ZOE!"

"What is it, sweetie?" She was damnably calm. He couldn't believe she could be so calm at a time like this, despite the tiny bit of logic in his head that told him she didn't know it was a time like this.

"Guh... get Mal, get everybody back now! Right now! Big trouble!"

At the bar, Mal heard him on the radio's speaker. Wash may have been many things, but unnecessarily panicky wasn't one of them. Zoe keyed the mike. "What is it?"

"Alliance ship just broadcast," he said, and Mal was already on his feet. Only Zoe heard him finish. "Reavers coming."

Zoe threw tables out of her way rushing to the door. Mal had Jayne by the collar, pulling him along off-balance, and the three of them rushed into the gathering gloom outside.

"How long has it been since your last confession?" Book stood in the narthex, facing the chapel door. If anyone else came in, he could halt the confession without it being revealed.

"A while more than it should be...," she said, her voice echoing from the far side of the wall. "About four months before Father Gallivan, uh, left us... six months, I guess."

"And have you sinned in this time?"

"Yes, Father. I'm terrible guilty of gluttony, I eat more than my husband, and he works at the lumber mill while the sun's out." He could hear a hitch in her voice. Could this be troubling her so badly?

"Child, you are growing another person. There's no evidence of gluttony on you, and you need not worry. Is there anything else you need to confess?"

There was a long pause. Book let her work up to it. "I think... I... Father, I've been thinking of murder."

He took a breath. Before he had finished, a siren, distant but loud, broke the silence outside.

Jayne was in the lead by the time they reached Serenity. Mal crossed the ramp behind Zoe, and hit the closer. He saw Kaylee looking down from the catwalk, and the Doctor peering through the hatch to the passenger dorms. Jayne was belting up the stairs for the crew quarters like he was on fire by the time the doors started to move. Outside, a piercing siren began to wail.

Mal turned to look up. Wash was peering down from the forward catwalk. "Wash, some details, please?"

"There's a system-wide on the Cortex from an cruiser, says Reavers comin', be here in...," he checked his watch, closed his eyes while mentally calculating, "...less than an hour and a half."

"Wait a minute. Alliance ship says Reavers are coming?"

"Well, not in so many words, but they do say head for the hills because of a fleet of 'hostiles'. Which means we lift in the next twenty minutes or we got Reavers chasing us."

Mal looked around, counting heads. "Where's Shepherd Book?"

Simon took a step forward. "He, ah, said he was going to visit a chapel...."

"I knew today was too smooth." Mal looked around again, considering. "Okay, Wash, let's get out of here, fast as you can."

Kaylee ran forward as Wash scrambled back to the cockpit. "Cap'n, you can't just leave him here!"

"If I knew where he was, I'd find him. If I could lift every soul in the gorram town, I'd do that, too. We don't have time to argue the matter, so you make sure Wash has the power he needs to get us clear." Kaylee stood for a moment, staring at the now-closed inner door, and he gave her a little push toward the engine compartment. "Mind me, Kaylee!"

"Hey!" Jayne called from above, lashing a giant sidearm to his waist. "How come we're not gone?!"

"Working on it. Help Doc and Zoe get everything strapped down again, it's gonna be bumpy again." He picked up the intercom. "Wash, when we get up, hold at two hundred meters, and put me on the PA, full volume. We'll see if we can't do some good before we leave the world."

Book stood outside the chapel, looking back towards town. The siren had only run for thirty seconds, but the woman had rushed out as well as she could when she heard it. Book had followed, and now watched as Serenity rose above the treeline. He put a hand on the woman's shoulder to steady himself, hoping she took it for comfort.

"Attention!" Mal's voice boomed from the ship, cutting through the roar of the ship's jets. "We got a report from the Alliance that a mess of trouble is headed this way, be here in about an hour and a half. They say you should clear out as well as you can, and they're right. Stay away from town until someone gives you an all-clear, it's worse than dyin' to hang around. Probably Reavers, and a lot of 'em, so don't get some notion of stickin' around to defend your property. It's not worth it. We'll be back when we can, Shep."

A few seconds later, the ship was lost in the now-patchy overcast. There was a vague sussurus from town, above the noise of the wind. Whether Mal's advice was good or not, it seemed to have stirred up the whole town. He felt the woman quivering under his hand.

"I'm sorry, but we haven't been properly introduced," he said, stepping forward to address her directly. He held out his right hand. "My name is Book."

She stared at his hand for a few seconds, then took it. Her hand was very cold, and there was no pressure in her grip. "Amber Gr... Oxley. Sorry. I'm still getting used to a new last name."

"Amber, I think it may be wise for us to find a new place to carry on our conversation. Can you think of anything more secluded than the chapel?"

She darted her eyes along the path to town. "Brent will be home soon, I should...."

"I think he'll be happiest if he doesn't find you at home tonight. Where might we hide?" He was working at keeping his benign smile in place, but he felt anxiety pulling at his guts. He'd had enough to do with Reavers in the past year, and each time it seemed a closer brush.

"We could... Warner's house! It's perfect! I went there with some of the other girls when I was young, but no one visits it any more!" She started walking almost exactly the opposite direction from town. He was willing to wait for explanations.

As Serenity came out of the atmosphere, Mal made his way to the cockpit. "Wash, this mudball's got a moon or two, right?"

"Let's see...." He checked a screen. "Yeah. Marley, Tim and Pokey. Marley's the only one big 'nuff to be round."

"Good. How about we set down there, daylight side?"

"Mal, we should just do a full burn, get clear...."

"Hold on," Mal said, holding up a hand. "You figure we're totally outside their detection right now?"

"Well...."

"Yeah. I figure we sneak over there, land just behind the dawn terminator, do a shut down. Heat of the sun on the hull should make us hard to tell from background, and there's nothing else there, right? No reason for anyone to come looking."

Zoe had entered behind him, and had listened to the plan. "How long do you figure we stay there, sir? Sooner or later, we'll have to make a run."

"If the Alliance cares enought about this place to send a warning, they're apt to send help. I bet we sit for a day, the purplebellies will come to the rescue. Wash, head for Marley."

Zoe turned to leave. "You do realize that if anyone notices us, we're dead?"

"Helps to keep things interesting, doesn't it?"

When Amber stopped, Book had an idea she may be lost. They were out of sight of the chapel, and in the gloom of the gathering dust he could see a steep drop-off to the right. Amber had stepped somewhat to the left, and was looking around the long grass, as one might do trying to find a faint trail.. No sign of a house.

"Here it is," she said, and reached into the grass. She lifted a long rectangle of the forest floor, and as Book stepped to assist her, he saw that where it came up there were rough stairs leading down from the free end. He held the door up for her, and she carefully descended into the darkness below. After a few moments, he followed, all the while trying to remember the myth of Orpheus. Nothing appropriate came to mind.

As he lowered the trap back into place, he could begin to make out the dimensions of the space they had entered. There was a single long room with a vaulted roof, and a large, rather off-square window at the far end, with a few panes still in place. It seemed bare of furniture. Book took a step off the stairs, reaching a hand out to the wall to steady himself. Dirt. Warner's House was more of a burrow. The window must have been set into the slope. Amber was about half-way to the window, patting the wall.

"Sorry. There used to be fairylights in here, but looks like someone stripped 'em out."

"It's just as well," he said, slowly moving further from the stairs. His night vision was not what it had been. "Lights and hiding are rather at cross purposes. Besides, it looks like we'll have plenty of light soon enough."

He pointed out through one of the absent panes in the window. A small, slightly pinkish moon was peering over the far rim of the wide valley the window looked over, its light flashing off a heavily ox-bowed river on the valley floor. If it wasn't full, it was close to it.

"How long do we stay here?" Amber was still standing where her search for the lights had ended. She held her arms folded over her belly, and shivered a little.

"As long as we have to, child. Until it's safe, which God willing won't be too long. Now," he said, stepping beside her, "we have some unfinished business."

She turned toward him suddenly. "What?"

"You're in mid-confession, Amber. I'm going to stand over here and watch the moon come up, and you can finish unburdening yourself."