To babsji: I actually had not realized that the term cat could apply to River as well. I think I might have to use that.
To Sweetbriar: I know that the characters use Chinese, not Japanese. The only bits of other languages that I'm going to use for the most part are the few bits that are common place on the show. Only one character uses Japanese at all (and just warning you, bits of Gaelic as well), and there's a reason for it that will be explained later. A logical reason, even. And some of the grammar issues were intentional; I was trying to mimic the not-very-proper way of speaking that's common. Of course, I'm sure there's some things I didn't do on purpose.
Anyway. Enjoy. Reviews please. I promise there'll be action in the next chapter.
The airlock hissed as it was pressurized. Jayne shifted his grip on Vera, looking annoyed. "Mal, why you wanna do a dumb thing like lettin' some crazy stranger on board? Got enough crazy people on this ruttin' boat already." He looked meaningfully towards the guest quarters where Simon and River were currently hiding.
"Because we need the help. Now be nice to the lady."
Kaylee smiled. "Aw, I'm sure she's just shiny."
Jayne growled something unintelligible as the door opened. The lady on the other side wasn't quite what anyone had expected. For one thing, she was much shorter than they had thought, two inches shorter than Kaylee. She was dressed in a faded long sleeved shirt and torn pants. She had a pleasant face that looked like she was used to smiling a lot. Her hair was long, a mass of black curls pulled into a ponytail. And for reasons that he couldn't quite figure, Mal was suddenly reminded of one of River's off days, when she had chucked a hairbrush at his head.
"Hello. I'm Captain Locke. I understand that I'm allowed to get a look at your fuel cells so's I can see if we can help."
Kaylee smiled at her in a friendly way. "I'm Kaylee. Ship's mechanic."
The other woman returned the smile, then glanced over at Jayne. "Who's the firbolg?"
"I'm the guy who's supposed to make sure you don't get any funny ideas." He hefted Vera in a significant way.
The woman, amazingly enough, laughed at this. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing I hadn't had any intention of getting funny ideas."
Kaylee grinned. "Don't pay any mind to him. Come on, the engine room's this way."
Mal shook his head as Kaylee lead the other captain away, Jayne trailing behind.
There was something screwy about the woman, but at least she seemed benevolently screwy. Maybe she would actually prove to be just a concerned, if a bit eccentric, soul. Mal grimaced at himself. He didn't really believe there was such a thing. Did he?
Kaylee watched Captain Locke with fascination. It had been clear from the very start that she knew nothing about the workings of a ship, but she hadn't let that stop her. After Kaylee had shown her the access ports to the fuel cells, she had poked them for a moment, then had pulled a bulky comm out of a pocket and turned it on.
"Hey, Athena."
The display flickered, but no one appeared on the other end. A measured female voice responded. "Yes, Captain?"
"Fuel cells look to be more or less the right type. You have the data to see if Pixel can interface with them?"
"Scanning. It will be just a moment."
Kaylee looked at the comm. "What's that all about?"
Locke grinned. "I don't know anything about engines or fuel cells or whatever, so I get the people who do. There's precious little that Athena don't know about anything, and if she don't know it, she knows how to get it. She's checking to see if we can recharge the cells."
"Oh."
The comm beeped. "It is, in theory, possible. We haven't tried to interface with this particular type of cell, so it's uncertain." There was a faint chitter of electronic noise.
"Pixel would like to point out that we've never tried to recharge any type of Firefly equipment."
"Well, accourse we hadn't tried it with a Firefly. Never run into one in trouble before, there being so few of 'em flying. All right, tell Stitch to go to backup batteries, and help Pixel get dressed up.
"Understood." The comm blinked off.
"Who's Pixel?" Kaylee was very curious. This Captain Locke didn't seem to do things in any sort of order she knew.
"You might say she's our engine and power expert." There seemed to be something obscurely funny about that that Kaylee didn't catch. "You know, I never did understand that about Fireflies."
"What?"
"That no one uses 'em anymore. Best ship you can pay money for, damn near to being the best ship in the 'verse."
Kaylee was of two minds about that; on the one hand, she was fiercely protective of Serenity, and tolerated no insults. On the other hand, she was aware that there were probably other models of ships that could out perform a Firefly class. She let it go; the way the remark had been phrased meant it wasn't an insult. "You on a Firefly?"
The captain shook her head. "Nope. Don't rightly know what kind of class it is, if it's got one at all."
Kaylee blinked. How could a captain not know what kind of ship she owned? She was about to ask when Locke's comm beeped. "Captain, Stitch has Pixel ready. Would you like to come get her, or would you like him to bring her to you?"
"I'll go get her. Not entirely sure these people would take kindly to too many strangers on their boat."
There was silence on the other end of the comm. Then the woman on the other end said, "I keep forgetting that not many others know you."
Locke grinned as she stood up and headed out of the engine bay. "Don't signify. These days, it's just perfectly normal healthy paranoia." She turned to look at Kaylee. "I'll be back in about five minutes, start with the recharging. That okay?"
"Sure."
Jayne had been lurking nearby, Vera at the ready. He had, in fact, seemed rather disappointed that the stranger didn't try anything. But somethin' was going on now, so he followed her back out to the cargo bay. He didn't, however, try to follow her back to her own ship.
He was waiting there when Zoe leaned over the second story walkway. "What's the report?"
"Poked some widgets in the engine room, talked to someone on the other ship, talked to Kaylee, and seems to be about to start doin' something. Probably gone to get the equipment and whoever knows how to use it."
Zoe nodded. "Fine. Keep an eye on her."
"Don't have to tell me that."
"Jayne." He looked up at Zoe's commanding tone. "Don't start anything unless you have to."
He grumbled.
The female captain came back very soon. Strangely, she was still alone. She was, however, carrying a large pink cannister the size of a five pound coffee can. "What the hell?"
She grinned at him. "Stuff what to recharge you guys with."
"That's it?"
"Yeah." She giggled suddenly. "You might say this is an uber, industrial strength battery."
He gaped at her. "That ain't no battery."
"Well, no, not in the strictest sense of the word. Not quite the best definition I could give you, but the only one I'm willing to offer at the moment." Something in her eyes prevented him from pressing the issue.
He quietly followed her back to the engine room. Kaylee looked at the pink cannister, confused. "That's it?"
"'S all I need." She pulled a handful of cables out of her pocket, and hooked some of them to the canister in a complex way, and others into the fuel cells. A red indicator flashed on the canister, then there was a chirp, and the indicator turned green. "Oh, good. It works. I had been worried it wouldn't."
Kaylee checked her own instruments. The power levels in the fuel cells were indeed rising, and quite rapidly. "I ain't never seen anything like that."
Locke grinned. "Don't guess you have."
"How does it work?"
The grin faltered for a moment, then was back in place. "I might just tell you someday, Kaylee-chan."
And Kaylee had lived on Serenity long enough, and had been involved in enough illicit activities that she caught the way Locke said that, and didn't ask any more about it.
Locke changed the subject. "I figure it'll take two, three hours to get your cells charged back up."
"Sounds about right."
"You mind if I stay here and keep an eye on the pink gumdrop?"
"Nope."
"Shiny. You figure your captain'll mind?"
Kaylee thought. "Naw, it'll be fine."
"Shiny."