CHAPTER TWO

The reactions of the crew, when Mal told them what was going on, were equally skeptical.

"They's awful anxious to get us to Osiris," Jayne said suspiciously. "Offerin' work and whatnot?"

"Seems suspicious," Zoe agreed. "Might be tryin' to draw us out in the open."

"Might also be legit," Kaylee said. "The warrants really was revoked, wasn't they?"

Mal nodded once. "Yup."

"That'll be mighty nice, not carryin' fugies no more," Jayne said, leaning forward and shooting Simon and River accusing looks.

"We'll sure be able to get more jobs," Zoe agreed.

"I ain't gonna take it. Might be they're tryin' to give it to us as a peace offerin', of sorts, but I'd just as well steer clear of them. Besides, we got a job with Badger to finish. Let's do that, and see what comes after."

"While we're on the subject of strange waves," River spoke up. "One came in during the night for Jayne." She explained the contents of the message, and to Mal's surprise, Jayne began laughing.

"The ol' fool's gone and done it!" he said. "Wondered if the codger'd ever get to it."

Mal turned raised eyebrows on Jayne. "Who's old Tom and how come he knows you're on this boat? And what is it he's gone and done?"

"Aw, Mal, it ain't nothin' dangerous," Jayne said. "Tom was my pa's best friend, 'fore my pa gone and got himself killed when I was a kid. My ma would've told him what boat I'm sailin' on."

"So what's he gone and done?" Mal repeated.

"Married my ma. Bet him a good pile of money that he would, just before I lit off of Adonis." Jayne was still grinning. "He told me there weren't no way in the 'verse he'd ever marry a loudmouthed broad like my ma. Knocked him flat for that one." He looked at Mal. "Adonis ain't that far from Persephone."

"Aw, Captain, ain't that sweet?" Kaylee said, beaming as if it were her own wedding they were discussing. "Jayne's mama's got herself hitched!"

Mal sighed. "Suppose we might swing by after we hit Persephone. Can't say no to well-wishin' a mother on her marriage."

Jayne crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking distinctly satisfied. "Or to a good pile of money."

:-:-:

River found herself sitting in the infirmary later that day, but not as the patient, for once. She still hated this room for its needles and medicines and machines, but this place was also part of her brother. The doctor, the healer, who only wanted what was best for those he loved. He had saved the lives of most of the crew in this room, and because of what it meant to him, River could stand to be in it. For a short time, anyway.

She sat on the little counter next to the wall, watching Simon straighten up the infirmary and catalog which medicines were running low. Most of his thoughts, though, were focused somewhere very far away, and it was this that had drawn her here.

"You're thinking about Osiris," she finally said.

Simon paused with his hand in the medicine cabinet, and then slowly pulled out a clear bottle. He glanced over at her. "Yes."

"You haven't thought about it in a long time."

Simon sighed and set the medicine in his hand on the counter, then turned to face her, crossing his arms. He studied her for a moment, as if debating whether to share his thoughts—though she could already see them quite clearly—with her.

"I just wonder…with the warrants revoked…" Simon looked at River, who raised her eyebrows.

"I know what you're thinking. It might help you to say it, though."

Simon shook his head in mock-exasperation. "As if your genius wasn't bad enough. Now you really do get to be a know-it-all."

River's eyes danced. "I can't help being perfect." Then she laughed, knowing how absurdly imperfect she really was.

"I just can't help thinking that I could offer Kaylee and the baby so much more than…well, than this." Simon said, waving his hand to indicate the infirmary. "But then—"

"Yes?" River prodded. "And you'd better say something sensible here."

"Brat."

"You know what I mean," River said.

"Kaylee loves this place," Simon stated.

"And you love it, too." When Simon looked at her with a skeptical expression on his face, River sighed. "Maybe not like you loved working at the hospital, but because Kaylee loves it. Because you want her to be happy, and nothing makes Kaylee happier than being a mechanic on board this boat. Except maybe having sex with you," she said pensively.

"River!" Simon exclaimed in shock, his face reddening. He stared at her for a moment, and then said, "You know, it's stuff like that that really reminds me you're better, so I suppose I can't tell you off for it. Too much."

River slid off of her perch, smiling at her brother as she walked over to him. "You wouldn't fit anymore. You'd be a puzzle with missing pieces, and you'd always wonder where the missing pieces went. Kaylee would be even worse." She laid her hand on his chest and her smile widened. "You're more of a rogue than you'll admit, Simon."

Simon smiled in return and rested his palm on her cheek. He would still worry about details, River knew, but there was only so much she could say. The rest he'd have to work out on his own. "Thank you, meimei."

:-:-:

"You're awful quiet."

River tilted her head to the side to look at Mal. "Opposed to the times when I can't shut up?" she asked mildly.

Mal cracked a smile. "Nice to see the sense of humor's still intact." He propped his feet up on the edge of his console. "Just meant that you been gettin' quieter the more days pass since that Parliament woman's message. And now you ain't said one word since dinner. Last night. Anythin' you wanna say before we hit Persephone?"

River sighed. "The Academy's been on my mind a lot. It still doesn't sit right with me," she confessed to him.

"Don't think it'll ever sit right with me, River," Mal said.

"No, that's not…I mean that…" River picked up one of Wash's dinosaurs—plateosaurus—which had somehow migrated over to her console over the past months—and fiddled with its movable legs. "They change their minds, and who knows why? Different tactics, but it's still politics. New politicians, new players. Same game."

The past year had shown all of the crew of Serenity—even Jayne, though he'd never admit it—that she was better. More than that, she had received a gift. Mal suspected it had been the Operative's last act to them, but whatever the case, all of her medical records from the Academy had been transferred to her on board Serenity, along with information on behavioral modification. Simon had gone over them with a fine-toothed comb, increasingly horrified and disgusted, with plenty to say about people who called themselves doctors.

The good news had been that the doctors at the Academy had only just begun to imbed her with behavioral conditioning when Simon rescued her. The first years had been spent on carefully sculpting and rearranging her brain so that they could imbed suggestions, along with all of the physical training and other assassin schooling—such as learning the quickest ways to kill a person, the pressure points that could immobilize a body, how to break bones cleanly. She knew that a body could be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds, given adequate vacuuming systems. She knew details about every type of gun that Jayne had ever heard of, and some he hadn't. She knew about bombs and detonators. She could throw knives, fight with a sword, but didn't need any of that to kill, because they had trained her body to be a weapon.

But they had only had time to give her a few 'triggers' before she escaped. One, the first one ever given to any test subject at the Academy, was to make her fall asleep. Another was to trigger her to take down anyone in sight, as she had done in the Maidenhead. Taking down individuals, or ordering her to do specific tasks, would have come later. That was why, when they had triggered her in the Maidenhead, they hadn't just been able to send a subliminal message for her to turn herself over to the Alliance.

It had taken a good deal of work on Simon's part to reverse those triggers. He'd had to call upon the help of one of his old friends, a psychiatrist, who had gone to med school with him. And it certainly hadn't been easy on River, but in the end, it had been worth it to know that the Alliance couldn't flip a switch in her brain to make her to kill or put her to sleep with a phrase.

"The others…" she said slowly, seeing that Mal was still looking at her. "The others trapped at that place with me. Even if the Alliance shut the Academy down, they could hold onto the others and find ways to tell the families they weren't coming home. They could make excuses, and no one would ever know."

"Exceptin' maybe in your case. You got family besides Simon? Never did ask about your family all the time you been on board."

River nodded slightly. "Our parents. They didn't think I was in trouble at the Academy. Simon didn't want me to know…but he can't keep secrets from me."

Mal chuckled. "I'd like to meet what person can keep secrets from you, darlin'." He paused, considering. "Or maybe not. So what? You wanna get hold of your parents?"

River shook her head. "They're probably being watched and their communications tapped. I don't want to put them in any danger. The less they know, the safer they are." And who knew what lies the Alliance had told them to explain the warrants on Simon and River? It was better, River thought, to let sleeping dogs lie, at least for now. "I want to contact Parliament."

Mal looked at her. "You don't think they'll just cover the truth all the more?"

"Maybe, but if they really are trying to placate me, they might give me some truths. They contacted me, after all. There wouldn't be anything strange about sending a reply, would there? And they're the ones that brought up the Academy. I'd like to at least see if I can find out where the other students are."

Mal crossed his arms and eyed her. "You try to dig too deep into somethin' the Alliance wants hid, they might decide it ain't worth playin' nice with us."

"I'll be careful, Mal," River promised.

"Very careful," Mal said. "Pretend like you're walkin' on nails. And let's take care of our business on Persephone before you go pokin' around in the Alliance's."

:-:-:

The Eavesdown Docks on Persephone were as busy as always, full of noise and smells and colorful sights. Mal stood at the top of the ramp and peered out at the mess of people and animals. "Right. We ain't stayin' here long, so everyone get done what needs to get done. Y'all know what's what, so get to it."

Kaylee headed off to shop for clothes, as hers didn't fit properly anymore, dragging a reluctant Simon along. "Aw, c'mon, Simon. It'll be fun!"

"Fun. Right," River heard Simon mutter before the two were lost in one of the passing crowds.

"River, darlin', ship's yours," Mal said, hopping onto the mule as Zoe drove it down the ramp, Jayne in the back seat. "Keep her safe till we get back, and then you can get to buyin' the food."

"Aye, Captain," River said, saluting sharply.

Mal rolled his eyes at her before Zoe drove away down the street, toward Badger's place of business.

River sat down at the top of the ramp, watching the people go by, some glancing up at her curiously and others walking by without a look. Ten feet from the bottom of the ramp, a vendor was selling woven blankets, and River listened idly to the wisps of thought reaching her, as the vendor sold the blankets far overpriced, claiming they were handmade, imported from Greenleaf—well known for their materials and dyes—when in fact, they'd been mass-produced in a factory right here on Persephone.

The vendor beside him was selling live chickens, and just behind him a man with a cart was selling an assortment of art supplies. River looked at this with interest, calculating how much money she had from her share of this last job. Badger still owed them half their pay upon delivery of his goods, and as long as he didn't try to cheat Mal out of the promised price, she would have a few coins to spare. Most of her money had been pooled for food and other supplies, but still…she needed a new sketchpad, and it would be really nice to have some paints.

Mal, Jayne, and Zoe were back fairly quickly, and River stood up and moved out of the way as they drove up the ramp, following the mule into the cargo bay. "It went well," she said without asking.

"Yeah, once Badger got it through his thick head that we wasn't gonna be cheated outta our half of the money," Jayne said. He shot Mal a look. "I told you we shoulda kept our mouths shut 'bout Fezz conkin' it."

"We got our right share of the money, and we still got Badger as a contact, so it was a good day," Zoe put in.

"Things go smooth here, River?" Mal asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," River said. "I was just wondering, if we got all the money…" She hesitated.

"Speak your piece."

"I'd like to buy some paint."

Jayne shot her an incredulous look—moon-brained girl's gonna spend money on paint? Thought she were supposed to be some sorta genius— and shook his head, but Mal gave a half-smile. "Think you've earned yourself some paint, little one."

Ten minutes later, River's purchases had been stashed in her room, and she was ready to go shop for food. Mal had put her in charge of this the first time she'd come back with much more food for the amount of money she'd spent than he'd ever procured. He'd realized how beneficial it was that River could read the minds of those selling goods—it was impossible to cheat her.

"Jayne, go with her," Mal said, as he handed River the money.

"Aw, Mal, I don't wanna—"

"I don't recall askin' what you want," Mal replied.

"It ain't like she can't take care of herself," Jayne pointed out.

"Jayne, we go over this every time, and my answer ain't changed." Mal's answer was that River might be able to handle trouble, but if Jayne were there, people might not give her trouble in the first place.

Muttering a curse under his breath, Jayne jerked his head at River. "Well, move it. I ain't aimin' to spend the whole ruttin' day shoppin'."

River simply smiled at him, which she knew he would find infuriating, and jumped into the mule. Jayne grumbled about the fact that she was driving, but settled into the seat next to her, keeping a close eye on her. No matter how reluctantly he undertook the job, he always did his jobs to the best of his ability, even this.

For River's part, she loved shopping for food. Growing up, her mother and father had always had someone do the shopping for them. At the Academy…well, at the Academy, food had been the least of her worries, and she didn't have choice in the meals that were presented to her. Here, in the marketplace, there was something about buying food that made River feel more independent than anything else. As though if she could buy food like a normal person, she could do anything.

There was a balance to buying enough to stock them up on canned and dried goods, as well as getting fresh produce. Jayne, of course, growled under his breath every time he thought she dawdled, but she ignored him and kept her pace. Finally, with the mule loaded down with food, they began to make their way back toward Serenity. They were nearing the ship when the back of River's neck tingled, and she paused, suddenly alert. It felt as though someone was watching her.

As unobtrusively as possible, she gazed around for anyone that could be keeping an eye on them as they moved through the market. No one stood out, and she couldn't pinpoint the particular thoughts of someone who might be watching. It was too crowded.

Nothing happened as they drove up the ramp and parked the mule, but River quickly raised the ramp and made sure it was locked before helping unload the food.