CHAPTER SEVEN
"Captain Malcolm Reynolds." The fed sitting in front of Mal, one Major Rellis, peered down at the screen in his hand. "What would a man of your status be doing at the Guangxi restaurant? What would you be doing on Osiris at all?"
"Business," Mal said, leaning back and folding his hands behind his head.
"Business," Rellis repeated skeptically. "What sort of business?"
"The sort that's mine and not yours," Mal replied.
"You understand the seriousness of the situation here?"
"Let's see…accordin' to the news, you got a dead kid, a missin' girl, a kidnapped Parliament representative, assassinated bodyguards, and half a dozen ships lightin' off of this world 'cause of a mishap with the landlocks, muddlin' up your investigation…anythin' I'm missin'?"
"Captain Reynolds, I have neither the time nor the patience for games. I've seen your records—you were a Browncoat."
"That was a long time ago." So far, Mal had been very fortunate. The fact that River hadn't been caught on camera would have been a miracle, if Mal believed in miracles. Each person on his boat was listed in the cortex registry, now including the Tams. So that had raised a flag with Rellis, who had pointed out that Simon and River had been wanted fugitives until recently. Mal had retorted that they weren't now.
Right now, the Alliance's insistence on secrecy concerning the Academy played to his advantage. No one knew what Simon and River had been wanted for. The major had no idea River's capabilities. So far, the cards were in his favor.
Aside from being in a federal holding building, of course.
"Captain Reynolds, if you had nothing to hide, you would not mind telling me your business. You could save yourself a lot of time by simply answering my questions."
"I told you—"
Fortunately for Rellis, the door to the interrogation room opened, sparing him from starting the argument all over again. An aide came in and whispered something to Rellis, who nodded and stood to his feet. "Come with me."
"Where we goin'?" Mal asked, not moving.
"Captain Reynolds, you are already in a universe of trouble. If I were you, I would cooperate, or you just might find yourself being charged with treason."
"Hmm. Never been charged with that one before." Still, Mal figured he might as well save himself the trouble of being dragged out of here by fed lackeys, and stood slowly to his feet.
He was led out to the lobby, where, to his surprise, Regan Tam stood, flanked by two federal officers.
Major Rellis walked up to her and nodded respectfully. "I apologize for the inconvenience of bringing you down here, Councilor, but we did have a few questions."
Councilor?
Regan Tam nodded stiffly. "I understand why it had to be done. I trust you have everything you need from him?"
"Yes, Councilor."
"Thank you. I wish you good fortune with the rest of your investigation." Regan motioned to Mal, who followed her, rather disbelieving. Neither spoke until they were out on the street, walking away from Central Authority. They turned a corner and stopped, and Mal turned to Simon and River's mother. "You're a councilor?"
"For the past two years, yes. And that, Captain Reynolds, just saved you from further interrogation and possibly jail time. As far as they are concerned, I was meeting with you at the Guangxi. From there, they seemed to assume that I knew both my children are on your ship. So what I would like to know, Captain, is exactly what is going on here. I just saw my daughter for the first time in four and a half years. She fought like…I don't even know who fights like that! And the security field—I want answers now."
Normally, Mal would've told anyone who was so demanding to shove it and walked away, but Regan Tam had gotten him out of a sticky spot, and that was worth something. Still, the fact that he'd heard nothing about her from River or Simon in the nearly two years they'd been on Serenity meant he still knew nothing about her—what kind of woman she was. Sure, River and Simon were decent folk, but the apple sometimes fell far from the tree.
Regan crossed her arms and stared at him. "Captain, my husband and I have been looking for River since Simon took her from the Academy. Private investigators—"
"Since Simon took her," Mal repeated incredulously. "What the hell did the Alliance tell you about your kids?"
Regan looked at him cautiously. "Simon…you have to understand. He is a brilliant man, a brilliant doctor. He and River were always very close…"
"I've noticed that myself."
"When River went away to the Academy, Simon began to get…paranoid. He was convinced she was sending secret messages in her letters; he even got arrested. We were worried about him. The stress was obviously starting to get to him. He was ruining his reputation, his status …not to mention River's chances at school, and our positions…"
"Didn't you never think he might be on to somethin'? That River might actually be in trouble?"
"No. It was a government-sponsored school! We got letters from her, and when Simon started on with his conspiracy theories, we even spoke with some of her instructors. We even talked with River once. She sounded tired, but fine."
"Why didn't you ever ask to see her?" Mal demanded.
"Government academies don't allow visitors," Regan told him.
"Well, ain't that convenient."
"Simon moved out after he got arrested. He didn't speak to us after that, not for months, and then one day I got a call from River's school—they said that Simon had come and taken her away. I spoke with the hospital where Simon worked, and they said that Simon had left without warning."
Mal raised his eyebrows. How thick could some people get? "And you believed the go se that the Alliance fed you over what your own son said?"
Regan looked frustrated. "It sounded crazy! River was adjusting, her letters said she had started to make friends… The government put warrants out for Simon and River. Gabriel—my husband—tried to have them removed—"
Mal smiled sardonically. "Bad on the rep, I would imagine. But that don't explain why River was on the warrants, if Simon was the one wanted."
"The Academy said River had taken something of theirs when she left—they wouldn't tell us what. I firmly believe it was Simon's influence. I don't know what it was, but River never would have…she would have done anything for Simon. And Simon—by the time he left, I really didn't know him anymore. I never would have thought the stress would have made him that unstable…"
Mal shook his head in disbelief. "That is the biggest bunch of fei hua I've ever heard in my life, and if you knew some of what I've heard, you'd truly appreciate that." He looked around, not at all liking the idea of standing so close to Central Authority. "I can tell you what it was River took, but it sure weren't the Academy's."
"What?" If Mal wasn't mistaken, Regan Tam sounded a mite desperate. Desperate for answers, most like.
"Herself."
Before Regan could puzzle that one out, River herself materialized from between two buildings across the street. Mal watched her swiftly cross the street, but she did it so quietly that Regan jumped when she noticed her. The two Tam women looked at each other for a long moment, and then Mal broke the silence. "Didn't I tell you—"
River's eyes flickered to Mal. "An hour. An hour, and then worry. It's been fifty-nine minutes. I thought I was going to have to break you out of Central Authority."
Mal rolled his eyes. Typical River, counting the actual minutes. "Your mama did that for me."
River's eyes traveled back to her mother's, searching, and then Regan broke down and threw her arms around River. "You're all grown up, I can't believe it." She took a step back, still gripping River's shoulders. "River, you have no idea how worried…what happened to you?"
"I know you want answers. I know, now. I know what you believe. I promise, when this is all over, I'll find you and Daddy. I'll tell you the truth." River grabbed her mother's hands. "You can't get caught in the web." She let go of her mother and turned to Mal urgently. "There's a lot that needs to be done. I don't think we have a lot of time."
Mal had long learned to listen to River's instincts, and he shrugged at Regan. "Guess your answers'll have to wait."
:-:-:
River led Mal through the streets of Capital City, moving as quickly as possible toward the areas of the city that weren't networked, where there was no surveillance—blackout zones. Simon had spent a lot of time in blackout zones looking for help to get her out of the Academy, and had led the crew to one of these places, a little tavern called the Moonshuttle on a forgotten street in a forgotten section of the city.
"River." Simon enveloped her in his arms as soon as she entered the tavern. "Are you all right?"
River allowed herself to relax against Simon for a moment, drawing comfort from his presence. "I'm tired," she managed. She was still mentally exhausted, and it showed when she explained what she had learned from Ari Velgese's mind, because she realized she was speaking metaphorically a few times. It was still difficult sometimes, especially when she was stressed out, to match brain patterns with verbal idiom. Thoughts with words. But the crew was able to figure out what she meant. Well, Jayne got confused, but the others understood.
"I have to go," she said when she'd finished. "I have to find Iain and Bennett. I think we can—"
"Don't think you're gonna have to look far for Iain and Bennett," Kaylee suddenly said quietly, pointing at the screen in the tavern, broadcasting the local news.
River turned warily to see none other than Bennett and Iain on the screen. They must have patched into a local news signal. They were in some sort of dark room, and on her knees on the ground between them was Ari Velgese, where Bennett held a gun to her head. River wound her way through the patrons of the tavern until she could hear what was being said.
Iain was talking. "…will stop, right now. We will not be hunted anymore. We will live our lives free from Parliament, free from Blue Sun. If you do not stop looking for us—" Iain looked grimly at Bennett, and without any hesitation, she shot Ari Velgese in the head "—we will hunt down every single member of Parliament, or anyone else who tries to bother us. We'll show the Alliance exactly what a success their program was."
The screen went blank for a moment, and then switched to a stunned-looking anchorman. River turned away, not bothering to listen to what the news had to say about it.
Jayne was the first to speak. "Well, guess we ain't gotta worry 'bout Velgese no more." Everyone turned to stare at him, and he shrugged. "What?"
"They can't just go on a killing spree," Simon said disbelievingly.
"This'll get publicity," Mal said. "If the project was made public, it might discourage the Alliance from huntin' y'all anymore. They learned a hard lesson with Miranda—secrets can hurt 'em, especially ones they want hid."
River didn't necessarily agree with the way Iain and Bennett were going about this, but she understood why. She couldn't dwell on it, anyway; there was other unfinished business. "I might be able to help," she said slowly. "There are still some students who aren't…finished with their training, and they're locked up here on Osiris. If I can—"
"Darlin', your last idea didn't go so good," Mal pointed out.
"Just because my mother was there. Unexpected."
"What?" Simon stared at River. "Mother was where?"
"We'll talk about your yuchun parents later," Mal said. He studied River for a moment, and then nodded. "All right. But we're gonna do this my way."
"Yeah, 'cause your plans always work out so much better," Jayne said.
Mal gave him a sharp look. "We're in a tight spot here. We're on a gorram Core world, and we got more trouble'n we've had in a while. So pay attention, 'cause we're gonna get this done before we all wind up dead."
Simon sighed. "Is it just me, or do we say that a lot?"
:-:-:
The Parliament had moved the Academy—if it could be called that anymore—to an underground bunker out in the mountains. It took two hours to get away from Capital City and the surrounding smaller cities, and out to the mountainous region of Osiris, a place where the Tams had gone for two different vacations as a child. Of course, River's parents had taken her and Simon to an expensive resort, not to a wilderness area that showed little outward sign of civilization. The only thing marking any sort of humanity in this area was the small metal building nestled at the bottom of one mountain.
They had rented a little two-person transport from one of the 'businesses' in the blackout zone. River had wanted to come to this facility by herself, thinking it would be safer for everyone, but Mal had refused to let her come alone.
Recon, Mal had said. Just recon, find out all they could about the security system, how many people were there, if she thought there was any chance in hell—his words—that any sort of rescue was even possible. It had taken two years, he'd reminded her, for Simon to break her out of the old Academy.
River experienced a very weird sense of déjà vu as she carefully eyed the building, which she knew was because she had seen this place in Bennett's memory. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. She could hear Mal's thoughts beside her, and allowed them to filter through her brain, listening for the minds she knew had to be inside the building.
Instead, she found…nothing. No brainwaves sending out thoughts, no sign of activity at all. Frowning, she let her mind wander further, down below the surface, and then gasped and reeled backward, straight into Mal.
Mal laid a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Trouble?"
"Dead," River whispered. "All dead." Her mind was overwhelmed with images, smells, sounds…screaming and writhing, bleeding ears and eyes, mouths and fingernails…the dead told tales, too, and their voices echoed over and over in her head. She pressed her hands against her ears. "Stop, please stop."
Mal squeezed her shoulder, his voice coming very muffled through her hands and mixing with the cacophony of screams in her head. "Stay focused with me, River. I need to know what's goin' on."
"Too late," she whispered, pulling her trembling hands off of her ears. "Too late, they're all dead."
"Gathered that, darlin'," Mal said. "You got an inklin' how?"
River knew exactly what caused the death she was seeing in her head. "Blue Sun." She drew a deep, shuddering breath. "I need to get out of here. Please. I can't think. Too many voices, too loud. Screaming…"
"All right, just you hold on. We're pullin' back."
They retreated to the transport, and River collapsed on the seat, crossing her arms over her stomach and fighting the urge to throw up. The voices were still in her mind, but fainter now, background noise. She knew Mal was still waiting for an explanation.
River organized her thoughts so she could speak words that made sense. "I think Parliament underestimated Blue Sun." She had a sudden, absurd urge to laugh, more out of desperation than anything. "They're destroying each other. Destroying…" She swallowed and said thickly, "See-saw, back and forth…Parliament hunted Blue Sun, so Blue Sun hunted the new facility…destroyed it."
"How?" Mal asked. "Weren't this place a top-security facility?"
"Top-security doesn't stop Blue Sun agents. That's why Parliament wanted to get rid of them so badly. So badly...different, they're different."
"Define 'different.'"
"Experiments," River managed. "Things implanted in their brains…bad radio signals." That hadn't come out right. She tried again, speaking slowly. "It was impossible to read Blue Sun agents like anyone else—like trying to listen to a very bad wave, bits coming in and out. They never worked alone, always in pairs…two by two, always. They always wore blue gloves. I don't know why." She looked intently at Mal. "I've felt them kill before, with instruments of destruction that don't hurt them because they're changed, because of things implanted in their brains. Hemorrhage, death…"
"What about the other students here? Did Blue Sun kill them, too?"
"I don't know," River said despairingly. "Too. Many. Voices."
Mal watched her, considering, and then he nodded decisively. "Think we're gonna have to go in there and see what we can find. Might be somethin' we can use to help ourselves in this xi-niu government war. You think you can handle it?"
Going into that place was the last thing River wanted to do, but she was the only one who could identify other students or hack into the computer system. "I can do it."
:-:-:
Mal got a taste of what was to come when he and River walked into the building, which was wide open—security was shut off. In fact, it looked like power to the whole base was out. The bodies of four guards were lying on the floor, the blood that had streamed from their facial orifices crusted to their faces, sticky pools of blood all over the floor.
River covered her mouth and nose with one hand, and Mal walked over and looked at one of the bodies. "Been dead a few days," he said quietly.
River was shaking like a leaf, but Mal thought it more from everything she was dealing with in her head than anything else.
There was more of the same in the underground bunker. They soon discovered there were three floors underneath the building, and the whole place was lit with emergency lights along the floor, which only made everything eerier. There had been a lot of people staffing this place. Doctors, nurses, orderlies, security guards, all dead. The stench was overpowering, and River started gagging.
The smell brought up a whole well of memories from the war that Mal would've preferred never to think on again. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to River, who immediately tied it over her mouth and nose.
They started on the bottom floor. As they worked their way down the corridors, River whispered, "It's different."
Mal turned to look at her. His first thought was 'because they're all dead?', but he knew that wouldn't exactly be the best thing to say to her right now.
If she heard this in his mind, she ignored it. "It's smaller," she said, looking down the hallway. "Much, much smaller. Not so…hi-tech."
It looked plenty hi-tech to Mal, but he hadn't ever seen the old Academy.
River stopped outside one closed door. She leaned flat against it, her palms and one ear pressed against it. "In here," she whispered. She pulled away from the door and fell back a few steps. "I can't go in," she said, her eyes wide. "I can't…"
"Why don't you go sit down a minute," Mal said. He pulled out the gun that River had taken from her pal Hiro and opened the door, then peered inside. There was a doctor, couple of orderlies, and a girl he was guessing to be one of River's fellow abductees. They'd died the same way as everyone else. Mal stepped up to the girl's body and looked down. A kid with long black hair—couldn't be any older than fourteen. "Wang ba dan," he muttered.
More disturbing than this was the fact that the girl was strapped to a chair of some sort, and she had needles sticking out of her head, wires running to various parts of her body. A tray full of surgical instruments rested beside her, and Mal recalled Ari Velgese's words to him. "I do not necessarily think the doctors at the Academy went about the project in a proper fashion. Nor do my comrades newly elected to Parliament."
Mal had been lied to before, more times than he could count, but the very fact that Velgese and her fellow 'new' Parliament members had approved this told him that had been the biggest lie of all. Or maybe they did different procedures that they thought were better off, but this wasn't right. And the thought that this sort of thing had likely happened to River…well, it was one thing to envision what had been done to her and another to see actual examples of it. He could only imagine what it would do to River to see this.
As if on cue, Mal heard a choked sound from behind him, and turned to see that River had made her way to the door and was leaning on the frame, tears running down her cheeks and soaking into the handkerchief wrapped around half of her face. "No," she gasped. And then she rushed into the room and began yanking needles out of the girl's head, ripping out wires, muttering in Chinese and English, crying the whole time.
Mal hesitated a moment, and then laid a hand on her back. "River."
River pulled an especially large needle out of the girl's forehead and laid the palm of her hand on her forehead. "I'm sorry," she whispered to the body. "I'm so sorry." Her breath hitched, and she turned and collapsed against Mal.
Mal wrapped one arm around her, half-supporting her trembling little body. River looked up at him, a light in her eyes fiercer than any Mal'd ever seen from her. "I didn't know her," she said. "She must have come after… I don't even know her name, but I can hear her… Hear echoes…" She pulled away from Mal and straightened slowly. "I need to finish this." She turned and headed out of the room, and Mal followed.
By the time they had been in every room in the small facility, the body count was at one hundred and seven. Four of those were bodies of the Alliance's young test subjects. River knew two of them. With those four deaths, plus Hiro's, that left five assassins out and about.
River discovered that the security feed had been turned off during the attack, a trademark of Blue Sun agents, but she managed to get the power and security feed turned back on. She got the cortex linked, and as soon as that was done, she worked her way into the Academy's files. She pulled up the files on all of the students, including her own, files that listed details of what had been done to the students, signatures of Parliament folk—old and new—who had approved it. Files on Blue Sun and the part they had played in the whole thing.
Mal knew the only thing allowing her to sit here in this place full of death was the driving need to do something about all the death. When she was ready, she recorded a message and sent it out to various people. Then she sent out another wave, while Mal stood behind her and watched.
A woman appeared on the screen. "CorVue Regional Office, where your news is our business! How may I direct your wave?" she asked perkily. Then she frowned slightly, no doubt wondering why half of River's face was obscured.
River looked at the camera. "I have a story for you. It relates to the death of Parliament representative Ari Velgese." She pushed several buttons on the console.
"Do you have—" The woman's voice trailed off as she saw the images from the security feed that River had patched through, images from only one room in the building. The woman looked shocked. "What—"
River pressed another button, and all of the files she had put together began to transfer to CorVue's offices. Then, leaving the security feed patched into CorVue's signal, she stood up and looked at Mal. She didn't say anything, but her look pleaded with him.
Mal nodded, and together, they picked their way over the bodies and left the charnel house that this place had become. Night had set in outside, and a cool breeze blew down from the mountains. River ripped the handkerchief off her face and turned to face the wind, her eyes closed, and Mal felt no small amount of relief himself, being out in fresh air.
"We oughtta get back to the city tonight. Got the feelin' this place'll be crawlin' with officials soon as they trace the security feed."
River nodded mutely and made her way back toward the transport.
"I can drive if you ain't feelin' up to it."
River gave him one of her looks—a shadow of one of her normal expressions, but it still effectively relayed her skepticism. She straddled the front seat of the transport. "There's a reason you never drive the mule."
"'Cause I got other folk paid to do the flyin'," Mal said.
That got a tiny smile from River. She shook her head and turned on the transport while Mal settled in behind her. Before River drove away, she turned her head and looked at Mal sideways. "Do you think it will make a difference?"
"River, I think if CorVue publicizes those files it'll make a universe of difference. Parliament's got Iain and Bennett's threat, and with that message you sent out, might be they finally decide the same thing Blue Sun obviously decided."
"That we're not worth meddling with anymore," River said softly.
It was an incredibly stupid bunch of people that hadn't realized that after Miranda. If they'd just left well enough alone, Blue Sun wouldn't have had reason to destroy this place, and River wouldn't have been able to send out all those files. Parliament just kept shooting themselves in the foot.
River threw the throttle forward, and they headed away from the mountains, back toward Capital City. "I hope so."
