Chapter Two
"Captain, there's a ship approaching."
Mal sighed heavily, waking up from his until-then peaceful sleep as Zoe's voice crackled over the intercom in his room. He stood up and grabbed his shirt from where he'd thrown it on the ladder, and he climbed out of his quarters and pulled it on as he headed for the bridge.
"Any communication?" he asked Zoe, looking at the ship on the screen; it looked like an older model Alliance ship.
"No sir, nothing yet."
Mal nodded. "Keep me informed. I'll go wake Kaylee in case we need to get out of here in a hurry," he said, starting toward the door. After a few steps, he hesitated and turned around. "Try hailing them. If we appear open they might lose interest. They might be waiting for us to make the first move."
"Yes, Captain."
Mal left the bridge, and moments later he was banging on Kaylee's door. When she opened it and stood at the bottom of the ladder, she was still pulling on a gown over her pyjamas.
"Yeah?"
"We might have to boost up the engines real soon. I want you on watch," Mal said, already heading back up to the bridge.
"What's goin' on?" Kaylee asked, stumbling out into the hallway. Mal didn't turn around.
"Just be ready!"
Zoe's voice came down the hallway. "Captain, I need you on the bridge."
Mal sped up, but then a familiar voice called his name. He turned around to see Simon walking down the hallway toward him. Uninterested in hashing out the present situation with the doctor, he only paused before continuing on, trying to ignore him.
"What's happening?" Simon asked, jogging to catch up with him.
"Just routine, Doc. Go back to your room."
"Routine?" Simon repeated in disbelief. "Define 'routine', because usually the word routine on this ship implies a lot of running, screaming, and blood."
Mal didn't bother to answer; they'd reached the bridge. Zoe had the communicator on, and an Alliance officer sat stiffly in his chair on the other end. Mal immediately grabbed Simon and pushed him away from the screens, keeping him out of the view of the officer.
"Stay right there. Don't move," he hissed, pressing Simon back against the wall before stepping over to join Zoe.
"Can I help you, officer?" he asked the man, his tone arrogant but his posture quite casual.
"You have a fugitive on your ship, Captain Reynolds," the Alliance officer said with a pompous smirk. "You are bound by law to turn him over to us immediately."
"Now, see, there's a problem with that," Mal pointed out. "I'm in charge of this boat, and when a member of my crew does somethin' illegal, I either know about it or I ordered it. And the doctor ain't done nothin' to ruffle your feathers in the past six months. Seein' how that is, I got no reason to be tossin' him to your ship."
The Alliance officer seemed unfazed. "It's classified information, Captain. If you don't turn him over, we'll have to seize your ship and do a search. Any illegal cargo that we find would be more years on your prison sentence, along with harboring a known fugitive."
Just out of sight of the screen, Zoe's hands were moving a few dials, pressing a few buttons, and Mal took notice. He needed to stall a little more, give her more time to prep the engines.
"I'll make you a deal."
The officer sneered. "You aren't in a position to make deals, Reynolds."
"Tell me why you want Doctor Tam and I'll hand him over. Gotta have an explanation for my crew and all when we lose our medic," Mal continued. He saw Simon give him an incredulous look and almost move, but by then the Alliance officer was speaking again, and the words held Simon back.
"That's none of your concern. Suffice it to say that every bounty hunter and Alliance ship in the universe has their sights trained on him, and he won't last more than a week running. It's of no use trying to protect him."
Mal set his jaw, taking on that stubborn posture that was so familiar to his crew.
"You got another thing comin' if you think we're just gonna hand him over."
"Captain, you don't seem to understa-"
Zoe suddenly made a drastic move, putting the ship into motion with a suddenness that sent Mal flying against the back wall of the bridge, and Simon was thrown from his feet and slid into the wall hard next to Mal.
"Hold on to something!" Zoe shouted five seconds too late. She put the ship into a nose dive, going under the Alliance ship and along its underside. Simon pulled himself to his feet and stumbled to the nearest console, grabbing on and holding tight; Mal noticed a cut dripping blood just above his right eye.
He'll be fine. Concentrate, Mal ordered himself, switching off the communicator.
"They following?" he asked Zoe.
"Not yet, sir. Ship's too big, it'll take them forever to make the turn."
Serenity jolted and jerked as the Alliance ship shot at them and narrowly missed. Simon was pale by this point, and he paled even more as a realization hit him.
"River!"
With that one word, Simon was headed for the doorway. Mal cursed under his breath.
"Zoe, you get us outta here alive, you got that?"
Without giving her a chance to respond, he took off after Simon. The last thing he needed was for the very person he was trying to protect to die from falling down the stairs during turbulence, or something equally ridiculous.
"Simon! Stop!" he ordered, but the doctor would have none of that when he thought that his little sister might be in danger. The ship jolted below their feet again, knocking Simon off-balance and finally giving Mal an opportunity to catch up and grab Simon by the arm to keep him from going any further.
"You're gonna get yourself killed if you don't strap in!"
"River was sleeping in the cargo bay with the horses when I left her! They get spooked and they'll kill her!" Simon snapped, pulling his arm out of Mal's grip with surprising strength. He took off again, the ship now shaking with the strain of the sudden speed.
Mal chased Simon down to the cargo bay, where the doctor opened the door without a moment's hesitation. Damn, that boy can really move when he wants to, Mal thought as the door opened to reveal four very panicked horses who'd broken out of their stalls, and no girl to be seen.
"River!" Simon called out, stepping into the room. Mal cursed again, stepped inside, and closed the door- he wasn't about to have a spooked horse running loose on his ship.
"Simon! Look out!"
Mal and Simon looked up to see River on the upper level, safe and sound, unlike them at the moment. The ship careened suddenly, sending the horses into even more of a frenzy, one headed straight for Simon.
Mal didn't think. He looked for the case of tranquilizer guns they had out here, only to find that they'd slid against the wall. He made a dive for the case, opened it, and tried to load a tranquilizer even as Simon got backed into a corner by a panicked stallion.
Mal heard the snap of the tranquilizer loading, and he lifted it and fired, hoping that he wouldn't accidentally hit Simon- this tranquilizer was meant to put a horse out in seconds, it would probably kill a man in the same amount of time.
The dart met its mark. The horse collapsed a few feet from Simon, who'd had his hands up to protect his face from the rearing creature. Breathing hard, he lowered his arms and stared at the horse as it flailed and slowly faded into unconsciousness.
"Captain, it's a clean getaway," Zoe said over the intercom. "We're out of their range, and they haven't made a move to speed up enough to follow."
River came down the stairs, and Simon rushed to the foot of the stairs to meet her, pulling her into a tight hug. He pulled back, cupping her face in his hands.
"Are you okay?" he asked, and she nodded before frowning at his forehead.
"You're hurt."
Simon laughed with sheer relief. "It's just a scratch. I'm fine. We're fine, mei-mei."
"You won't be fine if you ever pull a stunt like that again," Mal growled, grabbing Simon by the shoulder and roughly spinning him around. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt, nearly picking him up off the floor. "You could've gotten us both killed, doctor!"
"I had to make sure my sister was alright, you didn't have to come running after me!" Simon shot back, trying to pry Mal's hands off his shirt, with no success.
No, I didn't. But I did, I had to. "It would have been pretty gorramn pointless to run from an Alliance ship to save you if you're just gonna go and get yourself killed anyway out of sheer stupidity!"
"I knew what I was doing! I'm all grown up, Mal, I can take care of myself, if you hadn't noticed!"
"Say that again when you're bleedin' to death from your idiocy. All I'll do is say that I told you so," Mal said darkly. For a few moments Simon and Mal stared each other down, neither willing to budge or give in.
"In the meantime…let's get that cut patched up," Mal finally said, his words not matching the anger still in his voice. He let go of Simon's shirt but grabbed onto his sleeve, dragging him toward the infirmary. Simon must've decided that it wasn't a point worth fighting over; he didn't resist.
Why're you gettin' so worked up over this? Mal asked himself as they passed other stunned crew members in the hallway who'd heard their shouting match. You wouldn't be this torn up about any of the others doin' somethin' like that. It's not like I have to protect him anymore, right?
He pushed the thoughts aside as they reached the infirmary, instead gesturing for Simon to sit down on the bed as he searched through the drawers for what he needed.
"I can handle this, you know. I am a doctor," Simon said as Mal dropped various supplies on the bed beside him.
"Your hands are shaking," Mal pointed out, pretending it wasn't a lousy excuse.
"I'm a surgeon. I can steady myself in stressful situations."
Mal ignored him, instead setting to work cleaning out the shallow wound. The room, for a few moments, fell into an uncomfortable silence.
"You have no idea why the Alliance is after you this time? None at all?" Mal finally asked.
"If I knew, I assure you that I would've told you by now," Simon said, trying to help with the cleaning of the wound. Mal only smacked his hand away.
"If I had to wager on it," he said, putting his free hand in Simon's hair to hold his head still, "I'd say this isn't about Miranda. This is somethin' new."
Simon shrugged. Mal allowed his hand to linger in the doctor's hair, surprised at just how smooth it felt against his calloused, rough hand.
He'd suddenly begun to wonder what it smelled like, with the first curiosity satisfied. Because that's all it was, he insisted to himself: idle curiosity.
He reluctantly moved his hand away, grabbing a bandage and placing it over the cut.
"Help me gather the crew. We need to have a meetin'."
A few minutes later, the crew was gathered at the table, watching as Mal paced one end of the room. Nobody said anything yet; they simply cast furtive glances between Simon and their captain.
"We need to find out what's goin' on, first thing," Mal said, stopping in his pacing and leaning on the back of an empty chair. "So, I figure the best way to do that is to let it come straight from the source."
"We already 'asked' the Alliance," Zoe said with a shrug. "As you can see, that's probably not the best way to go about getting clear answers. They're not gonna tell us a damn thing."
"When they have the big guns behind 'em, sure they didn't tell," Mal pointed out. "Get one of 'em alone and they'll talk."
"And just how're we gonna do that?" Jayne asked, propping his feet up on the table.
Mal's eyes locked on Simon. "Bait."
It took a few moments for it to dawn on the crew what exactly he meant by that, and he could tell it wasn't a popular suggestion with most, though Jayne seemed thrilled at the prospect. In seconds, though, Kaylee was on her feet.
"You can't do that! He's the one they're tryin' to kill!"
Mal's eyes narrowed. "Kaylee, you best not tell me what I can and can't do on my ship."
"But Simon should have a say in it, seein' as it's his life!"
Simon looked up from the tabletop for the first time in the conversation, and all eyes locked on him as he shrugged and spoke.
"I…I think it's a good idea."
The entire table fell utterly silent, and everyone looked at Simon wide-eyed, Mal included.
"You do?" he asked, and Simon nodded.
"I'd rather take the chance and find out why they're after me than keep running and hiding. The more clueless we are, the more danger all of you are in."
Mal recovered from the shock, looking quite pleased. "Then that's that. Zoe, set a course for the nearest Alliance-friendly planet, preferably one where we'll find high ranks wandering about," he said, waiting to hear an argument from someone else. There were none. Evidently Simon agreeing with him had put everyone else into a state of shock.
"I still don't think it's a good idea," Kaylee muttered, standing up and heading for the engine room, no doubt to sulk.
"Guess I better go get some ropes and knives," Jayne said with a smirk. "Gonna hog-tie 'im like cattle when we catch 'im, ey Cap'n?"
Mal watched Simon stand up and straighten his vest. "If all goes well," he said, his mind obviously elsewhere.