Chapter Five: The Great Escape

Icarus

Ace escaped. Ten years with the Doctor had taught her many things, most importantly spoons are not just for eating. You can play them like musical instruments and if you're very patient, you can even override a force field, if you're careful. Ace was patient. Ace was careful. It hadn't always been the case, but the Doctor had taught her well. She slipped out the door leaving her soup behind, uneaten.

She moved down the corridor like a limping, silent cat. There were two guards at the other end of the hall. They weren't the two that had captured her. Those had been professionals. They wouldn't have turned their back on an enemy. caged or not. She crept closer. They smelled of cheap liquor and pristine gunpowder. Probably never even fired a shot in their lives, maybe not even at a barn. She left them slumped on the ground, unconscious. They still hadn't fired a shot.

Ace felt a little better with the gun in her hand, but only a little better. She was on enemy turf, lost in a maze of sterile white corridors. There had to be a shuttle bay somewhere. She had to get of this rock and soon, before…Ace slammed herself against the wall and out of sight. Men in lab coats passed by muttering tecnobable. They didn't notice her. Ace watched them go, her eyes wary. What would she have done if they had noticed her? Stealth was a necessity. She was not a murderer. The Doctor wouldn't approve. Still he wouldn't begrudge a kneecap or three. Time has no meaning when all the walls look the same. She wasn't sure if she was heading deeper into the complex, or if the next door was the exit.

It wasn't. The door swung open on to a balcony overlooking the largest device Ace had ever seen. She looked up. She looked down. Wires and lights, gages and switches, cables and gears, it must have been at least fifty stories tall from top to bottom. This was Sefton's pride. This was the machine. Looking around, Ace figured she had to be at least half way up. "Wicked," Ace said.

Serenity: Dinning Area

"We'll arrive on the far side of the moon," the Doctor said. They were assembled in the dinning area. Mal was watching the Doctor closely. "It should give us enough cover. Sefton's scanners will be a little unreliable anyway. Then we'll take one of the shuttles and pilot her here." He tapped his finger on the map, just north of the complex. "Then it's just a matter of slipping past the massive ground defenses and we're in." The Doctor smiled expectantly.

"Massive ground defenses," Jayne said. "I don't want to get near no massive ground defenses."

"I can switch them off," the Doctor said.

"How exactly are you going to do that? You ain't done much to fill me with confidence."

"I'm talented," the Doctor said.

"Now that's a truth," Mal said. "Past few days, Kaylee ain't done much but sing your praises, but I've got some questions that need asking, Doc."

"It's Doc-tor, two syllables."

"Well then Doctor, I think it's past time we learned what happened on the Artaris. That boat's a mystery that's been on my mind a fair bit, and seeing as I'm going to be risking me and mine, what with the ground defenses and all, we deserve an answer." Mal met the Doctor's gaze dead on.

"Sabotage," the Doctor said at length.

"Sabotage, huh," Mal grabbed the Doctor. "Now ain't that interesting." He slammed the Doctor into the bulkhead hard.

"Captain," Kaylee cried, but Mal ignored her.

"It occurs to me that being so talented, you might tidy up what's broken, especially if that box of yours is so gorram important. You aught to fiddle with bits and wires and keep that boat in the air. Instead you high tail it out of there leaving me a shinny little box to steal. Odd don't even begin to describe them choices, Doc."

"Could be he meant to leave the box behind," Zoe said.

"Could be," Mal agreed, tightening his grip. "Could be you even tried your hands to a piece of sabotage."

"This ain't making any gorram sense," Jayne said. "Why'd he hire us then?"

"I don't often say this, but Jayne is asking the right question. We ain't here for no box, so what in the hell did we come for?"

"Little Dorothy's not in Kansas anymore." They all turned. River was standing in the doorway. "They opened her head and mixed metal in with gray. It tells her when to scream. He's afraid there's no more cards left." She looked right at the Doctor. "The Ace of hearts is bleeding." Mal released the Doctor.

"Great," Jayne muttered. "You take crazy, add some crazy and, hey what do you know, you get more crazy."

"Sefton took my friend," the Doctor said turning to Mal. "I'm here to get her back, and I need your help." For the first time the Doctor's eyes were unguarded, and Mal could see every emotion reflected in those eyes. He shivered.

Icarus

The box folded open. There was no creaking, no warning. Nothing special, it just opened. What was special, was the light. Bright golden light spewed out into the room, but there was no one there to see it. The technicians were all too busy elsewhere. There was something different about the light. It flickered promises and whispered its alien secrets to the walls. Then slowly the glow died down to nothing. The box sat open on the table waiting for Sefton.

Serenity: Dinning Area

"You believe him, sir?"

"I do," Mal said, never taking his eyes off the Doctor.

"Why," Zoe asked. "He ain't done nothing but lie since he came on board."

"Cause if they hurt his friend like River said, then there ain't no power in the verse that could stop him." He paused. "We'll help."

"Thank you." The Doctor nodded. "You have to understand that Sefton isn't just an ambitious border baron. He's an ambitious border baron with a vision, and the know-how to carry it out. By harnessing raw brainpower, and the larges computer in the system, he hopes to see into the future." The Doctor paused.

"Why would he do that," Kaylee asked.

"He plans to sell his services to the highest bidder. Imagine the Alliance seeing every movement you ever made, every action you will ever take. They could never loose a battle, no crime could ever occur. Can you imagine how much the Alliance would pay for the perfect world? Sefton can."

"A machine that can see the future? Seems like science fiction," Wash said.

"Doesn't make it any less true. He's close now, so very close. He's rattling blind through the gears of a great clock, the damage he would cause if he succeeded is incalculable." The Doctor seemed to grow somehow taller. River tilted her head to listen. As the Doctor spoke, she could hear seven voices, all speaking in unison, blending into a single Scottish bur. "Ace and I became aware of his plans months ago," the Doctor continued. "We took steps to stop them. Time is not on our side. I have set things in motion that cannot be undone. We have to get Ace out fast, before my plans come to fruition."

"Mind enlightening as to what exactly those plans are?" Mal crossed his arms.

"I've already told you about me and secrets. Suffice it to say, we don't want to be any where near Icarus." The Doctor grinned. "Let's get to work."