Almost the whole crew went back to House Tayu that night.
Jayne, apparently making up for several weeks without any shore leave, was passed out dead drunk in his bunk when the rest left to see the priestess. It had been River, of all people, who had found him in a seedy little dive, drunk and getting ready to break things. She had calmly knocked him out cold with a well placed tiny fist to the head, and then sweetly, with many charming lies and much battering of the eyelashes, cajoled two bar patrons into carrying his unconscious form back to Serenity.
"Sorry about your troubles with your brother, Miss Kennedy," said one of the men as they left, touching his right hand to his hat respectively after she had overseen them dumping Jayne in his bunk.
"Many thanks gentlemen," said River, spouting an accent that sounded like she was a born and bred Londiniumer. She pouted prettily. "It's sad the black sheep has strayed so far from the flock, but it will get better when he's home."
She waved goodbye to them as they walked down the ramp back into the dark evening just as Inara and Mal came strolling in, almost, but note quite, touching. "Lil' albatross? Something I should know about?" asked Mal.
"Damage and rule breaking have been prevented," she said proudly. Then she frowned, "Jayne will not thank the girl tomorrow, but she- I know first hand headaches can cause irrational behavior. All is forgiven." She smiled broadly.
"Well, glad to hear that," said Mal, smiling to cover up the fact he had no idea what the teenager was talking about, although he could make a few broad guesses.
"Are we going to the House of Enyo's daughter now?" she asked.
"Huh?" replied Mal eloquently.
"And Homer spoke of the Trojan battalions in their strength. 'And Ares led them with his sister, the goddess Enyo, she carrying in her heart the turmoil of shameless hatred.' You should read more Captain."
"I think I liked you better when you were completely incomprehensible," grumbled Mal. River stuck her tongue out at him. "Are we all here, lil' Albatross?"
"Logic dictates Simon and Kaylee will need to come up for air soon. I do not think Simon has mastered the technique of circular breathing, although I'm sure Kaylee would be eager to teach him, since she has more practice on the suona. But in the meantime-"
River broke off as the sound of Kaylee's giggles could be clearly heard from the night outside the ship. "Simon, that tickles!" she laughed as the two came up the ramp together, their arms entwined, stumbling a bit as neither were paying much attention to where they were going.
Mal ordered everyone still conscious to come into the mess hall where he explained about the Priestess Alexandra. "I knew going in she was a smuggler and Independent sympathizer, but it seems she wants to take things up a notch. She asks all of those willing to come to this meeting of hers where she'll have people interested in hearing us say our piece. And then we'll hear what she has in mind to do."
Simon tried to object to River going, but both the captain and River pointed out that she was so far in there was no point in trying to shelter her now. River added some creative insults implying Simon thought she was still two years old and he was an idiot and if he didn't stop treating her like a baby she would tell Kaylee what had happened at his sixteenth birthday party. As Simon turned an interesting shade of red and Kaylee, laughing, asked for the story, the group left the ship and headed towards the Companion house.
There were greeted by the night porter at the gate and then shown to the house's temple room. Priestess Alexander came in dressed in a dress of deep red which made her skin look even paler and her hair was done in a long braid twisted with silk ribbons of blue, yellow and green. Mal frowned, unpleasantly reminded of an old memory of young girls at the transport station on Shadow coming to see relatives and friends off, decked in Independent colors. Standing beside her was a woman who, despite being dressed as a Companion, was also wearing a belt with a thin rapier at her left side and a gun on her right side.
The priestess greeted them with a sincere looking smile. "Welcome, crew of Serenity. This is my bodyguard, Malka. Please follow me." She walked up to the statue of Buddha and twisted what had looked like a solid stone ear. The statue slid to the side, revealing a set of stairs going down to an underground level of the compound.
"Do all whor- Companion places come with one of those?" asked Mal, rapidly switching his glance between Inara and Alexandra.
"Just the ones originally built by crazy snake worshipping cultists," said the priestess. Mal looked ready to balk at the stairs. "Don't worry captain, the snakes are long gone," she reassured him calmly as she led the way down the stone steps. She chuckled, as if at a private joke, "Just the angel with the flaming sword left," gesturing at the woman at her side.
The room was quite nicely decorated for an underground secret meeting room; the walls were painted warm colors with outdoor frescos depicted to make up for a lack of windows. There was a thick red carpet and an assortment of coaches and chairs, most already filled with quite a number of people. There was a side table with an assortment of drinks and small foodstuffs. It almost seemed like a cocktail party except for the tense atmosphere in the room. "Everyone," said Alexandra without preamble, "these are the people responsible for the Miranda Broadcast."
There was a loud murmur of shock, and then one of the woman, a tiny woman who looked to about seventy, came up to the group and said, "Gods bless you. Thank you for breaking the Silence." People around the room made noises of agreement.
Mal said in an uncomfortable voice, "We just did what we had to do, m'am."
Alexandra began making introductions, but hesitated, uncertain, after she introduced Mal, Inara and Zoe. "I'm Kaylee," said Kaylee, "I'm just the ship's mechanic," she said modestly.
"You got a Firefly through Reaver space?" asked one of the men.
"Twice," she beamed, less modestly.
"And this here is our ship's doctor, Simon," said Mal. "And his little sister, River, our pilot." Mal placed both hands on her shoulders in a paternal manner. "She was the first to know about Miranda."
"She's just a child," said a woman about Alexandra's age, dressed in hard worn clothing and sporting a Browncoat of her own.
"Doctors used long needles and cold knives that took childhood away," said River sadly. "I was the star of their circus but they would have killed me for learning how they were trying to expand their roads." River looked down on her hands, "All the perfumes in Arabia won't wash the blood away."
Simon put his arm around her waist. "Shuh, mei-mei, shuh, you're safe now," he said comfortingly.
"What did the Alliance do to her?" asked the old woman, horrified.
"And how did she find out about Miranda?" asked someone else.
"It's a long story," said Mal with a weary sigh.
"Well," said a man in dark green pants, sweater and cap leaning on the side table, "I've brought two bottles of Darien Glory, so let's hear it." He poured a few glasses of amber liquid and passed them around. "Captain Neil Grey," he introduced himself. "From one captain to 'nother," he said, handing Mal a glass, his accent betraying the fact he had grown up on the Rim world of Darien, a planet with a reputation for producing the worst sorts of drunken brawlers to ever smash up a bar. Also known for brewing some of the best whiskies in the 'verse.
"Are you up for talking?" Mal asked River, a code phrase they had worked out earlier to ask if she Read they were with a group of people who wouldn't betray them.
"Yes," she said, looking up at him with a trusting smile. She turned to face the rest of the group. "They lied to me," she began simply.
The talking went on for hours, everyone putting their bit in. There were periods when the people listened silently, struck speeches, there were other times when everyone asked questions. When the talking finally ended Mal sensed, although there were no windows, it was probably somewhere around dawn.
"Now what?" asked Mal.
"I assume no one in this room has any problems breaking laws?" the priestess asked, somewhat rhetorically.
There were some nasty chuckles but River spoke up and said solemnly, "The Roman Marcus TulliusCicero said that the good of the people is the chief law." There were murmurs of assent around the room.
"The lass is right," said Captain Grey, "The 'liance ha' broken their own laws at the cost of the people they were supposed to protect and it's time they paid the piper." He crossed his muscled arms over his barrel like chest. "We willna' be fooled again," he growled ominously.
"Any idiot can start a war," said the priestess bluntly, "the real trick is winning not only the battles but also getting the people's support. And we are going to get it." She walked over to the main table where she had a pile of maps, plaquettes and papers. Mal was reminded now of some of the generals he had met during the war; she had the same air of someone who assumed being in charge without question. "The supply runs I turned into a smuggling operation during the peace shouldn't be too hard to turn back into a war supply chain. Recruitment, manifestos, propaganda, supplies, government infrastructure – it is possible for us to do all this; the problem, the same as last time, is that the Alliance can do it on a larger scale. So the process needs be two fold – do something, and disrupt the Alliance ability to do the same. Captain Reynolds, are you in the mood to fly into the lion's mouth?"