Chapter Ten. Live like real people.
Mal woke quietly as day broke. The bright sun reminded him of all that had happened, that he was stuck on-world. Opening his eyes, he glanced over: River's hair was a mess against her pillow. Her mouth was open, and she was completely naked. The sheets were wrapped around her decently enough, but there was just enough skin showing to send blood rushing. He closed his eyes again, savoring the taste of her against his lips for a few moments. Roosters crowed, announcing the new day, but Mal didn't want to move. He turned to his companion, wrapping her up tightly. He couldn't help the thoughts that rushed to his mind as he took in the sight of her.
A smile crossed her face, though her eyes remained closed. "He wants to be greedy this morning," she said. "But he smells."
Mal snorted, giving her an obnoxious kiss on the cheek before removing himself from the bed. The shower was at the end of the hall, and he threw on a pair of shorts and grabbed a fresh towel before he left the bedroom. Mal made sure the door was closed securely behind him, and then walked lazily to the shower.
As the warm water cascaded over his tired body, Mal couldn't help but contemplate life as it stood. Between River, Zoe, Serenity, Kaylee, and Inara, the women in his life sure knew how to tax his emotions. River made him feel like a dirty old man for wanting her. Zoe watched him with those eyes of hers, her gaze unreadable. Serenity was out in the desert on the edge of town, broken. Maybe to never fly again. Kaylee's sweet smile as she told him to do what made him happy. Inara, returning to his life at the most inconvenient of times. He turned the faucet off, toweled dry, and then exited the shower. Mal was late to rise today, leaving him less than five minutes of hot water. Not that he'd seen any particular need to rise early. He'd enjoyed having River in his bed after a night like the last one. He started to think maybe he could get used to a sight like that every morning.
He pulled on a clean set of clothes, trying to figure out how he was going to deal with the latest dramatics from his medic. River had lain them out for him, but was nowhere to be seen. There was a round of laughter from downstairs, and he hurried down to see what the fuss was about.
"You're telling me that people actually wanted to read about that?" Zoe's voice rose above the din, and made eye contact with Mal as he caught sight of the crew sitting at the breakfast table. They were joined by the odd writer they'd taken on as a passenger several months previously.
"They sure did!" Everyone else noticed Mal. They were all there, jammed into the tiny kitchen: Zoe, Jayne, Simon, Kaylee, River, Inara, and West.
"Mal, you won't believe the go shi West is tellin' us. 'Nara's in it too," Jayne announced, taking a bite of his toast. Mal raised a brow, looking around for someone to explain it to him. West smirked, and pulled a book out of his bag. It had a picture of a blue sun on it, behind an image of a vaguely familiar planet. After a moment of glancing, he realized that it was supposed to be Shadow. He finally saw the title.
"Big Damn Heroes: a story of Captain Malcolm Reynolds," Mal read the title aloud. And then he looked at the back, reading it too.
"The great Captain Malcolm Reynolds is everything that a hero is not. His story begins on the fated planet Shadow, which was one of the first worlds to resist Unification. He fought for the Independents, and was the highest ranking Browncoat to participate in and survive the Battle of Serenity Valley. Once the war was over, however, the world was not so kind. This is the story of his quest for the one true thing worth fighting for: freedom."
The room went quiet, waiting for Mal's reaction. After a few moments, he burst out laughing. "You've got to be go tsao de kidding me. What is this, some kinda practical joke?" But as he flipped open the pages of the book, he began to see familiar quotes and places.
Inara shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Your story has made quite an impact on the Core planets. The book sold millions of copies the day it released. You've even made it to some of the more popular news channels."
Mal's grin faded quickly as the weight of the situation crashed down on him "West, let's take this conversation somewhere a little less crowded," he said, and quickly exited the table. Once he was outside, he heaved a sigh. This wasn't happening, not to him.
West came out through the front door, wiping his glasses on a handkerchief.
"If you're worried about the Alliance, you shouldn't," was West's first comment.
"Is that so?" He had a few thoughts of punching West in the mouth, but refrained.
"The story ends when you buy Serenity. I didn't include anything about the Tam siblings. From what I hear, the Alliance is ready to sweep Miranda under the rug. Even so, one of their men contacted me," West explained. "Asked if I planned on writing anything else. I said there wasn't anything else to write. He seemed to suggest that it would be unwise f me to publish anything else tied to your name."
Mal took a seat in a rocking chair, trying to let it all sink in. "I'm still havin' a hard time believin' that this is even real."
"You're something of a celebrity," West acknowledged. "After the Miranda instance, support for the Alliance and their methods has dropped significantly. Your story… It gave people something to think about. On the Core planets, Browncoats were the enemy, but no one ever actually saw the battles. Now they've seen them, through this book, through your eyes. It's changed things. People love a good underdog story."
Mal raised a brow. "Changed things? What kinda things?" He couldn't imagine anything changing the minds of the sheep on the Core planets.
"There have been protests," he explained. "Peaceful protests on Core planets. They're calling for transparency of the Alliance. The Pax has a lot of people concerned. The Reavers may have been mostly annihilated, but now people are starting to wonder what other secrets are being kept from them." West looked around, and took a step closer. "There's a group of peaceful resistors. Made up of all kinds of folk. They're very open. They hold town hall meetings open to the public."
"Ni Men Dou Shi Sha Gua," Mal muttered, and ran a hand through his hair. "What the hell do they think they're doin'? They're gonna get themselves killed."
"That's why they're very public," West said. "They're combating the Alliance's habit of taking care of people behind closed doors. They figure the more public they are, the more attention their deaths will bring to the cause."
"The cause," Mal repeated, spitting the words out. "There ain't no cause. The war is over."
"I don't think these people aim to overthrow the Alliance. They're just after the truth."
"Well, good luck to 'em." Mal could care less.
"Mal…" West took the seat next to him. "That's why I'm here. They want to meet you. They seem to think you know a few secrets that might be worth exposing. Particularly your pilot-"
"No." Mal stood. "Under no circumstance will I put River, or anyone on my crew, back in the throws against them. We've lost too much to go through this again."
West nodded. "I know. I thought you might feel this way. But it was my job to convey this message to you. If you ever change your mind, I'll give you the list of names of contacts you can reach out to. Oh, and Mal?"
Mal looked over. "Hmm?"
"One more thing. The book sold millions of copies, print and on the Cortex. I set up an account where a small section of the proceeds have been funneling. It's in your name, Mal. Yours and Zoe's. I figured it was only right that you benefit from the sales in some way. As of yesterday, you're both thirty five thousand credits richer."
Mal didn't even know how to react. That would be enough for them to do anything they wanted.
"I'll let you mull that over." Mal almost didn't even hear him leave. It took a while for him to accept the man's words. Zoe came out the front door, and regarded him curiously.
"Everything solid, sir?" she asked, and he shook his head, mouth hanging open, at a loss for words.
"Zoe… You and I been sailin' together a long while," he started. Zoe took the seat where West had previously been, catching the idea that this was about to be an intense conversation.
"That's right."
"What if I told you that you have thirty five thousand credits to your name?" He finally asked, meeting her gaze. She acquired his speechlessness.
"I… I don't rightly know, sir." He waited, allowing the pause to soak up the gravity of the situation.
"Would you stay with me, on Serenity? Assuming we got her flyin' again."
"If we got her flyin' again. I may try to convince you to buy a plot of land we could rest at for a while. To do repairs on the ship, like our own Haven."
"That's dangerous thinkin'," he said. "What if that place was found when we wasn't there? Destroyed?"
His first mate shrugged. "That's always a risk. Neither you or I have any family to speak of," she added, contemplating. "First order of business would be getting Serenity backup."
Mal agreed. "I'm going to rebuild her," he explained. "I know about a crew that used to work on pirate ships, modify 'em for smuggling and the likes. I'm thinking we restore her just to her former glory, but brand new. Maybe a few modifications - "
" - bigger bunks would be nice. And a real shower - " Zoe interjected, a small grin working it's way onto her face.
"Better infirmary, fanciest of technological equipment. No relyin' on other people to fix us up - "
"Let Kaylee build her dream engine and keep a supply of spare parts. We'd probably never break down again."
Mal was grinning. "Mayhaps we don't have to get a place to settle. Maybe we can make Serenity into everything she was meant to be." He looked over, and Zoe's expression was… emotional. She was smiling, but there was a far off look in her eye. It was the closest Mal had ever seen to tears from her.
"I'm thinkin' that thirty five each is a lotta cash. Too much," Zoe added. "If that were a haul from a job, we'd give each of the crew their cut. Ten percent each. The rest can go to Serenity."
Mal nodded. "No sense in being greedy. Granted… You know some of 'em will leave as soon as they get their payday."
Zoe shrugged. "I'm sure Jayne will. I don't rightly know about Simon and Kaylee. Who knows about River. We give Kaylee the chance to build and run her dream engine, she might stick around. And let Simon build out the infirmary. Neither of 'em will leave without the other."
"You remember what I said, when we first bought her?" Mal asked, rocking back in his chair. "You thought she was a piece of go se. I said to look past, to see what she could be. Freedom. And now, that freedom might have just gotten shinier. I tell you, we've already got the perfect crew. We got our genius mechanic, a damn fine pilot, one of the best doctors in the 'Verse, maybe get a cook -"
"Live like real people." Zoe said slowly, and closed her eyes. She smiled. Mal acted as if he didn't see the tear that slipped out of the corner of her eye.
"We ain't never had it easy, you and me," Mal said, a reach out to put a hand on Zoe's arm. "'Specially not as of late. Maybe there's redemption for folk like us."
Zoe agreed, nodding. She looked to him again. "Let's do it, Captain. Let's be real people."
Mal sat in the mayor's house, staring into the tiny Cortex screen. "You'll do the job?"
A tall, thin Asian man grinned at him. "You know, it'd be cheaper to just get a new ship."
"I don't think so," Mal replied. "But it's agreed. You'll do a total remodel for the price?"
"It's a deal. We'll be there in the morning."
"Pleasure doing business with you, Xiang. I've heard some great thing about you an' your crew."
Xiang grinned back at him. "Likewise, Captain. It'll be our pleasure."
Malcolm Reynolds was a legend, even before the book was released. Of course I took the job! Are you kidding? Getting to meet him was like.. well, meeting Captain Ruttin' Reynolds! Aside from thinking maybe he'd be taller, I wasn't disappointed. Would I take the job, knowing what I know now? What kind of question is that? Hell no. I know, it wasn't his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault, not really. But what happened… It wasn't worth it. Nothing was worth that. Nothing in the 'Verse. Not even meeting Mal.
Xiang Ma
