Mal wasn't fairly up the ramp before Kaylee was throwing herself at him, distraught and babbling. "Cap'n you gotta do something! These Browncoats hurt Simon and then they took our passengers all away. And now there's a whole lot of them tearing my engine room apart!"
Looking over her head Mal saw Jayne hanging over a full set of cannon, all but crooning. "Look 'a here at what they gave us, Mal! Ain't they beauties?"
Mal put an arm around Kaylee, "Hush now, little girl, let me get the facts on this." turned to Saidi standing quietly behind him: "Care to explain, soldier?"
"SOP, sir." the man replied matter-of-factly. "Your mechanicals are being checked over. Techs'll be coming to install your weapons as soon as there's some free."
"And my passengers?"
"Alliance personnel are processed for disposal." the man said chillingly. "If they can be of use to us they're set to work. If they're worth something they're sold on the man-market. The worthless and useless are spaced."
"Spaced!"
Wash interrupted hastily. "They had use for Shepard, the Doc and Margot -"
"They're going to sell Inara and River!" said Kaylee. "And they beat Simon!"
Mal cut both off. "I see. Thank you, soldier, you're dismissed."
Saidi saluted and walked away.
Mal blew out a breath. "Gorram convenient having rank."
"Sir," said Zoe, "I didn't sign up to fight for pirates and slavers."
"Me neither, me neither." Mal turned to Wash. "Any idea where the others were taken?"
The pilot unwrapped an arm from around his wife and pointed. "Down that passage is all I can tell you."
"Right, get on the cortex and find the specs for this kind of ship; I need the locations of holding cells and living quarters."
Kaylee brightened right up. "I knew you'd fix things."
Zoe said: "Sir, maybe you could try talking to the Commodore?"
"Don't think that's a particularly good idea, Zoe. Long as he and his Browncoats think we're going along we got freedom of the ship, but give 'em the idea we're not altogether fond of their way of doing things no telling what might happen."
...
Shepard, Simon and Margot marched down a broad, low ceilinged corridor lined with big, intimidating looking metal doors, one soldier boy leading, another bringing up the rear. Some ways ahead they could see Inara and River, intertwined, being herded by another pair of Browncoats.
Head aching, heart wrung with misery Simon looked longingly at his sister's distant form. 'River...oh God River...I tried so hard to save you and now look what I've gotten you into...'
The soldier boys ahead opened one of the doors and shoved the two girls in then marched off. Simon glued his eyes to the door trapping his little sister until a bend in the corridor hid it from him.
Suddenly Margot started talking. "Not worth selling! Let me tell you, boy I'm worth ten of any (skinny, frightened virgin girl)!"
"Shaddup." said a bored voice.
"I don't take orders from (pirate-boys with mother's milk still wetting their lips)!" she snapped back. "And stop poking me with that thing!"
Alarmed Simon looked back. Margot had come to a full stop and turned to glare at the rearguard, the muzzle of his gun just inches from her throat. Bored but starting to get annoyed he poked it forward and she brushed it aside with one hand while jabbing two fingers of the other upward under his chin.
The man choked and doubled. At the same moment there was a sharp crack from behind. Whirling Simon saw Shepard Book carefully lowering the limp form of the other Browncoat to the ground. The muffled retort of a gun spun him back in time to see Margot straightening up from her soldier - pistol in hand, and blood welling from a hole in the back of his skull.
Simon stared in frozen horror as Shepard passed him in two big strides to unhand the gun from her. "I'll have no unnecessary killing!" he snapped.
Margot glared up with not a trace of guilt. "I don't call eliminating possible pursuit unnecessary!" She glanced past him. "What are you going to do with yours? put a pillow under his head and leave him to sound the alarm at his leisure?"
"No." Shepard answered briefly. "Give me a hand here, son." Still dazed Simon helped him cuff and gag the unconscious Browncoat and fold him into a handy maintenance locker, shoving Margot's dead man into another.
She stood there, watching, tapping a foot. "May I have the gun back?" she asked when all was finished. "Or is shooting anybody who surprises us 'unnecessary' too?"
Silently Shepard handed the weapon over. Turning Margot flounced back up the corridor - muttering to herself in a language Simon didn't recognize - the two men following.
...
Mal stepped into the engine room to find it full to the vents with Browncoat techs. He cleared his throat - they glanced aside then snapped to attention. One saluted.
Tech-sergeant first class Joss Dao, sir!"
Mal remembered to return the salute. "At ease. My mechanic tells me you pushed her out of her engine room?"
"Sir. The young lady was interfering with our work. Our orders -"
"Have been explained to me. Ms. Frye here just didn't understand. And you may not understand that she's made a lot of modifications. Before you start fixing stuff make sure it's not the way we want it."
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."
Soldier-boy bit might be convenient but it was beginning to wear on Mal. He'd accustomed himself to Zoe 'siring' him but spit and polish just wasn't his style. "Good. Just so we all understand each other." he gave Kaylee a gentle shove. "Right, Mechanic, show the sergeant what's what round here."
...
Shepard, Margot and Simon retraced their steps back to Inara and River's holding cell. The two older folk checked ahead and behind while Simon keyed the lock.
"I wouldn't do that, son -" Book was beginning as Simon, not listening, charged in - and a dainty bejeweled slipper at the end of a long shapely leg caught him right in the solar plexus.
"Simon!' Inara gasped.
"Simon!" a tear stained River cried, wrapping her arms round her doubled over brother.
"I'm so sorry!" Inara led him to a thinly padded shelf bunk.
Shepard and Margot came in, the latter keying the door shut behind them.
"This just isn't your day, is it, son?" Book said sympathetically.
"Nice move." Margot told Inara. Then to Simon: "Companions aren't as dainty and helpless as we like to look."
"So I see." he wheezed.
Margot glanced at Shepard. "Way I see it we've got two problems; getting back aboard Serenity in plain sight of any pirates that care to look; and after that getting our boat clear of this behemoth. Any ideas, Derrial?"
"I suggest we leave that last to Captain Reynolds." he answered. "As for the first," he crooked his mouth and arched a brow, "plenty of brown coats to be had."
Leaving Simon and River in the safety of the cell the rest went forth to find themselves some soldier boys. The search took a bit longer than expected.
"Why is it you can never find any minions of evil when you want them?" Margot wondered, sotto-voce.
Book's mouth crooked again. "Murphy's law as applied to covert ops.
Inara gave them both an interested look but asked no questions. Companions being trained in discretion as well as martial - and other - arts. Still, no rule against thinking and it was becoming pretty plain Shepard and Margot had not met in any convent!
The sound of marching feet ahead sent all three scuttling to the cover of a pair of recessed doorways. A troop of six Browncoats hove into view, unarmed and burdened with parts, toolboxes and the like. Shepard and the women exchanged looks across the passage. Wasn't like to get much better than this!
...
"That's a few too many possibilities to suit me." Mal said, hanging over Wash's shoulder and eyeing the green spots splashed liberally over the schematic on his screen.
"Sorry, what you see is what they got."
"Maybe we could narrow down the possibilities by asking." said Zoe. Both men turned to look at her and she continued; "Captain might pretend an interest in buying Inara say."
"And somebody else could ask for a session with the Shepard." Mal said taking a hold of the idea. "Good thinking, Zoe."
...
"That Whore Serra is a might fine piece of woman flesh," Mal said to the Supply & Logistics officer escorting him, Zoe and Jayne down the corridor, "worth every penny of what you're asking."
"We thought so." she answered a little smugly. "There's an art to pricing folk you know."
"I can imagine." said Zoe, very dryly indeed.
"Don't forget I'm putting up half the cash." put in Jayne.
"One more sin to confess to the Shepard." Mal jabbed.
"That's my business an' his, not yore'n" Jayne shot right back.
The S&L officer keyed one of the innumerable doors. It slid open on a cell that was plainly very empty.
"Uh, we've been outbid?" Mal ventured.
But the woman was already talking into her transmitter: "Control, we have an escape, holding pen -"
Zoe twisted an arm around the officer's windpipe and took the transmitter from her. "Uh, correction, Control, we had two prisoners playing games. Everything's okay here."
"Acknowledged. Don't be so quick to report next time."
"Yessir. Out." the Browncoat who'd been silently gasping through this subsided into unconsciousness. Zoe let her drop.
"They got out all by themselves?" Jayne wondered.
"Look's like. Gorram ungrateful of them." Mal answered, then to Zoe; "They'll be making for Serenity, let's get back there."