"The job was put out by a big corporation," said Simon, who was poring over a monitor displaying the data they lifted from their previous employer's computer systems.
"Which one?" asked Inara, but Mal waved her off.
"Doesn't matter. They're all the same. Besides, it's probably just a shell corporation of an even bigger corporation." He looked at Simon to confirm, and after a few moments the Doctor looked up, almost surprised.
"Mal's right. It's a dummy front set up by Blue Sun."
River whimpered over in the corner, but she went unobserved. Mal frowned, but Inara beat him to the punch.
"Why is a food company involved with all this? I'm guessing we weren't transporting a crate of beans for them."
Simon shook his head. "Blue Sun is a lot more prominent than people think. They're involved in some medical research I once undertook, and they produce a lot of the medical diagnostic software the Alliance uses. That's as far as my knowledge extends, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are involved in a lot more sectors of the 'verse than that."
"Stop it!" screamed River suddenly, and everyone assembled on the bridge jumped to some degree and turned to observe her. Simon was up in seconds, moving to his sister's side. "I don't want to hear it anymore!"
"River…it's okay," said Simon, trying to hold her, but she kept squirming away.
"Everywhere I go, you can see, but no-one else can see it, nobody ever sees it." She started to sob quietly, finally succumbing to Simon. The doctor looked to Mal for some kind of response.
"Maybe you should take your sister down back for a while, let her rest her head," he said softly. "It's been a long week for everyone."
Simon nodded agreement, and took his sister aft. Inara took the doctor's place at the computer screen.
"Blue Sun went to a great deal of trouble to remain anonymous here. I didn't realise Simon was so adept at computers – the file tracing Blue Sun was quite heavily encrypted. Also, it had been deleted."
"I imagine our doctor knows quite a bit we don't know about," said Mal pensively. "Same as how a Companion learned to recognise computer encryption."
Inara's eyebrow arched. "It was part of my training at the Academy, Mal."
"I wasn't lookin' to fight," said Mal neutrally. "Just pointin' out we all have things we hide from each other."
"Even you?"
"Especially me. It's what fuels the mysterious air I put out."
"Right." She returned to analysing the screen. "It doesn't say what's in the crate. Just that Blue Sun put the order out to transport the crate. Also, the job before that we did."
"We?" Inara looked up at him, confused. Mal smiled and continued. "I remember a time when you wouldn't be seen dead bein' associated with us. Now, it's 'we'."
"I would have been dead, the same as all of you, if that crate hadn't been taken. I'm as part of this as all of you; I'm not going to take it lying down."
Mal nodded approvingly. "Good to hear it. And it doesn't surprise me, them putting out the order before. It was an almost too easy job, leadin' right into another almost too easy job. They rope a crew in with the first job, and on the second, they open that crate and whatever's inside kills everyone on the ship. When it reaches the Core, they can 'pick up' a distress call and claim the ship as salvage. No witnesses. I knew somethin' was up with that machine shop we went to. Everythin' was laid out wrong, like a high up official watched a movie of a machine shop, and set it up like that. I should've looked into it more."
"Don't beat yourself up about it. What about the dummy businesses set up to give and receive the cargo?"
"They'll be gone within a week. All the staff paid up to forget about ever seein' us. Either that or it's a genuine business, in which case they bribe the staff or they deal with so many deliveries we just get forgotten about; just another piece of mislaid paperwork."
"Except we got held up."
"Exactly. Which is our only advantage here."
"So how do we play it?"
"Easy. We find that ship."
"How do we do that?"
"Y'heard what Harvey said back on Taurus. Somethin' about whatever's about to go down bein' too big to miss. Well, let's see if he's right."
He flicked a switch next to the computer screen, and the readout changed to a news feed, which was in the middle of a report.
"- chaos that has descended upon Hera where the local population has overthrown the rightful Alliance seat of power and installed their own puppet government. The insurrectionists are claiming the planet in the name of the new Independents, however Alliance reports show that this group are little more than terrorists. Any ship trying to enter orbit of Hera is advised that it is a war zone, with fighting expected to last for up to days. An Alliance source said that the ill-fated rebellion will be crushed within a week, and continued to express his dista -"
"Can you tell which side is paying the station to broadcast?" asked Mal wryly.
"How do you do that?" demanded Inara. But Mal just shrugged coyly.
"Told ya – my mysterious air. If I told you, I'd have to kill you. I'm guessing Harvey was headin' to Hera, so that's where we're goin'." He moved to the intercom, and squeezed the button on the side to address the ship. "Buckle up, happy campers. We're goin' to war."
"War? I don't wanna go to war."
"Don't panic, Jayne. I'm sure the cap'n didn't mean an actual war. Uhm…right, cap'n?"
Mal smiled slightly at Kaylee in an attempt to be reassuring. "Well actually Kaylee, I did. But the good news is, we don't want to get involved. Just sorta…sneak past."
"How are you gonna 'sneak past' a war zone?" asked Jayne.
"Just the way we did back in the old days. Tell 'em, Zoe."
"Speak softly. Carry a big gun," informed Zoe.
"A big gun? Shall we go through the part about us not having a big gun again?" challenged Jayne.
"Well, we'll just speak extra softly," said Mal.
"This is a bad idea."
"Look. The only way we're gonna find out what was in that crate is if we go find it, and chances are, it's on Hera. So we go to Hera. No matter if there's a war raging between it and us, we'll get through it. Same as we always do."
"How in the hell did an entire planet get up and revolt against the Alliance?" asked Jayne, his face all rolled up in disgust. "And not just a backwater pile of dirt on the fringe, a near enough Core world?"
"I guess Mr Universe was right – you can't stop the signal. Besides, anti-Alliance sentiment has always been strong on Hera after the end of the war," stated Mal.
Simon decided to input into the conversation. "As I understand it, a lot of Independent veterans stayed on Hera after the…uh…after the battle there," he said, stealing an apprehensive glance at Mal, who betrayed no emotion discussing the planet on which he and Zoe were the only ones of their battalion to survive the vicious battle of Serenity Valley.
"So…" said Kaylee slowly. "Just to make sure…we ain't actually goin' to war, just kinda…visiting one."
"Uh…yeah, I guess."
"Shiny," she said. "Just make sure they don't shoot at us."
"I'll put in a request."
"This is a bad idea," reiterated Jayne, but said no more. After that, there were no more objections louder than a grumble, so the crew disbanded from the mess and back to their respective areas of the ship. Mal caught Simon on his way out.
"Doctor. I'm surprised to not hear an objection from you."
"I'm sure you heard about my exploits back on the cargo run. I'm just as keen as anyone to find out what's in the crate."
"That's what I thought you'd say. Thing is, I don't see you riskin' taking River into a war zone for somethin' as trivial as curiosity."
Simon's jaw worked, and then he replied. "I'm worried about River."
"What's new?"
"I mean, more than usual. Her behaviour has been…odd, lately. More than usual," he repeated.
"Is she gonna start…?"
"No. I don't think so. I'll put her to sleep before that. I think that maybe something in that container is affecting her, and I need to find out what it is."
"She starts goin' all warrior-commando again…" said Mal, and Simon sighed in mild exasperation.
"I'll take care of it," he said, and Mal let him go.
"Well then," he muttered walking onto the bridge. Zoe turned to look at him. "Next stop, the past." They exchanged a sombre look, and then Mal took the helm.
"It doesn't look much different, sir," said Zoe, and Mal could just nod in silent agreement. The planet Hera filled the main view port. Light shone from a few missile impacts in high orbit, but the combat wasn't as heavy as they'd been expecting. That meant one side was winning over the other, and depending on who won, it might make Mal's day a lot harder. He started scanning the comms, trying to pick up brief snatches of conversation.
The transmissions were mostly coded military, and either came through as controlled static or people who spoke entirely in code words, but a couple of civilian transmissions indicated that the Independents had come out on top.
"Looks like they finally…" started Jayne.
"Don't finish that sentence," snapped Zoe, and the intensity of her words forced the bigger man to silence.
"Looks like we missed all the fun," said Kaylee. "And by fun, I mean lots of explosions and death."
"Sounds like fun to me," said Jayne, but the engineer ignored him.
"Where's the central command post?" asked Zoe.
Mal glanced over at her, his face unreadable. "I'll give you three guesses. But you'll only need one."
Having received clearance to land, the Firefly class transport set down on the charred ground of Serenity Valley. Its cargo ramp slowly lowered, and the group of the slightly dishevelled crew wandered down it, blinking in the bright afternoon sun.
Mal spotted several landmarks that were immediately recognisable to him, but in the current weather they appeared different…almost cheerful. He could see the ridge where he and Zoe had been found and captured in, and he had to make a conscious effort to not think about the past. This was a business venture, and he had come here to do that business and no more; certainly not to dredge up years of almost repressed grief of the memory of his platoon. And if he told himself that for long enough, it might actually work.
A group of Independent soldiers came to greet them, one sweeping Mal into a bear hug, chortling noisily.
"Mal!" he crowed, the object of his affection grimacing slightly with the force of the gesture. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Same thing as always, Jacob. Tryin' to stay one step ahead of trouble."
"Well you came to the wrong place if you're lookin' to stay out of trouble." He released Mal and noticed his soldiers standing with their weapons half drawn. "Don't stand there like they're the enemy," he barked. "This is Malcolm Reynolds! He fought in this Valley when you were all daydreaming teenagers!"
The soldiers immediately snapped to attention and rattled off a salute towards Mal. "It's an honour, sir!" the most senior trooper barked, and Mal returned the salute.
He turned to the others. "This is somethin' a guy could get used to," he grinned.
"Well aren't you goin' to introduce me?"
"Of course!" He pointed out each of his crew as he spoke their name. "Jacob, this is Kaylee, my shiny engineer; Jayne, my…uh…accounts manager; Simon, my medic; and this is Inara, who ain't part of the crew per se, but travels along for the ride. She's the ship whore."
Inara steeled visibly. "I'm a registered Companion," she said, smiling at Jacob through her teeth.
"Nice crew you have assembled here. Is Zoe…?"
"She's back on board the ship. She's had some…personal grief recently. I don't think she wanted to dredge up even more by steppin' out here."
"I see. I'm glad she's still with you."
"Me too."
"Well don't just stand there! You're guests of the new Independents. I more than owe you a drink for what happened on Du Khang."
"Wait. That was you?"
Jacob chortled heartily, and Kaylee looked confused. "What happened on Du Khang?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you some other time."
"Well…okay. What's there to do here anyhow?"
Jacob's eyebrows shot up. "You've never been to Hera before?" Upon Kaylee shaking her head, he elaborated. "This here's the command centre for the Independents, but on either side of the Valley there's a small town where you can chow down or drink up. I think there's a few shops, but they're only small, so I wouldn't expect much of them. It's a half hour walk followin' the road, or if you can convince any troopers headin' out that way to give you a ride, it'll take you ten minutes."
The engineer nodded and smiled winningly at Jacob, before turning to address Mal. "If we're gonna be here for a while, I could head into town and buy a few things we need. Like…food."
"I don't see why not. You takin' the mule?"
"Naw, I don't see why, it's a nice day for a stroll."
"Alright then. I'll give you a buzz when we're ready to get goin'." He turned to walk away with Jacob, but Kaylee wasn't finished.
"Uhm…maybe Simon could come with me, because, uhm…we might need medical supplies, and I wouldn't know what to buy." She smiled innocently as Mal's eyebrow arched in wry amusement.
"Yeah, why not? We could all do with a couple of hours off. Just make sure you're all back here by sundown."
"Aye, sir!" exclaimed Kaylee excitedly. She grabbed Simon by the arm, and dragged the surprised doctor off down the path that led to the bigger road before Mal could change his mind.
"Look after…!" he called, and Inara waved him off.
"I will!"
Mal turned to Inara. "You'll what now?"
"I'll be staying on the ship. I want to try and help River with something, and now seems like a good time to do it."
"Okay. Jayne?"
"Hell, why'd you even need to ask, Mal?"
"Right. You're coming with us for the booze. Inara, let Zoe know where we all kinda are. We'll be back in a couple of hours."
The Companion nodded and withdrew to the ship, while the three men wandered off in the opposite direction to where Kaylee and Simon had just fled.
"Wouldn't expect for there to be a bar set up around here," said Mal, and Jacob nodded agreement.
"The nearest bar is in that town young Kaylee headed towards. What we'll be drinking is my own private supply. That necklace your engineer was wearing looks quite nice; expensive, too. Where'd she get it?"
"That's kinda why we're here. The trouble I mentioned started with the job we took, haulin' those necklaces to Aries. The job after that, we were waylaid by another ship who took a crate from us."
"Yeah, it was gang of -" started Jayne, but Mal shot him a look that stopped him in mid-sentence. "Uh…smugglers."
Mal continued. "Thing is, that crate opened, and we hear what's inside will kill anyone who goes near it. We were meant to die, and we're tryin' to figure out exactly why."
Jacob frowned, tapping something into a personal datapad. "Sounds unfortunate. So why'd you end up here?"
"We think the ship that robbed us was headin' here with the crate. Wondered if you'd heard anythin' about that."
Jacob pondered, but shook his head. "No, nothing like that. But they wouldn't exactly announce it to us if they arrived. I'll get on the cortex once we're in my cabin."
"Thanks. So tell me, how'd you manage to rustle up an army and then occupy a near-Core world?"
"Easier than you'd think, Mal. The local population has been a great help, and we were always floating around in the background, gathering people and ships and weapons. The tables turned when an Alliance cruiser defected to our side, which gave us the local air superiority here in orbit. The ground forces have been diminished here, so they weren't much of a threat. Since we revolted, the planet's been a beacon for disgruntled citizens like you and me and we've opened the gates to them. I hear there's an Alliance fleet underway, but we have high hopes." They approached a series of small huts that must house the officers of the Independent complex. "Ah, here we are. You should join up, Mal. You'd enter in right at officer level. We need good men like you."
Mal shook his head as they entered the cabin. "I've been here and done this. I don't need those days of glory huntin' anymore. Besides, things ain't the way they used to be. We lost, Jacob."
"But we're going to win," said his old compatriot, waggling his eyebrows. Mal just smirked. "Now, if you'll give me a minute, I'll hop on the cortex to check out your smuggler ship, and then we can do some serious drinking."
"Thanks again."
Jacob fired up the monitor in the corner of the room, and before long a fresh faced soldier answered.
"Sir?"
"I need you to check something for me. My friend was attacked by a smuggler ship on his way to Beaumonde – they took their shipment, which was just one crate. Apparently it's very dangerous, and my friend has reason to believe they headed here. I need you to scan the recent records and see if anything's flagged."
"How recent?" Jacob turned to Mal.
"Within three days," was the reply, and the soldier on the other end of the cortex started working a console.
"What ship class?"
"It was a modified Envoy."
A few more moments of silence. "Nothing like that is showing up, sir. Of course, it's possible it slipped through in the confusion with all the fighting going on."
"Very good. Out," said Jacob, and deactivated the screen. He rubbed his hands together. "Now, let's get some serious dri -"
He was cut off mid-sentence as Mal slugged him, crashing him into a display unit holding some personal items. Jayne reacted badly.
"Mal, what the hell are you doin'?"
"Watch the door," snapped Mal, and Jayne went to the window, keenly watching the exterior but cursing to himself under his breath.
"Mal, have you lost your -" Jacob cried, cut off again by Mal's fist.
"Shut up. I didn't want to believe it, but you're lying to me, Jacob."
"I don't know what you mean!"
"I suspected all along that you might be hiding Harvey and his ship, but I never knew for sure until now."
"You're crazy!"
"I never told you where we were heading with the second shipment."
Jacob stopped, scanning his conversation over the cortex, and cross-checking it with the previous conversation with Mal. Finally he slumped in defeat.
"You never were the sharpest tool in the shop, Jacob." Mal punched him again, seemingly just for the hell of it. "Now, where are you keeping him?"
"Mal, I didn't want it to come to this. We're old buds, right? Why did you have to take that job? You could've avoided all of this…"
"I ain't gonna ask again, and the reason I ain't shot you yet is cause I owe you from way back when. I'm gettin' pissed off with running into old buddies and then gettin' stabbed in the back by them. I'm not gonna ask again."
Jacob looked as though he was going to burst into tears. "Mal, I'm sorry…"
Mal took in the pleading face of his old buddy, and then shot him in the leg. Jacob cried out in pain, but Mal smothered his mouth to keep the noise down.
"And the gunshot won't attract anyone's attention?" hissed Jayne from the window, but Mal ignored him. A stray gunshot here and there wasn't uncommon at a place like this. Bored, drunk soldiers who had guns usually wound up using them. He leaned in very close to Jacob's face.
"Now we're past the old buddy stage," he said quietly, dangerously. "And I'm feelin' a little twitchy bein' back on this rock, so you start talkin', or I start doin' things that you will regret."
"Okay, okay," sobbed Jacob, tears now openly streaming down his face. "We have Harvey's ship. It's in low orbit on the other side of the planet. You're right – the crate was open, but some of the crew were still alive. We've got them in a medical facility here on the base. That's all I know, Mal. I swear."
"What's wrong with them?"
"They're in some kind of coma. I haven't read the report properly."
"What was in the crate?"
"I don't know. Nobody knows. We put the ship into quarantine after we got our guys off it – we retrieved them in biosuits. Nobody even dared to go into the cargo bay. They think it's an airborne virus. Some of the guys must have natural immunity, which is why they were in the comas."
"That all?"
"That's all, Mal. Please. I swear!"
Mal took in his eyes, and then knocked him unconscious with the butt of his gun. Jacob slumped to the floor.
Jayne was looking at him, perplexed. "How's a big guy like that so afraid of you?"
"Once we interrogated an Alliance scout in the field," said Mal quietly. "He knows what I'm capable of."
"What do we do now?"
"We've gotta find what's left of Harvey's crew."
"Mal…why's it so gorram important to find out what's in that crate?"
"Because apparently it's worth all of our lives. I'd like to know the value whatever bastard put out that job puts on that before I deal with him."
A warning klaxon sounded outside, and the two men flinched on reflex.
"What the hell is that?"
"Quit being so jumpy, Jayne," said Mal, strolling to the cortex. "You're making me nervous."
Flicking it on, he was greeted by a status report intended for Jacob. Scanning it, he found several things that made him swear profusely.
"Ai ya, wo mun wan leh."
"What?"
"We're in big trouble. The Alliance is here, reclaimin' the planet."
"Yeah, so? Didn't we guess they'd do that?"
"Yeah, but that's not half of it. You know the Reaver fleet they've been shepherding around? The one they're driving towards one of their fleets to destroy? Guess where the fleet was based."
Jayne looked at him, full of earnest suspense. "I don't gorram know! Where??"
Mal remembered who he was talking to. "Here, Jayne. Here. They're in orbit."
"Gos se," muttered Jayne. "We gotta get outta here!"
"Well, that's the other thing. The Independents just put out an order to capture all of us on sight, to shoot if necessary."
"This week keeps gettin' better and better. Well, I got an idea that should solve all of our problems."
Mal raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"
Jayne grinned viciously and fired up Vera. "Gratuitous violence."
Mal sighed. "This will not end well."
Next on Void
"No, I figure she'll guess trouble is about from the sound of gunfire chasing us riding hell for leather in a stolen mule."
Thanks to MAndrews and Eloisa for your reviews.