Chapter 16

Mal felt his blood run cold at those words and turned to look down the line at Inara tied up on the other side of Zoe. The rest of the crew was looking at her with expressions of betrayal and disbelief as well. Inara simply looked away and began to cry. Mal's anger at Inara was so great it was nearly blinding, he could feel his entire body shaking and blood began dripping down onto floor from the palms of his hands where his finger nails had bit into the flesh.

"It seems that young Dr. Tam has hurt himself. Put a tourniquet on his leg and get him to the med lab. We are going to want him alive, at least for awhile." One of the Blue Hands Instructed.

"It is so nice to finally meet you Subject 28. You have given our agency such a chase, won't it be nice to stop running and go home? Your mother is anxious to know that you've been brought back to the Academy." The second Blue Hand said and ran one finger down River's cheek.

Mal could see River convulse involuntarily at the touch. He wasn't the Reader she was, but even he could feel the waves of revulsion pouring off of his love.

A sharp cry of pain pulled Mal away from River's torment. Mal watched in horror as two of the Alliance soldiers tied a tourniquet tightly around Simon's thigh and ruthlessly pulled his leg off of the bar. The pain of it brought Simon back to consciousness and he looked around in confusion. The two soldiers picked him up and began carrying him towards the ship docked with Serenity, he cried out again as they jostled him carelessly.

Simon noticed the tied up crew and then Mal saw his eyes widen in horror as he saw the Hands of Blue standing in front of his sister. Simon's reaction was instantaneous and violent. He lurched out of the guards arms and threw himself at both men. His scream was so savage that Mal could barely believe it came from the Doctor. The Blue Hands were quick but they hadn't expected the seemingly incapacitated man to launch himself at them. One of them managed to step out of Simon's reach, but the other wasn't fast enough. Simon slammed him around the middle and forced the Blue Hand to the ground. The man's head connected with the floor making the room reverberate with a large metal clang.

River jumped up suddenly, in one swift move she pulled her feet through the loop created by her bound hands and was able to get her hands in front of her. Not wasting any time she spun directly from that move into a kick that hit guard number one in the throat, Mal could hear the audible snapping of the man's neck. His limp body flew backward with the force of the kick and knocked two other guards off their feet. From the kick she stepped forward and brought her tied hands around another guard's neck, cracking it as quickly as she had done with the first.

"You were supposed to restrain her completely." The still standing Blue Hand shrieked.

Mal allowed himself a fraction of a second to be amazed at the fact that his fiancé had just killed two men and taken two others down in less than five seconds, then he scrambled to his feet and threw himself into the Blue Hand. Zoe and Jayne jumped to their feet as well. The guards pulled out their guns and were ready to fire when one of the Blue Hands began screaming.

"No don't fire! We can't risk Subject 28 being hit." He shrieked.

The men instantly holstered their pistols and pulled out riot batons instead.

River assessed the situation in an instant and knew exactly where she needed to move and who to take out in which order. Using her teeth she ripped the plastic binding from around her wrists and freed her hands. She became a blur of motion as she began kicking and punching her way through the Alliance officers. She almost wanted to laugh at the fact that they had sent these boys to take her in. The arrogance of the Alliance was astounding sometimes.

The rest of the crew had tried to help, but it was obvious that River neither needed nor wanted it. Finally Mal pulled the again unconscious Simon away from the fighting and made the rest of the crew move back as well. He stood on the edge of the fighting watching carefully to make sure none of the men got the better of River but they never even stood a chance. Within two minutes every soldier was besides the Blue Hands was dead.

The two Hands of Blue had gotten up during the fight, but River had continually knocked them back to the ground. Mal noticed that she never hurt the Blue Hands she simply kept them immobilized. Finally they were the only two Alliance employees who weren't incapacitated.

River stood over the two men breathing heavily and looking far more fearsome than a girl as tiny as her should be able to look. Mal realized at that moment that he wasn't looking at the woman he was planning to marry, the woman he loved, he was looking at the weapon the Alliance had created and it was now turned loose against them. The looks on their faces said they realized this as well.

"Tell me about my mother!" River ordered.

Both men sat on the ground and stared up at River in fear, but didn't respond.

"Tell me!" She screamed and backhanded one of the men causing his nose to break.

River glanced over and saw her brother lying on the ground pale and bleeding heavily. She turned back to the men and knelt down in front of them. Smiling sweetly she suddenly looked like the young girl she was. Mal thought this look was far more frightening than the angry one he'd seen a minute ago.

"You came onto my home, you caused my brother to get hurt, and you would have hurt everyone else that I love if I hadn't stopped you." River listed in a gentle pleasant tone.

"Tell me what I want to know. You know the training I've been through better than anyone. Do you want to be on the receiving end of that training? I can keep you alive for weeks if I have to." River threatened.

The two men exchanged a look and sighed in defeat.

"Ms. Serra contacted your mother and your mother of course contacted us immediately with your coordinates." The Blue Hand on the right said.

"Does my mother know about the Academy? Does she know what was done to me there?" River demanded.

The men again exchanged a look, this one accompanied by a smirk.

"Know about the Academy? Subject 28 she designed the program. She designed it after raising you. She designed the program for you." The same man replied.

River stood up in shock and stared at the two men. Her head tilted to the side and she closed her eyes. As she read them she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out they were lying or that they were telling the truth. After a minute or so she opened her eyes, Mal could see unshed tears glistening in them.

"Your mother loves you Subject 28. If you let us take you home you can finish the program that she designed for you, to make you the very best that you could be." He continued.

"My name is River!" She screamed. She drew her pistol and fired two quick rounds, killing both the men in a split second.

After killing the men River stood over them staring down at their dead bodies. She held perfectly still, but Mal could see her muscles vibrating with barely controlled rage. He stood quickly to go to her, but before he could even take a step River shouted to him.

"Stop! Not in control. Put me out." She stammered, barely able to get the words out.

"Put you out? River no." Mal argued.

"Safe word, say it. My training dictates I eliminate any possible threat, she won't be safe until I'm out." River replied and suddenly raised the gun and pointed in straight at Inara, without turning around to see where she was aiming.

Mal was half tempted to allow her to just pull the trigger, but their history and the need for the truth prevent him from letting her kill the Companion.

Sighing heavily Mal whispered, "Eta kooram nah smech."

River's hand dropped immediately, the gun clanging loudly on the metal floor, and Mal rushed over to catch her as her legs buckled under her.

"Jayne you ok to do a little work?" Mal asked as he took in the wide stain of blood on Jayne's shirt.

"Good to go for a bit." Jayne grunted as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Need you to go with Kaylee to the Alliance ship. Watch her back while she does her thing, might be there's still some hun-dans over there need ta be dealt with."

"Kaylee when Jayne takes ya over there, you get that ship disengaged from ours. I wanna go to full burn soon as possible. You two see anything over there worth takin that you can grab quick like, get it, but hurry. There might be more coming. After ya get back put all these bodies in the airlock and space em." Mal ordered.

"Zo I'm gonna go put River in her bunk. Put her in her shuttle and lock it down so she don't go no where. Meet me back here so's we can get Simon to the infirmary." Mal continued.

Inara winced as he gave Zoe the order to lock her up. He hadn't looked at her once and he wouldn't even address her by name.

"Mal please. Let me explain about River." Inara begged.

Finally Mal turned his eyes on her. Inara winced under the sharp cold hatred directed at her.

"Don't. Don't you ever say her name again." Was all he said before turning and walking away from her.