Chapter 2
There was a steady cranking sound as the airlock opened to reveal the barren landscape of Cheyenne. At least, it would be barren, if it weren't for the many mine shafts, drills, and people scattered around. If Malcom hadn't known Cheyenne was a Central Planet, he would have sworn it was a moon on the edge of the solar system.
"You see, Jayne?" Malcom said as he walked out onto the rocky surface of the planet, "Not an Alliance patrol in sight."
"Besides the ones over there, Sir?" Zoe nodded towards one of the many drills where, sure enough, stood two men in Alliance uniforms.
"Well... yes, besides those," Malcom's hand instinctively rested over his gun in the holster, "That's just more reason to fuel up as fast as we can, and get off this rock before the Alliance can smell us."
"Hey, look, Cap'n, shiny!" Kaylee stopped walking and stood by a cartload of gemstones, looking almost as catatonic as River.
"Right then... while Wash is workin' on refuelin' Serenity with the Shepherd, Zoe and I'll work on getting past those Alliance guards. The rest of you, try not to make a scene." Mal looked directly at Simon and River before tossing a bag of coins to Wash and heading off with Zoe and Jayne.
"One of these stones could buy Serenity a whole new engine!" Kaylee gave no indication that she heard anything the Captain said, she seemed so entranced by the crystals.
"'All that glitters', Kaylee," Simon said, taking her hand and leading her away from the cart, "We need to make sure that the Alliance doesn't see River or..." Simon trailed off, "Where's River?"
"Jayne, I don't think bringing Vira with you will help us keep a low profile."
"What if we get into a fight over why we're housin' the doctor and his crazy sister? Or why we're carryin' stolen cargo from an Alliance ship? Or..."
"Point taken, Jayne." Zoe cut Jayne off in a low voice as they passed the two guards by the drill.
Ahead of them was a small village, old-looking and broken-down just like most of the other villages they had visited on the Outer Planets. Inside the town, Mal knew there was a vault, containing some of the industry's most prized rocks. Take those, plus any the rest of the crew could manage to nick from the carts of gems out in the open, and they'd be eating like the ambassador himself for months.
"It only takes a few hours to fuel Serenity," Mal continued once they were out of earshot of the guards, "That means we should plan for our job to take longer, so we can leave orbit with a full tank."
"Do we have a plan, Sir?" Zoe asked, eying the hidden Vira.
"'Don't get caught'?" Jayne suggested.
"I honestly hadn't thought this far ahead." Mal said defensively.
"Why don't we just walk in, show Vira around, take the gorram rocks and walk out?" Jayne asked in a sort of whisper-yell.
"That was the plan, until the Alliance showed up and made things a mite more complicated."
"Sir," Zoe cut into the argument, "There are only two of them. If we can cause a diversion for long enough, we'll have a chance at getting the goods before anyone notices us."
"Fair enough," Mal started, a plan already forming in his head, "But where do you reckon we could find a..."
Mal tailed off when he noticed Simon and Kaylee making a beeline straight for him.
"Cap'n..." Kaylee started, trying to catch her breath.
"I thought you all were busy admiring those stones by the shafts." Mal interrupted before Kaylee could finish, "And where did you leave..."
Simon cut Mal off, "River's gone."
"Welcome, to my humble abode."
Inara smiled, finding it difficult to keep a straight face, looking at her client's manor amidst the squalor all around it. But her first lesson as a companion was how to smile politely, and convincingly.
"It's quite lovely." Inara agreed in a level tone. Although she never thought of her work as about the money, she found the civilized clients were usually the more wealthy. It was plain to see that David was no exception.
"Although, I would much prefer we hold our arrangement in my shuttle, standard companion policy." Inara added in as much of an apologetic tone as she could muster.
"Of course," David responded with a melodramatic sweeping gesture, "But I insist on a tour of my manor before we begin."
For once, Inara had no idea what to say, so, she simply let him take her hand and lead her into the manor. It was probably very lavishly decorated, and Inara was sure she could see all of it. But since she was trained not to have any physical reaction, she found eliminating the reaction was like eliminating the thing itself. So, Inara allowed herself to be led down the hallway, smiling and nodding as David pointed various objects out to her.
Maybe it was because Inara was traveling with criminals, but the thing she did notice was the vault at the end of the hallway. Once more, Inara found herself speechless, although her smile did fade into slightly parted lips. She couldn't ask David what was inside, could she? That would appear suspicious. But why should she be worried about that? Inara closed her eyes and shook her head ever so slightly to clear it. She must be slipping. She reminded herself she was here to do her job, what the rest of the crew did was completely different.
Inara focused her attention back on David, who had let go of her hand and was walking towards the vault. "Don't you want to see how I'm going to pay you?" He said with a sly smile.
Inara didn't have to worry about a response, because David had turned to punch in the combination for the vault. Inara couldn't help but notice the code; 5, 1, 6, 2. Not the most creative of codes, but who could blame her for being observant? That was what she was trained to do.
The vault swung open, revealing the smallest of gems suspended on a very grand stand. Inara bit her tongue to keep from laughing at the sight, such a large vault and such a little, unimpressive gem. "My father's the head of Cheyenne's mining industry. He keeps this gem here for show, the real beauties are in town, in a much more protected vault," David said in a slightly boastful tone, "Although he's away most of the time, his occupation has its benefits."
"I'd assume it would," Inara replied, relieved to revert back to her polite smile, "Everything you've shown me was beautiful."
David smiled haughtily, and his straight posture as he walked back towards Inara seemed almost condescending. "Only the best," His tone changed as he put his hand around Inara's waist, "Now let's see that shuttle of yours."