It had taken them two days to receive Badger's coordinates and pictures of the sought after item; a airtight casket. Mal let Serenity set down on Persephone's dried out soil only long enough to get what they needed; the maps, photos, and fuel. He didn't want to stay in one place for too long, especially when there was a job to get done. Now they were out in the Black, again, flying to some drifting rock of a planet called Amittere, that is where the digging is to take place.
"I still ain't gettin' it." Jayne mumbled to himself as he sat with Mal at the galley table. He held one of the many photos of the metal casket in his left hand while his right hand held a photo of a very uptight looking gentleman who vaguely reminded him of Simon. "What's this wang bao dahn wantin' with a cold one? Why's he tryin' to get his hands on a dead lady's body?"
"That's the least of our problems an' somethin' I'd suggest ya don't dwell on it too much. Dong ma?" Came the captain's gruff reply.
His face was lost amid a sea of papers and maps. He was trying to decide where to land the ship once they were in atmo. Amittere's surface gave several options since it was almost barren of people, unlike Persephone. Mostly farmers, convicts hiding from the Alliance, and hermits inhabited this special ball of dirt.
'Which one were you?' Mal thought as he took a quick glance at the picture in the merc's coarse hands. 'Farmer, convict, or hermit?'
"Hey, Mal,"
"Huh?" He studied the maps of Amittere intently.
"Do ya think he wants to, uh, ya know." A disturbing grimace twisted Jayne's mouth. "Use the cold one for...sexual reasons?"
"Ai ya Jayne." Mal threw the map down and glared at the merc. "I said don't dwell on it. Do. Not. It means not to."
"I know, but - "
"But nothin'. He has money." The captain pointed to the photo of the distinguished man. "He can do whatever he damn well pleases, even grapplin' a corpse. As long as he pay me my coin, I don't give a never mind 'bout what he's wantin' with who be dead in that box."
"Yep," The tall burly man grunted. "I concur."
Mal raised an eyebrow and chuckled slightly amused.
"Where'd ya learn that shiny word?"
Jayne threw the pictures onto the dinning table and crossed his muscular arms over his broad chest. "Simon used it once, I had River explain it to me."
'He went to River for help?' He repressed a bark of laughter.
"And?" Mal wanted to hear more.
"And what?"
"Hell, Jayne. Teach me what'cha learned, impart yer knowledge on me." He smiled humorously.
"It ain't that interestin'. It jus' means to agree."
Mal released a low whistle with one easy flow of breath. He interlocked his fingers behind his head and leaned back in his chair.
"I'm impressed, really I am."
"Yeah, well how's 'bout you stop grinnin' at me like a fool an' get back to the maps?"
"Have you found anything new?" Zoe asked. She stepped into the galley with ease and grace.
"Actually, I have."
Zoe sat at the table. She didn't bother looking at the papers or the pictures of the casket and employer. She trusted her commander and knew that he would never lead her astray.
"Our employer," Mal began. "A man named Wilson, wants us to dig up an' snatch this casket for 'em. Even though I ain't commonly into why we do the job we do, this Wilson feels he owes us' n explanation."
"Why do I get the feelin' there's more to this task than they're lettin' on?" Zoe asked with reservation.
"Better not be." Jayne grunted brusquely.
"We'll see." Mal looked at the papers suspiciously. Intuitions were always taken seriously, especially by the people he trusted. The captain was sure to keep the admonition in his thoughts. Mal read the letter Wilson had passed through Badger to him and summarized for the others. "This Wilson has a grandfather who is dying an', for some gruesome reason, the grandfather wants this very casket for his final wish."
"But there's already a body in it." The merc stated.
"Shiny observation there, Jayne."
"What's he gonna do?" Zoe asked. "Dump that body out an' put his grandfather in it?"
"I don't care - " Mal sighed.
"Yeah, jus' as long as he pay us our coin. I know, but it jus' ain't natural." Jayne stood from the table. "You can't jus' dump one body to put another in."
"When did he get morals?" Zoe asked, her dark brown eyes wide with shock. She watched Jayne walk away.
"He ain't got morals, he's jus' pretendin' he does."
In the early hours of the night, Mal found himself sitting in the galley pouring over papers he had viewed a thousand times earlier that day. His curious eyes scanned the lines of Wilson's letter, which he now knew by memory. Love, secret, reputation, shame, lies, and forgive were the words that never failed to catch his attention.
"You cannot sleep either." Her voice, a soft luck of a harp, broke through the sheet of silence in the galley.
'Dang-ran. Wu de tyen ah.'
"What you doin' here?"
He made sure to keep his eyes on the letter. To do anything except look at the young woman slowly stalking towards him in a free-flowing dress that may have been a size too big, but yet clung to the slight curves of her body.
'Ai ya' He cursed himself once he realized he was starring too hard for a bit too long.
A tiny smirk pulled at River's soft lips.
It was obvious.
"Maybe..." She mused as she folded herself gently into the chair next to the captain's. "You can help me get back to sleep." Her large round eyes peered at him longingly.
'Don't fall into her charms.' He warned himself.
Mal raised the letter to his line of vision to break their concentrated eye contact.
"There's more to that letter than you've let on, isn't there?" She continued.
The mild scent of her skin filled the air.
"Maybe." He grunted as his eyes peeked underneath the edge of the paper, watching her toes wiggle on the edge of the seat with her legs pulled to her chest.
"Tell me the story."
Mal felt a warm pressure on his thigh. He looked down to see River's head resting in his lap, her dark, brown, eyes staring back up at him. She was invading his personal space, but he become conscious to the fact that he didn't mind, and that he wouldn't want her to be anywhere else.
"Go find your own story."
"But I want to hear this story, the one in your letter." Her eyes implored glowingly. "If you tell me, I'll go back to bed and leave you to your harrying thoughts."
"Is that so?" He inadvertently tucked a loose strand of River's hair behind her ear.
"Yes."
Mal sighed as he shifted a little in his seat and moved the girl's head to a more comfortable position. Her hair was soft and she put up no resistance as he repositioned her.
"Alright, let's see." He cleared his throat to begin the story. "There once was a young wealthy man, a long time ago - "
"Before I was born and before you were old enough to talk." River included quietly.
"Hey, who is doin' the story tellin'?" Mal groused.
"Do it properly, add a little flourish." She demanded.
"I'm tryin'." An automatic screen of defense was easy to detect in his voice.
"Do not be so self-protective." Came her acquiescent sigh. "Continue."
'Ai ya girl trickin' me into tellin' bedtime stories. Why the hell - '
River softly laid her hand over his. The simple touch sent a warm, tingling, sensation up the length of his arm. The touch made his thoughts scatter and his breath waver for a moment.
"Don't think. Continue."
Mal cleared his throat again.
"There once was a wealthy man, a long time ago, before ya' was born an' before I was old ' nough to talk. This man, when he'd been young' n naive, loved a girl named Jolene. These two young folks were nearly inseparable...they loved each other strong an' hard, like somthin' fierce. An' like all fresh lovers, they made..." He searched for the proper term.
"Declarations of affections to one another." River offered.
"Yeah, declarations. They met at every chance they'd get an' spent every second together."
The captain looked down at the girl resting on his thigh awake with her eyes still open. He could feel every breath she took. In. Out. He synchronized his breathing with hers, inhaling and exhaling when she did. Their chests rising and falling together. Silently he prayed that she didn't notice.
"After a while the young man loved Jolene so much he was fixin' to make' er his wife. Well, some how his papa found out 'bout miss Jolene. He threatened to disown him if he kept seein' the girl because she was poor an' came from the wrong kinda tree. Now, our nyen ching-duh lover was tactless, but wasn't stupid. Even though he was crazy 'bout Jolene, he knew he couldn't get by without his family's coin. The boy was clueless as' t what to do next, thankfully he'd jing zi parents to direct' em towards the right path' o life. His mom found' em a good girl to settle with an' soon ' nough they were to be married."
"But Jolene." River whispered.
"I'm gettin' to her." Mal replied reassuringly. "The boy didn't know how to tell Jolene that they couldn't be together, so he kinda led' er on. One day, sometime b' fore the weddin', the boy worked up the t' ask Jolene for a favor. He asked' er to sit for a portrait. She ain't think nothin' of it, so of course she said yea. The real reason for the portrait was cause he was shippin' off to 'nother planet as soon as the weddin' ring was round his finger, an' he wanted a picture of Jolene to keep with' em at his new home. He never did have the might to tell Jolene that he was shippin' off. After the weddin' he just left with his wife an' the portrait.
"He kept the paintin' in his study, away from his wife's sight. But bein' a woman, an' naturally meddlesome, she went into the room an' found the paintin'. Of course she had a fit 'bout how he had a paintin' of some other dame hangin' o'er his mantel. She made such a fuss, for weeks, in demandin' it be gone, that he had to give into' er. He sent the portrait away from his eyes, away from his home, an' away from his planet. He sent it far away an' has never seen it since."
"What does that have to do with digging up this body?" River asked. "Nah mei guan-shee."
Her soft voice cut through the floating images in his head.
"Our employer, Wilson, is the grandson of the man in the story. His grandfather's last wish is the casket of Jolene, who joined the cold ones years ago. Maybe he's wantin' her to be dug up an' buried with him wherever he is when he dies. I'm not really carin' what he does with it. But, that's all I know." Mal finished without fanfare.
"So it's a love story?"
The captain shrugged his tired shoulders. He leaned back as he thoughtlessly caressed River's warm cheek with his thumb.
"It is a love story." A large smile grew on her lips as she closed her eyes to drift to sleep.
Translations:
Wang bao dahn: Dirty Bastard.
Dong ma: Understand.
Ai ya: Damn.
Dang-ran: Of Course.
Wu de tyen ah: Dear God in heaven.
Nyen ching-duh: Youngster.
Jing zi: Ingenious.
Nah mei guan-shee: That has nothing to do with it.