Chapter 20

Wash sat in the pilot's chair, nervously chewing his thumbnail. Mal strode in, still grasping his comm unit. "What's the trouble? And why've you stopped?"

The pilot yelped and straightened quickly, his blue eyes wide. "How did you do that?"

"Wash, I ain't got no idea. Now, what's the gorram trouble?" Wash gestured out the window, and Mal swore. "Now that ain't somethin' I like the look of."

A squadron of sleek Alliance fighters was arrayed around the Serenity, ringing her in from every side.

The screen in front of Wash flickered to life. "This is Commander Qiang Jun, speaking with the Authority of the High Parliament of the Allied Planets. Captain Malcolm Reynolds of the Serenity, you are hereby ordered to surrender your transport ship and enter Alliance custody. Any attempts to flee or resist arrest will be met with force."

"He chusheng zajiao de zanghuo! Wash, clear the channel."

The screen faded to black, and Wash cleared his throat nervously. "Well, at least we're popular." His weak grin faded quickly. "I've never seen this many Alliance ships in one place before."

"I have. Nothin' good comes of it." The Captain stood quietly for a long moment, anger and frustrations passing over his face in waves. "Niao shi de dugui. Wash, get on the intercom and call everybody down to the loading bay. Soon as that's done, you put her in park and come down yourself."

He strode back down to the bay himself, and found Simon trying to coax River into leaving the TARDIS. The psychic was curled up in the jump seat, her arms tucked around her head. "River? This isn't your ship, mei mei."

"Is. She'll protect me. Serenity's fallen, and she can't get up."

Simon frowned. "What?"

"Little Albatross is right, Doc." Mal turned to the rest of the crew as Wash came hurrying in. "We're in a mighty tight place right now, people. The Alliance has us outgunned and out-manned." He glanced at Zoe. "Probably out-womaned, too. They think they got us, that we ain't got no way out."

The Doctor spoke up. "That's where the TARDIS comes in. All aboard, I suppose."

A blast shook the Serenity, and Kaylee cried out. Simon wrapped an arm around her. "Kaylee, there's nothing you can do for her. We've got to go."

The crew filed on board the TARDIS, and the Doctor stepped closer to Mal. "If there's any way to get her back, Captain, we'll find it."

Mal's jaw tightened. "I better. I've had more than enough of the Alliance takin' away my home for one lifetime."

They gathered inside the console room, and Rose shut the door behind them. "Hold on, everybody."

The Doctor glanced at Wash. "Miss Serra's on Sihnon?"

"At the Companion's guild, yeah."

"Well, then." He filled in the coordinates hurriedly and paused, considering, before slamming the dematerialization lever. "Sihnon it is."

Kaylee had joined the Doctor at the console, watching him avidly as he flew around the controls. Zoe had joined River on the jump seat, looking a little green, and Wash was hovering by her side, bracing Zoe through the shakes and jumps of the TARDIS' flight. Shepherd Book was holding onto the railing, staring around the room. Simon and Jayne were both clinging to the same strut, and they had matching expressions of fear and confusion on their faces—it was probably the first time Rose had seen them completely in agreement.

Mal, in the meantime, had braced himself against the wall, his face expressionless. Rose bit her lip and met the Doctor's eyes. He shook his head a little, and she sighed. Until the captain got his ship back, there wasn't anything much that would comfort him.

The TARDIS landed with a groan and the Doctor stepped closer to Rose, holding out his hand. "So. Sihnon it is. Care to explore?"

She grinned up at him, lacing her fingers through his. "Of course I do."

The doors creaked open, and they found themselves face-to-face with the beautiful brunette from a few week ago. The Doctor blinked, then grinned. "Oh, good show, old girl! Inara Serra, I presume?"

She tightened her grip on a long and deceptively elegant staff, the elegantly dressed young women behind her also holding weapons. "You would indeed presume. May I know who it is that has interrupted my morning classes?"

The Doctor reached up and scratched the back of his neck, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. "Have I? Ooh, that's not good—sorry about that. Sometimes the old girl has a mind of her own, you know."

"Inara!" Kaylee burst out of the TARDIS and flew into Inara's arms, barely avoiding being knocked unconscious. "I've missed you so much! Is this your class? They're mighty pretty—well, you'd have to be, to be a Companion, wouldn't you?"

"Not necessarily, mei mei." Inara released Kaylee, her dark brows furrowed. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you, but what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"We came with the Doctor." Inara gulped and straightened, turning stiffly to face Mal. He was leaning against the outside of the TARDIS, hands on his belt. "So, this is your new place. It's nice. Real… sophisticated."

Inara swore under her breath and turned to her pupils, folding her hands gracefully in front of her. "It seems something has come up. I'm sorry to do this to you, but I'm going to have to finish this lesson at a later time." They didn't move, and she frowned. "You are dismissed." As the Companions-in-training filed out of the room, she turned back to face the captain.

"Mal." She lifted her chin. "Was this your idea, then? Come crashing into my classes for what, old time's sake?"

"We came 'cause we got reason to think you're in danger. Someone's after you, 'Nara, an' I'm not just going to sit by while you get hunted down."

She snorted, a surprisingly rough sound from such an elegant woman. "Just like old times, then. I don't need you to protect me, Mal. I can handle myself. Besides, the Companion's Guild doesn't look kindly on threats against its members—and we're far more capable than most people assume."

"This ain't just some simple bully-boy, Inara. This is bigger than anythin' you or I'd ever seen before."

Inara rolled her eyes and moved her staff to the corner, straightening it carefully. "Well, you certainly haven't lost your flair for the melodramatic."

Wash leaned against the side of the TARDIS and smirked. "Mal and Inara fighting? This is definitely like old times."

Inara looked over at him and flushed as she realized how many of the Serenity crew were now standing in her room. "Wait… if you're all here, where's Serenity?" Mal's jaw tightened, and she paled. "Oh, no. Don't tell me she's gone."

"She's still out there, Inara. It's just the gorram Alliance has their goushi hands on her."

Inara stilled. "Ai ya. Mal, you didn't."

His thrust out his jaw belligerently. "Didn't what?"

"You did! You antagonized the Alliance!" She threw up her hands in frustration. "For God's sake, Mal, I know you don't like them, but would it kill you to just think before you do things for once?"

"I did plenty of thinkin' this time, 'Nara. There's things we heard that they didn't want nobody to hear, an' they ain't to happy with us on account of that."

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Lovely as this conversation is, can we hurry it up a little? Miss Serra's got a call to make, and some friends of yours are due to make an appearance."

Mal blinked. "A call?"

The Doctor grinned at him. "Oh, you know the one. You already received it." He spun to face Inara again, rubbing his hands together. "Right, so you might want to call the Serenity right about… now-ish."

She frowned at him, looking him up and down. "And why would I want to do that?"

He raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Would you believe me if I said 'to preserve the stability of the space/time continuum'?" When he got no more response than a raised eyebrow, he shrugged. "Well, it was worth a shot."

Rose spoke up, watching her thoughtfully. "For proof." Inara turned to her, and she continued. "To show yourself that this is bigger than you thought. After all, if we're wrong, what can it hurt? If we're right, though…" she trailed off and shrugged.

"Yes. Exactly." The Doctor grinned down at Rose and took her hand again before looking at the others. "Right, so the rest of you, back on the TARDIS." He bowed quickly to Inara, and followed them in. "Miss Serra. We'll be waiting." After a moment, he poked his head back out. "Oh, and try not to mention us to us."

A few minutes later Inara entered, her eyes wide. "How did you… how did that…?" She stared around at them and shook her head helplessly. "There are two men outside, and they didn't seem friendly."

The Doctor grinned and leaned back against the console. "Ah yes, Niska's old pals. Don't worry, we'll soon leave them behind."

River curled up into the jump seat, hiding her head against her knees. "We walk amongst the dead, leaving footprints in the dust of their grief. The air is full of their wasted breath."

Wash raised his hand. "Wherever she's talking about, can we not go there?"

The Doctor glanced up as he set the coordinates, his eyes dark. "Not unless you want to go to the Shadow Proclamation without all the evidence you can find. River's seen what happened on Miranda, but second-hand telepathic transference isn't worth much in the intergalactic court of law. We need the solid evidence, and the last full record of Blue Sun's experiments there is on the planet itself. "

"Blue Sun?" Inara turned to the others as they grabbed the railing, her eyebrows drawn together. "What's going on?"

Mal cleared his throat and glanced at the Doctor and Rose as they moved around the console. "Do y'all have anywhere to sit down? This'll take a while."

"Or it could go very quickly." The TARDIS landed with a thump, and the Doctor gestured to the doors. "We're here."

(he chusheng zajiao de zanghuo- filthy fornicators of livestock)

(niao shi de dugui- piss-soaked pikers)

(mei mei- little sister)

(goushi- dog crap)

(ai ya- damn)