Chapter 2: Protection

"Ease up a bit on them down-thrusts," Malcom instructed his pilot. "We don't want to land too fast on the rock but we also don't want to land so slow that all the dirt and dust blows up and creates a new crater." They had arrived on Persephone in good time and Mal found the perfect location between the Hammond estate and the rendezvous point. It was away from most towns and he could see their outlines on the horizons, but where they are was mostly dirt, rocks and sparse clumps of prairie grass and most importantly, vast empty blue sky.

There was a time when Mal hated the idea of landing on Persephone. There were people he didn't like and wanted to avoid, sadly half those people had hired the crew in the past. Few of them had double crossed Mal's crew and the biggest one of those dirtbags was Badger. There were some people Mal and the others did like such as Sir Warrick Harrow and of course the Hammond family. There might be a chance that this Chapel would make it to the like and wanna do business with again registry.

"I don't want her to be dirty," River said as she nodded and made a few adjustments. "Not going, just staying. Only two to speak, the rest will scout with the two."

"Yeah, Zoe and I will speak with Chapel and then come back for you, Jayne and the commodore when I have the details." He often didn't take River out on the job once she took on the role and job as pilot but in the case where they have to set up an ambush they were going to need her and her mind reading skills.

"He is not going to like you," River said as she pulled out the small ornate pocket mirror that Inara had given her. She studied her reflection and tucked back a few stray strands. Ever since James joined their crew she had been a bit more self-conscious about her appearance and Mal knew it was because of her feelings for the former commodore. She was wearing her red and pink dress and no shoes, but she also was wearing a simple red head band in her hair and earrings and had on pink lipstick. Mal had wondered if it was Inara or Kaylee who was helping the girl pretty herself up.

"Why won't Chapel like me?" Mal asked and stared at his hands. They were clean and his nails had been trimmed and filed. Sure there were a few calluses and a small scar but that was from the job. He breathed on the palm of one and sniffed. "My breath doesn't reek, my barn door aint wide open and I can be downright pleasant when I want to." Maybe there was something on his face. "I don't have a big ole zit on the middle of my forehead do I?" He pointed at his forehead.

"Likes you now," River said before she tucked a few stray locks behind her ears. "You're a brother, but when you change he will hate it. I hope he likes me." She snapped the compact closed and put it away.

"I'm sure he will like everyone, well maybe not Jayne, but he is a good friend of Jonas who can vouch for him so we are gonna do the job." He stepped back into the entrance. "You relax and I'll round up Zoe."

His pilot was being cryptic again and he had a strange feeling she was reading him. She is trying to work on that and he respects that and admires her for trying, because if he had been in her shoes he was sure as heck he wouldn't have been able to cope at all. It had to be difficult and she had said she as trying to avoid reading James completely so she had to focus on other people and to be fair Mal would rather her read him than Jayne.

"Zoe, prep the mule we are going to speak with the client."

"Not on screen?" Zoe called back.

"Wants real face to face with us. Gotta respect that." He headed down the hall towards the catwalk over the cargo bay and froze in a bit of fascination as Jayne was assisting James in trying one of his weight lifting machines while Simon was watching, making certain that nobody pulled a muscle.

It wasn't just the idea of James sitting on the bench, but the minimal amount of clothing he was wearing. He was actually wearing a t-shirt, a short sleeved t-shirt and while his chino's were not exactly short they did stop at mid-calf it was the first time Mal saw the former commodore in something without long sleeves and ankle length pants. It was also more than what Jayne was wearing. His hired gun wore his white tank and black shorts ensemble he usually wore when he worked out.

They had only started with the least amount of weights on each side and Jayne smirked. His smirk faded when James raised the weight's so fast it made a loud clang. James did have his jaw clenched or look like he had put in any effort.

"Careful," Simon cautioned and held up his hands. "You don't want to over exert yourself." There was no way the doc was going to join in that Mal knew for certain

"That was too easy for you?" Jayne asked before he grinned. "We'll go up to 20. You starting to surprise me, Jimbo."

"Don't wear him out," Mal called out and waited for all three of them to look up. " Jayne you knew he was a military man. All the sword swinging requires some sort of arm strength. Zoe and I will be out speaking with our client. Until we return James is in charge."

"How come he gets to be in charge?" Jayne asked.

"Experience," Mal said and remembered how James had ordered his naval officers around. "He knows how to lead, he's respectful and he knows I'll hunt him down and kill him if anything happens to my ship." He was half joking with that last part.

"I agree with the captain," Simon said. "My infirmary will be ready for just in case of bullets, stabbings or laser burns."

"Go on, captain," James said and nodded towards him. "We will do our chores after we finish our workout."

"Exactly what I would say," Mal said knowing he was leaving his crew in good hands.

Arlo Chapel was a sweaty, middle aged man with thinning straw colored hair and the same lily white skin as the doc. He also dressed like the good doctor as well in the cleanest slacks and vests. The man was very jittery and paced as he continued to speak with Mal and Zoe.

"You might think I'm paranoid," Chapel said as wrung his hands. "But this has happened five times within the last month, five." He held out his hand with all the fingers spread. "I've asked for the deliveries to be in different locations as well, but they always know. They always find out and I should be thankful it is usually the cheapest items I bring in." He pulled out a green ragged piece of cloth from his pocket and wiped his brow

"What kind of store do you run?" Mal asked as he tried to read the guy. Chapel looked like the type of person who would own a store chain, either grocery or department.

"Two stores actually," Chapel said. "Big department store that sells various things: clothes, jewelry, small appliances, bed sheets, wall art, toys and other various items like that. It's called Chaplands and there is only two but it is growing and the gift shop for my museum. I-I have a museum. It's an Earth that Was based museum, but it doesn't have the big stuff like dinosaur skeletons or Da Vinci paintings. It's just items that belonged to the average people that used to live there and was brought here. Things like mirrors and framed photographs and how the listened to music and even toys."

"I'm sure they draw in a large crowd," Mal said. He was right about the store but the museum thing was a bit of a surprise.

"They do, they do." He paused in his pacing to smile. "Getting the older stuff is harder of course. Most of it is from the 23rd and 24th centuries, but I have older stuff. I even have this one thing that is either from the 17th or 18th century—but its small and broken."

"What was stolen?" Zoe asked. She stood her ground, face was an impasse and her hands were in her pockets.

"Cheap knick-knacks and t-shirts that was meant for the gift shop and a few things for my store, also not too expensive, my more pricier items are the stuff from high quality designers and non-costume jewelry goes unnoticed, but I have feeling it was just trying to throw me off, because the biggest shipment of actual artifacts is coming here later in the day soon and I just have this gut feeling they are going to strike."

"Why not alert the authorities?" Zoe asked. That was a good question and Mal wished he thought of it.

"Cause either they might just shrug it off like they have been doing or do a half ass job." He ran his pasty thin fingers through his stringy hair before he pointed at them. "You have a reputation of getting the job done. Jonas assured me that the crew of the Serenity can get the job done.

"Well," Mal felt a warm sensation of pride course through him. "Can't ruin our reputation, now can we." He smiled at his first mate. He was going to remind her to remind him to send a thank you wave over at Jonas's direction once the job was done.

"No sir."

"Just give us the location of this huge drop load and I'll make sure the five of us are in waiting," Mal told him. They will split into groups with their communicators, hide under camo tarps and give these guys a big surprise.

While Mal and the others went to work their protection job Inara decided to take Simon and Kaylee to go visit one of her favorite shopping pavilions. It was not often that Kaylee got a chance to do some shopping on a Core planet especially on Persephone, and even less of a chance to get to shop for clothes, or for a party, or for a costume.

"This is so pretty," Kaylee said as she skipped on the cobblestone path and admired the brick shops with large glass windows. "Look at the flowers." She pointed to the blossoming shrubs. There were also several potted plants and trees surrounding by small metal fences. "Ooh a water fountain." She ran over to it and pulled out a small coin after she closed her eyes for a few seconds she threw it in.

"Where are we going first?" Simon asked and he stared at the list that was given to him by Zoe. He also received a small list from Mal, but then again Mal gave all three of them small lists.

"There," Inara said as she pointed at the large store with the sign: "Hong's fabrics."

"You are not worried that Serenity is unguarded?" Simon asked as the trio of them crossed the street

"Already thought ahead," Inara told them while she studied the list on her small square portable screen. It was from River. "Melchior is spaceship sitting for us."

"He's not much of a fighter," Simon said. "But he is technological genius. He can think his way out of trouble."

"Exactly," Inara said as and led everyone into the store.

"Look at it all," Kaylee said. Her voice was full of wonder.

There were several racks of rolls of various fabric in multiple colors and texture. The shelves had folded sections over thin rectangle boards, resembling colorful books. Small cloth samples hung from clothespins. There were tables that contained samples of lace and other varieties of trim. Several tables had workers with large cutting tools, measuring tape and sissors.

Hong was the same as the last time she saw him: a beanpole of a man dressed in a silk like purple suit. His dark hair shone in the light and his moustache was pencil thin. He glanced up at them as soon as they had walked in and he had pushed the swaths of cloth he had been holding into the arms of what appeared to have been an employee. He waltzed up to them with a large grin on his face. He held out his arms in front of them.

"Hong," Inara greeted as the man clasped his hands on hers. "Lao pen yu no khan qui lai hen yu jing shen."

"The lovely light that is Inara Serra has graced my shop once again." He placed a kiss on the back of each of her hands. "What pleasure do I owe of your presence?"

"My crew and I have been invited to a costume party and we are looking for some fabrics, notions, and of course thread," Inara told him while nodding at Kaylee and Simon

"Say no more," Hong said and beamed towards Kaylee and Simon. "A lovely couple such as you are probably looking for matching costumes."

"Surprising as it may be but we are not," Simon said. "Mine involves a lot of black."

"And mine has glitter," Kaylee said. "Lots and lots of glitter. I'm going to make wings and need something a bit see through."

"I have just the material." Hong raised a finger. The twinkle in his eyes seemed to have grown even brighter. "Follow me."

"We have lists for the others," Simon said. "Not sure we will be able to find everything here."

"I am sure you will find everything you need."

"Snakes?" Simon asked as he held up the list Zoe gave him. Zoe had only requested a few things, simple gown, some fabric dye, a hair net, a skull cap and several flexible plastic snakes, and a bit of shimmery acrylic paint.

"I wonder what Zoe needs all dem plastic snakes for," Kaylee said as she glanced at the list James gave her. "James is gonna be pretty easy and we all got parts for the captain."

"We don't have any plastic snakes," Hong said with a slight frown. "But there are craft and toy stores nearby."

"We will visit those places after," Inara explained as she studied the list that River gave her and the part that Mal had given her. They all received lists for Malcolm's costume. The components as he called them. Jayne had ordered a premade costume and all they had to do was pick it up. Her part of Mal's costume consisted of some dark gray breeches, and a dreadlock wig. Looks like they would also visit a wig shop. Inara needed a platinum blond wig for herself.

She walked over to the computer screen in one corner of the shop that created patches. She scrolled through the premade pictures and found one of a poodle. She chose the black color and typed several keys to create the right size and gave it a fluffy texture. She pressed print and the patch was created.

"One part done," Inara had said as she picked up the patch. "I hope the others are having fun with their little protection job."

"How long have we been here?" Malcolm whispered from his position next to River and underneath the camouflage tarp that he placed over the two of them while they hid in their stakeout point. They wanted to camp out nice and early and divided into three groups, everyone was given some form of camo and told to look for a ditch to hide in, or behind some bushes.

"Nearly two hours," River whispered. "The people Chapel hired to unload the ship have been here for twenty seven minutes and thirty eight seconds. The cargo is late by two minutes and sixteen sec…its here."

"Here?" Mal asked as he could hear a ship slowly touching down. He wasn't going to peek out to see where it was. " Zoe do you hear?" Jayne what is your position?"

"We hear it coming in," Zoe said over the intercom from her and James's location.

"My position is where you told me to be," Jayne whispered. "What does the girl know?"

"Darlin?" Malcolm asked.

"Two," River said. "Two by two the come. North by northwest close to us. To the east of Jayne and more on the way."

"Jayne, there are two closing in on you," Mal instructed

"You mean two more than the ones I just tied up?" Jayne asked.

"Wait what?" How the hell did his hired gun take care of two of the thugs already?

"Had them wrapped up for five minutes, hoping more would come my way."

"Why didn't you inform me of this little yet significant detail?"

"Cause you told me to keep my yap shut."

"More," River said.

"I know the ones heading close to us," Mal said.

"No there are more," River said. "Two by two the come, times three. Take out driver, take out pilot, but only one. He will take out crew and pretend to sleep, always had and no one knows."

"So six more," Mal said. He wanted to relay the information to the others but grew silent when he heard the sound of gravel being crushed. He peeked out from the tarp and saw two pairs of boots, heels to be exact and could hear shouts coming from Chapel's employees and the other robbers.

"Now," Mal ordered and jumped up and tackled one of the men and sent him sprawling into the dirt. "Don't think about moving. Hell just don't think." He struck the man in the back of the head with his gun.

"Now that was stupid," one of the other bandits said. River was right. There were six others and they had tied up Chapel's employees. All of them had their guns on Mal and River.

"Can't say it was the brightest of ideas," Mal said with a shrug. He glanced over to River who had her hands up. "None of your dances today. We thought we could get the leg up and ambush them but we had a problem with numbers. It's always a problem with the numbers when it comes to defeat." He glanced down at the two that he and River knocked out. "So ten in total. That is a good and healthy number."

"Stop talking," One of the only two female bandit's said. She was thick and that thickness was mostly muscle. Her red hair was cropped short and had a shirt with the Blue Sun logo.

"So the rich man hired himself some protection," the leader of the bandits said and placed a cigar in his mouth. He was a bit on the short side and actually clean shaven. He wore a derby on his head. "Should of saved his money too bad he ain't that bright."

"No he had a feeling you were just cherry picking at the cheap stuff to throw him off so he thinks it will be safe and sound when the truly big haul came," Mal said. "So he brought in us."

Gunfire was heard bullets flew in from where Jayne was located followed by where Zoe and James were hiding.

Three of the bandits cried out in pain and dropped their weapons and grabbed their arms and one grabbed at their leg. Blood poured out of their wounds.

"What in the rutting hell?" The leader asked as more bullets rang out and the other two were struck in the limbs.

"Got us," the biggest of the group said as he grabbed his arm. "Niangs ambushed us."

"Now it is your turn to surrender," Mal said as he aimed his gun at him and Jayne approached from behind. "You think there was just the two of us? Now which ones of us are not the bright ones because from where I'm standing it aint us."

"That would be your first and last mistake," Zoe said as she and James walked up with their guns aimed at the leader.

"Why didn't you just kills us?" The leader asked as Jayne grabbed a few of their guns.

"Because we were not hired to kill you," Mal said as retrieved another fallen weapon. "Close is clear, little one?"

"One more," River said as she walked over to some of Chapel's men. "But not on the ground. Safe for us." She kneeled down to untie them

"We were hired to stop you," Mal told the thugs before he turned to the employees. "You folk going to be all right?"

"Very rattled but we will walk," one the men said. "Might need new underwear."

"Did not need to know that," Mal said with a grimace. "But you can help us tie these bastards up and holler for the authorities."

"May need new undies, but the guys we shot should have worn brown pants," Jayne said and chuckled before he placed a foot on one. "Quit whining and sit still. Gotat get you trussed up for the feds."

"I really enjoy having more than one shot," James said in a low voice as he stared at his black glossy pistol. "With no need for additional powder I am faster. I can take more out."

"No offense commodore but you are starting to scare me," Zoe told him. "Please cut down on the gun lust."

"There was a reason pirates feared him," River reminded everyone while she stared at James in admiration.

"Right," Mal said after he glanced at his first mate and commodore. "River go check on the crew aboard." He needed to speak with Chapel.

The transport ship was smaller than Serenity and it was faster, but it had a similar layout and River was able to enter the hatch and make her way through to where the rest of the crew was or where they were. There were two of them, a man and a woman and they were out cold

"What are you doing here, sweetheart?" another one asked. He had curly dark hair and dressed in a drab gray shirt and brown overalls. He was the mechanic and innocent. He paused when he saw his fallen crew members. "Did you do this?" He shook his head. "Naw you couldn't have."

"Not the one. You are not the one. You keep her flying and tired of the attacks. The others are out there but one is here. He is the one." She paused to take a breath. "Chapel hired us to protect."

"What is she doing here?" A man asked as he entered from another area. He was tall, thin with blond hair and a crooked nose. He was the pilot. He was the one.

"You told them this was the big job," River said. "You were with them. You knew what was aboard, tired of the crumbs from delivering. You wanted to feast and joined the vultures. Wanted to keep it low until the white whale came. You kept the boss from knowing, threw him off but he is cracking your shell yet he still doesn't know the yolk."

"What is she talking about?" The mechanic asked and narrowed his brown eyes. "Wait a second is she saying you are with those somnubitches Clip?"

"Nonsense," Clip said. "Kid here has a bit of an imagination."

"Liar," River accused. She felt the presence of her crew, keeping to the shadows and knew it was the stealthiest member of their group that had climbed aboard, Zoe.

"You know I think she is on to something," the mechanic said and raised a finger. "I always found it strange that they only attacked when the cargo wasn't worth much and they knew where to find it, but they attack now? Someone had been given them the info."

"Are you serious?" Clip asked. "Why would I bail on ya and tattle. Don't make a lick of sense. Sides they always attack me. I get knocked out like the rest of ya."

"Yeah but why are Jay and Madison out and you're not?" The mechanic asked. "And where is the captain?

"Sleeping," River said. "He knocks everyone out with a drug and swallows it himself."

"Oh come on who ya gonna believe? Me or some kid?"

"You are a liar Clip Vendez . You lied to Zane about Felicity."

"How did she…You slept with Felicity?" Zane pointed at Clip. "And you been helping those thugs?"

"Aw man, Zane," Clip said and shook his head. "I always liked you man. I never wanted to kill you." He pulled out a gun and aimed it at River. "And you were the little innocent tag along kid, except you're a freaking prodigy that made the plans for them huh. Shame special brains like yours are going to be splattered."

"Except it's going to be yours instead if you don't drop that gun," Zoe said after she stepped out from the shadows and pressed the blunt end of her gun against the back of Clips head. "Now drop it and kick it to the girl."

Clip closed his eyes and uttered a string of curses as he dropped the gun and used his foot to slide it towards River.

As soon as River had picked it up Zane rushed over to the pilot and struck him hard with his fist, knocking the traitor out.

"Sorry it had to go down like this," Zoe said.

"I'm sorry I didn't see it earlier," Zane said and spat on Clip's body. "I feel like vomiting right now."

"All over," River said as she handed the gun over to Zoe. "Mission accomplished." She received a nodd from the older woman.