DR: Welcome back everyone. I hope all those of you across the ocean (ie the Atlantic) are feeling okay after all the wild partying I expect you've been having...

(Harry& Hermione run in and hide behind sofa)

Harry: We're not here DR!

DR: What's the matter? You two don't hide from anything...

Hermione: It's JKR

DR: Ah. Well, I deal with her. (walks out muttering about authors who don't reseach their settings correctly and have demented ideas' about romance)

Zeke: DR would have said to all you zoid fans that sorry about the lack of zoidian presence in the story so far, but that this chapter sould make things up a bit...

Chapter 6: Comfort

Ghost sat silently, watching the crew as they sat down to eat. Like most human rituals, at first glance it was chaos, but Ghost could see the underlying order and pattern to the seemingly random actions. Captain Reynolds got the first pick, as was right and proper as the ship's captain. Then the females got in, slightly ahead of the other males. Most beings would not have been able to see it, but Ghost had lived his whole long life watching, observing.

A glimmer of light made him look up a bit, up and out of the row of windows that ran across the bow end of the dinning area's ceiling. A tiny, almost imperceptible shiver ran down his long spine as he gazed out into the black abyss of space. None of his kind had ever left their world before, and he felt its absence. General Masters' words had not helped either really. "You'll be the first. That's something no-one can ever take from you."

It didn't help because Ghost was already the first in a number of things.

Ghost was an organoid with a unique gift. He lacked the robustness and strength of most of his kind, and his flying left much to be desired. However, all that was off set by the simple fact that he had built into his own systems an optical cloak. He could, with a thought, become almost totally invisible in the time taken for a human eye to blink. Thick rubber-like soles on the pads of his feet, combined with his lighter than average frame, made him almost undetectable. Thus it was natural for him to be recruited by Masters for the role of covet recon and infiltration. The last few years had not required his actions so much.

But now his gifts were needed. Everyone on Zi knew about the planned trip to the 'Blue Sun' system, and enough had leaked out about the kind of government that ruled there for most to already be pretty opposed to them. But Ghost had an extra agenda. Before departing to board Serenity Masters had called him to his private office.

There Ghost had met Richter Kane properly for the first time, and he had proceeded to expand his world, and mission, beyond what Ghost had believed possible.

Masters had sent Ghost in addition to his other representatives specifically to look for clues, hints about just what the power behind the government really was. Ghost was one of those gifted - or cursed, depending on how you look at it – with the ability to sniff out corruption. He could all but taste it in the air.

Right now though the only things in the air were the smells that arose from the food now being shovelled onto plates as the humans rapidly sat down. Reynolds was at the head of the table, his back to the bow. Miss Serra was on his right, sitting as close as she could without it being noticeable to the other humans. Ghost however could see it. And while he couldn't see her face, he knew whenever she looked at the captain. Her heart rate spiked every time.

On the other side of the table was Jayne Cobb, the hardened, brutal merc, crude, money driven and lewd. There was no doubting his abilities with a weapon of any sort. But he was sometimes a problem when not in some sort of fight. Ghost guessed that Reynolds had made him sit to his left so that if he started to make trouble, Reynolds could come down on him, hard. No human could have picked out the subtle clues, but Captain Reynolds was one of only a few people that Jayne feared.

A second was sat at the far end of the table, smiling brightly as she played with one of Simon and Kaylee Tam's children. She was River Tam, and while she didn't look it, there was a deadly power within her. Ghost had been shown a recording of one of her training sessions, where she had been taught to control the weapon that had been inserted into her head by the Government of this system. She had been as fluid as she was deadly.

But right now she was just any young human woman, fawning over the infants. Their mother herself sat with one on each knee, a wide smile on her face. It never seemed to leave her face. Every time Ghost had seen her Kaylee had been smiling, to one extent or another.

Across from the open Tam family was the smaller, more tightly knit - and more private - Washburne family. Kyle still spent most of his time asleep, watched over by his mother. Wash curbed his natural exuberance around his still fragile son.

Lastly was Miranda Schubaltz, sat between Miss Serra and Wash. It was clear to Ghost that she too had to adjust to shipboard life. While she had a little more experience then himself, the actual methods of surviving for long periods of time in space were still new to her. She appeared to be still a little intimidated by Miss Serra, though nothing like the extent she had been when she had first met her.

Someone, Ghost wasn't sure exactly who, made a joke about something, and the group dissolved into laughter. There was a relaxed and easy atmosphere between them all. And Ghost was quite content to stand in the corner, watching.

After a few minutes of mostly single minded eating on the parts of the crew, Wash spoke up. "So Mal, may I ask why you wanted us to visit Persephone first? It ain't been exactly the luckiest place in the 'verse for us."

Mal rested his left arm on the table, his face half hidden by the tin cup he held in his right hand. "We've had some good times there too, Wash. Besides, it's also an ideal place to start in showing the Colonials around. Mix of both sides of what life is like here."

As Mal took a drink, Ghost noted something in his face, hidden from the rest of the crew by the cup. It was fleeting, but it clearly showed that there was another reason to go to Persephone first. Something personal.

X-X-X-X-X-X

A while later and nearly everyone had turned in. Wash and Zoe had taken their son to bed, while Kaylee had drifted back to the engine room for a spell, leaving Simon to tuck the kids in. Mal had managed not to react to her blatant promise to Simon of some 'fun' once she got back to their new, expanded bunk.

Mal had to hand it to her, River and the crew she had worked with had known a thing or two about ships. The work crews, mainly Colonials, had welcomed the chance to breath new life into an aging ship like Serenity, and in the process had exceeded even Mal's dreams. She was faster, tougher and more agile, making Wash crow with joy the first time he got behind the controls. The creaks and moans were gone, and now things did not just fall off his ship without good reason.

Mal had been surprised when he learned that they had actually made the ship bigger, by almost twelve metres. The bulk of that extra length had been taken up by increasing the crew quarters capacity. The 03-class Firefly had been designed with some crew co-habitation in mind, and so the design featured three single person bunks, and two doubles. Serenity now boasted three doubles and three singles, all neatly packed into the neck without altering the external lines to a noticeable degree. And to Mal's relief, all the rooms were well sound proofed, even more than before. Simon and Kaylee's 'bunk antics' no longer disturbed his sleep at all. Not even the crying of their sons intruded into his bunk.

River had moved up from the passenger bunks to take the new single bunk formed beyond Jayne's, while for now the last bunk that had not been used by anyone before was currently Miranda's.

Inara was, for now, still living out of her old shuttle. The other was, at least notionally, for Ghost's private use… if he ever had need of it.

Speaking of which… Mal looked across the dining area towards the port stern. The Organoid was still there, a dark grey-green form, silently watching. Christian had assured Mal that the organoid, despite being a good ten foot long, would not get underfoot, and so far he had. Still, it was sometimes disconcerting to see that primordial form with the glowing pale yellow eyes watching them from some shadowy corner.

"You don't have to worry about him Mal." He refocused his attention on Inara, the only other one still at the table. "He's quite harmless, and very discreet."

"And how would you know that?" Mal asked good naturedly, though he assumed a suspicious tone.

Inara looked into his eyes, and saw the playful mote dancing in them. She smiled as she replied sweetly. "Simple. I've been talking to him quite a bit lately. He came over to my shuttle, asking for some background on the Guild."

Mal shook his head. "Somehow I can't see one of his kind being interested in human whores."

Inara rolled her eyes but said nothing.

An uncomfortable silence filled the space between them. For almost a minute Mal struggled to commit to asking the question he wanted to ask, and even when he did finally do so he struggled to find the words.

"So… about that… the whoring, I mean… are you…"

"No Mal." Inara gently laid a hand on his to stop him, as she looked at him directly. "I've already sent my formal resignation as an active Companion to the Guild. Besides, I missed the last yearly medical required to remain so."

"Ah." Mal's mood improved. "So no more clients?"

Inara smiled once more. "Oh, maybe, if I feel like it…" She teased. She dropped the act however when she saw the hurt and dismay in his eyes. "Sorry. No, I won't be taking any more. The Guild may call me and ask that I do, but I still have the choice."

Mal relaxed, the sudden tension draining away. It had been his one worry about returning, her going back to her old ways. Before he could just about handle it, though it still cut him up inside. Now however, he knew that if she did take on a client, he would fell betrayed. In Inara's eyes, he could see that she knew that too.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Cruising behind Serenity, the sleek form of Thunderchild all but idled, her engines running at barely a quarter of their potential power. Achilles was taking things easy, not wanting to spook the local people just yet.

Deep within the bowels of the battlecruiser, a newly designed docking bay was dimly lit, the silence marred only by the faint rumble of the ships engines. The four forms that filled the bulk of the bay were still, the one highlighted by two points of faint red, another green wisps.

A new sound echoed through the bay, and those four sparks grew rapidly, growing into long angular triangles. When they reached full brilliance, the two zoids turned their heads to regard the alcove from where the sound came.

As the whine rose in volume, the source appeared at the top. A platform, a couple of metres across, slowly descended. Stood on it, one hand resting on the solid panel that formed the sides of the lift, was Vega.

As the lift reached the floor, the whine of its descent faded, and it settled with a faint clunk. Stepping off, he looked up into the light of two pairs of eyes. "Hi Fury." He called, before looking across at the much smaller Blade Raptor, stood a little apart from his own zoid. It was a little unusual to see even a second level zoid act independently, even for Vega. The reason for the free action was thus: while they were in this system, the Command Systems on the two zoids had been almost shut down, most of the programming disabled. They would still cut in if the Zoid took serious damage, though both Vega and Miranda knew the code to punch in to override it if need be.

Nodding to the smaller zoid, Vega looked back up at his Fury. For many people, even those within the Blitz team, meeting the Fury in a dark, slightly chilly and echoingly empty cavern such as this would have been terrifying. The Fury could only be made out as a black silhouette, the only motes of colour the bright red eyes looking down from the predatory head.

Vega however had no fear, for he knew that the Fury would never hurt him. He trusted the zoid, one of the most terrifying in existence, with his life. And so he made it a point to come down each day and spend some time with him. "How are you?"

The Fury growled back, a deep rumble coming from its gut. #Cold. It's chilly down here. And so quiet.#

Vega sighed. "I know. I feel the same way upstairs." He turned and sat down on one of the massive toes of the Fury's foot. Above him, the Fury sank down until it was resting on its belly, the neck curled to bring the head as close to him as it could. "It seems odd not seeing Bit and Leena and Brad and Mom…"

The Fury watched as Vega trailed off, knowing in its core the name that Vega was really thinking of. They were both outsiders here, passengers on board one of the greatest war machines mankind had ever built. The Fury felt no real envy for that. Despite what it might say aloud, inside it was deeply impressed at humanity's persistence and ingenuity. This ship was a testament to the human race's all consuming need to explore, to understand, to know… and to maintain the freedom to do so.

The Ancient Zoidians had never had such a drive. They had sought knowledge when they needed to, but not for the sake of it. Maybe that was why their race was all but extinct, while Humanity was spreading throughout the galaxy.

The Blade Raptor had slowly stepped over, and now it lowered its lean head, gently nuzzling Vega's shoulder. Of course, for a human a zoid's 'nuzzling' normally equalled being struck with a sledgehammer, however here the Raptor took great care to be gentle with the man who had captured its pilot's heart.

Vega half smiled as he reached up and rubbed the small zoid's snout, just below the rim of the cockpit. "I know, you miss her too." It still baffled the Colonials sometimes, but there was no question in Vega's mind that Zoids were alive, and not a collection of parts. They may have had steel, servos and oil for bones, muscles and blood, but they were as much alive as he was.

Sometimes he envied them. The world of a zoid was so much simpler than that of a human. They lived, in the main, by their instincts. Politics was almost totally unknown to them. But now and again there came a display of something much deeper, which showed that mankind still really did not know the full extent of the zoidian mind. Such as now.

For some time Vega sat there quietly, sharing the space with the two zoids. Eventually, he slowly stood up, a yawn threatening to escape his throat. "I'd best get back upstairs. We'll be arriving at our first stop tomorrow." He smiled at the sight of the two zoids seeming to perk up at that. "Sorry you two, but it's a bit too crowded for you to stretch your legs." The zoids appeared to slump down again. "I'll try and talk Mal into taking us some place where you can run around for a bit." A happy sounding rumble sounded from within the Fury's belly.

Chuckling slightly, Vega walked back towards the lift. Just before he hit the button to ascend back into the main areas of the ship, he looked back at the two zoids. "Sleep well." He called, before the lift rose away out of sight with the same whine as before.

The two zoids watched his ascent, and then returned to the areas they had each marked as 'theirs'. Once settled, both sets of eyes dimmed back down to mere motes as they returned to a stand-by, energy saving mode that was the closest approximation to 'sleep' that a zoid could achieve.

Hermione: (has a happy sparkle in her eye as she sits wrapped in Harry's arms) Amazing...

(Harry just nods, while DR walks back in, brushing his hands)

DR: I've shown JKR the door you two. All safe in this house. If she comes back, well... (Tips head towards Shadow) ...he'll show her out

Shadow: Humph!