DR: Welcome back everyone! I know you are all champing ab the bit to find out what River does, as well as how Atherton fits in... well wait no longer!

Chapter 11: Thieves In The Night

Inara smiled as she watched Mal and Sir Harrow discuss the job Harrow had on offer. Once again it was the transportation of livestock, which Mal was apposed to after last time. However there was also some smaller, more valuable cargo that was decidedly non-living. And, like the cattle, Harrow wanted those items moved discreetly.

Of course, Harrows mention of what the Alliance would do if he tried to send the other goods through official channels prompted them both to start discussing the Alliance in general. As they talked, Inara realised that they had a potential ally in Sir Harrow, one well placed in the scheme of things. Question was, would he be willing to get involved in open opposition to the Government, if it came down to it?

Inara shook her head. 'When, not if.' She had supported Unification, but only the principles. The Alliance was being revealed to be little more that a dictatorship, with the people oppressed and ignored.

She was still pondering everything they had learned recently, when a familiar voice cut across her thoughts, sending ice down her spine. "Inara! What a nice surprise to see you here! Ah... Captain Reynolds. This is not really your type of party is it?"

The three of them turned to see Atherton Wing standing there, a smug twist on his lips. Besides her, Inara could sense Mal tense up.

Warwick Harrow looked at Atherton through narrowed eyes. "Atherton Wing. I have to admit I'm surprised to see you here tonight."

"I still have some friends Sir Harrow." Wing countered. "Something you are clearly lacking since you associate with an ignorant crook and a paid whore."

Inara rolled her eyes. "Atherton... I already told you, I've given up that life."

Atherton smiled, but there was no humour in his eyes. "You can't deny who you really are Inara. No matter how much you dress up and act, you'll always spread for half a credit..."

With a jerk Mal wrenched free of the light restraining grip Inara had on his arm, and his fist struck Atherton right on the cheekbone.

"Oh gos se." Inara breathed as Atherton was knocked to one knee. Never the less, despite what she knew Mal's actions would lead to, she had to admit she did find the sight of him knocking Atherton down very pleasing... as was the fact that he had done so in defence for her. He had barely reacted to the slur against himself, but the moment Atherton had started insulting her, Mal had tensed up even further.

Mal, glowering at Atherton as he recovered himself, was unaware that the music had stopped, the people stilled as they all watched the confrontation. "Don't, call Inara that again." He told Atherton once he looked up.

Atherton however didn't seem to notice the latent threat in Mal's voice. Instead he just wiped a little blood from his upper jaw, and stood up with a triumphant smirk on his face. "I accept your challenge."

Mal froze, and then cursed under his breath. "Ta ma de…" Then he looked at the smug Atherton. "It was not my intention to challenge you Atherton. Just teach you a lesson."

"However, that is what has happened." Atherton's tone was so smug and confident that Inara wished Mal would slug him again. "You can't withdraw now."

"Just watch me." Mal said as he turned towards Inara.

"And just where will you go Captain; back to your ship?"

Something in Atherton's tone made Mal pause.

"Even as we speak, your ship is receiving a package. Fight me tomorrow at dawn, or your ship will become the heart of a fireball that will purge those disgusting docks." Atherton spoke quietly, keeping his words for Mal and Inara only.

A black look entered Mal's eyes, but he managed to keep his voice level, barely.

"I'll be there Ath."

X-X-X-X-X-X

With a deep clunk the loading ramp lowered, the low whine not loud enough to cover the ticking over of a small engine. When the ramp reached its lowered position, the engine revved a little, and a quad bike towing a trailer with a modest sized crate entered Serenity's cargo hold. The two passengers on the crate hoped off, scanning the walkways above, while the one on the bike itself watched the entrance to the lower lounge area. The last passenger finished folding up and stowing an advanced looking electronic device.

River's eyes narrowed even further when she saw it. 'Alliance Remote Electronic Lock Cracker. High military grade equipment, rarely seen. These guys didn't get it legally.' While his attention was on the device, River quickly dived into his mind.

She viewed the human mind like a large house, with an upper and ground floor, along with a basement. The top floor contained the surface thoughts, the ground the deeper thoughts, emotions and memories, while the basement was the subconscious, the base desires and drives. Something wrong there ruined the whole house, making it crocked and warped.

Hooking onto the mans attention on the Cracker, she ran the threads of thought that linked that current thought down the stairs, into one of the many rooms on the ground floor. She hoped that there would be little for her to have to sift through, and this time her luck held. The man had only been given the device by his boss earlier that day, along with the manual. He was to return it to his employer once the mission was complete.

The mission… she pulled back, looking for hints. Again her luck held as he was already drawing them forth himself.

"Alright, you know what to do. You…" He pointed at the man who had driven the bike. "…Head aft and open the hatch. The rest of you, get this gear unloaded."

As the others bent to their tasks, the Leader grinned. River frowned as she worked out the plan. It was to be a two stage one. One large crate would be left in the hold, packed full of explosives. This would be detonated at some point, maybe later tonight, likely tomorrow morning. Shortly afterwards a second, smaller charge would go off in the aft of the ship, where the power cells for the reactor were. Before hand though, that compartment, normally sealed off, would be flooded with fuel for the wing engines and hydrogen from bottles that the men had brought. The fuel cells would become unstable, fragile powder kegs. The last part would be that the rush of heat from the blast, and the burning fuel, would cause the reactor to overheat and go critical. With all the safety interlocks disabled, there would be a run-away reaction, resulting in an uncontrolled fusion detonation. The unstable fuel cells would only add to the blast.

River did the maths, and figured that with a regular Firefly most of the Evesdown Docks would be destroyed in the resulting blast.

Silently, she began to slide back along the lip that ran above the inner airlock, before swinging herself onto the forward steps. With silent and deadly grace, she reached the deck and moved in.

The first one didn't have time to even react before her boot caught him across the cheek. While her attack was silent, the impact was not, and the other men looked up in alarm. It did them no good though, since she was already among them. The second got a jab to the solar plexus, while the third reached for her neck… and ended up sailing over her and crashing down on his back on the deck hard. The leader tried to pull his gun, but River kicked it out of his hand, before she spun around to present her back to him, at which point her elbow struck his gut, folding him over.

Each one of these men easily out massed her by almost double, but River had unleashed the weapon built into her brain, and her blows were fast, fluid and powerful. A snap-kick to the chest sent the first target back onto the deck. The second soon joined him as she swept his legs out from under him. A punch to the face put the third man, only now trying to rise, back down and out of the fight. As she stood, the Leader of the group managed to wrap his arms round her from behind, but he left her lower arms free, his mistake. Conscious of her actions this time, unlike the almost identical situation with Jayne a little over a year ago, River was unable to completely squash the blush that touched her cheeks as she used the same tactic again. The man lasted only a fraction of the time Jayne had before releasing her, staggering back until her boot heel came up behind her and struck him square on the temple. The last two rushed her, but she turned sideways and slipped between them, the toe of her boot catching one in the hamstring sending him face first into the deck. A final jab and the last one fell unconscious to the deck.

"Don't move, little bitch."

River cursed in her head. She'd forgotten about the fifth man, the one who had gone aft. Slowly she turned, readying herself to spring, but when she saw him, all the fight left her.

The man was stood just beyond the hatch, a gun in his hand. Fast as she was, River could not dodge a bullet.

"Now then, unhitch the trailer missy. The two of us are going on a little trip." The man commanded, his tongue flicking out.

"Move it girl, or I'll just shoot you now!"

Rivers eyes however were not on the man, but on the dark figure behind him.

A hand came up to the thugs neck, placing the tip of the compression injector to his artery with expect precision. Even before the man realised what was happening, the trigger was pulled.

"What thhheeerrr…" the thug slurred, before he went limp and collapsed to the deck, the gun falling loose from limp hands.

River smiled as Simon stepped into the light. But as she turned to regard the unconscious saboteurs her smile turned evil.

X-X-X-X-X-X

When Vega & Miranda returned to the ship, they were surprised to find the whole crew up and in the cargo hold, along with five men dressed in dark clothing, several with newly formed injuries. To one side sat another quad bike, along with a trailer on which was a decent sized crate and some gas cylinders. Jayne was sat by those cylinders, Vera held in his hands and pointed roughly in the direction of the men. Zoe looked sterner than usual, while Simon was sat cuddling Kaylee. After taking in all this and River idly twirling a Cylon Centurion sword, Vega asked the obvious question. "Was there something we missed?"

Zoe looked up at him to answer them both. "River stopped these folk from placing a bomb on board." Was her cold reply.

"Why?" Miranda asked.

"That's what we intend to find out." Zoe said, her eyes jumping back to the hog-tied men, a couple of whom were starting to come round. Each one quickly realised the situation they were in. However, none of them spoke, even when Jayne menacingly cocked Vera.

"Gorram it Zoe, we're not getting anywhere." Jayne snarled a little later. Vega and Miranda were sat close to Simon and Wash; Kaylee had left with them earlier, but had not returned. "This guy won't crack without his blood being spilled. Now if crazy here's start actually using that pig sticker, rather than just waving it around…"

River looked sharply at Jayne, but continued to simply hold the heavy blade. It was surprising that she could even lift it; the sword had been made for eight and a half foot tall man-shaped machines that were at least twice as strong as any human. Despite being made from Cylon alloy, it was heavy.

Vega looked across at Zoe, who looked pained. Clearly she knew what Jayne was saying. River had quickly singled out the leader of the group, and after determining that the others were grunts that knew nothing, the crew had focused on him. But the man appeared to be a fanatic, and was staying silent despite all the threats and glares. If anything, he was looking slightly smug.

That look vanished when a low growl emerged from thin air almost right above him. He started to look around worriedly, while more snarls seemed to come from behind every crate and barrel. Even Serenity's crew were unsettled at first, but then they recalled their 'other' passenger.

Ghost finally revealed himself, stepping out from behind the attackers' mule, decloaked. The man's eyes widened even wider as he watched the metal demon stalk towards him.

"What is that thing!? Get it away from me!" He called towards the crew as Ghost stalked closer.

"I don't know…" Vega mused loud enough for the captive to hear. "…I think he's hungry."

Ghost snarled practically into the man's face, letting him get a good look at the sharp teeth within his mouth. The man himself was trying to crawl back, trying to get away from him.

"Call him off! For gorrams sake call him off! I'll talk, I'LL TALK!!"

Ghost took a half step forwards.

"I WORK FOR ATHERTON WING!! HE'S THE ONE YOU WANT! I WAS ACTING ON HIS ORDERS! PLEASE!!"

With an audible click Ghost snapped his jaw shut and straightened. Turning away from the still terrified man, he walked calmly over to the steps were Vega was sat, his whole pose relaxed. He did pause by Vega to address him.

"You know I would never eat a human Vega. That was an unnecessary embellishment."

However, only Vega took note of Ghosts words. The others were more concerned about what the captive had said. Vega and Miranda had already related the events at the ball.

"Why the guay would he have a bomb placed on board?" Wash asked loudly.

"He must have wanted a way to get revenge if Mal beats him again." Zoe shook her head. "The captain would not have accepted the fight though. Atherton must have told him about this, as a means to ensure that Mal does fight."

"Yea, and what's the betting that he won't set this off even if he wins?" Jayne put in.

Zoe was silent for a moment, and then a small smile formed on her lips. She stepped over to tower over the attacker, staring down at him…

X-X-X-X-X-X

"You've not improved Mal."

Mal sighed as he rubbed his posterior once more, where Inara had once again given him a swat with the face of the blade she held. She'd come over almost right away, leaving her room to join him in his. Unlike last time, this time she offered no escape plan, but rather had dived right into teaching him some sword practice. Also, this time she was wearing practical garments, Colonial trousers and blouse, instead of the alluringly thin nightgown of before.

"Haven't had much need to." He countered as he faced her again.

"It's not just that Mal. You're still swinging from the shoulder. It's slow and obvious. You've got to be faster." Inara turned away a little. "How can you be so unpredictable in your life, yet at the same time so obvious?"

Mal felt his features soften at her lament. It was clear that she was talking about him in general, not about his fighting technique. Not knowing the words, he stepped close enough to lay his free hand on her shoulder. Her own snaked up across her body to clasp his, as if he was threatening to let go.

"I still sometimes don't know which 'You' I'm talking to." She carried on, her eyes closed. "I can't predict which way you'll react."

"You know how I feel about you." He said gently.

She looked up at him, moisture at the corners of her eyes. "I can't watch you fight him again Mal. My heart was in my throat the whole time before."

"I won, didn't I?"

"Mal..." Exasperation coloured her voice. "...Last time he was overconfident. He underestimated you. This time he's not going to do that. He'll be out to kill you, and he won't hold back."

"Wasn't expecting him to." Mal tried to reassure her. Seeing her unconvinced face, Mal moved his had to cup her smooth cheek. "I'm not gonna die tomorrow Inara."

DR: And on that touching moment, we must retire, for now. Next time Mal and Atherton square off once more, and we find out just what Zoe was thinking...

Zeke: And keep those review coming! Now... (rushs off to prepare some popcorn)