水给了我

(What The Water Gave Me)

Chapter 5

"Eighteen… nineteen… and twenty…" Shepherd Book knocked out the last of his reps with the strength of a man half his age. He wiped his brow with a battered, and slightly discolored, towel. That was enough for one night, now maybe he could make another attempt at sleep. Usually Jayne spotted for him when he lifted this much weight, but Jayne had stormed off after his encounter with Mal and Zoe earlier and wouldn't be back until only God knew when. That was alright, he enjoyed the alone time to think and reflect on everything that had happened recently. After magna-locking the bar back in place, he began to head towards the small shower unit near his bunk. As he walked down the narrow yellow hall he could hear a muffled voice coming from River's room. He stopped and knocked lightly while opening the door to peak inside.

"River, sweetheart? Is everything alright?" Book questioned in his typical fatherly manner. Everything was not alright. River sat on her bed curled into a tight ball. An empty water glass sat broken on the floor. Shattered into tiny shards, the contents of the glass still seeping into the worn carpet of the floor. Mixed with the water was blood, still dripping from the sharp corner of the broken water glass.

"They won't stop, they'll never stop! They keep coming, waiting, watching…hunting. They'll burn everything, until there's nothing left…but broken glass and…" River continued to mumble as Book moved towards her, glass shards crunching under his feet.

"River what's wrong, why did you...?" Book questioned helplessly.

"Two by two, hands of… they said you would come." River began to panic again, suddenly moving away from book as far as she could, into the far corner of the bed.

"River, what? Who, who were you speaking to?"

Then suddenly River sane again, she turned and looked directly into Book's eyes. "The Water told me you would come."

"Bard, how ya doin' ya geezer? I can't believe you went straight, and settled down." Mal stepped towards Bard and extended his hand.

Before he could reach Bard the mountain of a bodyguard stepped in and grabbed Mal by the shoulder. Before he could object the guard had removed his pistol from its holster.

"It's not that I don't trust you Malcolm, it 's just that I've had a rather difficult time with my close friends lately, and I just can't be too careful. Zoe if you could hand over your rifle that would be most appreciated. Besides we all know you don't really need it. You could kill everyone here with your pretty little finger." Bard smiled slightly towards Zoe.

"Of course Bard, we're all friends here." Zoe replied

"So what's the deal, Bard?" Mal asked, redirecting the subject.

"Well I'll skip right to the chase, Malcolm. I've got more lumber than I know what to do with, and every day my supply doubles. That wouldn't be a problem 'cept every time I get a new freighter in to haul out a shipment the entire crew goes whacko before they can get off planet. My men are saying there's something in the water, but so far we haven't found anything. I think the native people are deliberately screwing up my shipments. Apparently they think the forest is sacred, and "speaks to them" when it's angry. I say the only language this forest is speaking is credits. And I ain't gonna stop speaking it."

Mal looked at Zoe, then back at Bard. "So what is it exactly you want us to do, Bard. Mystic tree spirits ain't exactly our specialty."

"No, but transferring special cargo is, and tomorrow night I've got a very important package I need to get off this planet. And who better to move it than Malcolm Reynolds and the crew of Serenity?" Bard began walking towards the door. "I'll make it worth your time, Malcolm, just be at dock RZ-64 at 2300 tomorrow night. You don't want to miss this, I promise." Bard left the bar, followed by his bodyguard.

Mal reholstered his pistol. "Well that don't sound foreboding at all." He said to Zoe.

"Yes sir." She replied.