Spartan's Quest - Chapter 27
Author owns no rights to Firefly, and writes only for his own amusement.
For the crew of Serenity, and the people of Nightside, life went on. Artemis was still on the hunt for Wilson and the Lucky Seven, but with each passing day, the trail grew colder.
Serenity flitted about the rim worlds, taking small jobs that kept them moving, and turned a small profit. With the ship now in top flight order, and a goodly sum of money left in her coffers from the work done for Jayne and River, there was no need to take on high risk or high profile jobs. Life was slow, simple, and, for once, peaceful.
Jayne and River, having failed to find anything new in their search for Brockman, decided against Ariel, at least for now, and chose instead to go home.
Hiram was waiting as Athena touched down gently in the hangar. Several of the staff were present as well, all smiling at the return of their Lord. Jayne put on his 'Janos' face, as River preferred to call it, and accepted their welcome with a smile, calling each man or woman by name, asking after family members, and expressing his pleasure with how well the estate looked during his flyover.
As the 'party' began to break up, Hiram approached him.
"Welcome home, milord," he smiled.
"Thank you, Hiram," Jayne replied. "How are things?"
"Very well, sir," Hiram assured him. "You do have a great deal of correspondence to see to, I'm afraid, but otherwise, all is in good order."
"I'll deal with it in a few days," Jayne promised. "Nothing urgent, is there?"
"No, sir," Hiram shook his head. "Mostly business reports, quarterlies and the like. I have reviewed all but your private correspondence, and all seems in good order. Your signature, of course, is required on most of them, but none are pressing."
"Excellent," Jayne nodded. "In that case, I think we'll take a few days to get resettled, and rest."
"Of course, sir," Hiram nodded. "Your suite is already prepared. You may wish to review the security arrangements, at some point. We have maintained the changes mandated by Lady River," he nodded at River, "but in light of the absence of . . . everyone, you may wish to make changes. I'm afraid the security personnel are somewhat short handed, with so many away."
"I'll see to it," River promised. "If need be, we may hire some supplemental security, or increase the staff. That will take time, of course, but if we can make some changes, it will ease the strain on the present staff." Hiram smiled.
"Thank you, milady."
"Of course," River nodded. "And, you're right. With everyone gone, our stringent security arrangements may no longer be needed. I will look into it."
"Again, welcome home, the both of you."
**********
"I never have enjoyed this," Jayne complained. They had enjoyed a quiet meal, and were now seated in Jayne's private office, wading through some of the matters that needed his attention. Despite his best intentions, he knew he wouldn't be able to really rest knowing that he had so much work waiting for him.
"It's not so bad," River chided. Jayne snorted, and pointed to the corner. River followed his finger, and her face fell. Two large file boxes that weren't normally a part of the decor sat there.
"Oh, my," she groaned.
"See?" Jayne almost smirked. "This is what happens when you flit about for months at a time. With Prim away, no one was able to handle all of this mess."
"You should have an attorney, or an accountant," River told him.
"I own a law firm, and an accounting firm," Jayne told her. "This is the stuff they can't deal with." River goggled at that.
"We've only been. . .Prim's only been gone for. . .what? Three months?"
"I don't know, exactly," Jayne shrugged. "It piles up in a hurry."
"Jayne, just how much. . ." River started, then stopped, shaking her head.
"I don't know that either," Jayne answered the unasked question. "I haven't known in a long time, to be honest. There are investments made with my money all the time by my supernumeraries, which is fine. But they are fairly ruthless negotiators, and I usually end up with a controlling interest, or at least a sizeable one. Take this one," he lifted a sheet of paper from his desk.
"This is a quarterly report from a company of Beaumonde that manufactures a new kind of hover car. Something about stronger repulsor technology, and some other babble. I provided the start-up capital through a high-risk grant distributed through a non-profit organization I started eons ago to help people with a good idea, or a good head for inventing, get a head start."
"Thing is, I had no idea, until five minutes ago, that I owned forty percent of this company, in return for my gamble in backing them. As a result of a sell off of some stock, I somehow wound up as the largest single shareholder for 'Millennia HoverCar Works'. And they need my okay on the quarterly report, before they can publish it." He sighed, and scrawled his name across the bottom of the page.
"Did you read that?" River asked in concern.
"No," Jayne grumped. "I don't have the time. Hiram reads them, and red flags anything I might need to look at. And my very expensive law firm, and even more expensive accounting firm have both signed off on the report as being okay." He shrugged.
"I can't possibly read them all."
River paused at that, thinking. This was too much. Someone could one day slip something through all of this, and wind up hurting Jayne.
"Jayne, you can't keep doing this," she informed him finally. "There's no way you can be sure what you're signing. It's not good business."
"River, I already told you, lawyers and accountants have already looked. . . ."
"And if one of them betrays you?" she demanded. "Jayne, you could easily find yourself in litigation, or even worse, because of something you signed without even reading! It has to stop!"
"Well, what do you suggest?" Jayne demanded, almost surly. "River, I can't possibly review all of this. I'd never get out of this office! And it's not like I care about any of this! Over half of these things are grant-like 'loans', where failure results in no repayment."
"And how many of them are just scams?" River demanded, arms folded.
"I don't know," Jayne shrugged. "Not as many as you'd think, though. Mostly, it's good, honest people, who just need a hand getting started. In return for my gamble, I get a big return, starting five years after. And I own stock in the company."
"Jayne, there's no telling what you own stock in!" River almost screeched. "You're leaving yourself wide open to litigation if any of these. . .these. . .inventors, when or if their inventions injure or kill someone!"
"River, I've been doing this since long before you were born," Jayne replied evenly. "No one betrays me, more than once," he added, his voice going dark.
"Once is all it would take, if it were the wrong person!" River refused to be swayed. "This can't keep going!" Jayne stood abruptly, and River started in spite of herself.
"You know what?" he said, his voice even, but brittle. "Since, with all of your worldly experience, you are so much more qualified than me to handle my affairs, I leave them to you." With that Jayne stalked out of the office.
Stunned, River watched him go, wondering if she had pushed too hard. Her reverie was broken by Hiram's voice.
"There is a wave for you, Milady."
"Take a message," River replied, a bit more harshly than she had intended.
"Begging your pardon, Milady, but it's your mother. And she seems upset. If I may be so bold, I'd suggest you take it."
"What's wrong, mother?" River asked. She was seated at the desk Jayne had just vacated, and was conscious of the warmth in the chair beneath her.
"River, I'm sorry to bother you," Reagan said. "But I need your help."
"What's wrong?" River asked, focusing her attention fully on her mother. Regan Tam had obviously been crying.
"Your father and I have. . .well, we're not getting along very well. His business dealings have taken a nose dive since your visit, and he's blaming you. And Lord Janos. And since you aren't here, he seems happy to take it out on me."
"Mother, Janos hasn't done anything," River promised. "He told me so himself. It wasn't worth it, to him, because of the risk of hurting you."
"Well, Gabriel has had some reverses, none-the-less," Regan replied. "And he's angry, to say the least. I thought. . .that is, I was hoping, to take you up on your offer. To come and visit."
"Of course," River replied at once. "Do you need me to send someone to get you?"
"Please?" Regan almost pleaded. "Your Father is very angry, and he. . .well, I don't feel safe around him at the moment. It's. . .I really don't think he would hurt me, River," she said, more calmly. "But I've never seen him like this, and it worries me. And I don't like it. I'm not exactly scared, at least not yet, but I'm becoming concerned."
"I'll come myself," River said at once.
"No!" Regan almost shouted. "No, River. Seeing you or Janos will only set him off further, and possibly force a confrontation. I don't want that. I just want. . .I want some distance, that's all. I think we'll be fine once he can see things clearly. And I want us to be able to work things out. I do. I just don't think it's possible right now, and I don't like. . .I don't want to be on my own."
"I understand," River sighed. "I'm sorry our visit brought this trouble on you. I'll send someone for you at once. In the meantime, are you safe?"
"Yes, I'm safe," Regan assured her. "I don't expect him to come after me, River. Your father isn't that kind of person. He'll find me gone, and be angry. I'm hoping, once his anger cools, he'll want to see me, and apologize. In the meantime, I'll just have to wait and see."
"All right," River sighed again. "I'll have someone there as soon as possible. Meanwhile, if things get worse, leave, and let me know where you are."
"Thank you, River," Regan breathed. "I'm sorry to burden you, after. . ."
"Don't be silly," River waved her mother off. "You aren't a burden, and I'll enjoy your company." They broke the wave, and River went to the office door. She opened it, only to find Jayne about to do the same thing.
"Is your mother all right?" he asked at once, concern in his voice. His earlier anger was nowhere in evidence.
"She and my father have had a falling out," River told him. "His business dealings have gone south, and he blames you. And me," she added. "And since we aren't there, he's taking it out on my mother."
"We haven't done anything!" Jayne protested.
"My father won't believe that," River sighed. "And he's a very. . .irritable man, anyway, when things don't go his way. My mother want's to come here, for a while. She's hoping that once my father cools off, they can work things out."
"We'll go ourselves," Jayne said at once, starting to turn.
"My mother asked that we not come," Jayne took his arm, stopping him. "She's afraid that the two of us being there would force a confrontation. We do need to send someone, however."
"I'll see to it at once."
"Boss, we're coming up on Byalye."
"Okay, Willie," Mal commed. "Be up in a minute." Mal shut off the com, and started forward. Neera joined him in the passageway.
"More exciting adventures on the backworlds of the 'verse," she grinned. Mal shrugged.
"Had plenty of exciting adventures to last me a good while," he replied, taking her arm. "I like slow, simple and easy."
"Not complainin'," she winked. "Or arguin' either, comes to that."
"Well, we're all a might more rested than we were," Mal told her. "And we deserved it, too, to my way o' thinkin'."
"I'm in agreement," Zoe put in as the two of them entered the bridge. The first mate was in the navigator station, looking at the reports from the planet.
"Weather's for crap, sir," she reported. "They're in the middle of a huge storm near Outlaw, where we're supposed to make delivery."
"Outlaw," Neera mused. "What a name for a town."
"More like a settlement," Zoe nodded, "but yeah, that's what I thought. Anyway, they seem to be having a blizzard. Two foot o' snow on the ground, and expecting another. Their landing pad is completely covered."
"How long is this 'sposed to last?" Mal asked. "And is the whole moon like that?"
"Another week, at least, looks like," Zoe informed him. "And no, Outlaw and the area around it are a lot higher than most places. Seem's their winters are a lot more harsh."
"So we contact the client, drop the shipment lower, and let them pick it up when the storm clears," Mal shrugged.
"Thought about that," Zoe nodded. "Thing is, I don't think they can wait that long. Our shipment includes food stuffs, and medicines. Like as not, they need'em, sooner rather than later."
"We can't deliver in those conditions, Zoe," Mal shrugged again, helplessly this time. "I'm always willing to help them in need, but if we can't land, we can't."
"Might carry the most vital stuff down in a shuttle," Zoe pointed out. "Find out what they need most, and take them that. Then we can leave the rest lower down."
"Not gonna work," Willie shook her head, looking over Zoe's head at the met report. "Look at those winds. We'd be lucky to set down with Serenity. With a shuttle? Forget it."
"How lucky?" Mal asked. "To set the ship down, I mean." Willie, looked at him, then back to the report, biting her lip. Finally, she sighed.
"If they can clear their landing pad, and it's well lit, then yeah, we can set down, long as it's in the light o' day. But," she added, looking up again at Mal, "we might not be able to lift off again 'til the storm let's up. I can't tell ya, one way or another, 'til we get down there. Sorry."
"No problem," Mal assured her. His brow knitted for a moment, then he shrugged.
"Wave'em, Zo'. We'll have a palaver, and see what happens."
"No, Captain, that isn't acceptable." The Mayor of Outlaw had turned out to be a woman named Elmyra Wiggins. Said mayor reminding Mal far too much of Patience for his peace of mind.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but it's the best we can offer," Mal replied patiently. "We can't set our ship down in this kind of weather. We considered using one of our shuttles, but our pilot ruled that out. Winds are too high for the smaller craft. And too near the danger point for my ship. There's just no way to get to you."
"We paid for those supplies, and we expect delivery, Captain," Wiggins retorted. "Delivery problems are your problems, not ours."
"Well, they become your problems, when we can't get in there without risking a crash in your township, Mayor Wiggins," Mal shot back. "Which I won't do. I won't endanger my crew when there are points lower in altitude with better weather where we can drop your shipment. And that's my last word on the subject," he added, when Wiggins looked to erupt again. The woman eyed him belligerently for a moment, then spoke, her voice low, and carrying.
"We need those supplies just to survive, Captain Reynolds. Your refusing to deliver them will condemn a lot of people to a slow death. A great many of them children."
"Lying," Amanda whispered softly, having eased up on the bridge unseen. She was out of sight of the screen. Mal shot her a look.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm sure!" Wiggins replied, not having realized the question was for her. Amanda nodded in reply. Mal looked back at the screen.
"Give us a minute, Mayor," he said. "We'll see what we can come up with." He cut the wave before the woman could object, and looked at Amanda.
"Okay, ni zi," he said to Amanda. "We're waiting."
"It's a trap," Amanda said flatly. "They do this all the time. Lure ships in, then take them. Ships are sold, or used, whatever is valuable taken, and the crews. . . ." she broke off, her eyes damp.
"Yeah, we can work that part out for ourselves," Mal nodded grimly. "Ai ya, why us?"
"Available," Amanda shrugged. "They don't care one way or another about you, or the rest of us. Just a scam. One they've run for a long time," she added.
"What you want to do, sir?" Zoe asked. Mal looked at her, then at Neera, then back to the screen.
"Smart money is to dump the cargo lower, and go," he said after a moment's thought. "Havin' said that, there's somethin' to be said for leavin' a pack o' hyenas like that for the next ship. One that ain't got a 'evil plan' detector," he winked at Amanda, and was rewarded with a smile.
"We could report'em," Willie offered.
"Report what?" Neera asked. "That our resident reader knows what they've been doing? Without evidence, which Amanda says they get rid of, there's nothing can be done, really."
"Surely they got a record of all the ships that's landed here, and then not took off!" Willie objected.
"On a back water world like this?" Zoe scoffed. "We're lucky they even got landin' beacons. Even the Met reports are computer generated. No one to answer to when you set down, or leave."
"Which means no land lock," Mal mused again. "Just sayin'," he added, when Neera and Zoe shot him a look.
"I say we ditch the cargo and go," Zoe spoke. "There's no profit in fightin' other people's battles."
"I agree," Neera nodded. "This is one we should pass on. We can spread the word to other ships we meet, and leave word in other ports. And we can have a word with the man who put us on to this job, too," she added darkly.
"All right," Mal decided, standing and moving back to the screen. "That's how we'll handle it." He waved the Mayor with the good news.
"I'll sue you, Reynolds," the woman threatened. "And don't think I can't collect, because I can. You land, now, and deliver our goods, and we'll let by gons be. Otherwise, I'll come after you with everything I have."
"Our contract specifies that we can alter delivery arrangements to avoid danger to the ship or the crew," Mal smiled. "And this will count. And, since we offered you an alternative delivery method, and you refused, that means you have refused delivery. Which means we could sue you. But, we ain't like that," he smiled. "Instead, we'll just return your goods to the point of sale, and collect our fee. Might make him a bit less likely to do business with you in the future, but we can't help that."
"Reynolds, there's no reason you can't land here," the woman tried again, he voice placating. "We need those supplies!"
"And our ship?" Mal asked. "Along with whatever valuables we might have, and whatever you can get for the crew?" Wiggins face paled at that, and Mal knew he had hit the nail on the head.
"I got my ways o' knowin' things," Mal smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant smile. "And you should be glad that I do. My crew's pretty saltly, and don't take to bein' tricked, cheated, or put upon. So we're goin'. But, don't worry. We'll be spreadin' the word about your little scam to everyone we meet up with, and we'll be sure and mention it to your contact man. Ya'll have a good winter, now." Mal shut the wave off with a flourish, and turned to his smiling crew.
"Thought I'd go chargin' right in, did you?" he asked Zoe. The first mate eyed him for a moment, then shrugged.
"You've done before, sir," she said, straight faced.
"So I have," Mal ran his thumbs under his suspenders. "But them days is over. Willie?"
"Cap'n?"
"Get us outta here. We'll pay us a little visit to the hundun that sent us on this trip, and explain our displeasure in detail."
"That's an idea I can get behind," Neera growled.
"Thought you might."