Chapter 2: Lady Aberlin
"Standish, look sharp," Mal called out. He passed the ball to the cook.
Standish caught the ball. He ran forward. Zoe moved to block him. He dodged nimbly, leapt, and tossed the ball through the makeshift hoop.
"Yea!" Kaylee applauded. She exchanged high-fives with her team mate River. "We're ahead."
"We're just letting you have a point or two so you get overconfident," Zoe retorted. "Then we're gonna wipe the floor with you."
"Talk is cheap." Mal tossed the ball into the air. From Mal's team, Simon reached for it, and failed. From Zoe's team, both Inara and Jayne went for the ball. Jayne's hand missed the ball.
"Try that again," Inara threatened, standing stock still, the ball in her hand, "and I'll geld you."
"What?" Jayne tried to look innocent, and failed. "I was just trying to protect my team mate, keep the other side from grabbing the ball."
"The ball isn't what you were grabbing." For once, the Companion had forgone her jewelry and fancy gowns. She was clad in harem pants and an old shirt; her face glistened with perspiration rather than cosmetics.
"Jayne." Mal's voice was quiet. His tone betrayed no emotion.
"Huh?"
"You try that again, and I'll hold you down while she turns you into a eunuch. Simon, River, get the ball."
The Tams took advantage of Inara's momentary distraction to knock the ball from her hand. River passed it to Kaylee, who tossed it to Standish, who scored another basket.
"Okay, people," Zoe growled, "floor wiping time. And you, keep your hands on the ball," she told Jayne.
The game had barely gotten re-started when a beeping sound came from the bridge.
"Back in a minute," Wash excused himself, hurrying to the bridge.
"Teams ain't even now." Jayne had a gift for pointing out the obvious. "Your team needs someone to sit out."
"Fair's fair," Book agreed.
Mal looked over his players. "River, take a break."
Jayne protested: "That ain't right. Can't trade an able-bodied man for a crazy girl. Oughta be you or Simon or Standish."
"Fine. Standish, sit down." Mal smiled at River and winked at her.
She smiled back mischievously.
Book took the ball and tossed it into the air.
River Tam had been taking dance lessons since she was three. Now she applied those lessons, flying across the cargo bay. She spun, she whirled, she dodged. And the ball spun and whirled and dodged with her. She passed the ball to Kaylee, who feinted as though she were about to give the ball to Mal, then tossed it to Simon. As River danced away from Book and Inara, Simon passed the ball back to her. River launched the ball into the hoop from the far end of the cargo bay. It was an impossible shot.
She scored.
"Atta girl," Kaylee cheered.
Wash's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Cap, we're picking up a distress signal."
"Time-out," Mal ordered. "On my way, Wash." He hurried to the bridge. "What's up?"
"SOS from the Lady Aberlin. A yacht."
"Legit?" Mal asked. Fake distress calls were a favorite pirate trick.
"Seems to be," Wash replied cautiously.
Mal nodded, and Wash reopened communications. "This is Captain Malcolm Reynolds of the Serenity. What seems to be the problem?"
"The captain got hurt. I can't fly the ship; we're going to …" the panicked voice tried to pull itself under control. "We're drifting. I – I don't know how to fly the ship."
Mal and Wash exchanged glances. Rich folks who bought or rented a yacht might well have considered flying it something for the hired help to worry about, not something they needed to do themselves.
"How badly is your captain hurt?"
"I'm not sure. He hasn't regained consciousness."
Mal signaled Wash to cut the sound on their broadcast. "What do you think? They telling the truth?"
Wash nodded. "I think it's shiny."
"Get 'em back on the horn."
"We got a doctor on board. We'll be there in about an hour."
"Shepherd, you take River, keep her safe," Mal ordered. "Simon, get your medical kit. Be ready." He looked over his crew. He wanted Wash to come with to check out the yacht's controls. But he also wanted back-up, in case it was a trap. Jayne just wasn't the yacht type. He didn't trust Standish yet. But if he took Zoe and Wash, then that left Jayne in charge. And he didn't trust Jayne much more than he did Standish. "Standish, come with me."
Standish followed Mal down the ship's corridors to his cubicle. "In."
Standish stared at the captain for a moment in disbelief. "You're locking me in my room?"
"In," Mal repeated.
A dozen smart-mouthed replies leapt to Standish's mind. Any one of them would likely have earned either a slap or forfeiting a day's pay, so he resisted the urge. "Captain," he acknowledged bitterly, as he stepped in.
Mal shut the door and locked it behind him. "Don't worry. I'll let you out in plenty of time to make dinner."
Forty-five minutes later, Serenity locked with Lady Aberlin. Zoe and Mal stood at the hatch, guns ready. Simon was behind them, his medical bag in his hand.
"Thank Heaven you're here! I'm Keith Fleming-Chang. I thought we were lost for sure." A middle-aged man nearly attacked them in his gratitude, shaking hands with all three of them.
"I'm the doctor. Where's my patient?" asked Simon.
"This way, this way," Fleming-Chang said.
"Zoe, check out their bridge," Mal ordered. He followed Simon and Fleming-Chang.
Captain Pierre Andre lay on his bunk, unconscious.
"He was doing something to the engine, when all of a sudden there were sparks. He just collapsed. My son tried to give him first aid, but … Will he be all right?" asked Fleming-Chang.
"Sounds like an electric shock induced a cardiac attack. I think I can help him," Simon replied. He put his stethoscope to the captain's chest.
"Doing something to the engine?" Mal repeated. He pulled his communicator out of his pocket. "Wash, need you to send Kaylee over. My mechanic," he added in an aside to Fleming-Chang. "Anyone else hurt, or any other damage to the ship?"
"We're all fine. The ship … I don't know. I should have listened to my wife. She wanted to take a standard transport to Hiawatha, but I insisted on hiring a yacht, make it a mini-vacation for the kids."
"I'm gonna go help Zoe check out the bridge. My mechanic will be here in a minute to take a look at your engine. Why don't you give the doctor room to work," Mal suggested, "and tell your family everything is under control now."
Half an hour later, Mal met with Zoe, Wash, Kaylee, and Simon in Lady Aberlin's bridge. "Well, what's the situation?"
"Some minor damage to the engine. Nothing I can't fix in an hour or two," Kaylee reported.
"And their captain?"
"He should be in a hospital," Simon replied. "I can keep him alive, but it would be best if he stayed in Serenity's infirmary until we make planetfall. This ship has no medical facilities, only one badly stocked first aid kit."
Mal turned to Wash. "Can she fly, this yacht?"
"No problem. The controls are easy. You could fly this boat."
Mal scowled. He knew he wasn't half the pilot Wash was, but he hated being reminded of it. "Anybody as rich as this Fleming-Chang, ought to be a way we can play good Samaritan and make a profit at the same time. If we stop at Hiawatha, how far behind will that put us?"
"A day, maybe a day and a half," Wash replied. "I could fly this boat to Hiawatha, while Serenity shadows us. We land at Hiawatha, get Andre to a hospital, and then we're back on our way to Epona. It's not like our cargo's gonna melt or go stale from a day's delay."
Mal nodded. He preferred carrying non-perishables. That time they'd taken cattle from Persephone to Ariel it'd taken forever to clean out the cargo bay afterwards. "And who flies Serenity while you're aboard Lady Aberlin?"
"I'll set the course; auto-pilot should handle everything. When we reach Hiawatha, send Inara down in her shuttle, and she can take me back to Serenity."
"Take us back to Serenity," his wife corrected him. "I'm coming with you." Zoe looked at Mal, daring him to contradict her.
Mal raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue. He was well aware of the strains on their marriage, and he didn't want to lose either his XO or his pilot. "Looks like we got ourselves a plan. I'll go tell our client."
It only took him a few minutes to find Fleming-Chang.
"My crew and me, we got a plan, if you agree to it," Mal told him.
The rich man looked up at him, silently inviting him to continue.
"My mechanic's working on your engines. She estimates she'll have everything good-to-go in two hours, maybe three. However, the doctor's very concerned about your Captain Andre. He needs a hospital planetside, and the sooner the better."
"I was afraid of that."
"Here's what we're gonna do. The doctor will move Andre to my ship; he says he can take better care of him in our infirmary. My pilot and his wife will stay on board your ship, and they'll fly you to Hiawatha. We'll fly alongside you. When we touch dirt, Andre transfers to a proper hospital, and Wash and Zoe rejoin my crew."
"Oh, thank Heaven." Fleming-Chang looked as though he'd been afraid that Mal would leave them stranded, far from any civilized planet.
"Just one other thing…."
"Yes?"
"Don't mind helping you – don't want you to think for a minute I object to helping you out. It's just…." Mal looked down at the floor. He scuffed his shoes, doing his best country bumpkin impression. "We're a tramp freighter. Got cargo to deliver, a schedule to keep. Don't begrudge the side trip. You needed help, no two ways about it. Just this is gonna make us late, and run us short on fuel. If you could see your way to reimbursing you part of the fuel costs –"
"Of course, man, of course. But your whole fuel costs, not just part. And if," Fleming-Chang paused, "if it wouldn't insult you, I'd like to give you a reward."
"I wouldn't dream of hurting your feelings by refusing your gift," Mal told him honestly.
"How does five hundred credits sound?" Fleming-Chang asked.
"Sounds fine." Mal had been about to ask for two hundred credits; he'd hoped to get one hundred. Maybe, he thought, he'd agreed too quickly. "I'll make sure the doctor gets his fair share."
"That's not necessary. Divide the five hundred amongst your crew as you see fit, but I'll see to the doctor's fee."
"That's
right generous of you, Mr. Fleming-Chang." Mal decided he was glad he hadn't tried to bargain the reward up. In the long run, having a rich friend might be better than a one-time large fee.
Forty-two hours later, Lady Aberlin and Inara's shuttle set down on Hiawatha. Forty-two hours and fifteen minutes later, an ambulance took Pierre Andre to Beth-Israel Hospital. Forty-eight hours later, after Inara had entertained a local business magnate and Zoe and Wash had had a brief bit of shore leave, they returned to Serenity, just in time for Standish to serve dinner.
"Welcome home," Standish told them, as the three sat down at the dinner table.
"Good to be back," Zoe said.
Wash said nothing at first. He would have been quite happy to extend their shore leave by a day or two. Instead, he dug into Standish's mock-beef Wellington. "Missed your cooking."
Standish nodded his acceptance of the compliment.
"With your steady hand back at the controls, think we can make Epona on schedule?" Mal asked Wash.
His mouth full, Wash just shook his head.
Zoe spoke for him. "Be a little behind schedule. Not seriously, a day perhaps."
Mal reached for the salad bowl. Zoe and Wash had brought back fresh vegetables – always a special treat on board ship – and Standish had made a spinach salad. As he scooped his second helping, he turned to the ship's new cook. "Well, can't say your first week aboard ship was boring, can you?"
"No, captain," Standish agreed. It hadn't been boring.