Bandiagara, Part 3a
Keeping books
She couldn't find Mal on the bridge. Inara looked all over the boat, and finally found him in his bunk, sitting at his desk hunched over a set of books. He was biting the end of his stylus, running the fingers of his other hand through his hair, and he looked dog-tired.
Mal had been working indefatigably ever since Serenity had lifted off from the surface of Beylix. First he helped Kaylee install some engine parts. Mal only visited the bridge to confirm course settings, leaving the piloting to River and Zoe, and letting Zoe take over executive functions until the top priority engine repairs were complete. The repair work continued on the bridge with replacement of the smashed pilot's console, and then some kind of work on the ship's atmo system. As soon as that was done, all hands—all hands except Inara, that is, who felt herself to be increasingly useless—joined in a massive effort in the cargo bay, sorting and cleaning the piles of refuse that filled the space. Kaylee began fixing up machines, putting together pumps and electric generators—and all sorts of things that Inara didn't really recognize. Mal spent most of the work day in the cargo bay, assisting Kaylee with the task, disappearing from time to time to take care of what Inara could only assume were captainy things, since he certainly didn't appear to be resting.
Inara's original purpose in seeking Mal out was to ask him when they would next be visiting a civilized planet—she needed to schedule another appointment for amelioration therapy, attend to her Guild business, and she felt increasingly ill at ease with how long it had been since she'd done any work. Living on Serenity as a passenger, as Mal's guest, or even as his—dare she think it?—significant other, was all very well, but it wasn't a profession; it wasn't even a job. She needed to do something to earn her keep. In another mood, she imagined Mal might make a coarse joke about how she might earn her keep, but as soon as she saw him, she knew that was out of the question today. He just looked so tired.
"Hello, Inara," he said, looking up with a tired, but welcoming smile. "请进 Qǐng jìn." He shifted in his chair, stretching his sore muscles, and stood up. "Have a seat." He offered her the chair he had just vacated, which was the only one in the bunk.
She sat, but only at the edge, and pulled him back down next to her, perching herself on the corner of the chair so that he still had a proper place to sit and rest his weary body. "I'm workin' on the ship's books," he explained, waving vaguely toward the sizable volumes spread on the desk.
Inara knew he kept the books. On many small cargo vessels, the function of ship's purser was carried out by the captain, rather than hiring a specialist to handle the accounting. Food, water, machinery, medicine, pay for the crew, ships' stores, cargo (both the buying and selling), licensing, insurance and other business costs—someone had to keep track of these things, and on Serenity, it was Mal. He kept two sets of books—one suitable for inspection by agents of the Alliance, whether a police checkpoint or the Bureau of Taxation and Revenue—and the other providing the real accounting that he himself needed to keep track of Serenity's state of financial well-being. Which was mostly not-so-well-being, as Inara knew.
Inara asked Mal to explain what he was doing. "I'm updating the books with our recent work on Beylix," he said. "In honest truth, I'm puzzled what to do about the cattle run. Ordinarily, cargo like that—" she knew he meant smuggled cargo "—would go in this set of books." He indicated the extra-legal set. "But Harrow paid into my credit account, which means the Feds got a record of that money, so now I got to register it in this set as well." He indicated the legal books. "Can't write it down as 'Received payment for shipment of smuggled cattle' now, can I? But it can't be written down as something far off, otherwise the expenses I had—the septic vac system, and especially the fodder—don't make no sense. Wish I knew what to do, but I can't even hardly think straight." He sighed again, and worked his hands through his hair, drooping over the desk.
Inara looked over at the books, noted where he'd registered the intake of "recyclables"—their current cargo of junk lifted somewhat extra-legally from the Beylix dump—and scanned the page. She turned to ask Mal a question and saw that he'd fallen asleep. She got up and turned down the blankets on his bed. He woke a bit when she pulled him out of the chair and eased him onto his bed, but only just enough to help her remove his clothing and get him comfortably situated. "Thanks, 'Nara," he mumbled, and settled into his pillow. By the time she finished tucking the blankets around him again he was sound asleep.
She settled down in the chair, and began reading through the books. Income from each job—whether legal or otherwise—was allotted into shares. The most significant share went to the ship. Serenity needed to keep flying, or none of them would work. Of the remainder, the lion's share went to the crew, shared out according to agreement. Mal had scrupulously paid his crew, every time they earned it—even if he'd had to put off the payday (as he had recently on Beylix), even if he'd had to borrow money back from the crew to cover expenses (again, something he had done on Beylix). He accounted for every bit owed to crew, and made good on it. The remaining monies formed the captain's share of the pay.
The story the books told was appalling. Mal had perpetrated a systematic fraud—for years—against…himself. As she examined the books, Inara found that, aside from a few sundries—socks, underwear, toiletries—the captain's share was always plowed back into the ship. Compression coil—paid for from the captain's share. Buffer panel on Boros—captain's share. Fuel on Persephone—captain's share. Navigational updates, required by law—captain's share. Food, for the entire crew, on Beylix—captain's share again. Only thing he'd spent on himself were occasional drinks and restaurant meals—usually when he was on the job, meeting a contact—and ammo—again, used on the job. The only significant personal expense was three years ago when he'd bought himself a new pair of boots. And given the state of his old boots, she knew he had waited until it was absolutely necessary. Serenity stayed in the sky because Mal never paid himself. Never took anything, but gave and gave and gave. Paid for the ship and the crew with money out of his own pocket. Sometimes paid with his own blood. In the extra-legal books, Inara noted some cryptically described expenses—bribes, blood money, ransom—that told the tale of just how hard survival on the Rim could be.
Inara picked up the stylus, and began making some notes. There were advantages to being a Companion, after all. She hadn't been a successful businesswoman all these years without knowing something about keeping books.
glossary
请进 Qǐng jìn [Come in]
Short chapter, I know. But the next section couldn't be broken up, so this is how it stands. I'll post the next one soon. I do appreciate comments and reviews, even if they're also short.