Chapter Fifteen: Too Simple
"Well, he went to that other room for a pen and paper. Maybe it's his office and we can use something in there. I doubt they'd put cameras in the commander's office," Mal decided as he quickly went to the door.
Zoe followed him and they carefully entered the office. Mal was correct about the cameras, so he instantly rifled through desk drawers while Zoe went to his control console. She poked around and oddly left the room. She returned with a bloody keycard and swiped it to gain access.
"Did River teach you anything with technology, sir?"
"She tried. I got lost after the first minute. Can you work that thing?"
She sighed. "I can give it a shot. Why didn't we wait for him to take us to the others like he promised?"
"You know what their promises are worth. Even if he took us to them, I conjure it'd be too late. Besides, I doubt we couldn't of pulled off an escape with all them troops around. We need to get there without the cameras. Can you turn them off from there?"
"More than likely, but it'll raise suspicion. We need a cover. A diversion."
He snapped his fingers. "I'll get on the intercom and say they've got Reavers roaming freely on their ship. Somewhere away from T9 and the lower level."
"They'd know if they had Reavers, sir. Who else does the Alliance hate?"
Together, they said, "Browncoats."
"Shiny. They were on the ship. We'll say they've got stowaways that took down the cameras. I'll check to see if I can find the plans for this place. That way, we can make sure everybody gets out of our way. Keep on getting those cameras down, Zoe."
While he went through stacks of papers, Zoe worked on shutting down the cameras. Mal found the plans for the ship from a written emergency escape procedure. He picked a place far from T9 and the lower level. Then, he waited until Zoe gave him the go ahead.
"This might do it," she told him calmly. "Be ready for the report, sir."
She hit the button and the camera feed shutdown. He went to the nearest intercom and used his most terrified tone. "Alert, a group of Browncoats is on the ship. They've cut the camera feed. We believe they're on M2 near the South Stairwell. All available troops report to M2. Repeat, all available troops repeat to M2. Neutralize intruders. This is not a drill."
They paused and heard boots moving away from their position. Zoe looked at Mal with a faint smirk. "Good work, sir. We'll still have a few guards out there."
"I'm countin' on it."
Together, they reentered the other room and Mal gave Zoe hand signals to hide against the wall near the door. He mouthed quietly, "Say the commander is down."
She nodded and began to frantically scream, "Help! The commander fainted! It might be a heart attack!"
When the doors flew open, Mal and Zoe pounced on two of the guards. As soon as the guards were down, they stole their weapons and took out the other two. After stealing their weapons as well, they headed for the stairs and for T9.
"Stop!" Simon yelled desperately. "Stop hurting her!"
The Alliance men were using their cattle prods on Kaylee as she was tied to a table. When they wouldn't stop, Jayne attempted to get their attention. "Hey! Pick on somebody your own gorram size! Or are you scared I'll get out and break yer necks?"
Jayne's taunt drew the three men away from Kaylee. They started on him, as apparently these men wanted to cause as much suffering as possible, and he handled it fairly well. Simon tried to escape again, but the restraints were tight and only deactivated by the computer. Instead, he looked at his bride with fear and pain.
"Kaylee?"
She could hardly keep her eyes open. "I love you, Simon."
"I love you too. Hold on. The others will come for us."
Just as he said it, the door opened and Mal and Zoe appeared. Four dead guards were on the ground, and Zoe held the entry card in the air. The Alliance men looked at them in confusion, but they didn't look for long. Mal and Zoe killed them all in less than a minute and darted into the room to get the situation.
"Tell me everything," Mal ordered.
Simon's eyes fell on the console. "Our restraints are controlled by that. If you swipe their card and enter the code, we'll be freed."
"Code?" Zoe repeated.
"I saw it. It's a color lock. Red, red, yellow, blue, yellow, green."
Mal went to free them as Zoe went to check on Jayne. "You good?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah. I think you owe me a drink."
He grinned as the restraints popped open. She helped him down and Simon ran to Kaylee. Her legs were hardly able to support her, so Simon picked her up. Mal was glad to see his crew alive and in one piece. He gave his plan and orders to the room in a commanding voice.
"They're going to destroy Serenity if we don't get to her first. Jayne and Zoe, lead the rescue. Take Kaylee with you so she can get that engine workin' nice-like if she can. Simon, you're coming with me to get River. If they've done anything to her, I'll need your help to undo it and get her home. Are we good?"
Nobody argued. Simon kissed Kaylee and gently passed her to Jayne. She said that she could handle walking, so Zoe led the way with her gun at the ready. Simon looked at the captain nervously. "Do you know where she is?"
"Lower level. They didn't say where and the plans for the ship had it blacked out. I'm guessin' it's some secret area or maximum security holding pen. There's a stairwell that goes all the way down not too far. We have to move."
He agreed and they took off for the stairwell. By the time they got halfway down, a voice came over the system. "The Browncoats are not on the ship. It was a false alarm. The cameras will be up in a matter of minutes. Back to your stations. Repeat, back to your stations."
"Gorramit, we gotta pick up the pace, doc."
They took the stairs a few at a time, and often they leapt down the flights all together. Once they reached the bottom, a heavily armored door sat before them with a large guard. He opened fire on Mal and Simon, but Mal managed to get him between the eyes before he could call anything in or hit them. He grabbed the card from the dead man's pocket and swiped.
"Captain, that was too simple. Something isn't right."
"Not now, doc. We have to get to River. Then, we'll worry about everything else."
Upon entering the lower level, they were met with a labyrinth of hallways. Almost every door was some kind of lab. The next hallway had nothing but prison cells. There was no way to tell who was inside or how to open it. They both stopped to think of something, anything, to find out where River could be. Then, luck was on their side.
A voice somewhere nearby ordered, "Get Tam to the line."
Mal didn't bother wondering what the line could mean. He took off with his gun ready for action, and Simon sprinted to keep up. They turned through more hallways with strange rooms that had the oddest titles. What did they need a ballet room for?
Finally, they saw a large room not unlike a cargo bay. There were no guards or men that they could see, so they ran for it. There was no cargo in this room. There wasn't much of anything. Unless, you count the hundred or more girls standing in some type of formation. They weren't dressed in military uniforms. In fact, they looked like average girls between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. That's when Mal saw River standing in the front.
"River!" he shouted as he ran to her. "River, sweetheart, we're takin' you home."
Her eyes were blank and stared ahead. Simon joined Mal and cursed in Chinese. "They got to her."
"Darlin', look at me. It's me. We gotta go."
There was no response. The sound of boots on a metal catwalk got their attention. A decorated Alliance officer stood above them with a grin. "I see you've met our army."
"Army?" Simon repeated. It hit him like a bolt of lightning. "They're using the girls from the Academy as human weapons in their war."
"Precisely. At first, we were only concerned with the Browncoats. Now that Reavers are mysteriously attacking our battlefields, we need soldiers who can handle themselves. Our program has been building to something of this scale. It's a wonderful day for us."
Mal glared and went back to River. He put his hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes. "You have to come back to me, albatross. We have to stop them. I need you."
Her eyes watered, but nothing else moved. Simon stepped forward with his fists clenched. "What did you do to my sister?"
"We reactivated her. Didn't take long. We accelerated the program. Just a few needles in the brain. Fixed her broken bones. Now, she'll serve us very well. I knew that both of you would come for her."
"You let us get in here. You let us escape in the first place…" Mal understood. "Why?"
"River has her orders. Her first mission is to personally kill and destroy Serenity. We have to be certain that she can kill her own family to ensure that the programming was a success. I believe that it will be. By the way, Dr. Tam, she no longer responds to that safe word."
Mal focused on River. "You can fight this. I know you can. You have to. I have a lot more I wanna say to you, sweetheart."
"River, go," the man spoke.
Slowly, River blinked and turned her head to the side. Mal backed away and grabbed Simon's sleeve. "Can you do something?"
"I can't know what they did without a brain scan. I try to reach her," he answered as he edged closer to her. "River, it's Simon. It's your brother."
She stared at him before her fist connected with his jaw. Her boot struck his chest and Mal had to catch him. He coughed and directed his gaze on Mal. "We can't do anything right now, Captain."
"We ain't leavin' her here!"
Simon regained balance and led Mal backwards as River approached. "Captain, I can get to her. I can fix this just like before. But, I need equipment. I need time. I don't want to leave her either, but she'll kill us if we stay."
River went to kick Simon in the head, but Mal pulled him to safety. Mal gazed into River's empty eyes, and he saw a single tear fall down her cheek. She was still in there, and the doctor was right. They needed a safe and effective strategy, and they needed the rest of the crew for it to work. Mal grabbed Simon by the collar and made a run for it.
No matter what it would take, Malcolm Reynolds would save his River.