In Space, No One Knows you're an Alien
Chapter 4
"Todd!" Captain Reynolds' voice rang out. "You ready?"
"Be out in a minute," Dru Zod laid his weapons on the weapons rack in his bunk. The Captain had given firm orders no weapons were to be brought out planet-side.
Well…
Zod had two pistols hidden on his person, and he was fairly sure the Captain had one or two hidden away too.
The trick is not to be obvious about it…
The Captain had lately contracted to transport some sort of contraband from Higgin's Moon to Persephone.
Everyone was out in the Common Area; except for Inara. She was already down on the moon.
A…client.
Zod was not entirely unacquainted with the concept of Companions. There had been a Caste for virtually every occupation on Krypton, and something very much like a Caste of Companions existed within the larger subset of Caregiver Castes.
But they had nowhere near the freedom these Companions had…
Have good sex!
Zod shook his head. Kaylee had to be the sunniest personality he had ever known.
Now, the rest of the group was getting ready to go out and retrieve the contraband that was stashed somewhere in Canton.
"Cap, can the Doc come along?" Kaylee asked Reynolds.
"Uh...I need to keep an eye on my sister," Simon Tam protested.
River Tam was just wandering around aimlessly, hands brushing across table surfaces, or walls; almost as if she didn't trust what her eyes recorded, had to verify their reality by touch.
"I can watch over her for you," Shepherd Book walked up.
He'd said something about certainly being able to handle a flock of one. So Kaylee had looped her arm around Dr. Tam's, and they were heading out, Reynolds in the lead, Zod bringing up the rear.
Zoe Washburn was also staying behind, to keep an eye on the ship, and also to be ready in case things went bad.
Zod had been told about how the crew used to joke about the Captain's bad luck. They didn't make those jokes anymore; not since the deal with Patience.
It was bright outside; sunny and hot; and the locals were already hard at work, harvesting…mud.
Apparently, this mud was special.
It went into everything, including the ceramics that comprised parts of the little Firefly that had been Zod's home these past several months.
Tam was up front with the Captain, expression just a little sour; and both Wash and Kaylee were trying-with limited success-to hide their smiles.
"Dare I ask?" Zod stopped at Kaylee's side.
"Cap just told the Doc why he wanted him to come along…" she giggled as she spoke.
Something about Dr. Tam's hands being lily-white…
"He's passing off Simon Tam as our employer?"
"Yep," Kaylee nodded happily.
Introducing the young doctor to a life of crime; and petty crime, at that…
Zod sighed.
How did I get sucked into this?
But the answer was obvious when he thought about it.
Can't let those Blue-gloved bastards find me.
Unlike the rest of the 'verse, they knew he wasn't human; they knew at least part of what he could do.
But officially, there was no such thing as extraterrestrials.
Everyone was all descended from the people of Earth-that-was.
Of course, Zod knew better.
There are things out there, in other, more distant parts of the galaxy, that would make the Blue Gloves shake in their boots…
Which was neither here nor there.
Right now, Zod was the only ET the Blue Gloves knew of, and if they managed to capture him…
Actually, there was very little they could do to bring a Kryptonian down.
But Zod didn't want to have to go through all of the trouble of…disappearing, and finding another place to live.
In spite of the life of petty crime, the crew of Serenity suited Dru Zod just fine.
"Wuh de ma…"
That was Captain Reynolds, standing in front of what looked to be a statue out in all of this mud.
"Captain?" Zod moved up to the rest of the small group.
Reynolds looked absolutely stunned; along with Kaylee and Wash…
Zod brought his attention back to the statue.
It was a man, just a little larger than life size; ruggedly good-looking, with a neatly trimmed goatee.
"I don't fracking believe this!" Wash exclaimed. "He's got a statue?"
"That he does," Reynolds nodded. "I conjure there's a story there. Wish he were alive to tell it…"
Reynolds must have seen the confusion Zod was feeling.
"Jayne Cobb," he explained. "Our Merc before you."
"Ah…yes," Zod said. "He hail from here?"
"Actually, he came from Harvest, right Mal?" Wash spoke up. "His Ma lived there, with a disabled younger brother-Black Lung, I think it was."
"Yeah…" Mal continued to stare at the statue, an indefinable sadness in his eyes. "He sent all of his money-apart from his whorin' and drinkin' money, and his cigar money…"
There was a capture of Jayne Cobb up on the Dining Room wall, so he could be with the family in spirit as they sat around the table.
Wreathed in cigar smoke, whiskey bottle in hand, looking up with laughing blue eyes…
"Got business to attend to, people," Reynolds brought his attention back to his crew. "The Foreman told us to make our way to the Mudders' Bar. I conjure we'll meet Kessler there."
The Mudders' Bar was a squalid little place with dirt floors, at least on the ground floor. There was a second story, and Zod-seeing young women eyeing the strangers speculatively, suspected they were of the Companion persuasion too.
There was even music. A man wearing an odd-looking hat was quietly strumming away on an acoustic guitar
The…swill…everyone drank here-Mudder's Milk-had to be the most disgusting thing he had ever tasted.
Wash spat his sip out, cursing fluently in this Mandarin language.
Zod could taste the protein, and the carbs in this stuff, along with the alcohol…
"Liquid bread," Simon Tam spoke up suddenly. "This isn't so different from what the ancient Egyptians from Earth-that was fed their slaves to build their pyramids. It kept them fed, and knocked them out at night so they wouldn't be inclined to revolt."
"Wow, Simon," Kaylee grinned. "That was so…historical."
That was when an official-looking man walked up to the table they were all sitting at.
"You wouldn't be looking for Kessler?" the man asked.
"Just having a brew," Reynolds looked relaxed.
"I knew a Kessler," the man said.
"Knew?"
"He was a good middle man," the man took a seat next to Reynolds. "Low profile, didn't filch. Last week, the factory foreman and his prod crew heard he was moving contraband through town; gave him a peck of trouble for it."
Reynolds looked back at the man, spoke evenly.
"What kind of peck was that?"
"The kind where they hacked off his hands and feet with a machete," the man spoke grimly. "Rolled him in the bog."
"They peck pretty hard around here," Wash commented to no one in particular.
"Listen," Mal spoke to the man. "My client off-world is waiting for his delivery. If the goods are gone-"
"Not to worry," the man spoke reassuringly. "Your man's merchandise is here; safe in Kessler's hiding place. We just got to figure out how to get it across town without being seen by the foreman, and his prods. I advise we all just…lay low for a moment."
The man stood, walked away from the table. That was when the man playing the guitar suddenly began to sing.
Jayne…that man they call Jayne…
Again, Reynold's jaw dropped, as he shared stunned looks with Kaylee and Wash. Zod and Simon Tam shared looks too, of confusion.
"Are they actually singing…songs about Jayne?"
Wash finally found his voice.
"Must be," Kaylee agreed. "Either that, or I'm hallucinatin' things."
And the song, about "The Hero of Canton, the Man They Call Jayne" went on, detailing how Jayne had apparently dumped a load of cash on the Mudders.
"You know…" Wash looked wistful. "We gotta go to the crappy little town where I'm the hero…"
"Cap'n?" Kaylee tilted her head; and no wonder…
Captain Reynolds had a speculative look in his eyes; and Dru Zod had come to learn what that meant.
"Think I have a way to get the contraband out under the foreman's nose," he said.
"And what is your idea?" Zod asked him.
"I knew the Hero of Canton, personally," Reynolds' eyes twinkled. "He worked for me, remember?"
"Yeah," Kaylee pointed out. "But to the Mudders, he's their hero, so shouldn't it be the other way around?"
"Me, working for him?" Reynolds scowled. "Tales of legendry aside, the man was a thief, Kaylee. I conjure the only reason he dumped the cash was because he couldn't escape with it."
"We're thieves too," Kaylee's eyes glistened, unshed tears. "And Jayne's dead, Cap'n. You ain't got anything to lose by saying you worked for him."
Sudden silence. Reynolds reached out, took her hand.
"You're right," he sighed. "Just this once, I'll…swallow my pride."
His death hit them hard…
"Is there anything I can do?" Zod asked, more to break the silence than anything else.
"Not now, Todd," Reynolds sighed again. "At least, we should all join in the singing. When they're done, I'll start telling them about how I knew Jayne, how we were all friends of his."
"What if they ask you where he is now?" Wash asked. "Don't think the Mudders will want to-"
"Let Jayne Cobb be their Robin Hood," Simon Tam spoke up. "Don't let them know he's dead."
"Agreed," Reynolds nodded; and-again-there was that sadness in his eyes. Zod knew the basis for that sadness.
We give those under our command orders, and sometimes those orders send men-and women-to their deaths. That is an unavoidable part of being a commander, any kind of commander…
Zod liked the Captain all the more for seeing that in him…
Mal stood up, clapping time to the song, singing the lyrics as best he could.
Hard to believe my old merc became a legend…
If I ever see Patience again…
At least, Jayne hadn't suffered…
Dead 'fore he hit the ground. But what's his Ma and little brother supposed to do now? Don't think her dead son being a legend is gonna help her survive any easier…
Nothing he could do about that, though…
Focus on what needs doing now.
He looked back at his crew. Kaylee, wiping the tears away as she sang, Wash clapping time, and Drew Todd…
Now, there was a mystery draped in human flesh. Todd gave nothing of his thoughts and feeling away; an intensely private man.
But Mal was beginning to see the core of honor that lay deep within him.
Still, Mal knew nothing of Todd, not his origins, or his ambitions.
His manners, his behavior and accent suggested he came from the Core Worlds, the Alliance. And his bearing…
Mal knew a Military Man when he saw one. But, even if he had started out Core, Todd certainly wasn't Core now. Everything Todd said and did suggested he despised the Alliance.
Wonder what he's hiding from…
For now, though, Mal had other things to do instead of pondering Drew Todd's origins.
He walked up to the bar to get another Mudder's Milk.
"I knew him," he said to the bartender.
"Knew? Ya knew…Jayne?" Wide eyes stared back at Mal as he nodded.
"Worked with him for a spell" Mal spoke shyly, as if divulging a highly prized secret.
"Ya worked with him?"
The trap was set, and Mal smiled as it closed.
"The Hero of Canton himself," he nodded. "Jayne Cobb…"
After that, all it took was a few carefully spun tales, and a grand festival was suddenly being planned, with food, and booze; even the few, long-hoarded bottles of real whiskey and scotch-good whiskey and scotch-were being brought out, in honor of the missing Hero of Canton.
The man who had told them of Kessler's unfortunate…pecking…had quickly come about, and Mal had quickly Commed Zoe. Let her know what was up.
The Festival was a rousing success on all fronts; the goods quickly smuggled into Serenity, and the Mudders themselves had a grand time…
The only out-of-tune thing that happened was when Zod intercepted this old guy.
Even for a Mudder, the old man was a wreck; hair and beard a wild mess, clothes shabby and smelly.
He reeked, like he hadn't bathed in years.
"Where's Jayne," the old man had muttered, a not-quite-sane look in his eyes. "Got to pay him back for what he done ta me…"
"He dumped you too, along with the cash?"
"Who the hell are you, sonny?" the man turned to Zod. "And where the hell is Jayne?"
"If vengeance is what you seek, he's beyond your reach," Zod said.
The man went still at that; a certain knowing in his eyes.
"Dead?" he whispered.
"Dead," Zod nodded, and the man just seemed to…wilt…before his eyes.
"Ain't fair…" he muttered. "All those years in the Box; never got to pay him back for betrayin' me like that. What am I gonna do?"
"The…Box?"
"Just large enough to hold a man if ya fold him up tight. The magistrate let me out today so I could pay him back for what he done to me, and he ain't even alive ta take revenge on!"
Zod came to a quick decision.
The worst Captain Reynolds can do is refuse…
"What's your name?" he asked the man.
"Stitch," the old man said. "Stitch Hessian."
Serenity, out in the black…
For a miracle, everything had gone without a hitch. The Mal's client on Persephone had paid top dollar for the goods; and that meant Serenity could fuel her engines, Kaylee could get a few of those parts she had been nagging him about, parts that would keep Serenity flying, Doc Simon could get a few more medications, either pain-killers for when the crew got hurt, or pills for River, to keep her-mostly-lucid. There was also enough to fill the pantry, mostly with that awful Protein mush. But there were a few treats-real meat, veggies, and…fruit too.
And, of course, there was the crew's pay to dole out.
Drew Todd had spent some of that on the passenger he had talked Mal into letting aboard.
Whatever Stitch Hessian's reputation had been before running afoul of Magistrate Higgins, he was surely a broken man now. Zod had found clean clothing that fit Hessian, forced him to bathe, and given him a little extra coin before he left the ship.
After that, whatever Hessian did was up to Hessian.
That compassion for an old man down on his luck…
On the one hand, it heartened Mal to see that the strange man who was now his Merc had such compassion in him. But, on the other hand…
""You know, Todd, Hessian's probably gonna blow all that cash you gave him on getting good and drunk."
"Probably," Todd agreed. "But he's free now. He can do as he wishes."
Simon Tam was walking up to join the two men in the Cargo Bay.
"Hey, Doc" Mal waved him over. "You think Jayne's gonna become one of those legends that last forever?"
"It's possible," Simon Tam shrugged. "I'm sure Robin Hood was originally just a petty thief of small means. But something happened, his name got attached to something, and the legend just exploded. There are still stories being written about him today. So, in a way, Jayne's probably going to outlive us all."