The next morning, Mal woke up before River did. He gazed down at her for a few moments, watching her peaceful in sleep, before deciding to get up and check on things. He dressed quietly, taking care not to wake her and parted with a gentle kiss on her cheek.
After carefully closing the hatch behind him, Mal was surprised to turn and find himself face to face with Zoe. She looked plainly startled too, but to her credit, didn't say anything.
"Morning Zoe," Mal met her gaze evenly.
"Morning Sir," Zoe replied. "Did you sleep well?" She glanced at River's closed door, her meaning was clear.
"I did," Mal answered. Zoe continued to stare at him, obviously waiting for some kind of explanation.
After a moment, "Been sleepin' this well about a month now." Zoe's eyes widened slightly, but her expression made no other betrayal of her feelings.
"Fact is, I mean to keep it up, as it happens. Sleepin' well, that is." Mal added. He watched her face as she pondered what he had said. It was neither the time or place to start justifying himself to his second mate, but he also didn't want her to think he was taking advantage of River. He badly wanted her to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. After a few seconds, she nodded slowly.
"Well in that case, I hope it goes well, Sir." Mal was relieved.
"Thanks."
xxxx
It was almost time to leave the ship. River landed Serenity on Shadow a little ahead of schedule and, everyone prepared quietly, arming themselves. Mal didn't object to the grenades he saw Jayne trying to hide from him. As far as he was concerned, he still didn't fully trust the Operative, and the more heat, the better.
River refused any guns or any armour. She wore a pair of simple leggings and a bulky sweater. Mal was surprised, however, to see the sword that had been sent to her by the Operative at her side.
"River, you even know how to use that?" He asked, gesturing at the weapon. River rolled her eyes at him.
"Better than you do," She retorted. He winced, thinking of his humiliating attempt at swordsmanship back on Persephone that had almost ended him. And then again of River taking down Reavers all on her own.
"Point taken," He said shortly. "But why you have it here?"
"I'll be needing it," She replied, refusing to elaborate further. This irritated Mal, he didn't like not knowing all the sides to a plan. But he also knew how River fought, and pictured her wielding that sword with deadly skill. He figured her holding that sword offered them as much extra security as Jayne and his grenades, and likely more.
When they were ready, Zoe, Jayne, Simon, Mal and River exited Serenity using the mule. Kaylee and Inara stayed behind, at the ready in the engine room and bridge respectively, prepared to move at the slightest notice.
Mal had been dreading this part, he hadn't been back to Shadow since it had been destroyed.
He worked hard to ignore the pain that shot through him as he took in the home where he grew up. The truth was, if he didn't know that these coordinates were that of his home planet, there'd be nothing in the landscape to suggest it to him. The sky above them was dark with swirling, grey clouds. Mal doubted any sunlight ever made it through anymore. Bombs had created a nuclear winter on Shadow and it lived up to its name in a way it never had before. There wasn't a trace of green, the ground was a drab brown colour, and the only signs that there had ever been terraforming were the unsettling skeletons of long dead trees, dotting the landscape, and an old fence. Mal avoided looking at that fence the second he saw it, it's untended, and broken form struck him as desperately sad. The wind around them was warm, but one could take no pleasure in it. It had a sick, wrong feeling to it, like the warm breath of a feverish man.
He saw River shooting him glances and knew she was aware of his turmoil. He gave her a weak nod. The total destruction was hard to bear, but in a way, the fact that the landscape was unrecognizable made it easier for him to detach himself and focus on the job at hand. He knew Zoe, the only of his crew to have ever been on the planet, and even met his mother once, was doing the same.
At the coordinates, they waited for the Operative. Minutes went by with nothing but silence. The unsettling breeze rustled around them and Mal watched as the dead branches of a tree close by them moved with the wind.
"Looks like he's not comin.'" Jayne kicked at the ground after a spell.
"He's comin'" Mal said grimly. He glanced at River. She looked tense, but didn't offer any insight, just stared straight ahead, fingering the sword at her side. Simon stood at her side, looking around with horrified disbelief in his eyes. Mal briefly reflected on how different the world must seem to the Doctor these past few years compared to the sheltered life he'd left behind. Worlds like Shadow were nothing but names to people in the core.
More time past. Finally, the air around them changed. Mal looked around. He could hear the sound of approaching feet, and not of just one person.
"Look, Sir," Zoe gestured. All around them, they saw lights, rapidly closing in on them. As they became closer, it was possible to make out rifles, coming all around them. Mal's heart started beating in a sick, fearful rhythm, as he felt Zoe beside him drawing the same conclusions he did. "This don't seem right Sir."
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting Captain." As though in answer to Zoe's comment, the Operative's smooth voice rang out. "And I regret to say that I have you and your crew at somewhat of a disadvantage." Mal looked to find five armoured soldiers now surrounding them with guns pointed at them. He, Zoe, Jayne, Simon, River. One soldier for each of them. And that was only what he saw, he shrewdly wondered who was out there in what used to be hills that he couldn't see.
"What is this?" Mal demanded. The Operative gave him a long look.
"This is the meeting I asked you to keep. You are, very politely, right on time. I thank you for that." The Operative replied. "This will be our last meeting, Captain. Or more accurately, River Tam's last meeting."
Comprehension slowly dawned on Mal. Their fatal mistake.
"We trusted you." Mal whispered. "There is no alliance assassin out to ambush River. There's no plan to make here. This is the plan. You're the Operative, you always were."
"You are correct Mal." The Operative inclined his head. Mal's head spun. All this time... all this time they had believed him, had placed Inara on Sihnon, with no defense, so this man could have a direct way of contacting them. It was too much to process.
"But River..." He looked to her, she didn't look back at him. "River said you spoke truth, she trusted you."
"Do you honestly think that boy on Regina was the only one to have training to withstand a psychic?" The Operative spoke in his unflappably calm voice. "River Tam had no chance. She believed what I allowed her to believe. And it will be her undoing." Mal watched River as he said this, her eyes were fixed on the man who had betrayed them, her head turned slightly to one side, the way she often did when she was trying to read someone.
"I will not allow River Tam's knowledge to be spread through the verse," He continued on. "Knowledge of the academy will be cause of more riots, uprisings, deaths. And it will all be on me, if I do not stop her. More than that, she is dangerous, a trained killer who could be set off any time. Mal, I have always told you that. An Albatross."
"Don't. Call. Her. That." Mal said through gritted teeth.
"Captain Reynolds, you will all be free to leave here, all except her. And you will have the freedom to go anywhere in the Verse, take any job of your choosing. We won't stand in your way any longer. It's a good life you can hope for, so long as you stay on the right side of the law going forward." The Operative spoke in soothing tones, which were doing nothing for Mal's calm. "All you must do is surrender your pilot."
"Not going to happen!" Jayne was the one who answered this time. "There's a word we have for people who double cross us like this. Cowards." Mal looked at the Operative, his own sword drawn. Him against River. He found himself smiling knowingly.
"What is it?" The Operative asked.
"You'll never take her," Mal said with confidence. "You can fight her with that sword, lose, and then put every gun you have on this gorram planet on her and you'll never take her."
"Let's see how she does when she cannot read her enemy's thoughts," The Operative replied, unfazed. "And she cannot stop the five weapons trained on you and your crew. She can save one of you, maybe two. Who would she save, I wonder? Her Captain? Her beloved brother? Or one of the others...?" He turned to his troops and gave orders. "None of you are to shoot the girl, or any of the crew, unless they make a move towards her. That is not the assignment and no one here is to be harmed. Do nothing without my orders. She is a psychic, and she will kill all of you without any hesitation." He turned back to River. Her hand was fisted around the sword and Mal saw she was ready to strike.
"I always wanted to face you, little girl," He said, drawing his own sword. She faced him, wordless, expressionless. Mal watched that fighter's gaze overtake River and even through his horrible fear and anxiety, felt a surge of pride. He glanced at the other members of his crew. The doctor didn't look like he was in position to obey orders, he was plainly terrified for his sister. Zoe and Jayne were looking to Mal however. He nodded. You watch for your moment and you take them out, disarm the soldiers, he told them with his look, knowing they would see their orders through at all costs.
xxxx
River and the Operative circled each other, swords at the ready. The Operative was the first to attack, stabbing forward with his sword, testing the waters. Mal watched River fly through the air, deftly missing every move the Operative made. But as the fighting continued, and she struck out at him, he also watched the Operative dodge her, something he'd never seen someone do so skillfully before. He was right, Mal realized. River's skill matched him, but she couldn't anticipate the Operative's moves, something she had clearly relied on in her past fights.
It went on and on, for minutes. Attack and dodge, over and over their swords clashed against each other. It was like some kind of sick, choreographed dance. The two were equally matched. He watched and felt the Operative was slowly making the same assessment. River fought as hard as she ever did, with breathtaking speed, but Mal worried with a sinking heart that she wasn't adapting. He thought back to when she sparred with Zoe the other day on Serenity, beating her so easily, over and over again. She was so used to knowing what her opponents were going to do, that in this scenario, when she couldn't, River could only defend herself. She couldn't find a way to act offensively.
The Operative, obviously starting to realize that he could not beat River with a sword, backed away on the pretense of trying a new strategy. Mal thought back to that day when he had fought with a sword for the first time. He'd thought he was doing alright, but Inara had known otherwise. The Operative was toying with River, as Atherton Wing had toyed with Mal.
"River," Mal muttered, aware of the rifle trained on him and feeling utterly powerless. He watched in growing horror as the Operative pulled out a weapon that had been hidden on his person. A gun. Mal's heart leapt into his throat.
He pointed it at her and fired. Missed. She dodged it, sword still in hand as she swirled around him. Fire. Miss. Fire. Miss. She was dodging the shots. But just.
In the confusion created by the shots, Jayne managed to disarm the guard closest to him and kept the soldier's own gun trained on him.
"Any move and I'll shoot him!" Jayne yelled to the other soldiers. The other soldiers looked at the Operative, unsure what to do. Mal observed the break in his guard's concentration by Jayne's outburst and saw his opportunity. He pulled his own gun from its holster. River was dancing around the Operative with her sword, struggling for an opportunity to attack.
Fire.
Without any hesitation, Mal shot the Operative in the stomach. He watched him slump down. But he had little satisfaction. For it had been too late. Far too late.
As he had fired, so had the Operative.
The fourth shot. It was a grotesque reenactment of that day back on Regina when River had been shot. But unlike that day, when River had only been shot in the arm, this shot had hit true.
River's fall was immediate and ugly, without any of her usual grace. Her head slammed into a large rock next to her on the way down.
Time stopped.