Author's Note: Alright, just a tiny spot of real talk with you guys before we jump into this chapter. I love this story, and it certainly is a labor of love. Some of you may notice that there was a four-month delay from the previous chapter to this one - that is attributable to many things, but a significant part of that is that my motivation to write this story has taken a hit. I want to continue it and I have some fun plot points cooking to make it into a legitimate plot-driven story as opposed to exploring the episodes of Firefly from a more Halo-ified viewpoint, but I need to ask your help with something. (Let it be known that I hate this, but I'm doing it anyway.) If you are enjoying this story, please leave me a review once in a while. They are crucial to my writing process so I can improve as an author, and they are crucial to my personal motivation to keep working on the story. I'd love to know what you're thinking, what you're enjoying, or what you'd like to see improved.
Having said that, I really hope you enjoy this chapter! I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read my work. You rock.
0715 Hours, January 29, 2543
Thompson System, Planet Estuary
John stretched, enjoying his first deep breath of non-recycled air in more than two weeks. Behind him, Serenity's gangplank vibrated as a hundred head of cattle rumbled off the ship and into the pens the buyer set up before their arrival.
Fred made a show of whooping and hollering, chasing the bovines from the ship with unrestrained glee. Joy followed closely behind him, peeking around his large frame and silently observing the cattle.
John took his time scanning their surroundings. The meet was set in a canyon some distance from town – far enough from the prying eyes of both rustlers and lawmen to keep risk at a minimum. Of course that opened them up to the risk of being ambushed in a double-cross, which was why they elected to arrive early.
"What a lovely morning," said a melodic voice from behind him, and John turned to take in the sight of the ship's doctor. She had a hand raised to shade her eyes from the rising sun, dark hair swaying this way and that in Estuary's cool morning breeze.
"Ain't it just?" John answered, turning back to scan around the canyon. "Looking like a beautiful day to sell some beef."
"So long as you don't get shot up in the transaction," Cortana added with a grin.
Turning back to her, John shrugged. "I suppose that's so," he said casually. "But we've got ourselves a bona fide doctor these days, so the getting shot up isn't too big a concern anymore." He glanced around the canyon again, his tone turning more serious. "On that note, I'm afraid you and your sister are going to have to wait this particular deal out in your quarters."
"So you're depriving us of the excitement of the sale again, then," the doctor said with an exaggerated sigh.
"Can't be helped, I'm afraid. See, we need our new doctor to stay in one piece so as to fix the rest of us back up when we don't," John answered with a wink. He frowned slightly when his gaze fell upon Cortana's young sister. The tiny girl sat cross-legged in front of one of the panel fences, staring into the eyes of one of the cows. "I think Joy's going to be sad. She seems to like cattle more than folk."
"I think they make more sense to her," Cortana said slowly. "Cows are predictable. People are hectic. They're . . . unpredictable," she finished, bumping him with her shoulder.
John couldn't help but grin. Before he could reply, however, he was interrupted by a voice calling from across the pen.
"We've got incoming!" Fred shouted, causing the pair to turn in unison toward the only road into the valley. Sure enough, a quickly growing dust cloud heralded the approach of a ground-borne vehicle from the base of the canyon.
"I'll be taking my leave then, Captain," Cortana said, tipping her head before going to gather her sister.
John nodded in response, watching her leave before calling the rest of the crew around him. "Kelly, I want you on the good doctor. Fred, you're out here with me. Linda, you're on overwatch. Our buyers aren't exactly known for their friendly dispositions - find a good vantage point in the hangar and keep your sights on them until the cattle are loaded and they're down the road."
The former soldiers nodded. "What am I supposed to do to look busy while I babysit?" Kelly asked despondently.
Fred offered her a broad grin. "Grab a shovel?"
Kelly fixed him with a glare, but the man was already beating a hasty retreat away from the ship. She looked for a moment like she might pursue him, but finally sighed and looked at the manure strewn throughout their hold. She pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered, "Sometimes I hate this job."
"Where do you want me?" a voice asked from behind John.
The captain turned and was surprised to be met by Avery. He assumed the preacher would retire to his quarters as usual. "Where would you like to be?" he asked slowly.
Avery glanced around. "It's a beautiful morning," he said casually. "I wouldn't mind the fresh air." Though he kept his tone calm and measured, John could see a wicked glint in the man's eyes betraying something else – boredom. A dangerous experience for a man of action such as Avery.
"Fine by me," John conceded, "but stick close. If something goes amiss, I really don't need the blood of a man of the cloth on my hands."
The older man offered an informal salute before stepping in line next to John. They made their way toward the livestock as a massive, wheeled hauler came into view through the scrub oak on either side of the narrow canyon.
The truck rolled to a stop as John and Avery reached the pen. The doors popped open, and two T'Vaoan Kig-Yar dropped to the ground. The sisters – Zig and Nuk Gok – were known throughout the rim for their many and varied trade deals. They were also known for shooting when they didn't appreciate the deals offered.
John stood at the pen with Fred, who leaned both arms over the panel fence. "You sure you're up for this?" the other man asked quietly. "You still look like you lost a fight with a lawn mower."
John shot his companion a rueful grin. "I'll be fine," he said, though with every step his still-healing injuries from the altercation on Meridian sang a chorus of dull pain. "Just worry about keeping your own head on your shoulders."
Fred nodded, stepped away, and meandered his way toward the sisters. "Zig," he called out in a friendly voice to the Kig-Yar who climbed down from the driver's seat. "You're even prettier than the last time I saw you."
The almost bird-like creature looked him up and down, unimpressed. "I'm Nuk," she said flatly.
Fred gave her a charming smile. "Well that explains it, then," he whispered conspiratorially.
John rolled his eyes. Fred was their best negotiator by far. He somehow gained a talent for pretending to not loathe the lowlifes with whom they typically were forced to deal. He was also a blatant flirt, and that tended to work in their favor.
Nuk brushed past Fred and leaned heavily against a panel to stare at the cattle. "Skinny," she said curtly, clicking her beak. "Malnourished. I'll give you 30 a head."
"That's a fair bit of comedy," Fred answered coolly, "especially seeing how the price we previously agreed on was 50."
"There an issue here, Captain?" Avery whispered as the pair continued to haggle.
John tried to smile at Zig when he met her eyes over top of the cattle, though he wondered if it came across as more of a grimace. "None so bad as Fred can't handle, holy man. Here in about a minute they'll settle on forty and everyone will head their merry way."
Sure enough, in roughly sixty seconds Fred was shaking hands with Nuk and she was passing a purse filled with credits into his outstretched hand.
Which was, of course, when things decided to go sideways.
A posse some twenty-strong emerged from the encroaching woods in a staggered line, flashing badges and firearms. "Nuk and Zig Gok!" bellowed a stocky, balding man who appeared to be the leader. "You are under arrest for theft, battery, and murder! Kick your weapons away and lie facedown on the ground, and nobody has to get hurt."
John slowly backed away from the pen, gesturing to Avery to do the same. He watched the sisters exchange heated looks for a moment, then draw their weapons and start firing in unison. He dove for cover amid the shouting and the sound of firearms, absently registering Fred and Avery following suit.
On the far side of the pen one of the posse was on the ground, shouting in pain. The sisters' laughter was the only other sound to rise over the general din until the comm in John's ear crackled to life.
"Who am I aiming for here, Cap?" Linda asked, her voice sounding tinny through his earpiece.
"I don't know yet," John answered. "How many lawmen?"
"Enough that we'd really rather be on their side," she answered. "But the sisters have ducked behind the cows, I don't know if I can get a shot on them."
The captain swallowed a curse, instead crawling close enough to Fred to be able to call out to each other.
"What's the play?" Fred asked, watching as another lawman fell to the ground clutching a new plasma burn on his leg. "Run for Serenity?"
John shook his head. "These deputies are more likely to shoot first and ask questions never." He fixed his eyes on the nearest Gok sister.
Fred groaned, intuiting what John was getting at. "I should have known you were going to get me into trouble today," he grumbled. Then, without another word, he rolled onto his hands and knees and stalked toward one of the sisters while John made his way toward the other.
They waited until the embattled traders were sufficiently distracted before rising up and tackling the Kig-Yar in unison. There was a brief struggle but neither sister was strong enough to match their assailants. Seconds later the lawmen swarmed them.
John stepped clear to allow the posse to do their job unimpeded – but not before he swiped the coin purse from her belt. Several minutes passed as the cluster of deputies trussed the Kig-Yar up like a pair of Christmas turkeys before what appeared to be the lead deputy approached John slowly, hand still on the grip of his firearm. "These your cattle?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
John held his hands out to his sides to make it clear he was unarmed. "No sir," he answered measuredly. "I believe they were left here for you and your township, free of charge." He leaned forward and said in a quieter tone, "Fact of the matter is, I can't say as I remember even seeing a ship that could have left them here."
The deputy's glance shifted from John, to the cattle, to Serenity, and back as he measured his options. Finally, he released his sidearm and adopted a more casual posture. "I don't recall seeing a ship of the sort . . . provided no trouble was caused by it."
The two men shook hands, their negotiations concluded, and turned to go their separate ways. John found Fred standing beside the cattle, watching the Gok sisters getting dragged away by a trio of lawmen each.
"Next time I'll leave you out to dry," Zig shouted, flailing uselessly against her captors, "and then we'll see how you like it!"
Fred shrugged and shook his head. "Come on ladies, don't go away sad now," he said, his tone an absolute mockery of sympathy. "Just . . . go away."
The Kig-Yar screeched again, but soon enough she and her sister were dragged out of sight. As soon as the town lawmen were gone John whistled the all-clear signal – a six-note tune they learned as children. Soon after Kelly and Linda came jogging down to meet them.
"That was . . . eventful," Linda commented dryly. "How'd we do?"
John tossed Kelly the coin purse he had pilfered. "Count that out – I do believe we made off even better than we expected to. Linda, get us off this rock. It's time to get out of here."
"And the cattle?" Kelly asked as she hefted the bag in her hand.
"Leave them where they are. Bought the silence of the town officials – for a while at least."
Fred looked wistfully at the small herd. "Shame," he said, somewhat dejected. "I didn't mind having them around so much."
"Easy for you to say, Cowboy," Kelly answered, making a sound of disgust. "You got to play out in the dirt while I got to run the shovel."
Fred was already firing another retort back, but suddenly John realized something felt wrong. On instinct his body tensed, his eyes darting around the canyon to determine what was amiss. He cut Fred and Kelly's bickering off to ask, "Where's Johnson?"
Without a word the quartet broke off in different directions. With the four of them looking it didn't take long to find the old man, still laying in the dirt. There was a growing puddle of blood wetting the dust at his side, and his hand clutched a bullet wound – no doubt a stray shot from one of the deputies.
"I think they winged me, Captain," he joked with a wet cough. "Last time I help you out with one of your illicit deals." He fell into another coughing fit before adding, "Of course, it might be the last time I do much of anything."
"Well now you're just being dramatic," John answered in a soothing tone. "We'll get you up to the doc and she'll have you right as rain before you know it."
Avery seemed as though he wanted to answer, but the strength to do so fled him and he laid his head back down on the ground.
Gingerly, John lifted the older man into his arms and made for the ship. His crew fell in beside him while Kelly took the lead and sprinted through to the medbay. By the time they arrived, Cortana was already waiting with a scanner and various instruments at the ready. Joy watched passively from the back corner of the room.
She directed John to lay Avery out on one of the two hospital beds, setting to work as soon as the man was immobile. Soon the doctor turned to John, concern etched into her beautiful features.
"I don't have the proper facilities here to take care of him," she said.
John ground his teeth in frustration. "What else do you need? I doubt that Estuary has much in the way of high-quality medical equipment."
Cortana shook her head. "No, I don't imagine they do. The bullet punched through his left lung, and it's filling with fluids as we speak. I can keep him alive for a while, but it's a matter of hours."
"We're too far out from any of the planets that could do him any good," John said frustratedly. "What else can be done?"
Linda spoke up from the doorway. "I pinged an SDV in-system on our way down. We could go to them."
John felt the skin draw taught across his face.
Before he had the chance to react, Cortana spoke up. "That's our best bet, then. Covenant corvettes have access to automated surgical suites that could fix Avery up in minutes."
"No," John said, shaking his head. "The second we allow any of them aboard Serenity and they recognize you, we're dead in the water. That's not an option."
Cortana rounded on him, a stubborn fire in her eyes. "If it comes to that we'll turn ourselves over," she shot back. "If we don't take this chance, Johnson dies. I'm not letting him die because of me."
The captain felt trapped. No matter how he cut it, he was putting one of his crew at risk. Finally, though, the look in Cortana's eyes won out. "Linda," he said, his chest tight with the words, "get us out of here."
1300 Hours, January 29, 2543
Thompson System, in orbit around gas giant Confluence
"I don't like this."
Fred paced like a madman, stomping up and down the cargo bay. "I don't like it. I really don't like it."
Linda groaned, resting her head in her hands. "Someone shut him up," she muttered tiredly.
John ignored them both. He didn't like it either, but pacing wasn't going to fix it, nor would being annoyed by Fred's pacing. All they could do was ride it out.
His whole body went rigid when he felt Serenity lurch, announcing that another ship was docking with them. It was only a matter of minutes now – soon enough the airlock would cycle through. Then the other vessel would empty its contents within his ship, spewing through the entire vessel like bile spreading through a toilet bowl.
"I don't like this," Fred repeated once more as the mechanisms within the airlock hummed to life.
John turned an eye to Kelly. She nodded once and went to Fred's side, stopping his pacing with a hand on his shoulder and a comment whispered quietly enough that even the captain's enhanced hearing couldn't pick it up. John didn't fault his 2IC his incessant pacing, but in the face of what was coming it was imperative that they present a calm, united front.
The clicking of boots from within the airlock preceded a loud knocking against the inner door.
John took a calming breath before opening the door.
Like flies from a carcass, a dozen purple-armored figures issued forth from the relatively tiny breach. Six on each side, all aiming at the assembled crew. John ground his teeth in indignation when he registered three humans among the breaching team.
Traitors.
Miranda let out a quiet yelp when a plasma carbine was shoved in her face, and John saw the veins in Fred's neck pulsing as he fought to hold himself back from flattening the overzealous Jackal that put it there. Kelly's calming hand remained on Fred's arm, though now it was flexing as she subconsciously held him in place.
"No need for all the fanfare," John said as convivially as possible, in spite of the way he truly felt, "we haven't got anything on us such as can hurt you boys." In a show of good faith, he raised his hands to shoulder height to prove he was unarmed.
The large figure of an Elite darkened the doorway, resplendent in its glittery red armor. It seemed to stare down its nose – or the lack thereof – at John for a moment before growling something in its odd tongue.
"We'll be the judge of that," one of the humans shouted. He then waited for another comment from the slip-lip before adding, "Name your cargo and state your business."
John nodded, never tearing his gaze away from the Sangheili. "We've been running a mite empty of late – cargo's what you can see. Our business is the man beside me on the gurney here."
As if on cue, Avery let out a pained groan. The doc had bundled the man as well as she could before laying him on the one portable table and wheeling him out beside John. While Cortana had done admirable work, it was easy to tell that Avery was in terrible shape.
The elite looked Avery over in disgust as its lackey relayed John's message. Finally it snorted derisively.
"The Divine Crusade is not some hospital ship," the translator spat, "and its facilities are not for non-military use."
"It doesn't take a doctor to see my man's not going to pull through with what I can give him," John said measuredly, working hard to keep his ever-rising contempt from spilling out.
"Then provide him a comfortable death," came the answer.
John's fists clenched and he forced himself to take several deep breaths. In that moment of silence, he realized Avery was rasping something. The captain knelt low and placed his ear beside the aged man's mouth, only barely managing to pick out his words.
"Ident . . . card . . ." Avery wheezed.
John deftly felt through the breast pocket on Johnson's blood-soaked shirt and removed the durable plasteel identification from within. He didn't even bother looking at it before marching to the translator and shoving the card in his face.
"Just run his ID," John said gruffly. "He's a holy man." It was a desperate ploy, but it was their last option. They had nothing with which to bargain, no way to buy Avery's treatment. And no facilities to effect his recovery alone.
The impertinent worm before him glared up from beneath a gaudy helmet. "Your petty religions do not matter to the Covenant," he answered after conferring with his superior. Even so, he produced a datapad and fed the Ident into a slot on one end.
The machine whirred for a moment before beeping once its examination was completed. The translator dropped his gaze to the pad's screen. Then, impossibly, his expression shifted. He turned the pad to the Elite, and the pair spoke again in quick, hushed tones. Finally, the translator turned back to John.
"We will take him aboard our dropship. You are to keep a minimum distance of 100 kilometers from the Divine Crusade at all times. A dropship will be sent out to return him to you. Do you understand?"
Completely dumbfounded, John could only nod.
"Good," the Covenant trooper continued, handing the Ident card back. "Six of our men will be left aboard your ship to ensure you behave as instructed. They will also perform a search of the vessel to ensure that no contraband is hidden aboard." Behind him, the Elite barked an order and half of his troops melted back toward the airlock. Two of them – a human and a Jackal – paused to grab either end of Avery's bed and hauled him through the airlock with them.
The whole event transpired in silence. There was nothing to do or say – only to watch, stunned as it occurred. Finally, the Elite followed his troops back out the airlock and it cycled shut. Before long John caught a glimpse of the dropship's engines through the porthole as it burned its way back to the corvette.
It was a few minutes more before half of the remaining breach party split off to go explore the ship in search of illegal contraband. Or, John surmised, in search of anything they care to 'liberate' from us today.
Slowly the crew congregated in the depths of the bay.
"They seemed to buy the dummy ship ident I ran up," Linda said quietly, her eyes never leaving the three Covvies left with them. "What's the plan now?"
John made a show of stretching in order to lean closer to the sniper. "We wait it out. Don't do anything to cause trouble. Get Avery back and get away from this circus."
"And if the three stooges sniff up anything we'd rather they didn't?" Fred asked through clenched teeth as he placed a hand on Miranda's shoulder and pushed her until he stood between her and their armed 'guests.'
"I left a few things out for them to find. Little stuff that they'd expect to see – hopefully that's enough to satisfy them and they don't dig too deep," Kelly answered. She chewed her lip thoughtfully a moment before adding, "They should be fine. What I'm more concerned about is what exactly was on the old man's ident card that changed the slip-lip's mind in such a hurry."
John pinched the bridge of his nose. Things were going smoothly so far – and for the first time, that didn't reassure him. His primary concern was with their hidden stowaways, and making sure they stayed that way for the duration of the Covenant's occupation of their ship was a top priority. The fact Avery seemed to be someone important enough to the Covenant to make him worth saving . . . would have to take a backseat for the time being.
Fred sighed loudly. "I don't like this," he said.
Avery's head was fuzzy. His fingers felt . . . tingly. His tongue too big for his mouth.
All in all, it wasn't his worst day.
He forced his eyes open, hissing at first at the bright light that poured into them. Eventually he was able to blink the pain away, and he took in his surroundings. He was still aboard Serenity – rather, he was back aboard Serenity. He recognized the beds and workbenches kept so pristine by the good doctor, along with the familiar hum of the engines he had grown so accustomed to over the past few weeks.
Finally, he recognized the giant figure blocking out the light right beside him.
"With bedside service like this," he slurred, "you might convince me to book a longer stay."
John grunted something somewhere along the lines of a chuckle. "You're lucky we waited around to pick you up at all," he answered gruffly. "I don't take kindly to having Covenant watchdogs tearing through my gear."
"My deepest apologies," Johnson muttered before a painful cough wracked his body. He used his hands to push himself into a seated position to take in the lab more clearly. "I take it the watchdogs didn't manage to sniff up our stowaways?"
The captain shook his head with a rueful grin. "There was nothing for them to find. Not inside, at least."
Avery mulled over the statement for a moment. A smile overtook his face when he finally took John's meaning. "You put them in the EVA suits?"
John nodded. "Tethered them to the hull. Joy got a kick out of it. Cortana didn't take quite as kindly."
Avery chuckled and lay his head back against his pillow to imagine the sight for a moment. It was something – Cortana clinging tightly to Serenity's blocky surface while Joy performed cartwheels through the zero-G.
"I think you know why I came to talk to you," John interrupted his thoughts. His voice was soft, but firm. "I've never seen a Covenant major decide to step to and do as he was told before. Much less because of an ident card."
Avery let his eyes flutter back closed. "I guess somebody out there managed to put in a good word for me."
"That mean you aren't fixing to tell me?" John asked ruefully.
The preacher opened one eye to fix John with a hard stare. "In due time," he answered gruffly. "For now, I think I'd like to get some rest." He turned his head away from John to signify the conversation was over.
The captain waited for a few moments before rising and making his way out of the medbay. Avery opened his eyes just enough to see Cortana, Miranda, Fred, Kelly, and Linda all crowded around the doorway.
"What did you find out?" the doctor asked intently.
"That the old man is bound and determined to teach me some patience," he heard John answer.
The door swished shut, but Avery could still hear Fred's muffled voice as he cried,
"Well I wish you'd up and learn it, then! I'm about tired of waiting."