Reunion
Knock Knock.
"Come in."
Inara's shuttle door swung open and she was surprised to see the River walk in.
"What can I do for you River?" she asked warmly.
"May I speak with you?"
"Of course. Would you like some tea?"
"Yes," she said. Her eyes were drawn to the many trinkets carefully laid out in the shuttle.
Inara poured two cups of tea and lit some incense sticks. She beckoned River to sit next to her. "What's on your mind River?"
"Watching Simon and Kaylee have sex is making me feel funny," she said bluntly and then took a sip from her cup. "The tea is wonderful Inara."
Inara nearly spat out her tea after River's admission but her training allowed her to keep calm in the oddest of situations. "It's a special blend from New Melbourne," she said without missing a beat. "The companion's have a special farm. Do you like watching Simon and Kaylee have sex?"
"The neurological explosions in their brains are like a powerful aphrodisiac to me," she whispered. "My body trembles and aches every time they're doing it, which is why I try to be as close to them as possible. I can sense how you feel after you meet a client, I can see through everyone on this ship and their desire to experience a pleasurable chemical imbalance."
Inara put her hand under River's chin and lifted her face to look into her eyes.
"River, honey," she said softly. "Have you ever kissed a boy?"
River shook her head.
"You're a growing girl and there will be times when the desires of your body will compel you to do certain things."
"Things like what Kaylee and Simon do to each other?"
"Yes," Inara replied chuckling. "But you have to stop invading your brother's privacy and stop peeking into other people's minds."
"But …."
"You don't have to watch them to experience what they feel. You can experience it yourself."
"How?"
Inara raised her eyebrow. River was so innocent in certain ways, she thought. She might have a brilliant mind and a fetish for peeking but she was surprisingly clueless at times.
"Well," Inara said carefully. She had to handle this right. "You have to find a person with whom you feel comfortable enough to explore your sexuality. It can be someone on this ship or maybe someone else but it should be on your terms not anyone else's."
"I feel comfortable with Simon," River said honestly.
"Having such thoughts about your brother is wrong, River," Inara explained gently. "Just like spying on them when he is having an intimate moment with Kaylee is wrong."
River pursed her lips.
"Trust me on this River. Now lie down and put your head on my lap," she said. "There are some things I need to tell you about your funny feelings."
River blushed but did as she was told and listened intently as Inara began to explain the finer points of the human body. River's expressions in that time went from understanding, to amazement and embarrassment. By the time Inara was done she knew she had learnt a few important things about herself.
"Does that actually happen?" River asked, amazed.
"If done right," Inara smirked.
They were interrupted when her shuttle door burst open and River jumped to her feet, ready to fight.
"Mal!" Inara said furiously. "What have I told you about knocking?!"
"Don't do it?" he mocked. "It's not like you have any customers here now do you. It's just tiny River in here."
"You're one to talk… tiny Mal," River sneered and then she left.
Mal's mind had been through the gutter many a-times and he understood that comment immediately. "What the hell was that Inara? What were you girls talking about?!"
"None of your business," she said coolly. "Now was there something you wanted or were you just hoping to get a glimpse of me without any clothes on?"
Mal scoffed. "Haven't there been enough who have seen you without those clothes on. Anyway, we're arguing about what to do about the Harry problem and I thought you'd like to join."
Inara huffed and pushed Mal out of her way. "I have to get a locking system installed in my shuttle," she muttered.
"It's my shuttle," Mal corrected. "And there'll be no locking system anywhere."
Inara glared at the captain as they entered the galley. "One of these days I tell you Mal. You will get what you wished for and then we'll see whether you'll be that cocky at that time."
"You guys are fighting again?" Kaylee asked.
"No!" both denied at the same time.
Everyone at the table just grinned.
"Let's get on with it shall we," Mal grumbled and sat at the head of the table. "How many in agreement with Harry over his suicidal plan?"
"What plan?"
"I intend to go to the Isis prison facility on Bellerophon; talk to Saffron and break her out if the need arises," Harry said.
Mal just raised his hands in exasperation. "Can someone explain this nut why that is such a bad idea?"
"We've been trying Mal," Zoe said. "But he's hell bent on talking with your wife."
"Stop calling her that!"
"Her price for information is going to be escaping Harry," Jayne said. "That Haymer asshat takes betrayal very seriously. She's locked up pretty good and spends her days doing manual labor."
"According to what the hack network was able to gather, he offered her the chance to come back to him but she refused. There was some kind of a scene at the prison and it was only after that she was assigned to the labor division. Before that she was in pretty comfortable quarters," Zoe said grimly.
"Hack network?" River asked curiously.
"Mr. Universe was the ultimate free source of information," Mal said. "But now we need to pay for information and the hack network is a sophisticated ring of underworld nerds. They hack into all sorts of places but their main targets are the companion houses where they gather material for blackmail."
"Geeks," Jayne scoffed. "But they make millions when men or women have secrets to hide."
"Anyway," Harry broke in. "One of these Geeks is going to put my alter identity into the visiting system and I will go and make Saffron an offer."
"We can do this without her, Harry," Mal said.
"Have you been married to Durran Haymer? You do know how sophisticated his security is right? And you should know how brutal this man can be given his hobby of killing people to collect rare artifacts from Earth!"
"There is some history between Haymer and Saffron," Mal said. "And whatever it is, it was enough to make him consider giving her a second chance!"
"Do you have a better idea?" Harry demanded.
Mal seethed silent.
"I think Harry is right," Inara said. "Meeting Saffron is dangerous but he can stay one step ahead of her with his mind reading ability. He can probably use it to blackmail or scare her as well," she added.
"I don't know," Mal said doubtfully. "We also have to deliver the goods to the twins and we can't delay that."
"I'll take a shuttle down to the planet and in the meantime you can finish your business transaction," Harry said, determined. "I have to do this Mal. I need to know what happened to my people and more importantly, this could be the path to finding a wand."
"I suppose you'd want to take some of my crew with you?"
"No," Harry replied. "It's better if I do this alone. I don't want her to know of my connection with you. I have to be in control of her at all times if what you've told me about her is true."
"I want to go with you," River said immediately and this time she was shot down by almost everyone.
"River, Harry said he can't have any connection to this crew. If Haymer found out what was going on we'd be in serious trouble."
"She's extremely good at seducing men," Inara said slowly. "There is a chance she could take him out as well. Her skills are amazing."
Harry blushed.
"Are you volunteering?" Zoe asked surprised.
"No, I thought you or River might be a good option."
"I want to go," River said immediately. "I can keep a level head around Harry and we make a good team."
"What good will you do going with Harry?" Simon argued. "This is a one man job and this is his personal job. It has nothing to do with you."
"I can pilot the shuttle. I'm sure Harry has never piloted one and I'll be useful in case there needs to be an emergency escape."
Clearly no one had thought about that.
"Zoe should go," Simon said.
"I need Zoe and Jayne at the drop. We're dealing with some really precious stuff this time and I want only us to do the surprising."
River frowned.
"He means he doesn't want any bad surprises and if there are, he wants one of his own," Kaylee elaborated.
"River will be more useful with you captain," Zoe said. "She can sense betrayal coming before it comes. I think I'd better go to Bellerophon with Harry."
Mal hummed for a while and then thumped his hand on the table. "Alright. I've decided."
"What?"
"Zoe will go with Harry and River will come with us."
"What?" Simon said furiously. He wanted River on the ship and nowhere else.
Mal ignored him. "While I agree that River going with Harry will be another good learning curve for her, he needs someone with experience in such an operation and Zoe fits the bill."
"What was Sihnon then," River said, scowling.
"Beginners luck," Mal retorted. "You have a tendency to space out when you're alone and Harry needs someone who is alert at all times. As for you Harry, you better be careful and keep Zoe out of sight. She's there only for drop and pick up, got it?"
"Got it," Harry said.
"You should be happy doc," Mal said to the angry Simon. "I'm taking her to a potentially non lethal exchange. With Harry she would have been in a potentially captured for life situation."
He still had his doubts and worries about Harry's plan and grumbling under his breath, he went to the bridge to contact their hacker and set a course for Bellerophon.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
All the arrangements had been made. Julio, Mal's new hacker friend had come through and Harry's alias, Gregory Williams, was now scheduled to meet Yolanda Haymer at 10 in the morning, Bellerophon time.
He was to report to the transport center near the Isis canyon at 9 am and from there he would be escorted to the prison.
It was now half past eight and Zoe had just dropped him off at the ground center of transport on the planet. Her job was to hide in a place they had decided upon in the canyon and wait until Harry gave her a signal. The signal was a nifty device Kaylee had created out of a pen which instantly uploaded Harry's location to the shuttle. It didn't have a long range but it was sufficient for use on the planet.
All his personal effects would have to be surrendered at the prison entrance so inside Harry was absolutely on his own.
Harry knew that after this mission his cover identity would no longer be useful. He was put down as a visitor on behalf of Lt Colonel Hamilton, the man in charge of all the Alliance prisons. Lt Colonel Hamilton was currently unavailable since he was on a mission for the Alliance and until he was back, Harry's name in the visiting roster would hold.
According to Julio, there was no other way to get into the prison. You needed the backing of a powerful politician or a high ranking military officer.
There was a high risk of discovery too but Harry was adamant that he had to do this. He had a feeling Saffron would have some vital information that he wanted.
"Please step through this security chamber sir," his escort said.
Harry calmly stepped through while he was scanned thoroughly. He was wearing a business suit and aviators which made him look exactly how a representative of the Alliance should look.
"Please leave your personal effects at this desk sir. You'll be allowed to collect them when we come back."
"Of course," Harry replied and removed his sunglasses, pen and Id. He was given a visitor's identity card and then was guided to the launch bay.
"We have to get there by flight," his escort said as they got into the tiny shuttle. "The prison is built in mid air so the only way to get to it is by air."
"That's impressive," Harry said slowly and was trying to imagine what a prison built in mid air would look like. One way in and one way out, he thought. A prison break was going to be much harder than he thought.
Fifteen minutes of being in the air later, Harry gasped when he saw the prison. Just like the officer had said, it was literally floating in mid air. It covered the width of the canyon and was fixed to each end by gargantuan bars of solid steel. Atop the prison there were at least a dozen guards armed to the teeth and anti air cannons on all four corners of the roof.
"Why this level of security?" Harry asked, amazed.
"Never been to this Alliance prison before sir?"
Harry shook his head.
"We house some very dangerous criminals here. Most of them are terrorists with an unparalleled hatred for the Alliance."
Also known as freedom fighters by the other side, Harry thought grimly.
"The lady you're visiting is kept in a safer section of the prison but she is sent to the pits for work."
"The pits?"
"The garbage dumps," his escort said, smirking. "I don't know what she said to Mr Haymer but it pissed him off real bad. Before, she was living in the guest quarters under house arrest. But now she's in a proper cell."
"Aren't there any other prisons on the planet to keep the less dangerous criminals?" Harry asked. "Why keep them all together?"
"We have separate sections depending on the level of danger the criminal poses to the Alliance and each of these sections are isolated from each other," his escort replied.
Harry hummed.
"What does the Lt. Colonel want with Mrs. Haymer sir?"
"That's classified." Harry glanced at the name tag of his escort. "You best stay quiet about this Lt. Burns. Or else…"
The threat hung in the air until their shuttle landed.
"I'm sorry sir," the Lt. apologized. "Right this way now."
Harry peeked out of the railing and gulped. They were at least fifty feet above the bottom of the canyon and there was fifty feet of solid rock above them. Escape from this place was impossible unless you had supernatural powers to back you up.
The man led Harry to the single lift in the center of the rooftop and Harry was frisked by another guard as he entered.
The lift doors shut with a loud clang and their descent began.
"Are there any more security checks Lieutenant?" Harry asked, doing his best to sound irritable.
"No sir," he said quickly. "We're going directly to the visiting area where Mrs. Haymer is waiting.
Harry nodded and glanced at the other guard to see if he was looking at him. He wasn't. He then smoothly lifted the tracking pen he had dropped in the Lieutenants pocket and slipped it into his own. The pen he had left behind was nothing more than a simple pen. He had dropped the tracking device in the Lieutenant's pocket before the security check.
He waited with baited breath to see if anyone had noticed anything but a few seconds later the lift came to a halt and no one said anything. He let out that breath he was holding in.
They had entered a large room where everything was blindly white. Harry's eyes took a moment to adjust and then he saw her. She was wearing an orange shirt and orange pants with the number 799 printed on both.
She was beautiful, Harry concluded after taking one look at her and he immediately understood why she was so good at seductions. She was very fair and had a face that would make other women burn with jealousy. Plus with breasts that rivaled the size of his head, any man would be lost in her spell within seconds. But what Harry really found attractive about her was her flaming red hair. She looked like a fallen angel to him.
He walked up to her while the men he came with were waiting near the lift.
"May I sit," Harry asked.
Her eyes flickered to his visitor id. "Of course, Mr. Williams," she said softly.
Harry gulped. This woman was born to be a seductress, he thought nervously. He gathered his nerves and sat down adopting a solemn expression.
"What can you tell me about your husband," he asked quietly. He didn't want the other men to overhear him.
"You came here to talk about my husband?"
The trick to finding information in the mind of another was to bring up questions related to that topic. Harry swiftly began to search her surface memories for clues.
"About his work from twenty years ago on Sihnon," Harry said.
"Who do you work for?" Saffron asked instead, narrowing her eyes.
Harry didn't reply. He was running through her memories but there was nothing related to covert operations or magic. He found a lot of memory strands related to biotechnology and conversations he wasn't interested in. Did he ever discuss anything about the war with his wife?
"I'm someone who can go over your husband's head and get you out of this place," Harry said. "Or do you like spending your days digging through garbage when you can be out there conning people into marrying you."
Her eyes widened and Harry counted five men she had married and stolen from; not counting her husband. One of them she had killed.
"You wouldn't want poor Henry's death to be correctly pinned on you now do you?" he said quietly.
"What do you want from me?"
"I want to know more about your husband. Where does he keep his collections from Earth? What do you know about his work? I want to know everything right now."
Harry said it with as much force and malice he could muster and he was a little glad and guilty that the woman now looked a little afraid.
"I… I'll tell you what you want to know but first you have to get me out of here."
Her mind wasn't giving him anything of use so far. His questions about the collections and his work had resulted in thoughts about her watching Durran work in his lab and some room filled with broken television sets and some other things he didn't recognize.
"Not good enough. Give me something first and then I'll think about it."
"Please," she said, her eyes pleading. "I can't stand it here. My life is constantly at a threat because of my relationship with Durran."
Harry's heart softened.
"Sir," the guard called out. "Your time is almost over."
"Give me something quick and I'll arrange something," Harry said. "This is your last chance, Yolanda."
Yolanda sighed and then leaned forward. "Durran has several warehouses on the planet where he stores certain special artifacts he stole during the war. He's told me on many an occasion how special these items are and he promised to show them to me one day."
"Where is this warehouse?" Harry asked, his heart thumping with excitement. He hoped this wasn't the room with the broken television sets but his rationality broke through and he reminded him that she hadn't been to this special warehouse yet.
"You'll have to get me out of here to find out," she said and Harry was surprised to find that he couldn't find the location in her mind. "Plus if you want to get into them, you're going to need me."
The guard came over and announced that it was time for the prisoner to go back.
Suddenly Harry had an idea and he placed himself between the guard and Yolanda. The pen was already in his hand. "Remember this Mrs. Haymer," he said, pretending to be angry while his eyes told her another story. "This could be your last chance."
And then he closed the gap between them and quietly pushed the pen in the valley of her breasts, hiding them from sight. He winked at her and turned back.
The guard tugged at Yolanda's handcuffs taking her back into the prison. Harry watched her until she was gone.
"Shall we go sir?"
"Tell me, lieutenant. Which garbage dump does Mrs. Haymer swim in?" Harry asked.
"I'm sorry sir, that's classified."
It didn't matter. From what Harry read in his mind, the areas were changed at random.
Harry forced himself to laugh. "Well I just hope it's the worst one of all," he said.
"Oh it definitely is sir. I guess she rubbed the wrong way off you. Most of the men here are putty in her hands. Even the women guards have trouble dealing with her at times."
Harry just smiled.
Behind the closed doors Yolanda smirked as she was taken back to her cell. "That man has a lot to learn in the art of manipulation," she mumbled. He had fallen for her damsel routine quite easily.
"Did you say something?" the guard asked roughly.
Yolanda just smiled at him and he quickly turned away.
She winced as she was shoved back into her cell and cringed when the bars slammed shut.
Now how was this young aspiring big shot going to get her out? She wondered. There were many like him in the Alliance who wanted to get some dirt on their superiors to get ahead in their career.
Looking through the bars to see if there was anyone watching and carefully turning away from the cameras, she removed the pen and examined it. A broad smile grew on her face when she realized what kind of pen it was. Now all she had to do was make sure it wasn't detected when she was sent to the dumps and then she was halfway to freedom.
What she didn't know was that the person she thought was a big shot was wanted by the Alliance fiercely. Escaping with his help was only going to get her into a lot of trouble but she didn't know that yet. For now, she was scheming on how to double cross this would be rescuer of hers and how best to extract her revenge on Durran for letting her rot in here because his stupid heart was broken.
Life was suddenly looking up for Yolanda.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Where have you been?!" Zoe asked angrily. "I was worried sick!"
"Sorry," Harry apologized. "It took me a while to find a discreet way of getting here."
"Discrete? You'd have to walk to get here or steal a shuttle!"
"I walked after stealing a shuttle and dropping it off about a mile back."
"You what?!"
"Relax, I basically hitched a ride and manipulated the guy's memories to indicate he just went for a joy ride."
"Are you sure that was a good idea," she hissed. Harry's powers over the human mind were truly scary, she thought. "Why didn't you just activate the pen?"
"Now don't get mad but I gave it to Yolanda."
"Who?"
"Saffron," Harry corrected.
Zoe's eyes widened.
"Calm down!" Harry said quickly. "I had to do it. She might be able to get access to Haymer's warehouses and I couldn't get enough information from her memories. I didn't have the time and for some reason her mind is really organized for someone without magical powers."
"Harry," Zoe growled. "You can't do these kinds of things without consulting me first! You have no idea how dangerous this woman is and how the hell are you supposed to bust her out of that prison in the first place?!"
Harry sighed. "Zoe," he said calmly. "This woman is very important to me. If she can help me find my wand or any other wand then I'll have no problem helping her escape."
Zoe opened her mouth to argue.
"Just listen!" he snapped. "Missing a wand is like missing a part of your soul. I need it back. And we're not going to break her out of prison. Low security prisoners are allowed to leave the prison to work at the garbage dumps every day. Once she's out, she'll activate the tracker and then we'll bust her out from there. We'll keep her blindfolded until she guides me to the warehouses and she won't have any clue of your involvement."
"And what if she's lying? What if there's nothing there but trash," Zoe said harshly. "What if she's just playing you to escape and leaves you surrounded by feds?"
"She knows something," Harry said. "I saw that much in her mind. But whatever she knew it was hidden deep in her memory which is why I couldn't find the answers. To look deep into her mind I need my wand."
"Harry…"
He leaned forward and looked into her eyes.
"I need my wand," he whispered.
Zoe sighed and gave up trying to reason with Harry. He was as stubborn as Mal when he wanted something, she thought irritably. "There hasn't been any activity on the monitor so far," she said.
"Let's wait until there is," Harry said with determination.
"Mal is not going to be pleased about this," she muttered.
"When do they get here?" he asked her.
"Dusk. You have six hours to hope your crazy plan works. When Serenity gets here, we are not going to waste any time waiting around to help a mad woman escape."
Harry just nodded. The hope of getting a wand in hand had made him immune to the other dangers that surrounded them.
Slowly the time ticked by without any signals and Harry waited patiently while Zoe was not discrete in showing him her impatience.
"It's been hours and there's no signal," she huffed, pacing around the shuttle.
"It's no wonder she's such a good actress," he said idly, not really listening to Zoe.
"Who?"
"Yolanda," Harry said. "She's really talented at keeping her mind organized. Do they give that kind of training to companions?"
"Yes," Zoe said shortly. "They are trained in many arts. Manipulation and seduction are just a few of them. To be a companion is to convince their customers that they truly understand them and are there for them regardless of how short the time they spend together is."
"Amazing," Harry said.
"Inara is better at it," Zoe said, feeling a little protective about the skills of their companion.
"I never said she's not. I've never looked into her mind so I don't know but this is the first time I've come across a non magical person with such skills. I think Inara should be the one teaching River how to organize her thoughts rather than me."
"River's problem is supernatural," Zoe said. "That's your department."
Harry just hummed.
Blip
A red dot had just appeared on the control panel.
Harry jumped up in excitement. "Let's go Zoe!" he shouted. "She just activated the tracker!"
Zoe jumped into the driver's seat and looked at the panel. "The signal is coming from 50 clicks south of the canyon," she said and quickly fired up the engines.
"You'll have to stay low to avoid detection and land about half a mile away from the signal," he said quickly.
"I know Harry," Zoe said, annoyed. "I know how to avoid detection."
It didn't take long for them to reach and Zoe skilfully landed under a protruding boulder. "Here," she said and tossed him a piece of black cloth. "Don't forget to blind fold her and don't let her kiss you or talk to you."
"Kiss?"
"She nearly killed us all with a single kiss," Zoe said dryly.
Harry just frowned questioningly. "I'll keep that in mind," he said before giving her a two finger salute and running into the canyon.
The stench reached him before he saw them. The smell was so foul that tears began to form in his eyes and he tightly wrapped the cloth around his nose and mouth.
"How can they stand this awful smell," he gasped as he squeezed between two boulders to get to the other side.
He saw at least fifteen prisoners, all women, sorting the garbage into several bags. They were guarded by six armed guards wearing masks to keep the smell away. Harry crawled forward looking for his target and he spotted her picking through the trash with disgust written all over her face.
He smirked at her plight and wondered if he should wait until they were about to leave or should he get her now.
He decided on now. Wasting time was certainly not an option.
He took a deep breath, waited for one of the guards to look in his direction, and when one did, he whispered, "Legilimens."
His body slumped to the ground and the only visible change the guard had was a slight stumble.
"Prisoner 799," the guard barked.
Yolanda looked up and glared.
"You missed a spot," he said, pointing to the corner closest to Harry and away from the sight of the other prisoners and guards.
She sneered but complied anyway. Apparently they were used to such treatment, Harry thought.
"Which spot," she mocked when she reached and Harry just shoved her forward with the butt of his weapon.
"Hey," she protested. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Go and hide behind that rock in front of you and do not move until Hamilton's aide gets there."
Yolanda's eyes widened and she smiled dangerously. "Alright," she said. "But you have to get this tracker off me."
Behind the mask, the guard's eyes widened and Harry hoped there was a key somewhere on the guard.
He was in luck. There was a key and he quickly bent down and unlocked the ankle tracker and snapped it to his own ankle.
Yolanda winked at the guard and quickly took off.
Harry guided the guard back to the top of the dump and withdrew from his mind leaving a blank spot in the guard's mind. Harry gasped as he regained motor function of his own body and quietly moved towards Yolanda's hiding spot.
"Hey," Harry whispered.
Yolanda turned around sharply and found Harry a few feet away from her.
"How nice to see you Mr. Williams," she said throatily.
"Button up your top and come this way," Harry said.
She followed him but didn't bother buttoning up. "They just don't close," she said, pouting.
"That's too bad," Harry said, his heart skipping a beat. "Now follow me," he said, crawling between the spaces between the huge boulders.
"Where are we going?" she asked, hurrying after him.
"You're going to take me to Haymer's most precious warehouse. And if I find what I'm looking for, you're a free woman."
"If not?"
"Let's remain positive shall we?" Harry said dryly. "Now how long do you think before they realize you're missing?"
"Our shift lasts for another hour and they do a headcount before loading us into the shuttle. But many of the guards like to stare so I dare say you don't have much time at all."
"We, Mrs. Haymer. We," Harry corrected.
They ran, sweating buckets in the heat and when they were close to the shuttle Harry stopped.
"What is it?" she asked impatiently.
"I'm going to have to blind fold you," Harry said and before she could protest, he maneuvered behind her and wrapped the dark cloth around her eyes.
"This is not necessary I assure you," she said angrily.
"Oh but it is," Harry said, tugging her along. "Keep the coordinates in mind Mrs. Haymer. We're going to have to be quick about this."
"Call me Rosalyn," she said acidly.
Harry laughed. "A new name already?"
"Watch your step Rosy," Harry said when they reached the shuttle.
Zoe was there and she signaled Harry to keep quiet about her.
Harry nodded and pushed the newly named Rosalyn into the seat.
"The co-ordinates?"
"36 degrees north and 115 degrees west," she hissed. It was clear she didn't like doing this but she knew she had no choice.
"Oh and the pen you don't mind?"
She dipped her fingers into her breasts and removed the pen. "Enjoy," she said.
Harry blushed and Zoe just smirked. He looked at the time instead and saw that they had just an hour left until Serenity got to the planet. Time was running out fast and worry began to plague Harry. He prayed everything would go smoothly.
"What interest does this Hamilton have in Durran's toys?" Yolanda asked suddenly.
"He is deeply interested in the war Durran waged twenty years ago on Sihnon," Harry answered.
"I don't know anything about Durran's work," she replied. "All he ever told me about his work was that it was his job to remove the seeds of war before they began."
"You're right," Harry said, unable to control himself. "Durran and his Alliance buddies prefer to kill thousands of innocent people who think different just to collect war trophies."
"You sound like you don't like your employers," Yolanda said, frowning.
Zoe gave Harry a look telling him to shut up. The less Yolanda knew the better.
A series of large warehouses came into sight and the shuttle descended.
"We're here," Harry said, pulling her up. "I'll turn on the pen when I need you," Harry said to Zoe. "We'll rendezvous at the same place if I don't."
Zoe tapped her watch.
Harry nodded in acknowledgment. The message was simple. He had to make it in time.
He waited for the shuttle to disappear from sight before removing Yolanda's blindfold. "Let's go."
"It's warehouse 13 if I'm not mistaken," she said.
"This one's eight."
"Follow me," Yolanda said.
Once they reached the warehouse Yolanda opened a box and revealed a number pad.
"You know the code I presume?" Harry asked urgently.
"I've not been to this warehouse," she said. "But the other two had the same code so…"
She punched in the code and it turned out to be incorrect.
"Shit," she muttered.
"Keep trying," Harry said.
"Try what?" she said, "The code could be anything!"
Harry glared at her. "Use your brains. Think! How about his birthday, your birthday, your anniversary, numbers special to him, anything!"
Yolanda sighed and closed her eyes to think. She then punched in another code but that too was incorrect.
She tried her birth year but it didn't work.
She was lucky the fourth time. The code was their anniversary and she felt a twinge of regret at that moment.
"Excellent," Harry breathed as the doors to the warehouse opened with a slight hiss and the lights flickered to life inside.
Yolanda quickly punched in another code before he looked at her. It was a distress signal which was relayed to Durran's home.
Harry and Yolanda stepped into the warehouse. Harry, with excitement and Yolanda with curiosity. She wondered what was so valuable inside that this Alliance man wanted it so badly.
Harry recognized many items inside. Statues dating back to ancient times even on Earth were lined up side by side. Gemstones, with millennia of history behind them, gleamed from the position on pedestals. Replicas of ancient wonders on Earth towered all around them. Vehicles, which were once the pinnacle of technology and engineering, shone under spotlights.
As they walked deeper into the warehouse, Harry gasped when he saw a Concorde hanging from the ceiling and it wasn't alone.
"This is amazing," Yolanda whispered.
But this wasn't what Harry was interested in. "I want you to keep a lookout for broomsticks and wooden sticks about ten to fifteen inches in size."
"Broomstick?" Yolanda asked in shock. "You want to look for broomsticks and tiny sticks?"
"Yes," Harry snapped. "And cauldrons too," he added. "Shout if you find anything that looks completely insignificant."
Yolanda stared at him, nonplussed.
"You take the right and I'll go left. Yell if you find anything and don't even think about running. I know you're thinking of ways to escape and they're not going to work," he said coldly.
Yolanda felt slightly intimidated by his voice. Suddenly there was something that screamed power about this boy and she thought it would be wise to follow his commands for now.
"Of course," she said quickly and began her search.
The distress code that she had secretly put it would ensure that the feds got here in another fifteen or twenty minutes depending on whether Durran was there at his home or not. This was her chance to get back on Durran's good side and become a free woman once more.
Ten minutes later they had found nothing and Harry was beginning to get frustrated. All he could find was things that were valuable to muggles but nothing magical. He went to find Yolanda and found her looking through some crates on the other side.
"Did you find anything?"
She jumped up in panic. "N-no," she stammered.
Harry narrowed his eyes and his eyes widened when he read her surface thoughts. "You alerted the Feds?" he hissed furiously.
"No! I didn't!" she denied but the game was up.
"Don't lie to me. I can see it all over your face!" he spat. This was bad, he thought. He had to move quickly and get out.
"Tell what was there in the other warehouses," he said, his voice trembling. He suppressed his anger and remembered his priorities. There was no time to be angry now.
"Mostly guns, flags, uniforms, some television sets, oddly modeled phones. Err… lots and lots of books but nothing like what you described!"
Harry screamed and punched the wall behind her. "Are you sure there's no other warehouse!" he shouted.
"N-no! I don't know!"
He was ready to make a break for it, feeling the sting of defeat when his eyes spotted a door behind the piled up crates.
"Help me move these boxes," he said, feeling the excitement bubble inside him again.
Could this be it?
They moved the boxes and found the door to be unlocked. There was no code required, nothing.
Shaking in anticipation, Harry walked in and his eyes lit up in delight.
The contents of this room were what Harry would call valuable.
Brooms, parchments, wands and cloaks filled up the corners of the room. All the items were laid out carefully in large glass cases, just like they would be in a museum.
"Yes," he breathed softly. "I can't believe it."
Harry was repulsed when he saw bones in another glass case.
"What is this place?" Yolanda asked.
Harry ignored her. His eyes had been drawn to something else. Another statue of Voldemort, but smaller and it was crafted with Voldemort posing with one of his fists pumping the air and there was something beneath his foot.
It was a head with a passing resemblance to his face and below it was a plaque which read, "A moment in history defined by the defeat of dark wizard Harry James Potter," he read in horror. So that was what his name had been reduced to? A mere terrorist?
And at the foot of the statue, enclosed in a glass case, was a wand.
"Wizard?" Yolanda said, awestruck.
Harry would recognize that wand anywhere. It was, after all, a part of him. It was his wand, Holly and phoenix feather and eleven inches.
He strode over to the brooms, grabbed one and smashed the glass casing. He was still feeling numb that he had actually found his wand. He had not only found a piece of the wizarding world, but after five hundred years he had managed to find his own wand!
His heart rate increased a notch and he suddenly began to fear. What if his wand no longer recognized him after all these years? Will it still work? Thoughts like these began to race through his mind when something crashed into back and sent him straight to the floor.
Groaning Harry turned around and saw Yolanda bring down the broomstick in her hand towards his face.
He quickly rolled aside and kicked her at the back of her knees. She fell backwards and Harry got back to his feet swiftly and kicked her in her ribs and before she could kick out at him, he grabbed her hair and dragged her to her feet.
"Don't make me kill you," he growled and pushed her away from him. She slammed into the glass case holding the wands and cried out when the glass shards dug into their skin.
Adrenaline was rushing through Harry's body as he slowly turned back to the statue and bent down to pick his wand when the doors were blown off their hinges and soldiers began to pour into the room.
"Freeze in the name of the Alliance," barked a voice over a loudspeaker.
"Durran!" Yolanda screamed and ran to her husband who had walked in after the soldiers with fury written all over his face. "Thank god you're here!"
Harry's body was still bent and his fingers were just inches away from the wand. Blood was pumping wildly through his body and the voices that were shouting felt distant and muffled to him.
He had eyes only for one thing.
"Turn around and put your hands in the air!"
Take her Harry, his consciousness whispered. Take her.
"I said turn around and put your hands above your head!"
She's waiting, Harry. She's been waiting for a long time. Take her.
Take her.
And then he did.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
A/N: Review!