Plans
Serenity was set on course for the planet Beaumonde. According to the solar clock it was past midnight and everyone on board the ship was fast asleep. All, except for River Tam who was wide awake with a single purpose in mind. She slipped out of her bed and soundlessly walked to the infirmary. The reverberated with the sound of the engine and judging by the odd thoughts that were encompassing her mind, she knew everyone was fast asleep. In the infirmary, she climbed the largest cabinet and pushed up the opening to the air vents and quick as lightning, she caught it before it clanged against the inside of the vents. She gently laid it down and acrobatically hauled her body inside in one smooth motion.
Silently, she crawled through the narrow vent as she had done many times before until she reached an intersection. To her left was Simon's room. She knew this because she had spied on her brother when he was alone with Kaylee many times since Miranda. The sensations and emotions she felt when they were engaging in sexual activities always captivated her and she was tempted to make her way there once more but then she remembered he was in Kaylee's room tonight and so, almost regretfully, she turned left. A few paces were all it took and River was right above Harry's room.
She removed a screwdriver from her pocket, undid the fastenings on the hatch and then lifted it with ease and put it aside carefully. She then dropped herself into the room not making a sound all the way. She stood there, for a few seconds, wearing black tights and red sweater, her hair untidy and falling all over her face, with a look in her eye that could be interpreted as that of a psychopath stalking its prey. Part of her mission was accomplished.
She moved next to him, feeling the anticipation grow in her with every step she took, until she was standing right above him, staring into his restless face. His eyes were shut tightly and he was muttering incoherently. But that was irrelevant, that was not the mission. She carefully climbed over him, placed her legs on either side of his torso, knelt down and brought her face close to his until her nose was just an inch away from bumping into his. She was mindful not to place any weight on his body which might accidently wake him.
She looked into his shut eyes imagining they were open and then let out the breath she had been holding. She then closed her own eyes and like a knife slicing into hot butter, she slipped into his mind.
It worked. His mind shields were not strong when he was asleep and they were weaker because of the dream he was having. Her heart began to beat faster as images rushed past her and pieces of his memories began to play in front of her.
A cupboard, a desperate and tiny bespectacled boy being chased, a thin shaggy haired man smiling, an old man waving a stick and conjuring an armchair out of thin air, hand to hand combat with a tall black man, his awakening on Serenity, a conversation with twins. All the images were accompanied by snippets of conversations but none of them were coherent enough to understand. A fight, sticks emitting flashes of light, Harry at school, Harry learning magic, Harry laughing, Harry smiling, Harry screaming, Harry fighting, Harry being tortured.
This was River's first time reading someone's mind in such a fashion and she didn't have any semblance of control. Her breathing became labored as the memories became more intense by the second. She tried to slow down the speed of the memories but she found that she was unable to do so and she also realized that she didn't know how to leave his mind too. Panic hit her like ice cold water being dumped on her; she was helpless in the face of the turbulent memories. Outside, her legs tightened their grip on the sides of Harry's torso and her mouth was half open and her eyes were clenched in pain.
But suddenly, the torrential flow of memories stopped and she was sucked into another memory. She was breathing heavily and then she gasped when she realized where she was standing. An endless sea of blood surrounded her and Harry was standing knee deep in the middle of it. The sky was dark red and black clouds were rushing across the sky ominously.
River realized this was not a memory but a dream; a nightmare.
She tried to get to Harry but nearly screamed when she realized she was standing on dead bodies that were floating in this sea of blood. Only their faces were visible and they all had their eyes fixed on Harry. Cringing, she walked over them, pushing down the disgust and nausea, so that she could get to Harry and make him get out of this horrible place. But Harry was on his knees with his head in his hands and he was sobbing.
"It was your fault,"whispered one of the bodies as they floated past him and then River realized these were Harry's friends. She had seen him fighting alongside them and now they were dead. River watched in horrid fascination as Harry pleaded for forgiveness. The sea of blood rippled and transformed into a desert of rotting bodies. A red sun was beating down upon them and Harry was once again surrounded by his friends. Only time they were a gruesome sight. Maggots falling out of their eyes, flesh burnt away and bones sticking out at unnatural angles.
River felt like throwing up and on the outside she cried out loud and grabbed the sides of Harry's head, her fingers digging into his scalp. The nightmare was becoming as real as it could possibly get for her too and then Harry woke up.
Harry sat up with a sudden jerk and immediately his head exploded in pain. Terror was once again coursing through his veins and there was a throbbing pain that was radiating from his temples. He counted to ten in an attempt to calm his nerves. It had become a ritual of sorts, wake up terrified out of his mind and slowly count to ten. It always helped him to an extent but tonight the physical pain he was experiencing was new.
It took him some time but soon enough he realized that there was a humanoid figure next to his feet and he scrambled back in fear suddenly thinking this was still a nightmare. But then his eyes refocused on the figure and he recognized it.
"River?"
Said girl had backed up to the other end of his mattress and was rubbing her forehead with a grimace. "That hurt," she muttered, avoiding his eyes.
"River what are you doing here?!" he gasped and then realized why his head was hurting. It had smashed into River's and that could only happen if she was on top of him, almost inappropriately so!
He had an incredulous and confused expression on his face. "Were you on top of me?" he asked, voicing his thoughts.
"Yes?" she said hesitantly. Harry noticed the girl was behaving very out of character. It was almost like she had been caught stealing from the cookie jar.
"Why were you on top of me and how did you get in?" he asked angrily. His body was still shaking with the after effects of the nightmare and he couldn't comprehend why River was in his room, on top of him, looking so guilty and awkward.
River sighed.
"You're a mystery and I don't like mysteries," she said. Her initial guilt morphed into righteous anger.
"So you decided to lie on top of me? No wait..." The murkiness in his mind cleared and then a realization struck him. "Were you trying to read my mind?" His temper was reaching its breaking point and there was an undercurrent of fear as well in his voice. Fear of what she might have seen.
"It's not called trying if you succeed," she grumbled.
"What did you see?" he demanded furiously.
River didn't reply but this time she looked Harry in the eye. "I'm sorry," she defended. "But I had to know!"
"No you didn't," Harry snapped. "You wanted to know, now tell me, what you saw!"
"I saw your friends," she said softly. "I saw your magic, I saw your friends and... and I saw your dreams."
Harry stilled.
"What were they about?" Harry could never remember his nightmares and maybe River could shed some light on them.
"They were about death," she told him and a shiver ran down her spine. "They were horrible."
The anger building up in Harry left just as quickly as it had come and exhaustion began to seep into his bones. He sighed tiredly and removed his sweat drenched shirt.
River's eyes widened when she saw his naked chest. She didn't expect him to be so fit and muscled. She felt strange stirrings in her belly as her eyes raked over his body. Harry didn't notice any of this and he got out of his bed tiredly and put on a new shirt.
"It's bad manners to read another's mind without their permission, you know," he told her.
"Can you teach me how to control it?"
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "You'll have to figure that out on your own. I can't do it without a wand and I don't know if you're even capable of learning the way I did."
"Can't you try?" she asked and Harry wanted to say yes looking at the pleading expression on her face. Harry's heart clenched when he remembered the feeling of reading her mind. He knew how awful it was for her.
"I have nightmares too, you know," she told him. She got off the bed and moved closer to him. "They're about my time at the academy and they're horrible."
"You're acting surprisingly sane, you know that," Harry said uncomfortably. He didn't want to talk about nightmares.
River smiled at that. "I have my moments and not being able to read you helps."
"As I recall, you not being able to read me led you to conclude I don't exist," he said, raising his eyebrows.
"That was then," she said, shrugging. "And this is now."
They just stood there staring at each other for a few minutes before Harry cleared his throat and got her attention.
"How did you get in here? The door is still locked."
River pointed up. "From there."
Harry looked up and spotted the opening in the ceiling. "I'm going to have to bolt that from the inside," he muttered and then glanced at River who was looking at him innocently.
"I need a drink," he said, shaking his head and unlocked his door and made his way to the galley. "Milk would be my first preference but we're all out of that."
River followed him.
He opened one of the cupboards and pulled out some whisky, poured it into a glass, mixed some water, took a sip and then grimaced.
"Jayne has the worst taste when it comes to liquor," he said, making a face.
"Jayne only has a taste for weapons," River said sagely.
"And crudeness," Harry added.
"Don't forget indecency," River said grimacing.
The pair lapsed into silence while Harry continued to drink, making faces every time he took a sip.
"Why are you drinking that if you don't like it?" River asked curiously.
Harry shrugged. "I've been having shitty nightmares since Miranda and I feel exhausted when I wake up. Alcohol dulls my senses and it seems like the thing to do when you feel like a herd of Hippogriffs just ran over you," he explained. "Usually I have some milk but like I said before we're all out of milk and this is the only substitute that I have."
"You know that's bad for your liver," River said disapprovingly while wondering what sort of creature a Hippogriff was. A mental image of a hippopotamus with an incredibly long neck popped into her mind and she giggled.
Harry looked at her strangely and she continued her previous line of thought. "If you drink too much there will be fat accumulation in your liver which will cause it to perform less efficiently although it depends on how much alcohol you consume and this is just the first stage."
Harry glared at her. "I hardly drink," he retorted.
"That's where it starts," River sniped. "The more often you drink the faster it becomes a habit and the deterioration of your liver isn't the only effect. It raises your blood pressure, increases the risk of a heart attack or a stroke, your appetite is affected and it has several psychological effects like depression, anxiety…."
"River shut up," Harry said irritably. "If I wanted a lecture I would have asked for it. And why are you so chatty anyway!"
River huffed and folded her arms. "I was just trying to help," she grumbled.
Harry rolled his eyes and put the glass away. He didn't feel like drinking anymore. "Why are you still here anyway?" he asked her. "Don't you want to sleep?"
"I'm waiting for your answer," she replied.
"What answer?"
"Teach me how to control it."
"River, I told you I can't," he said tiredly. "First of all I'd need a wand to even make an attempt and the way I was taught cannot be possibly replicated."
River shook her head stubbornly. "That's not an answer."
"That is an answer and you weren't complaining before," Harry said. "But if you want a straightforward answer here's one, NO!"
"No, that's not the right answer," River said again. "You must teach me."
"And I said I can't. Why can't you get that into your psychotic brain?"
"How can you know if you haven't even tried?" River retorted. "You just don't want to teach me."
"If I could teach you I would!" Harry exclaimed. "But it's impossible for me without a wand!"
"No," River said, putting her hands on her hips. "If you can do it without a stupid magic stick then why can't I?"
"Because I'm a wizard and you're not," Harry patronized. "And how many times do I have to repeat it? I was taught in a very unconventional way and I can't do the same for you."
"How do you know that," River demanded, anger leaking into her voice. "I'm a reader and for all you know it could be possible."
"I'm not going to argue with you anymore," he said. His temper was rising and his headache was worsening.
"Qing wa cao de liu mang," River swore, taking a few steps towards him, her eyes wide and dangerous.
"Like I understood a single word of that," Harry sneered. He had no idea why she was getting so worked up about this. Couldn't she understand that he simply couldn't?
"It means you're a frog humping son of a bitch," she spat into his face.
"Well at least I'm not all loopy in the head and go into psychotic fits screaming like someone just shoved a hot rod up my ass!" he shouted right back at her.
River narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. "If you'd teach me how to control it I wouldn't be going to those psychotic fits," she hissed.
"All I can do is read your mind and probably make you do things against your will," he growled. "How is that going to help you?"
"Chwen," she spat at him and then stomped on his feet before turning on her heel and storming back to her room.
Harry winced as pain flared up in his feet. "Psycho!" he yelled at her retreating back.
"Freak," she screamed back and slammed her door shut.
Harry's blood was boiling and he wanted to go and yell obscene things at her but he controlled himself and took a few deep breaths and hurled insults at River in his mind instead. Why the hell wouldn't she understand!
"Well that was quite the show," came Mal's voice from the other end of the room and Harry nearly jumped out of his skin.
Simon, Kaylee, Mal and Inara were standing there with broad smiles on their faces.
"Your sister," Harry said to Simon angrily, "Has more than a few loose screws in her head!"
"River can't control her emotions. It's impossible for her in her current state of mind. Because of what the Alliance did to her, her reasoning ability has been affected too," Simon said apologetically with resentment towards the Alliance. "And you're the only one she can't read. At first she was frustrated because she couldn't read you and now she's frustrated because you can control it and she can't."
"So does that mean she can't take no for an answer?" Harry asked incredulously.
"I'll go talk to her," he said smiling oddly and hurried to his sister's room and knocked.
"Go away!" came an angry voice from inside.
"River it's me, Simon," he said soothingly.
"I said go away!" she yelled and a thump followed. She had thrown the pillow against the door.
Simon came back looking sheepish. "She doesn't want to talk," he said mildly and rapped Kaylee behind her head when she started giggling.
"Now don't you start fighting too," Inara warned. "One lovers spat is quite enough for today."
Harry turned red and started sputtering.
"It's alright Harry," Inara said wickedly, not letting Harry get a word in. "Things like this happen."
Harry just shook his head vigorously. "This was not a lovers spat! This is me being reasonable and her being psychotic!"
"Don't call my sister that!" Simon said immediately.
"Oh now you don't start," Harry growled. "I've had enough arguments for today."
"Why can't you teach her anyway?" Mal asked.
"It's a very difficult art to master and as I said numerous times over the past hour, I need a wand if I have to even try."
"A magic stick?" Inara questioned while pouring cereal for her, Harry and Simon.
Harry nodded.
"Anyway, we should be reaching Beaumonde in a couple of hours," Mal said, putting an end to all conversations. "Kaylee, check the entry couplings and make sure everything's shiny."
"Aye, aye cap'n," she said, saluting and headed off to the engine room.
Mal turned to Inara, "You're going to be spreading your legs when we get there?" he asked innocently. "Do we need to stay here for more time than necessary?"
Harry and Simon choked on their cereal.
"How sweet of you to ask Mal," she said acidly. "But no I won't be spreading my legs as you so eloquently put it but I am considering options on how to sever your balls and feed them to the dogs but I doubt even they'd want it."
Harry and Simon choked again.
"Now there's the prostitute we all know and like," he said sarcastically and then ducked when Inara's bowl went flying towards his nose. It smashed into pieces when it made impact with the wall behind him.
"That bowl costs money! You better pay for it!" he yelled and hurried into the bridge before she could get her hands on the knives.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," she said diplomatically to the two men and then went back to her shuttle.
Simon and Harry exchanged amused looks and continued eating. It was going to be one of those days.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Serenity landed in Aubaine a few hours after sunrise and the city was still stirring itself awake. There were several other cargo ships docked near Serenity and judging by the smell, they were fish imports.
"Lovely smell," Harry said, sniffing deeply. "You can almost imagine the sushi melting in your mouth!"
Kaylee stared at him and wrinkled her nose, "You like this smell?" she asked and covered her nose. She looked around and saw that everyone was doing the same and their eyes were watering too.
"It's too powerful," Zoe choked. "How are you able to bear it?"
Harry shrugged. "You get used to it after a while. Once you get over that initial repugnant feeling, you realize that they actually smell good."
"You are repugnant," River muttered under her breath but everyone heard her and smiled. They were happy that River was talking more often instead of isolating herself and making everyone feel like she was about to break down at any second. Her relationship with Harry was unknowingly giving her a little more strength and control over her mind and the others could see it clear as daylight.
Harry just rolled his eyes and led them out of the docks. Outside the exit, there was one main road that led to all the major parts of the city but Harry guided them to another by lane parallel to the main road. From then on, it was a complete maze of crisscrossing narrow roads with dilapidated buildings on both sides and men and women sleeping on the pavements; some of them passed out after a night of revelry and most of them homeless.
"Err… Harry. Where exactly is your house?" Zoe asked warily. "Why does it feel like you're taking us to the darkest part of this city?"
"It's a shortcut," Harry explained. "If we take the main roads then it will take us nearly an hour to get there and the cleaners are usually rolling down the big streets at this time so getting past them will be a little difficult." The cleaners were huge machines that traveled the length of all the main roads to ensure that the quality of the roads did not diminish.
Above them the sky was beginning to turn dull and smoggy which was a clear indication that the factories had begun their operations. Every day, by afternoon, the sky gained a thick layer of smoke which blotted out the sun and introduced a smell of ash in the air. It was only in the capital and the agricultural towns where the sky was clear and birds nested. If a bird made its way into the industrial cities, they would not last a day before suffocating to death.
The group was relieved when they exited the lanes which seemed to get narrower and dirtier and came into a large intersection which reminded them that they were, actually, in a city. Harry led them across the intersection and into his district. "This is where I live," he said grandly and proudly.
It was quite a drastic change and Mal wondered if Harry had purposely taken them through areas of filth and poverty just to enhance the effect his area would have on them. Even with those thoughts, he was suitably impressed. All of them could tell you needed to be an above average earner to live in such a neighborhood.
"Your house is lovely, Harry!" a wide eyed Kaylee exclaimed as she absorbed the size and class of his house. It wasn't that big but it was bigger than any Kaylee had ever seen. Plus it felt modern and had all the new digital toys.
"Ours was much bigger," River said snidely sitting on the couch cross legged.
"Do I look like I care?" Harry retorted.
"Stop it," Simon warned. "River, do you remember any part of the lecture I gave you before we left?"
"It was a boring lecture," River pouted. "I don't like to listen to lectures."
"All the same, the highlight of the lecture was play nice!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Mal said, rolling his eyes. His eyes zoomed to Harry's liquor stand and he immediately got busy making Inara and himself a drink from the surprisingly good collection of liquor.
"Your place is really nice Harry," Inara said warmly. "It's got a very homely feel and I'm shocked that it's so clean."
Harry grinned. "I like to keep my surroundings clean. I feel very depressed if I'm surrounded by dirt. Much like how it feels when I see River's cabin on the ship."
"Simon!" River cried indignantly.
"Harry," Mal warned this time. "Do you remember our talk before we departed?"
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. "But for the record I didn't have any problem or issues with River until today."
"That's because you won't teach me," she snapped. "Selfish goat," she added under her breath.
"Oh for the love of god," Mal cried, interrupting Harry's retort. "Will you just give it a rest? River, if Harry can teach you I'll make sure he does. Is that okay sweetheart?"
"I wouldn't even if I could," Harry muttered under his breath.
River heard that and glared at Harry angrily. Why couldn't he understand how painful it was being able to hear a hundred other thoughts apart from your own!
"Do you want any of us to come with you when you go meet Fanty and Mingo?" asked Mal hurriedly not wanting to hear another argument.
"Not really," Harry said. "Fanty said the decision was up to me but I get the feeling they won't be very accommodating after what happened last time."
"Well you got that right. I'm sure the image of River beating up everybody has been burned into their thick skulls," Mal said snorting.
"Hmm," went Harry and then a mischievous grin grew on his face. "River, do you want to come with me?" he asked, his eyes gleaming.
"What? Oh! You're a genius Harry," Mal cackled.
"No way!" Simon protested immediately, living up to his role as the over protective brother.
"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Kaylee asked worriedly.
"If you want to spend time with River alone you just need to say the words you know," Inara said slyly. "No need to go through all this trouble."
"That's not it!" Harry denied while Kaylee and Mal started laughing at Harry's annoyed face and River's frown.
"She's not going and that's final," Simon said, putting his foot down.
Mal ignored him and turned to River. "Do you want to go? Can you control yourself from whooping ass?"
"I thought you had a problem with River. Why do you want to take her with you?" Simon asked scowling.
"I don't have a problem with her doc," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "It's she who has the problem and I can put our differences aside if it means putting some fear into those twins. I mean I'll get a good deal when I leave."
"What's in it for me?" River asked.
Harry gaped. "Err captain?" he said, turning to Mal.
"River you're going with him, that's an order," he said lamely.
River pouted. "That's not fair!" both she and Simon said together.
"Put on your boots little one," Mal said cheerfully. "I have a feeling lady luck is on our side today."
River grumbled at the unfairness of it all.
"Captain," Simon began but Mal just raised a finger. "Don't want to hear it," he said firmly.
"So when do we leave?" he asked Harry instead.
"Give me a minute," Harry replied and entered a code into his security unit. A painting behind the bar swung open.
"Cool!" Kaylee gushed excitedly. "A hidden safe!"
Harry walked over and entered another code on the screen beside the safe and the safe popped open.
All of them couldn't help but drop their mouths open at the contents of the safe.
It was filled to the brim with credits, platinums and dollars. Harry counted and handed two hundred credits to Mal. "For the job," he said and Mal just accepted it dumbly.
"That's a lotta money," Kaylee commented faintly and Inara nodded politely. "Something you're not telling us, Harry?" Inara asked.
"Huh?" Harry said not really paying attention to them. He was busy removing more money and it still looked like the safe was full. He needed to pay the twins, have enough money for a buy-in if they got down to playing a game and then he knew he would have to pay them some more if they were going to help him get to Sihnon and that wasn't going to be cheap.
"I know it's not much," he said, misunderstanding their shock. "But I got a lot more in the bank. Of course it's not under my real name but Fanty and Mingo helped me get the fake Id's required to open an account there and let me tell you it's not easy."
"A lot more?" Mal said in disbelief.
"Oh yeah," Harry said. "I even got a nice flat down at the capital but the people there are too posh for me. I like this city better even though the crime rates are through the roof."
The rest of them just looked on as Harry filled a small bag with credits and once he was satisfied he zipped up the bag and shut the safe before going to his bedroom.
Simon and Mal exchanged incredulous looks.
Harry came out with another bag and handed it to Mal.
"What's this?"
"Clothes and stuff," Harry said. "I don't want to get stuck on the ship without any belongings again."
Mal nodded. His mind still hadn't processed the sight of all that money.
"Well I'm ready," Harry huffed, taking a seat on the bar stool. "Am I going alone or does anyone want to come along?"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"So where are we going?" River asked, sticking close to Harry. Her mind was picking up so many thoughts and conversations as they pushed through the crowd that it was making her very nauseous.
"A pub called the Royal Shed," Harry said. "Also, I've been thinking."
"Congratulations," River deadpanned.
Harry smacked her head and almost instantly a tiny fist struck his gut. Neither of them made a sound. It was almost like a simple handshake.
"For reasons that are my own, I simply can't teach you how to shield your mind." River opened her mouth to protest but Harry continued not letting her get a word in. "But after our lovely argument I've been thinking of a way to help you deal with it."
River shut her mouth and paid attention.
"You said being in my presence is helpful right?"
She nodded vigorously. "That's why I'm sticking to you," she said.
"Well then I want you to focus on my mind and my mind alone."
"Won't that put pressure on your shields?" she asked.
"I've been getting better at it so I can hold your probes off easily," he replied ducking under a particularly long banner depicting an image of a Chinese dragon. "Why I'm telling you to do so is so that you can understand how it feels and try to apply that feeling to yourself."
River's eyes widened in comprehension and she smiled broadly. "I knew you could help me," she said happily.
"This is not help; it's just a long shot and a way for me to get you off my back."
"Sure, sure," she patronized, "Oh look, ice planets!"
"I hate those things," Harry mumbled as River dragged him along. "And we have a meeting in half an hour, you know."
Harry bought two and the pair spent the next fifteen minutes trying to eat the ice planet.
"Why do you even want that if you can't eat it?" Harry asked as he struggled to eat his own.
"It's a challenge," River muttered. "This is the most problematic food I've ever had."
"You look like a donkey trying to eat a carrot dangling in front of it," snorted Harry when River almost fell over trying to attack her ice planet.
"Screw this," Harry grumbled and held the other end of the ice planet with his left hand not caring if it was messy.
"You can't do that!" River said, aghast. "It's against the rules!"
"There are rules to eat this thing?" Harry said, amused.
"You start from the bottom, you gorram idiots," said a man who was looking thoroughly amused by their antics. "If you lick it from the side it will keep getting away."
Harry and River stared at each other embarrassed while the man just snorted and walked away.
"And Simon says you're a genius," he said, chuckling. He didn't bother doing as the man had said. His hands were already messy and he dug into the ice cream with relish.
"Like you're any better," River shot back. "You're eating yours like an uncivilized ape."
"Apes weren't civilized to begin with, little genius. That's why they were called apes."
"Then you can imagine how uncouth you're being if I have to call you an uncivilized ape," River said. Her planet was now a crescent moon and Harry was done with his and was now licking his hands clean.
"Finish your planet fast," he said. "Now remember, when Fanty and Mingo freak out, you just smile and say you're Mal's representative alright?"
River nodded.
"And if they ask you to join them for a game of cards you agree and use your reading ability to win, get it?"
River nodded again.
"And don't destroy any bars this time," he added.
River rolled her eyes.
"And don't make it obvious that you're reading their minds if we do play a round."
River looked at him exasperated.
"We're here," Harry announced and River felt like thanking the figurative lord.
The décor was similar to The Maidenhead, although the place was smaller, nosier and shadier, River thought.
The bar was just a small room crammed up with tables and chairs all filled with ugly looking men and women who were drinking and gambling their money away. Harry led her to one side of the bar into another room which was behind a curtain.
There were just three tables there and Fanty and Mingo were seated in the middle one.
"Harry," they said enthusiastically but their happy expressions changed to horror when they saw who was accompanying him.
They immediately backed away from the table until their backs hit the wall.
"What's she doing here," Mingo asked fearfully.
"Oh relax you big babies," Harry said laughing out loud.
"I'm here as Captain Mal's representative," she intoned emotionlessly and then took a seat. "Will you not join us?"
Harry felt like exploding with laughter when he saw River's act. It was bloody hilarious!
Slowly the twins inched closer and sat opposite Harry and River while eying the reader cautiously.
"Is this your idea of a joke Harry?" Fanty hissed, noticing Harry's not so concealed grin.
Harry nodded happily. "The look on your faces," he choked out.
"Do you even know what this devil woman did last time?" Mingo burst out.
"Oh yeah," Harry said. "And you can relax, you idiots. She's as harmless as an unmanned tank."
Fanty's eyes widened at the description.
"Are you sure she won't go switch-a-button crazy?" Mingo asked cautiously, his posture indicating he was ready to run at the slightest sign of violence. One of the other qualities that the twins possessed was the absolute fear of violence. They turned into cowards at the slightest hint of physical fighting and that was how Harry became friends with them. He rescued them from a couple of drunkards who didn't know who the twins were. Two days later, those drunks were found with their throats slit, in the city garbage dump. The twins had no problems with other people getting more than just violent on their command.
Harry forced his laughter down and looked at them seriously, "She won't," he said calmly. "Last time was an exception."
"Shall we get down to business?" River asked in her monotonous voice and the twins jumped.
"Will you relax?!" Harry said exasperatedly. "Do you really think I would have brought someone along who would do you any harm? You guys are my favorite crime lords in the verse!"
The two finally let the tension out of their bodies, although they kept glancing at River warily.
"Did you pay 'Captain I love trouble'?" Fanty asked, his lips curling in disdain at the thought of Mal.
"Of course," Harry said. He then opened his bag and removed six hundred credits and placed it on the table."
"Five for the information and one for freaking you out," he said grinning.
"What is it that you expect to find on Sihnon?" Mingo asked. The two couldn't figure out what it was that Harry was searching for and the list of things that Harry had given them made no sense at all.
"Something," Harry replied cryptically. "Did you find anything else on my list?"
"Nothing," Fanty said seriously. "And even these electronic failures as you called it were just freak accidents and even though tech on core planets rarely ever fail, things like this do happen."
"But it was a failure of multiple devices at the same time right?" Harry stressed. "They just went kaput out of the blue right?"
"Yes and in the history of Sihnon it has happened about a dozen times although the last time it happened was eleven years ago."
Mingo nodded, "Whatever it is you're looking for might not even be there anymore."
Harry frowned, "It is a long shot but it's a start," he said.
"If you told us what exactly you hope to find we could be of more help," said Fanty.
"I can't," Harry replied heavily. "This is something very personal to me and I know it does not make a drop of sense to you but it does to me."
The twins sighed.
"Can you get me to Sihnon?"
"Well, landing on Sihnon is restricted," Fanty began. "So going on Mal's excuse of a ship is out of the question," Mingo said.
"But what we can do is get you on a transport from Ariel to Sihnon. You'll have to travel with your Alliance Id because they do a whole background check on you before they even let you board the flight."
"Well I already have an alias to go by," Harry said thoughtfully, "Do I need a reason too?"
"Of course, we thought about it and we figured you could travel as a trader looking for a new job."
"Sounds reasonable," Harry said.
"But the Alliance is very suspicious of people who travel alone. They know Id's can be faked and we thought it would make more sense if a married couple decided to visit Sihnon on their honeymoon or something. It's so common that they wouldn't give it a second thought."
Harry froze as the implications of that statement became clear.
"Are you serious?" he exclaimed.
"Very," they said together. "Sihnon is not a place you can go to lightly and mostly its married couples who want to move to the core and settle there looking for spiritual enlightenment and what not."
"Why can't I go alone?!"
"You can," Fanty said shrugging, "But they'd keep an eye on you for a while and you already have a bounty on your head so it'd be wise to stay off their radar all together."
"It's like Fanty said. Smugglers sneak into Sihnon all the time but only about thirty percent of them get out without getting caught. Security on that planet is something else."
"We got a whole background story ready if you decide to go, both alone and married," Fanty said. "And you don't need to look so freaked; you're not really going to have to get married. It's just on paper."
"Well who am I going to marry?" Harry protested. "I can't just go on the streets and say, hey anyone willing to marry me on paper to get to Sihnon?!"
The twin's sniggered and even River was smiling.
"We thought you could ask one of your new crew mates," Mingo said. "The mechanic or even this one," he said gesturing towards River.
"And you do have a companion on board too right?" he added. "You could go along with her onto the planet but then you'll have to avoid all sorts of security checks although companions are not allowed to take passengers along with them are they?"
"They're not," River confirmed. "Inara would get into trouble."
Harry glared at River.
"So what's it going to be?" Fanty asked. "Alone or are we going to have a stag night?"
"Ha ha, very funny."
The twins just smiled innocently.
"This is revenge isn't it?" Harry sighed. "Revenge for freaking you out."
"Of course not," Fanty said affronted. "We don't mix personal feelings with the business. It would be bad for business!" Mingo nodded in agreement.
Harry sighed again. "I'm going to have to think about this and see if there's another way."
"There are many ways but this is the safest," Mingo said. "But if you do make a choice we'll be at warehouse 13. We have some other business to conduct so if you don't mind."
Harry grumbled under his breath. "Give me a few hours and I'll be there." He stood up and shook their hands. "Thanks for your help," he said. "I really appreciate it."
"Pay us well and we'll be your best friends," Fanty said cheerily. "And do bring your wife along if you choose the safer route. We're going to need to make an Id for her too."
"And create a whole new past for her as well," Mingo added.
"Hold on a minute," Fanty said suddenly. He had received a message on his com pad.
Mingo read it and his face turned contemplative. "Harry, do you mind asking your friend to wait outside for a bit," he said.
"Why?" Harry asked, frowning.
"Need to discuss some business with you," he said.
Harry glanced at River and she just nodded and stepped out back into the pub.
The three sat down again. "What is it?"
"If you do decide to go to Sihnon, we would like you to acquire some goods for us," Fanty said.
Harry knew immediately what the goods were going to be, "Silk?"
Fanty nodded. "Our friends there have managed to misplace some top grade silk and we need someone to get it off the planet."
"That's going to be difficult," Harry said instantly. "You know how trade is monitored there don't you."
"You have a companion on board," Mingo said.
"I thought I couldn't travel with her," Harry said confused.
"But her shuttle will never be checked for illegal goods," Fanty said. "It will be scanned for illegal immigrants but the material contents of her shuttle will never be checked."
"Social status of a companion and all that," Mingo said.
"Oh I don't know," Harry said dubiously. "I doubt if she'll agree to this."
"We're not saying you have to take the job but do talk to Mal about it and decide. We're willing to pay well if you can pull this job off."
"And we know that Mal has found it very hard to find a job after Miranda and I'm sure he'll appreciate the offer," Fanty said. "Maybe this might ease the nerves of the people who'd like to hire him."
Harry was silent for a moment as he mulled over their offer. Looks like Mal's prediction about luck shifting was true after all, although he wasn't sure this was the kind of luck Mal was hoping for. "I'll talk to the captain about it," he said finally.
"If he does agree, tell him to send us a wave on this number," he said, handing over Harry a piece of paper.
"Or he could come to the warehouse and we can talk about the more delicate details and payment," Mingo said.
"Alright then," Harry said, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder.
Suddenly there was a loud crash followed by a few screams.
Fanty and Mingo looked panicked and Harry quickly ran out while the twins just peeked through the curtains.
River was standing just outside and a huge man thrice her size in both height and width was lying unconscious in the remains of one of the tables.
All the people around had stopped their activities and were looking at her with horror and fear.
"He called me cute stuff and tried to grab my ass," River helpfully explained.
"Oh River," sighed Harry.
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