Chapter 2

The flight to Shadow was short and smooth. By morning they were approaching Shadow's orbit, and River brought them in for a landing under Amanda's navigation. Mal, who had grown up on a ranch, whistled in appreciation. The spread was bigger than any he'd ever seen, at least outside of the giant factory farms.

Two men were waiting for them when they landed. Amanda ran out of the ship without even waiting for the ramp to lower all the way.

"Duncan!" she said, hugging him, and giving him a long kiss.

"Amanda," he said, after the kiss ended. He looked up at the approaching crew of Serenity. "These are the ones?"

"Yes," she said, turning around but keeping a hold on Duncan's arm. "Malcolm Reynolds, Duncan MacLeod. That's Zoe, and Inara, and everyone else," she said, with a wave of her hand.

"Pleased to meet you," said Duncan. "This is..."

"We've met," said the other man.

"Ben?" said Inara. "Ben Adams?"

"Am I that unrecognizable without the uniform?" he said, and raised Inara's hand to kiss it.

"Are you on leave?" she asked, stepping back, as Mal walked towards them.

Ben looked back and forth at the two of them. "Not as such," he said. "I've retired from the service, at least temporarily. Things are becoming unsettled in the 'Verse."

"It seems the me that the Alliance would need a qualified commander when things become 'unsettled'," said Mal.

"Many things in the 'Verse are not as they seem," said Ben.

"Before we talk too much," said Amanda, still hanging on Duncan's arm, "we should go inside. Duncan tells me we're all invited to a late breakfast."

"And that will give you a chance to meet the others," said Duncan.

"I came here," said Mal, "to ferry Amanda and listen to a proposal. Don't assume anything else."

"If you don't want breakfast," said Ben, taking Inara's arm, "suit yourself. I don't want to miss the spread." Inara sent an apologetic look back at Mal as Ben escorted her to the main house.

"Breakfast it is," said Mal.

Breakfast was worth the trip, although Mal wouldn't have wanted to tell that to the former Captain Adams. Even without a uniform, the man constantly exuded a smug and superior attitude. At least Inara managed to sit next to Mal, but Ben still sat opposite her, and Mal was sure he did it because Ben knew they were together. Ben Adams was clearly the type who enjoyed life more when he could irk people.

Duncan sat at the head of the large wooden table. The table was very well constructed, obviously either purchased very expensively or hand-made. Mal's guess was that Duncan had made it himself. It was nothing more than a hunch, but Mal would've bet on it, if only because of Duncan's possessive attitude.

River had chosen to sit next to Duncan. She seemed very taken with him, hanging on his every word. Mal supposed that was a good thing—if she liked their host, then he was probably a good person. Whether or not the job was a good one was another consideration.

When they had arrived in the dining room, Duncan had introduced the others at the table.

Annie Devlin, an attractive black-haired woman, spoke with a brogue that reminded Mal of southern Londonium.

Father Liam Riley reminded Mal of Shepherd Book, and not just because he was a preacher. He had a quieter demeanor than the others. He had mentioned something about "being off holy ground" in passing, only to get a stern look from both Duncan MacLeod and Ben Adams. Mal had no idea what the look was about — surely a preacher-man might miss being back at his church or cathedral or whichever it was.

Marcus Constantine, who was talking history with Simon, was a sturdy-looking gentleman who had been introduced as a curator of a museum, but if he wasn't a military leader, Mal would be very surprised. He had all the bearing of a general, and not one of the worthless ones—he carried himself like an officer who had come up through the ranks.

In contrast to Marcus, Michelle Webster was no soldier. An older girl with an infectious laugh, she was obviously good friends with Amanda. She had chosen to sit next to Jayne and was flirting with him, constantly and very obviously. Jayne didn't mind in the slightest.

When the last of the eggs were gone and the last sausage was eaten, the group adjourned to a sitting room filled with very comfortable furniture.

"Your ranch must be doing very well," said Kaylee. "Does the brand mean anything?"

She pointed to an oversize metal T and N intertwined that hung on the wall.

"It's a tribute to someone I knew a long time ago," he said. A sad look crossed his face, and everyone knew it must have been a woman that he had loved.

"I'm sorry," said Kaylee. She never liked to see people look sad.

"It's okay," he said, "the memories are good ones."

Ben Adams cleared his throat. "MacLeod, I think we'd better get started before our noble captain becomes too impatient."

"Go ahead," said Duncan, sitting down next to River.

Ben shrugged, and stood in the middle of the room.

"'Once upon a time'," he said. "That's how all good stories have always begun throughout the thousands of years of human history, so that's how this one will begin."

"Once upon a time there was a proud ship. This ship sailed over oceans and through seas, seeking riches, righting wrongs, helping wherever and whomever they could. A ship of rogues and refugees, of nobility and ne'er-do-wells, of fighters and fair maidens."

"This ship was chased by demons and monsters, often barely escaping them. But even more than demons; this ship was pursued, most of all, by questions. The questions drove them on, pushed them, forced them to seek answers where no one else had gone, where no one else dared to go. This ship crossed oceans of monsters to find the Realm of the Dead, because only among the Dead could they find the answers they sought."

"To make what threatens to become a long story short, the crew of the ship found their answers in the Land of the Dead. They defeated the demons and monsters, but not without a terrible cost to themselves. Finally, they sailed away to find other adventures, because this tale, unlike others, never truly has an end while life endures."

Ben paused, and looked around the room.

Jayne spoke up. "Nice story. What's it mean?"

Amanda said, "We need to visit this 'Realm of the Dead'. Imagine my surprise when we discovered that the ship in the story was familiar to me. We need Serenity, Captain Reynolds. We need Serenity to take us to Miranda."