9) They've Got It Better Than When Anyone's Told Ya
With an effort Mal unclenched his jaw for the third time that morning. It was none of his damn business if Inara chose to talk or…whatever with Rick in her shuttle. It was her home. Coffee. Coffee would help clear his thoughts.
"He worries," River was standing behind him when he turned the chair and Mal barely kept from leaping out of his skin. He was going to get a gorram bell to hang around her neck. She sat down on his knee like she might have with her daddy and Mal sighed.
"Who worries little witch?" Maybe coffee wasn't such a great idea after all.
"Rick," River leaned over him and made a minute correction to their course.
So, it would be one of those mornings, River being inscrutable. Well, inscrutable River was never dull at least. "What's he worrying about?"
Now she looked at him, "History. Past, present, future. Little girl with a crush."
"Jack," Mal hazarded a guess and got a nod. "She's got a crush on him?"
"Possessive, needs to feel safe, willing to make a sacrifice to keep him close," River murmured. "Nothing decided but the idea hops about in her brain, wondering what she will need to do. How to solidify her position. What he will want. Will she be enough."
Oh, that was all sorts of wrong. Who knew how old the girl was, but the man had to have at least two decades on her. It'd be like him wanting to sex River, or worse, the other way around. River wrinkled her nose at him, and he shook his head, "Sorry. Just…wrapping my mind around it. He ain't interested, is he?"
"Friends with Caro," River shrugged. "Bed sport when they both want. Consenting adults."
"Yeah, wondered about that," Mal didn't care for gossip as such, but it was handy to know about potential emotional landmines.
"Jealous," His little pilot murmured, and he figured the little girl might be, a grown woman versus her half-grown self. Now River gave him a look like he was the idiot, "Says she may go or stay but doesn't ask her to stay. Doesn't tell her to go."
Oh. Him. Yeah…he'd been leaning in that direction when he'd seen Rick follow Inara into her shuttle. "Can't make her stay. And she don't seem to want to go. But she don't want to change her ways either."
River gave him a look of disdain, "Still thinks of her as a fancy whore. Doesn't understand. Doesn't want to. Wants her to be his. Without understanding who she is. Wants him to accept her as she is. Understand what she is entirely but isn't willing to explain. Neither one willing to bend or change. Tiāndì wúyòng."
"You know I get that look from her often enough," Mal frowned. "I don't need it from you too, Lil Albatross."
"A glooming peace this morning with it brings, the sun for sorrow will not show his head," River got off his knee while he tried to remember where he'd heard that before. That got him another look and an eye roll, "Two households, both alike in dignity."
Nope, still didn't get it. River's shift on the bridge, and he needed to eat something, sop up the coffee he'd already had. River stood in response to his thoughts. "Okay. Behave. Let me know if we've got any troubles," He stood, and River slipped into his chair.
"Shouldn't pick fights he can't win," River got the last word as he walked off the bridge and he sighed. He should've known better than to try.
He hadn't been expecting to find Rick in the galley, presumably fixing breakfast and continuing his conversation (or whatever) with Inara. "Rick, 'Nara," He greeted them both with as much enthusiasm as he could muster after a dawn shift on the bridge.
"Cap'n," Rick nodded as he put two plates on the table while Inara set down the tea. "Coffee left if you want it."
"Thanks," Mal looked at the two of them and decided he wasn't going to pick a fight. "You two ever sleep? Coulda sworn I heard you two talkin' right before I went on the bridge last night."
"Yeah you did," Rick nodded. "Ain't met a Companion before, was curious about how they're educated. Miss Serra's been nice enough to explain a few things."
Mal blinked. That was the last thing he'd've thought Rick would be interested in. He'd been half expecting the man to behave like Jayne would've. He grabbed for the protein and began to mix the powdered eggs with powdered milk and water. "Doesn't sound like a conversation that'd take all night," He commented in as neutral a tone as he could manage. Hopefully more neutral than he felt.
"Wasn't," Rick began to eat, more slowly than he had the night before at dinner but still quick. As if eating was simply something that needed to be done and not savored. "But Caro brought something to my attention and Miss Serra said advice was free."
Inara chuckled, that throaty little laugh that always set Mal's skin a shiver whether he liked it or not. "Rick, please, I appreciate the courtesy, but you'll sound very odd when everyone else on the crew calls me Inara. And you have permission to use my first name."
Mal turned in time to see Rick flash a grin, fast as lightning, looking for a moment like a teenager despite the goggles he wore. "Sorry, figured it'd be about the only polite thing I could do. Teachers generally got all het up if you called 'em by their first names."
"I told you, I haven't been a teacher for a good while," Inara laughed as she ate, much more mannerly than Rick. "This is very good by the way. You and Kaylee could trade recipes."
Mal leaned against the counter watching the two of them. Neither one of them looked tired. Inara wouldn't let her fancy posture drop for a half second, but he'd have thought Rick would be showing some fatigue by this time. So, were they really only talking? Or had there been some sleeping too?
He didn't get much more quiet to speculate as Simon, Caro and Jack came into the galley. Caro gave Rick an inquiring glance and he tilted his head towards Inara. The blonde sat down next to the brunette and murmured something too quiet for Mal to hear. The Companion nodded, a half-smile on her face and replied at the same volume.
Mal frowned to himself and tended his breakfast, getting out of Simon's way as the Doctor showed Jack the stove and cabinets with dry and cold storage. "Today, all three of you, report to the infirmary, get those checkups done."
Simon nodded as Mal took his seat at the table, "I promise it'll be as comfortable as I can make it."
"Long's you don't shine a light in my eyes to test my vision," Rick commented before taking a sip of coffee.
"Light sensitivity?" Mal should have known the Doc would jump on that.
"Doc, most folks come offa Deadwood, named for a mine, tend to have sensitive eyes," He told the still green young man. Less green than he'd been, but you don't get more green than Simon Tam fresh off of Osiris. "Planet has mines, sheep and cattle. Lotta companies'll pay folks to get their eyes shined, makes it easier for 'em to work."
"Downside is light sensitivity," Rick added. "Gotta wear goggles, block out too much bright light or it'll blind you."
"Because night vision specs are less expensive than a surgery," Simon was clearly trying to understand the economics of it. At least he wasn't arguing that the mining companies did it.
"Folks lose specs," Rick shrugged. "They get broken, stolen, traded." He looked up at the Doc with a half grin, "Guess they figure if folks lose their eyes they're not getting the worker back."
"No, I would think not," Simon gave him a slight smile back. "Mal, are we planning on going to the station for post any time soon?"
"Not especially but if you got somethin' on order we can," Mal wondered what the kid was trying to do now.
"They make contact lenses," Simon explained to both he and Rick. "Lenses I can surgically add to your eyes. They're made especially so miners and other people who need night vision can function during daylight hours. They're not terribly expensive either because they've been on the market for so long."
"They bring back color at all?" Rick asked thoughtfully.
"I'd have to research that portion of it," The Doc replied. "But I'll look into it. I believe they first made them for special operation soldiers, so they didn't have to worry about night vision goggles being lost or broken."
"So, they're not something that gives you a delayed reaction or a long transition time from light to dark," Mal considered that.
"Can you do a shine job," Jack asked eagerly.
Rick turned his head and looked at the girl deliberately, "I told you, Caro told you, I am no one you want to imitate Jack." His voice came out more like a growl than anything human sounding.
Caro looked up from her conversation with Inara as she heard his voice, alert to trouble and Mal had to wonder exactly what they'd been through together. The two of them were attuned to each other the way he was with Zoë.
"Rick, you can't blame her for wanting to see in the dark," She looked at him something in her expression a reminder though Mal couldn't see of what. "It's a thought I wouldn't mind entertaining myself. If I could be sure my vision wasn't compromised."
"Let me look into it," Simon interceded before the discussion could deteriorate into an argument. "There are advances in medicine all the time. I'll find pricing on the lenses as well."
"Thanks Doc," Rick stood with his empty plate and cup. "Good of you."
Mal watched as the huge man put his dishes in the cleaner and soundlessly departed from the galley. Little Jack looked after him, her expression filled with disappointment at his departure.
Carolyn sat back in the co-pilot's chair and watched as River effortlessly corrected their course by minute adjustments. "Děng yī huìr… You calculate it all in your head," She observed finally. "The cortex makes… mistakes?" That hadn't ever been her experience, but this was an old ship.
"Course corrections are…" The younger woman stopped and tilted her head as if searching for words. Waiting seemed like the right thing to do and Carolyn was rewarded when River smiled finally. "Engineers…write the rules and specifications according to safety margins." She looked at Carolyn, "Conservative margins. Because not all those who fly are experienced or endowed with genius brains."
Okay now that she got. There were a lot of 'laws' of thermodynamics and conversion that kept people from blowing themselves up. The scientists and engineers who had come up with the rules had to account for what Carolyn's instructors had called 'the idiot factor'. There was usually a decent amount of room between what the specs said and how far a machine could be pushed. "Most people don't question the specs," She said finally. "Or they're not desperate enough to try."
"Exactly," River beamed at her. "Astronavigation is very similar."
"Ohhh…" Carolyn grinned as she got what River was trying to say. Programming a course through the cortex would work because yeah that's what the cortex was for. But the computer ran by the same 'laws' programmed by the scientists and engineers with the same wide margin for error. "So, you program it manually." She vaguely recalled an old show about explorers in space and a Master engineer's quote, 'Forget it. I wrote it. A good engineer is always a wee bit conservative, at least on paper.'
"Always check against the cortex," The dark-haired girl nodded with a smile. "The cortex pushes back, tries to ensure safety according to overly conservative parameters. Flying by instruments, not instinct."
"Yeah, a lot of pilots are like that," Carolyn could be put in that category herself at times, though she didn't think she was as bad as some were.
"Serenity doesn't have extra coin for fuel or extra time for circuitous routes," River said quietly. "Course corrections to take advantage of gravitational pull, to compensate for the cortex changes… small things add up to savings."
"Got it," She nodded. "I'll admit, it's been a long time since I've charted a course without the cortex."
"Takes practice," She was told gently. "And the cortex is needed. Updates to celestial charts are very important. But all programmed courses require adjustment."
The girl seemed to hesitate for a moment but continued her explanation, "Serenity does not acquire it's celestial charts from the Alliance data banks. Information is gathered from maps found in secondhand and consignment shops and programed into the cortex. The information from the Alliance data banks is accurate but it is seeded with…tell-tales."
Oh, now that made a lot of sense. She knew that all the updated charts the Hunter Gratzner had gotten also had tracking software embedded in them. But the shipping company had been part of Blue Sun and everything was above board. At least that was what the company had claimed. This ship (and it was looking more likely that her theory about smuggling was correct) couldn't afford to have government fingers in the system. Autonomous and clean of anything that would tell the Alliance where they were, where they had been or where they were going.
Carolyn nodded thoughtfully, eyes on the console in front of her. Thankfully most ships were set up in similar ways, otherwise flight school would be ridiculously difficult. But every ship had their quirks and she doubted Serenity was any different.
Riddick was spending time in the engine room with Kaylee while Jack was with Zoë in the galley. All three of them had survived the Doctor's examinations though. He'd pulled drapes over the bright windows and turned his back to give her privacy while she donned a hospital gown but he'd insisted on a thorough exam.
"I know it seems intrusive," He had explained gently. "But as the Doctor on this ship, your health becomes my responsibility. Nothing you tell me in here will be repeated to anyone. None of your medical history or concerns. The only exception to that is if something could possibly threaten the ship. And I think that's unlikely."
She'd acquiesced though happy had been the farthest from her mood. She'd figured on a regular checkup, blood pressure, lungs, heart, bloodwork…not something that went from the inside out. But Simon had been professional and careful and made everything as painless as he could.
Once done, when she was dressed again, he'd explained everything he'd learned. She was low on vitamin D, like most people who lived and worked in the Black. The protein they lived off of would help with that. Her blood pressure was a little high, but he'd put that down to the exam. Everything else was ticking along just as it should. And then he'd offered her a contraceptive pack. It seemed an odd thing to have aboard a ship and she'd said so.
"Ah, well," He looked down and then up at her. "We picked them up during a job and they've come in handy. Since you show signs of recent…activity, it seems a precaution worth taking. They'll regulate your cycle, hopefully relieve the worst of the symptoms."
"Well, I appreciate it, the shot I got a couple of years ago is about due to wear off," Carolyn nodded and took the pack.
"These should have minimal side effects. Completely safe unless you're trying for a baby, in which case you'll need to discontinue the monthly pills two months before you begin to attempt conception," Simon had half smiled. "I thought Jack should be next, but I don't know if she'll want you with her? She'll need the same type of exams."
"At her age," Carolyn frowned, and Simon regarded her with a thoughtful expression.
"Until she tells me, I don't know her age," He pointed out firmly, apparently on certain ground here. "But in my experience, and according to all the psych classes and behavioral studies I've read, hiding the true gender can be an indication of trauma, not necessarily sexual but potentially. There are other reasons of course, transgender individuals, transvestites… but until I'm told otherwise, and given Jack's caution around strangers, I don't think she fits in either of those categories."
Carolyn nodded, "I'll see if she wants me with her."
"Thank you."
Author's Note: So chatting back and forth with Chisza we came up with the idea that anything downloaded from Alliance sources would come with spyware. It kind of fit the idea that any cortex screen you look at can be used to look at you. Which is something I got from the RPG sourcebooks. Wash, being a genius pilot, was capable of navigating a course without up to date charts. And I'm theorizing that River is capable of getting outdated manual charts and programing the cortex with them, calculating updated orbits based on physics.
Chinese Translations:
Tiāndì wúyòng (Completely useless / world/Heaven and earth are useless)
děng yī huìr (Wait a moment! / after a while)
Quote Sources:
A glooming peace this morning with it brings, the sun for sorrow will not show his head – Romeo & Juliet – William Shakespeare
Two households, both alike in dignity – Romeo & Juliet – William Shakespeare
Forget it. I wrote it. A good engineer is always a wee bit conservative, at least on paper. - Star Trek Next Generation – Relics
