10) I Feel Like There Might Be Something That I'll Miss
The mechanic, who more properly might be called an engineer, was a genius with machines, even if she didn't have the diplomas to back it up. When he said so Kaylee nearly blushed, "Machines got workin's an' they just talk to me." She'd shrugged off what she'd done as anything out of the ordinary. It must be something she said now and then since River had said the same thing, in damn near the same accent.
Kaylee'd come to get him after his medical exam (which had been thorough but unsurprising at least), maybe intuiting that he'd welcome something to take his mind off Jack. Then she'd proceeded to shock and amaze, by leading him through the ship, pointing out access passages between decks, ladders to the reactor, and then the adjustments she'd made to all of them.
Now they were lying under the accelerator core while she explained about the reg couple and enjoying the slow steady pulse of movement above them. "So, you just plug the g-line straight into the port pinlock," He nodded as she pointed out the parts in question. "It don't strain the grav boot at all?"
"Nope," She popped the P with a grin. "Reg couple s'posed to keep things from overloadin' but they're leftovers from the sketchy artificial gravity days. Don't serve much purpose except to gum up the works when it gets tacked."
"So why have one," He nodded. "If this were an ought one we'd need the reg couple."
"Oh yeah, more'n one most like," Kaylee agreed. She watched the engine in silence for a moment, "Jack gonna be all right?"
So, she got that there was a problem, but not what exactly. Riddick doubted Jack, Carolyn or the Doctor realized but he'd heard every word exchanged in the infirmary while he waited for his ladies to come out. "She's…" He rubbed around his eyes where the goggles sat. "We don't know how old Jack is…she hadn't said yet. Seems like she's small naturally but she also went without for a long time. So, she needs vitamins, shots… and something to get her growing right."
"Well, we should have plenty a that stuff," Kaylee offered in a reassuring tone. "An' Simon's a genius doctor, he'll figure out how to help her."
"He said she'd missed a growth spurt," He couldn't be exactly sure what that meant. Vaguely recalled years where it'd felt like he couldn't eat enough, outgrowing everything he wore from one week to the next. The foster system hadn't been surprised though nobody was thrilled about it either. "Not enough of what she needed to get her growth plates moving…"
"She'll be all right," The mechanic smiled. "B'tween Simon and River they'll get it all figured out."
"Yeah, hope so," Riddick frowned up at the engine. Jack's size aside, her behavior wasn't healthy either. Hiding her gender made some sense, but imitating him didn't, unless she actually did have a bad case of hero (or whatever the fuck he was to her) worship going on. She didn't act like the typical adolescent that was certain.
"So where'd you learn about engines?" She changed the subject again, to something more palatable to the both of them.
Dinner that evening was another interesting experience. The Doctor had kept his word regarding private business. But he did say that Jack had some special dietary requirements and she'd need nutritional supplements. "We got all that in stock," The Captain had wanted to know. "Or do we need to make a stop some wheres?"
Simon had shaken his head, "We have most of what's needed in the infirmary stocks. Though I wouldn't say no to another job like St. Lucy's. Minus the run in with the Feds."
"Now there's a notion," The First Mate had actually smiled at the idea. "And it's not like we couldn't use the money."
"There wasn't a whole lot of outlay was there," Mal nodded thoughtfully.
"Only thing we had to pay for were the idents and uniforms," Zoë agreed. "And we've still got those."
Kaylee looked up eagerly, "Oohh…I bet we could find lots of stuff to fix up and use or sell in those junkyards."
"Something to think on," The Captain changed the subject. "How'd you two like Serenity?" He looked at Carolyn and Riddick.
"Flying her in atmo will be the tricky part," Carolyn answered promptly. "I'm used to the big cargo haulers. Give me a week or three to get used to her and I'll be fine."
Riddick half smiled, "Likely take me a month to learn everything Kaylee has done to upgrade or simplify the engines, but I expect I'd be more a help than a hinderance to her in the engine room."
"Just havin' someone with some heft to 'em'll be a help with some of the stuff needs doin'," Kaylee grinned. "We ain't tried anythin' real delicate or nothin'."
"Tomorrow, Rick, you're with River on the bridge, Carolyn, I'd appreciate you spendin' time with Kaylee," Mal instructed. "Always good to know what sort of changes have been made."
Riddick nodded his agreement and continued to eat watching everyone at the table. The crew of Serenity seemed to be a collection of odd individuals. Everyone had some area of expertise and they'd been welcoming. Something…something… River's strange ways, half there, half not. The Doctor's worried air. Sorrow hung around the First Mate like a cloak. Kaylee, for all her cheer, seemed slightly muted. And the Companion…he wondered just how long she'd stay.
New Melbourne, by way of Triumph and Harvest, took more than a couple of weeks and gave them a higher price on the lumber they carried. Mal glanced over at River, teaching Jack martial arts again and wondered what the younger girl had been running from. Nothing good, obviously.
The big guy practically radiated 'dangerous' like he had a flashing sign spelling it out. Mal could be fairly sure that Swearengen was not the man's actual name. Most aggravating was the way River wouldn't tell him anything more than she already had regarding their possible crew members. "She would not tell his secrets to them. She will not tell their secrets to him." And that was all she'd say on the subject. No matter how he cajoled, yelled or outright ordered. River would get that smug feline expression on her face and refuse to say anything more.
"Problem sir," Zoë's even voice was a welcome distraction from his thoughts.
"No more'n ever," He shook his head. "Got three folk on the boat with 'secrets' practically tattooed in neon on their foreheads. Rick's more dangerous than Jayne ever was, though River swears he's the more honorable of the two. 'Less we turn on him we don't gotta worry about 'interestin' days'. An' that's nothin' to sneeze at."
"But you don't trust 'em," His oldest friend watched Jack and River. "That's the biggest problem, right there." She nodded at them.
"How'd you mean," Mal looked at her and then down at the girls again.
"The other two, they're protective of her," She murmured in a thoughtful voice. "And they won't do anything to endanger her or themselves. But that one…a teenager? Teenage girls are ripe for foolishness of all kinds. She gets upset, decides to have a fit, run off, whatever… it attracts attention, complicates things, and depending on how much she knows or how spiteful she's feeling and who she's mad at, she tattles to a lawman."
"You sure about that," He didn't doubt it, Zoë having more experience with the alien species a teenage girl was than he did, but bringing the law down on them? The only other teenage girl he really knew was River. And she'd had her eccentricities yeah, but she hadn't been anything like his oldest friend was describing.
"Don't have much of an idea about her character," Zoë conceded. "But seein' as I was a teenage girl, I can speak from reliable experience about their…ups and downs. We gotta recall River was the exception rather'n the rule and even she had some troubles."
"Any idea what can bring on those sorts of…issues?" He really didn't like the sound of this, and he hadn't gotten anything like that from what River had said.
"Jealousy, infatuation, hurt feelings…" The First Mate nodded at the girls. "I told River to try and get a feel for problems while she was with Jack. Since the girl doesn't talk much except to Caro and Rick, River's our best chance to get information."
"So…something to keep a good eye on," Mal sighed. "What about the other two?"
"Caro…" Zoë tilted her head thoughtfully. "She's a competent pilot. No genius but she's good. Experienced. He's got a touch of ability like Wash. I'd bet good plat that he's got experience flying some sort of fighting ship. He gets used to Serenity he could be just as good as my Mister. If we ever have to run evasive maneuvers I'd want him or River on the stick."
"Anything else," He always liked to get her impressions of folk. Between Zoë and River and his own experience very little got past them. Of course, River was usually a lot more forthcoming about things than she'd been about their new crew.
"Caro and Rick are involved, can't tell how serious it is, but Kaylee saw Rick comin' out of Carolyn's bunk as she was comin' down to Simon's so…" Zoë shrugged.
"Coulda sworn he was flirting with River in the galley this morning," Mal frowned. The last thing he needed was two women in competition for the same man. Though River had told him the same thing about Rick and Carolyn and if Carolyn and River weren't fussed about the flirting Mal guessed that he shouldn't be either.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Rick flirted with me, with Kaylee, with Inara, I don't think it's anything to be taken seriously," Zoë shook her head. "It felt more like…he enjoys the reactions?"
"Ain't it," Rick's voice sounded from Zoë's other side and Mal wasn't ashamed to say he jumped what felt like a mile and Zoë did the same. "Wǒ cào, sorry," He put a hand on Zoë's lower back and one on her belly. Mal got the impression he was more saying sorry to Zoë than his Captain. "Take a breath… slow as you can, get your heartrate back down to normal," He advised. "Baby'll kick like hell until you calm down. Even tiny as it is right now, it'll feel it. Adrenaline." He added as if that explained everything, which it kinda did. Mal got the impression that he found their reaction amusing though it didn't show except in a slight upward quirk to one half of his mouth.
"Rick, don't…do that," Mal had to take some deep slow breaths himself.
"Gonna need to put a bell on you," Zoë took her deep breaths and Rick's hands fell away from her. "Now what ain't it?" She looked at Rick. Mal had to give Zoë credit for keeping track of the conversational cliffhanger since his brain had completely flown away from the entire subject.
"Oh, yeah," Rick shrugged, leaning his hip against the railing opposite the walkway from theirs. It put him in the position of looking at both of them and his back to the wall. He did that a lot, Mal realized, kept his back to the wall or sat where he could see most of the doorways. "Flirting to get a reaction," He looked at them. "I mean, it partly is, because that's one of the ways I got to learn about people, women anyway." He smirked, as if amused by humanity's foibles, "Haven't ever flirted with a man, s'pose that's something to see about if I run into someone sly."
"Learning about people," Mal repeated.
"Can tell a lot by the way someone reacts to me," The bigger man shrugged. "Zoë here, she rolls her eyes, thinks I'm ridiculous. No smile though. She flat out ain't interested, could care less if I was a man, woman or alien species." Well, that did describe Zoë's reaction to men these days.
"An' Inara?" He had to wonder about that. Weren't many men would flirt with a Companion.
"She's fun to flirt with," Rick grinned outright. "Same as Kaylee. Flirt, smile, tease 'em a bit, they'll flirt back, smile, maybe tease me. Kaylee pats me on the arm and goes off to see Simon if I've gotten her blood up. Inara…treats flirting with me more like an exercise. Practicing that control she's got over her face and body language. Get a reaction from her and it's like winning a prize."
Well Mal knew that feeling, half the reason for the spats he and Inara had was him trying to get a reaction. "Seems like that don't happen too often," He observed.
"Nope," Rick chuckled. "Once or twice, usually when I've painted some sort of mental picture she enjoys too much."
"But you flirt with River too," Zoë had a frown in her voice.
"She's…" Rick shrugged. "Interesting." He looked down at Jack and River, working on the kata still. His head tilted back to the two of them. Mal wasn't sure he wanted this big gǒu niáng yǎng de to find his Lil Albatross interesting. Not in any way much less a flirting type of way. Rick seemed done with the conversation, nodding as he passed them, silent as a ghost and nearly as chilling.
"Now we've got two of 'em," Mal muttered to himself. "Least River we're used to."
"So, let me get this straight," Carolyn regarded the First Mate. "We mostly avoid the Core if we can because the Captain doesn't like it. Despite having a Companion on board. We avoid Ezra because the area is controlled by a psychotic crime boss who wants all of you dead for double crossing him, and then escaping his torture session when he caught up with you. We avoid Higgins Moon because one of your old crew is wanted there and they know he sailed with Serenity so the ship is marked. Jiangyin has kidnapping hill folk. Whitefall has a hostile person who shoots rather than pays. Bellerophon, you especially avoid because you stole a Lassiter," A Lassiter her brain gibbered in shock at the sheer nerve as she continued, "from someone there. Regina you get a mixed welcome dependin' on your cargo…Santo has slavers and there are parts of Persephone and Beaumonde that aren't particularly healthy for you either." She shook her head in amazement, "Are you welcome anywhere?"
"Deadwood," Kaylee said cheerfully from her place at the stove. "Simon delivered a baby, and we defended a whorehouse so the father wouldn't take it."
"St. Albans," Zoë added. "Not that we go there much, but we're welcome."
"Right…" Carolyn looked at Riddick who was doing his most inscrutable face. "Anything else we might need to know?"
"Enemies aplenty," River remarked as she entered the galley. "And precious few friends. But we are not wanted on Ariel or most of the Core planets. Bellerophon does not have Serenity's ident, only the Captain's. And we avoid Reaver space as much as possible." She shrugged.
What had she gotten them into? Carolyn's eyes had flown to River and returned to Riddick, "What do you think?" They'd been on Serenity a month now, the trip to New Melbourne and Harvest serving as the trial run River had recommended. Despite the odds suggesting otherwise, they'd fit in fairly well with Serenity's crew. They'd discussed the possibility of salvaging what was left of the Hunter Gratzner but that would require them talking a bit more about their pasts than they wanted at the moment.
"I think we've dealt with worse," He shrugged with a slight shake of his head. So, he agreed with her. Not the right time to fill the crew in on what had happened. "I've got enemies myself. 'Course, most of 'em think I'm dead."
"That why you changed your name?" Zoë tilted her head.
Carolyn froze and glanced from Riddick to the First Mate cautiously. This was so…so…very not good.
"Yeah," Riddick shrugged, elaborately unconcerned. "How'd you know I changed it?"
"The ident cards are good," The dark-skinned woman conceded. "But you don't respond as quickly when someone uses your last name. You look up quick enough when you hear your first, but there's always a lag when we say your surname." Those dark eyes flicked over to Carolyn and she fought the urge to squirm, "It's the same with you."
So very not good… Carolyn rubbed the back of her neck uneasily and glanced at Riddick. He didn't seem worried, maybe he knew something she didn't. Actually, that seemed very likely.
"Changed the names right before we came aboard ship," Riddick said finally. "Still getting used to them."
"Hmm…" She nodded her understanding. "You get the chance, might want to pick up some new paperwork with a name similar in sound to your old one. Or wear out the one you've got until it's comfortable."
"I'll keep it in mind," He nodded, and Carolyn leaned back in her chair again. "Meanwhile, nearly my shift on the bridge." He stood and gave Carolyn's shoulder a squeeze as he moved towards the cleaner with his mug.
"How long did it take you to figure it out," Carolyn asked finally.
"Knew somethin' was off, just couldn't figure what," Zoë shrugged. "Took a week or two, maybe, to pin down what it was."
Carolyn couldn't repress the groan and River laughed quietly as she began to set the table, "Should not worry so much. All here are familiar with the need for an alias." She grinned as Mal came down the hall into the galley, "Is that not right, Captain Harbatkin?"
"Captain huh—River what're you…oh," Mal shook his head. "Talkin' on Rick an' Caro's fake names?"
"And that apparently we're awful at choosing them," Carolyn nodded.
Mal shrugged, "We can start usin' 'em more often, get you two used to the sound of 'em. Or you can get new idents made with names soundin' more like your old ones." He glanced at Riddick, "You sure picked a mouthful for yours."
Carolyn looked at the huge convict who'd become something of a friend since their initial meeting, "Maybe should've gone with Bullock?" He'd paused by the cleaner, head tilted in that wary way he had when he wasn't sure of how to react just yet.
"Has a similar sound," He nodded and looked at Mal. "Just didn't seem like the name of an Earth-That-Was lawman would be a good idea."
"Would be ironic at least," Carolyn murmured dryly, and he shot her one of those lightning-fast grins.
"That's true enough."
"Maybe we talk to River and Simon about coming up with some new ident cards," Zoë was speaking to Mal now.
"River and Simon," Carolyn couldn't help repeating a bit incredulously.
"Doc's got a decent criminal mind," Mal chuckled. "Between him and River they make papers could fool a Fed."
Author's Note: I always figured Riddick got more than a little amusement from sneaking up on people. But he and Carolyn seem to be settling in a bit at least.
Chinese Translations:
Wǒ cào (holy fuck / lit. 'I fuck')
gǒu niáng yǎng de (son of a bitch (lit. "raised by a dog mother"))
