16) Hope Is Our Four-Letter Word

Mal had to admit Rick, Carolyn and Jack were pretty good additions to the crew. Jack might be a little sulky at times, especially when she was told 'no you can't' to something she wanted to do. But she was still a good kid, no jiào kǔ lián tiān from her at least.

Rick and Carolyn were (apparently) bedmates in private and friends in public, which Mal was perfectly fine with so long as it didn't affect the runnings of his boat. The man was quite frankly huge, bigger'n Jayne and twice as mean looking, and Mal did not look forward to whatever Rick considered an 'interesting day'. The man had an odd streak to him that rivaled River's at times. He'd struck up a friendship (or something) with Inara and would hang out in her shuttle with her. The few times Mal'd had to interrupt them Rick had been sprawled on the lounge while Inara sat more correctly on the other side of it. And of all things, they'd been talking about books.

Mal had also noticed Carolyn didn't seem to mind one bit all the time her bàng jiār spent with Inara, nor all the flirting he did with every woman they came across. She spent a certain amount of time with the Companion herself, which Mal thought a little confoundsome.

He could do without the way Carolyn would press about plans or details or whatever when he didn't exactly have answers. Plain to see she wasn't trying to get a rise out of him, not like Jayne used to, pushing until Mal was ready to clock him. But the questions could get a little aggravating.

But he did like the willowy looking blonde. She didn't talk much unless she had something meaningful to say, and then it was pretty much to the point. The only time she did beat around the bush conversation-wise was when she was uncomfortable with something. Not that he could blame her about that.

"Mal, you part bird or something," The blonde pilot teased as she walked down the catwalk towards him.

"Not that I noticed," He shook his head with a grin. "Why?"

"You do seem to enjoy perching up here where you can get a birds eye view," Carolyn smiled at him.

"Oh, just…feels like a good thinkin' spot," Mal straightened up and leaned against the back rail rather than resting his forearms on the front bars. She did the same thing, a little apart from him so she could see his face, lips still twitching in amusement.

"I'd've thought the bridge was your preferred spot," She looked over the bay from where they stood, eyes traveling over the cargo stacked and netted into place.

"River's up there," He shook his head. "This's one of the days where I'm breathin' too loud an' she needs the quiet."

"Breathing too loud," Carolyn repeated incredulously.

"Hmm…" Mal nodded. He could hardly say that River told him his thoughts were flying out like porcupine quills and to please take his chaotic brains elsewhere. "'S the polite way of puttin' it."

"I'll try to remember to breathe quiet," The slender pilot chuckled softly.

"Doubt you'd bother her so much," The Captain shrugged. "She just likes a little peace now and then and it's precious hard to come by on this boat."

"We do seem to have an unusual amount of…strangeness," Carolyn agreed her eyes moving over to the airlock door outside Inara's shuttle.

"Rick's in there with Inara," Mal nodded towards the door. "Passed by to give her the arrival time and the two of 'em were talkin' 'bout some book. Much A Don't Somebody…"

"Uh huh," Carolyn eyed him thoughtfully. "Something bothering you Mal?"

He did like that she felt comfortable enough to call him by name. It didn't ever come along with a lack of respect, (like Jayne) when she did. "Guess I'm just tryin' to figure what Rick an' Inara have in common that they got so much to talk about."

"As Rick explained it to me, he's kind of a…collector…" Carolyn tilted her head as if trying to think of the words. "He picks up odd bits of know how in his travels. He hasn't spent much time in the Core really. Not a lot around civilized folk at all to hear him tell it. He told me knowledge feeds something in him."

"Seems to fit in pretty well 'round here," Mal would've thought someone thought himself so uncouth would be worse than Jayne for crude remarks and bad manners.

"Yeah, he's real good at fitting in quick," She nodded her agreement. "Adaptable, that's Rick." She smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "I wouldn't worry about him trying anything…untoward with Inara. He's just…gathering intelligence."

"You think a lot of him," He realized. Carolyn wasn't hugely demonstrative and for all their closeness, it seemed like she and Rick were still developing whatever was between them. But he was the first one she looked to when there was trouble.

"I know I can trust him," She half smiled. "Yeah, he's dangerous. And he's adaptable. But I've never seen him hurt someone who didn't go after him first. He's got a soft spot for kids." Those pretty brown eyes narrowed thoughtfully, "You said you had to have a chat with your last gunhand, about how he behaved with the women on the boat."

"Yeah, Jayne was all sorts of…disturbin'…when he first come aboard," Mal nodded. "Little Kaylee not bein' the type to see the worst in folks I had a little word with Jayne. Kept a hard eye on him but after that first warning he might've made off color remarks, but he didn't touch anybody uninvited. To be fair, didn't touch anyone uninvited before the warnin', but the man was big, rough and more than a little crude, and I figured better safe than sorry."

"If it helps any, I don't think you'll ever need to have that sort of talk with Rick," Carolyn shook her head. "He's not the type to take advantage like that. He likes his women willing." She smiled at Mal and walked down the stairs she'd been headed for originally calling for Jack.


He couldn't quite put it out of his mind, 'gathering intelligence'? It made Rick sound more like a soldier, a Zoë type soldier, than a miner. Which was odd since, apart from having a pretty decent amount of self-discipline, Rick was the most un-military behaving individual on the boat.

"Somethin' eatin' at you," The low rumble of thunder voice startled so much Mal was surprised he hadn't fallen over the railing of the catwalk. When he turned to regard Rick, he found the man smirking in amusement.

"I swear, I'm gonna get you a bell, you and River both," The Captain took a deep breath forcing his heart to slow down from the adrenaline blast he'd gotten.

"You ain't ever heard the story 'bout belling a cat," Rick's silvery eyes gleamed in the shadows.

"Nooo…can't say that I have," Mal wasn't averse to hearing a tale if it gave him greater insight into his new gunhand/pilot's mindset.

Rick chuckled, "Well, as I heard it, the story goes that a bunch of mice were happily minding their own in the walls and under the floors of a house. Then one of 'em goes missin'. And before long they figure out it's because the house has suddenly acquired a cat. So now, well, all the little mice are on edge, right?"

Mal nodded, "Stands to reason."

Rick nodded, "So the mice are sneakin' around, worried, scared, and hiding from the cat because they figured out the problem was the thing was so quiet and fast, they didn't know when it was coming." He smirked, "They guessed if they could hear it coming, they'd have a better chance of getting out of its reach in time to, y'know, live."

"Right…" Mal wasn't sure where this story was going.

"Well one of the older mice who'd been around the block a time or two says 'what we need is a bell'," The big gunhand chuckled. "A nice bell around the cat's neck so they can hear it whenever it's movin' around. So the cat's dǎ cǎo jīng shé and they get the chance to scatter."

"Sounds like a good idea," The Captain responded cautiously.

"You'd think," Rick smirked. "So, they go about acquiring a little bell, almost as big as one of them, and they're looking at it and so proud of themselves because hey, they got the bell. Problem half solved right?"

"I'm goin' with the theory that there was a flaw in their plan," Mal shook his head.

"Yeah, just a bit," That roll of thunder disguised as a voice held a dark sort of amusement. "See, the bell is all well and good. But it's still a cat. They're still mice. How exactly, were they going to get the bell around the cat's neck? You know, without getting killed by said cat."

"Uh huh," Mal nodded slowly. "That would be a problem." He looked at the man ostensibly in his employ thoughtfully. "Interesting story."

"I thought so," Rick nodded with a cheerful grin.

He continued on his way to Inara's shuttle and Mal noticed for the first time that he was holding a book. It looked simultaneously out of place, but comfortable in Rick's hand. He got the distinct impression that the story had been something of a warning, however veiled in good humor. Saying he'd like to put a bell on Rick…that pretty much put Mal in the mouse position of the story. And Rick as the cat.

Did he see the crew that way? Mice he could simply pounce on and kill with a snap of his jaws? Or playthings the way Mal had seen a cat toy with a mouse it had captured. Obvious from the first that the man was dangerous. He didn't bluster or wear a load of guns and knives as a manner of advertising his lethal qualities the way Jayne had. But the way the man moved, handled weapons, watched and held his peace until he had something to say…

Mal had the disturbing feeling that he'd taken a predator into his employ. Kinda like having a tiger by the tail, he thought to himself. There was always the chance he was wrong. That the tiger would end up being a cuddly little housecat. But after that story… He recalled something he'd heard a long time ago, an old film on the cortex, 'to a canary, a cat is a monster, we're just used to being the cat'.

No, Mal decided, he did not look forward to whatever Rick considered 'an interesting day'.


Author's Note: So I always liked the story about belling the cat, another way of saying 'easier said than done'. It seemed to really fit Riddick.

Chinese Translations:

jiào kǔ lián tiān (to whine on for days (idiom) / to endlessly grumble complaints / incessant whining)

bàng jiār (lover / partner)

dǎ cǎo jīng shé (lit. beat the grass to scare the snake (idiom) / fig. to inadvertently alert an enemy / to punish somebody as a warning to others)

Quote Sources:

To a canary, a cat is a monster, we're just used to being the cat - Dr. Henry Wu, Jurassic World