46) All The Right Friends In All The Right Places
Being on Persephone made her skull itch. Carolyn looked at Mal who seemed to have his own share of ants in his pants, "You know how River said, 'let's do this job really fast'? Before we all got to play dead?"
"Hmm…" He made an affirmative sound in his throat, rocking back on his heels and forward again.
"This planet makes my skull itch," She told him bluntly. "I don't like it. Eavesdown is…" Carolyn shook her head. "And Zoë looks like she'd be happy to take a sniper rifle and lie on top of the ship taking shots at whoever frowns the wrong way."
"Well, we've had a few run-ins of the not so comfortable kind with Badger," The Captain admitted. "Which is why Rick and River are coming along with me while Simon preps the infirmary."
She finalized the console for dock mode and got the green light for fluids and septic system flushes, "Why are we here?"
"Well…" Mal looked a bit sheepish. "We got a job."
"A job," Carolyn repeated. "Is this job gonna require us to take off like sky sharks are after us?"
"I hope not," He shook his head.
Carolyn looked up as Riddick came onto the bridge, "Mal, River's muttering about storms in a way that doesn't sound like the weather."
"I expect she's bein' metaphorical again," Mal nodded thoughtfully.
Riddick shrugged, "Well storms and the 'sad little king of a sad little hill' which she seemed to think you would understand."
"Badger," Mal sighed. "That's what she calls him."
"Should avoid the petty thief with delusions of standing," River informed them solemnly as she slipped past Riddick to regard the Captain. "He holds grudges near and dear to his heart."
"Wasn't plannin' to take tea with him 'Tross," Mal shook his head.
Carolyn watched as Riddick leaned against the lockers, his eyes on River, an amused and somehow indulgent smile on his face as she handed a packet to Mal, "Paperwork for the animals." She shrugged. "Would prefer to not carry cows again if possible."
"Whatever our man's got to smuggle is what we're carryin'," Mal began to look over the paperwork.
"False papers for smuggled livestock," Carolyn realized what he was looking at. "Where to after?"
"Jiangyin," River made a face. "No one is to go out alone. Hill folk are ignorant and superstitious bible thumping inbreds."
"That's damning them with faint praise," The blonde watched the other two pilots thoughtfully. "How likely are we to come across this Badger fellow?"
"He practically runs the underground of the docks," Mal conceded. "So, it's possible."
"Simon got the drugs portioned out to crates," Riddick told the Captain. "And Jack is pestering him for the shine job again." His eyes shined slightly in the light, silvery steel, drawn to the diminutive pilot as if they were actual metal and River a powerful magnet.
Carolyn tilted her head, "Some reason Simon doesn't want to do it?"
"Not optimal circumstances," River spread her heads. "Jack grows. Nothing is settled. Hormones, muscles, bones…all are in flux."
"So pretty much what he told her before," Carolyn sighed. "I asked her not to bug him about it. He promised he'd do it when we had the time; if it was safe for her."
"I'll have a word with her about it once we've got our cargo," Mal promised.
That relaxed Carolyn some, when Mal said he'd do something he was very good about doing it. "I'd appreciate it," She thanked him. "Jack's been a little…less receptive to me correcting her."
"She's been downright snotty," Riddick snorted. "Like it's your fault I don't think of her in whatever way she wants me to think of her."
"I don't know what's going through her head," Carolyn admitted. "She's still… something of a mystery to me honestly."
"She been doin' the exercises Simon found for her," Mal asked in that thoughtful tone that meant he had some ideas but wanted more information before he committed to speaking about them.
"As much as she can," Carolyn wrinkled her nose. "To the point where I tried to put my foot down and had to get Simon to back me up. She was doing too much, trying to build muscle so quickly. Simon sat her down and gave her the medical explanation for why that was a bad idea." She half laughed, "And then he translated to what Kaylee calls Captain Dummy talk so both Jack and I could understand it. But we've just about got the weight bench fixed up and Kaylee has a line on some free weights."
Mal chuckled and shook his head, "Let me know if she starts to get out of line. Told you I'm happy to help. She's a good kid."
Carolyn happened to be looking at River at that moment and oddly the girl's face went completely expressionless. Blank, as if someone had wiped all personality off her face. "River?"
Mal turned so quickly she heard his neck crack and his eyes fixed on his little pilot, "River?"
"Storms gather," She frowned, her eyes on the sky outside the window. A sunny clear blue sky. "Where shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly 's done, when the battle's lost and won."
Carolyn didn't know exactly what that meant but she was fairly certain it didn't bode well, "So Mal…anything we can do to expedite things here?" Whatever River was thinking or anticipating it couldn't be good.
"Get a cortex in with Zoë, Harrow knows her, she can get things smoothed out and sped up with the livestock," Mal ordered. "Rick, you, me and River, we're makin' the drop, in and out, we're done. And River, you wear that gorram body armor this time."
"Heavy and impedes movement," River complained but turned towards the door and presumably the armory. "But she will wear it if he will follow the route she sets. Without argument."
"Rick, see if there's anything that'll work for you in there, we've picked up plenty of odds and ends over the years," Mal sent Riddick down with River.
Carolyn watched them go, "You really want those two in a small space together?" She grinned at the Captain.
"How'd you mean?" Mal looked at her quizzically and she nearly laughed at how oblivious he was being, on purpose or out of preoccupation, it was still funny.
"I mean Rick looks like he's ready to corner her and steal a kiss or two, or something a little less innocent," Carolyn chuckled.
"Oh, I did not need to know that," Mal groaned, shaking his head. "We don't have time for that."
Sir Warrick Harrow appeared pleased to see Zoë, and polite when Zoë introduced him to Carolyn. The details of the deal seemed a little vague but when discussing things over a wave she guessed vague was better than specific.
The outcome was that they had three dozen cattle in the cargo bay when Mal, River and Riddick got back to the ship. Jack couldn't stop muttering about the smell and Carolyn aimed a look at her, "Rick's sense of smell is a thousand times more sensitive than yours Jack."
"They reek," Jack shot back at her, and Carolyn rolled her eyes.
"We'll live," She looked over at Simon and Kaylee. "How'd this go the last time you had live cargo?"
"Well, we put down a lot of mats," Kaylee considered. "Soak up any piss y'know. And we did a lot of shovelin' once we got 'em off the ship."
"I believe we burned pretty hard all the way to Jiangyin," Simon added. "So, we didn't have to feed them for very long."
"So we either invest in fuel or we invest in grain," Carolyn regarded the cattle thoughtfully. "How do cows do in space anyway?"
"River said they forget that they're cows when they're not on the ground," Simon half smiled. "But to outward appearances they didn't seem too upset."
"They were awful eager to get off the ship an' into the air," Kaylee recalled. "But that could also've been 'cause Jayne was smackin' 'em."
Riddick took a look down at the cows from the catwalk next to the shuttle airlock doors and shook his head but forbore comment. River just sighed in resignation and walked around to the stairs leading down closest to the lounge, Riddick and Mal on her heels.
"So what'd Harrow want for 'em," Mal asked when he didn't have to shout through the bay and disturb the animals.
"Nineteen a head," Simon gave him the answer as he passed his encyclopedia to Carolyn. "If we buy some of the higher efficiency grain and throw down hay, it'll absorb a lot of the odor. The more expensive grain will create less waste."
"Had an idea about that actually," Carolyn scanned the encyclopedia and nodded before she passed it back. "Needed to refresh my memory. But Silverhold isn't too far from Jiang." She grinned as River's eyes lit up; she guessed the genius pilot had figured out her possible plan.
"Fertilizer," She told Mal. "Collect and keep the cowpies. Collect more from Jiangyin. Always an excess when there are more ranches than farms. Transport it in plastic crates to Silverhold and sell it."
"Silverhold ain't got a lotta fertile ground," Kaylee recalled, and Simon nodded.
"You think they'll pay for cowpies," Mal rubbed his chin.
"Silverhold still has to import the majority of the planet's food," Simon reminded him. "We might make more off the cowpies than the cows."
"It's worth a shot," The Captain nodded thoughtfully. "All right Carolyn, if you can arrange for the crates and enough of a cargo that it's worth the fuel getting to Silverhold by the time we reach Jiangyin we'll give it a try."
River gave Carolyn wicked smile and winked when Mal couldn't see her face. So likely she would lend a hand to getting the deal set up. "I'll get right on that," The blonde nodded.
"Wait, first we're carrying smelly cows," Jack tilted her head. "And now we're going to actually collect cowpies and more cowpies? So it'll stink worse?"
"Stink washes off," Mal told her in his 'I'm the Captain and arguing with me won't get you anywhere fast' voice. "But money's somethin' we've always got a use for."
Carolyn watched as Jack subsided though she still wrinkled her nose as she looked at the cows.
"So how did the job go," Carolyn looked at Mal when he came onto the bridge for his shift. "You didn't say anything about smooth or not smooth when you three got back."
"Well River had us takin' a bit of an odd route to the meet. And they tried to bargain us down when they figured we were in a hurry," Mal admitted. "But Rick set the bags down and kinda…growled at 'em a bit. Pointed out that he'd be happy to cart the drugs right back to the mule if they didn't pay the agreed upon price."
Carolyn shook her head, "Rick does intimidating like he was born to it." Sometimes she wondered if he had been.
"Well, it gave me a nice opening of pretendin' to soothe him and pointing out that he wasn't sayin' anything they didn't already know," The Captain chuckled. "And River pointed out that if they weren't willing to pay the set price then she was certain there were others who would. Reminded them that we could always go straight to the doctors and leave the middleman out altogether. It might take a little longer, but we'd get a better price."
"So between the two of them you got to play good cop and act like you were the reasonable one," She smirked at him.
"I didn't mind that much no," Mal smirked back. "It's so rare I get to be the voice of reason."
"You certainly don't get a lot of practice with it here," She teased.
"Are you sassin' your Captain woman?" He drew himself up in pretended affront, "I'll have you know I am a completely reasonable person."
"Hmm… except for days that end with a Y," Carolyn grinned, shaking her head.
"I oughta put you over my knee," Mal teased back. "Givin' me backtalk like that, castin' legitimate aspersions on my no good character."
"Careful with that talk Mal, you might end up biting off more than you can chew," She couldn't help herself. Those dark blue eyes, hair flopping over his forehead, handsome face smiling at her, "I might like being put over your knee."
"Oh, is that so," His smile didn't fade, though his eyes darkened as they traveled over her face and body. "Think you could stand to feel my hands on you Carolyn?"
"I think your phrasing is prone to understatement," She retorted, licking her lips. "Though starting off with a spanking might be getting ahead of ourselves a bit."
"Carolyn," Mal leaned forward. "I ain't got any right to expectations. But if you want me to touch you, first move belongs to you darlin'."
Because he was the Captain and if he came on to her, ethically that was very dicey. Luckily, she wasn't especially shy or uncertain about sex, so standing up and moving over to perch on the arm of his chair, didn't take much resolve. Putting her hand to his jaw, carding her fingers through that brown hair falling down into his eyes, that was a little harder, more intimate. "This a good start Mal?"
"That's a fine start Carolyn," He nodded. "Rather you were in my lap if you don't mind."
"I'm not exactly a lightweight," She reminded him.
In response to that statement Mal's arm slid around her waist and tugged her down into his lap, "I'll let you know if my legs begin to go to sleep." He stroked a finger over her cheekbone and jaw, "But you don't weigh much more'n a minute."
Something about his face, the way he looked at her, more intense than his gaze the one time she'd been in his bunk… This was a man who wanted sex, but he craved companionship and intimacy along with it. He wanted friendship but he needed more from her than Riddick ever would have. "Mal," She murmured and leaned up, pressed against him, rubbed her lips against his.
His reaction was instantaneous, pulling her closer and pressing his mouth firmly to hers, a long sweet, sensuous kiss that sent heat flooding through her veins in a way she hadn't, couldn't have, prepared for. When he finally pulled away it took every ounce of self-control she had to not chase his lips with hers. "Carolyn," Mal's hand had slid up her spine to the back of her head, fingers petting her hair. "This's…"
"Yeah," She nodded slowly. "Helluva lot more than we bargained for, right?" She'd expected attraction. She'd known she wanted him, but the explosion of want and sheer need a simple kiss had ignited… Unexpected was a massive understatement.
"I think…" Mal pulled her closer as if wanting to ignore his own words. "I think we might oughta take this slow."
Carolyn sighed but nodded her agreement, "Feels like we could burn each other to cinders if we go at this too fast." His smile just made her want to kiss him all over again. When he lifted her knuckles to his lips and gently pressed kisses to her fingers, she could feel herself melt a bit, "That bein' said, I wouldn't mind getting a little singed."
"I think I could stand a bit of heat myself," Gentle pressure on her neck, bringing her face closer to his and another kiss that threatened to scald them with the steam of it. His mouth, hungry and hot against hers, part her lips for his to devour. Hands, threaded through his hair, soft, against her skin, thumbs stroking the tender skin at the back of his neck. Mal's forearm, pressed parallel to her spine, hand cupping her skull. His other hand on her thigh and hip, curving to grip her pì gu (butt) and pull her closer.
Trying not to moan into his mouth, ready to straddle him and to hell with caution.
And an amused voice from the doorway, "Damn. If that's how you prep for a job maybe I've been goin' about it all wrong."
Riddick. Carolyn sighed and rested her forehead against Mal's, "I suppose it could be worse." The Captain quipped, "Rick, you needed somethin'?"
"Checkin' something," Riddick opened the lockers against the wall and nodded when he came to the third one. Reached in and pulled out a squarish, rounded corner case the size of a shoebox but shallower. "See you later." He nodded at them and left the bridge again.
Carolyn sighed, "So I guess that's why it's not a good idea for us to start kissing on the bridge." She smiled a bit sheepishly.
"I ain't complainin'," Mal smiled at her gently. "Though I think I'll lock the door next time."
Oh, she could definitely get behind that plan.
Author's Note: So Mal finally made a move. So to speak. And something wicked this way comes, at least according to River. Any guesses?
Chinese Translations:
pì gu (butt)
Quote Sources:
Where shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly 's done, when the battle's lost and won. – MacBeth – William Shakespeare
