92) It Don't Matter What You See
When Mal, Riddick, Jayne and River had left to do the job, she'd stayed on the bridge. Mal had woken up uneasy, and his mood, like a virus, had spread through the crew. As a result, Jayne and Riddick had looked a lot meaner than usual and River's mouth set into a straight grim line.
Once they'd sold the goods they'd brought in and taken on their primary cargo, Zoë had kept Emma safe in her shuttle and had Jack sit with the baby while the teenager studied. The First Mate had then proceeded to make sure every EVA hatch was closed tight and locked, and she'd had Kaylee double check that Serenity was good to go the minute Mal and the rest of them were back. Simon had decided that he'd get the infirmary prepped in case there was an emergency.
Truthfully, Carolyn doubted anyone would have gotten too worked up or worried, if River hadn't tilted her head and murmured that no one can outrun their past. Any doubt they'd had about whether or not something bad was coming had been erased. Part of the prep for whatever it was coming had been to bring earwigs along on the job. Even if they couldn't use them during the job, (or they'd give themselves away which was extremely counterproductive) they could contact Serenity afterward if problems came up. At this point it was more of a certainty than a probability.
So when River's voice came over the comms, quiet but urgent, Carolyn snapped to and hollered for Zoë. It took the woman less than a half minute to get to the bridge, "Ān ān, what've you got?"
By general consensus no one used proper names over the comms. Mal was Cap'n, Riddick, 'the big hún dàn', Jayne, 'that blue eyed gǒu niáng yǎng de', and River was Ān ān or Little One.
"Boss Lady," That was Zoë's name while Carolyn's was simply Pilot. "We have encroachment."
Shit. Carolyn had learned enough of Mal and Zoë's military terms to know that was bad.
"How bad," Carolyn asked and hoped it wasn't a huge problem.
"Smallish, 'bout the size of Badger's office crew," River informed them quietly. "But professional. Very professional. Guild most definitely."
"You in a safe spot," Zoë inquired in a semi-mild tone.
"She is unseen, though nowhere is safe," That reply was hardly reassuring but Carolyn doubted it was mean to be. "The others are still hidden."
"And is this channel monitored," That was the next question. If the comm channel was safe they could make some plans. If not, they had to be prepared to improvise.
"Not discovered yet," River sounded slightly distracted. "Thoughts are loud. Grief and greed and rage twine together."
"How close are you?" Carolyn was working the cortex, trying to bring up a visual location on the earwigs and finally got something staticky and vague.
"Concealed in the darkness, fifteen yards out," River replied. "She has climbed to a rooftop."
"Makin' yourself a perch," Zoë nodded approvingly.
"From the buildings to the back of the nearest ship, to home," The Reader informed them. "She is the only one light enough to do so without sound."
"That must chafe at the big hún dàn," The First Mate might have been smothering a chuckle.
"Oh yeah, that's real tā mā de funny," Riddick's low growl of annoyance came through quietly but no less disturbing that he sounded in full voice.
"Somewhat," River replied a bit breathlessly. "But he agrees the plan will work."
"Oh, there's a plan already," Now Carolyn was certain Zoë was stifling a (slightly relieved) laugh. "So long's it ain't one of Mal's plans…"
There was an indignant mumble of 'hey' from the comms as Mal caught that bit of abuse, but the women ignored him. "Near the ship beside Serenity," River murmured. "They lie in wait, in the shadows, a sniper in a perch, three others, scattered in ambush points, all for the chance to speak with him. She must act as the counter sniper."
"You four gonna need backup," Zoë had been calmly checking her shotgun through the entire conversation. There were times Carolyn envied the First Mate her ease with the weapon. This was one of them, most definitely. Carolyn was not good with guns. Even when she tried she couldn't hit the broad side of a cargo tanker.
"A slight distraction only," River's voice lowered even further. "Make noise inside, as if receiving a call for backup. Help required to fulfill the job. Shut off the running lights and the hunters will be at a momentary disadvantage."
"We know where they came from," Carolyn wondered how much of a mess this would make. At least the docks were fairly dark already. The running lights from the ships around them usually illuminated the area well enough that streetlamps weren't needed on the docks. That was the official line anyway. Carolyn just thought they were too tiān shā de cheap to install lights and keep them on.
"Three berths to the west," River replied. "Cryo ship. Sails beyond the Rim." She had a frown in her voice and someone else's accent, "It's a little hard, not knowing what to put in the family bible."
Carolyn frowned, that accent was slightly familiar, and she said so, "Not like I've heard it all my life." She added thoughtfully. "More…I've heard it before and it's just different enough that it sticks in my memory."
"Keep thinkin' on it," Zoë advised quietly and spoke into the comms. "Jayne an' Mal all right?"
"Annoyed, since the job went so smooth," River replied.
"Tài gāi sǐ le, right I'm annoyed," Mal seconded.
"Can't we just shoot 'em," Jayne wanted to know. "It ain't like they can hide from us for long."
"Muzzle flash'll give our position away," Riddick told him quietly. "Gotta do this all at once or not at all."
"I kinda like not at all," Mal smirked. "Why don't we make 'em follow us?"
"Serenity can move faster'n the tin can most mercs fly," Riddick murmured. "River? Can you tell what they've got? Max speed?"
"Děng yī huìr," River murmured. "Carolyn, ask Kaylee, max speed on an SPS Lightship class, Hunter model ought four."
Carolyn turned but Zoë was already on her way back to the engine room, "Zoë's checking with Kaylee."
"Can't get the max speed from their minds," River's voice was irritated.
"What, you can't make 'em think of the stuff you wanna know," Carolyn teased the Reader.
River's soft laugh came over the comms, "Would be much more convenient." She returned. "Why must mercs have the privacy of their thoughts when we need this information."
"Mercs're just contrary like that," Riddick's rasping chuckle sounded over the comms.
Zoë came back on the bridge, "Kaylee says that class boat can nearly match our max speed if they ain't in cryo. In cryo they go half that max."
"So, we take off, leave a clear trail with the nav sats," Mal murmured. "Where do we wanna go?"
"How about we go the one place we know, and they don't," Riddick suggested.
"If we never go back there in my lifetime it'll still be too soon but I take your point," Carolyn sighed.
"So, set a course for system M344/G, planet M6-117," Mal ordered. "Shut down the interior lights, we'll sneak in, quiet as we can, get everything set to take off before we put the lights back on."
"She will begin making her way over the ships to Serenity," River's voice informed them. "Zoë, please meet her at the topside EVA hatch. Keep the alarms from going off."
Jayne's voice came through, "Maybe we get a rope lowered down the side, climb up Serenity an' we all go in like that."
"Make too much noise," Mal sounded like he was shaking his head. "The EVA hatch just forward of the shuttle, we go up to that, opposite side of the berth where they're waitin'."
"Gonna need somethin' to give us a little help, no way we just climb up Serenity's hull without some noise," Jayne pointed out.
"We do it quick, rope tied to the rungs on the hull below the doors," Riddick agreed. "There's always some ambient noise on the docks. Long's we're careful an' we don't curse or holler anyone's name…"
"We ain't that dumb," Jayne muttered.
"Who's it has to shout my name durin' every gorram job," Mal muttered back.
"Ain't done that in a while," The gunhand retorted.
Carolyn sighed, "If we could postpone the argument for when you're all safely aboard?" She suggested, "I'll get Jack and Kaylee to find rope or a ladder or something. Just sit tight for a minute." A click of the comms open to the shuttle and engine room, "Jack, Kaylee, we need rope or something they can use to climb up the side of Serenity. Too risky to open up the cargo bay."
"On it," Jack replied. "Headed to Kaylee."
Jack did very well in a crisis, Carolyn turned back to the console, "Entering the course now. Jack and Kaylee are working on your method of ingress."
"In what?" Jayne sounded confused.
"She means how we're gettin' on the boat," Riddick informed him dryly.
"Why'n't she just say that," The blue eyed gunhand muttered.
"'Cause Carolyn's got class," Riddick retorted. "Her only lapse in judgement seems to be the Cap'n."
"Hey," Mal couldn't infuse his customary 'why doesn't anyone give me the captainy respect I deserve' tone with its usual volume and pathos but he got his point across well enough.
"I dunno," Carolyn smirked. "I trusted you didn't I?"
"True enough," Riddick was chuckling, very quietly, a soft roll of thunder rather than a loud rush of it. "Cap'n, we might hafta consider the possibility that your Pilot is insane."
"'Course she is," Mal retorted. "She flies with us an' took up with me. I wouldn't have her any other way."
"Sweet talker," Carolyn laughed softly and turned as she heard the upper hatch open. "Okay, Little One is aboard."
River came rushing onto the bridge, "Switch frequencies, two nine five." She ordered and cut the comms. "Sorry," She looked at Carolyn. "They've got some tech to listen for open comms. It'll take them a while to find us again but for now." She changed the frequency on the console and opened the comms again, "Cap'n, we're almost ready for you. The big hún dàn should not speak again until he's on the boat."
"We'll let you know when we've got the rope down the side," Carolyn told them. "Get into position next to the boat and be ready. Underside running lights going off in three seconds."
"Got it," Mal's voice came back.
Carolyn took a deep breath and looked at River, "We've got the course set. We go at hard burn the whole way there we'll still have a good headstart."
"Plenty of time," River agreed quietly. "Will let you know the minute they are on, and the EVA hatch closed."
"Sounds good," Carolyn nodded.
Author's Note: So I'm pretty sure you've all figured out exactly who is after them. Question is, what will they do?
Chinese Translations:
Ān ān (honey (endearment in addressing a little girl))
hún dàn (bastard) (individual who has at least two biological fathers and one biological mother - bastard / scoundrel / bastard / hoodlum / wretch)
gǒu niáng yǎng de (son of a bitch (lit. "raised by a dog mother"))
tā mā de (damn it! / fucking) (taboo curse)
tiān shā de (Goddam! / goddamn / wretched)
Tài gāi sǐ le (too damned right)
Děng yī huìr (Wait a moment! / after a while)
