The Doctor took another once-over of the shattered device with his sonic screwdriver, then shut it off with a thoughtful frown.
"Well, you found anything new about it?" said Wash from his chair in the corner. Ever since his alarming statements about aliens days before, Mal had decided to have at least one person keeping an eye on him... most of the time. "It's a small ship, so he shouldn't get up to too much trouble with all of us keepin' our eyes open," Mal had said, then looked downright pensive. "Not too much."
The Doctor paced around to the other side of the device and started to jimmy open a hatch.
"Doctor?"
"Hm? Oh yes, fascinating piece of work. Rather diabolical, how precisely it seems to be geared to control immaterial emotivores... my guess is that it placed that tag on the Captain as soon as he first turned his back on putting it in here."
"What was that thing doing to him, anyway? I mean, I heard what I could term a tiff, or maybe even a ruckus... but when I got there, the show was over." He paused. "Zoe won't even tell me what happened. The couple times I asked, she just changed the subject to sex. Don't get me wrong," he said. He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sexin' is good, and more is... well, more good." He shook his head. "Just the same, I wouldn't mind knowing what happened."
"I can't say I'm surprised, with the kind of bond they share," said the Doctor. "Don't worry about it, though; I'm sure she'll open up to you about it at some point."
Wash nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
"Well, at least I can tell you what it was, now that I've been over it," the Doctor said, pulling the smashed remains of the small badge out of his pocket. "It was very primitive control, as far as human physiology is concerned. It mainly acted as a perception filter, centered on that box and its appearance." He stopped, frowned, then said, "There would have been a bleed to other areas of the brain, though; this wasn't shielded very well. Was he acting different at all, even a little?"
"Well, I-"
"I'd rather suspected something was off when he actually allowed me to say Grace at a meal," said Book from the doorway. He shook his head.
"What do you mean?"
"When I first arrived aboard this ship, he informed me at my first meal that while I was welcome here, my God wasn't."
"Good Lord!"
"Men have their reasons," said Book, shaking his head. "I can only hope that someday he'll find peace." He raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. "Pardon my saying so, but why would you be concerned-"
"About a human? I believe that's what you were trying to say," said the Doctor, without heat. "You don't have to be any particular species to be concerned for the welfare of fellow life forms. It's a big universe, and intelligent species, while varied, are too spread out and transient to treat callously." He stopped and chuckled. "I only wish I could convince more of my own people of that fact."
"They're... warlike?"
"No, that would show they cared. I would term it... stagnant. Self-righteous. Over half a million years since the last real innovation, and they still think they're the greatest in creation. Ha!"
"Yes, well!" said Wash, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "I can't say this hasn't been educational, and more than a little freaky, talking about alien cultures and all..." He look toward Book expectantly.
"Oh, yes! Mal said to tell you we're in range."
"Thanks," said Wash, getting to his feet. With a nod and a relieved look, he was out the door.
"Where are we headed?" said the Doctor.
"New Texas. According to Wash, it's the closest moon with any sort of a decent repair dock. Mal mentioned that he may know someone who could give us some extra work."
"Ah, that is good news," said the Doctor. Taking one last look over the device, he started for the door.
"Where are you going?" said Book.
The Doctor stopped, his shoulders stiff. "House... no, ship arrest, is it?"
Book looked startled, then laughed. "I guess it does look like that, doesn't it?" he said. ""But no, that's not it. It's just that it's nearly landfall; there's always preparations to be made, and there's to be a meeting before then - and I thought you'd want to be included."
His shoulders relaxed slightly. "I suppose that's true," he said. "Right now, though, I could do with a nice cup of tea."
"I'd like that too, but unfortunately all we have is what's on in the galley. Help yourself."
Landfall, New Texas.
"What's your name, boy?" said Mal.
"It's-"
"See, that's the sound o' me not carin' what your name is," snapped Mal, slapping the table. "That's the sound o' me telling you that if you give any lip, if you hold back anything you can do, you ain't comin' back to this ship to lick your wounds. You hear me?" He brought his face closer to the boy's, knuckles on the table. "You are done here." He looked up at Jayne. "Get him on a ship. I ain't particular as to how, or where he ends up. Only thing, we can't have him end up starvin' to death."
Jayne looked peeved, but nodded. He looked down at the kid. "You're cuttin' into my fun time, you little 鼻子恶鬼 . Means this ain't gonna be fun for you."
He started out the door, dragging the kid by the wrist.
"Jayne!"
"What?"
"No sellin' the kid."
Jayne just glowered at him, and left.
"Now, to the next order of business," said Mal. "While it's true you're a payin' customer, and you've been some help... I'm of half a mind to put you off here and forget this whole mess."
"I suppose I can understand that, Captain Reynolds," said the Doctor. "The fact is, I wouldn't have commissioned your ship if mine were in proper working order. However, I am still in need of your services."
"You're kickin' him off the ship?" said Kaylee, looking hurt. "But he ain't done nothing wrong- he's helped us the whole time he's been here!"
"I wouldn't feel so bad for him; he isn't human."
The Doctor frowned at Simon. "They are quite aware of that fact now, Doctor Tam," he said. "Frankly, I find this xenophobia of yours unbecoming of a man of science."
Simon looked a little uncomfortable at this, but still defiant.
Wash cleared his throat. "I think our illustrious captain would want to hear your theory about what that gizmo was for, Doctor."
"Oh yes," said the Doctor. "It seems we were most fortunate to stop that device, and that creature. Not just for us, but for the rest of this system as well."
"Layin' it on a little thick, aren't you?"
"I'm afraid it's not an exaggeration, captain. Wash told me that you were paid to deliver that device to a certain moon, correct?"
"That's the usual deal, yeah."
"First of all, that device. It was designed to direct and control those creatures. We've established that they feed on strong emotions. I had suspected that the destination was a war zone, or the like, but it wasn't." He looked at Wash expectantly.
"Ah, yeah," said Wash. "He was looking over the charts, and I noticed that to get to that moon, we would have had to pass close to Reaver space. Really really close." He rubbed his face and blew out a breath. "Frankly, Mal, I would have held out for some kinda hazard pay in delivering that thing."
"So... those things would have jumped ship to feed on the Reavers?" Zoe said. "That doesn't sound so bad... oh."
"Yes, indeed," said the Doctor, his face grim. "From what I understand, the intensity of their emotions would have given them enough strength to take over more and more of them, exponentially. Which would mean all of them under the control of a single entity."
The rest of those at the table stared at him in horror.
"That was what this mysterious person was trying to do. He was trying to build an unstoppable savage army!"
"That gorram 傻的烟肉头!" said Mal. "Only took it on cheap, as a favor, and he pulls this kind of 下水道住宅鱼屁 ? Zoe, next we see him, we're takin' this outta his hide!"
"Who is this person?" said the Doctor.
"A former Independent, name of Jedediah Kathen. We found out about him by way of a few other people. He's set us up with a few good jobs in the past," said Zoe. "This one isn't one of those."
"If it's any consolation," said the Doctor, "he probably didn't know what it was. It's just as likely that he's as much of a 'patsy' in this as you are."
"Well, we can at least find out from him who passed it on in the first place!"
"True, true," mused the Doctor. "From what I know of such men, though, he would be most reluctant to part with that fact."
"Oh, he'll tell us," said Mal.
"I think it would be preferable to avoid violence. Perhaps there could be some... facts about his dealings that he would prefer to keep private?"
"You talkin' blackmail?"
"Such a distasteful term, but I suppose it fits. Mind you, I wouldn't normally suggest it, but we need to find out who is behind this before they find out their gambit failed - and they try something worse."
"You got a suggestion how we could do that?"
"I believe I could work up a codebreaker of some kind, then search the Cortex... I may need a hand recognizing the types of data we're looking for, though."
Mal turned toward Book. "How about it, Shepherd?
"I don't really like the thought of being party to this-"
"We nearly died back there. I wouldn't be above turning Jayne loose on him, but the Doc's right. Let's give this a chance to work before we get biblical on 'im."
"What do you mean, 'biblical' ? And why me?"
" 'An eye for an eye,' sound familiar? Reason 'why you,' well," Mal said, leaning back, "you're a man of hidden talents. Can't afford to let them get rusty, can we?"
Book sighed. "Very well. I'll see what I can do to help with data analysis. But no more than that!"
"You do that. Kaylee, you work up a list of parts we need - keep in mind, ain't got much to work with, but we'll get as much of 'em as we can. Wash, you go with her on that; here's the address of the main suppliers. Soon's Jayne gets back, he an' I will be going to check on this job offer..." His voice trailed off as Inara walked into the room, River following close behind.
Inara raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss anything?"
"I'll fill you in when you return," said Book. "I trust you're feeling better?"
" 'Course she is," said Mal. "Can't keep the payin' customers waiting!"
She ignored this. "I do have a couple of clients to visit," she said. "Let me know when we have a projected departure time, would you?"
"Will do," said Wash.
River wandered up to the table, stopping across from the Doctor.
"She's broken, and the sunshine is missing."
The Doctor looked startled.
"You could look in yesterday, behind the scattered seconds," said River, tracing an aimless pattern on the table with a finger. "But if you do, the sunshine will be forever lost."
"I'll find her," said the Doctor. "I must."
She suddenly looked up into his eyes."He's there, hidden. Schoolyard bully, waiting for the last bell."
She glanced up at Simon, and before he could react, reached over and gently tweaked his nose. "Such a boob," she said, then turned and wandered away.
"Any idea what she was talking about, Doc?"
"I... have an idea," said the Doctor distantly. He shook his head "But for the time being, our best course is to continue as we are."
"Good enough," said Mal. "Zoe, you stay with the ship - and keep me updated on any new info."
" I could easily do that, Captain-"
"No offense, but you do get downright wordy at times. I need someone who can cut to the chase."
The Doctor harrumphed at this, but said nothing more.
"Any other business?" No-one moved. "All right, meetin's over. Let's get movin'."
"I wasn't aware that you would be putting this device together from scraps. Are you sure this will work?"
Book eyed the small grey device with mild skepticism. The Doctor had just cobbled it together from some of the remains of the boxlike device, as well as a couple of others he had pulled out of his pocket.
"It's marginally better than the one I built in school for computer ciphers class, so I believe it should do the job."
"Hm."
"The Academy, despite its failings in other areas, did have an excellent computer section. So this should be quite adequate."
"Only one way to find out," said Book. He took the device and plugged it into a peripherals port, then logged on. He stepped aside. "All yours."
"Thank you," said the Doctor. He sat down at the keyboard and began calling up columns of data and various sites.
After a short time, Book spoke.
"Was there something you weren't telling us at the meeting, Doctor?"
The Doctor paused, then continued browsing the screen. "Perceptive of you. I wasn't about to cause a greater stir than I already had."
"Well, it's just me here now. What was it? I assure you, it will be safe with me."
The Doctor sat back. "It's nothing, really-any danger has already been averted. It's just that whoever built that device vastly overestimated its effectiveness." He rubbed his chin. "After roughly half the Reavers had been converted, consumed or what have you, the device would have been overwhelmed and ceased to function."
"So... the creatures would stop?"
"Far worse, I'm afraid. They would come into possession of all of them, but with no outside control, would become a single-minded swarm in earnest." He looked up at Book's concerned face. "I imagine you know what a swarm of locusts can do to a field."
"I do."
"That would be the nearest planet, then planet after planet until they were destroyed. Even if they were stopped after that, the damage to the galactic infrastructure would be catastrophic - and probably render life unsustainable in this system."
"Well," said Book, shaking his head, "I... suppose I did ask for that."
"We headed that scenario off," said the Doctor. "That's some comfort. Now then..." He punched a few more keys, then sat back. "I think that's all of the data I can find so far." He moved aside so that Book could see.
"Hm," said Book, looking over the list. "Local news... Birth records, yes... police records?" He glanced over at the makeshift device. "Impressive."
"Yes, but is there anything we can use?"
"Well, there's possession of stolen property, racketeering, smuggling, jaywalking... quite a list."
"I suppose that will have to-"
"No, wait!" Book looked closer at the column. "That's... it shouldn't be possible." He clicked on a link, opening up a long document.
"What is it?"
"It's a military file. Normally, they're kept on a separate dedicated system. Even mundane matters are highly encrypted." He read it over carefully. "It's a payroll file," he said. "Left over from the Unification War... Oh." Book sat back. "Oh dear. I don't think we should tell the Captain about this one."
"Why is that?" said the Doctor, even as realization began to dawn. "Oh, my."
"Yes, exactly. He was lieutenant in the Independents, but this... this is an Alliance military payroll."
"Which means-"
"Which means he was a 三次杂种狗 purple-belly spy(1)," said a cold voice from the doorway behind them. They looked up to see Zoe staring at the screen, her face expressionless.
Book stood, raising his hands. "Please, let's not do anything rash," he said. "I won't be party to murder."
"Murder, Shepherd? How about slaughter? That's what people like that lying 傻鸡奸 gave us." She stalked from the room, Book following close behind, still trying to reason with her.
"Oh dear," said the Doctor.. "I certainly hope I can find the fellow before she does." He turned back to the station and began typing with renewed vigor.
(1)Purple-belly: Independent troop slang for Alliance soldiers (taken from the color of their combat uniforms).