The New Deal
Disclaimer:
This story is not meant to infringe on the copyright of any person or company related to the trademarked characters and situations depicted in the Serenity movie or Firefly series.
A/N:
This fic was written by my dad, who asked me to post it on here. I have to admit that I have been lazy and so it has taken me almost a year to do so! The fic was written for a Firefly competition and it came second – I think it's pretty good.
A faint light was coming through Kaylee's porthole – the ship was landed and it was nearly dawn. Awake now, she decided she may as well rise and get the crew's breakfast started. Making her way towards the hold, she felt a slight chill, and as she reached the gantry she realized that the main hold door was open. She crept nervously down the companionway to see a tall figure silhouetted against the glowing sky. Creeping quietly forward, she called out.
'Didn't figure you for a romantic, Captain. Watching the sunrise an all'
Mal turned and smiled. 'Me? No. I'm just anxious, wondering where that gorram contact is - he was supposed to be here yesterday, dammit. If he ain't here by noon I reckon I'll have to head into town. See what's happened to him or find some other deal. We sure as hell need the cash.'
He paused, scratching the stubble on his chin. 'You figuring on fixing some coffee?'
'Sure thing, Captain.' Kaylee smiled and turned back into the hold. She didn't see Mal turn and look again at the reddening sky before he followed her.
Later that morning, Simon was making his way up towards the bridge when he heard low but strained voices: Zoe and the Captain. Arguing again. How often had they done that in the last few weeks? But it was the mention of his sister, River's name by one of the voices that made him stop and listen in, undetected.
'Yeah, she's good. She's more than good.' Mal said.
'Then why do you…?' asked Zoe.
'Why do I think we need another pilot?' said Mal. 'We've been through all this before.'
'And I'm still not convinced.'
'No you're just…', he hesitated.
'Just what?' asked Zoe, her voice rising now.
Mal took a breath before replying.
'You're just not convinced. I understand that. I…appreciate your viewpoint. But Zoe, we do need back up. Yes, River seems fine now, but you know how she was, when she first came on board. What if she relapses or whatever? Besides, she's good to have with us when we're dirt side – she's too good a fighter. But we still need someone sitting here for when things don't go so well. And, as you may have noticed, just occasionally they actually don't go so well.'
'That's true,' Zoe conceded, still not sounding convinced.
Simon backed away quietly. Not a good time to ask about the extra medicines he wanted for sickbay. Should he be worried that Mal was planning to look for another pilot now that that was his sister's role? Probably not; Mal had kept River on board even before she had any obvious skills to offer. The Captain surely wouldn't dump her off the ship now. But the thing that did trouble Simon was that, though he didn't like to admit it even to himself, he shared some of the Mal's doubts about the possibility of River suffering a relapse.
Noon came and went with no sign of Mal's elusive contact. Grumbling to himself, he ordered Jayne and Zoe to the mule for a trip into the nearby township. Kaylee and Simon both begged to go along and, reluctantly, Mal agreed. Kaylee had borrowed an aquamarine silk scarf from Inara, which she neatly arranged on shoulders as the mule set off. Seeing Kaylee's obvious pleasure, Inara couldn't help herself:
'Hey, Kaylee – it really suits you. Better than it ever did me. Not my colour – you can keep it.'
The mule shot off at just that moment, and Kaylee had no chance to offer her thanks – so she just smiled and waved.
In the township, Mal's mood grew even darker. There was still no sign of the contact Mal had been promised, and at address he had been given no one had even heard of Django Barnes. Angrily, he led the way to the nearest bar. Kaylee and Simon sensibly made their excuses to leave the group. Even Jayne, surprisingly, seemed to have grasped that a fun afternoon was not in prospect, as he too left, saying that he'd meet back up later. When Zoe left to go to the restroom, Mal was left to brood by himself.
Zoe took her time and his mood degenerated further. The restroom door opened, but instead of Zoe he saw two other women emerge, a redhead and a blonde, giggling together. He tried to ignore the fact that they seemed to be looking directly at him as they whispered their way across the room. As he turned from watching them leave the bar, he saw Zoe coming back with a huge grin on her face. It was a shock – the first time he'd seen her smile in way too long – and he temporarily forgot his black mood.
Lowering herself into the chair next to him, Zoe turned to him.
'You owe me a drink.'
'Well sure, but…why?'
'I got us a contract,' she beamed.
'How? When?' he asked, and then, more suspiciously, 'Where?'
Zoe nodded towards the ladies' room. 'Yup. In there.' She leaned forward to drain her glass.
'Tell me.' Mal demanded.
'It's shiny, Captain. I overheard two women talking. They've been let down by their regular shipper. Taking certain items to Brax III – just under a week away. Nothing illegal mind. But their regular shipper is a woman captain – seems they're nervous of dealing with men.'
'Why?'
'Well…because the contract involves shipping supplies and staff to a…cathouse.'
Mal looked puzzled.
'A whorehouse, Captain.'
'Oh. I see.'
'So they like a woman captain. Less likely to allow anything untoward on board.'
'Hmm,' said Mal. 'They assume that men just can't be trusted.'
At that moment Jayne walked back into the bar.
'Point taken,' said Mal.
'Shouldn't we get goin?' asked Jayne, not sitting down, which Mal thought unusual.
Mal turned back to Zoe. 'These two women. Were they a blonde and a redhead?'
Zoe nodded.
'Did you say anything about me to them by any chance?'
Zoe hesitated, then nodded again.
'You didn't tell them I was your captain did you?'
She shook her head.
'I'm figuring you told them that you are the captain, huh?'
Another nod.
'So what did you tell them I was?'
Zoe smiled sweetly. 'How about that drink, Captain,'
Despite his evident pleasure at Zoe's improved mood. Mal was less than impressed when Zoe outlined the details of the deal she'd struck. The two women – Glerys and Fiona – wanted to meet Zoe later that day at their business address'. And they wanted to see Zoe alone. Mal remained less than happy with this prospect, complaining that it was unsafe to do business with people you don't know on planets that you're unfamiliar with. However two words from Zoe - Django' and Barnes' - rather deflated his argument. To his surprise, Jayne didn't seem too bothered one way or another about the deal, saying only that he'd had enough of the town and wanted to get back to the ship. When Mal told him he must stay, he seemed both irritable and a little nervous. 'Not his usual mood around whores', thought Mal.
When they reached the address Zoe had been given. It looked like a run-down factory.
'More like a warehouse than a whorehouse,' Jayne muttered as he wriggled his shoulders.
'I guess you'd know,' said Zoe. 'Besides, I never said it was a whorehouse. This is their supply depot.'
Zoe made her way forward, 'You two can wait here. And try to look like my hired muscle, won't you? What's with you, Jayne?'
Mal turned to the distinctly uncomfortable looking Jayne too.
'Yeah, what is up with you?'
'I'm fine,' growled Jayne.
A short while later, Zoe returned, and the three started back towards their mule.
'It's all sorted,' said Zoe. 'The goods will be brought out to the ship in a couple of hours.'
'You told them the location of my ship?' Mal fumed.
Zoe ignored his outburst. 'It's cool Captain. They're a couple of really nice women, who've worked hard to build themselves a business - across several systems. And with no men to mess things up.'
Mal snorted.
'The pay is 15K – and it could be a regular trip if their other captain don't show up again.'
Mal's eyes brightened at the figures, but all he said was 'Yeah. I wonder what happened to her. Any case, I don't want my ship turned into some whore bus service. Where's the freedom in that?'
'It ain't always people, Mal. In fact this trip is just equipment, like I said – though they do want us to stop by Sable and pick up some guy there. Lawyer, I think. Will add a couple of days to the trip.'
'You never said anything about Sable,' Mal snarled, then he added, 'Oh, it's OK. Well done Zoe.'
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