No more spoiler warnings, folks. If you've come this far, you already know what I've been trying to hide about the Firefly/Serenity universe, created by Joss Whedon. You know our intrepid heroes are in a bad way, but it's always darkest before the dawn. Unfortunately, the crew is on a space station, so who knows how that old adage works out?

On with the show!

FIREFLY: CONNECTING FLIGHT
by Randalynn

Chapter 4 – Emergency Instructions

"Mal's not answering," Wash said, her fingers playing over the comm system. She moved from crewmember to crewmember, becoming more upset with each missing response. "Zoe either, or Kaylee. Nobody's comms are responding at all. It's like they're being jammed."

"Or we are." River looked at Wash, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. "Try calling Skyplex control again."

After a few abortive attempts, it was pretty clear that someone was keeping Serenity from calling anyone. Wash tried a few more times and then pushed herself away from the panel. "Ta ma de, River! If we're cut off and being boarded, what's happening to everybody else? To Zoe?"

River touched Wash's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Sssssh, jei mei. We don't need comms. I'm a 'reader,' remember? I can find out what's going on. Just give me a few seconds, okay?" She smiled just a little, even though she was more than a little worried herself.

Wash nodded, biting her lip again and settling back in the pilot's seat. 'Damn,' she thought, 'I guess tears aren't the only thing that's close to the surface. Laconic is a hell of a lot harder to pull off than it used to be.'

The younger girl stood there, eyes closed, and let her mind wander. First, she reached out to touch the two who had boarded the ship. Looking through the eyes of the leader, she saw the duo was approaching the kitchen, still dressed in skin suits with weapons drawn. They were merely hired help with specific instructions – secure the ship and capture the pilot.

River's lip twitched. They thought there was only one person aboard, and cut the number of men hired for the job to make their payoff larger. That almost made it too easy. There was still some time before she had to deal with them, so she moved her perception off across the Skyplex, looking for the missing crew.

The first crewmembers she found were Simon and Kaylee, standing in the marketplace with two large goons standing over them. Angry beyond words, she touched the minds of their captors and discovered that they were also hired help, just following orders. Right now, the instructions were simple – find Kaylee and Simon and keep them from escaping. They were supposed to receive further orders via short range wave on a special comm unit, but until then, all they were supposed to do was hold onto the doctor and mechanic until they were told what to do next.

River pushed back her anger and centered herself. For a fleeting second, she wondered if she could really kill the two mercenaries with her brain, as she had told Jayne she could all those months ago. 'As much as I'd like to try, I don't have the time to experiment. Right now, Simon and Kaylee are relatively safe. I've got to worry about everyone else, too. I need to find the rest of the crew.'

As River continued her hunt, Wash kept her eye on the intruders. She was tracking their approach using the internal sensor grid. There were missing patches of coverage here and there, but what they did have worked (thanks to Kaylee) – and it was pretty clear from the incoming data that they were both heading for the cockpit.

'Makes sense,' she reasoned, a slight tinge of panic beginning to creep into the back of her head. 'They're probably here for the pilot, and since I've only just signed on, they think that means River.'

She looked over at the younger girl, her mind clearly off looking for the crew in the Skyplex. As the blips on her screen moved closer, Wash realized that they were getting awfully close, and she wasn't sure what to do. Should she should distract River when she was … somewhere else?

"River?" she whispered, half reaching out to touch the girl's arm. When no response came, Wash sighed, straightened her shoulders, and turned towards the door.

'Got to buy her some time,' she thought, a small smile creeping onto her face. 'Okay, Wash. You've always been a good talker. Now's as good a time as any to see if that skill came along for the ride when you changed planes.'

The pilot took a step towards the door and stopped. She could hear two voices echoing down the corridor, both male. A rush of fear flowed through her, along with a flood of Linda's memories – memories of men. Of being afraid on twilight streets, moving quickly from streetlight to streetlight; of feeling them standing too close on transit strips or in lifts. From fear she moved to indignation – having men talking down to her, hitting on her – and suddenly Jayne's behavior in the cargo bay moved front and center, followed by a quick image of Linda's strapless gown on prom night – and her date's reaction to it.

Wash shook her head and sighed.

'They're men, and you're a woman,' she thought with a grimace. 'There's no denying it anymore. They're probably bigger and stronger than you are – and they're armed. If you need to keep them from finding River, just talk isn't going to cut it. You've got to use what you've got.'

The pilot pulled the zipper on her flight suit down far enough to show a hint of cleavage, framed by the lace trim on her bra.

"Okay, ladies," she whispered to her chest. "If I can't dazzle them with words, it's up to you to distract them long enough for River to take them down. If we're lucky, we'll all bounce back from this alive."

She gave a ladylike snort, threw back her shoulders, and stepped out into the corridor.

###

"You know," Kaylee said to her own personal man-mountain, "they aren’t going to just let you hold us prisoner in the middle of a crowded market."

"Oh, I dunno, miss," her captor replied with a gap-toothed grin, his New Londinum accent reminding her of Badger back on Persephone. "Looks like nobody seems to much care from where I'm standing. And if they did want to try? Well, Bucky and me, we're right hard to move, ain't we, Bucky?" Simon's escort grunted once. "But they ain't gonna want to try, neither – not for a pair of strangers, and not against Bucky nor me."

"That's a rather bleak view of humanity, isn't it?" Simon piped up.

"Just how I sees it is all, Doc." Bucky's partner shrugged. "Ye bein' a medical man, right?" Simon nodded, wondering how he knew. "That means ye take care o' people, all philanthropical and such. Maybe ye think better of folks than I do. Me, I just rubbed elbows with too many nutters over the years to think we're all just brothers under the skin. I got one brother to look out for –" He jerked his head at Bucky. " – and that's enough for me."

Simon seemed to think for a moment. "This … this is just a job for you, isn't it?"

"Right enough," the man-mountain said. "Just work, as it was, for two enterprisin' young men such as meself and Bucky."

"What if –" Simon stopped abruptly. "What is your name, by the way?"

"Clive."

"Clive." The doctor smiled. "If this is just a job, then you're open to other offers, aren’t you?"

"Not followin' yer meanin, Doc."

"What if I could offer you something far more valuable than whatever you're being paid to keep us here? Something so rare, even the smallest amount of it would be worth a fortune?" He lowered his voice to near a whisper. "What if I could get you a tube of … Ambrosia?"

Clive laughed out loud, turning a few heads. "Ye think I'm daft? Yer so straight I could use ya for a ruler. How would you get yer hands on sumfin' like that?"

Simon raises his hand and looked around furtively. "Keep it down, please! As to how I got it … well, it was a while ago. I was one of the best trauma surgeons on Osiris, working the ER, when this well-dressed gentleman was brought in. Knife wounds, heart and lungs ripped up pretty bad. I saw this metal case fall out of his pocket and slide under his bio bed, but forgot all about it while we tried to keep him alive. As good as I was, I couldn't save him. But when they took him away, I remembered the case. I picked it up, opened it, and there were four tubes of this bluish liquid inside."

Kaylee could see that Bucky had become interested in spite of himself. Clive, however, was a little more skeptical.

"And it was Ambrosia?" Simon nodded, motioning again for the thug to keep his voice down. Clive laughed, a short derisive bark. "And how'd ya figger that out, Doc? Try some?"

"Don't be stupid!" Clive's eyes narrowed, and Simon raised a hand in apology. "I was in the most well-equipped hospital on the planet. I analyzed it. In that little case was enough Ambrosia to buy a small moon – not that I could actually do anything with it."

"Why not?" Everyone turned towards Bucky. They were the first real words he'd spoken. He looked back, brows furrowed. "Why couldn't ye buy yerself a moon, then?"

"Coz the stuff's illegal, Bucky," Clive answered, saving Simon the trouble. "Mister Upstandin' Citizen here canna sell it on the open market, and he don't have the connections to sell it on the down-low. Ain't dat right, Doc?"

"Exactly." Kaylee watched, amazed but trying hard not to show it, as Simon took a step closer to Clive, with Bucky following. "So I had a billionaire's ransom in the palm of my hand, but no way to get at it, at least not on a Core world like Osiris. But maybe out here, on the rim, an opportunity would come up to sell the Ambrosia – and make myself wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice."

"Huh?" Bucky looked to his brother for help. Clive sighed.

"Rich, Bucky. He could sell it out here and get very, very rich." Bucky nodded wisely, taping the side of his nose with his finger.

"So if you were to let the both of us just walk away, I could give you a tube of Ambrosia. You could disappear and live the rest of your lives without working another day." Simon smiled. "I'm sure two enterprising gentlemen like yourselves could find a buyer you could trust."

"A whole tube? Juss fer walkin' away?" Clive laughed again. "If we juss let yer walk, how're we goin' ta collect? Wot, yer juss gonna mail it to us?"

"Of course not," Simon looked around and leaned forward. "I have it with me."

"WHAT?" Clive's eyebrows shot up. "Are ye daft? If it IS real, why're ye carryin' it aroun'?"

Simon shrugged. "Always hoping to find a buyer, I guess. Besides, it really is safer with me. If my shipmates get into trouble, I could just walk away and sell a few drops to buy a new ship."

Clive stared at the doctor, and Kaylee could almost hear the wheels turnin' in his head. She didn't know where her Simon was headed with all this, but he seemed to be headed someplace, and Kaylee would happily go along for the ride. She watched as Clive seemed to come to some sort of decision.

"We'll let ye go," he said, with a grin Kaylee just couldn't trust, "but only after we see the stuff."

Simon looked at Clive and Bucky, thought for a second, and nodded. "Fair enough."

He made sure there was no one else nearby, then reached into his jacket pocket and took out a thin metal case that opened at the top. Before he could open it, Clive reached out and snatched it from him, and Bucky stuck out a hand to stop Simon from grabbing it back.

"Now," said Clive, his grin becoming a snarl. "I got yer Ambrosia and I got ye, too."

Simon smiled and shook his head. "What you have is a metal case you can't open without my help. If you try, it flash boils the Ambrosia and destroys it. I had that case made to replace the original. That way I can't be incriminated for carrying around contraband if the feds catch me – or have a fortune stolen from me in a crowd."

The doctor held out his hand. "So give back the case and we'll deal fairly, or forget about ever seeing that Ambrosia except as a cloud of steam as it floats away."

Clive pulled out a gun and pointed it at Kaylee. "Or I could hang onto the case, and ye ken open it and stop me from blowin' yer ladyfriend's 'ead off. Wot about it, mate?"

Simon's smile faded as he saw the fear in Kaylee's eyes. "A counter proposal, Clive. I open the case for you and you let us go. Four tubes of Ambrosia must be worth crossing your employer, right? And it's not doing me any good just sitting in my pocket, is it?"

Clive hesitated, then shrugged and put his gun away. "I'm a reasonable fella, Doc. Open it up, and ye and yer ladyfriend are free to go."

Simon sighed. "All right, then. Let me show you how to open it. You too, Bucky. You should both know."

Obediently, the brothers gathered close, and Simon took the case in his hand and held it where both could see.

"Look at where my fingers are," he said smoothly. "That's the failsafe position. It allows you to open the case safely. Then you just press on this smooth patch right here, and –"

A cloud of bluish vapor puffed out directly into the faces of the two brothers, coating their skin and drifting into their lungs. Simon took a step back and watched as Clive and Bucky collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.

Simon put the case back in his jacket pocket and let out the breath he'd been holding. Suddenly Kaylee grabbed him from behind with a squeal.

"SIMON TAM! Where in the Verse did you learn to lie like that?" She spun him around and gave him a kiss that made him feel like he'd inhaled the vapor as well.

"It wasn't a lie, exactly," he said when she let him up for air. "It all happened just the way I said it did – except for the part about the Ambrosia. A well-dressed gentleman with no ident card did come in, just as I described, and that case fell out of his pocket and slid under the bio bed while we tried to keep him alive. I found it later."

"You just took it?"

Simon shrugged. "I had planned to turn it in at Administration, but I was curious about what it was, so I held onto it and scanned it. It turned out to be some kind of short-range concealed weapon, full of a sedative that can enter the bloodstream through the skin – although inhaling it works just as well."

"And the Ambrosia?" Kaylee looked at him suspiciously. Simon blushed.

"Just a wild tale of easy money, based on all the lurid tales of treasure and adventure I found on the Cortex as a child," he replied. "The ones my father warned me not to read. I needed a reason for them to let me get close enough to use the weapon, and they needed a reason to betray their employer. Two birds …" he gestured at the bodies "… with one story."

Simon looked around at all of the passersby. They were very carefully NOT looking in his direction (or at the two men on the floor), so he took Kalylee's arm and started strolling towards the exit. "Since no one came to claim the man's body or his possessions, and since my search for a way to get River free was starting to take me into dangerous parts of the city, I kept it."

"So what do we do now?" Kaylee asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Back to the ship, I think," he replied. "If no one else in the crew has been grabbed, they'll all be there waiting for us. But if the others have been taken, River and Linda will still be on Serenity. And I think we're going to need all the help we can get."

###

"I have waited a long time for this day, Captain Reynolds," Niska said with a smile. "I should kill you quickly – kill you all quickly. It would be the smart thing to do. The professional thing. But the truth is, I want to savor your defeat. I want to embrace it. I want to live it with you, existing only for this moment, in this moment, as you watch your world collapse around you." He waved his hand and chuckled. "I know, I know. It's a failing, and I have many – or so my wife tells me. But I am old, and I have learned that sometimes a man should take his pleasure where he can find it. Life, as they say, is short."

"I reckon so," Mal replied, his jaw tight. "I can make it shorter for you, if you want."

Niska shook his head and laughed. "I'm sure you would love to make an end to me, Captain. But this time, it is I who will end you."

"Then do it already." The captain growled, staring straight into his captor's eyes. "Kill me if it'll make you feel all shiny. Make it slow if you want. But let my people go."

"But again, this is a mistake you make, Captain." The crimelord's eyes glittered behind his old-fashioned glasses, and his smile became a touch wider. "Thinking this is only about revenge, when in fact, there is so much more here than you think – much more than a man like yourself could possibly comprehend."

Niska reached up and stroked Inara's cheek with a finger. She turned her head and tried to bite it, but he was faster than she expected, and her teeth closed on empty air. She glared at him in anger, and he smiled, then nodded. One guard pulled her back and swung her around, and the other slapped her hard across her face with the back of his hand. The companion tried to stop herself, but a small cry escaped from between her sealed lips. Mal watched as a trickle of blood ran down from the corner of her mouth.

The old man looked back at Mal and beamed, his eyes twinkling. "You see? It is not the killing I am here for. It is the pain that gives me pleasure – hers, and yours. I do not just want you dead. I want to see you suffer. And watching you as I destroy your 'family' and steal your home? Oh, that will hurt you worst of all. And I will be there to see every glorious moment."

He patted Inara on her bruised cheek, and turned to face Mal. "Then, Captain Reynolds, I will kill you. In fact, I am looking forward to it very much. But as we learned last time, you and I, you cannot suffer once you are dead. So, as my mother always used to say … first things first."

###

Wash stood at the top of the stairs leading to the cockpit, her body framed by the doorway and her curves lit from above by an overhead fixture. Her heels on the metal deck made enough noise to silence the voices down the corridor.

"Hello?" she said softly, doing her best to keep her voice level. "Who's there?"

Her reply was a low chuckle. "My, my," a deep voice purred. "Stop in to pick up a spaceship and get a free redhead. Who knew it was bargain day at the Skyplex?"

The pilot pushed aside her fear. She had a job to do – keeping these two busy until River was finished. But how? 'This guy likes to play with words, and I do, too,' she thought. 'Maybe he likes his women to be playful, too. And if he thinks I'm interested …'

She stopped for a second, then continued with an internal sigh. 'If he thinks I'm interested, he won't kill me. That's enough of a plus to work with, for now.'

Wash grinned and shook her head. "First of all, I'm not free," she said, letting a playful note come into her voice. She shifted her weight and cocked her hip, letting one hand rest there. "I'm not talking about coin – I'm a pilot, not a whore. But I like to know I'm appreciated. So let's start with dinner and a show, and see what happens first."

A rumbling chuckle drifted back her way down the corridor. She continued, encouraged. "And as for me being a bargain, forget it. Just ask my last boyfriend. Believe me, my name and the words 'cheap date' will never pass his lips in the same sentence, unless the words 'not a' appear between them."

The deep voice laughed aloud. "Girl, you are a hoot!"

"Thanks! You're a lovely audience," Wash replied sweetly. "I'll be at the Skyplex Comedy Shack all week, two shows a night – unless you manage to take the ship. Then of course I'll be dead. No refunds, though."

"Maybe not, sweet thing," the deep voice said, still smiling. "You might come under the heading of illegal salvage. Hate to waste someone as pretty as you."

"I bet you say that to all your victims." Another rumbling chuckle echoed down the corridor.

A hissing voice came from the shadows on the far side of the passageway. "Knock it off, Teller. We aren't here to play. We're on the job, remember?"

"Oh, come on, Beeks. There's always time to play. Ain't that right, baby?"

Wash smiled in what she hoped was a seductive manner. "Depends on who you're playing with. And what game you're planning to play."

"Well, my name's Teller. And I think we're already playin', don't you?" She could hear the sly grin in the mercenary's voice, and it sent shivers down her spine.

'Damn,' she thought, trying to keep the fear inside. 'I'm better at this flirting thing than I thought. Either that or he hasn't seen a woman in a long time.'

A little voice inside her whispered, 'Or maybe you still don't want to see how sexy you are now.' She did her best to ignore it.

"Are we playing?" Wash let a touch of innocence drift into her voice. "I hadn't noticed."

Teller snorted. "I think you're old enough to have been in the game for a while, girl," he said. "And you do the dance like a pro."

The pilot's eyebrows shot up in surprise before she could stop them. "Thank you … I think."

A little surprise touched Teller's reply. "You think?"

A bit of Linda's memory slipped into Wash's mind, causing a bit of a blush. "Sometimes a woman who isn't a 'pro' doesn't like to be thought of as one. It's … complicated."

Beeks laughed then, a dry wheeze. "It always is where bitches are concerned."

"Shut it, Beeks." Teller's anger came through with a sharp edge. "My job, my lead. That means you work for me. So shut your trap or I'll shut it for you. Clear?"

There was a short pause, then Beeks spoke in even, measured tones. "As long as you remember who you're working for, Tee. And as long as you keep your eyes on your business instead of her chest."

There was a long uncomfortable silence.

"So, Red," Teller said, his voice deliberately conversational. "What's your name?"

"Linda." Wash stared out into the darkness. 'This would work a whole lot better if I could see who I'm talking to,' she thought, frustrated.

"Well, Linda. As you heard, Beeks really would like to kill you." Teller sighed. "I personally think that would be an awful waste, but he has … issues with women." Beeks snorted and fell silent. "It is your lucky day, though. Since this job is mine, we do it my way. So I'm gonna give you a chance to walk away."

Wash felt her jaw fall open. Teller laughed out loud again. "You seem surprised, girl. After all, it's only a chance to walk away. If you really want to get out of this alive, Linda, you have do exactly what I say – 'cause if you don't, I guarantee Beeks will just kill you where you stand."

'Gorram it, what'll I do now?' The pilot felt herself begin to panic. 'If I walk away, they'll walk into the cockpit and find River. If I don't walk away, they'll shoot me dead, drag the body to one side … and then find River. Could this day possibly get any worse?'

She cleared her throat. "Wha … what is it you want me to do?"

Wash could feel Teller's grin in the darkness when he spoke. "In order for you to leave, we've got to let you past us, right?" Wash nodded. "And I'd be a fool ten times over to let you walk behind us with a weapon, right?" She nodded again, more slowly. "So if you want to leave alive, I need you to strip bare-ass naked, leave your clothes up on the deck there, and walk slowly past Beeks and I to the far end of the corridor."

Teller took a step forward into a shaft of light from overhead. He was big, with a body that had seen more fighting than loving. Blond and blue-eyed, with a short scar running down his left cheek and a cold grin that only underscored the lust in his eyes. "And if Beeks and I decide to … check you for weapons as you pass, you give us a smile and a 'thank you' – and anything else we might like to have before you reach the other side of this passageway."

Beeks laughed, a mean and ugly sound. "Damn, Tee! You are a ruttin' genius."

Teller smiled wider. "Credit where credit is due, Beeks. So what'll it be, Linda? Take it all off and everybody's happy … or die where you stand. It would be a waste – but playing with you is just an added bonus, after all. And the ship will still be here when you're gone."

The pilot shuddered all over, thinking about her choices – and about how there really wasn't any choice at all. She was just starting to get used to this body, and now she was going to have to cross a line she was soooo not ready to cross.

'But you do what you have to do to save the people you care about,' she realized as her blood ran cold. 'That's why I'm here like this in the first place. To save Zoe and the crew.'

Wash smiled weakly and nodded. "Game over, then," she said, her voice shaking. "You win. I could ask you to be gentle, but you'll be what you are, won't you?" Teller nodded, and Beeks laughed again.

She reached up and tugged on her flight suit's zipper. 'River needs time,' she thought, 'and if all I have to work with to get it for her is my body, I guess I'm moving from comedy to burlesque.'

'Let's just hope I don't wind up as dead as vaudeville.'

###

"Niska!"

Across the crowded Skyplex floor, Jayne could see that all manner of things had gone way south. Mal and Zoe, held in plain sight by Niska and his gorram goons. He couldn't hear what was going on, but he knew it couldn't be good. After what they did to get Mal back the last time Niska had him, Jayne knew the man was gonna want blood, and he wasn't gonna take no chances this time.

'And he has 'Nara,' the mercenary grumbled, watchin' the situation go from bad to worse and likin' it even less. 'Least his goons do, which ties Mal’s hands pretty damned quick, the way he feels about her.'

Jayne leaned forward a little, trying to get a better view of what was going on without letting anyone see him in the doorway. Crowds of people moved around the small group across the way like a river around a rock, and every one of 'em lookin' to shop or gab or some such – a wall of rich folk between him and his target.

'Sure would cause a fuss if somethin' happened to any of them,' Jayne thought, lookin' for an opening and not findin' one. 'And if Niska's here with Mal, I'm thinkin' the rest of his folk are probably busy grabbin' up everybody else right now. Includin' Linda.'

He growled in frustration, bangin' the doorframe with his fist.

'Taint fair!' he raged inside. 'Just when things start goin' my way, Niska's gotta spoil it all. Not that I can do nothin' about it all by myself, cut off from the others. Gorram it, why did I have to wind up stuck here …'

Jayne turned away from the door and stopped, stunned. ' … stuck here – in a store full of guns.'

The clerk watched with growing unease as a wicked smile grew on the mercenary's face, his eyes roaming the shelves and display cases with undisguised happiness.

'Oh, yeah,' Jayne thought, the smile becoming a grin. 'This is gonna be fun!'

###

© 2008 as a work in progress. The Verse belongs to Joss Whedon, I'm just borrowin' it some. Posted by the author.