Disclaimers: Everything belongs to Joss, except for one character of my creation ----------------------------- **Mousing over the Chinese should reveal the English translations on most browsers. If not, translations follow the story. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The job had gone smooth—something the crew of Serenity wished would happen a lot more often—and now the captain had a promise to keep. His promise was to give the crew some leave time if the job went as planned; and leave time could not be better spent on a Border world than on Paquin. Any type of entertainment that captured a person’s fancy could be found, along with some fine places to eat and drink. The crew needed the break; they had been working hard and going through changes. Most recently, Inara had announced plans to leave, to teach at a Companion training house on a Border moon. But she hadn’t left yet, and would be meeting up with them on Paquin after finishing a job of her own. “I ain’t responsible for where you go or what you do,” Mal told them as they prepared to disembark and go their separate ways. “Just keep a low profile and don’t get yourself arrested—and if you do, make sure somebody bails you out and gets you back to the ship by week’s end, ‘cause that’s when we’re flyin’. Oh, and make sure the somebody who bails you out is somebody not me.” Wash was the last to leave the ship after shutting everything down. “Somebody tried to ‘wave us a bit ago,” he said. “Got cut off before I could see who it was.” “Prob’ly Inara’s girls at the training house wantin’ to know her ETA,” Mal remarked. “Tell her the first thing she needs to train ‘em on is how to send a ‘wave!” The sun was about to set, and Paquin was the best place in the ‘verse to catch a sunset. Zoë and Wash walked off hand in hand to find some romantic dining spot where they could watch that happen. Kaylee and Simon walked off with River in tow—sunsets weren’t quite as romantic when little sister was along, but some things couldn’t be helped. Shepherd Book took off alone, carrying his Bible, as always. Mal watched them all leave, and then slapped Jayne on the shoulder with a sigh. “Looks like it’s you and me and a couple beers, seein’s how everyone else here appears to have a life,” he said. The two of them headed out to find a pub. Simon and Kaylee walked to the open-air marketplace a short distance from the spaceport. There they could watch the sun set across the nearby lake. They stood at the end of the row of vendors and shops, close together. River was poking through the shops nearby, appearing to not notice the setting sun at all, but picking up and examining every trinket and gadget she could find. Simon cast frequent looks back to keep track of her. The sun went down, and darkness fell over the city. Kaylee and Simon turned away from the shore and began exploring the brightly lit shops, enjoying the cool night breeze and the feeling of relaxing on solid ground. River had discovered a CorView monitor mounted near the outdoor seating area of a small cafe, and was watching it intently. There appeared to be a news wave of some sort on, although it wasn’t the normal time for the news to air. Kaylee and Simon walked up to join her. She turned to them as they approached, her brows knitted in consternation. “I told her it would be hot,” she said. “She thought it would be cold, but it’s hot. I told her.” She turned back to the monitor again. Simon frowned and looked at the screen. “Prison Break and Riot” the graphic across the top read. The video showed a massive fire and what looked to be an uncontrolled mob scene. The locator at the bottom identified the setting as “Zargon”. He turned to Kaylee. “Isn’t that where we took the nurse a few months back?” “Yeah,” Kaylee murmured, glancing sideways at River, who was still studying the scene intently. “Oh ta ma duh! Poor Alex!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHINESE: ta ma duh! = damn! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go to Chapter 2.

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