Chase went back into the kitchen and sank down into the nearest available chair. The scare of the transmission has put everyone on edge, but fortunately it had been a wave from Isis. She had forgotten that the dock keepers occasionally waved ships that were near the Shadow docks. It seemed that this ship was headed where she’d wanted to come anyway, for one reason or another.

“Mind tellin’ me what all that was about?” asked Mal. “Sounded like code, if’n I’m not mistaken.”

“Mais oui, it was.”

“What did you tell them?” demanded Zoe.

Chase heaved a sigh. “I said that there were four people “of interest” to the Alliance in my company; ones we’d need to hide. I also said that there were others that might warrant questioning if the wrong people got hold of them. I also said the ship might be tagged."

“And who’s this ‘Phantom Grease’ fella? And who’s an old dealer? Runnin’ from sharks, ain’t ya?” Jayne cast a fresh skeptical eye on her, all the while keeping his hands near the rather large blade hanging from his belt. If Chase hadn’t known better, it would have reminded her of a miniature meat cleaver.

“I’ve never seen a shark in space. How do they breathe?”

“Ruttin’ hell! You’re in for coin, admit it!”

Chase held her hands in the air, trying to show the man she was both unarmed and not inclined to fight him. “No. And to answer your question, those “names” are handles.”

“Say what?”

“Handles. My working name, if you prefer. All dealers have one that work outside the Common. It’s to keep our real identities a secret. My handle is Grey Ghost, or Fantome Gris in Creole-speak. Nicholas the Elder, the leader of the Creoles, uses the handle “Old Dealer” when speaking on outside lines of communication.” Chase saw a few faces relax, if ever so slightly.

“The older man you spoke to?” asked Simon.

“That would be him. There’s nothing more to do but land the ship now, and you have clearance to land on the Shadow docks. I’d take the offer of a slip, because you may find there might be trouble if you use the regular ports on Isis.”

“Ya mean Alliance?” Kaylee’s eyes shot worried looks at both Simon and River.

Chase leaned back in the chair, keeping her eyes on those gathered around her. “Among other things, yes.”

Now it was Inara’s turn to be confused. “Other things?”

“You lot seem to think the Alliance is the only real threat in the ‘verse. There’s other, more problematic things out there waiting for those who’ve been tagged.”

“Like Operatives.”

Chase chuckled. “Yeah, assuming you’re wanted dead. I don’t think that’s the case, at least not as far as I would be concerned.” She heaved another sigh and motioned everyone to sit down, which some took her up on. Simon stayed close to both Kaylee and River; Inara took the seat next to Chase, and Jayne, Mal and Zoe kept their spots standing near the door.

“May I ask a couple of questions now?” Chase asked.

“Depends on the questions,” said Mal, in a tone that Chase chose not to argue with.

“Of course. My first question is this: what do you have to do with all of this, Simon?”

Simon’s face blanched a little, but his expression never faltered. He looked impassive. “What makes you think I have anything to do with anything?”

“For one, the looks everyone keeps giving you whenever the Alliance is concerned. For two, I swear I can place you somewhere, though I don’t know where it might be. For three, you seem to have a great deal of interest in River, and you resemble her a bit. I’d say cousin, but I’m betting it’s closer than that. And finally, you tense up and your color gets just a bit paler whenever government trouble may be behind the door.”

Mal let out a low whistle. “She’s got you there, doctor. Hell, you’ve been on my boat more’n a year now and I didn’t even notice some o’ that.”

Simon sighed a sigh of relent. “You’re right---I’m River’s brother. Very clever. If you were actually at the Academy like you say---“

“And I was,” confirmed Chase. “Go on.”

“---then you might have seen me when I was there breaking River out.” He got a few looks from the rest of the crew, particularly Mal and Zoe, but whatever they meant, he let them pass. “You’d also know that we both have been “tagged” as fugitives for over a year now.”

Suddenly the light went off in Chase’s head. “Docteur Noel,” she said, half to herself.

“No, his name’s Simon,” said Kaylee. “Though ya already knew that much.”

“No, Kaylee---I know his name is Simon, I just never connected him to that Simon,” Chase explained. “After the little one---‘

“Ya mean River.”

“Mais oui. Old habits are hard to break, I’m afraid. After River was gone, the hundan doctors and officials would curse out the name Simon Tam. I never saw him there, but I got a look at a capture once. It wasn’t a very good one---they’d taken it off a security feed, and pas cela grand de la qualité, I’m afraid.” The crew noticed that she was almost staring off into space, as if she wasn’t on Serenity but rather back at the Academy where she’d seen the capture originally. “Those a amélioré des bâtards wanted me to get a bead on him---er, you,” she said nodding towards Simon---“and would curse him out whenever things went wrong in their search. I always called him Docteur Noel---Doctor Christmas.” Chase broke her trance like stare and looked squarely at Simon. “Merci, Doctor.”

“For what?”

“For giving another âme malheureuse---unfortunate soul---hope. Because of what you did for your sister, you gave others still inside the hope of escape from torture, coercion, and misery.” She looked at River, who she remembered very briefly as a clear-eyed, rational, and brilliant child. The next time Chase had seen her, River was already into the throes of insanity. If he only knew how much he’s helped her, she thought. “Just because I’m sane doesn’t mean I’m not broken,” she said softly.

“Okay. So you know the doc. What about the rest of it?” asked Mal pointedly.

“Huh?” She said, snapping out of another short trance. “Oh, yes. Just before I left, they wanted me to get another bead on something---this time, a ship. I never knew the name, but I was told because of this ship, and its crew, the government was falling apart. I gave them nothing. There were captures, again, but only a couple---one of the ship, and one of the captain. Both were fuzzy---you’d think they’d come up with better capture artists, what with the money that place has pouring in and all…”

“The point?”

“I didn’t realize that this was the ship they wanted until I got up in that bridge. It didn’t feel right until then.”

“Care to elaborate?” Zoe. Of all the people on this ship, it was Zoe that scared her the most.

Chase hesitated. It was the first rule of marchand de nouveilles not to tip one’s hand too far---it lost the dealer leverage. “Some of the things I couldn’t make out in the capture became clear, especially in the picture of the captain---you,” she said, tipping her head towards Mal. The white lie would suffice, for now. “That said, we’re going to land shortly, I assume?”

Suddenly all attention was focused on Mal. “Cap’n, I really need to get some new coils for Serenity,” said Kaylee. “An’ a couple of bolts and such to keep things strapped on…”

“We could really use some more medical supplies in the infirmary,” added Simon. “I seem to be out of gauze and tape again…”

“I could do with having a look at this ‘League’ that was mentioned,” said Inara. “I’m curious as to how they differ from the Guild.”

“You’d be surprised,” said Chase with a smile.

“Are there whores?” asked Jayne. “Or maybe someplace wit’ a brew?”

“I can point you in the right direction. But I have a favor to ask of you, Jayne. And you, River,” added Chase. She took out a pen and began writing a sort of list onto a scrap of paper. When she finished, she handed it to River. “I’m sure you’ll have no trouble with that. Have it delivered to the ship, and add whatever else you might think you need.”

“Wait, wait, whoa!,” said Mal, trying to steer control of the conversation---and his crew---back to him. “Aren’t you people forgettin’ somethin’?”

Four pairs of eyes looked up. “What?”

“No money.”

“Not a problem,” said Chase. She tore another scrap of paper from the list, scribbled something on it, and handed it to Simon. “Use that to get your supplies---and yours,” she said, waving her hand at Kaylee. “The shop dealers will take it from that account. River, use the one on your list. You shouldn’t have any problems. I’ll need to close those accounts out once I know you’re done. Something tells me staying in the Common isn’t going to be an option this time.”

Mal stared at Chase, his face a mixture of gratitude, disbelief and embarrassment. “So you’re just giving us money?”

“Mais oui.”

“For what?”

“For bringing me here. For not calling the federales. For coming with me to see Nicholas the Elder.” Chase smiled politely. “Don’t worry, you’ll earn the fare. Nicholas can be quite the formidable presence.”

“You up for this, Sir?” asked Zoe. She had decided that she was coming along too, and Chase had already figured that would be the case.

“Ready or not, here we come.”