He Never Left Serenity: Part II

“Come on Cindy, we’re heading out!” “I’m coming!” “Cindy has to look pretty for the boys in town.” “Shut up Charlie!” “Cindy, that’s no way to talk to your brother. Charlie leave your sister alone.”

Our first trip into town in weeks and I was in a bad mood. I haven’t visited Serenity in two days. Since finding that letter from Dr. Simon Tam, I just haven’t felt up to exploring more. I guess I’m scared that I’ll find the others left him too. Captain Reynolds. How awful to have worked along side a crew, live with them as family, and then be left to die alone. “So Cin, what do you plan to do with your time in town?” I know my dad means well, but I’m really not up for conversation. “I’m going to see if Mr. Smith has the Cortex link up and running yet. See what’s been going on in the real world.” Of course I had to say it. Reopen the wound that tore my life apart. Dad wanted to come here, join the settlers on Haven, repopulate this side of the Verse. Mom was against it but she loved him enough to follow him anywhere. Charlie was all for it. I begged to be left at home, but my parents wouldn’t hear of it. “So what are you guys going to do?” I tried to cheerfully regain some footing. “Oh, just pick up a few things, maybe chat with the Trollers from Colony 4. Then there’s the meeting at 1600 hours. You kids don’t have to come to that. I know it will be boring, just us old folks discussing crops. You don’t really have to be there either Helen, if there was something you wanted to do.” “Oh I don’t know Harold, the two of us could hear better than one….” And my parents were lost to their own conversation, leaving me alone for the remainder of the trip.

“Remember kids, this transport leaves out at 1900 hours, with or without you.” Dad tried for a stern face as he handed us each a few coins. “Thanks daddy.” I leaned up to peck him on the cheek. “And you wouldn’t leave without me. Who else would beat you at checkers?” I made my way quickly to Mr. Smith’s general store. So far, he was the only one on Haven with the right equipment to establish a link to the Cortex. Dad says eventually all the colonies will be able to connect to the Cortex via Mr. Smith’s link, but that’s probably years from now. “Good morning there young lady. Say, aren’t you Harold Blackwell’s little girl?” “Good morning Mr. Smith. Yes, I’m Cindy. Have you got the link working?” “I do. Reception has been spotty the last day or so though. Set ups in the back. Take your time. And remember, if you order anything, it has to come to the store and it may take a month or more to get here.” I thanked him and all but ran to the back of the store. Time to see what I can find out about Dr. and Mrs. Simon Tam. Maybe I can even get some more information on Captain Reynolds and Serenity. I wasn’t expecting to find much, and nearly yelped when my search revealed an old arrest warrant. Dr. Simon Tam was a fugitive from the Alliance. His crime: kidnapping his sister River from an Alliance run academy. “Well now that’s interesting…I know what you look like now though.” Nothing on a Kaylee Tam but I did find some old arrest records for Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his first mate Zoe Allayne. Both were formers soldiers in the Independent Faction that went up against the Alliance. They were stationed together at the Battle of Serenity, the ending point of the Unification War. “Criminals. A bunch of criminals. And you named your ship after a lost battle. Great.” I stared at the picture of Captain Reynolds. There was a cut above his right eye and his right cheek looked like it had been the receiving end of a mighty punch. He looked sourly straight ahead, his broad shoulders held defiantly square. Zoe was a beautiful woman. Smooth ebony skin and massive waves of curly hair. But her eyes were hard and her face was an expression of stone. There wasn’t any more information found but that was enough for me. After the Tam’s left, his first mate probably poisoned him and left the ship on Haven. No mystery, no valor with the captain going down with his ship. I thanked Mr. Smith again and left the store. Back to my old boring new life.