CHAPTER 7

Kaylee nearly shrieked, but before she could make a sound the barrel of the gun filled her vision. Her scalp screamed as Voohres held her up by her hair and she balanced precariously on her good leg. She grasped his wrist with her good hand, just to keep herself from falling onto him. “What's your story, girlie?” he growled. She couldn’t see his face... she couldn’t see anything except that huge, long barrel pointed right between her eyes. Her eyes filled with tears, her mind occupied by a single thought. She couldn't stop his name from rising to her lips as she whimpered for salvation. “Simon.” “Let her go,” a firm voice commanded. Zoë? A glimmer of hope surfacing in her soul, Kaylee peaked around the barrel of the gun. Jackson! The little boy stood at the door, his face one hundred percent business, holding Jayne’s favorite gun - Vera. What was he thinking? The kickback from that thing would send him through the wall! “You’re a little young to be fighting, boy,” Voohres laughed condescendingly. “Hand over that gun, nice-like, and I promise I won’t shoot the lady.” Jackson stood firm. “Let her go and walk out of this house, or I will kill you.” “You can't handle that gun.” Jackson shifted Vera in his arms, adjusting his grip, and Voohres let out a cocky laugh, finally lowering his own gun from Kaylee’s forehead. Jackson did not lose the moment. His little hands moving like lightning, he dropped Vera, drew his Mateba and fired, hitting Voohres in the knee. Kaylee yelped and stumbled backwards as the tall man’s hold on her suddenly went slack and his blood spurted on her body. Jackson charged the collapsing man, kicking the gun from his hands, then backing away, training his small Mateba on Voohres. “I can handle this one,” Jackson assured, shifting nervously on his feet, fueled by adrenaline Voohres did not give up so easily. He pulled a knife from his boot and tossed it at Jackson, who dodged easily. The distraction gave the man enough time to reach for his weapon, but Kaylee threw herself on top of him, willing her body into motion. But too weak to fight effectively, he had her pinned within moments. Kaylee struggled against his weight, trying to free herself. “Get off of her or the next one goes through your head!” Jackson yelled. The man looked up and cackled at the boy, disbelieving, but a fraction of a second later, a bullet entered his brainpan, and he collapsed. Jackson stood frozen, his face ashen, gun still aimed. River stood behind him in the doorway, a gun in her hand as well. It was she who had fired. Kaylee pulled herself free and scooted her body over to Jackson, hugging him close. “It’s okay, sweetie. You did what's right.” she consoled, turning Jackson’s head away from the scene. “You're my hero.” River circled the room, walking through the blood pooled between Dekker and the Qian Chung soldier. “Simon,” she said softly, then ran off.

*~*

“Zoë, check on the little ones, then catch up,” Mal ordered as he crept quickly out the back door, comm in hand. He turned on the flood lights next to the south barn, then fell into the shadows of the west one. He could hear his Ma on channel 2, still trying to contact Dekker and the hands on south east border. Quietly, he switched to channel three. “’Nara, you still see them?” he whispered hoarsely. “They’re headed straight for the ship; just follow the lights,” she answered. “Seems Simon is giving his captor a run for his money, but they have reinforcements already coming in. He could hear her voice shaking and knew it wasn’t just the chilly evening. “Just point and shoot,” he assured, his advice ringing empty in his own ears. “Somehow it’s easier up close and in the daylight.” Mal smiled at the banter, making his way to the edge of the west barn. From here, it was a straight shot and open fields to the Qian Chung ship. It would all be crawling from here.

*~*

Zoë was not prepared for the calm that awaited her when she reached the basement. Kaylee sat in the middle of the floor, machine gun raised in her shaking hands, Dekker and an unknown Qian Chung man bleeding out on the floor. She relaxed a hair, but tensed immediately at a sound behind her, drawing her weapon and taking aim. “Jackson,” she sighed in relief, seeing him crawl out from under a table. Had he been here to see this? His face was pale, his breathing shallow, and he held his Mateba in one hand and Jayne’s Vera in the other. Affording him a brief hug, Zoë offered the only advice coming to her mind. “Baby, don’t ever let them hear you.” “Zoë, they took Simon,” Kaylee panted. Zoë nodded, releasing Jackson and surveying the scene. “Where’s Emma?” “She’s hiding.” “River?” “Shot ‘em and ran off,” Kaylee answered. There was no time! She needed to join Mal. There was no time to speak the order, just to move. She motioned Kaylee to give her an arm and carried her to the next room down the hall. “Jackson, bring Emma in here.” Zoë didn’t like this room. It was emptier, narrower, and there were no places to hide. But the battle had already left the house, and there was no way she was leaving the children in that other room with two corpses.

*~*

Mal angled his breath downwards so that the frosted cloud would not obscure his view. The dry grass crackled beneath him, thunderous in his own ears, though he knew it was barely above the whisper of the wind or the mooing of the cattle. He could just make out the movement ahead of him, and could easily pick out Simon by the way his sleek white shirt reflected the moonlight. The track lights on the Talisman also added light, but Mal hoped they weren’t getting too close. “How’m I doin’ ‘Nara?” Mal whispered. “About fifty yards from the Talisman, and an army waiting there. Zoë’s just reaching the west barn now.” Mal nodded and silenced the radio, entering stealth mode – though stealth seemed like a joke on the open range. No time to wait for Zoë; he had to do something now before this one soldier found reinforcements. He tried to take aim, but Simon was bouncing around and kicking too much on his captor. Plus any gun shot would draw too much attention to them. Holstering his weapon, he crept closer to the two. The Qian Chung soldier whacked Simon on the head, causing the doctor to stumble to one knee. Before Simon could get up, Mal charged in and tackled the soldier. “Simon, run,” he ordered, loud enough for Simon to hear, quiet enough not to draw the reinforcements he was sure were coming. His hands still bound, Simon managed to scrape the bag off his head and tried to get his bearings. But three more Qian Chung soldiers jumped from the shadows and took him down again. That’s when the first shot rang out. Zoë? Inara? One of the Qian Chung soldiers holding Simon fell to the ground, one tackled Simon and pinned him, one drew his weapon and fired at Mal. Suddenly they were leaking out of the shadows. Three, six, twelve, forming ranks, taking aim. Zoë appeared from the south, gun at ready, six ranchers behind her. Four more ranchers approached from the east. The Qian Chung that had tackled Simon pulled the doctor to his feet and through the ranks toward the Talisman. No one was firing. No one wanted a war. Everyone wanted Simon. “Diana!” Mal heard his mother shout. “I told you to stay off my property!” Mal’s brain near exploded, seeing his ma stride across the lawn, shotgun aimed in the general direction of the Talisman, belligerent as hell. Diana! The name River had been muttering since Cappy’s death. It wasn’t a planet or a ship, it was a person! “Diana?” Mal repeated, uncertainly. “Cappy’s Diana?” A stout and thickly muscled woman stepped from the ranks, her skin pale as the moonlight, her eyes red as blood. “What is that supposed to mean?” Diana asked, disdainfully. Mal wasn’t quite sure. He had dismissed River’s ramblings as nonsense, now he strained to remember the words. “Cappy called for you, when he died.” “Jian ta de gui!” “He … well…” How could he explain River? “Cappy was part of my crew the last several months. The Tau Wu killed him on Santo.” “The Tau Wu wouldn’t go to Santo.” She was catching all the finer points of the story! He wouldn’t have believed it his own self. “They did to chase us.” “Well you’re just pissing everyone off this week, aren’t you,” she retorted, turning away to end the conversation. They had what they came for. They were retreating. “That man you’re holding is on my crew!” Mal called desperately. “He’s You Qian!” “Not by choice,” Mal said quickly, remembering Simon’s words. “We do what we must to survive. We weren’t planning on totin’ him through your space, but he’s a doctor and we had need for a medic on this trip. We also weren’t planning to come here without escort. Cappy assured us that he had friends here and we could pass safely.” “Cappy isn’t with you.” Mal was running out of reasoning, but someone else was running out of patience. A new shot fired, and everyone hit the deck; bullets flew from both sides, none quite sure who shot first. A quick glance around revealed River in the shadows, holding a gun, aimed but not firing. Mal and Diana both shouted at their people to cease fire; then Mal crawled over to River and disarmed her, waiting to stand until the gunfire died down. His Ma brushed herself off easily, Zoë nursed a wound to her arm, a few on either side failed to get up at all. Diana glared at River suspiciously as River circled her, unafraid. Mal tensed when River picked up a new gun off a dead soldier. “River, this nice lady is about to release your brother; let’s show some kindness, not put anymore holes in her people.” “She had no intention,” River stated, her eyes hollow, yet accusing, her gun at her side. “What do you know of my intentions?” Mal felt his face tighten, as well as his grip on his pistol. “Oh, plenty. And I’d heed her, because she’s a mite trigger happy and I’m pretty sure she’s lost her mind.” “How tragic for her,” Diana spat sarcastically. “It’s not as bad as you think,” River answered distantly. Suddenly her feet stopped and her gun took aim at some unseen assailant in the shadows. Mal looked at her stiffly. “Let’s make nice and you return my doctor without any more killin’.” She didn’t answer. They stared at each other, Diana evaluating the value of her bounty, Mal wishing for more firepower. When she didn’t budge, he played his last card. “Cappy assured us we could pass safely. Please.” “You got proof?” Mal balked, taken aback. Proof of what? A written contract? Slowly, River produced Cappy’s Rubik’s cube and held it out for Diana to take. “This was his. He could solve it, one-handed and blindfolded. He showed me how.” Diana looked uncertainly at River. Finally, she took the cube quickly, then turned it over in her hands, making sure it wasn’t rigged to blow. If possible her white face grew paler. “Release him,” she ordered. Her men grumbled, but she repeated firmly. “I said release him. He’s just one anyway, traveling around with Independents.” They grumbled more, and made sure to get in their fair share of punches and kicks as they forced Simon to the front of the ranks. Diana came nose to nose with Mal, her voice low and threatening. “You won’t be safe in Qian Chung space, but you’re safe from me. Run fast.” With that, she gathered her wounded and retreated. Simon tottered to Zoë, helping her tie a tourniquet to her arm, but having difficulty as blood streamed from his own face. As the Talisman closed up, Mal walked angrily to River and snatched the gun from her hands. “What’s the rule?” he demanded. “No touching guns,” she said softly, ducking her head. Mal gave a berating nod. “Get to the ship; get her ready for a hard burn. We gotta run fast.”

*~*

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