Cowboys & Alliance : part 2 -------- Machines can be useful --------

Post Serenity the BDM:

Malcolm Reynolds, what can I say? The captain finds himself running low on rations and fuel. Something’s gotta be done. Against his better judgment he puts a call in to Badger.

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Mal Reynolds lay in his bunk waiting for Serenity to make her landing on Ezra. He was going over every imaginable scenario, and some not so imaginable, to come up with a plan for evading the attention of the Alliance. He’d always felt a need to protect his crew and his ship Serenity, after all she was his home, his CASTLE. Taking all options under consideration the best one he found was to be dead. Stone cold, in the ground, worm supper.…Reaver corpseified. That would certainly stop the Alliance from trying to hunt them down.

Of course being dead was certainly not something he wanted to experience anytime soon.

There came a buzz over his room communicator.

“ Captain we are ten minutes from setting down on Ezra…..any plan changes?” Zoe voiced over the ship’s com.

“ Negative Zoe, proceed on schedule!” the capt’s voice was clear and distinct, “ we’ll figure out what we need to do once we’ve landed.”

Unknown to the crew, Mal had already been communicating with Badger. The small time crime boss had several jobs that he was interested in farming out. With Malcolm haven taken Serenity off the job market for a while Badgers backlist had grown very long. With Serenity being out of the loop the Persephone gangster was feeling an ache in his pocketbook. Not many crews could take on the kinds of jobs Malcolm Reynolds’s bunch could. Badger would never admit it to the Firefly captain though.

Anyway, Badger had arranged for one of his associates to meet up with Mal on Ezra. The Firefly captain continued to be a bit gun-shy when it came to committing crime and Badger understood why. With the Alliance applying pressure it would make anyone think twice before engaging in illicit activities.

Still, Malcolm’s financial reserves were dwindling down to nothing and before long the Firefly commander would have to see again about finding work. Badger would tempt him with a small tidbit of a cash heist and then, once he’d regained his confidence and comfort level, use him to go after bigger fish.

On Ezra, the crime mogul Niska kept several caches of wealth hidden away in small towns across the globe. This he did to keep his business taxes down and for fear of loosing everything he’d gained if all his riches on Skyplex were ever looted. It was standard practice and just plain smart for crime organizations to store parts of their loot in different locations. This also made it unappealing for other illicit organizations to attempt huge robberies. It wasn’t worth the trouble if the payoff wasn’t substantial.

Anyway, Serenity was there for robbery, only most the crew didn’t know it yet. The ship made an uneventful landing in a secluded area south of the town of Bed Water. Malcolm was to meet up with a fellow by the name of Bart Benson. From there the details of the heist would be planned out.

Serenity’s cargo ramp went down, and Malcolm walked out to stand on the dusty red soil of Ezra. He was startled by the sight of a weather worn cowboy standing next to his horse not fifty paces away. The man was wearing a well used duster around his shoulders and a round rimmed hat that looked as if it has seen better days, ten years ago.

“ Howdy,” the fellow called to Mal.

“ Howdy,” Mal returned, “ Might you be someone by the name of Bart Benson?” the captain questioned. The man just stood and looked at him for a while.

“ First we need to get the matter of a codeword out of the way.” He finally spoke.

The Serenity captain felt as if he were a bit against the ropes. Badger hadn’t told him of any codeword. He considered what kind of codeword a cowboy might be looking for…..horse, rope, cow patty? All these ideas flashed through his head in an instant. But any one of them, and a thousand others would only be a guess.

“ I haven’t a codeword to give you. Never got one.” Honestly was the best policy Mal decided. The fellow kept his deep, dark eyes on the captain, then a big grin cut across his weathered features.

“ That’s right, and if you’d made something up I’d had my doubts about trustin you.” The fellow paused, “ I knew Badger wouldn’t waste his time thinking of a codeword to tell you. I was just testing to see if you’d lie to me,” the man said, “ Now, got any moon juice on that vessel that a co-conspirator could share a drink with?” he asked.

The man tied his mount to a some sagebrush and he and the captain headed inside.

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Malcolm Reynolds and the team of Serenity found Bart Benson to be a very colorful character. He could tell stories that had everyone in the ship’s galley amused or in suspense. Mal thought how much the old cattle brander reminded him of some of the ranch hands his mother used to employ back on Shadow.

The war veteran of Serenity Valley thought about how he missed his old life. Maybe at some point the could return to just being a simple cattleman. Have his own spread with maybe a couple hundred head of cattle on some peaceful world just at the edge of the system.

Although still under Government control, the Alliance didn’t seem to have much interest in the daily lives of ranchers and crop harvesters. Maybe that could be a way for him to disappear. Of course that was well off into the future, right now he had the responsibilities of a ship’s captain and her crew. Malcolm Reynolds was in deep thought.

“ Well sir, time to get down to business.” The old cowboy spoke aloud.

The captain looked up to seen him staring straight into his eyes.

“ Up north a piece is the sleepy town of Bed Water. The reason it’s called that is because, in this region if you discover a place where there’s water, you’d better make your bed next to it. Ain’t much of the wet stuff this side of the planet. Now back to what I was sayin about Bed Water, in that town there’s somewhat of what you could call a market depository. Doesn’t seem as if it would be worth the trouble of tying you horse to the railing out front. Doesn’t resemble much from the outside, same on the inside for that matter, but down below it’s a different situation altogether,” he paused a second before continuing.

“The fellow up there…..,” Bart then pointed to the heavens, “ that owns the big bird up in the sky, named Niska, stores some of his loot down in a vault beneath the business and has it guarded by a couple of thugs. I almost attempted to rob the place myself once, I could handle one bull of a heavy all alone, but not two of them……” With this the full group of Serenity all smiled at one another.

“That’s where you come in my friend” Bart continued, but stopped long enough the take a sip of the moon brew liquor Kaylee had rustled up for him, “ There ain’t a big bundle of wealth stored in that vault, but there’s enough to get you by for a few weeks or so. It’s loss will only scratch he surface of the mother load Niska keeps on Skyplex, but stealing from that rich bastard isn’t my primary goal, it’s mostly just to piss him off, dare to say I’m ready to take the risk of his anger. You see he murdered my son some time ago, after a deal gone sour. Niska‘s wife is my sister,” he stopped and put his tin mug back down on the table.

Mal, Jayne and Zoe all looked at one another, each wondering if that were the unlucky soul hanging upside down they happened to spy just before the train job?

Be that as it may, this guy was out for revenge, though it may be small exchange for a loved one. Benson drew a layout of the town then a simple plan of execution was worked out.

“ Bart, come back early tomorrow morning, by then we should have all the finer details worked out. Till then stay safe my friend,” Mal told the old cattleman. Then he added,” Oh and bring a couple extra horses with ya?” The captain concluded.

The old cowboy then exited down Serenity’s loading ramp.

Heading back into the framework of Serenity Mal noticed movement I the cargo bay.

“ Hold! Who’s there?”

A small bit of a woman showed her face around the storage bulkhead.

“Lenore?”

“Yes captain?”

Mal noticed that the android was exhibiting more human type qualities, avoidance. She was actually trying to avoid his attention, kinda in a shy way. Mal didn’t like it, he would have to have a talk with River. There should be no intention, on her part, of making this mechanical thing resemble even the smallest details of an actual human being. It was unnatural, Godless…..Mal caught himself for thinking such thoughts.

“ What are you doing here?” He questioned the girl. He noticed that her hair had been changed back to it’s blonde color. It had so unnerved him to see her resembling Saffron so closely. River had to have had help with the make-up from Inara. Although he couldn’t prove it. Still, now she was back to her old self.

“ Although you’ve taken a dislike to me for some reason Mr. Reynolds, I do express an interest in Serenity’s well being, and that of her crew. You were a friend of my creators and I will always be loyal,” She spoke.

“ Well, I didn’t ask for your loyalty,” Mal spoke without feeling, “….and I didn’t ask for you to be brought aboard. You’re only here because I haven’t figure out what to do with you yet, and furthermore I haven’t the foggiest where the nearest junkyard is or you’d be left there!”

At his words he noticed that the android express a sense of unworthiness. Her posture presented a pose of depression. He actually felt bad for what he had said, although he knew this was a machine he was talking to.

“ Look Lenore, I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t see the benefits of having an android aboard. Think about it and you’ll see the position I‘m in,” he spoke.

“ Well Mr. Reynolds may I point out where you’re wrong,” the mechanical female spoke aloud.“ I can see right now a simple flaw in your plan.”

Mal looked at the mechanical princess.

“It lacks a female element at it’s very core. What do you think would happen if two strange men rode into town and posted up at the local depository? I’ll tell ya, the two goons down below would be on full alert. No distractions they would focus their full attention on the two cowboys who’d just come into town. Now if there were a woman to distract them you may have a chance.”

Mal listened to the woman’s argument.

“ What about Inara? I could use her to distract the heavies down below.”

“ Sure you could,” Lenore stated, “but how could she do that whenever she’s off in her shuttle with Simon and River aboard? Yes, I know that your idea is to have the companion take the brother and sister off in her shuttle and head out to parts unknown in case your plan heads south. You’ve never wanted them to be a part of the crime business anyway. But you still need a distraction captain. Someone to lure away the attention of the two guards while you and Jayne tether you mounts to the bank railing out front. Otherwise they’d be watching you like hawks. I can be that distraction.” She finished.

“ What about Kaylee and Zoe?” Mal wanted to prove that he had other options.

“You need Zoe here to pilot the ship. You don’t want Serenity recognized by any of the towns folk, and you want Kaylee in the engine room. That leaves …” then she pointed to herself, “….me. How’s that for knowing your plan better than you do?”

Mal could see that she did have a better idea, and he didn’t like it. Evidently Inara was doing more than just helping with the android’s make-up. She was also influencing River to express the machine with her companion attitude.

Mal felt uneasy with the plan, although it was a better one.

“ Alright I’ll think about it,” he said. Although Lenore knew he would have to agree.

END PART 2