Serenity: Deception

Chapter Three: Part 1

Inara had set out in her shuttle once they entered New Melbourne's atmosphere. She was farther inland with a client, her first client in the aftermath of the Miranda events. She and Mal had exchanged another awkward farewell with the things they wanted to say bubbling just beneath the surface of their strained words. With a weak smile as an attempt to hide her confusion and tenderness for Mal, Inara entered her shuttle. As her shuttle door closed Inara looked back as Mal, with his normal strutting gait, walked toward the bridge.

"Should have told her," River said when Mal sat down in the co-pilot's chair.

"You never mind what I should have told her," Mal said. "What've I said 'bout readin' my thoughts?"

"Couldn't help it. It's like you're screaming them at the top of your voice."

"Is that so?"

"Mhmm. Should have told her you didn't want her to go."

"Inara's an adult, a trained and consenting adult, perfectly capable of makin' her own choices. It's not my place to stop her; I haven't the gall," Mal said. "Can't believe I'm talkin' to an eighteen-year-old girl 'bout this."

"She wanted you to tell her," River told him.

"Wait. What? How do you know that?"

"Inara's thoughts are just as loud as yours."

"So you're tellin' me that she wanted me to tell her," Mal searched for the word, "those things?" He ended up saying.

"Feelings," River said. "Those things are feelings."

"Right. And you're telling me all this now?"

"Best not get too involved," River said, shrugging. "Only leads to trouble."

"Just land this bird," Mal ordered.

River's demeanour changed immediately. Her focus renewed as she brought Serenity to the ground. On the other side of a hill, there was a seaside town with a bustling town square and a small busy port.

"Easy! Easy! Easy!" Mal shouted.

"I got it," River shouted back, cackling. River landed Serenity gracefully on a clearing not far from the great sea on New Melbourne. Serenity's feet touched the ground.

"You're crazy," Mal said.

"That's a scientific fact."

Mal, Jayne and River prepared to leave the ship. The sun on New Melbourne was already setting. They moved quickly and received Simon's typical objections to River leaving the ship without him. Despite the fact that River was much better since the burden was lifted from her mind, Simon had become no less protective.

"Relax, Doctor. I don't know if you recall but your sister is best equipped out of all of us to protect herself from any dangers we might cross paths with. Or have you forgotten the mound of dead Reavers?" Mal asked Simon.

"Fine," Simon said, his brow furrowed as he looked at the Captain. "Be careful," he told River. (Like he did every time she left Serenity.)

The Cove, a bar on New Melbourne was popular amongst the fishermen who docked at the nearby port. Like all things in New Melbourne, The Cove had the distinct smell of fish and most of the patrons similarly smelt strongly like the fish they caught everyday. In the cacophonous bar, the tables occupied by drunken fishermen speaking over each other, River sat with Mal and Jayne. On the walls of The Cove were stuffed fish, some of the largest and most ugly fish that River had ever seen. With their mouths open, they all stared at her with their glass eyes.