CHAPTER 10

Mal burst through the doors of the abbey, Zoë only half a step behind him. Rushing down from the roof, Jayne met them in the sanctuary, reading Mal’s intense look as a sign of trouble.

“He has her! He has Inara!” Mal fumed. The crew gathered round, listening intently as Mal and Zoë recounted their morning.

“Poor Inara!” Kaylee moaned.

“Did she look injured?” Simon asked.

“She seemed fine,” Zoë answered.

“We saw Prio on the shuttle with her. He’s taking her back to wherever he’s been hiding her. Wash has to be there too if Inara saw him.”

“A powerful man like Prio could have a dozen safe houses around town,” Book pointed out. “It’s possible he’s not even keeping her in this city.”

“He is,” Alegra interrupted, her voice soft, her eyes a million miles away. “Prio has only one refuge—it’s the place we escaped from.”

Mal waited for her to say more, but her breathing became shallow, her mind lost in the memory. Mal looked at Simon and River, who had both gone a little moon-eyed as well.

“Great,” Mal chuckled. “At least we know it’s low security.”

“It took me years to infiltrate that place,” Simon intoned. “How are we ever going to get in?”

“I know the way,” Alegra spoke up.

“I know the way,” Tyler repeated, coming to her side.

River stood as well. “I know the way.”

*~*

Simon’s protests were unnecessary—Mal had no intention of taking River. He had no intention of taking any of the kids, but after spending twenty minutes trying to decode Alegra’s directions, he gave up and just brought her along. He hadn’t much developed a notion of how to storm the place, but just in case, they stocked up on rounds before going. Hiring a cab to get across town, Mal tried to flesh out the details of his plan.

“What’s the layout?” he asked quietly, even though the cab driver seemed to be actively ignoring them.

“Standard square, very few windows, up to four parallel hallways on the floors with no labs.”

“Standard square means limited exits,” Zoë said. “What if our primary route is cu