Chapter 1 and 2: http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=14567

Chapter 3: http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=14577

Chapter 4: http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=14593

Chapter 5: http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=14621

Chapter 6: http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=14721

Chapter 7: http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=14810

Chapter 8: http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=14820

*****

Chapter 9

Mal thought it was a great party, just his idea of having a good time. They toasted the fall of the Alliance and the rise of a New Verse. Xing called it a “phoenix from the ashes.” Mal called it “a long time coming.”

Inara wasn’t too enamored with the people, but they were Mal’s kind of people, she didn’t know what she had expected, but it was something different. Realistically, she had expected them to all be drunk and brawling, but she had hoped that they would all be gentleman. They were neither.

They were the most pleasant men that she would never companion for, and there were a handful of them that made her uncomfortable with their manner. Xing was only one of these, but probably the worst.

Mal told Xing that they would be leaving early. They walked into another room and talked for a moment, then Mal came back and told Inara that it was time to go. “This is all that we needed to be here for.”

*****

When Malcolm and his lady friend left, Xing let the festivities begin. They started first with asking most of the ladies to leave and then he had the traitors brought out. Some were young, some were older. All of them were tied up.

Xing took down a large knife from the shelf and made quick work of the first few men, slicing them cleanly from end to end. This is what Xing lived for. He smiled the whole time.

*****

Mal didn’t know what he was going to say, but he needed to say something. “Damn it,” he thought to himself, “this is no time to be at a loss for words.”

“Are you okay, Mal.” Inara said, “you haven’t said an