Blue Blood – Chapter Five

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“Try them again,” Mal ordered, and Inara fought a sigh as she rose and went to the cortex screen. She entered the Companion’s ID and hit send, expecting the signal to bounce right back, as it had done for the last several hours.

So she was surprised when the screen beeped, and River’s face appeared on it, looking harried.

“Inara?”

“River, thank goodness!” Inara exclaimed. “We’ve been trying to reach you for. . .”

“Cortex antenna was down,” River told her hurriedly. “We’ve repaired it, but Goldie was hit by a small meteorite while on the hull. We’re going to initiate full burn to Astra in just a moment.”

“Where are you, River?” Mal demanded.

“Thiry-two hours at standard burn from Astra,” she replied.

“Turn around,” Mal ordered. “We’re closer to you than you are to Astra, and Simon’s on board.” River’s face showed her surprise at that.

“It’s a long story, ‘tross,” Mal sighed. “Just do an about face, and head this way fast as you can. We’ll get together, and bring Goldie on board where Simon can get a look at him.”

“Yes, Captain,” River nodded, changing course as she spoke. “We are coming about now.”

“We’ll wave again, when we’re getting near,” Mal nodded, and River killed the connection.

“Well, when it rains it pours,” he sighed.

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“Why’d you turn?” Zoe demanded as she stalked up onto the bridge.

“Captain Daddy and Serenity are not far behind us,” River told her, never taking her eyes from the instruments before her. “Simon is on board. We can rendevous with Serenity much quicker than we can make Astra.” Zoe nodded, anger abated at that.

“What’s he doing out here?” was her next question.

“Unknown,” River admitted. “Said it was a long story, and he would explain when we transferred Goldie to Serenity.” She risked a glance at Zoe. “How is he?”

“It ain’t as bad as it looked,” Zoe admitted, relief evident in her voice. “But it’s bad enough. Jayne and I pat