Archangel - Chapter Twenty Six

Author owns no rights to Firefly, and no copyright infringement is intended. Fanfic only.

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Serenity touched down gently on Idlewild, two hours ahead of time. No one was surprised at that, having long become accustomed to River’s ability to shave time off their travel.

“Good job, Albatross,” Mal told her. They were three miles from their delivery point. Close enough to get back and either unload the cargo or run, depending on what they found.

“Of course,” River smirked, and Mal chuckled at that.

“Let’s head out,” Mal ordered. The two of them went to the cargo bay, where Jayne already had the mule lowered and ready to go.

“All right,” Mal told the assembled crew. “No idea what we’ll find here. Zoe’s in charge. Jayne and River’ll go with me to the meet. Kaylee, keep the engines warm, at least, till we know what’s what. Zoe can be ready to lift off in case there’s trouble. Button the ship up, and stay alert. Let’s go, you two,” he ordered Jayne and River.

“You be careful,” Kaylee kissed Jayne softly.

“Promise,” he winked, and climbed aboard. He took the rear seat, Mal driving. The mule fired up, and then, they were gone.

“Close us up, Simon,” Zoe ordered. As the ramp came up, the group made no effort to break up.

“Let’s all get where we need to be,” Zoe told them. She chafed at being left behind, but Simon had insisted that even the mule ride could re-injure her ribs. Inara watched her closely, worried about Zoe’s state of mind.

She and Jayne hadn’t been able to put the past behind them, Inara knew. Zoe had been too harsh for too long for Jayne to overlook it. The incident with River had simply been the proverbial straw.

“Well, I’ll be in the infirmary, preparing for when Mal’s plan goes awry,” Simon smiled, and Inara laughed softly at that. Carter followed, and Kaylee started for the engine room.

“Guess I’ll head up to the bridge,” Zoe commented to no one in particular. Inara nodded, watching her go. One the one hand, Inara could see where