Inarra Lies

Inarra Serra went to her shuttle, and settled in the pilots' chair. Through the window, she could see stars, bright against The Black, serene, to her inner turmoil. She concentrated on that, and her heart beat, until someone knock on the door to her shuttle.

That would not be Mal, of course. Malcolm Reynolds would simply have barged in, as he had done before... although, come to think of it, he had not done so, since she had rejoined Serenity.

Simon was polite enough, but she rather thought he and Kaylee, and River, too, would be having a talk, or maybe River would give them some alone time, or...

It all passed too close to what upset her so, and she shied away from it. Enough! Some one was polite enough to knock, and wanted to see her, and she was being anti-social, un-polite. She went to the door to her shuttle, and opened it. She was very surprised to see Zoe there.

"Zoe!" Inarra put a little extra into her smile, because she really could not imagine what she and Zoe had to talk about. Mal, perhaps? "Can I put a little water on, for tea?"

"Actually," Zoe said, "I brought a bottle." She showed Inarra the whiskey, from a mid-market distillery on Beaumonde. Zoe had something serious to discuss, it seemed.

"Is this about Mal?" Inarra asked, quietly alarmed, now.

"No, at least, not directly," Zoe said, and looked around the room, then back to the companion. "This is about the baby, and Kaylee, and you."

Inarra nodded, and indicated the couch, and while she got out two shot glasses, Zoe had herself a seat. She leaned back and closed her eyes. For a moment, Inarra thought that she had gone to sleep, but Zoe opened her eyes, and sat forward, taking one of the offered shots of whiskey.

"As my jewish freinds would to say, L'chaim!" Zoe tilted the glass back, and drank it down in one gulp. Puzzled, Inarra followed suit, and felt the warmth of the spirits. She had set a plate of finger food, and ate something, so that she wouldn't get drunk, although this bottle would certa