Chapter 19

"Alright Zoe, what ya got?" Mal asked as a joined her, River and Jayne around the cortex terminal.

"Lien Wu, twenty eight years old, five foot ten, 150 lbs, black hair, and grey eyes. Comes from a prominent family who's research and development teams have been contracted by Blue Sun and the Alliance for generations, specifically in the fields of biochemistry and genetics-"

"Friend of the family," River interrupted, "but not very friendly."

"River, do you recognize her?" Mal asked.

"Changed, but not so much," River answered, "She used to play with my brother."

"Can you tell us anything else about her, sweetie?" Zoe asked.

River shook her head and said, "Don't know much. I didn't like her."

"Says here she graduated at the top of her class with a degree in technical engineering," Zoe supplied.

"That's a mite off from the family's usual line of work ain't it?" Mal remarked.

"Doesn't matter," River said, "a wealthy core woman of good breeding's job is to become married. Or a companion."

"Huh. Zoe, check and see if she's married," Mal asked, "might be his family we need to be worried about."

"Sir, her last name hasn't changed."

"Right, uh… I knew that. But uh, check anyway in case they do things different like."

"She is not married," Zoe confirmed.

"Think that's why she snatched the Doc?" Jayne offered between bites of a fruity oaty bar.

"Shenme?"

"You know, why she captured him," Jayne said as if it were obvious. He spoke again waving his oaty bar as a visual aid, "So she could snatch her up a husband."

"Jayne, that has got to be one of the stupidest things you've ever said," Mal said.

"What? Crazy said her job's to get married and the Doc's pretty good at gettin' hisself kidnapped!" Jayne argued. "Ain't like a woman's never up and married someone off a' this boat before," he muttered indignantly before taking another bite.

Mal decided not to acknowledge Jayne's existence and asked Zoe, "We're sure he hasn't been arrested?"

"If he has, they're t