Trouble for Nothing, Tricks for Free 2.0

Miranda, she….so filled with sorrow,

For many there, there’s no tomorrow,

They came, they saw, they looked, they fed,

The lucky one’s became the dead,

Their flesh was hell, their bodies mangled,

They cut their flesh and bodies tangled,

For them, no peace, no way to stop it,

Looking skyward, they searched for a prophet…..

From “Whispers of the Albatross” R. Tam’s ledger : 2517

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“ Port Authority to Serenity, you are cleared to land, “DOCK 15”! came the voice over the transport’s com system.

“ Affirm instructions, Serenity out!” Wash switched the mic over to audible control so that he could confer with Malcolm on the bridge.

“ Well, there we are Mal, set to dock and hope we can get this over with as quickly as possible.”

“ Agreed,” Mal said, as he watched his pilot make ready his landing approach.

“Soon as we’re on the ground, straighten things around here a bit, I want the ship to look as tidy and well attended as we can. We’re already late. I don’t want to have to answer any more questions than I have to. I want the boat to look neat and kept, not like we just rented her for a weekend picnic.”

“ But didn’t we just rent…..”

“ Yeah, I know, but they don’t have to,” the Captain finished before heading down to the cargo hold.

******************

Once on the ground, Malcolm Reynolds stood with his arms folded across his chest in the cargo bay of the Chameleon as Kaylee lowered the loading ramp. He was waiting for the inspection team to arrive and perform their look-over of his phony Firefly transport. Then he could receive his stamp of approval and be on his merry to contact Badger.

He heard a shuffling sound behind him and looked to see his ace pilot had come down to join him and Kaylee in the cargo hold.

Mal glanced over at Wash.

“Everything ready on the bridge?”

Wash looked at him.

“Ready to fool those fools that think they can come here and fool with us, tho