Chapter 3

The sun was bright and hot as River walked along the busy city sidewalk holding her father’s hand. The surrounding skyscrapers seemed to reach up to the very sky itself.

“Come along, River,” Gabriel said to his young daughter.

River tried to walk a little faster, at least for an eight year old who had never been to the Alliance Capital city before. Her father had agreed to take her on his work trip, but only after she begged for weeks. It wasn’t the capital that intrigued her so much; although it was much bigger then she had dreamed, but the space flight to it. She wanted to see the stars from space. The whole trip she only left the windows of the ship when necessary. There was something intoxicating about the black.

“Hello, Mister Simmons,” her father said as they stopped outside the doors of one the largest building in the city.

“Mister Tam, it is nice to finally meet you in person,” the man standing in front of them replied.

He was dressed in a dark business suit, much like River’s fathers, but somehow the man’s seemed richer, even more put together. He had dark hair and a clean shaven face. He was handsome River thought, and much younger than her father.

“…and this must be River. Your father has told me much about you. I hear you are quite smart for your age,” Mr. Simmons said.

“River is smart for any age,” her father retorted.

“Thank you, Mister Simmons,” River replied politely, although something about this man made her uneasy.

“Well let’s go up to my office,” Mr. Simmons looked at River with a smile, “it’s on the very top floor.” then back to her father, “We can look over the numbers for the accounts there.”

With this, Mr. Simmons turned and opened the large glass door into the building for River and her father. River noticed the bright Blue Sun logo on it as she entered…

River sat up in her room on Serenity fresh from that memory. It seemed as of late her past would play out in dreams as if her brain was trying to remind her of things. Most of the time the mem