When Simon felt strong hands grab him from behind and had a bag pulled down over his head, the following thoughts flashed through his mind: First he thought the Alliance had found him, but after further consideration he concluded that this wasn't really their typical method of arrest. His next thought was about backwater inbreds in need of a doctor, and then he remembered that he was on Persephone and not on some God-forsaken rock out on the Rim. In short, by the time his kidnappers had thrown him into some kind of vehicle and started driving, he'd already shuffled through all the worst-case scenarios in his head and discarded them all.

Not that he wasn't still worried. Whoever these people were, he very much doubted that they were throwing him surprise party. But he wasn't panicking and he managed to stay calm during the drive. At one point he tried asking where they were going, but it only earned him a fist to his solar plexus and after that he kept his mouth shut until the vehicle stopped and he was dragged out of it and into a building. He still couldn't see anything, but he sharpened the rest of his senses and realized that the room they eventually ended up in was quite small. It smelled of fish and old sweat. Several people were shuffling about around him and he heard the sound of a fan from the ceiling.

He wasn't really that surprised to see Badger when the bag was pulled off his head; the man had been a most plausible candidate on his list of possible offenders. He was sitting behind a desk, peeling an apple (it seemed he always had apples around; Simon had never seen him without one – but then again he'd only seen Badger twice before), with a big grin across his face that showed off all his bad teeth.

"You," Simon acknowledged him.

"Welcome," Badger replied. "Please, have a seat." He waved his hand towards a low chair in the middle of the room, in front of the desk.

Simon didn't move. "Why am I here?" he asked.

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