ALONG CAME A ZHI ZHU

by BlueHandTwoByTwo (LarryL)

Chapter ONE

Serenity’s cargo hold was full. Row upon row of boxes and crates lined the deck from one wall to the other, some stacked nearly ten feet high. Different sizes, different shapes, each with their identi-tags softly glowing in the darkness: “glass”; “fragile”; “heavy”; “perishable”. It was moving day. Some wealthy land baron was relocating his estate from one outer rim moon to another and needed a cheap transport. Of course he could afford a more expensive moving company, he was quick to explain, but most of his money was either tied up in escrow for the new place or still in transfer between Universal Banks. That was his excuse anyway but Captain Malcolm Reynolds was no moron. He suspected it was because most -if not damn near all- of the man’s possessions were probably stolen. Didn’t want to go through proper channels because he’d have to itemize his cargo for insurance purposes with a legitimate moving company. Malcolm didn’t care. A job was a job. The money still spent the same. As a rule, he never asked what he was carrying when somebody contracted him for a job. This served several purposes: first, it created plausible deniability; the less he knew, the better. Especially if he ended up getting pinched by an Alliance ship. Secondly, it guaranteed anonymity for his customers. Everybody from the lowliest of prairie scoundrels to the highest of World Court Royalty could travel on his ship and shuttle their cargo without having the watchful eye of law or politics monitoring their every move. And lastly, he just didn’t give a rat’s ass. He’d learned a valuable lesson long ago: life was far less complicated when you kept your nose out of other people’s business.

Malcolm finished his hourly check on the cargo hold, marked a clipboard, and turned to head back to the bridge when a large, round globo-ball slammed into the railing next to his elbow and bounced back into the cargo hold behind him. He jumped, a string of Chinese curse