TITLE: "STRANGE CARGO"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "FIREFLY"

PAIRING: Mal/Inara.

RATING: PG-13.

STATUS: SEQUEL to "PARLOUR GAMES"

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed.

EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

WEBSITE: http://carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SUMMARY: "Someone is not best pleased with the Captain's

escape. The crew of Serenity make haste to leave Sophia.

Just as they are beginning to think their luck is turning the

other shoe drops."

The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Firefly'

are the property and gift of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

No infringement of copyright is intended.

"STRANGE CARGO"

"Firefly" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

* * * * *

Regan Tam was furious. The ratification of her position as Councillor had gone without a hitch. Smooth as glass. With carefully schooled charm she hid her anger, playing the diplomat, the well travelled politician. Her words underpinning everything the Anglo-Sino Agreement stood for. The Unification of Planets bringing every world under one rule was little more than a blueprint for a Dicatorship that spanned the known 'verse. It was about Power. Control. And Greed. And still some worlds defied them. But not for much longer.

As soon as it was possible to do so, Regan excused herself. Claiming to need a visit to the ladies' room. Once inside she checked all the cubicles were empty then locked the main door. It took only a moment or two to still her mind, clear the detrius of random thoughts that bombarded her with trivia. Once she had found that calm, that still pool to focus upon, she cast her mind outward. A narrow beam thought that cut through distance like a hot knife through butter. A heat seeking missile with only one destination. The contact shuddered then steadied, mind braced. *He was supposed to die!*

The mind flexed across the distance, bouncing her accusation back with details of w