New Rayne Fic ("tRIT")
Firefly first bit of "The Real Inspector Tam"
Mal, Zoe - everyone eventually
The Real Inspector Tam
I. The Un-Usual Suspects
"Zoë? Zoë?!" Malcolm Reynolds stomped down the dimly-lit corridor, searching frantically for his secretary. "Zoë, where are you? I need -" He stopped short, seeing the very woman standing before him. "Oh. There you are." He cleared his throat and tugged at his left sleeve.
She raised one eyebrow, a smile playing at her lips. "You needed me, sir?"
He let out a quick breath. "Yes I need you; that's why I been callin' for the last ten minutes."
"Heard my name twice, sir."
Mal scowled a little. "Well you just need to listen more." He cleared his throat. "Now. Is everything ready?"
Zoë rolled her eyes and looked down at the pad of paper she held. "Kaylee's takin' care of all the food. Everything's cleaned up. Wash should be arriving with the guests shortly. Everything's ready. So stop worrying."
"Zoë, I ain't worryin' about it. I'm just..." He moved his head back and forth a little, trying desperately to refute her claim.
"Just worried, I know." She held up a hand to stop his forthcoming protests. "No, I don't mean to speak out o' place, sir, but does this... not worrying have anything to do with Ms. Serra comin' up?"
"What? Wha- Zoë, I am shocked you would suggest such a thing."
"Uh-huh." Her eyes narrowed marginally, in obvious disbelief.
"Sure I hadn't seen 'Nara in a... well a long while, but I don't care." He shrugged. "Her invitation was last minute - don't make a difference to me one way or th' other."
"Of course, sir."
"That's right," he said stubbornly. Mal nodded, trying very hard not to see Zoë's smug look. "Right. It's just Inara, Zo. I can be civil. I don't care."
"Mal..." She shook her head, smoothing down her brown skirt. "Did you ever think about talkin' to her? Just a suggestion, sir. Just a suggestion." She gave a slight nod and walked past him down the hallway. "I'm going to check on Kaylee," she said over her shoulder. "Wash should be coming back soon. Try to find some way to occupy yourself until then - all right, sir?"
~~~
Notes: Yay! Murder mystery! Okay, so obviously this is just the very meager beginnings. All the crew - plus a few of the occasional characters are going to show up, as well. There are going to be probably two murder victims - and yes, I already know who they are and who the murderer's going to be. Are any of those three part of the crew? Well! You'll just have to wait and find out! I seem incapable of actually finishing any sort of full chapter. For whatever reason, I only write bits at a time. But! I'm going to try. I keep going back and forth on all my projects so I get a little bit of a lot of different stories done. If that makes sense. Anyway! Back to this story.
It's going to be based sort of on Agatha Christie's style of mystery. I think River could translate to maybe a good sort of female Poirot, huh? Hee. It's - obviously - AU, but it's still in sort of the Firely universe. Mal's a wealthy estate owner on Shadow - and he fought in the war, I think, but some of the details of that will be changed. Simon and River live on the planet, too. Zoe is Mal's secretary, Wash is his driver/pilot, Kaylee is his chef, and Jayne is security detail. Book will live in the nearby town - still a Shepherd and all that, a prominent citizen and frequent visitor of Mal's.
Yeah. I have a good idea of where it's going to go, I just have to plan things out. And this is all I have written of it - I don't have anything else but notes. Er... and not even that many notes! Mostly in my head right now; I'll have to get things down soon. Ooh... Now that's an idea! Hee. Work on story notes! YAY! Okay, have to go do that! I'll be back with more of this soon. ^^
-ILB
***
Mal, Zoe - everyone eventually
The Real Inspector Tam
I. The Un-Usual Suspects
"Zoë? Zoë?!" Malcolm Reynolds stomped down the dimly-lit corridor, searching frantically for his secretary. "Zoë, where are you? I need -" He stopped short, seeing the very woman standing before him. "Oh. There you are." He cleared his throat and tugged at his left sleeve.
She raised one eyebrow, a smile playing at her lips. "You needed me, sir?"
He let out a quick breath. "Yes I need you; that's why I been callin' for the last ten minutes."
"Heard my name twice, sir."
Mal scowled a little. "Well you just need to listen more." He cleared his throat. "Now. Is everything ready?"
Zoë rolled her eyes and looked down at the pad of paper she held. "Kaylee's takin' care of all the food. Everything's cleaned up. Wash should be arriving with the guests shortly. Everything's ready. So stop worrying."
"Zoë, I ain't worryin' about it. I'm just..." He moved his head back and forth a little, trying desperately to refute her claim.
"Just worried, I know." She held up a hand to stop his forthcoming protests. "No, I don't mean to speak out o' place, sir, but does this... not worrying have anything to do with Ms. Serra comin' up?"
"What? Wha- Zoë, I am shocked you would suggest such a thing."
"Uh-huh." Her eyes narrowed marginally, in obvious disbelief.
"Sure I hadn't seen 'Nara in a... well a long while, but I don't care." He shrugged. "Her invitation was last minute - don't make a difference to me one way or th' other."
"Of course, sir."
"That's right," he said stubbornly. Mal nodded, trying very hard not to see Zoë's smug look. "Right. It's just Inara, Zo. I can be civil. I don't care."
"Mal..." She shook her head, smoothing down her brown skirt. "Did you ever think about talkin' to her? Just a suggestion, sir. Just a suggestion." She gave a slight nod and walked past him down the hallway. "I'm going to check on Kaylee," she said over her shoulder. "Wash should be coming back soon. Try to find some way to occupy yourself until then - all right, sir?"
~~~
Notes: Yay! Murder mystery! Okay, so obviously this is just the very meager beginnings. All the crew - plus a few of the occasional characters are going to show up, as well. There are going to be probably two murder victims - and yes, I already know who they are and who the murderer's going to be. Are any of those three part of the crew? Well! You'll just have to wait and find out! I seem incapable of actually finishing any sort of full chapter. For whatever reason, I only write bits at a time. But! I'm going to try. I keep going back and forth on all my projects so I get a little bit of a lot of different stories done. If that makes sense. Anyway! Back to this story.
It's going to be based sort of on Agatha Christie's style of mystery. I think River could translate to maybe a good sort of female Poirot, huh? Hee. It's - obviously - AU, but it's still in sort of the Firely universe. Mal's a wealthy estate owner on Shadow - and he fought in the war, I think, but some of the details of that will be changed. Simon and River live on the planet, too. Zoe is Mal's secretary, Wash is his driver/pilot, Kaylee is his chef, and Jayne is security detail. Book will live in the nearby town - still a Shepherd and all that, a prominent citizen and frequent visitor of Mal's.
Yeah. I have a good idea of where it's going to go, I just have to plan things out. And this is all I have written of it - I don't have anything else but notes. Er... and not even that many notes! Mostly in my head right now; I'll have to get things down soon. Ooh... Now that's an idea! Hee. Work on story notes! YAY! Okay, have to go do that! I'll be back with more of this soon. ^^
-ILB
***