Like Blood in the Rayne Chapter 15
Zoe manned the cockpit for the final leg of their gauntlet. The time alone was almost refreshing after the last few days’ forced togetherness. Noting their position and running a final calculation of their arrival time, she patched into the cortex to send a wave.
Michelle Morgan’s visage came on the cortex screen, silently awaiting Zoe’s information. Zoe informed her they would be docking in Ariel City in half an hour and asked if there were any additional instructions. Michelle answered curtly. “The address is on the invoice for the stone. I’ll be expecting you shortly.” The wave cut off as soon as Michelle finished speaking, leaving Zoe alone with her thoughts once again.
Ariel. The planet was already within scanning range, straight ahead. Last time they landed on the core, her husband was so full of ideas he wanted her to try. Zoe refused a walk in the park back then but knew she’d say yes without any convincing needed if only he were there to ask her again. Who cared if they were fined for feeding birds?
Plastic toys, remnants of a happier time, found their way into her hands. She played with Wash’s favorite dinosaurs absentmindedly and accidentally mimicked a battle she’d watched him pantomime on several occasions. “Baby, I miss you so much.” Her voice broke at the same instant as the tears broke free.
Mal stepped softly onto the bridge “Zoe?” The concern in his voice was easy to hear. Bad timing.
Zoe didn’t want the sympathy. She’d had more than enough of that to last her and it was beginning to make her feel weak. She wiped away the evidence of her emotional state and tried to pretend she wasn’t doing anything but piloting. Trying to put the dinosaurs back where they went casually, she dropped the tyrannosaur.
Mal caught it on the first bounce and put it back on the console. He held the toy in place far longer than was needed. “Would you like to talk for a minute?”
Zoe went into ‘nothing but business’ mode to avoid what Mal wanted her to say. “Just waved Miss Morgan. We’ll be on Ariel in less then half an hour, right on schedule.”
“That’s not what I meant, Zo.” He pressed her for more.
It wasn’t going to work. She wasn’t going to let him see her break down. She needed to be strong about this. “All I’m talking about, Sir.” It even sounded flat to her ears.
“Fine, I’ll have everyone get ready; you dock us.” He stopped at the door, pausing long enough she thought he might just leave but he didn’t. “For what it’s worth, we all miss him, too.”
It worked.
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Surprisingly, the actual process of docking Serenity when she reached Ariel was uneventful. Zoe slid her into place easily and found she was waiting for the other shoe to drop but it never came. Before she thought it possible, the entire crew gathered in the hold, a bag packed for each of them. When the bags touched the cold, metal floor of the cargo bay, Mal’s, Zoe’s and Jayne’s bags made a heavy clunk the others’ bags did not.
A round of decisive nods from everyone present served as the only ready signal before they all shouldered their bags and Jayne picked up the dangerous cargo. Zoe gave them all a last look and pushed the button to open the doorway to their egress.
Mal took point and led them all as quickly as the slowest of them could walk along the route Miss Morgan recommended they take. That trek also turned up no resistance, which was unexpected enough that everyone was jumping at every foreign sound around them by the time they reached the address on the piece of paper Zoe held tightly clutched in her left hand.
Zoe put the slip of paper in her pocket and scanned the area, half expecting an ambush to appear out of nowhere. When an attack didn’t come within the time she allowed, shocked was the only way to describe how she felt. Sure, they knew Badger’s ship wasn’t planet side yet but she still thought something would happen. She couldn’t help but voice her concern to the Captain. “Sir, does this all strike you as a mite too easy?”
“You know, Zoe, I think you might be…” The massive, wooden door swung open with a creak, in response to which Mal, Zoe and Jayne all drew weapons to point at the newly open doorway, Jayne dropping the crate in the process.
Virginia Wells, Miss Morgan’s assistant, stood with one hand holding the door open, looking in disdain at where the cargo lay in the road. “I sincerely hope the packaging job is sufficient to make up for the inferior handling.”
“You know,” Mal remarked. “I think you’ve got yourself an awfully bossy attitude for someone ain’t more than a glorified servant.”
Inara smacked him on the arm, just grazing him with the tips of her fingers really. “Mal, hush.”
Zoe looked the woman in the doorway over, realizing the Captain was right about her attitude but wrong about something else. She wasn’t a servant. As a matter of fact, she had a few guesses why Ms. Wells was so comfortable and they all led to the same root cause. Zoe holstered her gun and bent down to retrieve the crate. “Why don’t you just let your girlfriend know we’re here?” She said and shouldered past the stunned woman to wait just inside.
“Girlfriend?” Mal’s voice squeaked out higher than its usual pitch.
Another slap went from Companion to Captain, accompanied by a disgusted sigh directed at the man’s confusion. “Mal, not now, please.”
Ms. Wells smoothed down her blouse with one hand, held her head up high, and stepped back and aside to hold the door open for the rest of the crew to enter. The door closed with a weighty thud and blocked the street noise entirely, leaving them in utter quiet. Virginia looked them each over in turn and spoke. “If you’ll excuse me for one moment, I’ll inform Michelle of your arrival.”
“No need, Ginny.” A steady voice, full of command, drew everyone’s attention to the top of a grand staircase that wound upward from the foyer. Michelle Morgan stood there, one hand resting lightly on the railing. “I heard the commotion from upstairs.”
The view of her on the cortex was nothing compared to her appeal in person. It seemed odd that a creature molded from an encounter with Radu should appear as beautiful as he was horrific. She floated down the steps, her grace surpassing even River’s. She ran the hand that rested on the ornately carved railing all the way down, caressing the wood with the pads of her fingers, and only stopped to reach out and shake hands with the Captain.
“Captain Reynolds. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance. The story I’ve heard of you and your crew has been most entertaining recently. Where’s my stone?” She asked bluntly.
“Well, ain’t nothing like a woman who cuts right to the heart.” Mal deadpanned. Everyone flinched at Mal’s choice of words and sense of humor.
Zoe stepped forward with the box, appreciating Miss Morgan’s desire to cut to the chase. Then, Michelle reached out for it before Zoe could even put the box down at her feet the way she intended.
The locks and hinges all broke easily under Michelle’s insistent and powerful fingers, snapping one by one with a series of tinny dings. She flung the lid aside uncaringly and reached inside. When her hands met the treasured antique, Michelle’s eyes darkened and shone.
Zoe didn’t want to admit it, or move away because of how it would look, but she was starting to get spooked by the nearness of the vampire. It wasn’t enough to bother her that the woman acted so feral about their cargo. What got her was the lack of warmth. Another person standing so close to you should cast off at least some body heat.
Mal must have sensed her unease because he stepped forward to help Zoe. River stopped him from doing just that by saying, “They sing of how happy they are to be in her hands again.”
Silence fell over the assembled group when Michelle cautiously lifted the Bloodstone from the crate. She held it a but a few inches in front of her face and stared at it, enraptured, when it started to glow from within. The crystal began a metamorphosis from its clear color, red flowing from the bottom in an upward direction. It seemed to be filling, although no source for the liquid inside could be discerned. Finally, when the redness came to the top, a single drop that was as blood formed quivering at the very tip of the stone.
Michelle tilted the stone up, watching as the drop started to fall free of the stone. She opened her mouth, allowing the small drop of blood to spill onto her waiting tongue. A series of shudders ran through her, starting at her feet and moving up along her body rapidly. Her head fell back with her ultimate spasm and she moaned happily.
When the vampire faced them again, seemingly just recalling others were in her presence, she cradled the Bloodstone against her breast delicately. Michelle blinked her eyes harshly several times, her eyes progressively returning to their normal color as she did. “Please, forgive me. I’ve forgotten my manners in the joy of this reunion. Virginia, would you show our guests to the rooms you prepared for them?”
Mal bounced, restless, on the balls of his feet. Zoe recognized the posture and prepared to bolt. It was his ‘get the heck gone from nowhere good’ stance. Then Mal spoke. “Meaning no offense, Ma’am, but I’m thinkin’ I’d rather get our credits and leave if it’s all the same to you.”
Apparently it wasn’t all the same to Miss Morgan. She pleaded. “I need your help, Captain. Knowing your reputation for taking on a fight, I had hoped I could persuade you to stay and assist me. Know this to help you decide; if you leave and I cannot defeat Radu alone, he will track you down and kill you all. It’s happened before.”
“That ain’t exactly…” Mal began, starting to inch backward for the door and escape.
River clapped both her hands over her ears so hard it made a popping sound. “We have to help her.” Her knees started to buckle.
Jayne caught River by the elbows, holding her upright. “You all right?” he asked when a high-pitched whine came from her. The sound of it was enough to chill the blood of anyone that knew her.
“They scream for help. I can’t make them stop. Jayne.” River turned around and buried her face into Jayne’s chest, sobbing. He immediately wrapped his arms around her tightly, comforting her, and looked to Mal.
“Sir?” Zoe asked, a very bad feeling about this whole scenario forming in her core.
“Yeah,” Mal said softly. “I guess this means we’re staying.”