Episode 108. Part 3
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We pick an out of the way corner sheltering in the shadow of one of the cargo containers, sitting unused on the deck in one of the farther cargo areas. Rina hangs back a few steps to guard our six, keeping an eye on the way we came in case we were followed.
Behind her the nitty-gritty begins.
Nika: Now the question is precisely who is chasing you and why, before I take you on our ship.
Arden: We.
Nika: Before we take you on our ship.
Mike: She thinks she’s captain.
Nika: Because you let me.
Chuckles all around, serious as this is, and then we all sober.
Donovan: I don’t think that’s of terrible interest.
Nika: Yes, it is.
Donovan: If no one knows I’m on the ship, why does it matter?
Nika: We don’t want to have trouble.
Arden: We would like to know who to avoid.
Nika: Exactly.
Donovan: It doesn’t matter if no one knows I’m on the ship.
Christian: (shrugs: too bad) Then you’re on the space station. Enjoy.
Donovan: Well, you get to enjoy my fine company, too, as long as you’re stuck here.
Arden: True enough.
Christian: Hmmm…big enough station….And besides, you didn’t exactly tell us what you could actually do to help.
Arden: (incredulously) Were you in the same bar I was?
Christian: Yeah, so?
Nika: (to Arden) Are you planning to be a brawler, soon?
Arden: No, but he would have been a big help in the past couple’a months.
Nika: This is true enough.
Christian: Which is not the point.
Donovan: I’m not lookin’ to sign the manifest on your crew here. I’m just lookin’ to get outa here.
Nika: We got enough trouble of our own comin’ outa Georgia system.
Donovan: Well, then. Let’s head away from Georgia system.
Christian: What are you offering?
Donovan: I’m offering a chance for you to get out much sooner.
Christian: You’d have to be a little more specific than that, because I could offer that and I’d be lying.
Donovan: Well, we could afford the repairs on your ship rather quickly.
Arden: It seems like it’s going to be another one of those communications equipment jobs.
Christian: Will there be any activity involved?
Donovan: Mike will vouch for me.
Nika: Are you strictly passenger?
Donovan: Strictly passenger.
Mike: What, have you come into some money, is that what you’re sayin’?
Donovan: Might have come into some money.
Christian: And the people who have the money are the ones looking for you?
Donovan: Um. That would be a reasonable assumption.
Rina’s bent her ear long enough. She joins the party with a sardonic expression.
Rina: Is it traceable money?
Donovan: (thrown) What?
Arden: (laughing) Not once it’s spent.
Christian: Actually, once it’s spent, it may be more traceable if the serial numbers have been recorded.
Donovan: I don’t think ‘traceable’ is actually going to be an issue, here. If this money was traceable, it would run counter to the interests of the owners.
Rina: Well, it’s certainly the answer to our repair problems.
Christian: It is. I’m happy with that.
Nika: (to Christian) Are you sure?
Christian: Well, we let’s see. We will be staying here for a length of time because we are waiting for someone to meet us.
Donovan: How long are you staying?
Christian: However long it takes them to get here.
Mike: If you leave, you can change the plan and meet them somewhere else.
Christian: Well the thing is, they only have so much fuel for stopping and starting and stopping.
Mike: It’ll take you two days for the repairs, so you could at least wave them and find out.
Nika: Let’s see how that goes.
Christian: At least two days.
Nika: So it’ll take at least two days to fix the ship anyway. Let’s see if they get here in that time.
Mike: Fair enough, but you won’t be able to start repairs without the money.
Nika: (pointing to Donovan) Oh, we’re gonna take him. Christian just agreed we’d take him. Arden, are you okay with that?
Arden: Yeah, I’m fine.
Nika: (to Donovan) Then we will happily take you out of here.
Arden: (to Nika) Rina. You didn’t ask her.
Nika: Rina, you’re gonna be our swing vote, here, but at this point, I’m okay.
Rina: We need a getaway car, I say we take it.
Nika: (to Donovan) Which means, yes, you have passage. We need at least two days to fix the ship.
Donovan: Point me to my bunk. How much do you need to fix the ship?
Christian: Four thousand.
Plus a little extra for labor.
Donovan: I can get us most of the way there.
Christian: Okay.
Rina: Coupled with the shuttle sale…
Arden: Are we going to have to sell the shuttle?
Christian: I was going to avoid that, thank you for taking away my bargaining chip. Yes. Two thousand.
Nika: Yes, by the way.
Donovan: Yeah….I would rather not fly on a ship without a shuttle.
Christian: We have escape pods.
Rina: Not the same.
Christian: Not the same, no. Tell you what. Come with me. We’ll stop by the fix-it shop first, and then I’ll take you to your bunk.
Arden: Make sure you use protection.
Donovan: ( it takes him a minute…) …Wait….What?
Christian: I will take you and Rina, and the three of us will go and arrange for the repairs.
Rina: Someone watch Mike while I’m gone.
Nika: I got Carter. You go.
Rina leans over and whispers in Mike’s ear.
Rina: Behave yourself.
We part company. Christian, Rina and Sean Donovan to the repairs shop, and Arden, Mike and Nika to get supplies. Christian hands them a list of what we need.
At the repair shop, the total bill comes to 5,184 including parts and labor. Donovan is as good as his word: He ponies up forty-eight hundred, leaving us to cover the remaining amount. That’s it. Our ship is going to be repaired and we get to keep our shuttle.
We resupply, both in food and fuel.
The repairs take two days. (Mon-Tues, 19-20 Sep 2518)
During that time, Nika sends a message to Connolly and Harbinger, explaining our breakdown and delay for repairs, requests to meet at a different time and place, if possible. Connolly pings her back with the coordinates for Deadwood. They’ll get there seven days ahead of us, but they’re willing to wait.
Arden does something to our shipboard ’boxes, rerouted the Cortex feeds, so he can do some digging. He finds that there is an ongoing dispute in cyberspace over the veracity and authenticity of the Miranda Wave, that there has been a reported increase in terrorist activity in various areas such as protests (some of which having turned violent), hacking of information at various sites, and other isolated terrorist activities. Blue Sun system is still locked down. The news from Hera is all about the heroic doctors and nurses caring for the wounded from the surprise attack on the Alliance Navy by terrorists possibly in cahoots with pirates. That’s the news from the officially sanctioned channels on the Cortex.
Looking around in the more ‘independent’ sites, the spin on the battle is a little different. There, the consensus is the battle wasn’t waged by pirates or terrorists or rebel scum, but Reavers. Arden’s experience at the VA hospital supports this view over the official story. Most of the injuries he’d seen were radiation burns and –sickness, vacuum exposure injuries, and the like, but a few of the patients were wounded as Christian had been and were likely members of Alliance boarding parties. The independent sites all urge viewers to remember the truth of what happened out there, keep the signal alive, pass the Miranda Wave on, and to be wary of the official government story of events.
Christian remembers something important: Malcolm Reynolds had been to the Heart of Gold, during the trouble they’d had with Rance…and the Malcolm Reynolds he’d seen looked nothing like the man who introduced himself as Malcolm Reynolds on the Gift. The crew that helped Nandi had a dark-skinned man with them, but he was a Shepherd and looked nothing like the Reynolds we’d rescued. It could be coincidental that two men could have the same name…but with the way our luck’s been running lately, what are the odds of it being mere coincidence?
Also during that time, Christian goes out and finds a paying customer for his Companion services—at considerable risk, since Christian is no longer with the Guild and can face stiff punishments if caught. He nets a hundred credits which he puts in front of Nika without a word…and she doesn’t ask how he got it. It’s obvious to her how, and though she hadn’t asked Christian to do this, she’s resolved NEVER to ask Christian to do it in the future. Donovan eyes the money and looks at Mike.
Donovan: What was that all about?
Mike: He used to be a Companion.
Donovan: Ohhhh…
Mike: (shrugging) It gets lonely out in space.
Donovan: So, you’re out in space on a ship captained by a boy-whore.
Mike: We don’t have a captain.
Christian: (to Arden) I want one of the immunization packets, please.
Arden gives him the packet and puts the money in the till.
When the repairs are finished, Nika sends Rina out to double-check the work and we all make another check on Mike’s state of mind. For security reasons, we do the last out of Donovan’s sight. Out of consideration for Rina’s feelings, it’s also done when she’s too busy to attend. It’s just Arden, Mike and Nika.
Nika: Carter, I need to know if when we meet up with Harbinger’s crew, you will go with them. Are you capable of making, functionally, that choice?
Mike: What do you mean? I’m able to make any choices I want to make.
Nika: No, you’re not. And you know it, which is worse.
Mike: Then why are you asking me?
Arden: No, no, I think you’re confusing something, the two of you. He can’t tell an out-and-out lie. He can make any decision he wants.
Arden demonstrates with the pen-trick again. It doesn’t go well and Mike’s frustration becomes apparent. Nika puts a stop to the procedure.
Arden: He can make any decisions he wants, he just can’t lie in response to a direct question.
Mike: I can lie. But you’re right that I seem to be somewhat—
Nika: Is Harbinger’s crew and ship a place where you will be safe?
Mike: I don’t think I’m safe anywhere.
Nika: Fair enough. (sighs) Will you feel comfortable going there if we leave you?
Mike: If you don’t feel safe with me, then dump me where you feel appropriate, but I don’t know where I’m going to be safe, to be honest. If Harbinger’s going someplace far away…? From what I understand—.
Nika: Here’s my—
Mike: Do you want me to tell you what I know about Harbinger?
Nika: Yes—.
Mike: Are you sure you want me to tell you what I know about Harbinger?
A beat.
Arden: No, you don’t wanna know what he knows about Harbinger. You don’t. You really don’t.
Nika: (very quietly) Okay.
Arden: However, I will say that I will feel more comfortable if Mike stayed with us.
Nika: We don’t have the facilities to keep him out of trouble until this wears off.
Arden: We don’t have the facilities to keep ourselves out of trouble.
Nika starts to laugh.
Nika: Touché!
She sobers.
Nika: We’re putting him in a situation where if they stop us, he is going to compromise the whole thing—.
Arden: If they stop us, we’re all dead.
Nika: Well, if we’re not dead and he can bluff out of it, they’re gonna ask him questions and he’s not even gonna stop and think twice.
Mike: (Under Nika’s statement to Arden) Who’s the ‘they’ we’re talking about?
Arden: (to Mike) Alliance.
Nika: (continuing) The rest of us can lie our asses off, they’re gonna ask him a direct question and he’s gonna tell ’em.
Arden: Then we don’t get stopped.
Nika: I’m not sure I’m that good.
Arden: How about this? If he’s not with us when we need his skills, we’ll be screwed if he’s not with us.
Nika: (resigned) All right. I’m gonna go with you on this. If this is your decision, if you think this is okay, I’m gonna go with you.
Arden: I think knowing what we know, he would be best with us. But it’s up to you, it’s your decision.
Mike: I’m here at your mercy. I can’t afford to pay for my passage, but I’ll say this: I’m obviously a—
Nika: Not doing well.
Mike: (Not what he’d have chosen but…) …okay…
Arden: Slightly handicapped.
Mike: I was going to say that I am a burden of sorts, that’s going to slow you down—
Nika and Arden: No.
Mike: And my concern is that if I do get captured by someone that I might compromise a lot of people.
Arden: Not just us.
Mike: So I would like to deal with this. Now, to my mind, the most certain way to deal with this is to walk into the airlock and finish this off.
Arden: (firmly) No.
Nika: I let you do that, Rina slits my throat.
Arden: (off Nika) And mine.
Mike: You don’t have to let her have a say in it. But that would be the obvious solution. Barring that, I need to figure out what’s happened to me. (To Arden) You’re a doctor. Do you know anything about this kind of stuff?
Arden: I know some. I’ve been trying to do what research I can but I haven’t been able to find much.
---OCC---
Steve: Did I mention that your old sweetheart Sampson is a talented neurochemist?
Bobby: No, you didn’t.
Eyerolls and laughs ensue, and we hit the rewind button to incorporate this detail…
---OCC---
Arden: I know somebody who might be able to help us with such things.
Mike: You do?
Arden: Yes.
Mike: Someone trustworthy?
Arden: Ah…trustworthy….? (Confesses) She doesn’t like me very much. But we were friends.
Nika: (to Mike) Therein, you see, lies my problem.
Arden: If I came to her asking for help, I would be eating crow. She would love it.
Nika: But would she keep her mouth shut?
Arden: Yeah. She would love to have something like that on me. If I was to come to her and say, (pitiful voice) “Oh, I need your help…!”
Nika: The only reason I want to turn him over to the Harbinger’s crew is that at least so far as I know, they can at least take him somewhere where people he trusts will be.
Mike: I don’t want to be where people I trust will be.
Nika: Well, that decides it right there. I guess we’re gone.
Mike: Except for you. The problem is… (A beat) You may have noticed that they have a… how shall I say it? a schism going on.
Nika: Yeah. Big time.
Mike: When I was on Beaumonde, part of what I was doing was trying to heal that schism, but intelligence wasn’t as good as we were hoping on that one.
Nika: So you got the people who are fighting the kind of fight that we tripped over on Beaumonde and—
Mike: I read about the stories, yes, about the factory. My hope was to hold them back from the brink, but I don’t think that’s going to happen now.
Nika: You can’t do that. C’mon, you know that there are always going to be people who play like that.
Mike: Surprised? You could be brought back from the brink more often than you might believe.
Nika: The very fact that you don’t want to go decides the matter.
Mike: I just don’t know if the people I would normally associate with would—well, let me put it this way: If I were in my…
Nika: Perfect mind.
Mike: Yes, in my right mind.
Arden: Unaltered mind.
Mike: Let’s suppose this was back in the days when the War was on and I met an agent in my condition—.
Nika: You’d’a killed him. I already know that.
Mike: (spreads his hands: See?) So.
Nika: Again, Rina would slit my throat. The alternative is we gotta figure out is where you’re going to be safest. ‘Safe’ is relative, obviously, but… ‘safest’.
Mike: We’ll figure out how to fix this.
Arden: I would rather try to fix it because if we can figure out a way to fix it and publish those results…
Nika: You don’t think they’re gonna let you publish those results on the Cortex.
Arden: What happened to out there, where was it? (looks at Mike)
Mike: (getting it) Miranda?
Arden: Miranda? What happened? Exactly. Information, once out, cannot be put back in the bottle. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle.
Nika: All right. (to Mike) Then I guess you stay here.
Arden: Assuming that everyone here agrees to that.
Nika: Presumably, yes.
Mike: So, why did this have to be a private conversation?
Arden: Because it involved your mental facilities.
Mike: Oh? I though those were up for public debate.
Arden: No.
Nika: I didn’t know how far in depth we would have to go into your medical condition, which is why I asked for it to be a private conversation.
Arden: And I do want you to know, he can make any sort of decision that’s necessary. It’s just a direct question he has to answer correctly as he knows it.
Nika: Okay.
Mike: However, I’m not totally without resources. Knowing this, I can take some steps.
Nika: I feel far more comfortable knowing the situation, given what the doctor has elaborated on your condition, yes. Part of it was I was concerned that if we got stopped and you were asked a direct question, you’d blurt out everything you know.
Mike: Let me perhaps suggest something, then. If we’re gonna get stopped, I go into a different room and am not part of the greeting party.
Nika: That’s a given.
Arden: I think he may be suggesting more.
Nika: Let’s just hope we’re not gonna get boarded.
Arden: We’re not.
Nika: I’m not entirely sure I’m that good.
Arden: We’re not gonna get boarded.
Nika: Let me rephrase myself: I am that good, but this ship may not be.
Arden: With the brand new repairs we have? And the ship’s engineer we have is light years beyond anybody else?
Mike: C’mon, Nika. Don’t blame the ship. You ought’a be ashamed of yourself. There are no bad ships.
Arden: (chuckling) Anyway, the next meal we have as a crew—.
Nika: Presuming the permission has been given to actually say anything, I think it would be best if Arden told everyone.
Which is what we do at the next meal. Everyone’s at the table, including Mike, when Arden makes the announcement.
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