Episode 15. Part 2

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Sheriff Messner wanders back in with the girls, sees them to a table and joins Christian and Arden at the bar, saying he’s satisfied the girls are here of their own will.

Christian: (shocked) Oh, so we’re just going to kidnap some girls and drop them off in the middle of nowhere without asking for any money whatsoever?

Rina is there, talking with Muleskinner at his table, and she turns around.

Rina: (teasing) That’s what’s wrong with our scheme. We need to work on that.
Christian: (comically) Oh, that’s what’s wrong with our scheme. We’re not collecting money at the other end.
Messner: I just wanted to be sure that you weren’t just dropping the girls off here and sending a ransom note back to their parents.
Christian: (sobering) No. That is not something we would do.
Messner: Well, I’ll be willing to employ them here at the bar for a bit until they can find something to do. There’re plenty of houses we can fix up if they’re interested.
Christian: Summer said they were free to stay on her property.
Messner: You mean the mine or the old Fairweather place?
Christian: The old Fairweather place. It’s still in her name.
Messner: I imagine we’d have to go to the assessor’s office to find out for sure.
Christian: So how many jobs does the assessor have?
Messner: Oh, you know, there ain’t no assessor. Not anymore.
Rina: (laughing) He picked up and left fourteen months ago.
Messner: No, he left a long time before that.
Rina: Oh, yeah.
Messner: There ain’t no assessor anymore but we keep records there to keep people from hoppin’ mines and such.

Messner looks Christian in the eye.

Messner: So, here’s the thing. You say you’re bringing them to the relative safety of the place, but there was a gentleman asking about the ship, the MakeMake.

Rina sighs and groans a curse at the table. Christian asks for a description: Accent? Appearance? Arrival? Attitude?

Messner says it was a Chinese gentleman. Because the gentleman asked after the MakeMake specifically, it narrows down the list of suspects to just the one—Potemkin. Potemkin wouldn’t know we’d changed the name of the ship.

Christian: He asked for the MakeMake?
Arden: Did he leave a name?
Christian: I hope he didn’t cause any trouble.
Messner: No, he didn’t cause me any trouble.
Arden: Did you tell him anything?
Messner: I didn’t tell him anything. But I’m the only one in town.

Not entirely true. There are other people around, maybe ten or twelve of them. There’s Summer. Any of them could have talked. Messner asserts that no matter how many people were actually in town, everyone comes to him eventually. Christian asked if the man asked for Messner especially. No.

Messner: No. I’ve seen good and bad. And this seemed like an opportunistic kinda feller. Maybe lookin’ to cash in a bounty or somethin’.
Christian: The people who are responsible for the murder and the theft of the ship may have decided that they’re upset with us, and if they talked to Summer, she wouldn’t have lied to them. It’s possible she may have run them around in a philosophical sense, but that’s fine and I hope he didn’t cause you any trouble. And we’ll try not to bring you any more.
Messner: Actually, he was droppin’ some credits in town, so he didn’t’ give us much trouble.
Christian: Then we’re happy we brought you some money.

It’s possible that our arrival here may be heralded by others. The gentleman has already left—he was here three months ago. Arrived by shuttle. Probably from Jibril the next continent over, but he wasn’t originally from there. We conclude that even though we were able to help Lucifer’s Landing’s purse a touch, it’s a good bet that after all this time a Cortex wave has been sent out on us. Christian asks how many Cortex ’boxes the community has. Messner says they’ve got just the one at the General Store, but that doesn’t outrule the gentleman using one on his shuttle. It’s obvious by now we shouldn’t stay here longer than we have to. Christian invites the Sheriff to dinner on our ship, since he’s been so kind to us over the matter with the girls, and Messner accepts. Christian asks after the assessor’s office to double check on the property records and the Sheriff says it’s right across the street. He also offers to go with Christian, pulling the keys to the place from under the bar. Rick, who’d been quietly watching the entire exchange, speaks up for the first time, saying he’ll go with.

The three men leave for the building opposite and Arden rejoins Muleskinner and Rina at the table. The girls move around the room, talking quietly and pointing to this or that. Lucifer’s Landing is a far different environment than Osiris or even Persephone and the girls are clearly trying to get a handle on the new world they’ve found themselves in.

Christian comms Nika as he crosses the street.

Christian: We’ll be leaving after dinner.
Nika: What’s going on?
Christian: A possible bounty hunter was here about three months ago and it’s a fair bet he’s bribed someone in town to report back if we ever showed up. We have a dinner engagement with the Sheriff and Miss Summer, but after that we should be prepared to take off.
Nika: All right.
Christian: And if there are people after us, we may want to do a little searching and see what that bounty is.
Nika: Workin’ on it now.

She cuts the channel and both she and Mike jump on the Cortex. Christian goes on to the assessor’s office with the Sheriff and Rick.

Nika starts her hunt with the MakeMake as her search parameter, and she details Mike to do his with her name and Christian’s. Strictly speaking, only Nika and Christian would have been officially listed as crew. Arden was a passenger. Rina was a freelancer temporarily hired by Potemkin to make repairs and she wasn’t technically crew when the MakeMake left Bernadette.

They find a flag issued on both MakeMake and Summer’s Gift, as ships-of-interest. Anyone sighting the ships should send the information to the Cortex site indicated. No flags have been issued on Nika or Christian, but the ones on the ships themselves would be sufficient for the job.

No bounty amount is listed.

Nika looks over at Mike.

Nika: So, should we send them some mail? (taps the contact site on the screen) Wanna know what it’s worth? Find out what they want? Or should we just leave it be? If the bounty gets big enough, it could be a problem. Assuming that there’s a bounty and it’s not just a BOLO.
Mike: I guess the question is what would we do if it got really big and what would we do if it was small? How would that change what we did?
Nika: Probably not much of anything. Unless we’re prepped to go basically take the man out.
Mike: The only thing I think we can find out is if they aren’t interested in looking for us because they already have somebody on it right now. But I’m not sure if they would tell us that.
Nika: Most likely not. The more people looking, the better. Right? I mean, if we say hey, we’re offering ten thousand credits for information, then you have however many people who might earn ten thousand credits go and look. And why should I tell you I have twenty people looking? I could have fifty people looking. It doesn’t matter, as long as I don’t have to pay’em til they produce.
Mike: (quietly) That’s probably true.

Nothing comes to mind that wouldn’t expose us further.

Nika: Well, just leave it be for now. We know they’re lookin’ and that’s really all that’s important.
Mike: (still quiet) Okay.

Nika tells the others what she and Mike found when the rest of the crew comes back from town. Rina’s held off on buying a mule, considering it better to hang on to whatever credits we’ve got in case we have to cut and run.

Arden: If they’re offering ten thousand credits for us, I’m turning myself in.
Rina: (seriously) You sell yourself too cheaply, sir.
Arden: I have that flaw.

He laughs but the joke falls flat.

During the course of the afternoon, we get the girls’ belongings transferred off the ship, Rick visits Summer again to exchange clippings and Christian holes up in the galley and prepares the best vegetarian meal he possibly can for the coming dinner. When the moment arrives and everyone’s settled around the table, we all find out just how well he did. It’s superb. In fact, Rina’s melting in pleasure over the frikkin’ tofu.

It’s that good.

We relax and take our time with it, and conversation and the girls’ plans for rehabilitating the Fairweather office into a home flow freely. The girls are excited and daunted by the prospect, but it’s already clear that they’ll be staying in Lucifer’s Landing. Arden warns them that they’ll never eat as well as tonight, so fill up. We’re still laughing over this one when some of us notice the lighter pieces of tableware vibrating. A second or two later, everyone notices as the vibrations as the dishes in the sink start rattling.

Christian: Nika, can you go—?
Nika: I’m on it.

Christian warns our guests that they just might want to be somewhere not on our ship right now. He apologizes but it looks as if trouble has found us. Rick announces he’s heading to his container. Rina follows Nika to the bridge and Nika sees a vessel landing in the back yard of Fairweather Flyers. It’s a Firefly. She looks at Rina and they go aft to start rounding everybody up.

We prep to get our guests off-ship with apologies and a good portion of dinner. Christian tells the girls good-bye, impressing firmly on them that they no longer know us, and they’re nothing special to us—to ward against being taken hostage, understand? At which point, Nika tells everyone not to have a paranoid fit. She’s going to take a look.

Rina: Nika, where do you want me? Bridge, engineering, or on your back? (sees Arden’s expression) Don’t go there.
Nika: Ar-den. (to Rina) Stick with me.
Rina: All right.

The Sheriff escorts Summer and the two girls back to the bar in town. He’s got a gun, he can protect them if it comes to a fight. Rina and Nika follow them below decks to the airlock and see them off before turning for the arms locker. Rina still has her gun from walking in town, so she waits til Nika retrieves her weapon.

Arden goes to watch over everything from the bridge. Rick checks his alligators. Christian decides to don his mesh and a long coat, just in case the lead starts flying. However, he refuses to give in to paranoia to the point of getting his rifle. Finished, he joins Arden on the bridge. Nika watches the dinner party return to town on foot from her vantage point at the airlock door. She sits down on the bottom step of the boarding stairs and makes like she’s just taking the air. Rina stands out of sight behind her in the airlock, and together they both wait to see what happens at the other ship, several 'yards over. On the bridge, Christian gets ready to spin up our engines.

Arden and Nika both see five people walk off the Firefly’s cargo ramp. Four of them take off for town and the fifth goes back inside. The four on foot will have to pass our ship to get where they’re going and Nika’s in the perfect position to get a good look at them as they come closer.

It’s now full dark, but some details are still discernable. They’re four men. Dusters and hats. One is carrying a rifle. Freighter cowboys.

Arden alerts Rick and Mike that getting their weapons might be a good idea, because there might be trouble. Nika warns them that they shouldn’t overreact—on the Rim everyone carries a rifle or a gun. Let’s not get paranoid. Rick retrieves his rifle anyway and loads it with tranquilizer rounds. He goes back to his container to man one of the two loading hatches overlooking the path the cowboys will take, and Arden joins Christian on the bridge.

The four cowboys pass under the bridge and pass the airlock stairs. The one with the rifle tips the brim of his hat with the rifle barrel and nods at Nika as he draws nearer.

Rifle Cowboy: Ma’am.
Nika: Howdy. Evenin’, gentlemen. Nice night.
Rifle Cowboy: I s’pose. We’re headed to the bar, if you want to join us.
Nika: Well, that’s a mighty nice invitation. Unfortunately, there’s some stuff I gotta do tonight, thanks.
Rifle Cowboy: It looks like you’re holdin’ up the ship.
Nika: (shrugs) Eh, for the next five minutes or so, anyway. Just takin’ a break.
Rifle Cowboy: Mm-hm. Okay.

And he keeps on walkin’. He and the others glance at the ship as they pass, and Rina eyes their backs from her position in the airlock, already thinking that the men are comparing her ship unfavorably to theirs. Screw them. We’ll be gone before they get back. No shots are fired, no further words exchanged. They walk off into the night with nothing untoward happening.

When they’re far enough out, Nika mounts the stairs to join Rina in the airlock.

Nika: So…do you wanna hit the bar? Or do you wanna take off?
Rina: (grimly) They’re going to the bar. Aren’t the girls at the bar? What if they’re after the girls?

Christian hails them over the comm.

Christian: I can’t see any more. I don’t hear any shots. Hey, are you there and alive?
Nika: (hitting the comm button) Nope.
Rina: We’re dead.
Christian: (to Arden) Guess what? We just got two more shares of the ship.
Arden: Cool.

But considering no one else can fix anything if it breaks down and Christian is nowhere as competent a pilot, they decide to call the women back. In the airlock, Nika makes up her mind.

Nika: (to Rina) Let’s go over to the bar and say goodbye to the girls.
Rina: There you go.
Nika: (over the comm) Guys? We’re gonna go over to the bar very briefly and say goodbye to the girls for the last time.
Arden: Whyyyy?
Nika: And then we’re gonna jet off.
Arden: And you want to tempt the Devil one more time in order to do this?
Nika: I just wanna make sure that they’re okay.
Christian: They could just be here to pick up crops.
Nika: They could just be here to pick up anything.
Arden: Then why even go?
Rick: (cutting in over the comm) You might not want them to know that you know the girls.
Nika: Good point.
Christian: You can just go there and say goodbye to the Sheriff, then.
Arden: Why not just get back on the ship and let’s go?
Nika: All right. I’m fine with that if you people are.

Rick bows out of the vote, saying he’s just a passenger. Rina, however, is not too sanguine about leaving and burning atmo.

Arden: Why is she making impatient noises?
Nika: Because she’s Rina.
Arden: Rina, is there something you want to interject?
Christian: I’m going to the bar.
Nika: That means I’m going to the bar.

And that pretty much settles it. We’re all going to the bar. Christian and Arden grab their weapons from the locker.

Rina: (to Nika) Of course, the minute you get there, they’re gonna think you changed your mind.

Meaning the cowboys.

Nika: I’ll just go in and tell the Sheriff thanks for the hospitality but we’re takin’ off.

Arden tells us to wait a minute so he can get his bag. Nika thanks him for the vote of confidence, adding that his bag wouldn’t look suspicious at all, nossir. Arden retorts he’s staying outside to watch our backs and our escape route. Everything starts happening a bit too fast and Nika calls a time out.

Nika: Oh for God’s sake, why the hell aren’t we just taking off?
Arden: Exactly!
Rina: (easily) Because I’m a paranoid bitch.
Nika: Do you think it has more to do with the fact that all of us are ingrained with the idea that if the Universe sticks it in front of us, we should go with it?
Arden: The only reason I’m not doing it, is Christian’s not doing it. And Christian’s not doing it because he cares about people.
Christian: It comes down to on the off chance they’re after the girls, the Sheriff will probably try to protect them. He will be outnumbered, they will shoot him—and very possibly Summer, who is there, too. It’ll take us five minutes to check and be sure that’s not the case.
Nika: (to Heaven) And I thought Rina was paranoid....
Rina: I’m rubbin’ off on everybody. It’s just another service I offer.
Rick: You all are just freakin’ me out, and I’m ready for whatever.
Christian: It’s not paranoia if everyone is out to get us.

We all take a step back from the edge and breathe. Then:

Christian: I realize I’m being a mother hen, but—
Nika: All right, fine. That’s fine, I’ll go with you. I just want you to realize the second you walk in there, the girls are going to ID you as someone they know.
Christian: I don’t think it’s going to be a big secret that we brought them here.
Rina: We’re just there to give them a last-minute goodbye.
Arden: I’ll get my bag.

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