Firefly--The Magnificent Nine, page 6
“No, and they’re scheduled to return here tomorrow.”
Mal grimaced. “Tomorrow.”
“At dawn.”
“So we have less than a day to prepare for their arrival. Ain’t long. Ain’t nearly long enough. Okay. First and foremost, I need to know what level of support we can count on among the locals. Seems like the people of Coogan’s Bluff do have a bit of sand, judging by how they acquitted themselves at that bar. We tap into that, place could have a fighting chance.”
“I don’t know. Tackling three out-of-towners, that’s one thing. The Scourers? That’s quite another.”
“Still and all, it’s worth a shot. I have a favor to ask, Mr. Mayor.”
“I’ll do what I can. You are at least sounding like you’re going to pitch in. What do you want?”
“I want you to call a town meeting, soon as possible. Get everybody together. I mean everybody. Beat the drum. Rally the troops. Give us something we can work with. Reckon you can manage that?”
Huckleberry U. Gillis stood on a crate in the Coogan’s Bluff’s main square. Around him were assembled fifty townspeople or thereabouts, as many as he had been able to rustle up in the space of an hour. They were a ragged, weather-beaten lot, scrawny and ill assorted. They didn’t look much.
It was up to Gillis to make them more.
This was, he knew, the speech of his life. He had never and probably would never make a more important oration. He tried to channel the spirit of the greats. Abraham Lincoln. Winston Churchill. Martin Luther King. Madame Xiang, principal architect of the exodus from Earth-That-Was. That was what people were expecting.
Grasping one lapel, he puffed out his chest and began.
“Folks. I don’t need to tell you that things are not looking rosy for us right about now. Barbarians at the gates, in a manner of speaking. When next the Scourers are here, they’ll be here to commandeer off us the one thing we truly rely on: our water. They’ll steal it and they’ll sell it back to us at what will no doubt be an extortionate rate. It may seem there’s not a lot we can do to change that outcome.”
The faces upturned before him were a sea of scowls—although that could have been because the sun was so bright and everyone was squinting.
“I say to you that there is.” Gillis gestured at Mal, Zoë, and Jayne, lined up beside him. “These three offworlders—Captain Reynolds, Miz Washburne, Mr. Cobb—have come to organize a resistance. They are giving of themselves freely in order to stand in the Scourers’ path. They assure me they have experience and expertise. They are, in short, the answer to our prayers. But… they cannot do it alone.”
He gazed from one person to the next, trying to catch as many eyes as possible during this dramatic pause.
“They need you. They need us. They can lead a counterattack against the Scourers but without you backing them up it’ll be meaningless. I am asking you good gentlefolk—begging you—to provide that backup. Together, we are capable of anything. United, we can make all the difference. With guns, farming implements, heck, even garden forks and kitchen knives, we can stand together, present a unified front, and show Vandal and his band of no-good varmints that we are not to be trifled with.”
His voice rose in pitch and volume. The speech was approaching its climax.
“Where other towns on Thetis have rolled over and shown the Scourers their bellies, we can say a loud, resounding no. We can draw a line in the sand. We can tell them, ‘This goes so far and no further. Enough is enough. Your campaign of terror ends, here at Coogan’s Bluff.’”
He was quite pleased with that rhyming couplet. He thought it a nice rhetorical flourish.
He lofted his arms. “So what do you say? Will you stand shoulder to shoulder with me and our three new pals here, and their pals? Will you make this the turning point? Will you put the Scourers in their place once and for all? Are you with me? Let me hear you say it. Let me hear a roar from you all. Let your voices carry to the heavens. ‘Yes, Mayor Gillis, we’re with you!’ Come on! All together now. ‘Yes, we’re with you!’”
Silence from the crowd. Eyes darted uneasily around. Feet shuffled. A discreet cough. Everybody was waiting for somebody else to step up.
Gillis went for it one more time. “‘Yes, we’re with you!’”
The same non-reaction.
Gillis was crestfallen. “Really?”
Gradually the townspeople began drifting away. First in ones and twos, then groups. Within a minute the meeting had dispersed. Gillis was left standing alone, save for Mal, Zoë, Jayne, and a couple of crowd members who hadn’t yet decided to go.
Mal slow-handclapped. “Mighty inspiring speechifying there, Mr. Mayor. Sure got everyone’s dander up.”
Gillis stepped glumly off the crate. “I truly thought…”
“What?” said Jayne. “That your town is full of cowardly pissants?”
“They’re scared,” Gillis said defensively. “They have every right to be. I just hoped I could get past that. Dig into some kind of reserve of courage.”
“Jayne Cobb.”
This came, softly uttered, from one of the two members of the crowd who had remained behind.
Temperance McCloud removed the broad-brimmed hat that had been shading her face from view. Her smile was hesitant, a smile that was uncertain whether it would be reciprocated.
Beside her stood a teenaged girl who was in many ways the spit of Temperance, apart from the piercing blue eyes.
Jayne moved towards Temperance. His arms were extended half out, as if he was considering embracing her.
She strode up to him.
The slap was so loud, it echoed all the way across the square.
Jayne recoiled. “Ow!”
“You dumb son of a bitch!” Temperance thundered.
Jayne put a hand to his face. He looked as much surprised as hurt.
“Nice to see you again too,” he said.
Temperance slapped him again, on the other cheek.
Jayne clenched a fist. “Do that to me one more time, I’ll forget I’m a gentleman.”
“You never were a gentleman,” Temperance said, “but you’re certainly a moron.”
Mal said to Zoë, in an aside, “She’s sure got the measure of him.”
“I’m rooting for her to slap him some more,” Zoë said. “I could watch her do it all day.”
“You came,” Temperance said to Jayne.
“Yeah, I did. Though I’m asking myself now why I bothered.”
“You came with just two other people.”
“Eight, as a matter of fact. But who’s countin’?”
“I am! I’m counting! Nine of you in total. That’s it?”
“It’s the best I could do.”
“Moron.”
Temperance’s expression lightened just a fraction.
“But thank you.”
Now she leant forward and kissed him on the same cheek she had just clouted, where a red handprint was starting to appear, mirroring a similar handprint on the other cheek.
Jayne, thoroughly nonplussed, turned to the girl beside her. “So who’s this?”
Temperance slipped an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “My daughter.”
“Huh,” said Jayne. “Didn’t know you had one.”
“I didn’t say. Jayne Cobb. Jane McCloud.”
“Hi,” said Jane diffidently.
“Hi.”
“She’s Jane without the ‘y,’ in case you were wondering,” said Temperance.
“I wasn’t, but still.”
“She’s thirteen.”
“Nearly fourteen,” said Jane.
“Oh. Okay. Nice to meet you, Jane.”
“Sure. Likewise.”
Mal nudged Zoë in the ribs with an elbow. “You don’t think…?” he whispered.
“Couldn’t be,” said Zoë. “Could it?”
“How long ago did Jayne say he and Temperance were a thing?”
“He didn’t.”
“A few years, though. Maybe fourteen?”
“Sir, I don’t know what to make of it. But the color of her eyes… It’s possible.”
Oblivious to this exchange, Jayne said to Temperance, “You’re looking good.”
“You too. My boy named Jayne is now a man named Jayne.”
“I was that, even back then. A man, I mean.”
“Not to me. What a difference fourteen and a half years makes.”
“See?” said Mal to Zoë. He was equal parts amazed and gleeful.
The name. The eye color. The timing.
Jayne seemed blissfully unaware of it, but Mal and Zoë were convinced that the girl standing in front of them was Jayne’s daughter.
Coffee was being brewed on the hob. Much coffee. The delicious smell of it filled Temperance’s kitchen.
The room was crowded, with Mayor Gillis and almost the entire crew of Serenity congregated around the dining table.
Missing from the gathering were Jane McCloud, who was giving the cattle their evening feed, and River. As soon as the party from the ship had arrived at the farm in the Flying Mule, River had leapt down from the land speeder and skedaddled out into the cornfield. She was now wandering up and down the crop rows, brushing her fingertips over the brittle leaves and the drooping ears. It was as if she was seeing these things for the first time, or else was seeing them in ways nobody had ever seen them before.
“That girl all right?” Temperance had enquired as River headed off.
“Short answer, ‘No,’” Jayne had replied. “Long answer, ‘Really no.’”
“Hey!” Simon had objected.
“Aw, come on,” Jayne had said. “You’re her brother and even you pussyfoot around her, like she might blow up in your face.”
To that, Simon had had no answer.
Now Temperance began filling enamel mugs with steaming coffee and distributing them among her houseguests.
“Hope you people appreciate what a privilege this is,” Gillis said. “That’s a whole day’s ration of water Temperance is using to give us all a drink. She wouldn’t do it for just anyone. That’s hospitality.” He turned to Inara. “It’s kind of like the tea ceremony you Companions put on for your clients, in a way. A token of respect.”
“You’ve identified my profession, Mayor. How astute of you.”
“Wasn’t too hard. What puzzles me is what a classy lady like you is doing hanging out with a motley bunch like this. Doesn’t seem a natural fit, you and them.”
“Oh, motley or not, they’re fine company,” said Inara. “They let me be. You can’t put a price on that. Besides…” Her dark eyes flashed furtively in Mal’s direction. “They have a certain obscure couth.”
“I’m happy to use some of my water on these folk,” said Temperance. “Figure if they can send the Scourers packing, they’re worth it. ’Course,” she added, “if they can, it’d be a gorramn miracle such as would impress Jesus Himself. Begging your pardon, Preacher.”
Shepherd Book shrugged off the mild blasphemy. “You’ve set the bar rather high, Miz McCloud. If we can even approach Our Savior’s level of wonder-working, that would be something.”
“Fact of the matter is,” said Mal, taking a sip of coffee, “since it looks like it’s just us versus the Scourers, we’re never going to be able to beat them in a straight-up fight. We’re going to have to be sneaky. We’re also going to have to buy ourselves some time somehow. No way we can build barricades and organize a halfway decent defense overnight. If the Scourers have the numbers Mayor Gillis says, they’ll just plough straight through anything we set up.” He looked around the table. “I’m open to suggestions.”
“I thought you were about to reveal some amazing plan, sir,” said Zoë.
“Since when have my plans been amazing?”
“Or even plans,” said Wash.
“I say we ambush ’em,” said Jayne. “Set up a couple sniper nests, catch the Scourers in the crossfire as they ride in.”
“From where?” said Mal. “You’d need high ground, and there’s none in the vicinity.”
“Rooftops.”
“Practically every building in Coogan’s Bluff is single-story.”
“Tree, then.”
“Rooftop, tree, up on a flagpole, a sniper’d last maybe a minute, two minutes at most, before the Scourers got him surrounded and took him out. These people have rocket launchers, don’t forget.”
“What about their camp?” said Jayne. “According to the Mayor, it ain’t far from here.”
“It’s well guarded, by all accounts,” Gillis said.
“And going in there all guns blazin’?” said Mal. “Right into the lions’ den? It’d be a suicide mission.”
“They’re bullies,” Simon said.
“Oh hey!” Jayne slapped his forehead mockingly. “That never occurred to us. Thanks for the insight, Doc. Graduated top three percent in your class, wasn’t it? I can see why.”
“No.” Simon stifled an exasperated sigh. “Bullies are used to getting their own way. They don’t like it when things don’t run smoothly for them. Tends to be, if you stand up to them even a little, they fold. There was a guy I knew at Medacad in Capital City, another student in my year, Murray Featherstone. He kept getting pushed around and abused by one of our professors, Dr. January. Dr. January just took against him for some reason and picked on him every chance he could. Asked Murray questions he knew he couldn’t answer. Scoffed at him when he got the answer wrong. Made him retake tests if he didn’t get the absolute highest grade. Apparently Dr. January did this with every group of new intakes. There’d always be one victim, somebody he’d single out for special punishment. I guess he thought it would impress the rest. Show them he meant business.”
“This dumb anecdote better be goin’ somewhere,” said Jayne.
“The day came when Murray had had enough. It was during an anatomy lecture. Murray just laid into him. Called him all manner of names. Told him a few home truths. Nobody had spoken like that to Dr. January before. No student, at any rate. You could see how shocked he was. He simply hadn’t been expecting it.”
“And?”
“And, Jayne, Dr. January never picked on Murray again. He was as sweet as can be towards him from then on.”
“Awww,” said Kaylee, delighted that the story had had a happy outcome.
“So,” said Jayne, “you’re telling us we can beat the Scourers… with loud cussin’?”
“No,” said Simon. “But maybe if their leader—what’s his name? Vandal. Maybe if Vandal meets his match, gets his comeuppance, that’ll be it. Vandal’s the arch-bully. It’s likely he’s never encountered someone who’s as tough as him, if not tougher. Someone who can put him down on the ground. It might be so surprising to him when he does, he loses his nerve and cries off.”
“One of us should butt heads with Vandal, is that what you’re saying, Simon?” said Book.
“Who?” said Jayne to Simon. “I don’t see you volunteerin’.”
“I reckon our captain is a match for any man.”
Mal spluttered into his coffee. “I’ll take the compliment, but you’re askin’ me to challenge Vandal to a duel? Is that where you’re going with this? This ain’t no snootsome society ball on Persephone, Simon. Swords at dawn ain’t going to cut it.”
Simon looked vaguely embarrassed. “I just thought it’d be the path of least bloodshed.”
“Except for the person whose blood might get shed,” said Jayne.
“Well, I like your idea,” Kaylee said, patting Simon’s arm. “And seeing as you haven’t come up with a better one, Jayne, maybe you should at least consider it. We all should.”
***
Meanwhile, out by the corral, Jane was pouring the last sack of cattle feed over the fence into the trough. The cows jostled to get their noses into the mixture of grain, soy, and protein, munching hard. Pasturing a herd was out of the question on Thetis. There just wasn’t any grass.
“They’re so slow.”
Jane jumped. The girl from the ship, River, had stolen up on her stealthily from behind. She hadn’t heard her coming.
“Yeah, well, they’re cows,” Jane said, trying to mask how startled she’d been. “Kind of goes with the territory.”
“No. Their thoughts,” said River. “Their thoughts are so slow. Like molasses. So peaceful, too. They’re just content with everything. They know that they’re hot and thirsty most of the time, but they don’t mind. They accept it.”
“You can read cows’ thoughts?”
River blinked at her. “Can’t you?”
Jane didn’t know whether she was joking or not. “I’ve never tried.”
River clambered up onto the corral’s three-rail fence and surveyed the feeding beasts.
“They love you,” she said to Jane.
“Uh, good?”
“Do you love them?”
“Never really thought about it. I look after them. Sometimes, when Mom’s slaughtered one, I’ll feel sad. But it means we can eat. We can live. It’s just how it has to be.”
River straddled the fence. “Can I stroke them?”
“What? Oh. No. Don’t do that. They’re not pets.”
Too late. River had slipped into the corral and was padding towards the nearest cow, hand outstretched.
“River,” said Jane. “That’s your name, right? River, get out of there. Come back this side of the fence. It’s not safe.”
River did not heed her. She placed a hand on the cow’s rump. The animal swiveled its head to look at her. It lowed uneasily, menacingly. It did not like being interrupted during its meal.
Jane knew that the cow, if it got really spooked, might turn on River and charge at her. And if one cow did that, the others might panic and follow suit. The herd would stampede the strange young woman and trample her to death.
And if Jane climbed over the fence to try to rescue River while that was happening, they would do the same to her.
“River!” she said, waving an urgent arm. “Back away, nice and easy. Leave them be. You’re in danger.”
River had her head cocked to one side, as though she was listening to something, her face alight with curiosity.
The cow lowed again. It reared away from the trough, snorting. The rest of the herd, sensitive to any disturbance in their routine, did likewise. Together, the cows moved to form a semicircle around the human interloper. An array of sharp horns faced towards River like drawn daggers.
