2:02 P.M.
January 16th, 2519
Eavesdown Docks
“Transport Serenity, you are cleared for landing,” the voice came.
“Copy,” River replied. “Thank you.”
“Welcome back to Persephone, Serenity.”
As River touched Serenity down, Chuck was down in the cargo bay, giving the Herder a once over. “Looks good as new,” he said.
“Torque converter’s been rebuilt, I changed out all the fluids, and I fueled her up with 97 octane petrol distillate,” Kaylee said. “She should run like she’s fresh off the showroom floor.”
“Well, let’s find out,” Chuck said. Hitting the remote, he unlocked the doors. He opened the driver’s door, slid behind the wheel and turned the ignition key.
The Toyota Yaris purred to life. Chuck shifted the transmission into drive and did a little donut around the cargo bay. “It’s good!” he called out the open window, indicating his approval to Kaylee.
She smiled. “Where you headed, stranger?”
planet Sihnon
“This is shuttle Enterprise to Madrassa Approach, requesting clearance for landing,” Major Lorenz said into the microphone.
“Enterprise, this is Control. What’s your business in Madrassa?”
“We have two representatives of the National Security Agency here to speak with the Companions’ Guild,” Lorenz replied.
“Enterprise, please hold.”
“That’s weird,” Sarah said. “This is the first time we’ve been asked to hold. I wonder what’s going on?”
Bryce exchanged a look with Casey. Eight days prior, Bryce had begun spiking Sarah’s food and drink with a sedative, to bring her down the angry high she’d been on since they left Persephone. She’d been much more pleasant since then. Everybody onboard Enterprise had been far happier.
“Enterprise, this is Madrassa control. Please land on runway 74 right and taxi to the VIP terminal.”
“VIP terminal, huh?” said Captain Tweedum. “Turns out that you NSA folks get a good reception no matter when you are!”
“Yeah, well, it’s kind of preventing us from keeping a low profile, you know?” Casey said irritably.
As Enterprise taxied to the VIP terminal, they could see out the window that a decent number of people had gathered to greet them, and…
“Is that a red carpet?” Bryce asked in shock.
As the stairway was rolled up to the side of Enterprise, Casey took a moment to open the door to the cell in the cargo bay. “You doin’ alright in there, Fulcrum Man?” he asked with a caustic glee.
“The name’s Mullins, you fucking prick,” he spat. “And no! You’re totally violating every part of the Geneva Convention here!”
“Too bad you’re not an enemy combatant,” Casey laughed. “You’re a traitor!”
Casey slammed the door in Mullins’ face and joined the rest of the crew going down the stairway.
Eavesdown Docks
As Chuck was about to drive the Herder down the cargo ramp and out into the city, River came running up to the car. “Chuck!” she yelled. “Chuck! Hold on!”
Chuck brought the Toyota to a stop and rolled down the window. “River? What’s up?”
“Your communicator,” she said, handing him his iPhone.
“It doesn’t work,” Chuck said, confused.
“Are you sure?” River asked, a smile on her face.
“I don’t understand.”
Just then, Chuck’s phone rang. “What the hell?”
He pressed the “talk” button and put it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Chuck, this is Captain Reynolds,” he heard. “Just wanted to make sure you had a working communicator.”
“Yes, sir, thank you,” Chuck replied. He hung up the phone. “How…”
“I modified the firmware,” River said, pleased with herself. “It’d still work on your ‘AT&T’ network, too, whatever that is.”
“See,” Chuck said, “I knew you knew how to work with things like this.” He gave her a smile, waved the phone at her, and smiled. Rolling up the window, he accelerated down the ramp and into the city. Turning to Kaylee, he said, “Betcha Steve Jobs never thought that was possible.”
“Steve Jobs?” Kaylee replied. “As in Steve Jobs, the legendary founder of the Apple Computer company?”
“I beg your pardon?” Chuck said. “You know who Steve Jobs is?”
“Are you kidding?” Kaylee replied. “No Steve Jobs, no Apple. No Apple, no Blue Sun. No corporate support from Blue Sun, and the United States and China never woulda been able to form the Alliance.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Chuck said, swerving to avoid a meandering donkey. “You should see what this thing can do.”
He pulled out the stereo’s spooled iPod dock cord and plugged it into the bottom of the iPhone. “Go through here, pick out a song. It operates by touch.”
Kaylee looked at it, fascinated. “It’s hard to believe this thing is 500 year-old technology,” she said incredulously. “This is technology like what we got now!”
She scrolled through the music selection. “Who were the Bee Attles?”
“The who?” Chuck replied. “Wait – you mean the Beatles?”
“Spelled B-E-A-T-L-E-S?” Kaylee asked.
“Yeah, that’s right. I can’t believe you never heard of the Beatles! I mean, they were one of the most influential bands in the history of music!”
“You remember how I told you the United States government outlawed holidays?” Kaylee said. “Well, they kind of outlawed a bunch of music too. Believe me, it made a fierce comeback about twenty years later, but you have to search high and low to find anything that was written before about 2200.”
“That sucks,” Chuck said. “Seriously, though, the Beatles were great. Pick a song of theirs.”
“Hmmm,” Kaylee said, scrolling through the playlist. “This song looks strangely appropriate.”
She tapped the iPhone with a nail, starting the song. John Lennon’s voice poured into the car. “Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe.”
“Across the Universe?” Chuck said. “Good song. Very good song. They actually made a movie based on the song. It’s kinda trippy, but it- hey!”
Chuck swerved to the side of the road and brought the Herder to a stop. “What’s going on?” Kaylee asked.
Chuck just pointed. Earth-That-Was Antiques, the sign on the store window said.
“Come on!” said Chuck, hopping out of the Herder. Kaylee followed, and Chuck hit the remote button to lock the doors.
Companion House Madrassa, Sihnon
“Mr. Larkin, Mr. Casey, Ms. Walker, sorry to keep you waiting,” the woman said, walking into the room. “My name is Aimee Kuruppa. I am the director of this Companion House. I understand you’re inquiring about a Companion?”
“That’s correct,” Sarah said. “We’re looking for a companion, first name of Inara. We don’t know her last name, just that it starts with a-“
“Inara Serra,” Director Kuruppa said immediately. “One of my best pupils. May I ask why exactly the National Security Agency is looking for her?”
“Director, it’s our understanding that she may be in possession of something that might lead us to another agent who has been abducted,” Bryce replied. “She’s not in any trouble or anything… we just want to ask her a few questions.”
“Well, Inara rents a shuttle from a transport called Serenity,” the Director said. “The last place she checked in was… Persephone.”
“Persephone?” Sarah asked. Color began to rise in her face. “Persephone?!”
Sarah rose to her feet and began to stalk. “PERGODDAMNSEPHONE?!?!”
She stormed out of the room, leaving Bryce and Casey behind. “I’m sorry, Director,” Bryce said. “We just came from Persephone, and it took two weeks to get here. She had cabin fever… and, well, PMS.”
Director Kuruppa raised an eyebrow. “I’ve always found men to be rather poor judges of that.”
She looked from Bryce to Casey and back again. “As much as you might hate to make the two week trip back to Persephone, that’s your best bet to findSerenity, and therefore, Inara. The ship doesn’t have a home port, but her captain seems to have an affinity for the planet.”
Pausing, she turned her back to them, approached a cabinet and opened it. Removing a glass vial, she returned to Casey and handed it to him. “Tell me, has Ms. Walker been traveling with only men?”
“Four of us,” Casey replied.
“Her body is overproducing estrogen to compensate,” Director Kuruppa said. “This drug will cause her body to go back to producing normal amounts. She will probably be a calmer individual than what you have been experiencing lately.”
“How often do we have to dose her?” Bryce asked.
“Just once,” the Director replied. “Load the entire vial into a syringe, and shoot her up. She’ll be fine for the next month.”
Earth-That-Was Antiques, Persephone
“This is great!” Chuck laughed, as he played a Lady Pac-Man machine. “I can’t believe this thing is still intact!”
“I love stuff like this,” Kaylee said, showing Chuck an old boom box.
“A Sony boom box!” Chuck shouted. “I had one of those things… uh...”
He lowered his voice multiple decibels. “I had one of those when I was a kid,” he whispered to Kaylee. “I thought I was soooo cool.”
“Hey, look at this,” Kaylee said, crossing to the music section. Chuck followed her to what looked like a file of secure digital memory sticks.
“Those are labeled the Beatles,” Chuck said. “I don’t believe it! That’s the Beatles right there! But I can’t read the Chinese – what does it say?”
“That one says ‘The White Album’, and that one says ‘Let It Be’,” Kaylee replied.
“Oh, those are two great albums,” Chuck said, almost reverently. “You gotta buy those.”
“I don’t really have much money,” Kaylee said sadly. “Otherwise…”
Chuck thought for a moment. He dashed outside to the Herder and was back inside of a minute.
Going to the counter, he plunked its Garmin GPS unit down in front of the cashier. “How much for this?” he asked.
The cashier picked it up. “My God,” he said. “A genuine Global Positioning System unit. And in perfect condition! Where could you have possibly come by something like this?”
“It’s a family heirloom,” Chuck said. The cashier gave him a look. “Not a big fan of certain members of my family.”
“I’ll give you… I’ll give you 1,000 credits for it,” the cashier said. Behind him, Chuck heard Kaylee breathe, “Gorram, that’s… wow.”
“Okay,” Chuck said. “I’ll do it.”
Ten minutes later, the cupholder of the Herder was 962 credits heavier. Chuck had bought the two Beatles albums as well as a copy of the movie Across the Universe for Kaylee. “These look… these look just like Secure Digital Memory sticks,” Chuck said, examining them closely.
Kaylee gave him a look. “That’s actually… that’s exactly what they are.”
“But that’s crazy!” Chuck exclaimed. “This is twentieth century technology!”
“Hey, if something works well, why change it?” Kaylee said. “Serenity is practically an antique, but she’s a sturdy old girl.”
“You have something that can read these onboard?” Chuck asked.
“Of course,” Kaylee replied. “I have all kinds of music – Beethoven, Mozart, Bach – old Earth classics. I have some movies, too, but they're all twenty-fourth century or later.”
“Do you think there’s a spare reader?” Chuck asked. “If there is, I can wire it into the car’s stereo.”
“You’d do that just for me?” Kaylee asked with a little smile.
“Well, I guess it’d be technically for me, since it’s my car… but yeah, I guess it would be for you, too,” Chuck said, smiling back.
“That’d be nice,” she said softly. Leaning over, she kissed Chuck. She kissed him for a while, actually. It wasn't an intense kiss... but it was the kind of kiss that communicates every emotion a person has, leaving the totally vulnerable to the other. The kind that one never wants to end. Chuck gently placed his hand behind her neck and pulled her in closer.
When Kaylee finished, she pulled her head back, and stared into his eyes. “Chuck Bartowski… I know I've only known you for three weeks... but I do believe I’m falling in love.”
Madrassa Spaceport, Sihnon
“HOW THE HELL CAN WE POSSIBLY NEED TO GO BACK TO PERSEPHONE?!” Sarah screamed. “WE JUST SPENT TWO WEEKS FLYING HERE FROM –“
“Oh, Jesus, shut up,” Bryce said as he walked past Sarah. He jabbed the syringe into her thigh and pushed down the plunger, dumping the estrogen reducer into her blood.
“What the hell was… oh, I feel… hmmm…”
Casey caught Sarah as she collapsed to the ground. “We should’ve done this a long time ago,” he said.
As Enterprise took off from the Madrassa Spaceport, Mullins, locked back in holding cell, smiled evilly. The Fulcrum man had succeeded in working loose a sharp piece of plastic. Just a matter of time, now…
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