Chapter 4 – Friction
Lower Heartleaf was one of the busiest trading centers in this orbit. You could find nearly anything you could here, as if it were all one big commercial free-for-all. From the street vendors peddling everything from jewelery they’d made from scraps of metal and fabric, to knock-off watches and sensors, to the legitimate traders and breakers. All at fine prices; so long you didn’t ask too many questions, you could get what you needed for less than wholesale.
Kaylee’s eyes were wide, but focused as she went through the melange of items. Her stake from hocking goods with Mueller hadn’t provided her with much graft, but it could keep them going.
Simon walked behind her, keeping close. It was a smart move, which allowed them Kaylee smiled slightly, knowing that part of it was because they were now closer.
So why then, was she so annoyed with him? Why were they both now, having found a degree of solace with each other, so miserable?
It was like Pa had always maintained: “Having something isn’t quite so good a thing as wanting it.” Kaylee always thought this was more an excuse, a reason for him to stay poor and never aspire for anything more. Now, that she was older, and presumably wiser, it seemed to be coming true. The verse wasn’t quite so black and white as she once believed.
For nearly a year, Simon and she had danced around their feelings for each other. She’d been smitten with him from the get-go, whereas he had to be coerced, convinced, and have everything spelled out for him when it came to their relationship. His defense was saying “Men aren’t so bright when it comes to the subject of women.”
When he said this, River had been coming out of the ship’s mess, and she called him a boob through a mouthful of noodles.
They were happy enough, but there were gaps in the way they reacted to each other. Gaps that simply didn’t show when two people truly mesh together. That was even before the hard times, before they had lost friends for good.
The hard go the entire crew of Serenity didn’t spare Simon and Kaylee. The hunger pangs, the long hours spent fixing both the ship and her crew, and the fraying of nerves that happen when people live in such close quarters for so long, it all added up.
Kaylee hated how he would leave his socks about. Simon complained that she hogged all the covers in bed on purpose because his side of the bed was next to the bulkhead. She slurped her soup, he managed to find excuses not to do the dishes. She was disorganised, he was a control freak.
The arguments came more frequently, and the accusations cut deeper. It went far beyond the gentle chiding into borderline hurtful statements. Whether it came from the stress of the Serenity lifestyle, claustrophobia of prolonged space travel, or just plain stir-craziness, it was starting to erode this already shaky foundation upon which they were established.
Kaylee sighed. You never saw Zoe and Wash fight like this, no matter how bad things got.
“Is this it?”
Simon’s question shook Kaylee out of her headspace and into the real world. They had made it to the Picker’s Bazaar, a sprawl of engine parts and doodads that people had either remarketed or fixed and sold.
Kaylee gave her head a shake. She came here to deal, and to get Serenity shipshape. She’d cobbled together a list, and her own meager monies that Ma and Pa back home had grub-staked her for that very purpose.
“Sure’n is.” Kaylee said, checking over her bag. “Here.” She motioned towards the bazaar and took the lead. She tried not to let her annoyance show.
One of the biggest reasons why there was so much friction between them, it occurred to Kaylee, was the fact that they were so diametrically opposed in their obsessions. While Simon was more than proficient at operating, stitching, diagnosing, treating, and curing than she, it required him to be wholly immersed in it. With that vast bank of knowledge, there was hardly any room for little Kaylee from the other end of the ‘verse.
And yet, he was all thumbs when it came to matters of mechanical ingenuity. That was her province, and she knew it well. She removed her list, getting down to business.
Kaylee weaved and bobbed through the crowd, Simon barely able to keep up. Poor thing was still almost hopeless when it came to less refined places like this.
“Wouldn’t it be easier,” He said when he finally caught up. “To split up? Divide and conquer, that kind of thing?”
“I suppose.” Kaylee admitted. “Here, get us these here, in the green.” She gave him the list.
Simon blinked as if it had been written in ancient Aramic. His eyes were glassy and unfocused. “OK, how do I tell which is which?”
“You look at ‘em.” It wasn’t really that hard.
“Okay,” Simon said, slowly. He didn’t inspire confidence. “So this needs to be... within 22-dash-14--”
“No, no.” Kaylee cut him off. “You just say the numbers. When I do it, I never say ‘dash’.”
“Well, I don’t know how YOU do it,” Simon huffed, getting as frustrated as she. “You make this look easy.”
“That’s ‘cause it ain’t that hard.” Kaylee sighed. “Never mind, I’ll do it myself.”
“Well, I can still--”
“Don’t worry about it.” She interrupted, already in a foul mood. “Just wait by the mule until it’s time to load up.”
“I’d just as soon you didn’t.” A gruff, unfamiliar voice came from the crowd.
A massive bulk of muscle and body armour stood in Kaylee’s road. “You two being in the same place simplifies our matters.”
Kaylee gasped at the same time two other similarly armed and armoured men flanked Simon from behind.
She asked the obvious question.
“I’m just a messenger.” The man responded with his best poker face. “Both of you, this way please.” He gestured towards the back of the bazaar with his left hand. The right was on the iron at his hip.
There were too many of them, they were better armed, and presumably better connected than they were. Kaylee slung her bag over her shoulder and walked in the direction she was asked to.
“What are we doing?” Simon asked, falling in behind her.
“Makin’ sure we don’t get shot.” Kaylee was incredulous that he even had to ask. It was pretty straightforward.
A motorized wagon awaited them at the mouth of the bazaar. The door hissed open, and they all piled in. Kaylee marvelled at the leather seats and general condition of it, considering that it was an outdated model. It even rode smooth, almost like new.
Since she signed on with the crew of Serenity, Kaylee had long since learned when to ask questions and when to keep quiet. Simon, however, was a somewhat slower study.
“Where are you taking us?”
“Wait and see.” Came the response from the lead merc.
“What do you want of us?”
“That’s up to the boss.”
“What does he want?”
The merc now looked annoyed. “I didn’t ask. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Well, I don’t think that it’s unreasonable to--”
“Simon!” Kaylee hissed, swatting his arm.
“I’m just trying to--”
“Well, don’t! You’re gonna annoy them, and then they’re gonna get tetchy. So do you mind?”
“I DO mind, actually.” Simon now rounded on her. “I have been captured before, you realize?”
“And you’re still arguing with them? What is wrong with you?”
The wagon lurched to a halt. The lead merc turned to the bickering couple.
“Are we interrupting something?” He asked, the faintest hint of a jocular smile adorning his grizzled features.
It took them both a moment to deny it.
“Fine.” The merc said. “Drive on.”
The rest of the trip passed without so much as a sound. When they next stopped, the door opened. The merc gestured for them to leave.
They proceeded from the wagon into a nondescript building. Inside, it was one of the nicer bar setups Kaylee had ever seen. A dull throb of bass resounded as the denizens mingled.
The mercs led them through to the back. The old familiar faces from Serenity were waiting for them, with the inclusion of mercenaries standing guard. A massive wall of a man made up the rear guard, the kind that could more than match Jayne.
Simon’s first reflex was to step forward. River sat with Jayne, eating sushi with a fork.
“Jayne, they got you too?” Kaylee asked.
“What do you mean, got me?” Jayne asked, nursing a drink. “I was invited.”
Mal huffed, flexing his right hand. The contusions alluded to the fact he had been fighting earlier.
“Is this all?” Another man, with yellow eyes and an electric kind of look asked.
“That’s it.” The merc said, leaning up against the wall.
The electric man stood. “Well.” He announced, a large smile adorning his face. “The crew of the Serenity. Welcome, to the next chapter of your lives.”
Just in time for Unification Day:
Chapter 1- https://steemit.com/writing/@elias-jaxon/taking-back-the-sky-a-firefly-continuation-chapter-1-approach-vector
Chapter 2 - https://steemit.com/writing/@elias-jaxon/taking-back-the-sky-a-firefly-continuation-chapter-2-damaged-goods
Chapter 3- https://steemit.com/writing/@elias-jaxon/taking-back-the-sky-a-firefly-continuation-chapter-3-talk-less-smile-more
