“What is it?”
“Serenity has been found, landed, about twenty miles out of town.”
“Get me security.”
“They’re waiting, Filo. I’ll switch you over now.”
“Security here. This is—”
“You have a lock on Serenity?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good work. Send a Catfish. No messing around. Leave a crater there.”
“Yes, sir. We’re on it.”
He started to switch off, but suddenly, for no reason he was conscious of, he said, “Wait. How’d the break happen?”
“Sir?”
“How did you find her?”
“She started transmitting an ident beacon.”
He looked out at his duck pond. An ident beacon? Suddenly started transmitting an ident beacon? Why in the gorram hell would they do that? “Hold a moment,” he said.
“Yes, sir.”
His mind worked quickly. “Okay, dispatch the Catfish, but scan them first. If there is no one aboard, then hold off on attacking and get hold of me. Repeat your orders.”
The other did so, without flaw.
“Okay, move,” said Sakarya.
He didn’t know what was happening, but he was pretty sure that whatever it was would happen soon.
He glanced at the clock: it was 13:28.
She felt the shuttle level out, and from what she could tell, they were about eighty or ninety meters off the deck. She wasn’t worried about it; if something was going to go wrong (and something was almost sure to go wrong) it wouldn’t be with the flying. She had seen the route they planned to take, curving around a twisting terrain to stay off radar, and she never for a moment doubted that, just about ten minutes from now, they’d arrive amid crashing and splintering of wood, and they’d arrive intact.
It was the part after that she worried about, and she worried about it on several levels. The Captain had something in mind. The fed had something in mind. And she had the uncomfortable feeling that her husband had something in mind, or, at least, that there was something he knew that he wasn’t talking about.
Yes, she was worried. But she was also very much aware that, at this moment, there was nothing she could do about that worry; nothing at all until the next stage of the operation began.
And when that happened, in addition to everything else, she intended to keep a close eye on that fed.
The shuttle made a soft, gentle turn and a smooth rise.
No, she didn’t know what was going on with her man, but he could certainly fly. Yes, indeed, he could fly.
She leaned over a little so she could read the clock around his left arm. It was 13:32.
He sat with his sister in the dining room, trying to be patient. It became harder after she suddenly said, “They’re here.”
“Who?” he asked, not entirely sure he wanted an answer. Instead of answer, however, River stood up.
“Let’s go,” she said.
“Where?”
Kaylee’s voice came over the intercom. “Simon! River! Into shuttle one, now!”
Simon stared at his sister for just a moment. She smiled back and led the way toward the shuttle.
Kaylee was already there. He said, “What are we—”
Kaylee started to answer, but River said, “Not now, Simon. There isn’t any time.”
“All right,” said Simon, wishing he had at least some vague idea of what was happening.
River at once sat down in the pilot’s seat. “Strap yourselves in,” she said, as she went through the warm up sequence. “We’re off in five.”
“Is that five minutes, or five seconds?” asked Simon.
“Boob,” said River, and Simon felt like he’d been kicked as the shuttle leaped from its berth.
It was 13:36.
Analee patched security through without announcing it. “Sir, this is Unit One, and we’re at the site. Scan complete, no sign of life. Both shuttles have been launched.”
“Hold your fire and check the area. Any sign of either shuttle?”
“Vapor signs consistent with short-range shuttles.”
“Can you fix direction?”
“That’s affirmative, sir. Opposite directions, one directly toward town, the other directly away.”
“Follow the one heading toward town. Overtake and destroy it.”
“Yes—there’s a problem, sir.”
Something inside him twisted and sank; he’d had that feeling before, and the memory came back strong. “There’s a problem,” he’d been told, followed by word that the artillery support wasn’t coming through. “What is the problem, Unit One?”
“We’re being ordered to ground and be boarded.”
Old habits came back, and heard himself sounding completely calm as he said, “Ordered by whom?”
“They identify themselves as Special Deputies of the Anglo Sino Alliance, sir. We’ve been given one minute to comply.”
“What is the situation?”
“They’re in some sort of short-range vehicle.”
“Do you see any armament?”
“No, sir. Nothing visible.”
“Anything else in the vicinity?”
There was a brief pause, then, “No, sir. Clear sky, no sign of anything on the ground.”
“Unit One, attack. Blow them out of the sky.”
“Yes, sir. Engaging.”
He counted to ten, then said, “Report.” A moment later, he said, “Unit One?”
He muttered a curse and said, “Security, are you still there? What are you picking up?”
Nothing.
“Security, report on the status of unit one.”
After five seconds he let out a slow breath. “Okay,” he said aloud. “This can’t be good.”
The clock on his desk said 13:41.
River set the shuttle down, gently as a feather. As far as Simon could guess, they were a mile or two from Serenity.
“What’s happening?” he said.
River said, “They blew up the security ship that was sent to bomb us.”
“They…” He looked at Kaylee, and discovered that he was holding her hand. He wasn’t sure when or how that had happened, but her hand felt cool and good in his. She was looking at him.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m scared.”
She needn’t have told him that last; he could see it. He tried to think of something to say to reassure her, but couldn’t think of anything that didn’t just sound stupid. He squeezed her hand.
“River,” said Simon. “Who blew up what security ship?”
“Two by two, hands of blue.”
“River—”
“But they aren’t coming for us. They’re flying away. We can go back to the ship now.”
“Are you sure?”
River sent him a withering glance over her shoulder.
“I wish,” said Simon, “that I had some idea—”
“It was his idea,” said Kaylee, as she unstrapped herself, released his hand, and stood up. “The Alliance agent. And Wash’s. They worked it out together.”
“Worked what out?”
Kaylee leaned over River and pressed a button on the console.
“What was that?” Simon heard an edge of panic in his voice.
“The recall,” said Kaylee. “Now we can return to the ship.”
“But—”
“Strap in,” said River.
It was 13:42.