Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
CHAPTER THREE
Simon had begun to divide the days into good days and bad days. Good days were becoming more and more frequent since the fiasco on Miranda, when his sister had finally broken through and killed seemingly hundreds of Union soldiers in one go. Days, and sometimes weeks, passed and you'd never know River was different from your average eighteen year old. She hung out with Kaylee, and he knew she'd spent several hours in Inara's shuttle for some time away from him, something which he found to be good for her.
But since the new passengers had arrived, the days were nothing but bad. She'd resorted to sitting cross-legged in the cabin hold, chanting "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" or singing "Ring Around The Rosey" quietly to herself, sometimes in English, and sometimes in Chinese.
Something was different with one of the passengers, and whoever it was was disturbing his sister. He'd been determined to find out which one it was. It wasn't until he witnessed how different she behaved around Jack.
When she sat in the same room as the other passengers, she seemed calm and collected. But when she sat next to Jack, she always seemed preoccupied with something she called the Bad Wolf.
He found Mal checking on some cargo in the hold early one morning. "I need to talk to you."
"Good mornin' to you, too," he said sarcastically.
"I'm not in the mood for jokes."
"Doesn't surprise me at all." Mal smiled at Simon, something he found to be maddening.
"Anyway. I think you've got someone dangerous on board. Don't you notice how every time River's in the same room with Jack she goes a bit nutty?"
"Don't you ever notice how any time your sister is in a room with anyone she goes a bit nutty?" He turned around to face Simon for the first time during the course of the conversation.
He sighed. "Especially nutty. Like she keeps singing nursery rhymes that have to do with dying." "Which one? Ring Around The Rosey is my favorite."
He wanted to punch Captain Reynolds, but he usually always did, so he kept the urge to himself. "You'll see. Jack is trouble. And I think you're going to regret having him on board." He tried to put as much venom in his words as possible.
From the expression on Mal's face, it looked as if the captain was trying very hard not to punch him, too.
They landed on Persephone safely, although it wasn't the smoothest landing Jack had ever experienced. He thought he'd heard a rumor about another part of the ship breaking on them and that they should strap themselves in. His gang was understandably worried that they'd die, but Mal's crew seemed used to it. Even so, Kaylee said she'd go see what she could about getting a new part for the engine room with her pocket money. As they dispersed around the planet, Jack followed Mal into the bar.
The bar was tiny, and very few people were inside. Two men wearing brown shirts were sitting in a corner, playing Chinese checkers. A small table was occupied by a man sitting by himself and reading a newspaper in Chinese. And a pool table had been set up in the corner, although no one was playing.
As Jack found a table by himself and tried to figure out what to order, he saw Mal walk up to the bartender and lean across the counter. He noticed the bartender was wearing a similar shirt to Mal's and wondered if there was some kind of significance to the color brown. Everyone seemed to be wearing it.
And then, the girl from the screen entered. She looked around for a moment, saw Mal, and nodded her head slightly in acknowledgement. Then she fished a cigarette out of her purse and walked over to the bar.
Louis Malley was well known in the 'verse for providing safe haven for Browncoats like Mal. The Union didn't like that Louis, an Independent himself, kept a bar and was allowed to keep it open, but he let Union members in. Some of the soldiers liked that he not only kept the bar open on Unification holidays, but also gave soldiers the occasional free drink.
Mal had considered Louis' actions to be a betrayal. After all, he was forced to find jobs wherever he could, why was Louis so special? But Louis had explained to him why he kept it open. "I keep my bar open 'cause I've got a wife and kids now. I ain't just playin' at war now like when we were kids. I got five mouths to feed, and I'm gonna keep this bar open to whoever'll pay me for my beer."
Talitia slid into a chair next to Mal then, smoking a gorram cigarette in his direction. "Again, I apologize for my behavior five days ago. And who is that handsome man I saw in the background during our little teleconferencing session?"
"Passenger." He didn't feel much like talking to her.
"Come on, Mal. No need to be shy. You can tell me."
"Apparently I can't." He turned his head to face her, and the girl was smirking.
"Listen, my hands are tied with UNIT. I've got Edward Lozen breathing down my neck. The money was going to be there, I swear. But when the General gives an order, you've got to obey it, you know. It was his decision to pull out, not me."
"You coulda said somethin', is my problem."
"Look --"
"You put me and my crew in danger, and you know I look down on that. So what you're gonna do, is get out of my sight and we're gonna put this whole thing behind us."
Talitia seemed to know when she was beaten. "The money was good."
"Speakin' of money, when am I going to get mine?"
"Oh, that." She reached into a large bag and pulled out a smaller bag, then handed it to him.
He made a big show of opening the bag and checking out what was inside. All the gold was there, just as she'd promised. "See, was that so hard?"
"The money was really good, Mal."
He frowned at her, and she slunk off as Mal went to join the men playing Chinese checkers in the corner.
Talitia then slipped into the chair across from Jack. "It's you I saw on the screen last night, wasn't it?"
"Guilty. Jack Harkness. And who are you?"
"Talitia Johnson. How did you get swept up with Malcolm Reynolds?" Jack noticed her hands shook as she fished around in her purse for a second cigarette. She seemed unnerved about something.
"I got lost and I need to find my way home."
"Wait a moment." She frowned and tilted her head to the side. "You were at UNIT headquarters the other day, weren't you? You don't by any chance work for Torchwood?"
He stared at her in surprise, unsure of what to say next.
She laughed at his surprise, and then put her cigarette out in the ash tray. "I have my ways, Jack Harkness. Look. I know that not only are you lost in this godforsaken 'verse, you're lost in time. That's a pretty dangerous scenario you've found yourself in. And it's not like anyone here is going to be able to help you."
"I think I can manage," he said, sitting back on his chair. If Malcolm Reynolds had been duped by this woman, there was nothing to say she wouldn't turn around and do the same to him.
"You can't. Because, you see --" she leaned towards him so that she could speak to him in a whisper, "--we've got a time machine at UNIT now. These guys don't know how to travel in time, they only fly in the terraformed planets out here." She pointed at Mal, who was now joined by Jayne and Zoe. "You want to get out of here, UNIT's the key."
Jack had never trusted UNIT all that much, but so far she was his only lead. "What are you suggesting? Can I just get on a UNIT ship and go home?"
"Only if you can do something for me first."
"Doesn't seem fair, to have you offer me a ride home and then make me work for it."
"You'll find that's how it works out here," she said. "You do something for me, I do something for you."
"Odd world you're living in. Back on Earth it's considered polite to offer things unconditionally once in awhile."
Talitia laughed and smooshed her second cigarette into an ash tray. They watched the thin line of smoke swirl up into the sky before disappearing completely. "If you can bring Malcolm Reynolds into UNIT so his arrest can be a UNIT coup-d'état, I will help you home."
"Why don't you arrest him now? He's sitting right here," Jack said, heart pounding fast. He wasn't sure how it all worked in this bizarre universe, but back home it was incredibly rude to betray someone who had offered you a ride.
"Neutral territory," she said. "Otherwise I would. But this whole part of Persephone is neutral to both Independents and those who supported the Alliance. Plus, even if it wasn't, it's going to take a whole army of men to bring Malcolm Reynolds down. You haven't heard the stories, have you?"
Jack shook his head.
"He was once tortured half to death, had his ear cut off, and lived to tell the tale. Rumor has it, he died for five whole minutes so they could bring him back to life just to torture him again. Also, he can outdraw just about anyone. And then there's this." She pulled out a Wanted poster. "He attempted the murder of an Operative. I mean, the man just doesn't know when to quit."
"Yeah, but there's got to be another --"
She leaned forward and whispered, "I read old Torchwood documents and I've heard you don't die."
"If, hypothetically, I do betray Malcolm Reynolds, the one person who's offered me hospitality out here in this world, will you also help my crew?"
"There are others with you?"
"Yes."
"Jack Harkness, if you can manage to bring Malcolm Reynolds down, UNIT will give you whatever you want. And I'm sure the Alliance will do the same."
Talitia tore apart because Mal was coming over to their table. He glared at her one last time and then said, "All right, get out of here. Jack and I are on our way now."
Talitia raised her eyebrows as if to say, Think about it?
Jack went out of his way to avoid returning her gaze. The problem with all of this was it was a tempting offer.
When Mal walked out of the bar, he found River squatting bare foot on a mound of sand, letting it sift through her fingers. She looked up at him. "The big bad wolf took it all away."
"What are you talkin' about now?"
"The bad wolf. Came and everything vanished. Except for one." The last of the sand sifted from her fingers and she clutched her head, groaning. "It's all wrong! It shouldn't be! It can't be, it's broken!"
Mal was used to River's ranting. She'd done it a lot more when she'd first arrived on the ship. But he had rarely seen her so anguished. This ranked right up to the night they'd ended up on Miranda. He shook the thought from his mind. Miranda was not a time he had much fond memories of. "Uh, let's go find your brother, shall we?"
"He can't help. The bad wolf is too powerful. It'll get him, too."
Mal frowned and shifted uncomfortably. His usual method of dealing with her was to let Simon deal with her, but without him there, he was at a loss. Much to his relief, she stood after a moment and started to walk back to the ship with him. Just as they started to go up the plank leading to the ship, River stopped short and moaned. "I can't go in there! It's too powerful, the force of it. We can't fight the big bad wolf."
Simon came up to them just then, looking bemused at his sister sitting in the sand.
"Simon, take care of your sister. She's havin' a crazy spell again," Mal said, and turned to go back into his ship. "Take off in ten."
"Okay, here's what we're doing," Jack said later that night, after the group had gathered back into the ship. It had become clear that they weren't going to find a way out on their own. They'd need to stay on Serenity just a little bit longer, just spending enough time to get back to New London. Mal and his crew had given them some privacy, so they were sitting in the common area of Serenity together. "We're going to break into UNIT."
"Why?" Mickey asked.
"Ever since I started being a cop I've been a criminal pretty much," Gwen said. "There's irony for you."
"Right." He explained what had happened to him in the pub. "Okay, Martha. You look worried about something. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. It's just - well, it's not going to happen, so don't worry about it." She still looked uncomfortable, but he didn't press her to tell him. After a moment, though, Martha began to look like her normal self.
Gwen and Martha, who were sitting next to each other on one of the couches, looked up as Jack heard soft footsteps behind him. It was Inara, whom he hadn't seen since their first night.
"Hope I'm not disturbing anything," she said, smiling calmly. "I was just on my way to find something in the kitchen to eat. Anyone wish to join me?"
"I'm starving," Ianto said. The others looked to Jack to see if their meeting was over. When they were satisfied that it was, they began to file out in their separate directions. Martha and Ianto followed Inara into the kitchen, and Jack sat alone in one of the couches, overwhelmed with his own thoughts.
Yes, this had to be the right thing to do. If there was a way to get home without betraying Mal's confidence, Jack wanted to try it. He might have been a con-man, but he had morals and a conscience. You just didn't betray the only person who had offered to help you find a way home.
Inara began to fix herself some tea, and offered some to Martha and Ianto. "Do you take sugar?"
"And milk," Ianto said.
She slipped into one of the chairs and said, "So, what do you think of Serenity?"
"I like it so far," Martha said. "I've done quite a bit of, er, space travel, and I must say, it's a beautiful ship."
Inara smiled. "I believe there are several people on board who would agree with you on that, myself included. Do you feel homesick at all?"
Ianto shook his head. "We're used to doing mental things like this. Trust me, as rough as this is, I've seen rougher days."
She raised an eyebrow and said, "Really? I can't imagine being on board with us is a picnic for anyone. I know the captain can be... rough."
"Yeah, we noticed."
"But he's a very good man," she continued. "People don't realize that because he's so... so..." She never finished her sentence.
Martha noticed how eager she was to jump to his defense. She concentrated on drinking her tea and tried to forget how she'd done the same thing for the Doctor so many years before.
"You need to trust him. I know it's hard when you don't know how to get home. But please, try to trust him a little," Inara finished.
Martha didn't think Ianto noticed the sadness in Inara's eyes.
The sky stretched out like infinity in front of them. This is the part that Mal liked best, putting Serenity into autopilot and watching the stars float past them. When you were planet-bound you forgot how vast space was. And this was a reminder of how tiny they really were. River had calmed down quite a bit. Mal didn't know how Simon did it, but she seemed to be doing much better. She was almost cheerful.
River didn't talk much, which suited him well. She turned out to be a calm and precise co-pilot, always muttering mathematical equations in her head that were way beyond him. Yep, his genius co-pilot.
"There's something different about Jack," she said calmly.
The sudden noise startled Mal. "That's quite a different tone than you had last night."
She ignored him, continuing her line of thought. "He doesn't work right. The rules state: Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. But that can never happen. Not for him."
He had no idea what she was getting at, and he knew she wasn't likely to elaborate. Instead, she folded her arms and slunk in her chair. "He can never follow the rules. He wants to, but he can't."
"Is it possible for you to, you know, not speak in riddles?"
River frowned, as if trying to figure out how to answer his question. Finally she said, "No. Because I don't know the answer myself."
"Oh, I think you do. Somehow I think you already know."
"How can someone understand infinity?" she asked. "Only the bad wolf knows."
He just stared at her. After a moment, she closed her eyes and rested her head against the headrest. Mal knew their conversation was over, and he couldn't say that he was sorry.
A few weeks later, Jack sat alone on one of the couches. His crew had all headed to bed since then, leaving him alone with his own thoughts. They'd been flying for weeks, seemingly aimlessly. It was as if Mal had no idea what he was doing. How were they going to get home? Getting on Talitia's good side was becoming more and more appealing to him. Although he wouldn't necessarily bet on UNIT being able to send them back to Cardiff, she was his best bet so far.
River slid into the room, hair looking stringy around her face. Goosebumps shot up his neck.
"You're wired wrong," she stated simply, pointing at him like something out of a horror movie.
"What are you talking about?"
"You don't die. You want to, but you won't ever, no matter how hard you try."
He had no idea how to respond to this. How did she know so much about him? It was a secret Jack tried to keep to himself as much as possible.
"Is this yours?" she continued, pulling a box out of her pocket. It looked a lot like the box he had found in his desk drawer so many weeks before. "I can't make it work. Maybe you can." She held it out to him.
With trembling fingers, Jack took the box and opened it. Nothing happened, although it felt warm in his hand.
"I found it at a fair. A man gave it to me. It was so pretty but I couldn't make it work." She frowned. "Do you think the bad wolf knows how to make it work?"
"How did you know about the bad wolf?"
River tilted her head to the side. "I don't know. I know a lot of things, and they're all mixed up in my head. But the bad wolf might be keeping you from going home. It's like that story from Earth-That-Was. Red Riding Hood wanted to go home, but he ate her and her grandmother. And then she couldn't go home."
"Right. I've got to, er --" He never finished his sentence. Jack felt like it was best to return to his quarters.
As he turned his back, River called, "Well, that theory didn't make much sense, did it?"