Matthew Mitchell Reynolds This story and all themes and ideas contained in said story are the sole ownership of J.L. Scott. Any copyright infringements can be prosecuted in a court of law.

To borrow a phrase: Firefly no mine...no money, no sue, please?

Serenity swooped over the open plain like some sort of majestic bird, her tail wind making the long grasses wave like so many over enthused fans at a rock concert. The sky above was crystal, with a high ball of burning gases providing a scorching heat and eye squinting brightness over what seemed to be a calm little planet in the middle of nowhere.
The great metal bird lowered cautiously to the ground, careful to find her footing before putting her weight down. She slowly opened herself up and unleashed unto this unsuspecting planet the greatest force she knew of: Capt. Malcolm Renyolds and Crew.
“Whew!” Mal exclaimed as he sauntered down the ramp and onto the dusty ground, “Hot enough to fry an egg out here”
“The settlement’s that way, sir” Zoë said, nodding sort of left and straight forward.
“Right. Jayne?” Mal called. Jayne emerged from the dark cargo bay, his tall, broad form menacingly outlined by the shadows. In his left hand he clutched a worn, leather travel bag, while his right hand rested on his gun. He would have provided an intimidating image, if anyone other than his crewmates had been there. As it was, his ambience of dark, brutal mystery was shattered as a smiling Kaylee and Wash followed him out of the ship.
“We won’t be long” Mal told them.
“Don’t worry, Cap’n” Kaylee replied in her usual chipper manner, “We’ll be waitin for you!” Mal hid his amused smile as he and Zoë started walking, Jayne following behind.
The walk to town, though hot and dusty, was quiet and Mal took the chance to scope out the landscape. Though space and Serenity were his home, he could appreciate the open plains and blue sky for the beauties that they were. They reminded him of his mother’s ranch and days before life got so complicated.
The settlement itself was nothing extraordinary. It was the standard rancher’s town, with a general store, a blacksmith’s and a couple of sawdust-on-the-floor saloons, advertising some of their finer wares on the balconies overlooking the streets. A couple of carts and a couple of cows passed them in the dirt road, and a few frolicking children went running over the plank board sidewalks after their mothers, hurrying on to their next errand.
Mal allowed himself a quick split second of reminiscing before bringing his mind back to the job.
“Where’re we supposed to be meeting this Cook guy?” Jayne asked as they ambled into town. Mal didn’t bother to answer, heading to the first saloon on his right. Truth was, he hadn’t had any contact with their buyer since the order had been placed. He’d come anyway, though deep in his gut he had a bad feeling about the whole thing. He exchanged a meaningful look with Zoë and they stepped into the gloom of the saloon.
Nothing jumped out at them as being suspicious. The smell of liquor and sweat was pungent, and the patrons sitting at the few rickety tables looked like nothing more than relaxing cowhands and young faced apprentices. The bar tender was shelving several new bottles of the local whiskey, and Mal had to rap his knuckles on the bar top to get his attention. The man was a bit grizzled, old and probably not much help on a ranch anymore. In parts like this, he was lucky to have a job.
“Can I help you?” he asked and the Serenity entourage was surprised by the quality of his speech. He was well educated, despite appearances.
“We’re looking for a man named Cook” Mal told him, careful to keep his voice down.
“You aren’t going to find Pedro Cook on this planet” the bar tender replied.
“He’s gone?” Zoë asked.
“Yes, ma’am” the old man nodded, “Stole some of Lady Raven’s cows. Got himself off planet right quick, before she could get to him” He jerked his thumb up at a carved wooden sign hanging above the shelves of whiskey as he told them. A raven sat between two rose vines with the inscription “Lady Raven’s Saloon” in a crescent over it. Something about the emblem stirred Mal’s memories, but for now he was too worried about not having a buyer for their cargo. Their heist of the Alliance hospital on Ariel had been so lucrative, they had pulled another on a somewhat smaller planet. It probably wouldn’t be hard to find another buyer, and Mal wouldn’t have been so worried except for that bad feeling he’d had was only getting worse. He paid for a bottle of whiskey and he, Jayne and Zoë took a table. They tried to look inconspicuous as they discussed what they should do.
“This Lady Raven may be a good shot, sir” Zoë suggested, “Somebody’s scared enough to get off planet before she could get him, sounds like she may be somebody in this town”
“A cow rancher going to have the money to pay for this stuff?” Jayne asked.
“Jayne raises a good point” Mal said, “This Lady Raven sounds like a good place to start, but I want to make sure we’re not going to get burned on this one. We’ve got time to spend a couple days here, scope things out, see what the best deal is”
“Well, I don’t want to stay here too long. This place is...” Jayne was interrupted by a sound Zoë and Malcolm knew well. They exchanged yet another worried glance and that bad feeling Mal had turned into a concrete block.
“What was that?” Jayne asked, recognizing the new direness of their situation.
“Alliance” Zoë replied, lowering her voice even more. She’d just spoken the one word that, on a backwater world like this, could turn even these few poky cowhands into a slaughtering mob. She turned to the Captain, who was downing the last of his whiskey.
“What do you think?” she asked him.
“I think we’re done with business for the day. We’ll head back to the ship, have Wash power down, hope the Alliance doesn’t spot us. Come back in a day or two...see what’s left” He rose from his seat with a sympathetic look for the clueless men around him. Zoë and Jayne quickly followed suit and they hurried, as slowly as possible, back to Serenity.
“Wash! Power everything down!” Mal called to his pilot, who was standing on the stairs in the cargo bay.
“Power down? Why?” the man asked.
“Alliance” his wife replied. Kaylee and River both stood from where they had been playing jacks, and Inara emerged from her pod. The crew was like so many curious animals poking their noses out of their burrows to sniff at the storm.
“Jayne, get this stuff stored. Alliance comes sniffin, I don’t want them findin’ anything” Mal ordered.
“Right” Jayne replied and immediately went to stow their cargo.
“The rest of you, just keep on with your business. And no one steps foot off this ship till I say so”

Mercifully, no Alliance showed up. They either hadn’t picked Serenity’s metal signature, or they were choosing to ignore it. For some reason, Mal felt the latter was true, and this only served to further his worries. After tow days locked up in the ship, more than enough time for the Alliance to finish their business and get out of town, he decided they’d talk to this Lady Raven. If that didn’t work out, though, they were getting off planet as fast as Serenity could go.
With this in mind, he, Zoë and Jayne headed back to town.
It was immediately evident something was wrong. There were no people, no animals in the streets. Things were quieter than a grave, the wooden buildings sitting like closed coffins at a wake.
They headed straight for Lady Raven’s. It took a second for their eyes to adjust. Four men and two boys lay on the floor or across tables, blood crusted in rivers pouring from their ears, eyes, noses, mouths and fingernails, pools congealing beneath their heads. The bar tender was slouched over the bar that Mal remembered being cleaner than he’d expected.

They walked out again wordlessly. There was still no sign of life anywhere in the little town. Malcolm didn’t want to contemplate the idea that the Alliance had killed everyone, with no apparent reason. He chose to believe the towns folk were just hiding, scared of the three strangers.
“What could they possibly have wanted here?” Zoë asked aloud, knowing she wouldn’t get an answer. The outrage at Alliance callousness and arrogance was, yet again, boiling in her blood and had there been a representative of that particular despicable group anywhere within range, she felt she would have shot him dead, with no provocation at all.
“Let’s get out of here” the Captain said, and turned to head back the way they had come. A largish black bird was sitting in the middle of the street, halting their progress with its black look. Something clicked in Mal’s head, something that had stirred two days ago when he’d seen that emblem in the saloon. This particular raven was missing two tail feathers.
“Zoë, you recognize that bird?” he asked. His first mate gave him an eye.
“Sir?”
“It’s missing two tail feathers” Mal pointed out. Zoë shook her head, now staring intently at the bird.
“Can’t be, sir” she said. Jayne was more than slightly confused.
“What?” he asked, though he knew he wouldn’t be getting an answer. Malcolm didn’t bother to reply to Zoë either as the raven lifted into the air, graceful despite its handicap, and headed in the opposite direction of Serenity. Zoë and Mal followed quickly, pulling their guns and stony faces out. Jayne followed them, not wanting to be left out of what could be a well overdue firefight, and maybe a little booty besides.
The bird led them two miles out of town to a sprawling ranch. The outbuildings were smoking ruins, the two large herds of cattle penned up in their corrals were corpses, hordes of flies and vultures hovering over them. Half of the main house had been burnt, thought part of it had managed to survive. The raven flew through the open doorway and the three humans followed obediently.
There had obviously been a fight. There were bullet holes in the walls, tables and chairs upturned and splintered, shattered glass from the windowpanes crunched beneath their boots. The raven led them through the destruction, out a back door, and landed on the ground in front of some bushes.
The three humans looked out over the destruction of what had once been a prosperous ranch, trying to spot whatever the black bird had brought them for.
It screeched at them, then, and pushed its beak into the bushes.
“Sir! There’s a body here!” Zoë reported. They pulled it out from its hiding place. It was a woman, in her mid twenties. Her long hair was light brown with reddish highlights, and was caked to her skull with blood. Her rounded face was covered in soot, hiding the glowing beauty that it was usually infused with.
“I don’t believe it” Zoë whispered as Malcolm knelt beside the girl, and Jayne, being the only outsider, could tell that she didn’t. He noticed the Captain’s hand was shaking as he brushed a few strands of hair from the girl’s brow and his fingers came away bloodied.
The raven screeched again and the girl’s eyelids fluttered.
“She’s alive?” Jayne exclaimed, unable to help himself in his astonishment.
“Morgan!” the Captain hissed, a strange look on his face. The girl’s eyes cracked barely and her lips parted.
“Mal?”