Chapter 2 - On Independence: Episode 2

                            On Independence

                                 by Volpone

                        Grouping: Whedonesque
                        Continuum: Browncoats
                            Location: Serenity
 
                                   Episode 2

          They were sitting around the mess table aboard Serenity.
          “I really don't understand how you come to be sittin' here
when I quite certain saw you bein' dead with a laser burn in your
chest,” Brown admitted. “Not that I mind you not bein',” he added
quickly.
          Brown was clearly on rough ground here. Vibhrama was the
woman he slept with on their mission to the moon Deadwood, madam of
the Heart of Gold bordello and an old friend of Qi's from their days
training to be Companions. He couldn't appear too happy for fear of
giving Qi the wrong idea, nor could Qi feel too happy thinking
Vibhrama might just be interested in picking up with Brown where they
left off.
          “Indeed she was,” Quinn told them, “but I tinkered with the
time-line a bit to make that not as permanent as it might be.”
          Athelas, the doctor of the crew, asked, “Are you saying you
altered time somehow to resurrected her from the dead?” Clearly he
didn't believe it. He knew that dead was a slippery term when so
many people had been without any heartbeat for quite some time yet
been revived, but a laser hole like the one in Vibhrama seemed to
rule out that kind of medical miracle.
          “Not really. I actually snuck into the Heart of Gold
during all the commotion, grabbed Vibhrama just after she was shot,
performed a bit of memory alteration on those who witnessed it,” he
nodded towards Qi, “got her back to Columbina where we repaired the
damage and restarted her heart before there was any permanent harm
done. To cover our tracks, we dropped a duplicate corpse that was
just a lifeless replica back there so you folks had something to bury
that fit with your memories. It was the only way I could see to save
her without messing up the time-line and possibly undoing all the
good you've accomplished since then.”
          “'All the good'?” Nebula, the first mate, asked. It was
her husband who had been killed just recently, so her definition of
good was quite different under the circumstances.
          Knowing exactly what she was unhappy about, Quinn headed her off at
the pass.
          “Yes, you've done considerable good for millions of folk
since taking the good doctor and his sister aboard. But since your
husband's death is not on that side of the scale, a bit of mortality
revision is part of what I'm here to discuss with you. That is if
you're willing to help me attempt it.”
          “Don't know which is crazier,” Brown said. “You thinkin'
you can magical undead our friend, or you thinkin' ain't nothin' we
wouldn't do to bring him back if we could.”
          “Not crazy,” Lena told him from the doorway. “He can.”
          Jayne, the big soldier who had major doubts about the
mental state of Lena muttered, “That ain't the best recommendation
considerin' who's sayin' it.”
          Whatever was going to be said next went un-uttered because
when the otherly young woman appeared in the doorway, Quinn had
immediately stood up and turned to face her.
          Brown, Nebula and Athelas all tensed slightly, the doctor
rising as if preparing for some kind of crisis.
          But Quinn wasn't looking threatened or surprised. The look
on his face was... unexpected. It looked as if he had just found
someone he had lost long ago.
          Moving slowly towards the doorway as if being careful not
to startle a bird or wild animal, he extended both hands to her.
          “Hello, sweet one. Please?” he asked, clearly intending
for her to take his hands.
          Her brother warned Quinn, “She doesn't like being...”
          But his words trailed off as Lena took a step forward and
put both her hands in Quinn's as if it were the most natural thing in
the 'verse.
          Gently gripping her fingers, he told her softly, “No more
alone. Ever. And please... no giving away secrets, okay?”
          The psychic/assassin in a young woman's body actually
smiled, something Brown had only seen a few times before.
          “Okay,” Lena told the man she had just met. Clearly she
understood what he was talking about, even if the rest were somewhat
baffled.
          There was the sound of a ten-gram gold ingot being put on
the table. It was the same each of them had been paid by Quinn upon
his arrival for agreeing to listen to his proposal. Strawberry,
their mechanic, removed her hand from the ingot she had returned to
him.
          “You can have yer gold back. I want in... whatever it is.
Don't care if it is crazy.”
          The big soldier looked at her as if the insanity was
catching.
          Moving back to the table and bringing Lena with him, Quinn
sat and to the surprise of everyone else in the room, Lena sat next
to him at the table, looking at ease for the first time since she and
her brother came aboard Serenity.
          Quinn replied good-naturedly, “Being called crazy's no
insult in my book. I've been called that by many I respect so I'll
not argue the point. Still, sane folk are the ones who put a brave
face on when loved ones pass, weep a spell and then go about their
life carrying around a big hole in their heart. I'll happily be the
kind of crazy that helps me not accept that as the final word. God
can cherish our loved ones sometime later. He's not going anywhere
in the flicker it takes us to finish living a full life, and if He
objects to my messing up his plans, I reckon he'll find a way to let
me know, but until He does, crazy suits me just fine.”
          “Gotta admit, put that way, I kinda like your style of
crazy,” conceded Brown.
          “Mortality revisions, as my folk call them, are something
we do on a regular basis. I've personally been on over forty such
missions, and we've succeeded on every one... but there are some we
simply don't know how to undo without doing considerable damage to
the time-line. Figuring out how to do that for your man,” he spoke
directly to Nebula at that point, “is part of what I need help with.
You were there, so you know what happened and I hope you'll be able
to help me find a workable way to un-dead him.”
          Jayne piped up and told Quinn, “If you're bringin' someone
back from the dead, I want nothin' t' do with it. De-corpsefyin'
folk is unnatural and so I'll just take my money and go, if you
please.”
          Quinn held up a hand and told him, “I know that's what it
sounds like I'm suggesting, but it's not. I'm not bringing anyone
back from the dead any more than any doctor does. I'm talking about
preventing the death from happening and simply making it look as if
it did... just like what I did for Vibhrama here. I want to plan
carefully how to not disturb the way events appear, but I hope to
jump back and grab him before he dies and put a fake corpse in his
place.”
          Qi chimed in this time.
          “What do you mean 'jump back'? It sounds as if you are
talking about time travel.”
          “Our Math Section says that's not strictly-speaking true,
but for most of the rest of us, that's what it amounts to, yes. It's
part and parcel to what I do professionally. I'm a temporal
alteration specialist. And before you doubt my sanity, may I direct
your attention to 'exhibit A' sitting right here,” and he gestured to
Vibhrama. “As I've said, I've done this a number of times in the
past.”
          Jayne again opened his mouth, and Quinn held up a finger to
keep him from saying what he was about to.
          “If you're about to ask me about what happens if I shoot my
own grandpa, you will be the one I shoot.”
          “That's just plum unfriendly. And unfair, ” the soldier
replied. “And yer wrong,” he said with a 'you think you're so smart' look. “I was
gonna ask about yer pa.”

          Fortunately, no one was shot, and after a simple tour of
Columbina and her capabilities, the captain and crew of Serenity were
convinced that Quinn could deliver on what he claimed.
          After, they sat down again at the mess table and talked
over what was to come.
          Two days later, Quinn beamed back to Serenity bringing
another with him: Leif (pronounced like the things growing on a
tree), their no-longer-late pilot.
          It was the second time in a week Brown had seen his first
officer cry over the man she loved.

