Part 3

Inara and Jorge came down the steps into Serenity's cargo bay to face the scrutiny of the crew assembled in a rough semicircle to gawk at the new arrival. Zoë, Simon and Kaylee were there in friendly curiosity while Jane stood with his arms crossed in annoyance that the companion was a male while Mal was just plain annoyed that here was another non-paying mouth to fill with food and air.

Mal opened with "Great, other useless, broke, fancy pants, core-worlder on the run; just what we need."

Kaylee interrupted. "Now wait a minute Captain, I'm sure that he has his good qualities." Less sure of herself, she added "You do, don't cha? By the way, I'm Kaylee Frye, ships' mechanic."

"Hello, I'm Simon Tam, ships' doctor. Are you from Shinon, like Inara?"

Jorge responded "My name is Jorge Mayweather. It's true that I came from House Madrassa but I was born in space. My people were spacers since before we left Earth-That-Was. Mayweathers were ship's crew on the colony ships. My family took our flight and settlement bonus and built and operated some of the first 'verse' transport ships."

Jane was obviously not impressed. "Mayweather, eh; no wonder ya turned out sly."

Jorge gave a small grin. "It's Jane isn't it? No, I am defiantly not sly. You of all people should know that what your name is or what you do as part of your job does not define who you are. But I am highly qualified in that aspect of my profession if that is what you are interested in."

"Bull, Mayweather, sly is as sly does no matter what." Jane responded with his hands tightening on the bulging biceps of his crossed arms.

"Jane, I can tell that you did time. Is what you did there define what you are now?"

Jane suddenly flushed in embarrassment. "Who told you about that?"

"You just did." And the bay erupted in laughter. Jorge reached into his rucksack to produce a bunch of fresh plantains and a bottle of 60 year old rum. "Let's continue this in the galley and then you can decide whether to space me or not."

After Jorge had prepared a delicious meal of plantains and saffron rice, they started eating and passing around the rum.

Zoe spoke first. "I'm Zoe Washburn, First Mate. Are you any kin to the blockade running Mayweathers of the 'Cutty Sark' what got hulled over Shadow at the beginning of the war?"

Jorge was suddenly very sober. "Yes, that was my family and I was the only survivor. My cousins and siblings used to have races to don our EV suits and I always won. I wished I was slower for a long time afterwards. The feds picked me up out of the wreckage and then sold me into slavery because I was too young to go into the detention camps."

The table went silent as everyone acknowledged that here was someone else who had suffered as the result of the war. Zoë just reached over and silently hugged Jorge.

Kaylee broke the silence. "Slavery, how did ya get outa that?"

"Well, I always was a good cook. A traveling recruiter from House Madarassa tasted one of my meals at a rim world tavern and promptly bought out my contract and brought me back to cook at the House. It was only later that I tested for Companion."

Mal spoke up. "Ok, Mr. Mayweather, I'm glad to shake the hand of anybody from the Cutty Sark. The way those hun-dans drilled your ship without even a warning shot was what got me to join up with the browncoats in the first place."

Jorge reached over. "And I'm proud to shake the hand of anyone who was at Serenity Valley. Is it true that you jumped into that hellhole?"

"Jumped? Zoë and I were pathfinders. We HALO (High Altitude-Low Opening) ed from 20 klicks up and opened or chutes at just under one third klick to get under their radar. We set up the beacons for the first space-borne wave of the Overlanders to take the high ground at the Valley. Our motto was 'Fall like a cannonball, strike like a bayonet."

"20 klicks?" Jorge exclaimed. "Don't you need oxygen for that?"

"Nah." Zoë answered. "If you just hold your breath in a head down, streamlined attitude, terminal velocity at over 300 KPH will get ya into breathing air before you have to take another breath. We were jumping Fireflies back then and that's why the Cap here bought Serenity after the war."

Jane interrupted. "Oh great, more space-borne stories, pretty soon Mal n' Zoë are gonna be singing "Blood upon the risers and doing parachute landing falls off the galley table!"

"Oh no, they won't!" Simon interjected. "The last time that happened, I used up all of my sprain medicine and we were fixing furniture for a week."

Mal spoke up. "If you were a rebel and Inara was for Union how did you wind up friends with her?"

Inara laughed. "You should have seen the fights we had!"

Jorge quipped "I still have scars from the things she threw at me!"

Just then River stepped down from the cockpit "Not just fights but hurts deeper than scars."

Inara suddenly lost her gaiety but hid it with her drink.

Mal turned. "And this little mistress of the non sequitur is our pilot River Tam, lucky albatross and little sis to the Doc."

Jorge looked up and the sight caught him like a blow; this was the superwoman that so many Alliance agents had been seeking until Miranda had changed the 'Verse'. She was so small and lovely and yet her bearing and grace spoke volumes to the dancer and martial artist in him. Jorge was a natural empath, being able to read emotion in clients and opponents as well but here was sensitivity itself. Mal and Zoë were warriors but here was Kali and Shiva in the flesh. He was Scarlatti to her Mozart and he knew it. Her combination of innocence, genius, beauty and the promise of her ripening sexuality set of a wave of desire in his subconscious. Her next words completely floored him.

"Maestre, will you dance to the birimbau and the tam-tam with me some time?"

On River's part she saw the good looks and read the dancer, fighter, lover and adventurer within but the images, sounds and smells of lovemaking that flitted through his brain and the desire that flooded out of his subconscious produced a resonance which flushed her skin and made her nostrils flare. An older and more experienced woman would have recognized these feelings and ascribed them to just lust and infatuation. However, lust and infatuation were new emotions for River and though she understood them emotionally and had eavesdropped on them in other peoples skulls, this was the first time that she owned the emotions and they rocked her to the core. Unfortunately, her unfamiliarity with the emotions provoked flight or fight responses. She picked Caproerea out of his psyche; the images and memories intrigued the dancer and martial artist in her and thus the challenge.

Mal, Jane, Kaylee and Simon didn't notice anything in the exchange but Zoë did and she folded her arms and considered shooting Jorge on general principle while Inara just murmured into her drink. "Oh Lordy, here we go."

The next afternoon, ships time, the crew was gathered around to watch the entertainment on the clear area of the ship's cargo deck. The betting in ship chores was running heavily on the ships favorite: River, but Inara was backing Jorge even though she was unsure of the outcome.

Inara consented to play the birimbau and Jane's experience on the bongos was put into use on the tam-tam after Jorge taught him the beat. After preliminary ceremonies and stretches River in tight t-shirt and drawstring pants and Jorge in just pants began dancing and weaving around each other with mock feints in order to judge each others' responses. River tried to 'read' Jorge but all she could see was her own self in his eyes along with a vague sense of loving protection and a desire to push her limits.