Objects in Space
“She’s just a kid,” Simon protests quietly. “And she just wants to be a kid.”
“Sometimes, that option is taken away,” Harri speaks up for the first time.
Jayne straightens. “Harri, you ain’t gotta-”
“I know.” Harri walks around the table and nudges Jayne back, settling herself on his lap, knowing she’ll need his strength.
Jayne wraps an arm loosely around her waist.
“Care to share with the class?”
Harri takes a deep breath. “You remember Ariel, Captain?”
“If you mean do I remember you and Jayne sneakin’ about and callin’ feds, I surely do.”
Startled murmurs fill the room.
Harri rolls her eyes. “You could have put that in context, Captain.”
“You called the feds?” Simon demands.
“I can’t protect River if I don’t know what I’m protecting her from,” Harri answers calmly. “I was never going to let them take her.”
“I mean no offense,” Book speaks cautiously, “but why do you care any more or less than the rest of us what happens to the girl?”
Harri closes her eyes.
Jayne’s arm tightens around her waist.
Harri opens her eyes and huffs. “I grew up in a war-torn world, with a power-hungry madman trying to kill me until I killed him when I was seventeen. The same age as River is now. Because I was special. Special in a different manner than River, but special nonetheless.”
“You see yourself in her,” Book infers.
“I see what I could have been if I was on my own. I vowed to never let my fate befall another if I could help it.”
She lets River handle Early herself, though. It does the girl good.