Wash wondered how the hell he had gotten into this situation with River and Book in his cockpit in the middle of the night. It was rather surreal. His eyes traveled down to the navigation chart he had laid out on the control panel and he checked their course. Then his eyes furrowed. “Hey, slow down a little, River,” he stated and raised his hand to take back the yoke.

“Can't,” River said serenely, but there was a touch of excitement in her voice. “It’s starting.”

Before the resonance of her voice had quite fallen away there were a series of clunking sounds; doors snapping shut and locking. The ship began to veer, though River’s hands on the yoke were steady. “She’s calling you now...needs your help,” River whispered.

“What?” Wash’s hands flew over the controls. “River, this isn’t funny.” He flipped several switches and when that failed to produce the desired effect he swore. “Sheng fei xing kong long! This is not good! The controls are completely shut down.” He smacked his navigational display, which had gone completely black. “We’re flying blind.”

Wash rotated in his seat and began another sequence of button pressing and switch flipping, before he grabbed the yoke and tried to push it forward. “Chou tan pei luo tuo da bian! The main drive has been locked and shut down! My controls are fused!” After a beat, he added, “We are so humped!” He turned in his chair to look at Book. “Go get the others,” he demanded hotly then returned his attention to River. “Get up, my controls aren’t working.”

Book was at the door, struggling to open it. “It’s locked,” he called. He quickly opened the side panel beside the door and started the manual override sequence.

Both of Wash’s hands went into his hair as he reassessed the situation, leaving River in charge of the co-pilot controls. “Jin zuo bian lou ru tou! We’re locked on course and she’s flying way too fast.” He looked back to River and leaned over the co-pilot chair to study the read outs; his weren’t displaying anymore. “Where the hell are we headed?” he demanded but he was mostly talking to himself.

“Sideris ad terram,” River murmured, rising to her feet and peering out into the black. “They’ve taken the stars.”

“That’s nice,” Wash muttered, pressing through buttons on the co-pilot panel quickly. “The crazy talk is completely comforting right now, really.” Wash put his hands on the throttle and eased her back, shedding speed hard and manually. The ship screamed in protest at the rough handling. “I know, baby, I’m sorry,” he crooned and tried again to shut off the override to no avail.

“Core containment failure imminent,” a cool, impersonal voice announced and then repeated in Chinese. River’s head darted around interestedly at that, her mind suddenly forming hypotheses.

“Wo de ma!” Wash hissed, his eyes widening at the announcement.

“Core containment failure in ten, nine, eight...” River let it count down to three, then she placed her hands on the throttle over Wash’s and pushed forward into full burn.

“What’re you—” he started to say, in surprise. The ship surged at the new speed and the warning silenced abruptly.

“Trust,” River whispered as Wash pulled his hands out from under hers and she resumed flying dedicatedly, making certain the ship didn’t slow again.

Wash’s shoulders drooped as he realized what had just happened. “We’ve been hotwired into the core containment field!” he shouted and pushed off from the co-pilot chair and returned to his pilot’s chair. “Son of a bitch, why do things always have to be so complicated!” he cried. “If we drop below our current speed we’re going to activate the core failure, which will definitely cause us to explode.”

Book shifted where he was standing behind them. “How long can we last at this speed?” he questioned intensely.

Wash shook his head. “Not long enough. Well, if the fuel doesn’t run out she’ll shake apart in an hour or two if she’s not very carefully monitored, which I can’t do if I’m locked out!” He slammed his fist down onto the non-responding console. “ ‘Course that won’t make a lick of a difference seeing as how we’ll have crashed into the dark side of the moon by then at this speed.”

“She’s poisoned. A Cyclops stuck a thorn in her belly and it upsets her stomach,” River announced.

Wash pushed his chair out of the way and looked at her. Sometimes what she said made no sense but lately, he understood her. “Belly,” he echoed and crawled under the console. “River, how long do we got until then?” he asked as he worked the panel off the bottom of the console. “I’m not sure if I can override it from here — not if Serenity’s been hotwired from outside, underneath somewhere.”

Before answering Wash, River performed an experiment wherein she tested to see how much she could slow down before triggering the core containment alarm. Once she was set at the optimal pace, she replied, “Twenty-nine minutes, thirty-eight seconds.”

Book was still trying to get the manual over ride on the doors to unlock. “The door is still jammed, what can I do?”

“Get on the comm. and tell them we’ve got an emergency and not much time to find a miracle!” Wash shouted from beneath the console. Sparks exploded as he pulled wires out with abandon. “And tell them to get the EV suits prepped.”

“Dear God,” Book murmured, as he picked up the intercom and activated the ship-wide channel. “We have an emergency. The ship has been sabotaged and controls locked. We’ve got about twenty-eight minutes -- we need assistance!”

Simon had roused from his sleep at the first core containment announcement and leapt from his bed when he heard Book’s voice over the intercom. His first instinct was to check on River, but finding her missing, he turned and started up the stairs towards the crew quarters.

He ran into Inara, still in her dressing gown, along the way. “What’s going on?” she questioned. Her poise seemed lost along with her more formal attire.

“Guess we’re in trouble, again,” he replied uncertainly. “And River’s not in her room. I hope she’s with Wash.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Inara reassured as they reached the crew quarters. “Go see if you can find out what’s going on, then come back and help me.” Inara was already at Mal’s cabin door, trying to manually override the locks. Simon moved to the cockpit door. He tried, futilely, to open it before he began pounding on it.

Book appeared in the window and stared at him. He then turned and grabbed the intercom, to relay information.

“She’s on full lock down, from the outside!” Wash called, busy unplugging and plugging wires into the console from under it. He was hoping to hit upon a lucky cross feed that would override whatever it was that had locked them out but that was Kaylee’s expertise, not his. “Crew quarters are sealed,” he snarled as he came up from beneath the console. He looked at River and his expression softened: she was doing a remarkably better job at remaining calm than he was.

“Good job, River, keep it up,” he stated affirmatively, feeling a calm resolve settle over him. Panicking wouldn’t help anyone. He needed to stay calm. Book was holding the intercom, waiting to relay whatever Wash told him to Simon, who was peering through the small window.

“Tell him River is safe with us,” Wash instructed, “and Serenity has been hotwired from the outside. I’m attempting to override the connection from inside the cockpit but we’ll need some assistance from the exterior. There should be an access panel in the storage locker below this area,” Wash noted and gestured to the ladder that led down between the two pilot consoles. “I believe if we can get it open I might have a better chance at rerouting the power.” He flexed his hands, nervously. “But I need Kaylee on the hull, now. I can only do so much from in here.”

Mal paced furiously inside his quarters He was like an angry, caged lion, and desperately needed to get out. As soon as he had realized he was locked in his quarters, he’d pulled the tapestry on his wall down and started to unscrew the bolts there, thinking he could crawl out the venting.

When he heard Inara and Simon in the corridors, he abandoned that and climbed his ladder, banging on the door. Inara didn’t know how to override the locks manually, so he had to shout instructions through the steel hull.

When the lock on his door finally pinged open, he was up and out almost before she realized the doors had unlocked. Simon was coming back down the hallway. “What the hell is going on?”

Inara quickly began unlocking Kaylee’s bunk, while Simon explained the situation to Mal.

“Hijacked,” he panted. “Book is locked on the bridge with Wash and River. Wash thinks something has been hotwired on the hull.”

“I heard,” Mal snarled and stalked to Kaylee’s bunk. He nudged Inara aside and quickly unlocked the rest of the crew quarters.

The mechanic clamored out quickly, dressed only in a silky pink camisole. “We got big problems,” she announced, wide-eyed.

Mal stalked away, towards the cargo bay, gesturing her to follow. “Gonna need you on the line to tell me what to do, little Kaylee,” he called.

“Ain’t got no time,” Kaylee replied frightened as she hurried to follow. “Can’t figure it out if I can’t see it.”

Mal stopped and rounded on her. “We’re flying way too fast and too erratic for me to let you go out there. Too dangerous.”

Kaylee put her hands on her hips and scowled. “So you’d rather crash us all into a moon instead of trustin’ me to know to hang on tight?”

Jayne and Zoe, freed from their quarters, quickly caught up to them. “We ain’t really got time to be arguin’ this, Sir,” Zoe noted pointedly.

Mal scowled. “All right,” he conceded. “We go suit up; I’m comin’ with you. Jayne, prep the suits. Zoe, we need a tether.”

Jayne and Zoe both nodded and took off.

“What should we do?” Inara asked, looking anxiously at Mal.

Mal studied her and Simon and then shook his head. “Hold on tight -- things are gonna get bumpy.”

Wash was already at the bottom of the storage hold, flipping on the runner lights as he moved towards a small grate bolted into the wall. “Don’t suppose you brought a screwdriver?” he called up to Book, deadpan.

“Afraid not,” Book replied upon reaching the locker beside Wash, the intercom wire stretched out behind him. “Mal and Kaylee are on their way.” He then pulled a thin coin out of his pocket. “Try this.”

“Heads we live, tails we lose?” Wash asked, incredulously, as he frantically started working at the bolts.

The ship was beginning to noticeably shake and River’s frightened voice drifted down to them.

“You’re doing fine, River!” Wash hollered up at her as he removed the last bolt. In another situation he never would have managed to loosen them but the adrenaline coursing through his body made the screws yield easily.

Shucking his Hawaiian shirt, he hoisted himself up and crawled into the narrow opening. “Could use a little prayer right now, Shepherd,” Wash intoned as he started ruthlessly pulling out wires.

“I’m one step ahead of you,” Book replied and leaned forward. “Be careful in there. We don’t want to end up cutting the wrong line and exploding,” he noted calmly.

“Well,” Wash replied in a tensed voice, “that’d be one way to solve our problem.” He started crossing wires and banged his head hard when the ship jerked suddenly, causing a sparks to shot out in shower across his face. “Damn! If I could just sub-route the feed I could at least slow us down! If we’re very lucky, we’ll stop.”

Wash moved to another section. “Aha!” he called in an angry voice. “So, that’s how you want to play!” A huge section of wires were hanging in his face. He dragged one thick green wire from the first area he’d worked in all the way over to where he was now. “Time?” he called up to River.

“Nineteen minutes, sixteen seconds,” River answered in a high, quavering voice. “Don’t want to die like this, it’s not like slipping into the stars.”

“Enough with the creepy!” Wash shouted heatedly. “Okay, Book, I need you to get back on the line with Kaylee. You’re going to relay to her what I see, and have her tell me what to do.”

Book wasted no time. “Kaylee?”

“Read y’loud and clear, Shepherd!” she called sounding entirely too cheerful considering the situation. “Cap’n and I are just about ready t’hit the airlock soon as Jayne’s finished tethering us.”

“Good,” Book answered. His eyes were trained on the bottom of Wash’s legs. “Wash is indisposed beneath the flight consoles right now. He’s asked me to relay for him.”

“We’re all ears, Shepherd,” Mal answered. “You just start telling us what t’do.”

“Okay,” Wash called up, voice muffled. “The nav. sys. has been completely bypassed into the auxiliary feeds. I figure this was done somewhere on the undercarriage, possibly by the port thrust.”

Some frantic, fearful part of him wanted to just start pulling all wires out, tearing them free until one of them finally did something. “It’s definitely on the port side, near the bottom. Tell Kaylee she’s going to have to disengage the wiring there. It’s completely locked down with what looks like a Type Six Heilos transformer.”

“Got it,” Book called back and relayed the information through to Kaylee.

Mal led the way, walking slowly but steadily along Serenity’s hull, hunching from time- to-time to maintain his balance as the ship shook and tried to throw them. Kaylee was right behind him, clinging to the tether that ran from his EV suit to hers. The cheerfulness she had exhibited before had left her voice.

“Just a bit further, Cap’n,” she called nervously, gripping her tool bag tighter with her free hand. Far behind them Jayne stood at the airlock hatch, holding the tether as steady as possible at the anchor well, watching the pair as they progressed.

“There!” Kaylee announced and pointed.

Mal looked back at her and then followed her finger along its trajectory. ”We need the tenth panel to the left – that’s where we’ll be able to override the throttle controls.”

It didn’t take long for Mal to remove the plating and it was obvious from the mess of wires hanging underneath that someone had definitely been in there. Crouching beside him, Kaylee groaned. “Okay, Book, I see the problem. It’s on the port thrust, like Wash said. I’m on it, but it’s a real mess and we’re shakin’ like a wet dog out here,” she called. “It’s gonna take some time.”

“Tell her we got less than thirteen minutes,” Wash called heatedly.

“I believe she can hear you,” Book replied. “I’ve increased the gain so just tell her what you see.”

“Right,” Wash muttered. “Okay, Kaylee?”

“Yeah, Wash?” she asked. Her voice had a light layer of static over it but much of the fear in it had subsided. “You seein’ the override on the auxiliary feeds?” she questioned.

“See ‘em and can’t do nothing about them,” Wash called back. “I’ve shut off the power to the navigational system though, so if you can break the overrides, it shouldn’t ‘cause the feed to loop and blow out.”

“Smart thinkin’, Wash,” Kaylee cheered. “I’m gonna go in and start disengaging these wires, then.” She paused a bit. “Cap’n, need you t’move over there, if you can.”

Mal shuffled past Kaylee, until he was on the other side of the paneling. Jayne released more slack on the tether. Kneeling beside Kaylee, Mal instinctively pulled the mess of wires out, so they could see them better.

“These darned gloves,” Kaylee moaned, adjusting her grip on the tool she was working with and releasing a wire. “Ain’t used to these EV suits.” She smiled apologetically up at Mal.

He forced a smile back at her. “Just do your best.”

Wash’s tinny voice filtered through to them. “Whatever you just did caused a huge power surge on my end.”

“Is that good or bad?” Kaylee questioned.

“I’m thinking it’s good,” Wash called back.

“Eight minutes,” River interjected nervously.

“Jue kong long de ying,” Wash muttered and crossed two wires, plugging them back into opposite sides of the panel. “Okay, I’m reconnecting the feed loop. Hopefully all this power is gonna flow right back into the navigation consoles.”

“The screen above the panel just lit up,” Book called, sounding hopeful.

“Shang di xie,” Wash breathed in relief. “We’re gonna try to slow down again. Hang on a minute.” Worming his way out of the crawl-space he dropped back into the storage locker and hurried up the ladder to see if the power had been completely restored. “It’s looking good on this end,” he called.

Kaylee spoke again. “There’s a whole mess of stuff here that I don’t know does what. Soon as we land, we’re gonna have t’do a complete overhaul of this section to see that it’s all safe.”

River slowed the ship, and then began drawing them up when the core containment announcement didn’t sound.

“She yields,” River murmured softly, so that only Wash could hear her. The pilot grinned at her as she regained control of the ship.

Wash let out a strangled whoop of delight. “Whatever you did, Kaylee, we’ve got control on the bridge again. If you think we can land her with what’s left, then let’s do it. This is going to be a hell of a lot easier to deal with when we’re on land.” With a grin he slid into his chair. “I’ll take her,” he whispered to River and started flipping switches again. The controls responded easily to his touch now. He gripped the yoke tightly in relief. “I’m slowing her down. You and Mal shouldn’t have a problem getting back aboard.”

Kaylee let out a little laugh and looked at Mal with deep relief evident on her face. “Good job, little Kaylee. Good job.”

“Weren’t all me, cap’n,” she responded, glancing down at the hull and holding the plate steady as Mal reattached it.

“No, but you kept your calm and between you and Wash you worked it out. Saved us all, I reckon. I’m proud of you.”

Kaylee smiled at that, before looking up at him through the face shield. Suddenly, she couldn’t stand the guilt anymore. “Cap’n, me and River – we was the ones took those shoes – and I lost ‘em, anyway. I’m sorry I lied to you.”

She was surprised when the Captain smiled back at her. “It was only a few pair of shoes. Figure you deserve more’n that, after what you did out here. Just – don’t do it again, dong ma? Now, let’s get you back inside.”

“Yes sir!” Kaylee grinned.

“Suppose it’s safe to unlock the bridge door now,” Book mused.

Flipping open the manual override he stepped to the side as Simon rushed into the room and hurried over to River. “Are you okay, mei-mei?”

River gave him a small, reassuring smile, patting the co-pilot console fondly. “She’s better now. They’ve fixed her.”

“I was so worried,” Simon breathed and dropped to his knees on the floor beside her. “What was that? How did it happen?”

Footsteps echoed down the hall towards the cockpit and within a few moments Mal and Kaylee appeared, still in their environmental suits. Jayne and Zoe walked in immediately behind them, followed closely by Inara.

“Someone want to explain what the gorram hell just happened?” Mal demanded. He looked at Wash rather than River, but every slight shift of her figure was registered.

Wash smiled at them brilliantly. “Just another feat of death-defying hijinx in space.”

Mal scowled at him. “Don’t got time for games, Wash.”

“Clearly someone on Athens thought to hotwire us on a one way path to hell.” Wash answered, growing a little more serious

“I can’t believe it,” Kaylee moaned. She had lost her helmet somewhere along the away and looked dwarfed in the space suit. “Serenity didn’t tell me nothin’ when we left. That ain’t right.”

Wash nodded, looking unsettled. “None of our scans picked up any problems before we left. There’s no way we could have known about it ahead of time.”

Mal raised a hand and waved it, cutting him off. “Are we safe?”

Wash nodded. “ I think so. We’ll have to work some stuff out later but I think I can land her.”

“Her stomach is still sore but it won’t kill her,” River agreed softly, sliding to her feet. “I’m going to bed now.”

Mal stepped aside to let River by, frowning in consternation when she murmured at him. “Low tide still, held her, held, would have held time still, low tide, shivering on the sand, and they all come to see the tide pools.”

“I’ll . . . I’ll make sure she gets to her room all right,” Simon offered. He turned to catch up with River and accompanied her out of sight.

Inara was helping Kaylee out of her environmental suit; she was itching to get under the pilot console to see what Wash had done on his end. As soon as she was free, she scurried under Wash’s legs and looked at the panels he’d removed and groaned. “Whoever done it knew what they was doing.”

Mal nodded. “What was she rigged to do, though? They tryin’ to take these goods off of us?”

Jayne gave a massive yawn. “If we’re all done playing save-each-other’s-asses-in-the-middle-of-the-gorram-night, then I’m out of here.” He turned to lurch back to his bunk, pausing to ogle Kaylee in her pretty camisole as she pulled out from under the console.

Kaylee pushed past them and hurried down into the storage lockers. “You tore them,” she wailed when she saw the mess of there. Her voice, though muffled, was still pretty audible.

Wash shifted uncomfortably. “It pained me to do it as much as it pained her.”

Wash looked at Mal again, before smiling weakly at Zoe. “She was jury-rigged to eventually fly into Logos,” he stated. “Or explode if we tried to slow down. I’m guessing whoever did it didn’t care about the merchandise—they wanted us dead.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Of course, this is all guesswork. Maybe some mysterious, potentially homicidal friends of ours just wanted to test our reflexes.”

“Hui di xiong de zhu!” Mal cursed. “Can see folks wantin’ to steal the goods, sure. Expensive lot, probably worth a pretty penny, but why the hell’s anyone gonna want t’see us meet a fiery demise when it’d take the cargo out with us?” Mal paused to think about that. “Not like there’s any profit to that.”

“These screws’re stripped!” Kaylee exclaimed from below. “You get down here, Wash, or I swear I’ll come up there and—”

Wash winced a little but grinned too. He addressed Mal. “I don’t know why they’d want us to go all explodey, Mal. Why don’t you call Hector and have a little chat with him about that?” He moved towards the ladder. “I was a very bad boy to Serenity and I’ve got a mechanic who isn’t going to let me sleep until I apologize good and well.”

Mal nodded. “Something seems real off ‘bout all this,” he noted darkly.

Before Mal could elaborate Zoe called down the ladder. “Kaylee? Think you’d best be puttin’ some proper clothes on ‘fore I send my husband down there with you.”

“You think I'm naked?” Kaylee demanded hotly, moving to the bottom rung and looking up at Zoe. “She’s got wires hangin’ all over, panels off, and there ain’t no way I’m gonna get this all fixed without some new wiring that someone refused to buy her.” She clambered up the ladder, glaring. Her pretty camisole was now covered in grease. “And it was lacy, too” she said, gesturing to the ruin of her garb accusingly.

Mal sighed, snapping out of his reverie; he needed to take things one step at a time. “Get you some new wires on Persephone,” he promised, trying to placate her.

She folded her arms over her chest. “And my camisole?”

Wash raised a hand, sheepishly. “I’ll buy you a new camisole, Kaylee.”

“Better,” she muttered, pushing past as she headed off to find a jumpsuit for herself. “Since I lost my shoes.”

Mr. Universe stepped into Serenity’s cargo bay, fingers steepled in front of him as he appraised an unhappy-looking Mal. Wash, Jayne and Zoe were standing beside the cargo. Mr. Universe wore a smile but his eyes seemed slightly troubled. “I’m very, very impressed with your accomplishment, Mal,” he said easily. “Of course, you’ve got a great pilot,” he added and a hand reached out, gesturing to Wash. “We went to school together, you know.”

Mal’s face was stern and hard. “I know.” He was not in the mood for Mr. Universe’s flamboyancy. “You find out who those men were and you tell me. Just about cost me my ship and the nine lives on it. That don’t sit too well with me, nor does the notion they got a mole. That concerns me and it should concern you.”

Mr. Universe nodded, thoughtfully. “Believe me, I’ll find out who it was. You can run but you can’t hide from the wave,” he grinned. “That’s my motto — or it would be if I ever stuck to a motto.”

Wash muttered under his breath, to Mal. “He’s been like this ever since I knew him.”

Mal kept his expression hard and kept his attention on Mr. Universe. “We work for you again, we get paid in advance.”

This caused Mr. Universe to laugh. “You want compensation for your troubles, Mal?” He looked Mal over carefully. “Greedy, greedy. It doesn’t suit you.” He gave Zoe and Jayne a quick once-over and then winked at Zoe. “I’ll throw in a bonus, if you want.”

“Bonus don’t necessarily make up for bein’ called greedy when all I want is to make sure there’s no such trouble in the future, for myself and other folk.” Mal retorted angrily.

“Greedy probably wasn’t what he meant,” Wash interjected hurriedly. “Probably... more — smart, hard-headed business man, right?”

Mal turned back to the matter at hand, allowing Wash’s chatter to pacify him. “You sure none of them names on Hector’s crew ring a bell with you?”

The younger man shook his head. “I’ve been dealing with Hector for years. I know he’s trustworthy. I don’t think it was me they were after. But I will find out who did this and then you’ll see the power being the eyes and the ears of the ‘Verse can bring.” He gestured broadly. “With just a few key strokes I can crash their bank account, put out a flag on the Cortex for their ident cards, perhaps slip in an outstanding felony on a few track records.” He grinned. “All I need is a name, Mal, and I’ll get it all taken care of.”

Jayne muttered, under his breath, “I’m glad he’s on our side.”

“I’ll be sure to give it to ya, as soon as I know,” Mal muttered darkly. “In the meantime, we’ve got your cargo and would really like to get it off our ship so we can leave.”

Wash smiled nervously at Mr. Universe and stepped forward. “He’s just a little grumpy – get’s like that when he nearly gets killed and his ship almost blows up, which happens a lot more often than the rest of us would like. Plus, we’ve got some repairs to do.”

“Understood,” Mr. Universe said. . “I did good, hiring you. You brought me my equipment -- in tact -- and some incredible drama. I’ll definitely use your services again.” He walked past Wash, running his fingers over the cargo affectionately, until he reached the smallest box. “And this,” he grinned happily, “is the most precious cargo of all.” Waving imperiously at Jayne, Mr. Universe gestured to the crate and watched with delight as the larger man pried it open.

Wash nodded. “Lovely. Well, it’s been great almost getting killed for your sake. We’ll have to do it again sometime soon.”

Mr. Universe grinned and looked up from the crate, focusing on Wash. “I’ve got my eye on you, now. Buy your wife something pretty with all that coin.”

Wash grinned at that. “Will do.”

“It’s only fitting,” Mr. Universe continued as he reached into the crate and pulled out a long, thin tube. “Since I’ve just bought something nice for mine.”

Wash did a double take. “Wait, you’re married?” He asked and then he stared at the item in Mr. Universe’s hand. “What the —”

“Not yet,” Mr. Universe chuckled. “But this could be considered a wedding present. The date is fast approaching.”

“Ain’t sure she’d like you showin’ that sort of thing off to common folk,” Zoe noted seriously and put her hands behind her back as she drew to attention.

Mal tried hard to maintain his serious expression, but found it cracking.

Mr. Universe looked at them all curiously and then stared at the item in his hand. His expression suddenly lit up and he laughed. “Oh, you’re all so very naughty!” he chided. “No, this is for my lovebot, Lenore.”

Wash shook his head. “I don’t see how this is saving face at all.”

Mr. Universe gave him a scolding glare. “It’s a spinal patch,” he replied and shook it. “It’s to increase her agility.” His grin widened “Though I’m hardly surprised you mistook it. You always were…kinkier…than I was.”

Wash straightened up, slightly indignant. “Hey, now, this is a conversation I’m suddenly very uncomfortable having.”

“Captain ain’t interested in hearing it, neither.” Mal crossed to the cargo and gestured to it. “So, why don’t we take this load of —” he reeled himself in, “very fine merchandise off my boat, so we can get on our way?”

Mr. Universe carefully packed the spinal patch back away. “Can do, Mal. And, don’t fret about what happened. Like I said, all I need is a name and I’ll take care of it.”

“Great,” Mal answered tersely. “Now, off you go. Jayne, Zoe – let’s get this stuff unloaded.”

“So, any ideas on who might’a wanted us dead?” Wash queried later, as he prepared for take-off. It hadn’t taken long to unload the cargo, and they had all breathed a sigh of relief when the cargo doors had shut.

Mal shook his head and crossed his arms. “Don’t rightly know but whoever it was, I figure they weren’t after Mr. Universe or none of that cargo.” He stared at Wash for a bit and then returned his gaze to Zoe. “Think we got another enemy out there, all to happy to see us get taken down.”

“Tends t’be the case, sir. Got a plan for what t’do about it?” she questioned.

Mal shook his head. “Would like t’hunt the hundan down and kill him myself, if I knew where to start, but we got a schedule to keep.” His eyes narrowed. “We check the ship over every time we take off now. Can’t risk that happenin’ again.”

“I’ll tell Kaylee, sir,” Zoe agreed.

Mal looked like he was about to say something else when River slipped onto the catwalk.

The girl was bare-foot, as usual, and she carried a box in her hands. She was wearing the one dress she had that fit her properly, the pink one.

“You need somethin’, darlin’?” Mal inquired.

River nodded. “Kaylee’s cross. She says there aren’t enough spare parts to fix her, so she had to take apart the shuttle.”

“We’re going to need that shuttle —” Wash began, but Mal cut him off.

“I’ll deal with Kaylee.” Mal turned and left the cargo bay, his captain face on. “Wash, get us prepared to take off.” He looked at Zoe. “Go make sure the shuttle is safe for lift off.”

Zoe nodded and started up the other stairwell.

River moved closer to Wash once they were alone together and they began walking towards the cockpit. “Here.” She thrust the box at him, her face wearing a kind of anxious anticipation.

Wash had gotten used to River carrying around strange things lately: knitting and broken pieces of Kaylee’s machinery and the like, so her giving the box to him came as a surprise. He took it hesitantly, not sure what he’d find inside. “What’s this?” he questioned and shook it ever so lightly as they ascended the stairs and came out on the crew quarters.

River smiled at him. “Full circle.”

“Huh?”

“Full circle,” she repeated. “You lost something, came here to sulk, taught me, I learned, and now you get….” She gave him a prompting look, like an impatient schoolmistress.

“Cookies?” he teased. He really had no idea what was in the box but he figured it’d make sense once he opened it. They reached the cockpit, and he started up the stairwell. Once he had sunk into his chair, he slipped the lid off and was quite perplexed, for a few moments, to see a beautiful pair of leather ladies sandals sitting inside. Then he laughed. “My shoes!” They weren’t exactly his but they were quite similar and obviously from the same heist. He took one out of the box, inhaling the heady aroma of leather as he did. “River, where did you get these?”

River looked evasive. “Now someone else has lost them.” She rubbed the toes of one foot against the ankle of the other. “But you should have them.”

Mal called along the corridor as he arrived in the cockpit. “Got Kaylee sorted out, but you better give us a gentle take off, Wash. We’re just pasted together with spit and love and I ain’t sure how far that’s gonna get us. We need to get to a proper port and buy some parts.”

“One gentle take off, coming right up, Captain!” Wash called, shoving the shoe back into the box and slapping the lid on it, before sliding it beneath the console. He put his hands on the yoke and looked over to River with a twinkle in his eyes. “Thank you,” he said softly.

When Mal entered the cockpit moments later, the two were still grinning at each other. “You and my pilot friends now, River?” he questioned lightly as he moved forward to pick up the intercom system.

“Some people trust,” she said, turning away from him, hiding her face again behind the ever-ready veil of hair. “Some people trust or don’t worry, don’t wait and watch to see what’s wrong, what’s next, there’s always something…”

“We all have our moments, River, but there ain’t a man or woman on this vessel I don’t trust.” He glanced to her briefly and then inclined his head. “Wouldn’t be on this boat if I didn’t.”

River's face lit up at that, and her pose shifted. For a moment there was no uncertainty to her and she looked like the heroine she had been, holding the ship steady as it had nearly shook apart.

Wash, glancing over his shoulder briefly as he took off, saw it clear as day and couldn’t help wanting to sustain whatever small burst of confidence she was feeling. “River was a big help when the bridge locked down, you know. Helped to...figure out what happened; kept me calm.”

Mal arched an eyebrow, looking between the girl and his pilot. “That so? Nice t’know you can put that big brain of yours to good use,” he commended. “Keep it up and pretty soon you’ll be gettin’ a cut of the profits, huh? Well, we keep bringin’ in hauls nice as this one, maybe that won’t be such a problem.” He crossed his arms and surveyed the sky beyond them with a sense of pride. “You did good, folks.” He looked at the two of them again. “You all did pretty gorram good.”

Smiling now, River was left somewhere in between heroine and ghost, she was left — a girl, and that was enough for her, and more than she got most days. So she leaned against Serenity and closed her eyes, feeling the hum as they burst through the ion clouds and returned to the peace of the black.

After everyone finally left the cockpit, Wash took his new shoes back out of their box to study. They were too small for Zoe but they were still exceptionally well made and maintained that heady real leather aroma he found so appealing. River had given them to him and he’d appreciated the gesture greatly and wanted to keep them, just to add to his strange menagerie of toys and bright clothes, but he knew they weren’t his to keep.

They were Kaylee’s shoes and she’d been fretting about them for a while now, fearing Mal would be upset with her if he found out she and River had taken shoes from their cargo. He wasn’t going to come between Mal and Kaylee. He also wasn’t going to let on to Kaylee that River had taken her shoes; the girl’s friendship was more important.

He caressed the supple leather heel one last time and smiled at them before he set them back into the box. He would slide them under the engine before he went to bed. Kaylee would find them in the morning.

Zoe was waiting for him when he finally slipped in beside her. He could tell from the expression on her face that something was bothering her. “What’s wrong?”

“Well,” she began, “we delivered the goods and got the money.”

“But,” he prodded. “I can tell when there’s a but involved.”

“But,” Zoe agreed, looking a bit pained, “Mal estimates the cost of repairs will eat up a lot of what we made.”

“Tan xin ji,” he moaned softly and rolled onto his back, staring hard up at the ceiling. “It would figure.”

“It was a good contact though,” she coaxed and put a hand over his chest, rubbing softly. “Even the captain thinks so; weren’t your fault what happened. Captain should’ve paid more attention, anyway.”

“He had warning this was going to happen?” Wash replied, a hint of confusion in his voice.

Zoe nodded against his shoulder. “River was having one of her fits in the cargo bay ‘fore we lifted out of Athens. She was sayin’ strange things ‘bout . . .” she waved her hand, unable to explain. “Well, you know how she gets. But the captain just waved her off.”

Wash sighed. “How does he do that, Zoe? How does he trust someone completely one day and then turn around and stop the next?” He seemed completely bewildered. “And how can you agree with that?”

She shook her head. “Baby, we’ve danced this dance before. I’m not going to argue with you. He’s the captain; I follow his orders.”

Wash touched her softly, his fingers warm and light. “But you know sometimes he’s wrong, Zo’ and sometimes it’s okay to disagree with him.”

She raised her hand to fold it over his. “I know, husband,” she replied. “And when it’s important enough, I disobey.”

He squeezed her softly. “I just worry that one day you’ll side with him when you shouldn’t have and you’ll end up regretting it. We could have died tonight.”

Zoe’s other hand rose to caress his cheek. “That’s the kind of life we lead.”

Wash leaned into her touch and closed his eyes. “All the more reason we ought to stick together. Seems to me, we got more enemies than friends.”

An old enemy sat by himself in front of a monitor, staring at the information he'd just received over the Cortex. It was not the news he had been looking forward to.

Snarling, he looked up at a large board he had in front of him. It had a schematic layout of Serenity on it and beside it was Malcolm Reynolds wanted poster. Hissing, he pulled a knife from his boot and hurled it at the face glaring at him.

He was missing an eye, so his depth perception wasn't as good as it used to be. The knife missed Mal's face, imbedding itself in the corkboard instead.

Laurence Dobson pushed himself up out of his chair and crossed to the poster. He pulled the knife out of the board and leaned in close to the picture. With a flick of his wrist, he effectively sliced the throat of the poster. The bottom half of the page cut free and drifted down to settle on the trash-riddled floor, before it was crushed beneath his heel.

Discuss this episode

Title: Flying Blind
Writers: Van Donovan & Sophie Richard
Executive Producers: Michelle Makariak (Michmak)
& Jen Hook (Mistress Shiny)
Special Edits: Michael A. Haines, Allan J. Sanders
Art: Loketari
Head of Animation: TaeRowyn
Proofreaders: Tiera & Allan J. Sanders