Space never ended. It never began. It just was. A huge empty blackness sprinkled with glittering stars. The entire span of human history, all of its accomplishments and atrocities, left barely an impression on the endless nothing of that black canvas. Space wasn't the final frontier. It was the only frontier. None of these thoughts, however, were passing through the head of Captain Malcolm Reynolds as he strode down the corridor that connected Serenity's cockpit to her cargo bay. The former independent sergeant clambered up a small flight of metal stairs and into the cockpit.
The pilot sat in his usual seat, staring out at the stars while he swiveled the rotating chair back and forth. "How's she flying, Wash?" Reynolds inquired. "Oh, just terribly," Wash replied, turning to face his captain in mock horror. "We're headed straight for a black hole, sir. I don't think any of us will make it out alive." Noticing the look on Mal's face, Wash became serious. "She's flying fine," he said. "We should arrive back at Persephone three hours ahead of schedule." "Perfect," Reynolds said, seeming satisfied. He clapped the pilot on the shoulder. "Good job, Wash." "That's what you pay me for, captain," Wash replied cheerfully. "Um…you are going topay me, right?" Reynolds scoffed. "Don't worry. This job'll gain us a pretty penny, and part of that's gonna be yours." Wash seemed satisfied, but couldn't resist one last joke. "I'm pretty sure part of a penny isn't worth much, cap." Mal rolled his eyes upwards and sighed, turning on his heel and walking out of the cockpit. Wash turned back to the console, and noticed a flashing red warning light. He checked the monitors and paled. "Oh, 熊貓尿."
Simon Tam looked into his sister's face, his concern evident. River had been having another one of her episodes. She'd almost gotten completely out of control, and he'd been forced to sedate her. He brushed some strands of hair from her forehead. Even drugged and asleep, River didn't seem peaceful. "It's getting worse," he commented to Shepherd Book, who was standing a few steps behind him. "I thought she would start to get better, but she keeps relapsing." Book replied hesitantly. "Sometimes, healing doesn't come straight away, but with time." "We've had time," Simon snapped. "All she does is get worse and worse. She seems lucid one moment, but with every relapse it takes longer to bring her back to some semblance of sanity. If you have a suggestion that doesn't involve doing nothing and waiting for her to magically get better, I'd love to hear it. "
Book was silent, and Simon felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He looked away from the Shepherd. "I'm sorry. It's just…hard." Book approached and put a comforting hand on Simon's shoulder. "It's never easy to see someone you love suffer," the priest replied. "Losing yourself every now and again is...understandable." Simon nodded, looking back at River. Suddenly, Wash's voice came on over the intercom. "Attention everyone," he said breathlessly. "We have a reaver ship closing in on us at six o'clock. I'm going to try to outrun them, but you may want to get ready for a fight." Simon's eyes widened. Book looked past him at River, still sleeping, undisturbed by the grim news.
Mal rushed back to the cockpit, closely followed by Zoe and Jayne. "What the hell are you talking about, Wash?" Jayne demanded, looking nervous. "Ain't no gorram way a reaver ship's out this close to Persephone." "Okay, you look outside and tell me that's not reavers," Wash challenged, indicating one of the monitors with a finger. The vessel following them was torn and mangled, with spikes of rusted metal emerging from the hull at several points. Dozens of bodies, some fresh, some bare skeletons, were lashed to the bulkhead. And it was covered in the distinctive bloody paint of a reaver ship. Jayne's eyes widened. "青蛙操的流氓," he swore in a loud whisper.
Mal retained his composure and calmly began formulating a plan. "Can we burn hard and outrun 'em?" "I don't think so," Wash replied. "Look at that engine. It'll catch up to us easy." "Then we gotta come up with another plan," the captain said. "How long til they reach us at their current speed?" "Looks like…about an hour," Wash declared. "At most." Mal nodded. "That's plenty of time to do what I got in mind." "And what exactly do you have in mind, sir?" asked Zoe. "You'll see," Mal replied, turning and walking swiftly towards the engine room.
Kaylee frowned, furrowing her brow. "I don't know, cap'n. She ain't never done somethin' like this before," the young engineer explained. "It could blow the atmo feed, or fry the reverse power coupler, or…"she trailed off, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. "Well, we ain't got much choice, now do we?" Mal replied flatly. "Look, odds are they reavers are gonna catch up to us mighty quick. They'll take Serenity. You don't want that, do you?" Kaylee shook her head. "Good. Now get her ready." Kaylee nodded again, and Mal put a hand on her shoulder. "Everything's gonna turn out all right, don't you worry." And with that, he left the engine room. Jayne was leaning against the wall outside. "Jayne," Mal said, beckoning the mercenary over. "Listen," he said, voice low. "You stay with Kaylee. If this idea don't work, the reavers will most likely be boarding us. If that happens, I want you to make sure neither of you suffers at their hands. You understand?" Jayne swallowed, then nodded. "Yeah, I got it." Mal patted him on the back. "Good man. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got something to take care of."
"No, Mal." Inara's voice was steely determined. "I'm not leaving you again." The captain gritted his teeth and pressed his case. "Oh, so you're just gonna stay here and let the gorram reavers have their way with you, huh?" Inara lowered her voice to a whisper. "You know I won't let that happen." Silence filled the small, luxurious shuttle. "Yeah," Reynolds replied eventually. "I know. But you should give yourself a fighting chance." "The reavers could catch us just as easily as Serenity, Mal. Besides, I can't-" began Inara, but the captain interrupted her. "And what about Simon and River? And the Shephard? They deserve a fighting chance, don't you think? I ain't asking you to do this 'cause I think you're soft. You're the only one 'sides Wash can pilot this shuttle. If things get pear shaped, they'll need you. And I need to know you'll be there for them." Inara saw the determined light in Mal's eyes and relented. "Alright," she said finally. "If the reavers board us, I'll try to get the others out of here." "Much appreciated," said Mal as he left the shuttle. "I'll send them up." Inara watched his retreating back. He may be smart, she thought, but he still can't tell when I'm lying.