"I thought this was supposed to a simple job!" Mal yelled.

"Since when has anything with you been simple, Captain?" Zoe fired her pistol, nodding in satisfaction as the target fell. "I knew we should have brought Jayne with us."

"He was busy. "

"Busy? Let me tell you what he was doing—"

"Later, Zoe. I'm a little busy right now," Mal aimed his rifle. "Out of bullets!" He stared at the dozen men closing in on them. "After facing Reavers and the Alliance, I didn't think I'd die at the hands of outer-world settlers!"

"No." The word was almost hidden by a rapid burst of gunfire. First one, then another of the men fell.

"What the—" A man began before falling to the ground. The others whirled around to look, some getting shot in the process. The pop, pop of gunfire suddenly ceased.

"I don't suppose that's Jayne, finally out of bed." Mal muttered.

Zoe rubbed her eyes. "Don't think so. Looks like four or so still alive, but with the wounds they have, they won't be bothering us."

"So, who do we have to thank for this amazing rescue? The sun is messing with my vision. "

"Captain, do you see what I see?"

Mal blinked. "Wuh duh ma huh ta duh fung-kwong duh wai-shung doh*! Do you see a little girl?"

The girl's brunette hair, pulled into two short pigtails, matched her worn-down jacket and plaid dress. She could have come from any planet in the 'verse, could have been any daughter of settlers scratching for a living without regard of politics—except for the still-smoking gun in her hand. "You folks alright?"

"We're fine, honey." Zoe managed to reply.

"Well then," The gun fell into the dry sand. The girl plopped into the sand and began digging.

Mal glanced at the child. "Do you think we're safe?"

Zoe raised her voice to compete with the wind. "Well, here comes Serenity, so we have backup. I've seen many things, but nothing to make me think we can't handle a child. Even if she does shot like Jayne."

"Tick tock, goes the clock, and what now shall we play? Tick tock, goes the clock, now summer's gone away." The girl's song, barely interrupted by the roaring engine, sent chills down their spines.

Serenity pulled to a stop, shaking the ground as Walsh landed. The ramp moaned as it folded out into the dust. Mal and Zoe stood up, still casting glances over at the child.

"I see you managed to get yourself into a bit of trouble, Captain. " Shepherd Book grinned out at them. "And who's that?"

"That, my friend, is the reason we're listening to your wisecracks instead of the heavenly choir." Mal wiped his brow. "Never seen nothing like it before. She shot several before they even heard the gun."

"Seriously?"

"I saw it, Preacher." Zoe nodded.

Book walked off the ramp. "Let me talk to her. " He plopped down into the sand next to her. "Hello."

"Hello. Is that your hair?"

He chuckled. "Yes, it is."

"I like it," she went back to shifting sand.

"Where did you come from?" Brook started scooping the sand. "Don't you have parents looking for you?"

"No," she shook her head. "No parents. "

"How'd you get here, then?"

She looked up at him for the first time. "I was in the suit. My suit. Good girls shouldn't get out of their suits, she says, but I did. I got out. And I ran. I ran and I fell and I was here."

"Your suit?" Mal leans in closer. "What suit?"

The girl waved her hands around her head, indicating a helmet. "Mine."

One of the fallen men stirred. "Captain, we'd best be getting out of here. Inara knows where to find us when she's finished her job." Zoe called. "Little girl, are you from here? Do you know how to get home?"

She shook her head.

"We can't leave her here," Book commented.

"Well, then…" Mal looked back at her. "You sure you aren't from around here?"

She nodded again.

"Then how would you like to come for a ride?"

*Holy mother of God and all her wacky nephews!