"KAYLEE! Get this ship movin'! I want to be off of this gorram planet in less than an hour." Malcolm Reynolds yelled as he walked past the engine room. He ran over to the bridge where Wash was playing with his dinosaurs. "Wash, how we doing?"

Wash jumped and set his dinosaurs down, "We're four hours out of Adenal. If that engine isn't fixed soon, we won't get anywhere."

"Alright, I just informed Kaylee of our schedule. She should get our girl up and running soon." Mal nodded to Wash and left the bridge. He wiped his eyes as he slowly descended into his bunk. Turning towards his bed, he froze. "JAYNE!" He screamed. The girl that lay on his bed jumped awake, screaming as she did so. "Who the hell are you?" Mal asked walking towards her.

The girl jumped from his bed, terrified. She scrambled back and tripped, falling to the ground and hitting the wall. Jayne stormed down into Mal's cabin, "What now!?" He saw the girl and paused, "Well, hell Mal. You've been holding out on us." He walked forward, "Where'd you pick her up?"

Mal turned and stared at him, "You mean she's not yours?"

"No, if she was mine, hell, why would I put her in your cabin? She'd be too busy in mine."

"Who are you guys?" The girl asked as she quivered in the corner.

"You don't know? Because somehow, you got on my ship, snuck into my cabin and invaded my space. That doesn't stand grounds for sleeping in my bed." Mal took another step closer, "What are you wearing?"

The girl gazed up at him, confused, "Jeans and a hoodie. I should be asking you what you're wearing. I've never seen clothes like that before."

Jayne stepped closer to the girl, "I like her already. How old are you?"

"Eighteen. Look, I don't know how I got here. I've never seen you people before. Can you just drop me off at the nearest airport and I can-"

"Nearest what?" Mal asked.

"Air-port? You know, planes, helicopters, lots of people? Okaaay. What century do you guys live in?"

Jayne cocked his head to the side as Wash crackled through the intercom, "Hey Mal, Mal, you there?"

Mal walked over to the intercom, "Yeah Wash, what is it?"

"Kaylee's got her up and running, everything okay? I heard you yell for Jayne earlier."

"Everything's fine Wash, let's get moving."

"What are you doing? Why can't you just let me off here, wherever here is."

"You know Captain, I think that she's like River. Not all there," Jayne said, spinning a knife near his head.

"Hey!" She yelled, "Seriously, what's going on?"

"Where do you live?" Mal asked as he watched Jayne sit down on his bed.

"Milwaukee."

"Where's that?"

"Wisconsin?"

"Is that an outer planet?"

"A what?"

Jayne sat up, "You want me to shoot her?"

"Shut up Jayne. An outer planet? Or moon? Is that a moon?"

"Wisconsin's a state."

"A state where?"

"In the United States of America."

"You are making no sense whatsoever."

"EARTH PEOPLE! Hello! Am I in an insane asylum, is this some sort of prison, or a dream? Must be a dream, because all the people I know know that they exist on Earth!"

"She's talkin' about the Earth That Was," Mal whispered to Jayne. "Honey, I'd hate to tell you this, but the Earth That Was died five hundred years ago, along with anybody left on it."

"Funny, that's very funny. So what, we're just flying around space having a great old time?"

"Well, we never have a great old time. There's crappy food and little entertainment," Jayne said as he listed the things on his fingers, "Then there's the being shot thing, Reavers, our Captain, Reavers, no women to prey on, Reavers, and oh yeah, Reavers!"

"What are Reavers? A disease or something?" The girl asked as she sat up.

"People who kill other people and do things with their bodies you can't even begin to imagine." Mal walked and stood over the girl, "How do you not know any of this kid?"

"They don't have people like that where I come from. I mean, we have killers, always have, and actually, one person did do the whole eating flesh thing, but he's dead. We don't have societies of people doing that. Look, I don't know what kind of game this is, but I just want to get home."

Mal reached down and grabbed the girl by the hoodie. He heaved her to her feet and threw her on the bed next to Jayne. Jayne raised his eyebrows to Mal and then studied the girl. "You touch her and I shoot you Jayne," Mal told him before anything bad happened.

"Well, hell then, what I am still here for. I'll be in my bunk." Jayne left immediately to the privacy of his own bunk as Mal turned to the girl.

"Name."

"Peyton London. You?"

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds."

"Captain?"

"As in this ship."

"We're on a ship?"

"So far as I know. What year is it?"

Peyton looked at him curiously, "2006. Why?"

Mal stayed silent for a while and then looked at Peyton, "Hate to break it to you, but this is 2506. You're living 500 years in the past."

"Or you're living 500 years in the future."

"I'm not going to play games with you. Now, I have to go and since I don't think that leaving you unattended is a good idea, you're gonna come with me with no fuss. Hear? Or I will shoot you."

"Right. Shoot me."

Mal pulled his pistol out and aimed it between Peyton's eyes. "I wouldn't hesitate." He grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her to the ladder, "Head on up. One misstep and you won't be walkin' anywhere." He motioned for her to go up, and Peyton hesitantly complied. Mal reached the landing and stared at the girl who looked more lost than he's ever been. "What? Haven't you ever seen the inside of a ship before?"

"No."

"Oh, okay. Well then this way. I have to head up to the bridge to check on Wash." He steered her to the right as they climbed the little bit of stairs to the bridge. Wash was fooling around with his dinosaurs again. "Wash!" A dinosaur flew up into the air.

"What!? Oh, Mal, it's you. Okay. Who's that?"

"Hoping you had some idea. Stowaway somehow. I don't have a gorram clue how she got on my ship."

"Impossible. We've been moving for four days straight."

"Exactly my point. Everything looking okay?"

"It's all fine…what is she doing?" Wash asked pointing at Peyton.

Peyton walked up to the window of the ship, placing a hand on the glass. She gazed out into space and never blinked. "Wow."

"She claims she's never seen space before," Mal told Wash sarcastically.

Wash shook his head, "You can't fake that reaction Mal. People who haven't seen the brilliance of space can't fake it."

"How many planets are there? Because in English class, we were just talking about how mad we were that they declassified Pluto from being a planet."

"There's over a hundred for sure, and Pluto is one of them. It's cold there though, not many like it." Wash grinned and leaned back in his chair.

"I use to study the stars when I went to Florida. We'd sit in the dark on the boats and just gaze at them, but I never knew there were so many."

"They come and go, it's a process," Mal rolled his eyes at her continued awe. "What's Florida? Another state?"

"A gorgeous one. Thousands of animals, coral reefs, and the Everglades. Alligators, crocodiles, sharks, the list goes on. The hurricanes were horrific though. But I was so beautiful."

"I read about those things, the Everglades. Looks like a swamp to me. Lots of weird looking creatures. Big teeth and long. Beasts if any."

"That would be a marsh and the beasts are alligators, and they're lazy. The ones in the Glades are able to be touched (wouldn't recommend it folks). But they are deadly."

"Okay, now that we have that settled. Let's get you to the doc."

"I don't need to see a doctor' Peyton argued as Mal dragged her away.

"Yes you do. Because in my mind, you're as screwed up as can be."

"Funny, 'cause you're the exact same way in mine."