The Serenity was cold and dark, her walkways chilling to just above freezing. It was on night cycle, and no one was awake. No one except a lone figure in a nightgown, who walked so gracefully and silently that it appeared she was a ghost.
River felt a little guilty, walking around without Simon's permission. He would be worried, he'd think it was dangerous. But she couldn't help herself. She needed to get out, to walk in the dark, to feel the ship's heartbeat thrumming beneath her feet. She loved the ship, more than almost everything but Simon. Simon would be worried if he knew that she never wanted to leave the ship. It felt like home.
She quietly tiptoed along the passageways, entering the main cargo room. She climbed up the side of the stairs and leaped up onto the third level, making for her favorite spot. Gracefully, River swung herself up onto a rafter and shimmied forward until she reached the highest one. She laid down on it, closed her eyes, and listened.
River could hear a song. It was in the distance, coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. It was beautiful, but sad, caressing her soul with its melody. It seemed distant, but all around her, like all the light and good in the universe was singing to her. It was calming. It let her forget, just for a moment, that she was a monster. Slowly but surely, River went to sleep.
The TARDIS was at it again. The floor was rising and falling, buttons were blinking, and in the middle, trying to control it all, was a skinny man in a white shirt and pinstripe pants. "No! I want to go to Harraxia! No! NO!" The Doctor yelled to the TARDIS. She was flying wherever she wanted to go, and he couldn't stop her. Bad things usually happened when the TARDIS took him somewhere he didn't want to go. There was a loud THUNK and The Doctor fell to the floor. The TARDIS had stopped. "Where did you take me this time?" He asked. He was still mumbling to himself as he walked over to the doors. Reaching them, he grasped the handles and immediately flung them wide… and was almost blinded by the sunlight.
The TARDIS had landed in what appeared to be an old-fashioned town that looked like it had sprung right out of the Wild West. Except for the occasional hover-cart. "Well this is odd," The Doctor muttered. "I haven't been 'round here before." He gave the air one big sniff. "Not the 1800s then. What time is this?" He closed the TARDIS doors and walked over to the TARDIS's interface. "Well," he said, "It can't be too far away from 1832." He looked at the interface. "What?" The screen said December fourth, 2518. "What? That can't be right." He went back to the doors and sniffed again. "But it is! This is very strange. What's a town from the old west doing in 2518?" He puzzled over it for a moment, then sighed. The TARDIS had him hooked. He turned to the TARDIS and shouted "O.K., you win, I'll have a look around." He donned his best brown coat, found his favorite sonic screwdriver, psychic paper, and for good measure as well as protection against the sun, he put on a Stetson. 'Weird thing to name a hat, but hey, it's a weird hat.' He thought. This was going to be interesting.
River woke sharply, at the exact time she needed to. Rest cycle was almost over. She rolled off the platform, casually grabbing a chain on her way down, swinging towards a walkway, and then used her momentum to do a flip and land on her feet, making less noise than a cricket's step. Relaxed from the light exercise, she silently tiptoed back to her room and got back in her bed. She fell asleep again, but this time there was no song. She could feel what terrified everyone, and in her dreams everyone's irrational fears became her irrational fears, like darkness or spiders, and there were always Reavers, the thing that scared her the most. Reavers feasted on her flesh, defiled her, hurt her in horrible ways, and it was always terrifyingly dark, and other peoples fears came to life in her head, and it hurt.
Mal was on guard watch in the cockpit, making sure that they didn't accidentally run into Alliance, or worse. He always took the night shift, so their pet psychic could get herself some rest. He was thinking about the job they were going to do. A couple of people wanted transport from Aberdeen to Hera. It made him a bit nervous to be so close to Serenity valley, but the job was supposed to pay well and Inara wouldn't be required to see any customers, so he was fine with it.
Eventually, River came in and took over, and Mal walked back through the corridor and went to his cabin. After trying to sleep for an hour or two, he gave up and walked up to the kitchen to try and find some coffee. He found most of the crew already there. Jayne was in the corner chair, drinking coffee with one hand and trying to sharpen a knife with the other. Zoe was sitting in her chair at the table, staring off into space. Inara was there, looking gracefully beautiful as always. She also had an extra cup of coffee for him, which was a bonus.
Thanking her for the coffee, he turned to the group and said, "alright everyone. Our next job is… well, different from the other ones." "You mean it's legal?" Jayne interrupted. "Um, yes, it's legal. It pays quite well, and it only requires us to transport some cargo-" "What kinda' cargo?" Jayne interrupted again. "Jayne, if you would stop interruptin', I'd get to that. We're actually goin' to be carryin' some people-" the crew all started talking at once."People? Mal, you can't get involved in the slave trade! We've done enough to anger people already-" Inara interrupted. "Would everyone just let me finish my gorram talkin'!" Mal shouted. Everyone stopped talking. "Alright, then. We're goin' to be taking some Passengers, and I mean paying passengers, from Aberdeen to Hera. Does anyone have a problem with that?" Simon poked his head in the room. "I do, actually. Mal, What are we going to do with River while they're here? The Alliance has stopped chasing us for now, but there's still a bounty on our heads. What do we do when several people that we have never met before, who may be undercover bounty hunters or Alliance agents, come on board?" "Ummm… well…" Mal tried to think of an answer. Another voice came from the other hallway. "I can hide myself, Simon."
River's voice made everyone jump. She had entered the room so quietly that none of them had noticed her. "We can't just turn down their offer, it's worth twelve thousand platinum." River said. Jayne sat up strait. "Twelve thousand platinum! Mal, how many passengers are we takin' on?" "Oh, five or six, I think." Mal answered."How are we gonna fit six extra people onboard?" Asked Zoe. Mal replied, "Aberdeen ain't very far from Hera, so they won't be here for long. What's the worst that can happen?"
Just outside of the room, a figure stood up from where he was listening. 'You'll see, Mal. You'll see.' He thought. Then a mad grin slowly lit up his face as he pulled out a golden pocket watch. I seemed to stay there, floating in the air, even after the man disappeared in a flash of light. It stayed to watch the coming chaos.
