Somewhere close by, a large explosion went off, startling the Doctor awake. He sat stock upright, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He assessed the situation quickly. Ace was laying within arms reach and had her backpack with her, baseball bat stuffed in the side pocket. The two of them were outdoors, at night. He felt the dirt that he was sitting on. Damp, but not muddy, from a recent rain. There was a strong smell of oxidized magnesium in the air, meaning that the explosion that woke him was apparently commonplace; they should get to cover quickly. There were trees nearby on both sides of them, and a mountain ridge close by to the right.

He poked Ace with the tip of his umbrella. "Ace! Wake up. It's not safe here." A fighter jet flew overhead just then, as if to accentuate the point.

Ace stirred and mumbled, "Professor?"

"Yes Ace, it's me. Please move!" he replied, standing up.

Ace sat up and looked around. "How did we get here professor?"

"I don't know. I suspect we were drugged and transported here," the Doctor said urgently, "but we can figure that out after the bombing run has passed, hmmm?"

That got her attention, and she rolled over, getting to her feet quickly. She bent back down and looped one strap of the backpack over her shoulder, the asked, "Which way?"

The Doctor pointed at the tree line to their right. The trees wouldn't provide much cover from a bombing run, but there could be caves in the side of the mountain nearby. "Run!" he yelled, as in the opposite direction he could see the bomber coming around for another pass.

The two of them ran the fifty or so yards to the edge of the tree line. "Not much cover, but at least we aren't so tempting a target," the Doctor said under his breath. He swung around and clung to a tree trunk, watching the bomber approach as Ace caught her breath at his side.

He could see now that there were several bombers in a line, and they were carpet bombing the area. Explosion after explosion shook the ground as the ships grew closer. Ace took the Doctor by the arm and tugged, but he stood resolute. At the last moment before reaching the tree line, the line of ships pulled up and disappeared into the night's sky overhead. The Doctor's eyes followed them until they were pin pricks against the other stars, then looked back across the barren field they had woken up on.

The trees to the other side were now ablaze, and now that the ships' engine roar had died down, he could hear the sounds of men screaming, and of gunfire. In the distance, far beyond the burning trees, he could see tracer rounds streaming skyward against the dull glow of more distant fires.

Wherever they were, it was in the very heart of a war.

Ace tugged at his arm again, and this time he let her turn him away from the carnage. "Professor," she said, "we can't stay here. They're bound to come back."

"Hmmm," was all he said. Then he licked a finger and stuck it in the air. He turned to his left and pointed. "South, I believe. Toward the mountains. If there aren't any caves, at least we may climb high enough to see a nearby settlement." Then louder, "Come along, Ace," and he headed off, weaving between the trees.

They walked along with only the occasional snapping of a trodden twig to make noise, until a more distant snap made Ace pull up short. "Professor," she whispered loudly. He stopped, and they both listened silently. They could hear movement behind and to the right of them, and voices too low to be made out. "Should we hide?" she asked, but the tell-tale whirr of pulse rifles warming up, told them they were too late.

"Hands in the air!" someone yelled, and several figures in battle armor moved into sight.

The Doctor and Ace raised their hands. "Please," the Doctor called out. "We don't want any trouble. We're unarmed."

"There couldn't be any civilians out here still," called another voice.

Then the first one spoke again as the group encircled them. "On your knees!"

Ace asked frantically, "Professor, what should I do?"

"Just do as they tell you, Ace," he said urgently, getting on his knees and lacing his fingers behind his head.

The one giving commands came around in front of them with the muzzle of his rifle directly in the Doctor's face. "Are you Alliance or Independents?"

The Doctor smiled for the briefest of moments before answering. "I can honestly say..." he said, looking at the soldier's insignia, "Corporal, we are as independent as they come."

"Uh, huh," the corporal responded. "Cuff them. They're coming with us until we can verify their identity."

Cuffs were quickly slapped on the Doctor's wrists, then on Ace's. They were lifted to their feet, then pushed ahead of the soldiers. They made a good pace and the ground they were walking on soon turned rocky.

"Look at that Ace, we're heading in the same direction anyway, only now we have strength of numbers," the Doctor said.

"Yeah," Ace replied sarcastically. "I feel so much safer now."

They marched on for a short ways with the Doctor actually seeming to enjoy himself until he heard a sound that made him stop. He turned around and looked up. "Another bombing run!" he yelled.

"There's a cave ahead! We can make it if we run!" the Corporal shouted.

"That's just the point!" the Doctor retorted. "Can't you see they are funneling us there?"

"Doesn't matter, it's the only safe place from the bombing!"

"No!" he yelled. "We have to turn and run the other way. Toward the bombers!" The Doctor put his hands around in front of him. He had removed the handcuffs.

"How do we survive the bombs that direction?" said another soldier. The Doctor quickly scanned his armor for insignia.

"We take out the bomb before it reaches the ground, Sergeant, and run underneath." He turned to Ace. "Ace, did you bring any nitro-9 canisters with you?"

"No," Ace replied.

"No, meaning yes?" the Doctor clarified as he approached her.

"Yes," she said and turned around so the Doctor could access her backpack.

The Doctor unzipped it and rummaged around for a moment until his hand closed over a metallic cylinder which he quickly withdrew. "I need an accurate timer this time. Two seconds, no more. This is important, Ace."

"Got it, Professor. I've been working on it," she responded. "Turn the top, two clicks to the right is two seconds."

"Whatever you're doing, you'd best be quick," the sergeant said urgently.

"Tell your men to run on my command, Sergeant." The Doctor turned toward the sound of the explosions. He felt the ground tremble as they got closer. He stood resolute until he saw the sky brighten from a very close explosion. "Run, Sergeant! That way!" He pointed toward the explosion and ran. He twisted the nozzle on Ace's canister, counted one beat and threw it, up and forward.

The squad, the Doctor and Ace ran at full speed for the next second and a half, then there was a tremendous explosion, much larger than the others and directly overhead. It threw them to the ground and set the trees above them on fire. Their ears rang and their skin buzzed, but no one was injured.

The sergeant recovered first and stood up, yelling orders that no one could quite hear. There was another explosion behind them, then the line of bombers banked skyward again.

The Doctor stood up and helped Ace to her feet. The sergeant's squad formed up around him. The Doctor put a hand on the sergeant's shoulder, then a finger to his lips. He pointed to the left and up, just outside the tree line. A dropship came down just above the ground, and paracord ropes lowered the rest of the way. A squad of soldiers rappelled to the ground, and the dropship took off again. Some orders were shouted and the squad ran straight for the cave ahead. They took up positions and shouldered rifles, then two squad members moved forward and lobbed grenades into the cave. There was a bright flash and dust exploded from the mouth of the cave.

"That would have been us, Sergeant," the Doctor said, handing Ace's handcuffs over to him.

"Much obliged. I never did catch your name."

"I'm the Doctor," he replied, tipping his hat, "and this is my companion -"

Another voice called out, "We have you surrounded!" A group of soldiers in black as opposed to the Independent brown entered the area, weapons trained on them.

A captain stepped forward with a cocky expression and surveyed the group. He shook his head and smiled. "We don't need any prisoners," he said, and walked back out. "Private?"

One of the soldiers stepped forward and pointed a gun at the sergeant. His finger tightened on the trigger.

"Wait!" the Doctor yelled, stepping in front of the sergeant. "You don't have to do this!"

The private fired.

The bolt hit the Doctor full in the chest and he fell silently backward. His hat fell to the ground. The sergeant caught him and eased him to the ground. The Doctor coughed once, blood spraying from his lips. "Medic!" the sergeant called out.

Another soldier approached and knelt beside him. So far, the Alliance soldiers held off firing any further. The Doctor shook his head and pushed away weakly at both the sergeant and the medic. "No," he whispered, which caused a coughing fit and more blood. "No," he said again with greater strength, "stand back. I'm going to regenerate now. Please, stand back."

"Professor!" Ace cried out and ran to his side.

The Doctor smiled weakly. "You too, dear Ace. Stand back," he coughed again and started to glow lightly. He lifted his hands up to his face.

The sergeant stood up and removed his helmet. It was the captain from the ship they had been on. "No one's regenerating today, Doctor," he said. Then he looked to the medic. "Doc, can you bring him out of it?"

The Doctor put his arms back down, but the glow remained in front of his eyes. The stars began to fade and the glow coalesced into a single round point; a bare bulb above him. The sergeant's uniform faded away as well, replaced by a maroon shirt and braces.

The medic's uniform faded as well, and the trees around them were replaced with cargo crates. The sounds of distant explosions were replaced with the hum of a ships engine which the Doctor could now feel thrumming through his body. The medic, whom the Doctor now recognized as the man who had introduced himself as Simon said, "They're coming out of it on their own." He looked down at the Doctor and said, "I'm going to see to your companion now. You're safe. You'll be fine in a moment."

"Doctor," said the Captain, "welcome back aboard Serenity."