Summer is Icumen in, Loudly Sing, Cuckoo!

Serenity ploughed through the Black with a comfortable purr of her engines. The crew had finished dinner and most of them had wandered off to their various quarters with just a few stragglers remaining behind. In the lounge area, Jayne sat playing with his rain stick. He tilted it slowly from side to side and the gentle trickling sound filled the room. After a while, he began to twirl it like a baton. Then he grasped it by one end, flung it up, watched it flip over in the air, and caught it by the other end. He did this once, twice, thrice. The fourth time his hand slipped and the rain stick landed on the floor with a crash.

Hunter leapt up from the seat where he had been snoozing, jumped on top of the kitchen units, skidded, lost his balance and landed in the sink. Shepherd Book, who was doing the dishes, leaned aside but couldn't escape the deluge. Water splashed as far as the dining table.

"Well done, Jayne," said Zoe, "you've made it rain."

With an expression that dared anyone to laugh, the cat shivered and began to groom himself.

The lights dimmed and crackled and then went out.

"Not again," cried Zoe as she jumped up. She scanned both hallways, but no fireball appeared. Mal and Wash came jogging up from the cargo bay, wielding flashlights.

"Where is that girl?" demanded Mal. "Kaylee? KAYLEE!"

"'s matter?" came a stunned voice from the engine room. Kaylee had been dozing in her hammock.

"Kaylee, I need you to find out what happened."

"Engine's running okay, cap'n. Listen to her. 's just the lights, I think. Something short-circuited."

"Well, find it and put it right."

"Sure. Jus' hold that flashlight for me."

As Kaylee began hunting for the fault, voices drifted up from the passenger dorm.

"Hello?" Simon called. "What happened?"

"Nothing too grievous, it would seem," replied Mal. "Just stay where you are; your biggest danger at the moment is that you fall and break a leg."

"'s nothing here," said Kaylee after a while. "I need to check the secondary circuit board on the bridge."

Mal and Wash followed her, still holding the flashlights. Kaylee set to work.

"Got it!" She held up a piece of gear. "Gorram rat has managed to gnaw its way into the circuit breaker." She pushed the electrocuted rodent away with her boot. "Need to put in a new one and we should be fine. Wash, get me one from the supply cupboard."

Wash handed her the part and she fitted it. Sure enough, the lights came back on. Methodically, Kaylee performed a number of checks.

"Goushi!" she exclaimed. "The main Cortex receiver is fried."

"Meaning what exactly?" asked Mal.

"Meaning we can't receive a Cortex signal."

"What, none at all?"

"None at all."

"But you have a spare!"

"This was the spare. The original one was blown out in the explosion last month."

"Huh." Mal turned to Wash. "But we don't really need the Cortex, do we? You've set the course."

Wash shrugged. "In principle, yes. But I need a Cortex signal to steer clear of other traffic, especially once we reach orbit. I can't autopilot us to Limpton's backyard. And then there's asteroids and space junk and other fun stuff. We should land somewhere as soon as possible."

"Won't we have the same problems wherever we land?"

"Yes, but the longer the journey lasts, the more likely some kind of collision becomes."

"So what do you suggest?"

"We're set to pass Persephone in about eight hours. Once we have visual on the planet, I can change course. I could find the Eavesdown Docks in my sleep."

"Right." Mal gave a grim nod. "Persephone it is."

oOoOo

"I thought you said you could find the Eavesdown Docks in your sleep!"

"I didn't think it would be overcast!"

"Are you telling me you have no idea at all where we'll be coming down until we're practically on top of it?"

"I'm not making for the docks anymore. I'll try and bring us down a good bit outside the city, where there's more space. That way, we might not kill anyone."

"Good luck with that!"

oOoOo

When the noise had died down, Mal grabbed the intercom.

"We're good, people. Stay put till we check things out." He looked at Wash. "More space, eh?"

Wash looked sheepish. "I'd forgotten about the forests."

"Well, looks like you've been reminded."

A snapped spruce tree nodded gently in front of the windshield. Beyond it, copious amounts of greenery insinuated themselves into the field of vision.

When the crew emerged on the ramp, they felt stunned by the unfamiliar smell of foliage and damp soil. In spite of the cloudy sky, the air was pleasantly warm. A soft breeze tugged at the women's hair.

"Okay, people, looks like we're lost in the woods," said Mal.

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" said Simon.

"Care to elaborate?"

"I remember you once saying the woods were the only place where you could see a clear path."

"Huh."

"Nice place for a break," commented Shepherd Book. "We can commune with nature here."

"We what? Sounds dirty," said Jayne.

River was beaming. "I hear birds! Cuckoo!" She began to wander off.

"River, stay here!"

"Cuckoo!"

"It's okay, doctor," said Mal. "We'll be here for a good few hours, if not a day or two, depending on how much damage those gorram trees did to the hull. Just don't let her stray too far. And don't get lost! Cut notches in the tree trunks with your machete or something."

Simon, Inara and the shepherd followed River, who was skipping ahead under the trees. Mal addressed the others.

"Zoe, Jayne, you take the shuttle and get over to Eavesdown Docks to get a Cortex receiver. Wash, Kaylee, let's see if our boat's been scratched."

"Cap'n, look!" cried Kaylee and pointed. The landing gear had sunk into the spongy ground and down the legs scurried dozens of small brown bodies. "Shepherd was right, they must hate the smell of a cat. They're taking the first opportunity to leave."

A ginger shape flitted down the ramp and disappeared into the underbrush.

"Hunter, no!" Kaylee ran after the cat.

"Kaylee! KAYLEE! You won't catch him. He'll come back by himself."

"What if he won't? What if something happens to him?"

"He's a cat," said Mal. "He can look after himself. Come on, we need to survey the damage."

For once, they'd been lucky. Serenity's underbelly was plenty scratched but nowhere punctured. They began to pull off the branches that had become stuck in every imaginable crevice.

"We should keep these for Christmas," said Kaylee. "Make a nice wreath."

oOoOo

"Cuckoo!"

Simon was about to dash in the direction of the noise, but Shepherd Book held him by the arm.

"That wasn't her, son, that was a real bird."

"River!" Simon looked panicky. "River, come back!"

"She can't be far." The shepherd turned his head. "Now, where's Inara gone?"

"I'm here." Inara stood in the shade of a massive oak tree, her arms lifted high, her head tilted back, her eyes closed. "Just breathe this air!"

"We need to find River!"

"Don't fret so much, Simon." She let her arms sink. "She's a child, she wants to play in the woods. She'll come back when she's hungry."

"How can you be so lackadaisical about it? What if she gets lost? What if something happens to her?"

"Cuckoo!"

Inara grinned.

"Cuckoo!"

Simon followed Inara's eyes upwards. In a fork of the oak tree sat River with her feet dangling. She giggled.

"Fooled you!"

"You really are such a brat!" Simon laughed.

In the distance, a sound like barking dogs arose.

"Hunters," said River.

oOoOo

Mal, Wash and Kaylee had been too busy to pay attention to the barking. They were nearly finished stripping the unwanted greenery of the ship when they finally became aware of a commotion. From among the trees, a pack of dogs emerged, followed by about a dozen red-clad horsemen. Ahead of the pack sprinted -

"Hunter!" shrieked Kaylee.

The cat raced barely a foot ahead of the dogs. Before he could reach the ramp, one hound leapt forwards and brought him down. The other dogs piled on. Kaylee screamed.

Gunshots tore through the air. Two dogs fell to the ground, the others fled when Mal, Wash and Kaylee rushed towards them. Kayley scooped up Hunter, tears running down her face.

"He ain't dead. Please, please, he ain't dead."

The hunters drew up their horses beside the bodies of the dead dogs. The surviving dogs hid behind them, yelping. A stout, middle-aged man shook an angry fist at Mal.

"Are you out of your mind, man? Whatever did you shoot the dogs for?"

"They were attacking one of my crew."

"Nonsense, they were only chasing after a cat."

"Cat's got a job on my boat, that makes him a crew member."

Another rider came to the front now. He was tall and slender and sat on his grey horse with effortless self-assurance.

"I believe we have met before, Captain Reynolds."

It was Atherton Wing.