Unlike most six year olds, Meadow was taken very seriously when she threatened to runaway. After all, with who her mother was, there was no doubt that she could fly one of the shuttles if she wanted to. Zoe's reconfiguring the start-up sequence would only slow her down for so long.

Zoe watched her silently for a few minutes before making her presence known. Meadow had packed her favorite dress and some protein into an old medical bag Simon had given her to play with, her teddy bear was sitting on the consul along with a toy dinosaur.

Kneeling down so they'd be near eye-level, Zoe turned to chair to make the girl face her. They sat in silence for a while, then Meadow launched herself into Zoe's arms. "You did good today, kid," Zoe assured her.

"I was so scared," she whispered.

"I know."

She trembled slightly as she said, "You were scared too. You're never scared."

"Now, that ain't true at all," she said firmly. "We just usually make you hide faster when Reavers are around."

"Mama got hurt."

"Simon patched her up. She'll be just fine." She pushed Meadow away so she could look her straight in the eye. "You remember what I told you about your mother and the Reavers on Mr. Universe's moon?" She nodded, her eyes huge. "As hurt as she was today, your mother would kill ten times that many Reavers to protect you. And then she'd tell you to finish your vegetables, dong ma?"

Meadow nodded and hugged Zoe again. "I won't run away this time," she promised.

"I didn't think you would," Zoe said lightly. "You're a lot tougher than the men on this boat give you credit for."

"Well, they're only men," she said dismissively.