"Come she will."

"River, you need not worry yourself so much 'bout this girl," Mal admonished. "Not gonna do one thing positive, you workin' yourself into a right proper fit over this."

River rolled her eyes and continued her pacing between the table and the kitchen.

"Mei mei, please, sit down and eat. The Captain's right."

"Nobody listens to the girl!"

"Cause you jes ramble on," Jayne complained while chewing. "If 'n' you'd make some sense once in awhile, folk might jes listen more seriouslike."

"Do you really feel compelled to do that," Inara asked while wrinkling her face in disgust.

"Do wha?"

"Eat with your mouth open," Kaylee complained, scrunching her eyes and shoulders in similar disgust.

Pointing his knife at River, Jayne protested, "Well, if 'n' Lil' Crazy would keep quiet, I wouldn' feel the need to talk none."

"Come she will," River insisted. "Needs to understand she does."

"Captain, River is usually right about these things. Shouldn't we prepare for an ambush? The cargo won't arrive for another day. We can't leave," Zoe pointed out.

"Thank you! She needs somebody to listen," River mumbled, stopping her pacing long enough to hug Zoe around the First Mate's shoulders.

Irritated by the course of the conversation, Malcolm raised his voice and spoke. "Well, what would you have us do, Lil' Alabtross? Dig trenches, set out land mines, hire additional muscle?"

"No, clean Serenity so she can give a proper welcome."

"That would be shiny," Kaylee exclaimed. "The ole gal hasn't been prettied up in awhile. She'd just love gettin' all gussied up for company."

"I swear Mal, she's feng le. She has plum lost it this time," Jayne exclaimed, shoveling in the last of his food.

"A bit o' cleanin' in the cargo bay might not be a bad idea."

"What? Mal have you lost your mind?"

"No, Jayne. Just thinkin' of ways to hide you and Vera before this other River gets here."

xxxxxxxxxx

Surrendering control of operational planning was not one of Sarah's strong points. Even when John was the mastermind, it made Sarah feel uncomfortable. Being delegated to the sidelines with Derek and John made the situation almost unbearable for Sarah.

"Mom, unless you feel like being the bait, you need to relax and not draw attention. Cameron will get the information."

"Sarah, this guy is no good. He's already seen Cameron and hit on her. She'll just go into infiltrator mode and get what she needs. Then we can go."

Derek meant well, but his words had the opposite effect on Sarah. Ignoring the looks of her two male companions, Sarah stood and quickly walked over to the bar and joined Cameron.

Without glancing at the family matriarch, Cameron monotoned, "Sarah, this will go much easier if you leave this to me."

"How many times have you picked men up in a bar?"

"This Badger has already hit on me. I remind him of Allison 2. It would be better for us if he did not meet you."

"We need this intel so we can move on to something more productive. Leave it to me Girly."

"Sarah, did I not successfully obtain the needed ID information to create the swipe cards at the nuclear plant?"

"I don't see a pool table," Sarah responded. "Just how do you plan to get this information?"

"I'm going to ask nicely," Cameron answered. Turning to face Sarah, she tilted her head to the right, stuck her bottom lip out and blinked her puppy dog eyes twice while scrunching her shoulders upward.

It was rare to see Cameron looking so helpless, causing Sarah to laugh. "This Badger doesn't know what he's up against, does he Tin Miss?"

Holding her pose, Cameron batted her eyes twice more and smiled sweetly.

"Don't start a brawl," Sarah admonished, standing to return to the table with John and Derek.

"I won't," Cameron promised, turning to face forward. "You're usually the one who does that. I just finish them."

Biting her tongue, Sarah ignored Cameron's impudence. Sitting down next to John, she leaned over and whispered, "You are doing something about her programming when this is done. We can't have Tin Miss going Terminator stubborn on us. She can't lock in on something like this and be unreasonable."

An impish grin spread across John's face. "Mom, you're just irritated because you're not in charge. This could be a good thing. Could be a bad thing. We just have to wait and see."

"John, we don't have the intel to know what is going on," Sarah protested.

"Exactly. We don't even know how far in the future we are. We don't know anything. Finding this Allison could answer a lot of questions for us. Make things easier."

"Sarah, you always harp on getting all the intel," Derek threw in, enjoying watching her stew. "You can't always be the boss. John's right. We don't know anything. Let Cameron do the heavy lifting. It's what we keep her around for."

An older waitress approached, carrying their lunches. She sat them down, smiled once at Derek and strolled away, not noticing the snickers of John and Sarah. Derek ignored their mirth, watching the entrance. The door opened, and as Cameron had predicted, the bowler wearing crime king swaggered in, followed by his two thugs.

Noticing Cameron's purple jacket, Badger adjusted the angle of his bowler, nodded to his two henchmen who promptly took seats by the door. Swaggering confidently to the bar he sat down next to Cameron and nodded to the establishment's proprietor.

Taking care to speak carefully and lessen his thick English accent, Badger tried to initiate a conversation. "Good day, luv. How are you today?"

Cameron glanced at Badger in silence, barely raising the corners of her mouth in a smile.

"Now, now," he responded. "No cause to be like that." Badger smiled and touched his hat. "Remember me, Badger? Introduced myself yesterday I did."

"Oh, yeah."

Irritated by Cameron's intransient attitude, Badger reached inside his coat and pulled out a small silver flask. Removing the cap, he poured a small amount of the contents into the steaming cup of black coffee placed before him. Scowling, the small criminal returned the flask to its resting place.

"Isn't it a bit early for that," Cameron commented in her flat monotone.

"Now, don't go judgin' me none, it's been a stressful day. A businessman like me has lots 'o' stress to deal with, what with all the deals I make and problems I have to solve."

"I see," was Cameron's response.

Deciding to take a different approach, Badger turned around, his back now facing the bar. Glancing at Cameron, he nodded.

"You related to River, ain't you?"

"Don't talk to me about her," Cameron snapped.

"Oh, you is, ain't you!" Badger exclaimed, glee shining in his eyes. Feeling like a window of opportunity had opened, either to learn more about Mal and his crew or to get Cameron out of her clothes, he leaned closer.

"Now, now, I won't hold you bein' her sister against ya none. We can't help who family is."

"No, we can't."

"Did you two pretty lasses have a fallin' out, now luv?"

"No. She stole from me, lied about it, got me in trouble and then skipped town."

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but your sweet little sister has fallen in with bad company, she has. Runs with the crew of the Serenity now, capt'nd by a fellow name of Reynolds, Malcolm Reynolds."

"Where can I find this Serenity?"

Badger stood up and moved close to Cameron, slipping his arm around her waist. "Make it worth my time, luv, and ol' Badger will take you there himself." He patted Cameron's bottom twice and smiled.