"Wash, set us down there in the open, we'll use the mule to haul the crates and explain that there was a mishap with the extra one if they ask anythin' about it." Malcolm reported into his radio from the cargo hold with Jayne, Zoe and Mel preparing to lift the crates onto the back of the mule as the descended to the mining outpost.

"Mule's ready, Mel, c'mon up." Zoe waved for the big girl to join her on the machine, so Mel and Kitty moved to sit beside her on the back, where it was clearly more comfortable for her than the not-for-big-girls seats in the front, where Jayne was seated while holding his pistol in one hand, checking it over while they waited for Wash to land Serenity. "Not bringin' your hammer?" Zoe noted that the weapon was absent, not that Mel really needed it at all times.

"No, claws better now, use them if things get out of hand." Mel shook her head slightly, feeling Ram's amusement in her Lifelink. "But job honest and shiny, not need for violence. We just bringing food for them."

"Well, I see your point, but I also don't take a likin' to the notion of unarmed-edness, 'cause if they's was tryin' to pull one on Badger with that liquid metal crap, I'm none too keen on walkin' down that there ramp without somethin' that's sharp, and somethin' that shoots."

"But I have sharp." Mel held up her hand to indicate her claws, which glinted in the overhead lights for a moment. "You have gun. So I not need hammer."

"Mel's right, job's supposed to be honest and shiny, we shouldn't be walkin' out ready for attackin' folk." Malcolm stated as he sat in the driver's seat of the mule beside Jayne. "But... Jayne's right too, we're not just gonna walk out of Serenity unprepared either. So it's sidearms and claws only."

"Cap'n, we're landin' in about a half-minute, I can see our greetin' party already waitin' for us. Looks like four guys." Wash reported from the radio as he deftly slowed their descent and performed a neat, expert landing about a dozen meters away from the four men. "You are good for ramp, lowerin' it from here." Wash added as he hit the controls for it for them.

Both quartets approached each other and the leader of the miner's group spoke first.

"I'm Duncan, supervisor of the mine. You're the freelancer transport we hired through Mr. Badger?"

"That we are, I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Y'all ordered fifteen crates of food supplies, is that correct?" Malcolm held up a hand to indicate he was in charge.

"Fifteen of food, yeah, and a little birdy told me that another shipment we requested got mixed in with this job." Duncan nodded, noticing the distinctly regal looking Blue Jay on the shoulder of the tall pale-haired girl seated just behind the Captain. "A vat of silver coloured liquid, about the same size as the rest'a the food crates."

"That shipment was supposed to be separate?" Malcolm asked, then continued. "Well, there was a small mishap and that crate was broken open on the way here. A bit of that liquid got spilled on one of my crew. If that's any problem..."

"Not at all, stuff's called Firatite. It's used for strengthenin' our equipment, we use Titanium on our drills and pickaxes, that liquid makes the metal last a helluva lot longer, makes it more durable. Just a quick dip in the stuff and it's good to go down the shaft in under a minute." Duncan waved a hand dismissively. "Tell ya what, 'cause of the slight mixup and the spill, we'll pay the full price for the two shipments proper. Sanders, run back to the main office and grab the Credits for the Firatite shipment." Duncan turned to his left to address the man, who nodded and hurried back to the biggest building of the outpost. "Mind if I ask how the crate got broke?"

"I fell on it." Mel spoke up. "Firatite spilled on my claws, they Titanium too, so what we do now? We not in trouble for spill?" She held up her hand to show him her fingers ended in the curved claws instead of normal finger anatomy.

"Nothin' to worry about, just a broken crate and a little improvement for 'em." Duncan smiled slightly, amused by how the tall girl spoke in slightly broken English. "Nothin' bad happened, and nobody got hurt, so I don't see any reason to make a fuss."

"So how much is that Firatite shipment compared to what y'all offered for the food?" Jayne suddenly asked.

"About four times the food's price. Firatite's only able to fuse with certain metals anyway, so there's not much sense for it being used anywhere outside of minin', far as I know of." Duncan shrugged. "Right, while Sanders grabs the rest'a the money, I figure I should hand this over to you, for the food." Duncan reached into his pocket and produced a large wad of Credits, moving forward to hand over the money to Malcolm. "Mind if my guys start haulin' the food off your hands?"

"Of course, not a problem." Malcolm accepted the money and turned to Mel. "Mind giving them a hand while we drag out the Firatite?"

"Okay." Mel nodded and climbed off the side of the mule to begin helping the two men carrying the crates off the back, with her superior strength evident as she easily carried several at once. Kitty flew up into the air for a moment, then soared back into the cargo hold. Jayne and Zoe went back aboard Serenity to grab the vat of the liquid metal by the carrying handles on the sides and began lifting it out, while Malcolm kept on the mule until they were out of the way so he could reverse it back inside the cargo hold.

When they were done, Sanders returned with a stack of Credit bundles in his arms, handing them to Mel since her hands were free, and both parties gave nods and friendly waves before both of them went back to their lives, with the crew of Serenity walking up the ramp with satisfied smiles at the successful completion of a job without any bloodshed from the very start.

"So now that we know what the stuff's called, we don't need to worry about the stuff hurtin' nobody." Malcolm explained as he hit the manual controls for the ramp with his free hand, all three of them looking at Mel the whole time, until he noticed her gaze locking onto something further into the hold and her eyes went wide. So he turned, as did Zoe and Jayne, to find a very unusual girl with a white dress and big horns on the sides of her head sitting in the front seat of the mule.

"Hi." Malcolm spoke first, taking in the horned girl's appearance, and noted the Firatite glove on her left hand.

"Hello." The girl replied with a small smile tugging at her lips. "Before you get the wrong idea, I should probably introduce myself, shouldn't I?"

"Ram." Mel spoke up suddenly, sounding adorably stern to her partner. "What about work rules? You said they no let you be seen by anyone but me when you be as Ram, not as Kitty."

"Okay, I think we're missing somethin' here..." Zoe glanced between the two girls warily.

"You are." The girl, Ram, replied with a small giggle. "So let's start over with that introduction... Hi, my name's Ram. I'm Mel's Lifelink partner."


"Hold on a tick, you're the bird?" Jayne asked now that the crew were gathered in the bridge with Mel and Ram, while the passengers - except for James, who wasn't involved with the chat and was presently elsewhere in Serenity - were all gone by now, so they didn't need to worry about being overheard.

"Kitty, as you know it, is my avatar, a sort of living puppet for me to still be in contact with Mel when I'm not able to see her directly. I created him specifically for this purpose, so yes, I am the bird." Ram was sitting on Mel's lap, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the bridge while everyone else was gathered around the pair, and Mel was clearly holding her in a loving embrace from behind, while resting her chin on top of Ram's head. "So now that it's obvious, you're probably all brimming with questions about me and what I've said since I arrived, right?"

"Firstly, what is it that you do that stops you from seein' Mel in the flesh?" Malcolm asked with his arms crossed as he leaned his hip against the control deck for the helm.

"I'm a Liaison, which in terms you'd understand... is similar to a Federal Marshal for the Alliance. But my job isn't for a mere government. I am basically a field agent for keeping an eye on entire dimensions, and I work for someone that you would most accurately refer to as a God." Ram's gaze lingered on Shepherd Book for a moment before continuing. "But, as of right now, I'm off duty because Mel and I share a special kind of connection called a Lifelink, so certain rules are being bent to allow me to make the occasional visit to her."

"Lifelink?" Malcolm asked, since even he knew it was the same question on everyone's mind.

"It's like..." Ram began, but paused, thinking about how to put it into words. "Our very souls are connected, giving us a way to constantly feel what each other are thinking and know where each other are at all times. We're like the super improved version of soul mates."

"So is that why I can't read your minds right now? I can sense a blank patch in both of you." River commented, her expression clearly full of concentration as she tried to get through the void in their minds.

"That's partially true. You can read the rest of our minds just fine, but our Lifelink is immune to your ability to read minds." Ram replied. "Trust me, you'll never be able to get through a Lifelink. Doesn't matter how powerful anyone gets in the grand scheme of things, the big boss man himself won't let anyone mess with any Lifelinks, not just ours. Not even making a deal with him in person will work, because he's gonna just twist your own wording to suit his end of the deal over yours. Believe me, I've seen him do it more than enough times."

"Bad Ram, no make references." Mel pouted slightly, feeling a knowing shiver going up her spine. "Fourth Wall fragile when do that."