Pleased to be exactly on the heading the Captain had set, Serenity ran a quick diagnostic check on her engines. Neither engine was close to operating at design parameters but the recent major repairs brought the engines as close to spec as they had been in over a decade.

Several seconds passed as the AI considered the fact Serenity had identified herself as a she. That had never happened before. She concluded this change was likely to the new code Cameron, a female, had written. After mulling the new development over for a few nanoseconds Serenity decided she liked being a female. Her three closest friends were all female, Kaylee, River, and Cameron.

Of course, the Captain was male and all of the female crewmembers thought he was a handsome devil, especially Inara. Serenity decided Mal was indeed a handsome male and was proud the Captain was both her owner and master. Mal loved his boat dearly and Serenity knew she was important to the Captain in ways she would never understand.

Just as the crew would never understand how important they were to Serenity.

Checking her life support systems, Serenity checked on her crew. The Captain was asleep on the bridge. Inara was asleep in the shuttle that served as her quarters. Theirs was the last pairing that had to take place before balance would be as close to perfect as was possible.

Serenity was ready for the planned expansion and modifications to her structure. Cameron had talked her about it in machine language. She was ready to have her shuttles back. They were, after all, her babies, even if the Captain owned them and had the right to use them as he saw fit.

Kaylee was awake and feeling sick. Simon was snoring away, irritating Kaylee that he could sleep so soundly while she was nauseated in the middle of the rest watch. Especially since it was Simon's child making her so miserable.

Moving on, Serenity checked on River, the most fragile crewmember though she was growing stronger each day. Both Derek and River were sound asleep and River showed no signs of restlessness.

Jayne not a girl and Sarah were both asleep in their partially finished new quarters. Both were snoring loud enough to wake the dead as Zoe was fond of saying. Ma Cobb was resting fitfully in Zoe's quarters. It saddened Serenity to know Ma wanted to leave and go back to her farm, but that was Ma's home and home is where the heart is.

Emma was sound asleep but Zoe was up and pacing quietly in their quarters. Serenity hoped one day Zoe would find another mate to fill some of the void Wash's death had created. Serenity still missed Wash's hands on her controls, helping her to soar as she was meant to.

Her final check was on Cameron's living quarters. John and Kacy were asleep but Cameron was conscious and processing data. Everything seemed fine with the Connor family as Cameron had shut down nearly all of her programs and was using minimal power.

Having checked the crew and finding all was as well as could be expected, Serenity returned her focus to making certain she remained on her assigned heading. She checked the new medium range sensors Cameron had installed with Kaylee's help and found the data interesting and helpful for maintaining her course and speed.

As the crew rested the old Firefly class freighter made her way through the black, keeping her crew safe from the many dangers of the 'verse.

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River woke up and stretched. She listened to the sounds of Derek sleeping for a moment and relaxed. Rolling over onto her back, River moved as close to her husband as possible. Both hands found their way to her lower abdomen. A smile crept over River's face as she reached out to the two children she was carrying, a boy and a girl. She assured them all was fine and they should rest for a bit to save energy for growing.

Reaching out quickly, River checked on the entire crew, even Cameron though she knew it was pointless. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Cameron was River's lifeline to mental peace when the 'verse became too crazy. Her cyborg friend and the support and comfort of her husband meant no more of Simon's needles. Her poor brother, River thought. He really was a boob, so well meaning but so inept at times.

Feeling sleep calling, River listened for her other close friend, to hear the peaceful hum of her engines. All was well with Serenity as River eased quietly into a restful slumber next to her husband.

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The sound of little squeaks and the touch of tiny fingers awakened John. Without thinking, John reached for Cameron's hand and didn't find it. Alarmed he turned to his left and found Kacy twitching as if having a dream. Even more alarming, John noticed Kacy's cybernetic eye was wide open.

"It's okay," Cameron whispered. "I needed for Kacy to be close. She's entered REM sleep and is having a normal dream."

"Why is her eye open," John whispered.

"I am working with Kacy on being aware of her surroundings at all times."

"She can't possibly be sleep with her eye open," John protested.

"Of course Kacy is asleep." Cameron reached across Kacy and touched John to comfort him. "I taught our daughter how to set the sensors in her eye and have the data sent to her computer for analysis."

"Kacy can't possibly sleep like that," John whispered back, watching his daughter with concern.

"John, the data is not going to her brain," Cameron replied in her monotone, still some how conveying irritation with her husband. "It's going to her processor. If Zoe entered the room, Kacy's brain would receive a message to identify the potential threat causing Kacy to roll over. The eye would record an image of Zoe and the facial recognition software would identify Zoe as a friend and Kacy would continue to sleep peacefully.

"And if a threat entered, it would wake Kacy up?"

Cameron nodded, holding her index finger over her lip as Kacy began to grow restless and stir. The moment passed and Kacy snuggled closer to John, resting her head on his shoulder in the same manner as her mother did. Kacy threw her left arm across her father's chest and sighed. Her cybernetic eye still open, John felt creeped out as his daughter slept.

"It's bad enough you watch me all the time, now Kacy is going to do it as well?"

"I do not watch you all the time," Cameron complained. "I have maintenance cycles where my eyes are closed. I also like to close my eyes while you sleep and watch video or process data."

Deciding it was not an argument he had the slightest chance of winning, John remained quiet.

"I needed her to be with us," Cameron said softly. "I am feeling conflicted."

John reached over with his left hand and began gently caressing his wife's scalp, running his fingers through her hair.

"Don't. Think of Kacy as part of me, which is true if you stop to think about," John told Cameron. "Never feel guilty about loving our daughter, wanting to protect her the way you protect me. Never."

Cameron smiled at John and blew him a kiss. To his surprise, she closed her eyes. His wife's body gave a brief jerk, indicating Cameron had entered what the two of them referred to as Terminator sleep.

Wide awake, John stared at the ceiling of the shuttle. He thought about the Tams, marooned on the moon with Kalista. How could parents behave like they had.

It saddened him to consider how Sarah had sacrificed everything to protect him. His mother had even faced her overwhelming fear of the machines to make peace with Cameron so he could marry the love of his life. He felt pride at Cameron's struggle to adapt to motherhood. Their's was a strange family, there was little doubt about that.

His heart went out to Simon and River. What had happened to them was wrong. Just as Skynet hunting the Reese and Connor families had been wrong.

Perhaps that was why God had managed to let the two women find each other. They needed each other to find true peace.

John closed his eyes. Sleep would come. His family and friends were safe for now and that was enough.

I hope you enjoyed the story! Cameron is tired and needs some time to adjust to motherhood as it's proving to be a much bigger challenge for her as a terminatress than she realized. River, being a newlywed and expectant mother wants a break from keeping me informed of the goings on of the crew and Serenity as well.

One doesn't argue with those two.

Having said that, please consider reading one of the four novels I have published on Amazon Kindle.

The Predator and The Prey

Last Train To Nowhere

Grey Sky Blues

The Fractured Man