o Serenity o

The back door of the ship was opened in a very inviting way if it weren't for one Companion pacing up and down in front of it. She had taken her shuttle for a little flight to the other side of the moon they had landed on, where she had met a charming young man. Inara knew she would be the last one back on board before they would leave again, only that seemed to be the problem right now. The away team hadn't returned as of yet and at that they were over two hours late already. She stopped to look for any sign they were returning but nothing appeared on the horizon and while praying they were safe she continued her pacing.

The moment she heard the gunshots she knew something had gone wrong. Not that many of the Captain's transactions went right ever, but this time a very unsettling feeling started to creep up her spine. She could distinguish the cloud of dust that accompanied the small group of riders and quickly informed the pilot to start up the engines so they could leave this moon, in a hurry if that were the case.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds jumped of the horse he was riding and hurried inside his ship, closely followed by his companions. They were sweating and breathing heavily as if they had just ran the 100 meters in record time. The Captain turned at the door as he noticed it going up, quickly telling Wash they were on and could leave the gorram moon. Satisfied the ship was moving he turned towards the stairs but froze as he suddenly noticed he was one member short then when they had left earlier. They had left as a 5-man team not a 4-one.

"Kaylee?" Malcolm turned back to the door and hailed Wash to turn back and land again.

"Captain?" Wash's obvious confusion was audible in his voice.

"Jayne, where's Kaylee?" The man spoken to blinked as he remembered he had been paired off with the ship's mechanic.

"She was right behind me." His voice took on a defensive tone. They weren't going to blame him for leaving Kaylee to the mercy of those that had ambushed them during their attempt of fair trade.

"Behind you?" Zoe glanced back and forth between her Captain and the crook, they had picked up during one of their trades gone wrong. "She should have been in front of you!" Zoe noticed how much self-control it took for Mal to be as contained as he looked, though she knew he could explode any second now.

"Sir, it's too late to go back. Who ever those men were, they will have caught her by now." Zoe tried to reason with the Captain, although she knew it would probably be a lost cause anyway. "Captain, we might still find her if we leave now."

"Zoe, I'm not leaving little Kaylee behind on this gorram piece of rock!"

"Captain, I think Zoe is right. We should leave now and come back later to look for trails. They might still be out there." Shepherd Book stepped up next to Zoe. "I am sure they won't hurt Kaylee."

"If they came by ship, we can follow them."

"Wash!" The proverbial light bulb had definitely sprung to life inside Malcolm's head as he called the pilot over the intercom. "See any ships on the radar?"

"Err... A small fighter-class one on the other side of the planet. They're in a hurry."

"Follow them!"

"What?"

"Just do it! I'll explain later." Malcolm turned around and bumped into Inara, who hadn't yet said a word and had been standing in the shadows, not wanting them to know she had been there in the first place.

"Why don't you explain right now?" Inara's eyes locked with Malcolm's, who felt himself shrink at least 5 inches under her stare.

"If this ship is indeed the one that brought those gorram hwoon dahn, then maybe they'll lead us to wherever they're taking my mechanic."

"And you are sure they took Kaylee?" Inara let her gaze drift and noticed Zoe had changed position, closer towards them.

"Not a 100 percent, if that's what you're asking." Zoe stated out loud. "But it's our best shot."

"If anything happens to Kaylee, I will hold you ... and only you responsible for it." The Companion turned away, not giving Mal or Zoe the chance to reply. She disappeared in her shuttle and slammed the door shut, at least as far as that slamming was even possible. But, no matter how much noise she would make out of anger, she knew Mal had gotten the message pretty clearly. They wouldn't be seeing her any time soon, which was probably the best if they didn't want to end up in the onboard Doctor's care.

xxxxx

o TBC o