Mal came in a few minutes later. He was holding a portable screen. "You need t' take a look at this."
"What is it, Cap'n?" Kaylee asked.
Mal handed her the screen. "Wash just picked this up."
Kaylee showed it to Simon, who had opened his eyes upon the captain's entrance. It was a map of the part of the verse where Serenity was, showing the ship and the things she was closest to. And, appearing out of nowhere, what seemed to be a beam of light was pointed directly at the ship. "What is that?" Kaylee asked.
"It's a wave," Mal replied. "And it's pointed right at us… but we're not pickin' it up on any of the screens at the bridge, cept for just residual energy. It's comin' in, but it's not meant fer the rest of us."
All three looked at River.
"It's from the PRFO," Mal said decisively.
"How is it getting to her?" Simon wondered.
Kaylee shook her head. "Could be anythin' – jewelry, a plate in her brain, a drug somebody's slipped her… anythin' big enough to conduct a signal."
Simon got up, even though his legs had fallen asleep. He gently peeled the blanket from his sister and did a quick check to see if she had somehow started wearing jewelry without him noticing. "It'd have to be something big, right?"
"Not necessarily," Kaylee answered. "Could be small, if the PRFO's got good enough machines."
"Well, it's not jewelry." Simon rocked back on his heels. "I don't see any, except for that stupid ankle bracelet she bought on Persephone last time we were there… and that's not metal, so it can't be a transmitter."
Kaylee leaned forward and gently reached into River's hair near the back of her neck, as though trying not to disturb the sleeping girl, as though she had forgotten the girl was drugged. "Here." Her fingers came out clutching something small. She opened her hand and there in the center of her palm was a tiny gold disc with a bright red stone in the center and a clasp on the back. As they watched, the stone seemed to glow with an internal light.
"What in the gorram hell's that?" Mal asked.
"Betcha it's a transmitter," Kaylee said with a wry smile.
"How did you see that?" Simon asked in wonder.
"Just got lucky, I guess."
"We need to destroy that," Mal said. "The faster the better."
River moaned in her sleep and tried to swing her hands at something, trying to fight, the chains clanking and restricting her movement. "The damage has already been done," Simon said sadly. "They've already had enough time to imprint their message on her brain. There's no telling how long that's been there."
"Kaylee, destroy it," Mal ordered.
"They've probably been able to track her movements," Simon mused. "They know where we are."
"Kaylee," Mal said warningly.
Kaylee put the disc on the ground and stomped on it with her boot, once then twice. When she lifted her foot again, the transmitter was broken into very small pieces. Simon brushed them into his hand and put them carefully into a clean handkerchief he had in his pocket. "We'll throw this off at the next stop."
Kaylee nodded solemnly.
"We need t' interrogate Mr. 'I've-Lost-My-Memory' in there," Mal said, taking the portable screen back from Simon. He left with a scowl on his face.
"They must a' put that on her when we weren't noticin'," Kaylee said to Simon, who was still sitting in abject horror.
"I never let her out of my sight," Simon said.
"Cept when she's on jobs with the Cap'n." Off Simon's look, she continued, "Not that I think the Cap'n's lettin' anybody harm our girl here, but he's not always with her when they're on a job."
"What are we going to do?" Simon asked, still in shock. "Her brain's all scrambled again… I don't know if we have enough drugs to keep her sedated through this."
Kaylee shrugged. "So don't sedate her."
"What, and let her run wild? Have you forgotten…?" He touched the bandage on his forehead gingerly.
"Keep her in here," Kaylee said. She knew it wasn't the greatest solution, and she did hate to see little River confined by the heavy chains, but she knew that otherwise they'd be spending all of their time and energy fighting off a teenage girl who could turn anything into a weapon. "Stay with her, let her talk it out, maybe she'll tell us somethin' useful about our spy. I can stay with her while you sleep."
Simon touched River's face and found it to be cold, but at least she was still breathing. He looked up at Kaylee, who was standing over him. "We'll do what we have to do. Thank you for the kind offer."
In response, she bent and kissed him on the cheek. "Anythin' fer you, Doc."