"The job is, we gotta take these crates," Mal slapped one for emphasis, "On that fine piece of hardware…" Naturally, he pointed at Serenity. "…Across to the next planet over, in less than a day. Questions?"

Kaylee piped in. "Isn't that a little…uhm…easy?"

Mal nodded. "Sure is, but their regular runner got hit by a car on the way into work yesterday and, well, long story short, the job needs doing and we're the first people to ask. Half payment now, half when we arrive on Aries."

"Sounds good to me," said Zoe, grabbing the first crate and heaving to. The rest of the crew fell in line quickly, all pitching in, carrying the containers across the spaceport, up the ramp and into Serenity's cargo bay.

The loading done with and over, Mal sat with River in the cockpit of the Serenity and together they lifted off the vessel. Mal still didn't quite trust his ship in the hands of a mentally unstable girl, but she hadn't yet crashed the thing. She was also perfectly content to lift off, but the moment the Serenity achieved orbit she would drift off into one of her stares, leaving control to the person across from her – whether there was anyone present or not.

With Mal preoccupied with piloting the ship, it was left to Zoe to lead the others to inventory their cargo and organise it in such a way that it would be easy to offload. While this wasn't really necessary, as they would be being offloaded in a few short hours anyway, it occupied the crew's hands and minds. It also allowed a focal social point to allow that most basic need of the human spirit; that of the chit-chat.

"Secure those crates," ordered Zoe, pointing to the piles of containers Simon and Kaylee were pretending to work on. "Move this stack a little to the right. How many crates in this row?" And so on. It wasn't even a very large number; it helped to go through the motions, however.

"Doctor!" called Zoe, and Simon turned to give her his attention. "Tell us a story, to pass the time," she said.

"Uhm…I'm afraid I don't really…have any…" started Simon, but Jayne pre-empted him.

"A long time ago," he started, pausing to heave a crate onto the stack he was working on with a grunt. "There were a group of traders – smugglers, really – takin' a shipment across the system. They weren't a large crew; feisty first mate, overly cheerful engineer, a classy Companion, a dumb captain, a geeky doctor and his psycho sister. As well as a real strong man of a man, who'd sweep any woman off her feet and beat tar outta any man standin' between them."

Zoe's eyebrow arched. "Anyway," she prompted.

"Anyway, they're all workin' in the cargo hold when they hear somethin' a tap-tap-tappin' on the hull. At first, they figure it's the psycho, but then they realise…" He moved close to Simon. "She might be super strong, but she can't breathe in space."

"A fact I recall you trying to test on several occasions," muttered Simon, and Jayne broke from his narrative, indignant.

"What you talkin' 'bout, Doc? I'm tellin' a story here. A work of fiction, as they say."

"Oh, of course. My mistake. Please continue your fiction."

"I will. Thank you." He bowed floridly. "Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. So the dumb captain finally figures out what's wrong, and he orders the feisty first mate out to see what's bangin' against the side of the ship."

He paused for emphasis.

"She didn't come back," he finished in a spooky whisper. His audience, however, remained unimpressed. He continued despite the poor reception. "One by one, the other crew went out to see what they could see, but none of them ever came back. Finally, it was just the dumb captain and the big strong hunk of a man left over. The captain orders him out…and he gets himself shot and thrown out himself."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "What's it with you lately wanting to shoot Mal and throw him out the airlock?"

"Hey, work of fiction, remember?"

"Right, I forgot."

"It might contain…certain elements of reality, however."

"Is there a point to this story?" asked Kaylee.

"Yeah," said Jayne. "The story is, no matter where you hide, the Night Stalker's always gonna be right…be…hind…you!"

Kaylee rolled her eyes, turned and came face to face –

She screamed, dropping the crate she was carrying, shielding her eyes automatically –

- With River.

Jayne bellowed with laughter, and even Simon was smiling lopsidedly as he stooped to pick Kaylee up.

"My sister isn't that scary, is she?" asked Simon.

"The children are crying," observed River. "They can't find their mother…she's been taken away."

"Uhm…don't answer that," said Simon.

"You bun tyen-shung duh ee-dway-ro!" cried Kaylee. "That wasn't funny!"

"I ain't laughin'," said Jayne, a broad grin plastered across his face.

"I don't get it, anyway," admitted Simon. "What's a…Night Stalker?"

Kaylee huffed and picked up the crate she had dropped. "It's a stupid child's story," she said. "It's the Boogeyman for space faring types."

"Don't pay it any attention, Doctor," said Zoe, smiling ever so slightly with her eyes. "Jayne just likes to scare Kaylee sometimes."

"Yeah, just ignore him, Simon. That's what the rest of us try and do." She stuck her tongue out in Jayne's direction, but he just pretended to catch the expression in his hand and put it in his pocket.

"Alright, let's finish stowing these crates," announced Zoe, and everything was business again.

When they landed, Mal was first out of the ship and heading to the building their job needed delivering to. He called for Jayne and Kaylee, and the engineer came trotting after him, slightly perplexed.

"But why do I need to go, cap'n?"

"Cause we're deliverin' to a machine shop, thought you might want to come along, take a look-see."

"Ooo, shiny!" exclaimed Kaylee far too cheerfully. Mal shook his head slightly. That girl got far too excited about anything that ticked and whirred.

"The mule is ready to go, right?"

"Yep! They just need to start her up and press go."

The machine shop, when they arrived, wasn't a half-bad establishment. A grotesquely fat man sat behind a desk, beyond the various bits and parts on special display. Mal thought this a bit odd; a machine shop wasn't a showroom, an engineer would most often come in looking for something that had fallen off the ship…at least, that's why he sent Kaylee to pick up parts…not come in and browse. But, Mal wasn't an engineer, nor a machine shop owner, so what did he know about such matters?

He walked to the desk and tapped it three times, attracting the fat man's attention. The sweat was rolling off him like a torrent, and Mal forced his expression neutral, to avoid informing the man of what he thought of his personal hygiene habits; or lack thereof.

He looked up with beady little eyes and absorbed the faces of the newcomers.

"We're here to make a delivery," said Mal, smiling. The man didn't really emote at this statement, but jerked his head back, indicating a back room. Exchanging a glance with Jayne, Mal led the others to this doorway and went through it. Beyond was a small back office containing a small cherub of a woman.

She looked at them suspiciously.

"Delivery?"

"Ah!" she exclaimed, jumping from her chair to the floor. She wasn't very tall, and was quite round, but her face contained all the joviality of a child. At least, it did to people after they'd told her they had something she wanted. "Right on time."

"Well, when we say we're gonna deliver somethin', we deliver it," said Mal. Jayne gave him a sideways glance that spoke volumes.

What the hell are you talkin' about, Mal? There's plenty of times you dumped cargo, didn't deliver, gave the stuff back, gave it to another person, sold it on…

The look Mal returned said significantly less: Shut up, Jayne.

"I'm glad we found you," the woman was saying, "Our normal ship met with a calamity and – well, I'm sure you were told the grisly details, but you really saved our hides."

"Glad to be of service," said Mal warmly. "In exchange for cash, of course."

"Hm?" The woman was distracted by rummaging through a filing cabinet. "Ah, yes. Payment." She pulled a file from the cabinet and sort of…waddled back to the desk. "How do you normally accept it?"

"Oh, I'm easy," said Mal. "Unmarked credits, split ten ways and sealed in brown fabric bags, two of which'll be checked at random by me and then all sealed up in an also unmarked cargo crate."

She blinked. "Uhm…yes, I'm sure we can arrange that. It'll be a few moments."

Mal smiled again. "I'm in no rush."

"Which leaves the matter of…where the cargo is?"

Mal nodded, and signalled electronically to Zoe that she should bring the cargo across in the mule. "It's on its way."

"Of course, we will check the cargo before we permit payment, but I don't see that we will have a problem."

Kaylee dropped something after fidgeting with the items on a shelf behind Mal, and sheepishly retrieved it, blushing slightly. Mal gave her an arched eyebrow, and she firmly placed both hands in the pockets of her overalls.

The woman was eyeing Mal speculatively. "What is it that you do, Captain Reynolds?"

Mal shrugged. "Might be easier askin' us what we don't do."

"Hmm." She hopped back down from the chair. "If you're willing, perhaps we can discuss another business venture."

"I'm all ears."

"It's nothing you're not familiar with. I need another shipment delivered, however this one is slightly farther afield."

Mal scratched his eyebrow. "One thing I object to is doin' business with someone and not knowing their name…"

"Oh! I apologise." The woman offered her hand. "The name's Beka. I run the business here that doesn't involve nuts and bolts."

"Charmed," he said, shaking her hand. "Now what's this job?"

"Simple; travel to Beaumonde and make the delivery inside three days. I take it your ship is fast enough?"

Mal nodded. "She is. It's a bigger job than this one, though, so my payment…"

"Will increase accordingly, you can be assured."

"What's the cargo?"

"Just one crate."

Mal narrowed his eyes. "One crate?"

"Yes. One very valuable crate. Which you must not open under any circumstances."

"That sorta goes without sayin'."

"Granted. But it is especially vital you do not open this one. Accidents happen, Captain; things get dropped, crew members grow inquisitive…do not open this crate."

Mal smirked. "I recall a similar story 'bout a box. Seems like there's nothing you can do to make someone do somethin' like forbiddin' 'em from doing it."

"Well remember another tale – that about curiosity and cats," said Beka icily.

"Is this crate dangerous?"

"Only if you open it."

Mal pursed his lips. He knew better than to ask what was contained within the crate, but they needed the job and the cash, and heading towards Beaumonde meant a better chance of a job after this one…

"Alright," said Mal. "You've got a deal. On one condition. I ain't gonna ask what's in there. But if that thing is a weapon that's gonna help the Alliance, I don't want a part in it. And I ain't even gonna get into what a local machine shop is doin' transporting weapons systems."

Beka smiled ever so slightly. "It isn't going to the Alliance. And you don't have to worry about what's in it, or how we came by it. Just deliver it on time to our contact on Beaumonde."

"Then we're shiny."

Mal beeped, indicating Zoe was now outside with the delivery. He motioned to Beka. "Shall we?"

"I recognise that you asked for an unmarked container to place your payment in," said Beka, approaching the small gathering outside the machine shop. "But under the circumstances I thought it wise to indicate which crate contains the item, and which your credits."

Mal nodded. "Sounds wise. Wouldn't want any accidents out there." He called to his engineer, who was admiring the contents of the delivery they had just made. "Kaylee!"

She turned, startled, and then moved to join the others on the mule.

"You like them?" asked Beka as she passed.

"Yeah," gushed Kaylee. "They're real pretty." She climbed onto the mule, and Beka picked one of the beaded necklaces from one of the crates they had just delivered.

"Here," she called, tossing the fashion accessory to the engineer, who plucked it out of the air eagerly. "A bonus."

"Wow, thanks!"

"Well, good luck, Captain."

Mal grinned. "My ship doesn't run on luck, Beka, but it's appreciated."

The mule groaned to life, a small payload in the rear.

Kaylee was smiling happily, fastening her new piece of jewellery around her neck. "Wasn't that a mighty nice woman?" she enthused, admiring the almost incandescent beads of the necklace.

"Yeah," said Mal, gazing into the distance. "Very friendly…"

Kaylee gave him a disparaging look. "When are you gonna start trustin' people, cap'n? Some people are just good and kind like you."

Not rising to the bait, Mal remained pensive. "Maybe. Maybe not."

The rest of the ride to the ship was uneventful, and they returned to find the rest of the crew gathered in the cargo hold waiting for them. Zoe had cast an inquisitive eye over their small cargo, but asked no questions. Mal knew that wouldn't hold with the others, and prepared to answer some questions.

"Okay folks, we got ourselves a new job," he announced, climbing off the mule. "Another cargo run, but this time it's but one crate, so those lower back pains I know you're all feelin' get the day off."

"One crate?" asked Simon.

"Yup."

"Of…?"

"No idea. The job is to take it to Beaumonde, no questions asked – so I didn't ask any."

"But…"

"No buts, Doctor. A job is a job, and if someone sees fit to not disclose the contents of a cargo crate, then that's okay."

"What if it's dangerous?"

"I thought I said no buts?"

"That wasn't a…" Simon shook his head, frowned. "Well is it?"

Mal paused. "Only if we open it."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Frankly Doctor? I have no idea. Chances are our employer doesn't want anyone to see what's inside the crate and tried to scare us into not opening it. Maybe it is something dangerous – I just don't know. The point is, not one of us is gonna take a peek, and that includes your sister, Doctor."

"River wouldn't…"

"I don't care whether she would, might, may – you keep her away from this crate. I don't wanna have any accidents. Just in case. And that goes for the rest of you. After we take it off the mule, I don't anyone near it until we reach Beaumonde. Understood?"

There were several mumblings as the crew consented, but Mal could see that curiosity was burning in Simon's eyes.

"Alright then, let's get this thing unloaded."

It was cold to the touch. An unmarked cargo container approximately five feet square, and about three feet deep. It took six of them to lift it and shuffle across the bay, River watching them expressionlessly from the gangway above.

As they disbanded to their various stations, Mal took Zoe aside and issued a single directive: "Keep an eye on the Tams."

Once again, their cargo secured within the ship, the Serenity soared into orbit and towards Beaumont.

Next on Void

"I don't want to open it…I just want to know what's inside."

Thanks to lonelydonutserenityBDM and Tyramir for your reviews. Keep 'em coming, guys.