It did indeed take many crew members a lot longer to get over the initial shock of it all. Not only seeing the operative again but to have him onboard as a passenger, a Shepherd no less. Zoe as expected has tossed through the Shepherd's bag and found nothing that would suggest that he had any ulterior motives. Despite her inability to find any weapons or evidence of any kind to his reasons for being there, Zoe still chose not to interact with their new passenger and remained in her quarters for the majority of the trip to pick up their next passenger. While Malcolm wanted to get the new Shepherd off his boat as soon as possible, it was well out of their way to make the trip now. It was wise to pick up Inara first who was off world doing a little business of her own. Her planet was closer so it saved fuel and time to get her first before moving on towards dropping off the Shepherd at his parish. Malcolm was the kind of person who would never hesitate to let someone go without getting their share of the misery most of the crew was feeling. He had a feeling Inara wouldn't mind giving the Shepherd a piece of her mind before they dropped the Shepherd off. Mal wasn't going to deny her the chance. The Captain was sitting in Walsh's seat, watching the control panel as it automatically flew them to their next planet. He was so deep in his thinking that he didn't even notice that River had come into the room, and had taken her seat in the co-pilot's chair. When he did notice her there, he smiled at how easily she snuck up on him.

"Can't sleep?" he asked her.

"Not really," River asked, "I'm not sure we made the right decision."

"That's entirely possible," Malcolm answered as he took a sip of the coffee he had with him, "Whether or not it was right depends solely on perspective."

"How so?" River asked.

"If this man has truly become a Shepherd," Mal answered, "If he means to run a parish and spread the word of his non-existent deity, then I don't think it's a mistake."

"You don't?" River said, clearly confused.

"If he means to only do a Shepherd's work for the rest of his life," Mal continued, "that will hopefully keep him out of trouble and out of our business for a very long time. No one would like to see him disappear and never come back more than we would. So much that I'm willing to give him a lift there."

"I see your point," River said, even though she already knew the answers. Despite being a mind reader, she still listening to Mal's take on them and the words he chose to describe his thoughts. River also found the Captain's voice calming and comforting.

Zoe then appeared on the bridge with something in her arms. "We need to talk."

Malcolm turned around and then recognized something very familiar. In the arms of his second in command was a sword. It wasn't just any sword either as Malcolm recognized it immediately. During his fierce battle with the former operative, that was the same makeshift katana that made a home in Malcolm's gut for a few seconds. He took the sword from Zoe and looked at it for a moment. The Shepherd had said that he didn't bring any weapons on board, which meant that the Shepherd had lied to them.

"It's not a weapon," River said without looking over, "At least not to him anymore."

Malcolm turned to face his co-pilot. "I'm assuming you plucked that little nugget out of our guests head?"

"Yes, when it first said that he didn't have any weapons on the platform." She answered, "He considers it a souvenir, a memento of where he's been and what kind of Shepherd he wants to be."

Malcolm's first instinct was to take the new Shepherd and introduce him to an airlock but his back started to whine about it with a few spasms.

"This is a dangerous galaxy." He started to explain to no one in particular, "I would be more concerned if he wasn't carrying something to protect himself."

"What do I do about this then?" Zoe asked as she took the sword back from her captain, unhappy with his response to it. She was actually hoping that Mal was going to toss him out of the airlock.

Malcolm was also surprised by his own reaction but he knew better than the question River whenever she knew something. There was one reason why he was more than comfortable with having the young lady as his co-pilot. Despite what everyone else in the galaxy did, the one person who never lied to him was River. The Captain learned a long time ago never to question her instincts.

"Lock it up with the other weapons onboard. He can have it back when we drop him off at his new home." Malcolm answered.