"River, aren't you hungry? Look, I managed to coax some strawberries off Kaylee." Simon held the crimson berry up to her nose. "I'll eat myself, if you don't."

She took it from his hand, staring at the green leaves. "I'll save it for River. She'll be hungry."

"You have to eat, meimei. When was the last time you ate?"

River snatched the plate of berries sitting by his side. "You'll have to catch me first." She ran from the kitchen, down the stairs into the cargo bay.

"River, River, what are you doing?" Simeon called as he chased his sister. The first thing he noticed was that the bay wasn't empty. "Mal, Zoe, how'd the mission go?"

"Could have used another gun out there. They had us pinned down and outnumbered. Thought we were done for." Mal brushed off his coat.

"How'd you get out of it?"

"Someone showed up and saved the day." Zoe nodded. "This is our doctor, Simeon, and his sister River."

"I already know who I am—" Simeon started to say, but the words were cut off by a small hand pressing on the artery to his brain. On the edges of his blurring vision, he saw a small book with eleven pictures.

"You're not him. You only have one heart." The pressure lifted.

Simeon looked down at his attacker and gasped. No higher than his heart, she was dressed in a plain dress, buttoned jacket , and boots, with a gun swinging in one hand and a notebook in the other. "Would someone like to explain to me what just happened?"

"River was born in the heart of time. So they took her, the shepherds and the Cyclops, and made her into a weapon against the storm. But she was clever than them, she tore off the suit and ran away. Now she's lost." River stepped forward, holding out the strawberries to the child.

"River, are you speaking in third person again?" Book asked.

"No, not me," she pointed at the little girl. "Her. She's a river too, the song of the centurion and the red-haired one. The Lady of the Lake, the sword that Merlin must find to save the world."

"Well, I'm glad we got that cleared up. Because that totally explains why this girl tried to kill me." Simeon tightened his jaw.

River laughed and knelt on the floor to look the girl in the eye. "I'm River. You will be too, one day. All the mess inside your head: all the guns and the hate and the silence—I know, it hurts. I'm there too. But I have my doctor to take care of me. And you'll have yours."

She stared at River. Then she saw the plate of strawberries. "That looks good." She picked one off the plate, twisted off the leaves, and bit into it. The red juice stained her lips and cheeks. In a few minutes the berries were all gone. She looked up at River hopefully. "Are there more?"

"Come on, we'll ask Kaylee. She's our mechanic, she likes ships. She can talk to them, and sometimes they talk back." The girls darted up the stairs, disappearing into the main quarters. A faint clink told them the smaller one had dropped her gun.

Mal, Book, Zoe, and Simeon stared at each other.

"Captain, any orders?" Zoe's voice raised to an awkward pitch.

"Tell Walsh we're back—he can take off, we don't want to risk hanging around. Then round up Jayne and get everyone else to the kitchen. We've got some things to talk over."

"What about River and Kaylee?" Simeon rubbed his neck.

"I'll fill them in later," Zoe offered.

"She just shot 'em. Didn't even seem to be winded by it. Asked if we were okay, then sat down and began making sandcastles." Mal shrugged. "Doesn't seem possible, but I saw it with my own eyes."

"And you just picked her up and brought her onboard? This is a smugglers' ship, not some nambly-pambly school trip." Jayne slammed his fist on the table. "Couldn't you just leave her there?"

"Not that simple, I'm afraid. Nearest town's 15 clicks away; she'd never make it back alive."

"Since when did we lay down our arms and become humanitarians?"

"If we'd left her there, she'd have died as surely as if I pulled the trigger on her. " Zoe spoke up.

"That's what happens when you bring a woman on a man's job!"

"As I recall, Jayne, you were a heap busy at the time," Book held up his hands. "But that's besides the point. What we need to figure out is what we're going to do with her?"

"Dump her off at the next inhabited planet we come to. Might even make some cash if we play our cards right."

"You know we don't traffic in that sort of business." Mal leaned forward. "And that's final, Jayne. Simeon, Wash, don't you have anything to say about this?"

"Yeah, you're the one she throttled."

Wash stretched. "Sounds to me like you lot have already made up your mind. I just fly the gorram ship, not up to me who gets on it."

"That's as may be, but I ain't said I made up my mind. Jayne here likes to talk big, but in the end, I'm still captain."

Simeon shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea who she is. River had a lot to say about her, but it didn't exactly clear anything up. Sounds like the girl's name is River as well."

"Great, they come in pairs now. Another gorram crazy girl-child who could kill us all in her sleep."

"That's enough, Jayne." Mal cleared his throat. "She'll stay until we can figure out somewhere safe to leave her."