The approach to Sector 697 was rather eerie. The orbit around the moon Phoenix was still littered with the wreckage of two fleets – one Alliance, one Reaver. It reminded Veronica of something she'd seen in an old twentieth century television show – if she remembered correctly, it was an episode of Star Trek, where one Borg ship had laid waste to a Starfleet task force near the star Wolf 359.

But that had simply been ancient video images. This was real. This was right in front of her. That which remained of a battle that had taken place not six months before.

"There are bodies out there," a voice said softly behind her, making her jump. She turned to see the Operative standing behind her. "Soldier and Reaver alike, expelled from their ships by loss of pressure."

Veronica closed her eyes and shuddered. What a horrifying thought.

"I knew some of the people who died here," she said sadly. "Richard and Cassady Casablancas, Casey Gant, Troy Vandergraff… they were all onboard the cruiser Nürburgring when it broke apart and fell through the atmosphere."

The Operative was silent for a moment. "I, too, was on the Nürburgring," he finally said. "I was one of the lucky few who reached an escape pod in time."

Veronica fell silent and remained that way. A few moments later, the Cristóbal Colón entered Phoenix's atmosphere and began descending toward the surface.

It was approximately five miles from the only landing field large enough for the Cristóbal Colón to Mr. Universe's abandoned communications facilities. As the cruiser approached the surface, Veronica left the bridge and headed for the shuttle bay, with the Operative, Wallace, and Weevil in her wake.

The cruiser was settling to a rest when its shuttle bay doors opened. A moment later, out flew the dark green shuttle designated Neptune One. It rose quickly above the cruiser, and then rocketed off in the direction of the communications facility.

The flight passed in brief silence. Barely three minutes after they had taken off from the Cristóbal Colón, the Operative pointed to what looked like a landing strip. "Land there," he instructed Veronica.

As Veronica brought the shuttle down onto the landing strip, she noticed that it was very scarred – as if something had crashed there. "What happened here?" she asked.

"It was Serenity," the Operative replied. "She was hit by a Reaver EMP and lost power. With no control, she dropped like a rock. Her pilot managed to get the jets back online, but it was far, far too late. She hit the landing strip at over three hundred miles per hour, and was nearly torn apart."

Veronica narrowed her eyes. "They REBUILT a Firefly?"

The Operative shrugged. "It was their way of memorializing their lost crew," he replied. "Their pilot, one Hoban Washburne, was killed during the landing when a Reaver harpoon pierced the cockpit. They also lost Shepherd Derrial Book and Victor Goldman."

"How'd they die?" Weevil asked. "Mr. Universe would've been down here, wouldn't he?"

The Operative was silent for a moment. "I killed them," he finally said, his voice quiet and cold.

Veronica's eyes widened, but she simply stared ahead, bringing Neptune One down onto the landing strip. The shuttle slowly came to a stop in front of a large, battle-scarred blast door.

She turned to the Operative. "So, explain to me why you killed a Shepherd and Mister Universe."

The Operative shook his head in regret. "It was necessary," he replied. "I had to flush out Malcolm Reynolds and his crew. Shepherd Book's entire colony on the moon Haven was slaughtered."

"Why?" Veronica demanded angrily. "I want a WHY."

The Operative took a deep breath. "A young woman by the name of River Tam was onboard Serenity," he replied. "She still is. She was wanted –"

"By the Parliament," Veronica interrupted. "I know. I also know that she's no longer wanted, what with the Miranda broadcast and all. But you killed people just to find her?!"

"It was IMPERATIVE that I find her," the Operative replied.

Veronica shook her head in disbelief. "Cold-blooded murder, Operative," she said quietly. "A man of God, struck down."

She looked up at him, determination in her eyes. "You will remain here when we leave," she informed him. "You will not be returning to the Cristóbal Cólon."

The Operative's eyes narrowed slightly. "And how exactly am I to depart this moon?"

Veronica shook her head again. "Not my problem."

Logan Echolls was asleep.

In his sleep, he dreamed. And that was rare. His sleep was usually dark and dreamless.

This was a pretty nice dream, though. He was definitely having sex in his dream. He couldn't see anything, but that was okay.

"Oh, that feels so good," he moaned. "Oh… Kaylee…"

And suddenly, it stopped. "EXCUSE ME?!"

Logan could suddenly see. That was definitely not Kaylee Frye he was having sex with.

No, it was Veronica Mars. And she looked pissed.

"Who the FUCK is Kaylee?"

Logan lifted his hands. "Veronica, calm down."

"Calm down my ass! You've been sleeping around behind my back?!"

"Veronica, we broke up nearly a year ago."

Veronica shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. As if you ever stopped loving me."

Logan shook his head, but then began laughing ruefully and shook a finger at her. "Now, that's playing dirty."

And almost instantly, her attitude went from pissed off to playful. "But I thought you liked it when I was dirty, Logan."

"Oh, believe me, I did," Logan replied. "But I've moved on."

"Hah!" Veronica laughed. "Bullshit. You haven't moved one centimeter. If I showed up on Serenity, you'd dump that Kaylee bitch and be back in my bed so fast your head would spin."

Now that just pissed Logan off. How dare she assume?

He shook his head. "I'm done putting up with this crap," he replied. "You're a dream. So… do me a favor, and just evaporate, or something."

And like that, she did.

The Operative seemed angry for the first time since Veronica had met him.

She really didn't care.

"Here's the deal," she told him. "You do EXACTLY as I tell you, and we'll take you back as far as the cruiser. However, that cruiser has been assigned to my use, so as soon as we encounter another Alliance ship, you're gone."

"Very well," the Operative replied. "Tell me what to do, OPERATIVE Mars."

"Get me online so I can broadcast this message," Veronica said. "I've got a missing man to find."

It took the Operative nearly three hours, even with Wallace and Weevil helping. However, he finally had enough of the dusty, broken equipment put back together to fire up the transmitters.

Veronica laughed when the computer came online – but it was a dry, humorless laugh, provoked by the sight of the Kane Software logo on a monitor. "I can't escape," she said softly. "Everywhere I go, the 09 follows me."

Once KOS (Kane Operating System) Infinity came online, the Operative brought up the broadcast program. He spent a moment configuring it, and then turned to Veronica.

"It's ready," he said. "Just press the blue button to begin transmission. Look directly into the camera. Press the blue button again to end transmission."

Veronica crossed to the chair the Operative had been sitting in, and took his place. She looked at the camera, and closed her eyes. What could she possibly say to get Logan to reply to her?

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the blue button. A red "On Air" sign appeared above her monitor.

"Your attention please," she began. "My name is Veronica Mars. I am an Operative of the Parliament, and I am searching for an individual by the name of Logan Kyle Echolls.

"Mr. Echolls is wanted for questioning as a possible witness to the murder of Lilly Kane, Registered Companion. He is a native of Londinium Federal District 09.

"Logan Echolls is five feet, ten inches tall and weighs approximately one hundred sixty-five pounds. He is currently thought to be onboard the 03 K64 Firefly class transport Serenity. Please take a moment to examine this picture of him."

She nodded to the Operative, who pressed another button. A picture of Logan came up on the monitor.

Veronica closed her eyes. That was the impersonal stuff out of the way. Now for the personal plea.

What could she possibly say? She hadn't seen Logan for months, and the last time they spoke, it had been antagonistic and unfortunate. But the worst part was the way she still felt about him.

She couldn't admit it. Not to herself, not to anybody. She couldn't let it affect her judgment.

She reopened her eyes, and nodded to the Operative. He pressed another button, and the feed returned to her.

"Logan, if you hear this, I need you to contact me," she said. "You have to talk to me. We have to find Lilly's killer."

She sighed. "I know you're probably still mad at me, but –"

"VERONICA?!"

Logan was up in the cockpit. He had snapped out of his dream "with" Veronica and awakened suddenly. It had left him feeling a little weird.

Careful not to disturb Kaylee, he had gotten out of bed and climbed out of her quarters. Turning right, he had headed toward the cockpit, barefoot.

River had been rather glad to see him – it seemed that she really needed to use the bathroom, and had been holding it for nearly an hour. And so, off she ran, leaving Logan in the cockpit by himself.

The engines were holding steady, Serenity's heading normal. So, to kill time, Logan was scanning audio channels.

Then he heard something that stopped him dead. A voice. A very familiar voice.

Frowning, he reached his hand to the squelch knob to tune out all other frequencies – but just as he isolated the frequency he was looking for, the audio cut out.

However, there was an indicator on the comms panel. Video available, it said. Raising an eyebrow, Logan flipped a switch to put the video on the monitor –

And found himself looking at… his own face. "What the hell is this?" he whispered.

That's when his face disappeared – and he was in for a shock. Veronica Mars' face appeared on the monitor.

"Logan, if you hear this, I need you to contact me. You have to talk to me. We have to find Lilly's killer."

Logan couldn't move, felt like he couldn't breathe. She was ACTIVELY looking for him. She hesitated for a moment, and that snapped him out of it.

"I know you're probably still mad at me, but –"

Logan reached out and hit the "transmit" switch. "VERONICA?!"

He saw her face freeze and her eyes go wide. "Logan?! Is that you?!"

He nodded. "It's me."

Her hands flew to her face, and her eyes began to tear up. That's an odd reaction, he thought. "You okay?"

"I'm sorry," she replied. "It's just… it's been difficult."

"I hear you," Logan said. "So, what's this all about?"

"I need to know where you are, Logan," Veronica told him. "I need to talk to you in person."

Logan shook his head. "I can't talk to you about Lilly's killing, Veronica. I know you're working for the Parliament."

Unbeknownst to Logan, River had reentered the cockpit. Looking at her panel, she noticed something strange. "Logan?"

"Not now, River," he snapped, annoyed at being interrupted.

Veronica's eyes went wide on the monitor. "River? As in, River Tam?"

Almost simultaneously, River said, "Logan, she's running a tracker through the transmission!"

Logan's eyes went wide, and his jaw dropped, but he recovered almost immediately. "Goddammit, Veronica! How could you do that?!"

Without waiting for an answer, he hit the cutoff button, ending the transmission. He turned his chair toward the windshield and angrily swept his arm across his panel, knocking Wash's dinosaurs to the floor.

River just looked at him for a moment. "That was her, wasn't it?" she finally said.

Logan clenched his jaw, staring at the blackness of space ahead. "Yes. That was her."

Veronica saw a mix of emotions cross Logan's face all at once – anger, disappointment, sadness, but worst of all, betrayal. "Goddammit, Veronica! How could you do that?!"

"Logan, don't –"

But she was cut off, as the monitor his face was on went to black. She clenched her fists, trying to fight down the rage she felt building.

It was no use. "FUCK!" she roared, smashing her fists against the keyboard. "Goddamn son of a bitch!"

"Calm down, V," she heard Weevil's voice saying. "Echolls ain't worth your tears."

YES HE IS! her mind raged.

"We have a track on Serenity," the Operative said, his voice carefully emotionless. "We can depart whenever you wish."

She took a deep breath. Standing, she held her head up. "Very well," she said, her voice measured. "Let's go."