Mal sat in the cockpit of Serenity, ship's night causing the small, spartan bridge to be lit only by the mix of blue, soft white and pale green light from the various gauges. He watched the main view port with a detached air, only stealing a quick glance at one or another of the gauges and dials as it signaled something slightly off about their course or another system. His hands roamed the console in much the same way; in the main, they knew this dance well enough that he could let them take care of themselves. Well, most of the time. He paused in working a sticky adjustment on the auxiliary thrust, and gave a rueful shake of his head; was no slouch, but he couldn't hold a candle to Wash at this pilotin' business. Just as well that he was asleep; he'd be laughin' up a storm at that last maneuver.

He reached down under the console for a small hatch, opened it, pulled a knob, and... frowned. His fingers felt about in the small cubbyhole. Smooth metal met his fingers, and... "What the hell!" He pulled back his hand. Scowling, he reached over to a small pocket in the side of the chair, pulling out a small flashlight and flicking it on. He got down off the chair onto hands and knees and peered into the hole.

"蓬松兔宝宝烈您的骨肉!"

What met his eyes was unexpected, to say the least. Three extra buttons, a knob converted to a different metric, and... he played the light over the inside panel of the hatch... paneling replaced with a shinier alloy.

He reached in further, sliding aside another panel, and pulled out a small cloth bag. He looked in, and breathed a sigh of relief. Well, at least that stash of emergency funds was still there. He replaced it in the hidden recess, just as he heard the door to the rear open. He closed the hatch and stood up. He looked up, to see their new (and most profitable) passenger standing in the doorway.

"Evenin', Doctor. Couldn't sleep?"

"I find I don't need very much sleep these days. Gives me more time with my thoughts, and my work."

Mal gestured toward the other end of the bridge. "Have a seat."

The Doctor ducked slightly as he stepped further onto the bridge, glancing out the window as he did so. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of that sight; the stars, endless space...," he said, lowering himself into one of the spare seats."I don't think anyone should, really."

He sighed.

"I thought I might never see it again, one time," he said softly.

He took a small device out of one pocket, and began to fiddle at it with a small screwdriver he had in his other hand. After a moment, he noticed that Mal had gotten back to his feet and was looking at him with a poker-faced expression.

"Is something the matter, Captain?"

Mal watched him a moment more, then shook his head. "Doctor," he said, "have you been doing any work on the guidance systems or thrusters?"

The Doctor gave him a quizzical look. "I did do some work on the main console and engines at our last landing, once we got in the new supplies," he said. "I think I've done about as much as I can, though. This ship would a complete refit before I could-"

Mal waved him off. "It's not that, Doc, though it's right nice of you to help with that." More than nice, Mal thought. Settin' us years in advance of Alliance shipbuilding? He was gonna have to work out how to keep those mods from attracting undue attention in the future. "The main concern I have is fixin' the emergency flight systems so I can't use them... well, in an emergency!" He turned the light back on, and shined it at the small hatch he'd been poking around in just then.

"Couldn't find them?" The Doctor got to his feet, a concerned look on his face. He put the small device back into his pocket, crouched down, and opened the hatch. He peered in. "They all appear to be there, Captain," he said, after a few moments of study. "All we did was fine-tune the controls and install some switches to enable one to control or patch into other systems." He stood back up, dusting himself off. "In an emergency."

Mal walked back over at sat back in the main pilot's chair, checking over the main screens. He turned back toward the Doctor. "Shiny an' all that, but why didn't you tell me? I am the captain of this boat!" He leaned forward with a scowl. "Somethin' could have happened, and I wouldn't know the controls of my own ship!"

The Doctor raised his hands. "I know, Captain, I know," he said. "Wash and I agreed that you needed to be told." He frowned thoughtfully. "We also agreed that he should be the one to brief you, in his office as pilot."

"Well, he didn't!" Mal's brow furrowed.

"Well, then, I suppose I had better tell you about some of the upgrades, then." The Doctor straightened up, and paced over to the main console. "The response time on the flight yoke and engine burn level was improved, as well as maneuvering jets," he said. "You may be finding them handling a little looser than before, correct?"

Mal nodded. No wonder he'd been having trouble with course corrections this far out!

"Well, most of the work I did was in fine-tuning sensors and replacing worn-out parts - sorry, but there's only so much even I can do-"

"No worries Doc, you've done more than-"

"-but I was able to add one thing. I'm very glad we were able to keep that crate out of Badger's hands," he said. "If he had actually shown it to someone who was knowledgeable in such things, well..." He paused. "Things could have gotten a little unpleasant."

"I've been meanin' to ask," said Mal. "What is in that crate, anyway?"

The Doctor smiled, a twinkle in his eye. "Well, it was quite a surprise to find it here!" he said. "It was..."

He suddenly cocked his head. "What was that?"

"What was what?" He saw that the Doctor was staring intently at a monitor, so he turned to look. "Oh, that's the hold cameras, Doc-"

The Doctor leaped to his feet, brushed past Mal and was already running out the door. His face had been several shades lighter- and his expression deadly.

"-tor."

Uh-oh.

Mal turned back to the controls fast as he could, fighting to keep the ship on course. He looked back up toward where the Doctor had been staring moments before.

On the monitor, a globe of strange reddish light shot through with green and yellow lightning appeared to be floating in mid-air!

It also appeared to be trying to batter its way into the Doctor's blue crate.

WHAM. WHAM WHAM WHAM

The bridge shuddered in time with each collision.

The intercom sprang to life, in a confused babble.

"Mal, you need a hand?" Wash.

"Dear, just get some pants on and get your sweet butt up there!" Zoe, in the background. Mal would have smirked at that one, if his ship (and himself) hadn't been so badly shaken.

"What the 乳酪桶 hell's goin' on?" Jayne.

"Captain, please tell me this is just normal turbulence." Simon.

In the background, River spoke in a quiet singsong that chilled Mal to the core...

"The disease has found the Doctor, the hunter is the prey."