"Tell you what." "You buy this ship, treat her proper she'll be with you for the rest of your life." "Well?" "You paid money for this, sir?" "On purpose?" "What?" "Come on, seriously, Zoe, what do you think?" "Honestly, sir, I think you got robbed." "Robbed?" "What do you mean?" "It's a piece of fei-oo." "Fei-oo?" "Okay, she won't be winning any beauty contests anytime soon, but she is solid." "A ship like this, be with you till the day you die." " Because it's a death trap." " That's not..." "You are very much lacking in imagination." "I imagine that's so, sir." "You haven't seen most of it." "Let me show you the rest." "And try to see past what she is and on to what she can be." " What's that, sir?" " Freedom, is what." "I meant what's that?" "Step around that." "Something was living in here." "I tell you, we get a mechanic, get her up and running again hire a good pilot, maybe a cook, live like real people." "A small crew." "They must feel the need to be free." "Take jobs as they come." "They never have to be under the heel of nobody ever again." "No matter how long the arm of The Alliance might get we'll just get ourselves a little further." " Get her running again?" " Yeah." " So not running now?" " Not so much." "But she will." "I already know what I'm gonna call her." "Got a name all picked out." "No." "That is not true." " No." " I swear it is." "Surely one of you must've told him." "No." "Not one of the brethren had the heart to say anything." "He was so proud." "What?" "What was he proud of?" "Who he?" "Looked rather natty, truth be told, you know?" "What was natty?" "I wanna hear about the natty thing." "Shepherd Book was just telling us funny stories about his life at the monastery." "Monastic humor." "I miss out on all the fun." "And all the food too, apparently." "Just who do you think you're married to?" " Voilà." " I love my wife." " So we got a course set?" " We do." "Took creative navigating, but we should make it to Greenleaf without running afoul of Alliance patrols." " Or a living soul, for that matter." " The way it should be." "Of course, what should be an 18-hour trip will take us the better part of a week by this route." "We're in no rush." "I like an easy, languorous journey." "Gee, I wonder what that would be like." "Let me help you with that." "It's your turn." "My turn?" "Shepherd told us a funny story about being a preacher." "Now you tell us a funny story about being a doctor." "A funny story." "Yeah, because sick people are hilarious." "Well, they..." "They can be." "Uh..." "Well, in fact, I remember this time I was working the ER and this..." "This, uh..." "This fellow, this, uh, you know, upright sort of citizen he comes in, and he's, you know, complaining..." "Inara, she's gotta have some funny whoring stories, I'd wager." "Oh, do I ever." "Funny and sexy." "You have no idea." "And you never will." "I don't discuss my clients." "Aw, come on, Inara." "Who'd know?" "You." "A companion doesn't kiss and tell." "So there is kissing?" "Hey, doc, I think Kaylee may need your help after all." "Care to make the first incision, Dr. Tam?" " Happy birthday, Simon." "Happy birthday!" "This is, uh..." "How did..." "How'd you know?" "River, did you...?" ""Day" is a vestigial mode of time measurement based on solar cycles." "It's not applicable." "I didn't get you anything." "Seems a fresh warrant for your arrest came up over the cortex." "Had your birthday attached right to it." "Really?" "I hope you like it." "Couldn't get ahold of no flour, so it's mostly protein." "In fact, it's pretty much what we just had for dinner." "But I tried to get the frosting as chocolaty-tasting as possible, so..." "Thank you." "I'm really..." "I'm very, very deeply moved." "Thank you." "Well, deeply move yourself to blow out them candles, so we can try a slice." "Come on, doc." "Give a good blow." "What the hell was that?" "Maybe just a hiccup." "I'll go check it out." " I'll take a look at the helm." " Fire." "Okay, right." " Zoe!" " Fire!" "Fire!" "Baby." "You've gotta talk to me." "Seal off everything that leads below decks!" "Do it now!" " Is she gonna be okay?" " I need my med kit." "Not this way." "We've got fire." " Where do you think you're going?" " Zoe's been badly hurt." " I need my medical supplies." " Sorry, nobody leaves." " Everything's sealed tight." " If you don't let me go, she could die." "I let you through, we all die." "It's okay." "She's in shock." "I need to bring her vitals back up." " How bad is it?" " There's no sign of burning." " It must be internal." "I'll do a scan." " Baby?" "Zoe, can you hear me?" "Zoe?" "Come on, sweetheart." "Zoe?" "Come on, talk, baby." " Look at me, sweetheart." " Kaylee." "Kaylee, look at me." "I need you up in the engine room figuring out what caused this." "She ain't moving." "Serenity's not moving." "I know it." "Which is why we need to suss out what happened so we can get her going again." " Think you can do that?" " Yes, captain." "That's a good girl." "Come on, baby." "You're strong, the strongest person I ever met." " You can do this." " Is she gonna make it?" " Please, I need to work." " Wash." " I need you on the bridge." " Zoe's hurt." "And the doctor's gonna do everything he can." "Meantime, I gotta have you on the bridge." "We need to know how bad it is." "How bad?" "It's bad, okay, sir?" "My wife may be dying here, so my feeling is it's pretty bad." " Wash..." " I'm not leaving her side, Mal!" "Don't ask me again." "I wasn't asking." "I was telling." "You're gonna get to that bridge, and you're gonna get us back on our feet." "Yeah." "This is all very doable." "Shouldn't be a problem at all." "A few modifications." "Get some real maneuverability out of this boat." "You'd be surprised." "So you'll take the job then?" "Might do, might do." " Think I'm starting to get a feel here." " Good." "Well, take your time." "Make yourself to home." "Just fiddle around with the dials there." "We'll be nearby." " Great, ain't he?" " I don't like him." " What?" " Just something about him bothers me." " What?" "What about him bothers you?" " I'm not sure." "It's something." "Your something comes up against a list of recommendations as long as my leg." "Tanaka raves about this guy." "Renshaw's been trying to get him for a month." " And we need us a pilot." " I understand, sir." "He bothers me." "We finally got ourselves a genius mechanic." "It's time we hired someone to fly this." "Genius?" "No one's ever called me that before." "Shiny." "He just bothers me." "Her heart stopped." "Someone should get her husband down here." " No." "What do you need, doc?" " That drawer, right there." " That's the one." " What is it?" "Pure adrenaline." "Cap?" "Zoe gonna be okay?" "You let the doctor worry about Zoe." "Come on." "Tell me what you know." "Catalyzer on the port compression coil blew." " It's where the trouble started." " I need that in captain dummy-talk." " We're dead in the water." " Can you fix it?" " I can try." " Just get us to limping." "That's all I need." "What?" "What is it?" " It's worse than just the coil." " How can it be worse?" "Main life-support's down since the engine's dead." " But we've got auxiliary life-support." " No, we don't." "Ain't even on." "Explosion must've knocked it out." "So, what are we breathing?" "Whatever got pumped into the atmo before the explosion shut it all down." "Most of that oxygen got ate up by the fire on its way out the door." "Well, whatever's left is what we got." "How long?" "Couple of hours, maybe." "We'll start to feel it, and then we won't feel nothing at all." "How is she?" "She's still unconscious, but her vitals are strong." "She won't know it, but as long as her condition remains like this she'll outlive us all." "She's using less oxygen." "I always thought the name Serenity had a vaguely funereal sound to it." "I love this ship." "I have from the first moment I saw it." "I just don't want to die on it." "I don't want to die at all." "Suffocation's not exactly the most dignified way to go." "The human body will..." "Please, I don't really require a clinical description right now." "I'm sorry." "I just..." "It was my birthday." "Don't be afraid." "That's what it says." ""Don't be afraid"." "Yes." "But you are afraid." "Yes." "You're afraid we're going to run out of air that we'll die gasping." "But we won't." "That's not going to happen." "We'll freeze to death first." "You get that beacon sent?" " Yeah, it's sent." " Good." "Pointless." " What?" " Nothing, sir." "It's a brilliant plan." "I'm sure we'll all be saved." "I'm getting a little weary of this attitude." "Are you?" "Well, I'm so very sorry, sir." "I guess the news that we'll be purple, bloated and fetal in a few hours has made me a little snippy." "It's possible someone might pick up that signal." "No, Mal, it's not possible." "No one's gonna pick up the damn signal." "You wanted us under the radar." "That's where we are." " Out of range of anyone." " Then make it go further." " I..." "What?" " Make the signal go further." "I can't make it go further." "Not if you're gonna sit around and whinge." " What do you expect me to do, Mal?" " Whatever you have to." "If you can't do it here, get a suit on and go outside the boat..." "And what?" "Wave my arms around?" "Wave your arms around." "Jump up and down." "Divert the nav sats to the transmitter." "Divert the..." "Right!" "Teenage pranks are fun when you're about to die." " Give the beacon a boost, wouldn't it?" " Yes, Mal, it would boost the signal." "But even if a passerby did receive, it would muck up their navigation." " Could be that's true." " Damn right!" "They'd be forced to stop and dig out our signal before they could go anyplace." "Maybe I should do that then." " Maybe you should." " Okay." " Good!" " Fine!" "What do you two think you're doing, fighting at a time like this?" "You're gonna use up all the air." "Life-support failure." "Check oxygen levels at once." "Life-support failure." "Check oxygen levels at once." "Bester?" "What's this I hear about yet another delay?" "Supposed to have this engine fixed and us up and..." "What in the name of...?" "Bester?" "Bester?" "Bester!" "What?" "You do realize we've been parked on this rock a week longer than we planned?" "Yeah, but there's..." "There's stuff to do." "As, for example, that job we've got waiting for us on Pacquin." "When we landed, you said you needed a few days to get us space-worthy and is there something wrong with your bunk?" "What?" "Oh, no, captain." "She likes engines." "They make her hot." "Bester, get your prairie harpy off my boat and put us back in the air." "Okay, but can't." " What do you mean, "can't"?" " No can do, cap." " Secondary grav boot's shot." " No, it ain't." "Ain't nothing wrong with your grav boot." "Grav boot's just fine." "Hello." "She doesn't..." "That's not what it..." "No, it ain't." "Sure it is." "Grav boot ain't your trouble." "I seen the trouble plain as day when I was down there on my back before." "Your reg couple's bad." "The reg..." "The what?" "The reg couple." "Right here." "See?" " No." " This." "I'm pointing right at it." "Hey." "Here." "Hand me that, will you?" "Don't serve much of a purpose anyway." "Just tends to gum up the works when it gets tacked." "So I figure why even have one?" "Better to just take your G-line, plug it straight into the port pin-lock and that should..." "There!" " What'd you do?" " She fixed it." "Well, it wasn't really broke." "Where'd you learn to do that, miss?" "Just do it, that's all." " Daddy says I got natural talent." " I'll say you do." " Don't we need this?" " You work for your daddy, do you?" "When he got work, which ain't too often lately." "You got experience with a vessel like this?" "I never even been up in one before." "Wanna?" " You mean...?" " Sure." " For how long?" " Long as you like." " Long as you can keep her in the sky." " You offering me a job?" " What?" " Believe I just did." "I just gotta ask my folks." "Don't leave without me." "Mal, what do you need two mechanics for?" "I really don't." "Kaylee?" "Kaylee, what are you doing?" "I'm sorry, captain." "I'm real sorry." "I should've kept better care of her." "Usually she lets me know when something's wrong." "Maybe she did, I just wasn't paying attention, or..." "Kaylee, I cannot be having this from you right now." "We got work to do." "Catalyzer's broke." "Gonna need a new one." "There is no new one." "You gotta make do with what you got." " It's broke." " Come on." "This the part?" "It don't hardly seem like nothing." "All right." "Where does it go?" "Here." "But it don't fit no more." "Well, you gotta figure a way to make it fit." "Sometimes a thing gets broke can't be fixed." "Without this, the engine don't turn?" "Engine don't turn, life-support won't function." "We don't breathe." "You wanna keep breathing, don't you?" "So do I." "Life-support failure." "Check oxygen levels at once." "Life-support failure." "Check oxygen levels at once." "Well, as you're all keenly aware, we've run into a bit of a situation." "Engine's down, life-support's on the fritz and I got nine people here all wanting to breathe." "Truth is, don't got a whole lot of options at this juncture." "So instead of focusing on what we don't got, time to talk about what it is we do." "And what we got are two shuttles." "Short-range, won't get far." "But each got heat, and they each got air." "Last longer than what's left on Serenity." " Long enough to reach someplace?" " No." "So where will we go then?" "Far as you can get." "We send both shuttles in opposite directions betters the chances of someone getting picked up." "Shepherd Book, Kaylee, Jayne will ride with Inara in her shuttle." "Doc, you and your sis will ride with Wash and Zoe seeing as how Zoe still needs some doctoring." "What about you?" "Four people per shuttle." "That's the arrangement." "Evens the odds." "I'm staying with Serenity." " Captain..." " We sent out a beacon." "Even managed to boost it a little." "If by some chance we get a response someone's gonna have to be here to answer." "Let's get those shuttles prepped." "Wash, shuttles are that way." "I know." "But like you said, someone might answer the beacon." "And when they do, I wanna make sure that you can call everyone back." "Won't take but a minute." "Jayne, get shuttle number two ready." "I'll see to Inara's." "Let's get moving." "Take only what you need." " Mal..." " lf you fly smart, don't push too hard..." " ... shuttle life-support will last." " This isn't the ancient sea." "Don't go down with your ship." "She ain't going down." "She ain't going anywhere." "Jayne'll be valuable if you're in trouble." "Don't trust him." "Don't let him take over." "You're paid for the month." "It's your ship." "Mal." "As far as your security deposit goes, that I might have to owe you." "Well, here she is." "Nice, ain't she?" " Smallish." " Well, not overly." "How much room do you really need for what you do anyway?" "I got a surveyor and his wife interested in renting it." "They're just waiting to hear back." " What's her range?" " Standard short." "She'll break atmo from a wide orbit get you where you need to go, bring you back home again." "She's space-worthy, just like the rest of Serenity is." "No need to sound so defensive, captain." "I prefer something with a few miles on it." "Were we to enter into this arrangement, captain there are a few things I would require from you the foremost being complete autonomy." "This shuttle would be my home." "No crew member would be allowed entrance without my invitation." "You'd get your privacy." "And just so we're clear under no circumstances will I service you or anyone who is under your employ." "I'll post a sign." "That won't be necessary." "The other thing I insist upon is some measure of assurance that when I make an appointment, I'm in position to keep that appointment, so far as such assurances are possible on a vessel of this type." "That's an awful lot of caveats and addendums there." "As I stated, I just want to be clear." "I'll take that into consideration while I review the applications." "Don't be ridiculous." "You're gonna rent this shuttle to me." " Am I?" " Yes." "And for one-quarter less than your asking price." " That a fact?" " It is." "And you figure you'll be getting this discount why, exactly?" "You want me." "You want me on your ship." " Do I?" " Yes." "Because I can bring something your surveyor or any of the other fish you might have on line can't:" " A certain respectability." " Respecta..." "And based on what little I've seen of your operation I suspect that's something you could use." "Fine." "Let me ask you this." "If you're so respectable, why are you even here?" "I mean, I've heard tell of fancy ladies such as yourself shipping out with big luxury liners and the like but a registered companion on a boat like this?" " What are you running from?" " I'm not running from anything." "If it's Alliance trouble, you might want to consider another ship." "Some here fought for the Independents." "The Alliance has no quarrel with me." "I supported Unification." "Did you?" "Well, I don't suppose you're the only whore that did." "Oh, one further addendum." "That's the last time you get to call me whore." "Absolutely." "Never again." "Keep everything set as low as possible." "Don't waste what you got." "Let me do that." "You never could operate this thing." "And try not to talk." "Talking uses up air." "Ain't no need for it." "Mal, come with us." "Can't." "Four to a shuttle, Inara." "Four." "One more." "It can't make a difference, not now." "I'm not leaving Serenity." "Mal, you don't have to die alone." "Everybody dies alone." " Everything's set and ready." " Good." "I linked the nav systems of both shuttles into the helm here." "When your miracle gets here, pound this button once." "It'll call back both shuttles." "Go see to your wife." "I went ahead and closed off all below-deck vents diverted what's left to the bridge." "Ain't much." "My advice is seal off everything behind you on your way back up." "Might buy you some time." "And I prepped a suit for you." "It's hanging in the foredeck." " So when the time comes..." " I won't be needing it, but thanks." "Okay." "Well." "Firefly..." "Your distress..." "Firefly Serenity..." "I'm sorry for your troubles, captain." "They sound many." "But you do understand, I can't invite you aboard my vessel." " I don't know you." " I ain't asking for a ride, just a push." "Right." "Your mechanical trouble." "Your compression coil, you say?" " It was the catalyzer." " Not even the coil." " Catalyzer's a nothing part, captain." " It's nothing till you don't got one." "Then it appears to be everything." "Well, it is possible we might have something that could do you." "We just come from a big salvage mission off Ita Moon." " I'd appreciate it." " Trouble is how can I know for certain your story's true?" "Ambush could be waiting for me and my people on the other side." "You can plainly see my shuttles have been launched, just like I said." "And by now you've scanned me." "You know I got no life-support." "I don't expect to see any weapons when we board." "And I do expect to see that engine part before I open the door." "I feel like maybe we can do business." "Check him." "Search the ship." "Start with the cockpit and work your way down." " Is this what you meant by ambush?" " I'm just verifying your story." "If you find anybody on board not supposed to be, you shoot them." "I thought we were gonna be reasonable about this." "Reason." "He's gonna talk to us about reason now." "Yeah, that's a joke." " Which one you figure tracked us?" " The ugly one, sir." " Could you be more specific?" " Do we look reasonable to you?" "Well, looks can be deceiving." "Not as deceiving as a low-down, dirty deceiver." "Well said." "Wasn't that well said, Zoe?" "Had a kind of poetry to it, sir." "You want I should shoot them now, Marco?" "Wait till they tell us where they put the stuff." "That's a good idea." "Good idea." "Tell us where the stuff's at, so I can shoot you." "Point of interest." "Offering to shoot us might not work so well as an incentive as you might imagine." "Anyway, we've hidden it." "So you kill us, you'll never find it." "Found you easy enough." "Yeah, you did, didn't you?" "How much they paying you?" "Huh?" "I mean, let's say you did kill us or didn't." "There could be torture, whatever." "But somehow, you found the goods." " What would your cut be?" " Seven percent, straight off the top." "Seven?" "Huh." " What?" " Hm?" "Nothing." "Not a thing." "No, I just..." " Does that seem low to you?" " It does." " That ain't low." " Stop it." " Seven percent's standard." " Okay." "Zoe, I'm paying you too much." " What does she get?" " Knock it off!" "Forget I said anything." "I'm sure you're treated well." "You get the perks, got your own room." "No?" "You share a bunk?" "With that one." " Really?" " Jayne, this ain't funny." " Yeah, I ain't laughing." " You move on over to this side we'll not only show you where the stuff's at we'll see to it you get your fair share." "Not no sad seven." " Private room?" " Jayne!" "Your own room, full run of the kitchen." "Jayne, I ain't asking..." "Shut up." "How big a room?" "Ship's clear, captain." "You check the engine room?" "Just like he said, the catalyzer's blown." "That's all he needs." "Anything that's worth anything is right here in this cargo bay." "So you take a look around, decide what you think is fair." "Already decided." "We're taking your ship." "Billy, get this plugged in." "Jesse, call Stern over here." "You're gonna pilot this pile of gosa out of here." "We'll get it as far as..." "Jesse, don't call Stern." "Billy, leave the catalyzer." "Do as he says." "Take your people and go." "You would've done the same." "We can already see I haven't." "Now get the hell off my ship." "Life-support failure." "Check oxygen levels at once." "Life-support failure." "Check oxygen levels at once." "Life-support failure." "Check oxygen levels at once." " Real beauty." " Serenity's not moving." " When your miracle gets here..." " Come with us." "Everybody dies alone." "I'll run up and scrape off a piece." " You'd do that for me?" " I'd do anything for you." "I don't think it's something he should see when he wakes up." "Welcome back, sir." " I go someplace?" " Very nearly." "We thought we'd lost you." "I've been right here." " Wash, you okay?" " Yeah, Mal, I'm fine." " You got a thing in your arm." " Yeah." "Try not to speak." "You're heavily medicated and you've lost a lot of blood." "I thought I ordered you all off the ship." " I call you back?" " No, Mal, you didn't." "I take full responsibility, captain." "The decision saved your life." "Won't happen again, sir." "Good." "And thanks." "I'm grateful." "It was my pleasure, sir." "Hey, we'd have been back first except there's something wrong with Inara's shuttle." "She done something to it." "Smells funny." " I told you, that's incense." " So you say." " Hey, captain." " Hey." "You fixed the ship." "Good work." " Thanks." " All right." "I have to insist, the captain needs to rest." "Yeah." "I think the doc might not be wrong about that one." "Just gonna need a few..." "You all gonna be here when I wake up?" "We'll be here." "Good." "That's good." "Yep." "Real beauty, ain't she?" "Yes, sir, a right smart purchase, this vessel." "I'll tell you what, you buy this ship, treat her proper she'll be with you for the rest of your life." "Son?" "Hey, son?" "You hear a word I've been saying?"