Saul regained consciousness with a jolt and an angry snort. The spot on his stomach where the bullet had impacted the mesh hurt like hell. The part of his back that had been slammed against the uneven walkway when he fell was even worse. The cook was on his feet in an instant, knife in hand swinging around frantically to the pockets of shadow that surrounded him, but it was obvious the gunman was long gone. He bent down to examine his armor through the hole in his tee shirt. The good news was that even at point blank range, the round hadn't penetrated the skin. The bad news was that someone had just shot him. No less, someone who, judging from his timing, was probably on his way to Artemis right now. Saul sheathed his knife, slung the sack he had intended to use for supplies over his shoulder, and broke into a sprint with a annoyed curse. He was getting too old for this. "So you don't think he was justified?" The doctor shook his head. "I'm saying that there's a certain emotional level where any act can be considered justified. But it's not a good basis for a legal system." Mariah stopped walking and turned to face him. "Are you saying I'm too emotional?" The edge in her voice made Leo freeze. "Wait…no, I, I mean…" When he finally noticed the expression in her eyes, the doctor's apology caught in his throat. Mariah broke into a grin. "I walked right in to that one." "Yes, yes you did." "That's not funny." "Actually, it's very funny. I spent my formative years learning that a good Core woman wasn't supposed to be as rational or intelligent as a good Core man and now I get to do something about it." Leo chuckled as the pair resumed walking. "By running circles around helpless medical professionals?" "Mostly, yes." "Well, I suppose we all have our purpose in life." The dilettante smiled warmly. "This was a wonderful idea. Thank you, Leo." "Always happy to be of service." A flickering sign broadcast against the wall of the corridor caught his eye, and he smiled. "I don't suppose you'd like to get a drink?" Mariah shrugged, paused for a moment of thought, then followed the doctor into the outpost's spartan cantina. "Why not? Maybe I can stop…" Her words died when they ran into the couple leaving the cantina. Mariah wasn't certain who the woman on Dex's arm was, but two things were immediately apparent: she was attractive, and she was making him laugh. That laughter petered out as soon as Dex saw his crew mates standing in front of them. He cleared his throat as Carmen looked nervously between him and the new arrivals. "Uh…hi." Leo smiled casually. "Dex. Didn't know you were here." "Yeah. Uh…Carmen, this is Mariah Boleyn and Doctor Leo Chen, they're on the boat. Doc, Mariah, this is Carmen Busey." Mariah forced a thin smile. "Another old friend from work?" It sounded more like an accusation than a query. "Uh, yeah, actually." Finally noticing the placement of his hand, he disentangled it from Carmen's and looked down at the deck. "We, uh…I was just goin' to see Rachel about maybe parcelin' Carmen somewhere, so's she can look for work." At that, Mariah smiled bitterly. Leo cast a glance between his shipmates and cleared his throat. "Well, Miss Busey…if you are going to fly with us for a while, let me be the first to welcome you." She shook his hand awkwardly, still occasionally glancing sidelong at Mariah's expressionless face. "Ehm. You've probably gotten used to tight spaces, working in a place like this. The quarters on a Firefly shouldn't be that much of an adjustment, eh?" Carmen smiled. "Aw, after growin' up in the cabins, anything else seems like tian tang, right?" She elbowed Dex, and he winced. The response caught Mariah's attention, as did his subsequent pleading glance at the blonde. Mariah clenched her jaw. "All right, Dex, what is all this about? Ever since we got here you've been—" "Look, it's not important right now. Qing gao bie hao qi xin?" "No." Mariah's hand pressed against the mechanic's chest as he and Carmen tried to move past her. She forced his eyes to meet hers. "Dex, since when can you not tell me something?" For a moment, Dex looked into her eyes. She didn't understand. What would she think? What would it mean, to someone who had grown up on the Core? Finally, he pushed past, his hand guiding Carmen along behind him. "Look, just…drop it. Please." As the other pair moved into the corridor back towards Artemis' airlock, Mariah grabbed the doctor's arm. "Come on." Sir Anderson's foot caught on the last uneven stair down to the cargo bay floor, sending the old noble careening to the ground with a violent crash. When he looked up, the pilot's new pet was directly in front of him. "Mao?" Mona sped around the doorway from the ship's lounge as soon as she heard the noise. When she saw the spectacle at the bottom of the stairs, her mouth fell open as she rushed forward. "Oh, my god, are you all right?" With one motion, the teenager scooped the orange kitten into her arms. Sir Anderson groaned. "Priceless." Rachel hopped the last few steps down in to the cargo bay, cracking a smile when she saw the immaculate black suit lying in a heap at the bottom of the other staircase. "You still together, your lordship?" Sir Anderson lifted an arm into a halfhearted wave. "Just checkin'. Mona, you hold things down for a spell, I'm gonna go try and find at least one of our missing folk." "Yes, Miss Wu." "Excuse me, Captain…Wu, is it?" Rachel looked up to the open airlock door to see a man with a close-trimmed gray beard smiling back at her. "I have a different strategy to suggest." With a flick of his wrist, the man leveled a silver-plated pistol at the increasingly uncomfortable captain. "We'd like you to surrender your ship."