Chapter 5 can be found here: http://fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=16229

- - - - -

Inara folded the red silk napkin on the table and scrutinized its placement. Deciding the corners weren't even enough, she undid it and re-folded it. Again, the bothersome bottom corner stuck out. Inara whipped it off the small, expensive mahogany table and flapped it open in frustration.

She knew, though, that the napkin wasn't to blame for her increasing uneasiness. Mal and the others were out there without their ship. They had been for hours now, and it was quite late at night on Gravine already. Meanwhile, the Shepherd and River were all alone on Serenity, and Inara was not there with them. She wished to herself that she could have taken Grant on her own shuttle, but he had insisted that they associate in his special quarters. Admittedly, the room was unlike anything Inara had ever seen, even on her beloved Sihnon, but it was still unfamiliar. Just like the entire night thus far. Even the teapot in front of her had some kind of modern design that Inara couldn't figure out. Perhaps it was true Inara had been traveling for so long that she was behind in the latest technology, but there were buttons on it. Little black buttons. What kind of warped little universe did she live in that something as simple as teapots now had to be programmed?

Figuring that she was a fairly intelligent human being and should be able to figure the teapot out, she risked disastrous consequences and pushed one of the small black buttons. Inara didn't know what she was afraid of, really. Chances were teapots weren't equipped with self-destruction devices or anything dangerous. It wasn't like the thing was going to explode -

BANG!

Inara jumped a foot in her seat as the teapot emitted a sound that rivaled a gunshot and began smoking from its spout. The incense-scented room instantly filled with the smell of strong herbal tea.

The door to the bedchamber swooshed open and Grant stepped in, dressed in his silk robe and polishing his glasses off with a soft cloth.

"Ah, Miss Serra, I see you've made us some tea. Wonderful!" Grant said heartily, setting his glasses down on the side table by the large, silk-dressed bed. "I do enjoy this Companion ritual. I've been around a long time, as I'm sure you can tell, and I find nothing more calming than a chat over tea."

"Y-yes, of course," Inara stammered, still shaken over the exploding teapot. "Oh, Mr. Grant, please have a seat."

"Thank you, dear." He sat across from her and smiled as Inara set the porcelain cups, rimmed with gold, in front of him and tipped the teapot to pour. Nothing came out. Inara tipped it further, and still no luck.

"It appears the eKettle isn't as common out in the Black as it is here and on the Core," Mr. Grant smiled, taking the teapot from her and pushing another button. Inara watched as a steady stream of tea filled his cup, without a single splash. It even seemed to know when to stop, halting its flow just as the level reached the golden rim. He did the same to Inara's cup. "Don't worry. It isn't too difficult to figure out. You may have it, if you like."

"What? Oh, no, Mr. Grant. Thank you very much, but I think I prefer the...old-fashioned way..." Inara said graciously, thinking to herself that there was no way in hell she would ever put an exploding teapot in her shuttle. It was a little unsettling. The exploding part in particular.

"Yes, I suppose certain things must be kept traditional in order to fulfill the experience," Grant smiled. "Speaking of which, I love this scent. Is that incense?"

Inara nodded. "From Persephone. I was able to purchase it there on my last visit."

"Wonderful. It's been a while since I've been able to travel," Grant sighed and Inara sensed that it was no longer time for conversation. The previous night she had been able to recognize when he was about to go into lamenting mode. It wasn't that she minded; it was just something she wasn't used to. Most Companions choose people who desired rest and relaxation, almost like a full spa treatment for the body, mind and soul. It was not quite the same thing as a full eight-hour comfort and counseling session. "I do miss it."

"It isn't too late, Mr. Grant," Inara assured him. "You should have no problem securing a ship, and you have many employees to hire as crew."

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice. The business I've built myself is keeping me tethered to this rock and I don't see that changing in anytime soon."

"I understand," Inara said. "You're a man that upholds his promises and obligations. A quality severely lacking in many." She of course was thinking of a certain stubborn, abrasive, and alluringly mysterious captain that seemed to enjoy driving her up the wall any time the opportunity made itself apparent.

"Obligations..." Grant murmured, slowly getting lost in his thoughts. "Absolutely. If you spend so much time and energy and pour it all into one thing...for as long as I have...you essentially dig yourself into a hole. A very deep hole that is very hard to claw yourself out of."

Inara put down her cup. For some reason, she knew absolutely what Grant was talking about. "I hope I'm not making too great of an assumption, Mr. Grant, but it doesn't sound as though you're happy where you are."

"Nothing's perfect, Miss Serra. You work long and hard to get there, but it's never going to be perfect."

"That's what happens when one strives for perfection," Inara said sagely. "There is a significant difference between perfection and the best one can be."

"I used to think there was no harm in trying, though," Grant sighed, placing his cup down still more than half full.

Inara was confused now. Obviously they were no longer talking about his nostalgia of traveling the universe. However, Inara didn't think it would be polite to ask. "Mr. Grant, if you truly want something, you can get it if you try hard enough."

"But at what expense?" Grant said. "That's what you have to think about. You're still young, Miss Serra, but you should learn early that everything little thing you do has a consequence. And you can never hide from them when it comes back to you."

"When what comes back to you?" Inara asked.

"Everything. Everything comes back around. Full circle."

- - -

"We're coming up on Troy," Wash announced over the Arcanus comm system. "All hands on deck, guys, this isn't going to be easy. That is one big moon with one big, nasty gravitational pull."

Troy was the inevitable roadblock on their way to Hrothgar. There was something of a moon belt, belonging to a large unterraformable gas body, standing between the Arcanus and a stretch of open space. There were several hundred passes through the belt to choose from, but a ship as large as the Arcanus could obviously only take the widest route. That happened to be the one past Troy and Alexandum, the two largest moons. Grant hadn't been joking when he said the Arcanus wasn't an easy ship to fly. A hair to the left would send them crashing into Alexandum, which was the larger of the two and inhabited by a good million settlers. A hair too far right would suck them directly into Troy, which was completely uninhabited but still any collision was unwelcome. Death was not very high on any of their agendas.

Mal was on the escalator, making his way down to Infirmary. The thing seemed to be taking forever, so Mal impatiently tromped down, taking care not to fall flat on his face. Simon was sitting there in his hospital-white sanctuary, completely absorbed in some kind of medical handbook that looked about as interesting as envelope adhesive.

"Doctor, we're gonna to need you down with the engines," Mal said. "Find Kaylee and make yourself useful."

Simon blinked at him. "I'm not sure of how much use I can be down there - "

"Well, find something. Four engine rooms, two mechanics. You're smart. Do the math," Mal started to walk out before stopping at the door frame and turning around. "Where's the girl? Elise?"

"I think she went with Kaylee," Simon said. "Then said she was going to take a quick snooze afterwards."

"Oh. Well, wake her up and take her down with you. Listen to everything Kaylee tells you to do, all right?" Mal called over his shoulder as he left. "There's this rumor goin' round that crashing a boat into a moon and meeting a fiery death hurts a little."

Simon groaned. He'd gone several hours already avoiding Kaylee. It wasn't such a hard thing to do, on a massive ship like the Arcanus, but it seemed perhaps it was time to man up. He wasn't sure what Zoe and Jayne were busy with, or even Lee and Tony, that Mal had to put two doctors in the engine room. Especially since it wasn't exactly a big secret that Kaylee was more than a little bit annoyed with him. The logic didn't quite fit, even by Mal's standards.

One would think the captain was doing it on purpose. Just to annoy him. Now that was the kind of Mal-logic that made sense.

Simon rode the escalator up to the crew bunks and counted four hatches down. When he got to Elise's bunk, he found the door already open. Curious, he peered inside.

"Elise?"

"Right here," Elise said, standing right behind him. "I was in the bathroom when I heard the announcement. Thanks for coming up to get me, though I should advise you that sticking your head in a woman's room uninvited is a nice recipe for trouble."

"I - sorry," Simon apologized.

Elise raised an eyebrow. "Just thought you should know. I was told by a questionably biased, but nonetheless somewhat reliable, source that you're a little bit in the dark when it comes to that sort of thing."

Kaylee.

"Anyway, you haven't seen Tony, have you?"

Simon shook his head. "I've only ever seen him once. He does like to wonder, doesn't he? He reminds me of - me. When I was younger."

He was going to say that the boy reminded him a lot of River, but he figured it would be much safer to keep things simple. Not that Elise was particularly untrustworthy, but Simon wasn't sure about how well the crews would mesh together if they knew about him and his sister.

"If you say so. Let's go, I'd rather not be incinerated in the flaming ruins of Troy," Elise said, grabbing Simon by the sleeve and tugging him along. "Lots of other fun ways to die out there."

They made their way down to the engine rooms, where they nearly crashed into Kaylee, who was scurrying between them. She was sweating, her face was bright pink, and it was soiled with engine grease. Yet her smile couldn't be broader. The challenge was obviously delighting her beyond her wildest dreams and she was practically glowing, until her bright eyes landed on Simon. He couldn't help but shrink back and he practically felt Elise roll her eyes at him.

"Room Three," Kaylee said shortly, before running off into Room Two. Borneo emerged from Room One, just as dirty and sweaty as Kaylee was, though with noticeably less enthusiasm.

"What're you two - gorram it, the hell was they thinkin' sendin' docs down to the engines?"

"That did occur to us," Simon said dryly. Borneo shot him a glare that Simon noticed was aimed specifically at him. In fact, he seemed to be avoiding Elise's gaze entirely.

"Ain't no way either'a ya's can work a room alone," he said gruffly.

"No kiddin'." They all turned around to find Jayne and Lee behind them. Neither of them looked too pleased at the prospect of working together, both of them armed and sneering.

"You two know how to work a balanced booster?" Borneo asked, his deep voice making even Jayne's most barbaric grunt sound like a fairy song.

"Yeah," Jayne said. "Unless these're some fancy kinda balanced boosters ain't seen anyplace else."

"They are."

Jayne grinned. "Well, then, this is gonna get real interestin'." He went into Room Four, where the bright blue boosters were flashing dangerously. Lee followed him, obviously bored and having no intention of actually helping. Borneo returned his glare down to Simon.

"You're in Room One with me. Elise, go with the girl. Two of ya's can handle Two and Three. Lord knows the kid's got enough energy to do all four on her own but she's likely to pass out from all that happy she's got in her. Make sure she don't, 'cause she's the only one knows how them blasted synchronizers work."

Elise smiled pleasantly at Borneo, even at his relentless glare. "Sure thing, Borneo."

She followed where they had seen Kaylee last. Simon watched her go, and then looked up at the big man, who was easily over two times his size. His expression had changed for a split second as Elise disappeared after Kaylee. When Borneo noticed Simon staring at him, he growled and grabbed Simon by his collar.

"Come on."

He set Simon straight to work, watching a glowing Lu-Ming crystal. Its color was changing smoothly between bright blue and bright red. When the crystal became too blue, Simon had to tug a heavy lever to the right until the color diminished slightly. It if became too red, he pulled the lever in the opposite direction. According to Borneo, if Simon let the crystal's energy go out of balance, it would explode in his face, blow an entire engine, and send the Arcanus spiraling uncontrollably into deep space.

Simon sincerely hoped Borneo was exaggerating.

"You're a dumbass," Borneo said conversationally. Simon had to think a moment before he realized Borneo had actually said what he heard.

"Excuse me?"

"You're a dumbass," Borneo grumbled again, pumping a massive plunger into some sort of machine. "That bubbly lil' pixie's all tore up over you."

"I highly doubt that," Simon muttered as he carefully adjusted the lever. "I don't have much of an aptitude for romance, I'm afraid."

"You like her?"

"I - how is this any of your business?" Simon scowled.

Borneo slammed the plunger down hard, making a loud banging noise that made Simon jump slightly.

"Cause the girl's won't shut her yap 'bout you. She's cute'n all, but if you don't git to her she ain't ever gonna shut up. And I don't care to hear 'bout all them dumbassey thing you done to her. Or all them sweet things."

"She - she talks about me?" Simon was surprised, momentarily losing concentration and letting go of the lever. "Sweet things?"

"Boy, what the niu fen do you think you're - gimme that!" Borneo shoved Simon aside roughly and took the lever as it started to beep loudly. "Stupid lil' - get your ass over to the main generator over there and watch the tickers. They get red, you fill it with the coolant. That tube over there."

"Oh, okay," Simon grabbed the hose. "Sorry about that..."

"Can't even regulate a crystal. Gorram idiot. No wonder you can't get the girl."

"You're one to talk," Simon protested, plugging the coolant hose into the generator. "I saw your face when Elise was here. And as she was leaving - "

If looks could kill, Simon would have been dead many times over. His keen observational skills warned him that further conversation with the large, strong man could lead to broken bones, so Simon just fell silent. Borneo had nothing more to say, either, other than occasionally call him a moron for overloading the generator with coolant.

- - -

"He likes you."

"Whatever," Kaylee snorted, batting away the loose wires hanging over her head. True, she hadn't had to completely dismember that console, but it was just so interesting. She quickly braided them into a plait to keep them out of the way as she dug around in the circuits. "We're a lil' different from each other, case you didn't notice."

"Really? Hmm, you're both stubborn space brigands living on a big, old transport ship steering clear of the Feds and trying to make lives for yourselves out in the Black," Elise said thoughtfully. "You're right. Worlds apart."

"Forgot the part where I'm a dust-rock prairie harpy and he's a well-bred Inner Core spiff," Kaylee said grumpily. "Even just his hair is shinier than all the coin my folks ever had put together. Now, is that meter blue yet? Sure is takin' its sweet time."

Elise cocked her head at the unidentifiable machine before her. She had been instructed by Kaylee to push a small rectangular button the second that the meter turned blue.

"No, I don't think so." It was still more or a violet color. Indigo, more like. Then again, it had started off a bright red. Did a slight blue tint count as "blue"? Maybe...

"Kaylee, do you consider this blue?" Elise said suddenly, noticing that the machine was starting to vibrate. "I'm not so sure, it looks more like a lighter shade of indigo..."

"Indigo? What's indigo?" Kaylee looked up from what she was doing and her eyes widened.

"Wo de tian, ah - twist it!"

Elise did as she was told and a sudden burst of steam blew from an opening and nearly seared off her eyebrows. Kaylee looked sheepishly at her.

"You let the steam build up too long. You were supposed to twist it soon as it turned blue," Kaylee said apologetically, even though it wasn't really her fault at all.

"I know, sorry," Elise said, double-checking her eyebrows. "I'm not particularly proficient at mechanical things."

"Simon ain't either," Kaylee smiled slightly. "But then, I ain't hardly proficient at puttin' a band aid on a paper cut so I can't blame you people."

"So what makes you think he blames you?"

Kaylee blinked silently at the doctor for a moment but said nothing as she climbed up on a small stool to reach the comm handset. "Think it's bout time to get this show on the road, don't you think?"

"Oh, did the near-amputation of my face mean the compression was released?" Elise asked. Kaylee had told her that nothing could be done to tightly maneuver the Arcanus until they released the "compression". As soon as that was done, the pilots on the bridge could take the helm and two other crew members could take hold of the two "stabilizers".

"Yup."

Elise nodded and grinned. "Then lead the way, Miss Dust-Rock Prairie Harpy."

- - -

Wash stared at Tony, determined not to back down, but the boy was just too good. His wide eyes seemed to be superhuman. Wash struggled with all his might, gripping the arms of his seat until his knuckles turned white, but it was no use. His body inevitably betrayed him and in what felt like slow motion, his eyelids closed. For a moment, after they snapped open, he thought perhaps nobody saw. But the expression on Tony’s s face was victorious, and Wash knew he had just been defeated.

"The boy is good," Wash admitted rubbing at his eyes. Zoe patted him on the back.

"It's all right, Wash, you're getting older. Your eyes aren't what they used to be," she laughed.

"Atta boy, Tony," Grey ruffled Tony's hair. "He's always been the staring contest champion. You were a right fool to even challenge him."

"I am gonna pretend I didn't just hear the words 'staring contest' come down from this bridge," Mal said intolerantly as he rushed into the bridge. "Are we set? Can we pull this off?"

"Plenty of time," Grey waved her hand dismissively. "Tony, dear, why don't you run along to the starboard wing and set yourself up on that stabilizer? Zoe, would you mind taking the port?"

"Sure thing," Zoe nodded. She guided the ever-silent Tony out of the bridge, bypassing Mal.

"That kid knows how to handle the stabilizer?" Mal asked, unsure of whether or not he should go and help him. Something about putting the entire right starboard side of the massive ship in the hands of an eighteen year old boy felt a little bit unsettling.

"He'll be fine, Mal," Grey assured him. "You shouldn't underestimate him. He's gifted."

"Oh, we've had our fair share of gifted teenagers," Wash said dryly.

"That's right," Mal said. "And no offense to the boy, I'm all for quirky uniqueness, but it’s been my experience to be a little suspicious."

Grey frowned. "You don't even know him. You don't know his history."

"And I don't much care to, in all honesty," Mal said bluntly. "I've said this before. All's I know is he ain't one of mine."

For a second, the kind, grandmotherly look on Grey's face dropped. She looked notably cold and serious, a far cry from the jovial personality she'd displayed all evening. It was only for a second, though, and Mal was ready to write it off as just his imagination.

"Judging people does no good for anyone," Grey said seriously. "Mostly because nothing is ever as it seems."

"Don't I know it, darlin'," Mal sighed. "Don't I know it."

"Wash?" Kaylee's voice came up from the speakers. "Wash, Grey, you guys there?"

"Right here, Kaylee," Wash answered. "What's the news?"

"Me and Elise got the compression released. Thinkin' now's as good a time as any."

"Excellent," Grey clapped her hands together excitedly. "Now all we need is the reports from the stabilizers - "

"Port stabilizer all set up," Zoe announced over the system. Mal looked at Wash, who shrugged and looked over at Grey. She didn't seem to catch on to the obvious question that was on both their minds.

"Tony doesn't talk. How're we gonna know if he's ready?" Mal asked finally.

"Oh, he's ready." Kent came into the bridge. "Trust me, if she's ready over on port, Tony's been ready a good while longer."

Mal raised an eyebrow. "If you say so. Wash?"

"Okay, my little engine minions, get ready. It's about to get a little hot..." Wash forced his steering column up. "Grey?"

"Way ahead of you, son." Grey flicked a few witches and pulled up a lever. "Kent, do you see that large key? The black one next to the third panel from the left."

Kent scanned the side wall until he spotted what Grey was talking about. "Yeah, I've got it - "

"No, not right now. When I say so, you turn that thing as hard as you can to the right, dong ma?"

"Mal," Wash said. "Watch the numbers on the screen here. Soon they're going to be scrolling up really fast. When that happens, you need to read them off to Kaylee, all right?"

"Right," Mal said, grabbing the comm from him. Almost immediately, the numbers began to zoom onto the screen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the large brown moon of Troy looming ominously over the ship. The Arcanus was big, but nothing could collide into a moon that size and live to tell about it.

"You guys? I need the numbers," Kaylee called anxiously.

"Three, six, two, two, four," Mal began to recite them as the came onto the screen. Wash leaned into his steering column and tilted slightly to the left, when suddenly the entire ship rocked in the same direction, nearly sending everyone tumbling to the ceiling.

"What the gorram hell was that!" Mal demanded. It was probably Tony. The kid had probably lost hold of the stabilizer and -

"Sorry about that!" Zoe apologized over the speaker. "These stabilizers are different than any I've ever seen."

Mal caught Kent giving him a look. It was obvious that Kent knew what Mal had been thinking. Kent triumphantly returned to the key, probably smirking to himself.

"Numbers please!" Kaylee called. Mal abandoned his thoughts about how cocky Kent was and resumed feeding Kaylee numbers. What for, he had absolutely no idea as the ship began to rock again, this time intentionally. The moon was taking up a large part of the vision as they used its gravitational pull to swing them around, and it was more than a little intimidating. It was clearly a strenuous ordeal, as Grey and Wash were both starting to sweat.

"I really hope Jayne and Lee have those boosters taken care of," Wash grunted. "We're going to need them. This moon's got us tight."

"Please tell me we don't have our lives riding on those two," Mal said.

Wash didn't answer, which didn't sit well in Mal's stomach. "Okay, Kaylee? We're about to, ummm, die - is everything configured?"

There was some static on Kaylee's end, but it slowly began to clear up. Far too slowly, for Mal's taste. "Borneo's just about to...okay...just...about...done!"

"Now, Kent!" Grey shouted.

Kent gripped the large key with both objects and put his whole body into turning it. The Arcanus screeched loudly, making Mal's blood run cold.

"Boosters...c'mon, boosters..." Wash murmured. "Where the hell are those - "

"Whoa!" Kaylee cried suddenly into the comm.

"Whoa?" Kent demanded. "Whoa what!?"

BANG!

Everyone froze.

"Um, what was that?" Kent asked. "Was that noise supposed to happen?"

Wash looked back and forth between everyone. "That didn't sound too good. That actually sounded kinda like a - "

"That was a gun," Mal bolted out of the bridge, leaving Grey, Wash, and Kent with their mouths hanging open. Grey and Wash made moves to follow him, but Kent held them back and managed to keep them focused on steering. Mal was grateful for that, at least, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it as he sprinted down to the engine rooms and threw open the main door. He didn't know what he expected to find, but if it was Borneo or Lee holding a gun, he was going to break some skulls. And if Kaylee, the doctors, or even Jayne was hurt, those skulls were going straight out the airlock.

The first three rooms were empty, and a heavy pit weighed in his stomach as he went into the fourth.

That was where everyone was. Borneo had his gigantic arms wrapped around Lee, unmoving even as Lee struggled against him in vain. It was like watching a man hold down his toddler during a tantrum, though Lee was anything but a little kid, judging by the firearm on the ground nearby. That was presumably what had been fired. Elise was holding onto Borneo, as if the behemoth actually needed help. On the other side of the room, Simon was on the ground rubbing at the bridge of his nose, which was starting to swell rapidly. Kaylee was down there with him, trying to help him up. Jayne was bleeding from the left bicep, his fists clenched and his face twisted in pure rage.

No one was saying a word.

"What the zheng qi de goushi dui happened down here?" Mal roared, snatching up the gun before either of the two nutcases got any more bright ideas.

"Qingwa cao de liumang tried to shoot me!" Jayne cried, stomping angrily towards Lee and Borneo. Mal stepped in front of him and pushed him back roughly. Jayne barely budged, but at least he stopped moving. He was practically vibrating in anger.

"What?" he turned to Borneo, who didn't look in the mood for talking. Mal had no interest in addressing Lee, so he turned to Elise. "What the gorram hell happened?"

"Lee and Jayne had some kind of disagreement with the boosters," Elise explained angrily. "Slimeball decided shooting Jayne was a good solution."

"He's an idiot!" Lee shouted. "A tama de hun dan - "

"You tried to shoot me!" Jayne yelled again incredulously, as if he just noticed the wound on his arm. "I oughta - "

Before anyone could react, Mal's arm shot out and punched Lee square in the face, between Borneo's arms. Borneo looked mildly surprised, but didn't seem to mind that Lee was starting to bleed on him. He released his hold on Lee, not because he was afraid, but because he seemed to figure Lee didn't need to be held down anymore. He was right. Lee hit the floor, clutching at his eye.

"That was for causing a distraction that might crash this ship," Mal snarled. He pulled Lee up to his feet and slammed him into a wall. "And that was for trying to shoot my crew."

"Hey, let me have a turn at him!" Jayne protested, balling his hands into fists.

Lee pushed back on Mal and wiped some blood on his face. "You think you're so tough. Think you've got all your street cred in order, yet you get all pissy from a bullet graze on your man over here. What’s the matter? You two got somethin' goin' on or - "

"Shut up, Lee," Elise spoke up.

"Why don't you ever use that mouth for something useful, you little whor - "

Mal grabbed Lee by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall again.

"Gorram it, she ain't even your crew!" Lee coughed. "What was that for?"

Mal shrugged. "That was for me. Just didn't particularly like you right then. Kaylee, go back to your engine room with Elise and call Kent down here. Borneo, get these boosters set up as soon as you can. Simon, you and Jayne head down to Infirmary and clean yourselves up. What happened to you anyway, doc?"

Simon snorted grumpily.

"He tried to hold Jayne back like Borneo did with Lee," Kaylee said sheepishly. "Din't work out quite the same."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that, doc," Jayne grumbled.

"It's all right," Simon touched his discolored nose gingerly. "Noses are overrated anyway."

His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but Jayne didn't seem to notice.

"Right. Okay, everyone get back to work," Mal ordered. "We've still got a moon to clear."

Borneo set straight to work, setting up the boosters quickly. Kaylee and Elise left the room, and just as Simon and Jayne were about to follow, Mal landed a punch on Lee that knocked him unconscious to the floor. Simon, Jayne, and Borneo looked at him curiously.

"Didn't feel like doing that in front of the ladies," Mal said, wiping his hand off on his pants.

"Still say you shoulda let me take a shot at him," Jayne grumbled as Simon left before him. "You know, my back was turned."

Mal looked at him sternly. "What do you mean?"

"My back was facin' him when he took the shot," Jayne said grimly. "I got a second sense 'bout those type'a things seein' as I been dodgin' bullets since I was ten."

"That's sounds like a fun and wholesome childhood," Mal commented.

"Yeah, well, my back was turned and I managed to duck out the way 'fore he could get me where it matters," Jayne showed Mal the wound on his bicep. "Don't know what kind of man shoots someone ain't armed nor lookin'."

Mal nodded grimly. "Get the doc to sew you up."

Jayne left, and Kaylee re-entered the room. "Borneo, Wash and Grey are ready for - " She looked down at Lee on the floor. "Can't say I didn't see that comin'."

"We ready for the boost?" Mal asked impatiently.

"Yeah, soon as Borneo - "

"Done," Borneo said.

"Off we go then," Kaylee scampered away, and Kent came in.

"Zenme le - ?"

"We need to talk." Mal grabbed the other captain by the collar and dragged him away, down into the Dark Matter room.

- - - - - END CHAPTER 6 - - - - -

Okay, the next three weeks are going to be pretty much one big perpetual butt-whipping for me. Its the end of the school year, plus the dreaded finals week, PLUS lots of my friends are graduating and there is just so many things to do. Therefore, the next update might not be next week. Note the "MIGHT". There will definitely be at the very least ONE new chapter in the next three weeks, but I probably won't be back into the swing of things until maybe after May 19 (SUMMER VACATION!!). But...um...at least I think this chapter is a little longer than usual?

Anyway, lol, please bear with me?

Aaaand finally, please review and tell me what you think! Thanks!