Read Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

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“There!” Book said, pointing at the shuttle’s navigational display. “They’re right on top of us!”

As Book attempted to get a visual through the cockpit windows, Inara was already cycling open the shuttle’s airlock door. Squinting up into the sky, what she saw choked her with despair. Serenity was being dogged by a Reaver ship. And they were gaining on her.

Book appeared next to her, and cursed as he surveyed Serenity’s tactical situation. It was hopeless. Despite her pilot’s clear skill, the Reaver ship was simply faster. As they watched in horror, the trailing ship fired its large magnetic grappler, catching Serenity amidship as she spun sideways in a desperate attempt to change course. Serenity was being dragged to her doom.

“They better not wait much longer to take off in the other shuttle…”

Inara did not reply, knowing that Mal would never leave Serenity. Unlike her. Unreasoned guilt threatened to tear away her last threads of control.

Just as the massive Reaver ship collided violently with Serenity, shuttle two finally detached, fleeing the fused ships. But as it attempted to bank away, the twisted metal chimera suddenly lurched into a barrelroll, striking the smaller shuttle and sending it careening off course.

Inara gasped.

As the two larger ships wrestled in the Reavers’ death-grip, shuttle two fell gracelessly towards earth. Seconds before impact, the pilot was able to pull the shuttle out of its nosedive into a scarcely controlled crash landing, just beyond the next ridge.

“There may be survivors,” Book said as he made his way back into the shuttle, heading for the cockpit.

Inara watched, frozen, as Serenity and the Reaver ship descended in their death-spiral toward the horizon. The setting sun flared through her tears, mercifully blinding her to the explosion.

She stumbled backward into the shuttle, habit alone inducing her to trigger the door closed as the shuttle’s engines started up.

Inara wept.

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Continue to Part 5