(Zoe.)

I got up early on ship's time that morning, around 0450 hours. Hadn't gotten to the bunk terribly early, what with watching the big baijiu matchoff between the doctor and Inara, but - well, I don't seem to get much sleep lately anyways. Not like I'm plagued with nightmares, though I guess sometimes that moment when my man was ripped away from me replays across my closed eyes as I lie down and try to get some rest...

I guess, (and I'm only even mentioning this sort of thing because I know that you'd NEVER repeat it on me, right? I know that you're a friend of the Captain's, so I guess that you sort of inherit the trust that I'd put in him...) that I wonder sometimes if it was better this way or not. I mean, that it was so quick when Wash was taken from me, just a blink and he was... well. Think about if when the moment came, it were something that I could have saved him from, only if he still died, that would mean that I hadn't been strong enough, or quick enough, or smart enough. Would I just feel worse that I'd failed him, or would it be some comfort that I'd at least had a fair shot. Or one of those things that you can see coming, have time to say your goodbyes, but could never possibly stop, like a gut wound or an untreatable cancer...

Back when I was in the army, it was easier to accept the notion of losing people. I'd known from the first day that I signed up that my comerades in arms would die, and that I stood a good chance of buying the farm while wearing a uniform and carrying army issue hardware my own self. Guess I didn't let many of those people get under my skin, though the captain and Tracey are exceptions. You can't keep yourself from having other people matter to you, is the long run of it, and when I realized how much the crew of Serenity mattered, especially my husband, then I started to dedicate my life to protecting them all, with the kind of dedication I used to reserve for the forces.

But you can't keep people in this Verse by being single-minded about it either, I guess. If nothing else, the Reaper is sneaky, and he's going to steal the souls you love out from under you if he can't do it any other way... but I guess I sort of got off onto a side track, now didn't I? Not even sure what got me talking about this stuff.

So I got up early, yeah, that was it, and did another inspection of the cargo just because we couldn't afford to have anything go wrong with that dangerous sort of stuff on a high acceleration, high speed course through the center of the 'Verse. Nothing was at all amiss, the engine was running great after whatever Kaylee did to tune it up yester evening, and River assured me that she was still alert and in tip-top shape for piloting. Nothing else to do but go to the kitchen and have breakfast, and I was nearly finished my bowl of protein meal when Inara came in. "Morning, Zoe."

I had to smile. "Good morning yourself. Thanks for the action last night."

"Oh, hey, no need to thank me." For the final game of xiangqi, Simon had wanted to put money down on the game, and Inara had refused to take the bet, so I'd backed her play against Simon's - and come ahead by twenty square, which was more cash than I knew what I'd do with, even when we got back to Hera. (I didn't feel much guilt over taking Simon's money, since I'd heard about the savings that he'd collected back on Boros, and the spending spree he'd taken Kaylee on.)

"Alright then." There was a pause as Inara filled up a kettle with distilled water and put it on the heater circuit - probably for making one of her fruit-infused teas, and then started to sort among the other food supplies that we'd gotten before leaving Boros - nothing particularly fresh was left already. "So, I hear that you'll have work on Hera, for the Guild,"

"Yes, actually... what, did Jayne spread the news already?"

"Well, yeah. Was he not supposed to?" Inara shrugged. "If you could happen to need someone with my skills, don't hesitate to ask..."

"And offer a fair cut of the fee?" Inara put in, and I nodded agreeably. "Thank you, but - well, I'm feeling like I shouldn't have even mentioned it to Jayne before asking the captain."

"Oh, I see." I considered for only a moment. "Then I haven't heard a word about any Guild work."

"Well, thanks I suppose." She started to sprinkle the tea mix into her mug, and poured the water into it just a few seconds after the kettle let out its whistle. "Would you mind if I turned the Cortex news on in here? A little worried about what might have started next, so... I'd rather hear it with some moral support around."

"Go ahead - or I'll do it, if you like, since you're stirring your tea." Finished the bowl of cereal with a very final gesture.

"Thanks." So I got up from the table, over to the cortex terminal on the wall, and easily found an audio-only Verse news feed out of Sihnon. It tuned in mid-sentence as usual, something about nobody knowing quite what to make of Snyder or the statement. "Who's Snyder?" I asked.

Inara shushed me, and I realized that they were starting to play a recorded segment. "Like all of you, I have been saddened and disillusioned by the events of the past two weeks, by the exposed misdeeds of the leaders in whom we had placed so much faith and trust. I am saddened too, though more tolerant, when I hear that the planet Boros has chosen once again to go its own way, to be Independent of the rest of the 'Verse through which it travels, to make its own decisions without concern for the good of other planets."

"That's not what they're doing," I muttered angrily, but Inara held up a hand again.

"...as great as the real need for change, for reform, may be, there is still a need for Unity - a consideration that was fundamental to the founding of the Alliance, and to its establishment as the single government of the entire 'Verse, even out to the farthest border moon. As I continued to search my soul, it seemed clear to me that if no-one else would rise and sound the call for unity through reform, for the institution of a stronger and healthier Alliance, then I would take it upon myself..."

"Who the hell *is* this guy?" I asked, drowning out the voice. "Sorry, Inara - I'll work on finding another copy of this that you can listen to later if you want..."

"No, that's okay, I've gotten the main gist," she said. "Probably a continental or regional executive one level below the planetary administration, on a planet that's Core but not too central - Ariel, or maybe Osiris. Far enough from the Parliament to escape suspicion, but with enough political experience and credibility to think that he could pull this off."

I stared at her in disbelief. "How did you work that all out so quickly?" I muttered weakly.

"I didn't," she admitted. "One of my... superiors in the Guild mentioned the possibility, in the event of great unrest on the central core worlds."

"You mean, they mentioned that there might be... the kind of stuff we've been hearing about? The riots on Sihnon and fighting on Londinium? But... but then why..." I trailed off; had been about to ask why Inara had been so upset when the news had broken, but it seemed too obvious that just hearing about the theoretical possibility hadn't prepared her for the news in her heart.

At that point, the speech stopped replaying on the Cortex and somebody - a commentator that we'd heard before - started commenting again. "Reaction to Robert Snyder's proclamation has been hard to evaluate under the circumstances, but out of those who actually responded to an opinion poll, his approval rating is high on Londinium and Sihnon - between seventy and seventy-five percent. Ariel and Osiris are even more solidly behind him. This message has also been received with a slimmer majority acceptance in the very distant border worlds and moons. The places that seem least likely to accept membership in a reformed Alliance are the in-between places - planets caught between the Core and the far reaches, between urban civilization and the rough wild, like Beaumonde, Persephone, and Hera. Also Boros, as one might expect, is still high on Independent fever and has reacted to Snyder's reform alliance proposal with a colllective snort."

"Thank you, Rupert," someone else on the talk show asked the first person. "And this leads into the question probably on the minds of all our listeners - are we headed towards another Verse-wide civil war? Are the sides starting to line up already?"

"The situation doesn't seem to be heading that way so far, Delia. Snyder has made sure to stress in his two speeches so far that he's calling for peace, not for war - that he wants to see a ceasefire declared on Londinium and a quick end to the riots in Sihnon great city - and though it wasn't so simple, his authority seems to be improving both situations. He's also stated that he wouldn't authorize fleet subjugation or annexation of Boros or any world that chooses against membership in the new Alliance by popular vote of its inhabitants."

"Hmm... well, maybe he's a cut above the usual Alliance scumbag we have to deal with," I muttered grudgingly. Any notion that there was going to be some sort of a strong Alliance suriving this thing wasn't particularly welcome, but if it was going to be one that was doing its best to avoid the arrogance that we knew, was willing to live and let live with those confident enough to step out on their own...

"You're listening to the news?" Hasati said, hesitating in the doorway to the dining room.

"Yes, come in if you like," Inara replied. "That is, assuming that you don't mind Zoe."

"No, it's alright," I insisted. "Have you heard any of it yourself?"

"Not really 'heard' - I saw a very brief digest of recent developments when I awoke."

"Alright," Inara said, and for a moment we listened to the recap as Hasati collected himself some canned fruit for his breakfast. "So, just what is your job going to be when we get to Hera?"

"Probably... trying to get in touch with this Snyder and establishing the terms of co-existence, really," he said. "That would seem to be the job of a top diplomatic negotiator under the circumstances. He's probably sincere when he says that he doesn't want war with Independents all over again, but if so that's just a minor point of what our relationship with the Alliance would NOT be."

"Like a trade treaty," I guessed. "Hera's pretty self-sufficient, but no planet is an island. Free trade with other independent worlds and willing Alliance citizens would be a great asset to the whole deal - and a blocade of any sort would be nearly as bad as outright hostilities."

He nodded. "Free movement of trade goods, and easy visas for Heran citizens wishing to travel to the Alliance, yes, those are some of the most obvious considerations..."

-----------

(Simon.)

"Sorry, sweetie, but I have to tell you," Kaylee pointed out. "No matter how long you keep me blindfolded and keep spinning me about, you're not going to really establish a sense of mystery about where you're taking me. I... I know this ship too well. We're in the rear common area, not too far from the passenger quarters. Can I take this thing off now?"

I sighed softly. "Not until we get there... but it's close, and I guess I'll stop with the twirling you about routine."

"We're close?" That managed to put a note of puzzled wonder in her voice, that I had to smile at. Standing behind her, I 'led' the way around the common area, up a few stairs, and through a door which I then pulled shut and locked behind me. Kaylee took the opportunity to pull off the kerchief that I'd been using to blindfold her. "Okay, why did you make such a fuss out of taking me to the Infirmary? Ohh..."

"Not the most traditional locale for a romantic picnic lunch," I admitted, sitting down on the tablecloth that I'd spread on the floor between the surgical table and the mesonic scanner, next to the picnic basket that she'd caught sight of first, and stretching up my hand towards hers, "but it was about the best I could think of here on board ship. Our bunk doesn't really have as large a flat stretch of floor, and just about anywhere else we'd probably get interrupted."

"Hmm." Kaylee shot one look at the locked door before taking my hand and crouching next to me. "What if somebody starts bangin' on the door to be let in?"

"Hmm... well, I guess we'll have to take our chances - like the risk of an outdoor picnic getting rained out," I said philosophically. "Is it really likely that somebody would get badly hurt in the next two or three hours?"

"No, probably not," she admitted, and then smiled. "And what if Jayne needs some surgical tape??"

I had to grin back. "Not a chance. There isn't anybody here aboard ship that he needs to hide his weapons from."

"Well, that's true enough." Then Kaylee focused on something else. "So, what've you got in the basket anyway?" Her eyes narrowed a bit. "You been stockpiling decent food away from me?"

"Well, if I never hid anything from you, then how would I be able to pull romantic surprises?" I asked as ingenuously as I could manage. Once again, Kaylee nodded in acceptance of what I'd just said, opened up the basket, and started to riffle through it. Idly she started to ask something, and then clamped her mouth shut.

"What is it?" I asked. No response. "Would it help if I promised not to get mad."

"Maybe," she admitted. Pause. "Okay, I was going to ask... where the awkward and romantically inept young man that I remember vanished to? The guy who pissed me off so mightily on Higgins' moon and listed the fact that I was all he had left among my best qualities in a romantic dark corner..."

"Hey, it wasn't that romantic if you counted the fetus, and I was trying to make the best of my opportunities," I laughed. "Do you regret that I've got my act together a bit better?"

"No, no," she hurriedly insisted. "Just - well, wondered a bit."

"Maybe I realized after we finally got together that I couldn't afford such stupid mistakes," I said softly. "I've always been pretty good at figuring out where I took a wrong move, especially if I can focus on it with all my attention."

"Oh, okay." She smiled, smeared some paste onto a cracker, and offered it to me - popped it into my open mouth herself, and giggled. "So, does this difference, too, come down to River? Now that you don't have to worry about her and hover over her, you can spend more time and attention on me?"

I couldn't answer that one immediately on account of having my mouth full, and nearly choked a little bit, but maybe it was good that the circumstances forced me to think over my reply. "I... I guess that that was part of it, actually. I can't deny that she was my first priority in that period from when I first came aboard this ship, until... very recently. Not that she isn't still important, but... not a nearly all-consuming focus anymore. She's starting to spread her wings and take care of herself now, and that's great."

"Yeah, it is," Kaylee agreed. "So, what now?"

"Well, there's this," I said. leaning forward and kissing her with all of the love I felt. We kept messing around for a little while, and then got back to feeding each other choice delicacies from the basket and talking about the little things that mean so much. In fact, I'd started to feel like the whole world 'verse was this little room, when outside reality interrupted. Not with a bang on the door, as it happened, but the crackle of a comm unit on the counter and a strident announcement.

"Kay Lee Frye, wherever you may be on this gorram boat you'd better hop to and get your *bei* to the cockpit!"

It was Mal who'd spoken, of course, (I don't think that anybody else would have put it quite that way,) and I guess I was a bit upset at the attitude that had come with the line, if not the command itself. So I got straight up and hit the button that would connect me to wherever Mal's voice had come from. "Come on, Mal, what's the big rush? We're having a moment here, and it's not like..."

"Simon," Kaylee said warningly, getting up herself and starting to unlock the door. All of a sudden I started to get an idea of the sort of things that might really require the immediate attention of the engineer on a trip like this.

"The *big rush*," Mal's voice informed me icily, "is that your little sister is worried about the forward radar sensor not giving her accurate enough readings for the impressive feat of piloting that she has committed herself to, and which all of our lives are on the line for. Get Kaylee..."

"She's already long gone, Mal," I put in, getting a bit of odd enjoyment out of being able to tell him that at least. "Should be arriving in just another minute or so."

"Oh, well, okay. Glad that somebody respects my authority around here," Mal mumbled, and then the speaker fell silent. I shrugged to myself, grabbed some rice bar treats out of the basket, and headed forward in the ship myself. Might as well find out what was going on, and nobody was about to broadcast more of it over the intercom for my benefit, it seemed.

By the time I was heading up through the forward hall and saw Kaylee, River, Mal, and Zoe all conferring in and around the cockpit. I got there just in time to see Kaylee open up some hatch in the ceiling of the cockpit that I had *never* noticed was there before, and Mal gave her a boost to crawl up and through - or at least partly through, because her legs stayed hanging down through the opening.

"Hey, what's going on?" I felt compelled to ask. "And what's up there?"

"It's the sensor melon of the ship," Zoe informed me brusquely. "The main eyes and ears of Serenity, as it were. And Kaylee, obviously, is going to have a look, because something is wrong with..."

"With the forward radar," I repeated the words that Mal had said earlier over the comm. "How serious is this?"

"The images of debris and micro-planetoids that I'm getting are fuzzy where they should be sharp," River complained. "Without that clarity, I can't be sure of which ones we need to change course to avoid or how.I don't think it's an immediate disaster, but whatever's wrong NEEDS to get fixed as soon as possible. I'm pretty sure I can't complete the trip to Hera without getting us hull-breached if things continue on like this."

Mal and Zoe took a deep breath. "I think I know this, but - is there any way that we could abort the full trip on the fuel that we have and still make port?" Zoe asked.

"Let me see," River said doubtfully, pulling up a few orbital mechanic diagrams and drawing curves onto them. "Landing on Londinium is just about possible - it's not far from our projected path and travelling in the same direction - so we'd mostly just have to break hard. But - I'm not sure it'd be that much safer a course. We have to go through a few debris fields and areas of insystem traffic just to get that far, and it's surrounded by the densest cloud of artificial satellites in the 'Verse."

"Plus, probably not the safest place for us to try and get a repair job done once we've landed," Mal said. "Kaylee, do you know anything yet?"

I realized with surprise that by this point most of my beloved's legs had followed her up into the 'melon.' "Not so shiny, captain. I've confirmed that the radar signal isn't at optimal focus and resolution, but it doesn't seem to be happening anywhere that I can reach from here, so I can't fix it inside."

"What?" I stood there, stunned by the implications, as Kaylee emerged from the hatch and jumped down into my arms, (and I wasn't quite prepared to catch her under the circumstances and stumbled. "So... so are you going to fix it OUTSIDE?"

"Is that doable?" Mal asked in his all-business tone.

"Won't know for sure until I get out an' take a look, but I imagine so, Cap'n," she reported brightly. "The forward radar receiver is a button on Serenity's nose, just about... down there." She pointed down below the forward-facing windows in the cockpit. "Gets the echo of the radar signal sent out by the emitter in the melon - I checked that's working fine by the way - and runs it up a braided wire..." She traced a line along the divider between the two windows, "up into the melon again, and then down to the pilot and co-pilot's stations. I can carry just about any tool or supplies I need to fix the button or the wire in suit pockets, including spare braid."

And there it was. Suit pockets. As in a space suit. Now, I realize that my own feelings about space suits are a little irrational, bordering on the mild phobia - I've done my best to desensitize, but I still don't like them. (And I guess I've sort of forgiven Jayne for the time he made me dress up in one to come to a ship that had perfect life support of its own.) But I'd think that even someone who was a bit more rational when it came to spacesuits and vacuum would have some qualms about this prospect, about Kaylee going outside the ship to fix something when we were flying through space at such relatively high speeds, and when the pilot couldn't be sure about possible collisions.

Indeed, Mal had a very grim look on his face when he turned to River. "How're we doing for space dust and micro-debris? The sort of thing that wouldn't hurt Serenity's hull but be a problem for a girl going on a walk outside?"

"Hmm... not great at the moment," River admitted. "If these charts are right, they'll clear up a lot in twenty minutes or so."

"Then I'll start getting ready," Kaylee said.

"One thing," I said. "If you've got all the parts you'd need for any repair, can you make a brand-new receiver button and just replace it out there?"

"Hmm." She seriously considered the idea. "Few problems. One, the button is encased with three modular sections - I've got spares, but only two, so I'd need to take one from the button outside - if all three were damaged, then the reception would really be much worse than it is. Two, it'd take too long to build it up from scratch. Three, even after I took that much time, I couldn't be sure that it would work better than the existing button without a LOT of extensve testing while it's hooked into the system..."

"Right," Mal said. "Well, any prep work that you can do quickly before you suit up wouldn't be a bad idea, Kaylee, but I think overall we need you to get out there as soon as you can be ready to get the job done and as soon as River reports a clear spell outside that looks to last for long enough. What can we do to help you prep?"

I watched Kaylee as she mentally prepared herself for this ordeal, and realized that she wasn't taking it lightly. But for her to risk her life like this would likely save the lives of all the people that she loved, and she was the only one who knew enough about the tiniest piece of Serenity to get it done. And then she took charge, stepping into that role like she had always been used to it.

"Zoe, run down to the cargo bay, pull my suit, and give it a first checkover. I trust you well enough for that. Then bring it upstairs. Mal - I'm not sure how much this might help, but I'd feel better if Inara was ready at the controls of Thunderbird one, just in case I slip. It's more maneuverable for short distances than Serenity is - if anybody can catch me drifting, it'd be Inara. No offense, River."

"No, that's okay," River said. "You're right - Serenity's thrusters can be a little too powerful for delicate work, and I'm not used to flying a shuttle anyway. My place is here."

"Wait a second," I said. "Do the shuttles have radar of their own? Maybe they could help cover."

"Maybe," Zoe said uncertainly. "As short-range vehicles, they don't have any use for long-range sensors, so they might not be any better than what we've got. But it could be a little help..."

"I'll start fashioning a Cortex link between the three navicomps," River said, already working on the control board again.

"And me?" I said, turning to Kaylee. "I want to help."

"You've helped already," she insisted, giving me a quick kiss. "Neither of us could have known it, but the gear you pushed me into buying on Boros is what made this whole thing possible." Oh, now why wasn't that quite what I wanted to hear at the moment. "I'm heading down to our bunk - most of what I'll be needing to pack is down there now. But the braided wire and the modular button shell case sections are in the engine room - I'll tell you exactly where."

I sighed, took one more fond look at her, and headed back through the corridor.

-------------

It only took around fifteen minutes for everything to be ready - all of the tools and parts that Kaylee could carry were assembled, the spacesuit had been doublechecked to make sure that it was sound, and Inara was alerted and ready to do her part. Everybody on board had heard of the crisis and the plan by this point, including the passengers, and Jayne, who had gone down to his bunk, and just when I'd forgotten about him leaving, (which didn't take long, had re-emerged with a new item to offer Kaylee - two small oxygen cylinders. She'd looked up from recalibrating some electronic jigger to figure out what they were.

"Well, thanks, that's sweet, but I really don't think I'll be needing more breathin' air than I can carry on my back, Jayne."

"Well, you never know, which is why they're oxygen, but not really meant for breathing. These guys have enough reaction mass to push you back to the ship in case your tether breaks and you slip off. Could be a life-saver."

"Yeah, I guess another failsafe never hurts," she agreed. "Thanks for the thought." And the cylinders had joined the pile of equipment that she'd be carrying.

"Looks like the microdebris zone we're in is fading out," River announced a few minutes later. "I think this is it."

"I'd concur," Inara reported over the intercom. "Conditions not going to get any clearer, after allowing you a two minute delay to get suited up and lock out."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Kaylee said, standing up. She'd been in very thin and loose underclothes ever since re-emerging from the bunk with the Boros gear, and I realized the wisdom of it as she quickly crawled into the flexible gas-tight suit. Slamming the helmet on as quickly as possible, she quickly realized that it had sealed over her loose hair, and my sweet precious girl was mumbling rude Mandarin under her breath as she took the headgear back off and set it aside.

"Let me," I whispered, stepping close, and for a few second sshe was too surprised to react at all, before nodding silently. As quickly and tenderly as I could, I gathered her light brown locks together, relishing the fruity smell of the waterless cleanser she used on it when we were on the ship, and the very faint red-gold highlights. It only took twenty seconds or so to get all of Kaylee's hair arranged in a practical but cute bun on top of her head, and she beamed as I offered her the helmet back again.

"Now, where did you learn to do that?" she whispered. "I didn't even see what you held it fastened with."

"I'm a man of many secret talents," I teased, and kissed her again before letting her lock her face inside. Stood back and allowed Zoe and Mal to take the lead in equipping her with all of her gear, though I handed anything over when it looked like I was the closest or the only person who understood what she was asking for. Then one end of a tether was fastened onto the suit, and she crawled into a little airlock hidden between the cockpit and the forward hall. The other end of that tether would get fastened inside the lock before she opened the outer door.

And now there was nothing to do but wait. The seconds ticked by into minutes as all of us stood silent in the cockpit or crowded around the airlock door waiting for some sign from our engineer. There was an open short-range radio line into her suit of course, but Kaylee wasn't reporting anything and nobody liked to bug her for routine updates. I was pretty sure that I could hear the sound of her breathing over the speaker, tense and slightly hoarse with unusual expectation, but that didn't tell me much.

"There she is," Mal said after nearly two minutes, catching sign of a shape in a white suit with a bubble head emerging into the corner of the window. "Oh, no."

"What?" I asked, and then leaned over so that I could see. She had missed her footing, and was starting to drift away from the hull already. "Inara?"

"What?"

"Get ready to..." I started, but Mal cut me off.

"Inara, hold," he said firmly. "We may or might not have a situation here. Just give her a minute to..."

"What do you mean, 'may or might not?'" I demanded, as furious with Mal as I had been when River (and the others) had only just escaped the Reavers on Lilac. Felt an urge to take a swing at him again, but didn't really want to go through all the 'will he or won't he throw us off again' drama, especially since River and I really had more to hang onto here on Serenity - or I had more to hang onto, and I understood better all that she had found here.

I was so mad that I'd completely forgotten to even keep watching out the window at this point.

------------

(Kaylee.)

The cold of outer space started to seep into my soul while the airlock was going, and I felt it even more once the outer door of the lock slid creakily open. Wasn't a literal thing - a space suit has so much insulation built into it that if anything you usually feel a bit hot under the collar unless a cooling jigger goes on, but nevermind.

All kinds of things I knew and heard about how hostile space was always came into my head when I was face to face with the stuff, (okay, it's not really stuff, just the absence of stuff, I do know that much,) and even the stories about the Reavers being driven mad by looking into the emptiness of the edge of the 'Verse wasn't something I could easily let go of just because we now knew other stuff about what had made men into Reavers in the first place.

But there was no time to stay sittin' in the lock all affeared, so I checked the end of the tether just once and started to crawl out, using the magnetic pads on hands and knees instead of the soles of my boots, to crawl on all fours over Serenity's hull. It was slow going, especially dealing with the tether, but the routine of it started to take my mind off the possibility of getting hit by anything or some other issue going wrong. My suit was also pretty well reinforced, so it was quite unlikely that anything we'd run into would be able to cut or poke a hole in it, though that just meant that it would get turned into a blunter hit that would be more likely to tear me away.

With a kind of an internal push I forced such worries away and concentrated on the crawl. When I first got close enough to peer into the cockpit windows and saw just about everybody staring out and looking for me it was enough of a startlement to get me to lose my grip for a moment, but it wasn't too hard to pull back on the tether until it took me to the last place I'd anchored it.

Oh, didn't I explain that part? I guess I take it for granted, even though I haven't really been out on a tether that many times. There are little magnetic knobs on the tether line too, and if you're walking or crawling on a spaceship hull, as I was, it's easy to fasten one of the knobs to the ship every five yards or so as you go. Then, assuming that you don't get jerked hard enough for the magnetic link to get broken, there's a limit to how far you can get pulled away from those anchor points. (There's also a little gizmo inside the spacesuit that will give you more line when you ask for it and not when you've lost your grip - so that you don't have as much extra slack on the line as your range. It's a pretty good system, though nothing's perfect. When I managed to get to the window for the second time and wave into it, Simon was nearly shoving the Captain around and they had to prod at him and point forward to get him to realize that I was there. Maybe he'd seen me slip and figured that I'd gotten into much more trouble than I'd really been in.

Well, in any event, it was time to get to work. Finding the radar receiver 'button' was easy enough - it was a roundish flat thing, fairly dark, and about as big as my palm, or - well, have you ever seen that ice-skates and goal game, that they play on Saint Albans and other cold worlds, Cock-eye? It reminded me a lot of the few times I've seen a cock-eye puck close up.

Open the casing, take one section of it away, and start to tinker and test as quickly as I could, looking for a faulty component or a loose connection, anything that would explain 'fuzziness' in the readings. After a bit of this, I realized that I'd made an assumption, and really should test the signal coming out of the button, to see if the fault was in the braided wire, first off. To do this, I'd need to splice other wires into the braid and run those into the multi-tester - use that as if it were the control board up in the cockpit, just like I'd done when I was crawled into the melon.

Time seemed to pass quickly, as it always does when I'm hard at work with machines, and I started to lose my awareness of being outside in a suit. The vacuum gloves that come with the getup are a piece of work - protect against vacuum prickle and temperature extremes while being nearly as comfortable to work with as bare hands. The check I did on the bottom end of the braided wire came up bad, so I knew that I needed to return to work on the button itself, and I was a bit over halfway done checking every component once when I realized that there was a capacitor jobbie that had mostly blown itself out, which was weird, because usually those last for just about forever. Maybe something had strained it during the flight to and from Miranda, the fight with the Alliance, or the crash on Mister Universe's moon, and either it took this long to die or nobody had noticed until River started relying on the radar more and more with this course. Well, I had two spare capacitors now, and it was an easy thing to plug one of them in and triple-check the connections.

Rather than spend the time to hook up my own testers again, I chose the easier route of climbing up to the window, well clear of the button's sense field myself, tapped on the glass and pointed to River's console. She realized what I was after and spent several long seconds refreshing the radar display, probably zooming in on one particular blip, then looked up with a big grin on her little face, made an a-okay sign with one hand, and then pointed back to the airlock. Yeah, I was certainly ready to come back in at that point.

But when I turned, I just managed to catch a glimpse of a fist-sized chunk of something streaming straight at my face. It bounced off my helmet, a'course, but the shock of that impact against my suit must have been enough to knock me senseless. It is for pigs to laugh.

I didn't, of course, see all the disbelieving stares of my friends and loved ones from inside the cockpit, not sure what to do to help me now.

TO BE CONTINUED...