A Lack of Serenity INTRO: CABIN FEVER Skulking on the Outer Rim, Serenity's drive is vibrating, out of balance- she can't make speed. In The Black for 43 days without landfall, there is a certain lack of amity aboard Serenity; nobody is getting on with anybody. MUSIC MONTAGE; INTERCUT VIGNETTES WITH TRAVELLING EXTERIORS OF SERENITY, AS: MAL stares into his cup, where vibration ripples make odd patterns; it skitters off the table. Fuming off to badger KAYLEE, he is angrily waved off by her plasma welder. INARA, redecorating her shuttle, seen screeching at MAL for barging in. INARA slams the hatch and pulls a very cute lacy hanging over the port.

ZOE, stonefaced, sits alone in Wash's seat on the Flight Deck. Now that she's got him, KAYLEE's not so sure she wants SIMON. (Besides, recycling is down and everybody smells like turnips.) She removes SIMON's hand and pats it absently. JAYNE's turn cooking. MAL, watching JAYNE sloppily chop up their chow with his Bowie Knife, fondly remembers putting JAYNE out the AIRLOCK. (Open the door, Mal) JAYNE isn't satisfied with his knife's edge. He spits on it; quickly hones it, then... pulling a curly hair from his armpit (or somewhere), splits it and grins. SIMON is moving OOF in the background. SIMON meanwhile envisions major surgery on JAYNE, without anesthetic. Use your imagination on what kind of surgery. ZOE sobs her heart out, alone on the Flight Deck. RIVER stares into space, her expression madder by the second...

ACT ONE

SERENITY ENTERS THE UNEXPLORED KRUX SYSTEM; APPROACHES THE OMINOUS ORANGE & YELLOW RINGED GAS GIANT KRUX IX. MAL is staring intently at gaps in the Saturnish rings. Several moons orbit right thru them; cats cradle. ZOE is coldly watching MAL; she's ambivalently battling blame issues over WASH's death. MAL: Anything hit you odd about those rings? Offscreen, a shrill Chinese argument between INARA and KAYLEE intrudes. MAL & ZOE talk over it. The vibration is evident. ZOE: For your typical gorram gas giant with an acid atmo, I expect they look 'bout right. MAL: Glad we're just passing by. Wouldn't want to tangle with that ring system. MAL studies the screen, taps the image of a nice greeny blue planet further in-system. MAL: Here. Looks shiny. We'll hit dirt here, re-tune the drive and mebbe get a decent breather from each other for a spell... ZOE: That'd be real nice. Sir. MAL: No, Guay! [Hell!] LONG RANGE SCREEN VISUAL: A VERY SMALL BLACK ALLIANCE WARSHIP OF EXOTIC DESIGN ORBITS FROM BEHIND A MOON AND PAINTS THEM WITH ITS SCANNERS. ZOE: KAYLEE! Prepare for a max power burn! MAL: There were rumours about those... Alliance kamikaze shipkillers. Zoe, I think we really gotta go NOW!

In the background, RIVER, entranced, moves silently onto the FLIGHT DECK. MAL & ZOE are spinning Serenity on her axis just as RIVER dashes forward, leaping (FOOTSHOT) onto the starboard Control Panel and across to the viewport. Serenity lurches as alarms trip and sparks fly from the disrupted settings. RIVER: (like lullaby) Sheh-sheh, tyen-sah duh uh-muo... [thanks a lot, devil monsters] MAL, clutching RIVER, whacks the COMM BUTTON: MAL: Simon! Jayne! Up here NOW! SERENITY FLEES TOWARDS THE GAS GIANT, HER WAKE BURBLING UNCERTAINLY. THE KAMIKAZE WARSHIP OVERTAKES RAPIDLY. ZOE TAKES (FLASH WASH) CONTROL, CLICKING OVERHEAD SWITCHES LIKE MAD. MAL quickly but warily clutches onto RIVER, while resetting more switches with his other hand. MAL: (to ZOE) Whaddaya think? ZOE: There is a way outta this, but its not a good way. MAL (looks at planet & nods): KWAI-chur hun-rien duh di fahng. [Go far away really fast.] Lets do it. JAYNE ARRIVES AND TAKES CHARGE OF RIVER. SIMON ARRIVES WITH HIS MEDKIT. MAL JOINS ZOE AND THEY FLIP A HELL OF A LOT MORE SWITCHES... RIVER IS FROZEN, SMILING INTIMATELY OUT INTO THE RINGS. RIVER: Hello peng-you. JAYNE mutters (full face matched to her profile): Boo-tai jung tzhang duh... [not entirely sane] Ni-shishen-me dong-xi? [What are you anyway?] THE KAMIKAZE FLARES BEHIND, AND PURSUES THEM AT IMPOSSIBLE SPEED. SERENITY DIVES INTO THE GAS GIANT'S TURBULENT, CORROSIVE ORANGE & YELLOW CLOUD COVER. HER HULL SCREAMS IN PAIN. AS SOON AS SERENITY DISAPPEARS, THE KAMIKAZE SHUTS DOWN.. In the Engine Bay, KAYLEE is working hard while sweet-talking Serenity's whining engine- KAYLEE: Oh my poor sufferin' baby! SERENITY ARCS DEEP ACROSS THE GRAVITY WELL, EMERGES ON THE PLANET'S BLIND SIDE AND SLINGSHOTS INTO THE COMPLEX RING SYSTEM. BUMPING ORBITAL DEBRIS ASIDE, SERENITY SLOWS, MATCHES UP WITH A LARGE METALLIC ASTEROID AND HIDES IN ITS SHADOW. MAL: Kaylee! Power down. Everything. KAYLEE is beneath the engine, which is now wheezing quietly. KAYLEE: Capt'n, I'm not too sure she'll get a restart later. MAL: If we get a later, that'll be something to worry about... Everybody into suits for the duration. ZOE: (CHECKING INSTRUMENTS): We should be pretty safe from scans now, except mebbe visual. MAL: We'll need some camo for that; what've we got? EXT. SERENITY IN THE RING DEBRIS FIELD MAL, ZOE, & JAYNE are having a time spreading cargo netting, tarps, plastic, etc over the hull. Prominently displayed are the hangings from INARA'S shuttle. INT: SIMON struggles to get RIVER into a suit; she is in a fugue state, ecstatically staring always towards the Rings. INARA moves supplies into the SHUTTLE, just in case. She has no space suit. A crate ruins her robe.

EXT: KAYLEE stands lookout on the hull, using MAL's binoculars. She sees a ship's silohuette come round the planet. Then another, and another... She wildly signals "MAL!" JAYNE is anchoring some netting with sprayed ice when he notices TOOLING MARKS on the asteroid- almost like some alien barcode. Uh-oh. He also urgently signals to MAL. MAL (body language) signals 'WAIT' to Jayne and glides to KAYLEE. MAL takes the binocs and scans the ships. MAL: Ta ma duh! [fornicate me blind!] JAYNE, aggravated, flexs his buttocks for a mighty leap. MAL scans the rings too. Everywhere little black ships are searching... Suddenly JAYNE's passing face fills his view.

MAL lassos Jayne's foot. KAYLEE hauls them both in. CU: RIVERS EYES GLANCING AROUND. RIVER LAUGHS MERRILY. A strange thing happens. The pursuing ships settle into the rings like flies on garbage, and disappear from view. On their way back, JAYNE uses his flash to show them the markings. They emerge from the airlock into the cargo bay. JAYNE: I'm telling ya, its gorram aliens. We found us some real aliens... KAYLEE: There ain't no aliens in this whole verse. Ev'body knows that. MAL: Never saw ships like that before. Never saw ships do that before... Who are these guys? KAYLEE: Maybe they're robotic, no crew. Seem too small & fast for crew. JAYNE: But they still could be aliens! Leetle tiny evil aliens! MAL: Where's Zoe?

ZOE IS 'DANCING' HER WAY THRU THE RING DEBRIS FIELD, TRACKING FAINT EMISSIONS FROM DEEP INSIDE. SHE GETS TO A BIGGISH NUGGET, AND FINGERTIPS HER WAY UP TO SEE, USING IT FOR COVER. BEFORE HER IS A HUGE BLACK SHIP, ATTENDED BY HUNDREDS OF CONSTRUCTION BOTS OF ALL SIZES. THE BOTS ARE ALL INERT, EXCEPT FOR A FEW CLUSTERED TOGETHER WORKING ON THE WEAPONRY. THERE IS A LOT OF WEAPONRY; THIS WICKED RAPIER-SHAPED SHIP ISN'T JUST A SHIPKILLER, ITS A PLANETBUSTER.

MAL: You two stay here, I'll go find Zoe.

MAL exits into the airlock. KAYLEE looks after him, concerned; Jayne is still pondering aliens. An apologetic SIMON joins them. SIMON: I think RIVER's OK now; she's sedated. JAYNE: Good, then you go help INARA prep the shuttle.

SIMON gives JAYNE 'the look' and heads for the Shuttle. KAYLEE: Look. Stay here. I'll go help find Zoe. Be right back. KAYLEE grabs her toolkit and heads out. JAYNE, all alone, acts a bit nervous... JAYNE: Aliens...! JAYNE checks his clip, exits to get more ammo. RIVER (pretty much immune to drugs by now) sneaks by, gracefully donning a suit and heading out the Airlock. SIMON passes by, carrying stuff; sees RIVER just as she jumps into space. EXT: RIVER DANCES THRU THE DEBRIS, QUITE SURE OF HER DIRECTION. JAYNE returns, bristling with weaponry, to see SIMON frantically struggling with his suit.

JAYNE: Yu bun duh... [stupid] them tubes connect up on the inside, if you intend on breathing much. SIMON: It's River; she's left the ship! I don't understand... how... JAYNE: You are one badass babysitter, boy. JAYNE sardonically watches SIMON hit the wrong button, purging the airlock instead of opening it. SIMON: What do you care?

JAYNE: I don't; just don't wanna be rounding up the two of you, that's all. You stay here, I'll do the needful. SIMON looks rebellious. JAYNE: You stay here, I mean it. JAYNE enters the airlock, has to re-arrange his armory to fit. CUT TO: INARA HAS FINISHED LOADING UP THE SHUTTLE, AND SHE'S GRIMIER THAN KAYLEE'S OVERALLS.

INARA: Simon? SIMON! SIMON hears INARA calling, but there's no time. Not trusting JAYNE, he too goes after RIVER, despite his fear of vacuum. There is a flashing red telltale in his helmet, but he doesn't notice.

ACT 2: FINDING THEMSELVES EXT: MAL finds ZOE; they talk by touching helmets, which puts them eye-to-eye. ZOE: Sir, there's a ship. A Big Damn Ship like I've never seen. We can't stay here.

MAL: We can't go either, Zoe. Wo-mun wan-leh [We have big trouble] ZOE (small grin appearing): This's another fine mess you're gonna get us out of... right, Sir?

MAL: Well, I hope to. I surely do. **** NEW STUFF STARTS HERE **** RIVER coasts by, out of reach; heading towards the ship. MAL: Tai-kong suo-yo duh xing-qiu tee wuh duh pee-goo! [Every star in the Verse always kicks me in the butt!] MAL & ZOE go after RIVER. KAYLEE arrives at the rock in time to see RIVER enter the black ship and MAL & ZOE jetting towards it.

KAYLEE's quick engineering mind takes in the whole scene before she heads in as well. ZOE: There. Could that be an access port? They glide into a huge round hole that bears an unpleasant resemblance to the bore of a weapon. MAL catches movement from behind. KAYLEE floats in. She waves breezily. KAYLEE: Hi guys! MAL angrily pulls her inside the ship. He clicks helmets. MAL: What part of 'wait here' didn't you understand? KAYLEE looks hurt. Together they all move down the tube. They come to a blue gel-like barrier. Light is beyond. MAL hesitates, but KAYLEE pushes right through, then beckons them. IN THE BOWELS OF THE BEAST AS ZOE & MAL emerge from the gel (none sticks), KAYLEE is taking an atmo readout. They now have air, gravity & light too. They are in a junction of echoing metal corridors. KAYLEE pops her helmet. KAYLEE: Capt'n, see, you needed me. Wish I could figure which part of that you never understand... MAL: Kaylee, I just... ZOE talks right over whatever blunder MAL was about to utter. ZOE: We surely are gonna have a time finding River in here... MAL: Too bad we don't have some string or breadcrumbs or something. KAYLEE: Will these do? Kaylee hands each an orange paintstick from her kit.

CUT TO: SIMON SAVES JAYNE SIMON is cautiously moving from rock to rock in the debris field. Where is JAYNE? Where is everybody? What with all the extra mass of VERA, grenades, ammo and the like, JAYNE has expended all the gas from his maneuvering jets. He is stranded between a rock and a hard place when SIMON arrives. Simon gestures at JAYNE, at first JAYNE doesn't get it. SIMON repeats it- pantomiming firing a gun repeatedly. JAYNE gets it, fires Vera and starts to move again... Simon can't wait; he continues on ahead. Suit warning is still blinking. MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE BLACK SHIP- MAL, ZOE, and KAYLEE are moving deeper into the ship; they come to an intersection where the passage branches into three. They stop for some serious exposition. MAL: This's one big ship. Any guesses which of those holes our rabbit went down? ZOE: Not really. I don't get this whole setup. You said there were rumours? MAL: Just that the Alliance had a whole new type weapons system abuilding- to take out our whole fleet- those shipkillers. But this ship is something quite else again. KAYLEE: Its a real live Von Nuemann system- li'l robots building bigger ones, and so on. They mine the rings for materials. All this could have started with just one bot. ZOE: Live? KAYLEE: Well, no. Look at what we've seen. No ports, no crew quarters, no comm systems; all these deadend passages, like a gorram maze- they're just bot access ducts. I think this ship is pretty much solid machinery.

ZOE: Built by bots to be run by bots. KAYLEE: Could be. ZOE: Why would the Alliance need such a thing? The war's long over. KAYLEE: Might be... they just forgot? Miss deactivating just one bot, whole thing starts up again. MAL: Assuming you're right, and there aren't any humans guarding this beast- any chance you could rig this uhe-mu [devil] ship to fly for us? ZOE: You aren't think of of waking it up, are you? MAL: I'm thinkin' that Serenity is crippled up pretty bad right now. Taking this ship would sure improve our chances of getting past those shipkillers alive. KAYLEE: Abandon Serenity?!? ZOE: No, that's not what you're thinking... You're thinking this is a ship you could bust the Alliance with. Be the big hero. You could reverse the whole gorram war with a ship like this. MAL: Crossed my mind... KAYLEE: Abandon Serenity? No way.

ZOE: And then what? This isn't a ship you could casually park in some

smuggling port. What would you do with it then? Go breathing heavy and blasting any planets that didn't see things your way?

KAYLEE is sputtering mad.

MAL: Kaylee? KAYLEE: What she said, and over your dead body- we'd have no, no... Serenity. They reach a junction where three tunnels head inward.

MAL: I really hate to say this, but it looks like we better split up. They each enter one of the beckoning tunnels... ELSEWHERE: SIMON arrives at the lock, completely out of air. His suit is urgent: SUIT: Geo-shung yong-jur goo-jang. Jien-cha yong-chi gong yin. [Life support failure. Check oxygen levels now.] SIMON sees RIVER's suit. He struggles out of his helmet, gasping. SIMON: Ni hao? [Hello?] INARA is meditating very impatiently, waiting for the others'return. Then, decisively, perhaps warned by some intuition, she begins to warm up her shuttle. ZOE's corridor ends at a hole going straight down, a large humming busbar- something impassable. She heads back and meets up with MAL. KAYLEE, exploring a different corridor, notices that the construction bots are inert and ignore them- as long as they don't touch stuff. KAYLEE also rejoins MAL. KAYLEE: Capt'n, I saw some of the engine and weapons systems- this whole ship is totally automated; seems like its designed for just one person to fly. RIVER has found the ship's dark heart- the CORTEX. There is a dimly glowing ball, suspended within a column of metal, which stands over a coffin-like transparent tank, the comand cocoon. RIVER hypnotically enters the tank and it begins to fill with blue liquid. Her eyes remain open. She speaks in a voice not her own.

RIVER: Now I am Shiva, and complete. Swarms of SHIPKILLERS have risen again, and are homing in on INARA's SHUTTLE. JAYNE is lost, running & firing; dropping empty weapons... pursued by more and more bots. JAYNE: Chur ni-duh! [Screw you!] RIVER POV: RIVER sees the Verse through the ships expanded senses: suns and planets and orbits and ships' trajectories- it is not black, but full of activity. MAL, ZOE, and KAYLEE arrive to find RIVER, lit only by the brightly flickering CORTEX NEXUS. Momentarily dumbstruck, they hear gunfire approaching. MAL: That'll be JAYNE, I expect. ZOE: I'll go, it's my turn. ZOE lock&loads, goes to the door. KAYLEE inspects RIVER's COCOON... KAYLEE: Simon's really not going to like this... SIMON, also hearing the firing, rushes onwards through the tunnels. KAYLEE kneels by the COCOON. KAYLEE: River, can you hear me? RIVER's transmogrified SHIP VOICE: Call me Shiva. Hello, mei-mei. KAYLEE: Can you help us? Can we help you? RIVER: I don't need help anymore; before I was blind and could not see; but now... It is so bright here Kaylee, so secure and strong. Help? Yes, I can, now.

A horde of missiles from the pursuing ships are homing in on INARA's SHUTTLE.

Sudden intense beams lance out from SHIVA, destroying them all in a heartbeat. The launching ships all go dark and coast inertly on. MAL cautiously approaches the CORTEX COLUMN, examines it. MAL: River, what are you now? RIVER: I am purpose; I am security; I am hope for the future. I am what I am. There are Others in the Black, Mal; Others not so gentle as the Reavers.

I will make you safe from them. SIMON has arrived in the chamber, and has been listening in stunned silence to this last. SIMON: No! You're just a girl, a human girl, and my little sister! ZOE: Mal, we can't allow this. It ain't right. KAYLEE: We can't let it go on much longer, she's being woven into the ship. MAL: I tend to agree. MAL decisively pulls his pistol and with two quick shots, blasts both the rods supporting the Cortex. Its globe goes dark and falls free. In the Cocoon, RIVER starts to convulse. KAYLEE and SIMON attempt to open the Cocoon. RIVER's eyes open- she is herself again. She pushes- they pull- no good! JAYNE arrives, with bits of bots blasting behind him. MAL: Jayne, lend a hand! The lid comes off and they pull RIVER out. MAL scoops up the Cortex Nexus (the globe thing). Jayne & Mal set some grenades for maximum damage in the Cortex Nexus area.

They move out into the corridor for shelter. There is a mighty explosion behind them. ZOE: We should prob'ly go now?

MAL: My thoughts exactly... KAYLEE: They'll rebuild it you know; I don't know how fast. Together, and operating as a team at last, they overcome the controllerless bots, and are making their way to the exterior port; Simon & Kaylee supporting River. MAL: We'll see about that. Delay is my middle name. Reaching the port, they bundle RIVER back into her suit. KAYLEE: Simon- your rebreather goes on the inside... SIMON: (chuckles) So I've been told. Jayne laughs and claps Simon way hard on the shoulder. JAYNE: SO- let's go already. EXT: INARA'S SHUTTLE IS THERE WAITING FOR THEM! They tumble aboard the Shuttle and MAL hightails for the controls. MAL: Hi Inara, how's it going? INARA: I don't usually make house calls... [fix me, she would never say this] MAL studies the nav screens, readouts showing all the orbiting bodies. MAL: See this bitty lil moon right here? INARA: I think I know What you've got in mind... MAL: We need to give it a bit of a nudge. The shipkillers are slowly waking up. The horde of bots is swarming into Shiva. INARA piloting, the Shuttle moves away, then matchs orbit with the nameless moon.

INARA: Mal, you want to drive? MAL: No, you do it; the finesse, the woman's touch and all that. INARA: I'm speechless; well, almost... Gentle as a kiss, the Shuttle's nose touches the moon. The engines flare. A mild crunching sound from the hull, nothing serious. INARA watches the readouts, but also seems to call on an inner sense. The engines die down, do a couple course corrections, then a bit of reverse thrust. MAL: Nice. Let's go home. The Shuttle heads for Serenity. In the middle distance, the moon is falling on Shiva. The shipkillers all respond to the greater threat, but they are useless against solid rock. The moon takes Shiva amidships, there is a mighty BDE (explosion) and all are destroyed. ...

Almost. Before the glare even dies down, small bots appear and start gathering debris.

SHORT EPILOG: KAYLEE, arriving back on Serenity, takes the Cortex Globe with her down into the engine room. RIVER watches her, but says nothing. TOO LONG EPILOG: MAL enters the Flight Deck. ZOE is watching the stars. MAL: Zoe. I'm afraid we have to talk. ZOE: Captain? MAL: I'm thinking 'bout leaving Serenity. There's a jinx been at work here, a Jonah. I'm afraid its me. Would you take Serenity, these folks, would you take them on for me?

ZOE: Captain. Mal... (long pause) You know, if Shepherd Book were here, I think I know just what he'd say to that. MAL: Oh yeah. Do I want to hear this? ZOE: I've been thinking hard on this, Mal; and thinking hard on you, because of Wash, and Book, and all them as we've left in our wake. Book would say the dying isn't half so important as the living, as the way you do it, the way you give life its meaning. MAL: But lately, ever'whichway I turn, I'm seein' bodies; dead friends mostly. I surely do doubt I'm fit to lead anymore. ZOE: Mal, you gave me my life when you brought me out of Serenity Valley alive. You brought me Wash in the first place, and a place to be happy together- this ship. You've saved Simon and River too. You found Kaylee, and made her what she was meant to be. You did that. And Book... Book was caring for you with his last breath. Mal is looking a bit vulnerable with all this stuff. ZOE (smiling now) And can you even count the number of times you've pulled

Jayne's butt out of the fire? Besides, I know a little secret... MAL: Secret? ZOE leans forwards and whispers in MAL's ear. A huge grand smile conquers his gloom.