At first she thought she was floating, but as she rose fully into consciousness, Zoe realized she was lying on a soft bed. She opened her eyes and immediately felt stabbing pain in her head and neck, and she also found herself fighting a sudden battle against waves of nausea. She moaned and looked to the beside table where a small cup of what looked like seltzer water sat fizzing loudly. A small note beside the cup read: Drink it. It will make you feel better.

Assuming that whoever had taken her wouldn’t go through the trouble to poison her once she woke up, Zoe downed the contents of the cup. In seconds the pain in her head and neck began to fade, and her stomach settled. Feeling some strength return to her legs, Zoe got up and began to examine the room.

The door was locked, which didn’t surprise her. What did surprise her was the open window. She stepped up to it and looked out, and to her great surprise, she found herself looking out on the familiar vista of a corral with two golden palomino’s prancing happily about.

“Tianna!” she said, watching the sun gleam on the horses coats. “Zellager.”

Zoe stepped out onto the ledge outside of her window, but two Doberman Pinschers heard her steps and came out below the window, snarling and barking viciously, waiting for her to drop to the ground.

Zoe went back inside, and just as her feet hit the parquet floors a com screen lit up. Caleb Zellager’s face filled the screen, and he flashed a toothy smile.

“I see you’re up and about,” he said. He spoke cheerfully, as if she were a willing guest in his home, and not a hostage.

“Let me out of this room, now,” Zoe demanded.

“Of course. You should come and join me for lunch. I imagine you must be hungry, considering you haven’t eaten in two days.”

There was a loud click from the vicinity of the door. Zoe went over and opened it, finding herself in a hall. She went left, as the hall dead-ended to her right. She found the main staircase and ran down. Caleb was waiting for her at the bottom.

Without engaging in pointless banner, Zoe moved in for the attack. She lashed out with a booted foot, coming within a hair’s breadth of Zellager’s chin. He surprised her by blocking every kick, every punch she threw at him, and then landing a very hard punch to her stomach, which knocked the wind from her lungs and left her gasping for breath. She fell back onto the steps, holding her stomach and looking hatefully up at Zellager.

“That was quite an attack,” he said genially, sitting next to her. “Who taught you to fight?”

Instead of answering, Zoe struggled to her feet and made her to way to Zellager’s office, which was open.

“Where are you going?”

“Looking for something to kill you with,” Zoe said, matter-of-factly. Zellager only laughed, amused.

“I love your spirit,” he said. “If you were a doll I would dress you up in a flaming red dress.”

Zoe came up short at the computer panel. There were no knives or guns in sight, so she’d decided to look for a way to contact Serenity. The word doll, however, froze her momentarily in place.

River had mentioned a collector of dolls.

“I’m not a doll,” Zoe said. “I’m a woman.”

“Yes, and quite a woman you are,” Zellager agreed.

She tapped the com, expecting a password prompt, but found it open. She called up Serenity, and in a few seconds Mal’s face filled the screen. He was understandably shocked to see her.

“Juedui bu!” Mal exclaimed. “Ni mei shi ba?”

Zoe smiled, relieved to see him. “I’m fine, sir. Just woke up. How’s everything there? Kaylee?”

“She’s gonna be alright. Turned out to be a graze. We just finished patchin’ up the ship. We’ve been lookin’ for you for two days. Do you know where you are?”

“Zellager’s,” she said. She’d expected him to try and stop her from using the com, or saying where she was, but he did nothing but stand impassively by. On the screen, River’s face floated into view beside Mal’s, and then out again as someone pulled her back. Kaylee’s face filled the screen, shoving Mal unceremoniously out of the way.

“Zoe!” Kaylee said, tears of relief shining in her eyes. “Zoe, tianna! We thought you were long gone, or dead.”

“I’m fine, for now,” Zoe said. Mal pushed Kaylee out of the way, telling everyone to stand back.

“Zoe, we’re comin’ after you. Hold tight.”

“That won’t be possible, I’m afraid,” Zellager said, speaking up for the first time from another com panel on the wall.

“Zellager, you son of a bitch,” Mal said, cursing in the common tongue, which he rarely did. “When I get back to Cerberus I’m gonna-”

“You’ll never get within eight kilometers of my estate, Captain,” Zellager said. “I’m a very powerful man, and I’m very well protected.”

“Zoe,” Mal said, looking her dead in the eye. “You’re my next job.”

Zoe smiled and nodded, a feeling of comfort coming over her before the screen went blank. Zellager had ended the transmission.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Zoe looked up at him. “It means he intends to steal me,” Zoe said. “I’m his next target, and when Malcolm Reynolds intends to get his hands on something, he doesn’t stop till he has it. He never leaves a job undone.”

“I believe Niska would disagree.”

“He finished the job for Niska,” Zoe said, “and then he went back on it because it was wrong.”

Zellager approached Zoe, slowly, all hints of geniality gone from his eyes and his voice. “If he somehow manages to make it through my defenses and sneaks you out, I’ll blow that garbage heap you call a ship out of orbit. Now, you’ll return to your room where you will eat lunch alone. I’ll allow you out of your room at dinner.”

Deciding that it would be more prudent to go along with his wishes, Zoe turned and headed for her room.

Mal sat back, watching the dark screen, half-hoping Zoe’s face would reappear. He was shaken by her kidnapping more than he’d believed possible. He found himself, over the past couple of days, sitting up in bed, shaking at night, having awoken from nightmares in which he’d found Zoe’s charred remains, discarded by Zellager in a vast and desolate desert like so much garbage.

She’s Zoe, she’s tough, Mal told himself, over and over again. She’s a warrior. She can handle herself.

“You know what will happen, don’t you?”

Mal started and looked around. Inara had entered the bridge, probably having heard from Kaylee that Zoe had gotten through.

“What’s that?”

“We’ll go to rescue her, only to find out that she’d gotten free on her own. Then she’ll turn around and have to rescue us.”

“Yeah,” Mal said, smiling. He appreciated Inara’s attempts to sooth his frayed nerves.

“She’s strong, Mal.”

“None stronger,” he agreed.

“But you’re still scared.”

“Course not,” he lied, turning to look out of the viewport. He’d plotted a course to Cerberus as he’d been speaking to Zoe. He felt a warm, soft hand rest on his shoulder. He found himself fighting a sudden, insane urge to throw his arms about her waist and squeeze her, taking comfort from physical contact.

“He let her call,” Mal said.

“He believes that he is untouchable,” Inara said. “He’s taunting you, dangling her before you, allowing you to see her and talk to her, but never see her again.”

“So he believes. I’ll find her,” Mal said. “And I’ll kill him for messing with one of mine.”

There was a moment of silence before Inara spoke, her voice quiet, carefully neutral.

“If I asked you a question, would you tell me the truth?” Inara asked, sitting down in the chair opposite him, where River usually sat whenever he was at the main helm.

“Maybe, if it ain’t too personal.”

“It’s very personal,” Inara said.

Mal remained silent. She could ask her questions, he didn’t have to answer.

“How long have you loved her?”

“She’s my best friend,” he said quickly. “I’ve loved her for years.”

“How long?” Inara pressed. She wasn’t talking about platonic love, and he knew it. What’s more, she knew he understood her.

Silence drew out between them.

“I’m not in love with Zoe,” Mal finally said, looking at her. Inara nodded and stood, fixing a cotton shawl about her shoulders. She exited the bridge, but as her back turned to him, he thought he heard her call him a liar liar.

Zoe edged up to the windows, looking closely at them. They had almost invisible silver filaments running through the glass for holographic projections, or to black the windows out should one wish to block out sunlight. There were small projection crystals set into the sill.

Some wealthy people liked to change the view outside of their windows to other parts of their property, or to public cams that offered high resolution feeds of views outside of resorts, or space stations, so that it looked as if you were sitting inside a room looking out on various places on many different worlds, or one could view their own property. It was a very expensive luxury that required holowindows, voice command computers, and feeds from cameras around the property. It was also a very good way to keep an eye on who came and went on your land.

If she had Zellager pegged right, and she most likely did, she should be able to see any point on the property if he didn’t have that feature password protected.

“Computer,” she said, “change landscape. Snow.”

At once the world outside changed. Suddenly the world was covered in snow. “Overcast sky,” Zoe clarified.

The sky in the projection turned from sunny to cloudy.

“Snowfall.”

Fat, fluffy flakes of snow began to fall from the sky. The horses that were prancing about the corral were led into the barn from a farmhand who was seemingly oblivious to the cold, for he’d taken his shirt off as he worked. Even the illusion created by the windows couldn’t erase the glare of sun from his sweaty skin, so that he looked oddly out of place, proving the illusion to be the lie that it was.

“End hologram,” Zoe said. At once the real world returned. “Change view,” she commanded.

“Please specify a location,” said a very silky, feminine voice.

Her voice.

Zoe rarely felt a need to give in to panic, but that made her blood run cold. She swallowed over her pounding pulse.

“Outlying property,” she said, seeming to converse with herself.

“Please specify which part of the outlying property you wish to view.”

“All. Eight kilometer radius.”

“Smooth transition or snapshot view?” The computer prompted.

“I don’t care, just show me the damned property!”

The windows scene began to shift, showing one snapshot after another, each picture of the property dissolving smoothly into the next.

“Map view,” Zoe said. “Show the house in relation to the images I’m seeing.”

“That feature requires a password.”

“Nevermind,” Zoe said, sighing in frustration. “Continue.”

Once again the show began. Zoe watched the same images cycle through until she’d seen them all twice, then she instructed the computer to randomize the images. She wanted to learn every view, connect the dots as well as she could until she knew the property by sight.

After an hour she realized that certain shots led from the corral, through an orchard, and out onto a dusty road that most likely led to another house or a town. If there was a town, then there would be some form of law enforcement present. She could get help there. Memorizing which shots that most likely led from the house to the road, Zoe felt she was ready to risk a run, should the opportunity arise.

She tried to widen the parameter, but there was nothing that showed signs of another house or a town. As the sun began to set outside, she heard a knock on the door. She stopped the slide show.

“End hologram.”

“Hologram ended. Would you like for me to save-”

“Shut up. Come in.”

The door opened an Zellager entered. He smiled brightly at her and produced a hanger. On the hanger was a long red dress.

“Surprise!” Zellager said, grinning brightly, his eyes shining with what she was beginning to realize was madness. “I’ve got a pretty new dress for my most beautiful doll ever.”

Zoe took in a deep breath with some difficulty. She realized that he did indeed see her as a doll, and she’d been added to his collection. Zoe released her breath and prayed for Mal to hurry up and get back to Cerberus.