Simon glanced again at the monitors, noting the worryingly low outputs and the erratic heartbeat. Things didn’t look good. The whole crew was worried, apart from Jayne of course, and with good reason. Mal was seriously injured and it was very possible he could die. He hadn’t been able to find out all the details but Simon knew it had something to do with their deal at Highwater Falls, one of the few outer worlds that wasn’t a total step backwards into history. It wasn’t as modern as the Alliance worlds of course, but it was almost homely and the people had been friendly. What had been even more personally satisfying was how River has responded to the lush surroundings. The tumbling waterfalls that had given the settlement its name were a peaceful place and River had sat for hours just watching the water. She had been unnaturally still and for a time Simon had just sat with her, holding her hand in companionable silence, enjoying the peace the surroundings seemed to instil in her. When he has asked why she was so calm, River had responded cryptically as ever about the land being clean. The deal had been simple. They had been told to pick up some goods and ferry them from a distant moon to the colony, where they would be transferred on elsewhere. The money had been very good for such a simple job and Mal had been suspicious, but interested nevertheless. Of course when the cargo had turned out to be slaves who were being sold on to a mining colony for indentured servitude, he had been less than cooperative. He had set the slaves free, kept some of the money for his trouble, and given the rest back. For a thief and rogue, Simon had noticed the Captain was unusually honest at times. It was a strange kind of honour he seemed intent on upholding, but for whose benefit Simon had no idea. Their temporary employer, a burly fellow named Barney Braws had been less than satisfied and had promptly shot Mal in the back as he had walked out of the bar. Now Barney lay dead with a smoking hole in his chest thanks to the ever-watchful Zoe, Mal was on his deathbed and they were on the run, fleeing associates of the recently deceased. The situation had never been so bleak and they were totally leaderless, although Zoe was doing her best to try and hold it together. “I say we just ditch him over the side, and be on our way,” said Jayne, cleaning his nails with a knife, something Simon had noticed he did when he was nervous. “I heard about a job on the trains near Torex.” “He’s not dead,” said Kaylee in a shocked and sickened voice. She cradled one of Mal’s cool hands in hers as if trying to will him to wake up. Simon had never seen the Captain so still. It was more than a little disconcerting. “Well, he’s gonna be soon. We should vote for a new Captain. Who’s with me?” asked Jayne holding up his hand, as if genuinely expecting some of the others to agree. Serenity’s engines slowed to a low hum as the ship came to rest. Wash had obviously found them a good hiding place where they could consider their options before deciding what to do next. The fact that the Captain needed some serious medical attention was not the issue. All they really had to decide was where to go to get it. A few minutes later Zoe appeared in the door, followed by a subdued Wash, who for once was not cracking jokes and making light of the situation. Unfortunately he was still dressed in a garish shirt that seemed more than a little inappropriate given the situation. The Captain’s condition was affecting everyone. They all drew strength from him in a way. Looking around Simon noticed for the first time that Inara was missing. Everyone else had gathered at the Captain’s bedside to talk. Shepherd Book was stood quietly, reading from his black tome and silently mouthing a prayer. Kaylee was staring intently at the Captain, her cherubic face twisted into a mask of worry. Jayne just looked bored and River was strangely muted as well. She was feeling it. The whole room was thick with fear and worry and she could feel everything. They had all come to offer their support in some way, except Inara. Ever since hearing that the Captain had been seriously injured, she had locked herself in her shuttle and could not be tempted out by anyone. There was something going on with her and the Captain, but Simon was still not sure what it was. He wasn’t very good at reading signals. He could admit it to himself, but he wouldn’t say it aloud, Kaylee was giving him enough problems as it was. He didn’t need others knowing everything about his business. Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, Simon looked at Zoe, seeing the slight furrow in her brow. He almost told her how pretty she was, but then quickly changed his mind. She would probably take it as a criticism and bloody his nose for saying such a thing. The woman was a fearsome fighter, but deep down he suspected she had a kind heart, after all she had married Wash. “All I’m saying is, we need a new leader,” Jayne was saying, still going on in the vain hope that he would be elected. “Jayne, close your mouth, you’re attracting flies. We got a Captain and he’s not going anywhere,” said Zoe firmly, staring at Jayne until he looked away first. “We’re gonna get him back on his feet, right Doc?” “Yes, uh…yes.” Said Simon, glancing briefly at Zoe and then looking away before she noticed the flush creeping into his cheeks. Kaylee gave him a curious look which he pretended to ignore and focused on studying Mal’s readouts again. For a mechanic she was unusually astute at times. “I don’t have the equipment here though. The bullet has damaged some…” he trailed off, noting how the details were causing Kaylee already lined brow to pull down even further. He was loathe to cause her any more pain. “It’s damaged something delicate. I know how to fix it, but I can’t do it here.” He said, keeping it as simple as possible. Across the room, River winked at him, probably knowing full well what he had done and why. “So, the way I see it is we’ve got a couple of choices,” said Zoe, looking around the room at everyone. There was some pain in her voice, but she hid it well. Wash made to comfort his wife but then changed his mind, lowering his hand from her shoulder. Now was not the time for her to show her softer side and she wouldn’t appreciate him highlighting its existence right now. “Either we can fly out of here with Braw’s boys on our tail and try to lose them-” “That would be up to me then,” said Wash with a smile before retracting it as his wife looked over sternly. The man sometimes had a bad sense of the appropriate Simon had noticed. “Or we can try to make a deal with them.” “Uh, am I the only one that thinks that’s a stupid idea?” asked Jayne, looking at Zoe with some surprise. It was not something she would normally suggest, but this situation warranted some unusual suggestions. No one else said anything, but for once they were probably in agreement with Jayne. “They might be willing to listen, if we offer them something,” pressed Zoe. Her expression turned even more sour as clearly she was trying to think of anything they had to bargain with. Serenity wasn’t carrying any cargo and they hadn't had a decent job in weeks. “What about the Captain?” said Kaylee in an anguished voice. “How can you all be so calm? He’s dying!” she wailed, her eyes brimming with tears. Shepherd Book moved up beside her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We have to focus on one problem at a time, child,” he said looking to Zoe as if to confirm what he already knew. The Shepherd had a lot of skeletons in his closet and so far he hadn’t told anyone what they were. “We have to get out of here safely, and then we can think about the Captain.” “Even so,” murmured Wash. “I need to know which way to point the ship, if we’re running.” “It does seem like the only real option,” Simon chipped in. He felt all eyes turn on him but determinedly stared back at them, vainly trying to pretend he was not intimidated by Jayne’s cruel eyes or Zoe’s broody stare. “There’s an Alliance outpost not far from here. They would have equipment and supplies.” “Alliance?” scoffed Jayne. “Are you out of your gorram mind? You forgotten they’re after you and your crazy sister?” “No, but not every person in the Alliance knows what I look like. We could surely fake some ID to get in for a short time.” “A visiting Doctor doing his rounds, inspection of the facilities, something like that?” asked Zoe, her mind ever agile. Simon nodded in response. They would have to do some fast talking on the spot, but it was possible and they were desperate. “Shepherd, as I recall you had knowledge of the Alliance, even got yourself booked into one of their fancy medical suites when you was hurting,” recalled Zoe. “Think you could do it again?” Shepherd Book’s eyes took on a distant look as he gazed down at the injured Captain, clearly weighing up something in his mind. He had his right to privacy, but would he keep it at the cost of the Captain’s life? It would be interesting to see how deep the man’s loyalty was to someone who publicly shunned his religion and belief in God. “I might be able to-” “No Alliance,” croaked a new voice and everyone turned to see Mal straining to sit up in bed. Simon pushed him back down without much effort. The man had lost a lot of blood and was in a lot of pain despite the medication. “Sir-” Zoe began but he cut her off with a stare. “No Alliance hospitals. I’ll bleed to death all over this ship before I go there, dong ma?” He said, making Kaylee wince and squeeze his hand tight. “Find another way,” he gasped and then seemed to pass out. A moment later his eyelids fluttered open again, and he stared across at Jayne. “And don’t even think about stealing my boots.” “I wasn’t-” Jayne spluttered, guiltily looking around for some support but found none. He stormed out the room, barging into Wash. “Owwww,” he complained loudly and Zoe gave him a half-hearted pat on the shoulder. “Why do we need him around again? Can someone remind me?” Somewhere in the distance they all heard a heavy thumping sound, followed by a loud whistling. “Ahhhh, uh oh,” said Wash looking worried. A moment later, he and Zoe were hurtling out the room towards the bridge. Shepherd Book followed at a more sedate pace after one glance at Mal, and the girls stayed where they were. River looked towards the ceiling of the room. “They’ve found us,” she whispered. “Someone’s shooting at us!” Jayne cried from somewhere nearby. There followed a loud clattering of feet on the stairs and a few moments later the sound of the engines began to grow louder and louder. “Er, you’d all better hold onto something, people,” said the reedy voice of Wash over the speakers. “Braw’s boys have found us.” “You idiot,” said the voice of Jayne in the background. “Will you shut up, I’m talking here,” said Wash. “Sit tight everyone, this is gonna be a bit of a rough ride.” Simon looked around the medical bay, suddenly glad he had decided to lock away important items. If this was bumpy he didn’t want to lose any medical supplies. They could ill afford to at a time like now. “Kaylee, I need you in the engine room,” said Wash over the speaker again. “Get down there!” his voice had taken on a slightly authoritarian edge now that he was in his element. Kaylee hesitated for a moment, looking down at Mal as she stood up but then River approached and took over the vigil, gently cradling the Captain’s hand. “I’ll watch him for you.” River said offering Kaylee a smile. It almost seemed as if she was living with them in the present. Kaylee gave her unusual friend a smile and raced off. “Doc, you’d better get up here as well, we could use a hand.” said Wash. “Let me know if anything changes,” Simon said and River nodded, carefully studying his outputs. He grabbed a few objects, not knowing what he would find and ran up the stairs. The bridge was crowded. More surprising than an unconscious Jayne sprawled out on the floor, was the presence of Inara. She looked quite pale and drawn, but nevertheless magnificently beautiful in a purple gown, edged with gold and silver. “Are you sure he can be trusted?” Zoe was asking Inara. “What’s going on?” Simon asked glancing only briefly at Jayne. “Jayne had a disagreement with our current course of action,” Book said with a faint smile. “Zoe corrected him of his misgivings.” The ship bucked suddenly and Simon braced himself against a wall. “He’s not someone I would normally consider, but Mackenzie Gower is wealthy, and his estate does have the medical facilities we require.” said Inara. “All right,” Zoe conceded, turning towards Wash. “If you’d just get us there, dear.” “Well I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to concentrate. So if you all wouldn’t mind going somewhere that isn’t here, I’d appreciate it.” He said grimacing as he swerved around a low hill and banked the ship steeply to the left to avoid a copse of trees. His arms were locked on the steering controls and his shoulders seemed to bulk out as he flew the ship through the many obstacles. Simon couldn’t be sure, but he almost thought Wash was smiling. Shepherd Book and Simon struggled to carry Jayne down to the cargo hold where they dumped him in the middle of the floor. The man was short in the head but he made up for it in other areas as the two of them had trouble carrying him. “We’ll tell him he hit his head from the turbulence,” said Book without a flicker of a smile. “Ok, sure.” said Simon. The ship jerked suddenly to one side, throwing everyone from their feet. From somewhere above them they could hear Wash cursing, a string of Chinese words spilling out in a familiar lilting pattern. “That wasn’t a near miss,” said Book, cocking his head slightly to one side. “I think we’ve been hit.” “Simon! Simon!” shrieked River at the top of her lungs from a nearby doorway. Now was not the time for her to start acting crazy. “The Captain’s stats are dropping. I think he’s dying!”