Over here.
Bull's-eye.
- Yes! - Too tall, too tall.
- Jayne! - Little man!
Yes!
Come on, old man.
- Right behind you. - Yeah!
Hello.
- Who's winning? - I can't really tell.
They don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
Well, we're pretty far from civilization.
- How's your sister? - She's good. Better.
She has her days. And she still won't talk about...
...what they did to her at the academy.
Perhaps she's not sure herself.
Open.
Good eye. Good eye!
She dreams about it. I know that much.
Nightmares.
And now on the run, on this ship...
...I don't know if I'll be able to help her here, and I need to help her.
Simon, you are. Leaving your whole world behind?
It's incredibly selfless.
Yeah.
I selflessly turned us both into wanted fugitives.
We're all running from something, I suppose.
Proximity alert.
- We must be coming up on something. - Oh, my God.
What can it be? We're all doomed. Who's flying this thing?
Oh, right, that would be me.
Back to work.
So I guess it makes us one man short.
Yeah, little Kaylee's always one man short.
Say, doc, why don't you come on down...
...and play for our side. Inara won't mind.
- Wash, you have a stroke or something? - Near enough.
What happened?
- Anybody home? - Been hailing her.
But if whoever's there is as healthy as the guy we just ran over...
...can't imagine anybody's gonna be picking up.
Bring us in closer.
Get you close enough to ring the doorbell.
What is it?
It's a ghost.
So, what do we figure, transport ship?
Converted cargo hauler. Maybe a short-range scow.
You can see she don't wanna be parked like that.
The port thrust's gone and that's what's making her spin the way she is.
A short-range vessel this far out into space?
Retrofitted to carry passengers.
Travelers pick them up at government auction. A few modifications...
...and they serve well enough for a one-way push to the outer planets.
Settlers.
Cram 15 or 20 families on a boat that size, you pack them in tight enough.
Families?
Tell you what I think.
I figure that fella we run into did everyone onboard. Killed them all.
Then he took a swim, see how fast his blood would boil out his ears.
You're a very up person.
- Shouldn't we report this? - To who? Alliance?
Right. They're gonna run here lickety-split...
...make sure these tax-payers are okay. - Then we'll have to.
If they're in need of help, why aren't they beaming a distress call?
It's true. There's no beacon.
Which means no one's looking to find her.
All the more reason for us to do the right thing.
How's about you just say a prayer when we slide on by?
Shall I remind you of the story of the Good Samaritan?
I'd rather you didn't. But we'll check it out.
Could be survivors. And if not, well, then...
...no one's gonna mind if we take a look...
...see if they left something behind.
Yeah... No, someone could be hurt.
Where do you think you're headed?
I thought I'd offer my services...
...in case anyone onboard required medical attention.
Well, cap and Zoe are going in first.
We'll holler if we need you.
- Something wrong? - Hm?
Oh, no. No, I...
Well, I suppose it's just the thought of a little Mylar and glass...
...being the only thing separating a person from nothing.
It's impressive what nothing can do to a man.
Like that fella we bumped into.
He likely stuck up under our belly about now.
That's what space trash does, you know...
...kind of latches on to the first big something stops long enough.
Hey, now, that'd be a bit like you and your sister, wouldn't it?
Entering adjoining air lock now.
Okay, Wash, ask Serenity to knock for us.
Emergency power's up.
Dashboard light.
Whatever happened here happened quick.
Everything was left on.
Ship powered down on its own.
No sign of a struggle.
- They're just... - Gone.
Sir.
Personal log.
Someone was in the middle of an entry.
It's okay.
It's okay, I'm here.
Bad dreams again?
No, I can't sleep. There's too much screaming.
River, there is no screaming.
There was.
Hey, grab your med kit, let's hoof it.
Mal wants us both over there on the double.
- They found survivors? - Didn't say.
Right.
I'll ask Inara to look in on River.
Whatever. I ain't waiting.
I'll meet you there. But don't take forever.
Still gotta get suited up.
Hi.
What are you doing here, and what's with the suit?
You're hilarious.
- Sadist. - All right, enough.
Ain't got time for games.
As long as you're here, you might as well lend a hand. You roll with Kaylee.
Let's be quick about this, all right?
A few loads each. Don't be greedy.
- Where are the people? - Ship says lifeboat launched a week ago.
We're gonna assume everyone got off okay.
We're here to pick the bones. Start in the engine room.
Jayne, you take the galley.
You had this on wrong.
Sir...
...I count 16 families signed on.
- Lifeboat wouldn't hold a third of that. - I know.
Wash, any luck?
Think I found something that matches that class. Layout looks about right.
Seems to me any valuables, if there are any...
...likely be stored somewhere C-deck aft.
Good work. Keep the engine running.
River? It's Inara.
Are you hungry, sweetie?
River?
- Aren't you the least bit curious? - About what?
Well, what happened here.
Why would anybody abandon their ship in the middle of nowhere like this?
For all sorts of reasons. Just not mechanical.
What?
There ain't nothing wrong with this. Not that I can see, anyhow.
Whew!
Well, here's a good one.
Hold the bag open.
This looks to be it.
- Locked. - Well, now...
...I'd say that's like to be a very good sign.
Here.
Gen-seed, protein, crop supplements.
Everything a growing family needs to make a fresh start on a new world.
Hard subsidies for 14-plus families.
- That's... - About a fortune.
Forget the rest. We just take this stuff.
We're gonna need a hand hauling it out of here.
Sir...
...even on a lifeboat...
...you'd think those who escaped would find room for some of this.
- Nobody escaped. - Sir?
Nobody.
My God.
I know what did this.
Get her out of here.
Jayne? Jayne, drop what you're doing and get to the engine room.
I want you to take Kaylee and the doctor off this boat. Don't ask questions.
Jayne.
Captain?
Captain.
Zoe!
Came from above, sir.
The galley.
- We heard shooting. - River, what are you...?
- I followed the voices. - Don't ever leave the ship. Not ever.
Okay, handle her, will you, son?
- What in... Is going on in there? - Not now, dear.
What'd you see?
Didn't. It came at me from behind.
Big, though. Strong.
- I think I might've hit him. - You did.
- No. No, no... - Easy, now.
No one's gonna hurt you.
No. No mercy. No.
- Any more than we already did. - No mercy.
Well, we got lots of mercy. We got lots and lots of...
Oh, yes...
...he's a real beast.
It's a wonder you're still alive.
Looked bigger when I couldn't see him.
- I wonder how long he lived like that. - I know.
He must be real brave to survive like that when nobody else did.
Yeah, real hero, killing all them people.
What? No, we don't believe that.
We don't, do we?
Captain wouldn't have brought him onboard were that the case.
Pulse is rapid.
Blood pressure's high side of normal, to be expected.
Weak. They were all weak.
Other than the bullet wound, there isn't any exterior trauma.
Though that crack to the head probably didn't do him any good.
Cattle.
Cattle for the slaughter.
Dope him.
- I don't think that... - Just do it.
No mercy. No resistance.
Open up. See what's inside.
No mercy.
So how's our patient?
Aside from borderline malnutrition, he's in remarkably good health.
So he'll live then.
Which, to my mind, is unfortunate.
Not a very charitable attitude, captain.
- Charity'd be putting a bullet in his brain. - Mal.
We'd save him the suffering.
All right, no one goes in here.
Nothing more we can do, not after what he's seen.
What do you mean?
The ship was hit by Reavers.
Reavers?
- Mal, how can you know? - He don't.
That's how. No way.
It was that other fella, the one we run into.
Like I said before, he went stir-crazy...
...killed the rest, then took a walk in space.
- Just a second ago you said that... - Don't matter. Wasn't Reavers.
Reavers don't leave no survivors.
- Strictly speaking, wouldn't say they did. - What are you suggesting?
Don't matter we took him off that boat. It's the place he's gonna live now.
I don't accept that.
Whatever horror he witnessed...
...whatever acts of barbarism, it was done by men. Nothing more.
Reavers ain't men.
Of course they are.
Too long removed from civilization, perhaps, but men.
And I believe there's a power greater than man.
A power that heals.
Reavers might take issue with that philosophy.
If they had a philosophy.
And if they weren't too busy gnawing on your insides.
Jayne's right. Reavers ain't men.
Or they forgot how to be. Now they're just nothing.
They got to the edge of the galaxy, that place of nothing...
...and that's what they became. - Why are we sitting here?
- If it was Reavers, we should be gone. - Work ain't done.
Still substantial money value sitting over there.
I ain't going over there with them bodies, no rutting way.
- Not if Reavers messed with them. - Jayne, you'll scare the women.
I'll go.
- I've dealt with bodies. - I'd like to go with him.
Maybe see what I can do about putting those folks to rest.
Those folks are already resting. Reavers saw to that.
How we treat our dead is part of what makes us different...
...than those did the slaughtering.
All right.
You go say your words.
Jayne, help the doctor and Shepherd Book cut down those people...
...then you'll load up the cargo. - I don't believe this.
- We're sitting put for a funeral? - Yes, Jayne.
That is exactly what we're gonna do.
I won't have these people looking over my shoulder.
I ain't saying there's any peace to be had, but on the off-chance there is...
...those folks deserve a little of it.
Just when I think I've got you figured out.
That was real pretty, captain, what you just said.
Didn't think you were one for rituals and such.
I'm not. I figure it'll keep the others busy for a while.
No need to concern them with what's to be done.
Sir?
It's a real burden being right so often.
- What is that? - Booby trap.
Reavers leave them for rescue ships. Triggered it when we latched on.
- And when we detach? - It blows.
Okay, so we don't detach. We just...
- I don't know, sit tight until... - What, Reavers come back?
Looks like they jerry-rigged it with a pressure catch.
It's the only thing that'd work with these spare parts.
We could probably bypass that easy, we get to the DC line.
Tell me right now, Kaylee. You think you can do this?
Sure. Yeah.
I think so.
Besides, if I mess up, it's not like you'll be able to yell at me.
What's going on?
Well, right at this particular moment, I'd have to say, not a thing. Right?
- Not a gorram thing. - Looked like a thing to me.
Thought we had a situation, but it looks to be taken care of.
Let's get that merchandise put away.
Everyone's home, Wash. Let's go.
No, no, no. Don't you say that. It's the Reavers.
- The gorram Reavers come back. - Get that stuff stored.
- Like it's gonna matter! - Just do it!
Reavers?
Firefly-class transport, you are ordered to release control of your helm.
Prepare to dock and be boarded.
Looks like civilization finally caught up with us.
No mandatory registration markings on the bow.
Make sure we cite them for that.
Sir, we've identified the transport ship they were attached to.
It was licensed to a group of families out of Bernadette.
They were due to touch down in Newhall three weeks ago. Never made it.
Once we secure these vultures, we'll send a team over.
Didn't we have a flag on a Firefly a while back?
Check.
Here it is. An alert issued on an unidentified Firefly-class...
...believed to be carrying two fugitives. A brother and sister.
What are they wanted for?
It's not available. It's classified.
40,000 of these in the air, and that's all they give us.
Well, I'm not about to have any surprises on a routine check.
We run into these two, we shoot first.
The brass can sort it out later.
- What was it? - Open the stash, pull out the goods.
- Just got done putting it in. - I'm telling you to take it all out again.
- Why for? - I got no notion to argue this.
In about two minutes' time, this boat's gonna be crawling with Alliance.
No.
- We've gotta run. - Can't. They're pulling us in.
If they find us, they'll send River back to that place.
To be tortured. I'd never see her again.
Stack everything here in plain sight.
Don't want to seem like we got anything to hide.
Might give them boys the wrong impression.
- Or the right one. - That too. Go run and fetch your sister.
What?
Are you gonna put her in plain sight too?
- Don't get touchy. Just do as I say. - Is that why you let us stay?
- To use us as bargaining chips? - Knew there was a reason.
They're not taking her. You're not giving her to them.
Don't be a fool, son.
Do as the man says.
Well, quite a lot of fuss.
If I didn't know better, I'd think we were dangerous.
- Is this your vessel? - Bought and paid for.
I'm Capt. Malcolm Reynolds.
- And is this everyone, captain? - By way of crew, it is.
Though, in our infirmary, you're gonna find a fella we rescued.
Saved him, guess you could say.
Straight through the back, next to the common area.
And these items, I take it you rescued them as well.
Looks like an illegal salvage operation.
It does? That's discouraging.
Alliance property too. You could lose your ship.
That's a wrist-slap compared to the penalty for harboring fugitives.
A brother and sister. When I search this vessel, I won't find them?
No children on this boat.
I didn't say children.
Siblings. Adult siblings.
I misunderstood.
No chance they could've stowed away?
No one would blame you.
I know how these older-model Fireflys...
...tend to have those troublesome little nooks.
Do they?
Smugglers and the like tend to prefer them just for that reason.
We will continue this conversation in a more official capacity.
- I want every inch of this junker tossed. - Junker?
Settle down, Kaylee.
But did you hear what that purple-belly called Serenity?
Shut up.
- You are a companion. - Yes.
And you were based for years on Sihnon.
It's only in the last year that you've been with The Serenity?
It's just "Serenity". And that's correct. In a few weeks, it will be a year.
Why is this important?
I'm just trying to put the pieces together.
It's a curiosity, a woman of stature such as yourself...
...falling in with these types.
Not in the least.
It's a mutually beneficial business arrangement.
I rent the shuttle from Capt. Reynolds, allowing me to expand my client base.
And the captain finds that having a companion onboard...
...opens certain doors that might otherwise be closed to him.
And you love him?
- I don't see how that's relevant. - He is your husband.
Yes.
You met through Capt. Reynolds.
Captain was looking for a pilot. I found a husband.
Seemed to work out.
- You fought with Reynolds in the war. - Fought with a lot of people.
- And your husband. - Fight with him sometimes too.
Is there any particular reason you don't wish to discuss your marriage?
Don't see that it's any of your business, is all.
We're very private people.
The legs. Oh, yeah. I'd definitely have to say it was her legs.
You can put that down.
Her legs and right where her legs meet her back.
Actually, that whole area. That and above it.
Six gerstlers crammed right under every cooling drive...
...so you strain your primary artery function...
...and you have to recycle secondary exhaust through a bypass system...
...just so you don't pump it through the main atmo feed...
...and asphyxiate the entire crew.
Now, that's junk.
Have you seen what she wears? Forget about it.
Have you ever been with a warrior woman?
Pirates. Pirates with their own chaplain.
There's an oddity.
Not the only oddity this end of space, commander.
We have things not always so plain as on the central planets.
Rules can be a mite fuzzier.
These fugitives that we're looking for, the brother and the sister...
...they were last seen on Persephone.
That a fact?
They also left port aboard a Firefly-class transport.
About the same time that you shipped out with Serenity.
Well, Persephone's a big place.
Yes.
Yes, it is, and that Firefly isn't.
And if anyone's hiding anywhere on it, we will find them.
So I figure by now you've been over to the derelict, seen for yourself.
Yes. Terrible thing.
If you want my advice, you won't tow it back.
Just fire the whole gorram thing from space, be done with it.
That ship is evidence. I'm not in the habit of destroying evidence.
Of course not. It'd be against the rules.
I'm gonna make a leap here...
...and figure this is your first tour out here on the border.
It's a very loyal crew you have there.
But then, I can tell by your record you have...
...a tendency to inspire that quality in people, sergeant.
It's not sergeant. Not anymore. War's over.
For some, the war will never be over.
I notice your ship's called Serenity.
You were stationed on Hara. Battle of Serenity Valley took place there.
You know, I believe you might be right.
Independents suffered a crushing defeat there.
Some say after Serenity, the browncoats were through.
The war ended in that valley.
Seems odd you'd name your ship after a battle you're on the wrong side of.
May have been the losing side.
Still not convinced it was the wrong one.
- Is that why you attacked that transport? - What?
You're still fighting the same battle.
Only those weren't soldiers you murdered, they were civilians.
Citizens trying to make a new life, and you just can't stand that, can you?
So we attacked that ship, then brought the only living survivor to our infirmary.
- Is that what we did? - I'd ask him.
Only I'm not sure he can speak with his tongue split down the middle.
I haven't seen that kind of torture since...
Well, since the war.
I should've known.
You are bound by law.
Formal charges will be transmitted.
Commander, I'm not what you need to be concerned about right now.
If things go the way they are, there's gonna be blood.
- Let's start compression. - All right.
Get a line in.
Reavers?
That is what I said.
You can't imagine how many times men in my position hear that excuse.
- "Reavers did it". - It's the truth.
You saw them, did you?
- Wouldn't be sitting here if I had. - No, of course not.
I'll tell you who did. That poor bastard you took off my ship.
He looked into the face of it, was made to stare.
- It? - The darkness.
Kind of darkness you can't even imagine.
Blacker than the space it moves through.
Very poetic.
They made him watch.
He probably tried to turn away. They wouldn't let him.
You call him a survivor. He's not.
A man comes up against that kind of will, the only way to deal with it...
...I suspect, is to become it.
He's following the only course left to him.
First, he'll try to make himself look like one.
Cut on himself, desecrate his flesh. And then...
...he'll start acting like one.
Let's have two MPs up here to escort Sgt. Reynolds to the brig.
Let's go again.
Later.
Maybe. Captain said once the coast is clear...
...we should lay low in the shuttle. Come on.
Coming back?
Yes. Yes, of course he is. They all are.
Your ship will be auctioned.
The proceeds will be applied to the cost of your defense.
Get him out of here!
Go to full lockdown. I want guards on the nursery.
It won't matter. You won't find him.
But I know where he'll go.
Wait! No. Don't. Don't.
River, it's okay.
- Wait. Wait. - They've gone. Come on.
- Don't. - River, it's okay.
- Come on. - No. Don't...
River, you don't have to be afraid.
Why would he come back here?
Looking for familiar ground.
He's on the hunt.
All right. Let's get him to the brig.
- No, no, no. I should go with you. - It's out of the question.
How many men you feel like losing today?
Nobody knows Serenity like I do. I can help you.
We let him go first.
Right.
You want to...
Thanks. Now I'll really have the advantage.
We don't know how long it's going to be.
Once we're settled, we shouldn't move much.
I'm just gonna grab some food.
Someone's coming.
You save his gorram life, he still takes the cargo.
He had to.
Couldn't let us profit.
Wouldn't be civilized.