“Absolutely not.” Mal’s face was dark. “Everyone’s strapped in, everyone’s accounted for. I ain’t having my mechanic vaporized if this don’t work.”

“Cap’n, I just… what if something goes wrong?” Kaylee twisted the soft fabric of her hammock. She had dragged all of her things out of the engine room in case her plan didn’t work. She tossed the hammock into her quarters, shutting the heavy door and going back to the engine room. Her jury-rigged butter dish was wired across the hole in the panel. The sealant was still wet and smelled like ozone.

“Something goes wrong, then something goes wrong. Why are we still talking about this? You can’t fix it any more than you already have. Nothing else to be done but trust my pilot. Which I do. Wash says he can have us on that pebble in under five minutes, then I gotta trust that. And so do you. You’ve done what you can for now.” He followed her to the engine room. “’Sides,” he said, “nobody else on this ship would know one of those panels if it came up and started a bar fight, much less if it was a good quality part. I need you to help me find one. And you can’t do that if you’re just atoms. Strap in, hold tight.” He must have seen her stricken look, because he put a hand on her shoulder. “She’ll hold true. Trust her. And trust Wash. Now get going.” He hit the button, sealing the engine room shut. In case something did blow, Mal wanted as much time as possible to get his people out. He smiled at Kaylee through the hiss of the door and walked toward the cockpit.

Kaylee stared after him for a moment, startled when Inara touched her on the shoulder. “He’s right,” the Companion said. “We’ll be fine.” Taking one of Kaylee’s hand in hers, she led the way back to the lounge and the crash chairs. Kaylee could hear Jayne muttering loudly about trusting his life to a gorram butter plate, and who the hell had picked out such a tacky thing in the first place? Kaylee found herself smiling as she strapped in between Simon and Inara. It made her feel a little better to know that Jayne was as scared as the rest of them. She threaded the fingers of one hand through Simon’s and gently stroked the arm of the chair with the other. Five minutes, sweetheart, she pleaded. Hold on for me just that long. The lights dimmed, and she met Simon’s piercing blue eyes, holding them for just a moment and smiling. Then Wash started the engine.

***

Looking back, Kaylee didn’t remember much of the descent toward the asteroid. A sudden jolt as Serenity started up cold, followed by a few brief minutes of smooth movement. Wash’s voice came over the comm, the words “Hang on, everyone” barely out of his mouth before he sent Serenity into a controlled spin, trying to find a good angle of entry. Kaylee clenched Simon’s hand in hers, praying Serenity would hold. Over the rattling of the ship, she could hear Inara murmuring something that sounded like prayer. Book was calm and serene, almost as though he were watching a play. Those warm brown eyes never once showed a hint of fear. He even managed to smile at her. She was smiling back when she heard a sudden bang and a hissing from the engine room. Her hand shot to the release on her restraints before she realized what she was doing. Inara slapped a hand over hers and looked at her, shaking her head. A second later, there was a painful jerk, a thud, and sudden silence. Almost as an afterthought, three tin cups fell off the counter with clatters almost absurdly loud in the silence.

Mal came down the corridor. “Everyone good?” He took in the darkened room, shining a portable light at everyone in turn. “Lookin’ a little green, doc. You shouldn’t. Absolute textbook landing.” He smiled. “Best pilot in the ‘verse. He wasn’t kidding.” He pointed the light back toward the ship’s stern. “And before you start thinking about it, ain’t nobody going in that half of the ship. You’ll want to add a purifier to that shopping list of yours.” He tossed a pouch that clinked to Kaylee, then pointed at Jayne. “Two of you, meet Wash at the other shuttle. You’re leaving now. That little pouch there represents all our liquid assets, so choose wisely.” Jayne opened his mouth to say something, but the captain cut him off. “And no weapons. We go in quiet, or we don’t go in at all. Go on now.”

***

“Nice landing, Wash,” Kaylee commented as she came into the spare shuttle.

Wash shrugged a little. “Wasn’t spinning as bad as the doc thought it was. Serenity’s just a dust compared to those rocks.” He set up two of his dinosaurs on the console and gestured grandly around the shuttle as Jayne entered. “Welcome to the Orpheus,” he said, setting two of his dinosaurs on the edge of the control panel. “Well, actually, not the Orpheus herself. She’s crippled at the very edge of our range, chock full of pilgrims on their way to seek nirvana. Or whatever it is pilgrims do. We’re just the rescue shuttle.” He grinned at Jayne. “Y’all may want to practice looking pious on our way down. It might help our slightly far-fetched story along a little.”

Jayne gave him a look. “You want a preacher man, you shoulda brought the preacher man. I ain’t prayed since I was… well, never.”

“Good a time as any to practice,” Kaylee piped in.

Wash finished the startup sequence and spoke quietly into the comm. With a quick “Love you too, honey,” he disengaged the shuttle easy as you please, spinning it effortlessly away from the asteroid. Kaylee watched as Serenity became smaller, until it looked almost like a chrysalis clinging to the rocky surface. She shivered a little, then turned her attention to the money in the bag. She had to know how much she had. Counting it once, then twice, she thought to tell Jayne that while he was praying, he might as well add in something about having enough to fix their ship, but thought better of it. She closed her eyes for a moment and did it herself, instead.