The shuttle responds quickly to my commands. The extra time I scheduled in the simulator has served me well. My training was to include actual flight time, but I noticed the subtle shifts in my schedule after the news of Miranda leaked, I knew that flight training, all training, would be suspended. I also knew who my target would be.

River Tam She’s my best friend. She’s my only friend. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Mal, Rivers down! “ Jayne screamed.

The voice jerked Mal from his thoughts. “ what now?”

Setting the auto pilot he followed the voice to the dining room. There he found Jayne kneeling over River. She was curled in the fetal position, trembling all over. The similarity to their first meeting wasn’t lost on Mal.

“What’d ya do Jayne?”

“Nothing. I was down below, working out, came up for a bite and found her like this.”

“Blackness, Blackness” River muttered.

“Girl done gone all moon brained again.”

“Shut it Jayne. Go get Zoe and the Doc.”

“I’m here sir.” Zoe replied from behind him.

“Good, take the helm, we’ll be in the infirmary.”

“Yes sir.”

The traffic jam occurred in the stairwell down to the Med bay. Simon, Kaylee and Jayne came stumbling up as Mal was carrying River down.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well Doc, your sister speaking gibberish again, you’re rutting around with my mechanic, and you’re blocking my way.”

“Captain!” Kaylee exclaimed as everyone backed out of the way.

Mal gently placed River on the examination table. “Seriously Doc, I got no idea what going on. She just kept repeating herself.”

“What did she say?”

River interrupted “Blackness! It’s coming. It’s coming.”

“That sounds about right” Mal replied.

Mal breath fogged the med bay glass as he watched Simon tend to his sister. He had put the others to various chores to keep them busy. All but one, she stood beside him. “What do you think happened?”

“Well in the past these fits could mean anything from a Reaver attack, to we’re having soup for dinner.”

“You don’t think it’s the soup do you?”

“No Inara, no I don’t.”

Simon step out of the infirmary “She sleeping now, I sedated her.”

“I say we lock her up.” They had all gathered around the dining table.

“We’re not locking her up Jayne. Are we Captain?” Kaylee asked tentatively

“Easy for you to say, she ain’t ever hacked at you with a butcher knife.”

“Captain, Rivers recovery was encouraging but it’s not unexpected that she might have a set back.”

“Maybe so Doctor, but I think we seen enough in the past to make us suspect.”

“Do we cancel the job sir?” Zoe asked.

“Cancel the job! No way Mal. We ain’t made enough scratch in the last month...”

“Jayne! See to your mouth or I will.”

Jayne sunk back in his chair. “No, we keep our eyes open and we do the job.”

“Yes sir, we’ll be at Three Hills in 14 hours.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A new Operative was needed, one with a more analytical mindset. The current Operatives are becoming obsolete. The religious dogma, they used in training, to command obedience, has become their weakness. Their moral code is becoming harder to justify when the masters they serve continue to make, what they see as, immoral decisions. So children with exceptional talent were lured away or taken from their families. River and I were at the Academy together. We shared classes, studied together, then, when our true training began, we spared together, bled together, and nursed our wounds together. She remembers none of this. She never went more than a few days before they would wipe her mind of these memories. Each time she would come back and I would rekindle our friendship. The bond created is the one I now exploit, pumping static into her brain. I am sure there is another at the Academy that shares the same bond with me, but I have no recollection of him or her. I am Rivers fail safe. I am not a psychic. Very few at the Academy are. The ability to interrupt River’s thoughts is simply a result of our special bond. I am a tactician. I simply compile all of the facts and correctly speculate the outcome of an event. With my ability I was able to predict the fall out from Miranda, and my activation as River’s fail safe. After pouring over mountains of data, I have created complete profiles on every person on board Serenity, and how to exploit them. I was able to track all of River’s moves since she left the Academy. More importantly I was able to deduce where I can find them. Three Hills. The government wants River back. I don’t think I can do that. There is a 47% chance she would simply escape again. There is an 86% chance she will expose the Academy and bring down the government. All those children, the government that took them, exposed, defeated. I can’t allow that to happen. The resulting Anarchy will be too costly. River Tam She’s my best friend. She’s my only friend. It’s a shame I have to kill her.