Simon returned from his second sweep of the ship. River continued to hide under the operating table. "She's still close, Simon!" River said, breathlessly. While Simon had come to trust what his sister had to say about most things, danger in particular, he had searched ever corner of the ship that he knew of twice. His sister's claims that Sepia was close to him and her was ludicrous, but, he had been sufficientlt spooked to search twice. Now that his own curiosity had been satisfied, he knew he needed to calm his sister. "And, you're not sticking me with any needles today, Simon Tam!" came the angry cry from under the table. "River, there's no one on this ship that isn't supposed to be here." River looked at Simon quizzically. "How can you say that. Everyone here was someone else before...somewhere else before. How do you know we're supposed to be here?" Simon sighed and sat on the table above his sister. "You're a real pill sometimes, you know that?" "And, you're a real hypodermic sometimes."

* * *

Sepia Dobson listened to all this with some bemusement. The girl, River, was all but moony, it sounded like, but she had focused on Sepia, and that unnerved Sepia. She had dropped back very far from Serenity, and had plotted where it was going on its known trajectory. The Firefly wsa a fast ship, but only in full burn, as far as she had seen, and she didn't think they would be trying that in atmo.

* * *

Jayne grunted for the fifth time since Wash had started planetside. He appeared to be more than a little pleased with himself, as the closer they approached his directions, the more it looked like the rubble of a spaceship was visible. Wash rolled his eyes and stayed steady on. Mal stood, stretched, and slapped Jayne on the back. Grinning, he told Zoe and Jayne to arm themselves and join him in the cargo hold. In his sparse quarter, Shepherd Book was indeed praying, as he had been for several hours now. Kaylee sat indian style at his door and watched him. She seemed to be a little more peace watching the man pray than praying herself. "Kaylee, it is impolite to lurk in doorways." "I wasn't lurkin', Shepherd...I was watching quietly." "Also known as lurking to some people. Is there something I can help you with, young lady?" Kaylee was not used to Book being even a little abrupt with her, so she was taken aback a bit. "Is there something wrong, Shepherd? Is there something I can help with?" "Kaylee, have you ever done anything in your life that you desperately wish you caould take back?" Frowning (which was not the norm for her), Kaylee looked a little disturbed. She and Book were easily the cheeriest members of the crew. They weren't anything alike, but they seemed to get along so well because they seemed to get along with EVERYONE so well. That Book would be in some distress both hurt her a little and angered her. Andger for whoever had made him this way, and hurt because someone as nice as the Shepherd should never have to feel bad. "Just about everyday." Kaylee said, hesistantly. The mystery surrounding the Shepherd was not unknown to her, and she felt he might be on the verge of telling her something secret that he had not told the others. But, Book only sighed deeply and stood. His mysteries remained intact, as Kaylee was certain they always would. "Let's go below and see if they need any help."

* * *

Sepia eased the Death's Head down in a gulley not far from a crashed space ship she had not noticed during her descent. How the crew of Serenity found the ship so fast was beyond her, but, she admired their tracking skills. She loaded all her weapons and placed them on her body. Some were visible, some were not, but she did know how to use every last one of them.

* * *

"Captain, we're down." Wash said miserably. Wash couldn't stand it when Zoe was mad at him. His misery was tempered by his joy at seeing his old freind, Fiona again, however. It was a set of emotions that was a great deal more complicated than he was used to dealing with. "Thanks, Wash." Came the reply from Mal. Zoe had nothing to say. "Way down" Wash said into the empty cockpit.

* * *

The ship, named apparently, Zigos, from the piece of hull laying not far from Serenity, was scattered all to hell. Jayne had a grin on his face that couldn't be knocked off with a bullet. Mal couldn't be sure why, but it made him uneasy when Jayne was this pleased with himself. "Looks like we got here first. And, since that kind of luck almost never happens for us, please keep an eye out." "Yes sir." came Zoe's less than enthusiastic reply. Jayne seperated from them and made a beeline for the ship. Mal hung back with Zoe. "You know, Zoe. I told you this kind of thing was going to happen." "What's that, sir?" Zoe said, tersely. "As far as I know, nothing has happened." "Yes, but Wash has obviously got you off kilter, and we can't afford to have that happening right now. Got me?" Zoe didn't have time to say anything. A shot rang out from inside the mass of the cargo ship, or what was left of it. Zoe and Mal took to the run to see what was happening. What they found was Jayne with a bullet hole in his shoulder. The man who fired the shot was standing over him, trying to extract whatever weapons Jayne had on him. His work was made harder, for even though Jayne was wounded, he kept slapping the hulking man's hands away. Mal drew leather. "What the hell are you doing to my scout?" The man turned, and Mal was caught up short. In an instant, Mal knew that this job was going to be the worst thing that ever happened to them. There wasn't much Malcolm Reynolds was afraid of. He usually held more fear for those around him than for himself. But the sight of the man who had just shot Jayne sent a chilly spike straight into Mal's spine. Zoe herself looked like she had just seen a ghost. She too, seemed to grasp every little detail that had been in front of them all along. They should have never come to Pegasus, and here was the evidence. Keeping his gun hand steady, Mal asked "Since you can't be who I think you are...who are you?" In a heavily accented voice, the man grunted: "Raven." * * *

Sepia crouched outside the Firefly. Since Simon and River Tam hadn't left the ship. it could be safely be said that they were still aboard. The open cargo hold was before her. She stealthily slipped aboard. She consulted a handheld tracker. Simon was close. She didn't get far before she was spotted. Kaylee was crossing the cargo hold with a part in her hand. Sepia drew a nasty looking pistol and aimed it right for the mechanic's head. She quickly reversed the pistol to point it at what appeared to be a Shepherd advancing on her from behind. In doing so, she left herself vunerable to Kaylee, who wouldn't have moved out of fear, but Shepherd Book was being menaced with a gun. Acting out of character (and she knew it) she threw the part she had been carrying (which had a little heft to it) straight at Sepia's head. it connected with a strange thud. Sepia Dobson slumped to the floor of the cargo hold. "What the hell just happened?" Kaylee asked, probably more of herself than anyone else.

* * *

Aboard the Zigos, Raven pulled a knife that looked all too familiar to Mal. "This isn't going to end well." Out of the corner of his mouth, Mal whispered: "Can you get a shot on this ghost?" "Sir...he looks just like..." "Yeah, I know, but we can puzzle that out later. Right now, we just have to get away from him." With blurringly fast speed, Raven threw the knife, where it imbedded into the hull behind them. "Then again, we could just stay here and hear him out." "I have very specific instructions on what to do with you, but, believe me when I say, that if you give me any excuse to dispatch you, I will take it without hesistation."

* * *

The Contessa circled overhead, though Mal and the others couldn't see it. Aboard, Raydor was busy loading up a rifle. That sword was going to be his, or he would die trying. If Malcolm Reynold went down because of it, so be it.

* * * Chief Dobson sat in his quarters, seething. He had rarely felt such anger as he did right now. And Remo was going to bear the brunt of it when his plan came to fruition. He had to get down to Pegasus, post haste. He wasn't worried about his daughter, she could handle herself. But, he personally wanted to handle the people who had murdered his son. And Commander Remo wasn't going to be far behind.