Prelude – Sweet Dreams

Starksville

"Once upon near’ five centuries hence. There lives a family of thieves on a grand spaceship. The most graceful beauty of a ship ever built, Serenity.”

"A spaceship? But, Momma nobody lives on a spaceship," a small sleepy voice says.

"Hush, sweetheart,” Momma says. “It’s part of the story. In fairy tales, you can live anywhere and do anything your heart and mind desire. Now just sit back and listen to the story. As I was saying, there was..."

"Momma, what’s ‘centereeze’?"

"It means hundreds of years from now. It’s a time when spaceships fly, cities float, and all kinds of wonders that you and I can scarcely imagine. In this time, there lives a family. They’re not a family from birth like you and I, but a family formed by strange but unbreakable ties. This family works hard and plays a bit too. They’re a close-knit group that loves and cares for each other fiercely.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

CHAPTER 1 – SHAKEN UP

500 years in the future

Serenity rumbles like a contented kitten amidst the infinite black. The entire crew having just settled down to relax a bit after a highly unusual, but nonetheless uneventful few days. The crew gathers in the kitchen eating breakfast and just generally enjoying each other’s company.

"So Mal, where you figure we should head to next?" asked Wash, lounging back in his mess chair.

"Well, sad to say, we don’t have nothing solid lined up as of yet. Much as I hate the idea, it looks like we’re gonna have to get on back to Persephone n’ hit up Badger for somethin’ worthwhile. I figure after that little sword fightin’ fiasco, he kind of owes me one.”

"Sir, I hate to remind you that ‘little fiasco’ was a bit more than your recallin’. You know the massive ego trip and even more massive amounts of blood - your blood. Maybe we’d do better to look into somethin’ a little less messy. Surely we got contacts that’ll do better by us than that wang da ban," Zoe said.

"And it’s possible you’re not recallin’ the load a coin that we earned along with that blood. If we lock onto a job that’ll earn us half as much coin I might be able to stop worryin’ on rations, fuel, and all manner of other captain-y things."

"I can’t believe that I’m about to say this," pipes up Wash, "but I gotta go with the Captain’s line of thinkin’ on this one Zoe. I reckon we could use our part of the cut to catch up on some well-deserved ‘r and r’. I mean, what’s a little more danger and blood spillage, long as it ain’t mine, when there’s nude beaches at stake?”

"You want danger, dear husband? I can give you danger," Zoe says giving Wash the semi-serious death glare. "I really think this is a bad idea, sir."

"Is my second mate questionin’ my abilities to ‘suss out a mostly respectable job and complete it in a successful manner?”

"Looks that way, Sir. But you’re still gonna go through with it aren’t you?" she asks.

Mal gives her a small smirk as he stands up from the table. "Wash, you set us a course for Persephone. I’ll contact Badger. See what the little chun zi might have in store for us. The rest of you do whatever it is I’m payin’ you to do. Who knows, things might even go smooth if we all work...”

Mal’s orders are interrupted as the ship begins to tremble violently. Dishes slide off the table crashing to the floor and ruining most of the leftovers. Not that protein bars and some sort of oatmeal like sludge they call cereal, could really be ruined. The lights flicker and everyone stumbles about, holding onto whatever or whomever they can find in the brief darkness.

"What in the name of psychotic space monkey’s just happened?” Mal asks, regaining his balance with the aid of the doorjamb.

"Is everyone all right?" Simon asks, jumping a bit when he realizes he had nearly landed in Kaylee’s lap.

"Looks like we’re all in one piece," Book observes. Everyone nods in assent still looking a bit shell shocked.

"Time to go back. She sees us true. Belief is in the dreaming," River mumbles mysteriously. There is a momentary silence as they all shudder slightly at her words. A slight fear spreading through each of their minds as they thought back to the last time that Serenity had broken down.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

CHAPTER 2 - BELIEVING IS SEEING

Starksville

"Now this family is loyal to a fault... mostly,” Momma explains. “They tease each other and laugh together. Sometimes the teasing turns into petty bickering, sometimes it’s much more serious. Living in such close quarters creates a bond between each and every one of them. The Captain of Serenity, Mal Reynolds is a tough, but soft-on-the-inside; mean, but not so old, man. He’s an ex-soldier - a fighter for the mighty, but badly defeated Independents. He likes to believe he is in control of it all. He is finally living his dream. He found a boat, a formidable and eclectic crew, and is flying free in the black. He would never admit it to another soul, but somehow, this crew and his beloved boat had come to mean more to him than anything ever would. Not a replacement for the family he’d lost during the most terrible fighting of the war, but this family is his just the same.

"He has a flying boat?" the little girl asks, snuggling closer to her mother. "How does it work if without airplane wings? And if there aren’t any sails how did they go on the water?"

"Well, you see baby, in the future most people travel in spaceships and other flying vehicles. When they did use vehicles on the ground it was likely to be a horseback as it is any other kind of vehicle. Many, many, years before our daring Captain and his crew ever came to be, earth as we know it was devastated. That means it wasn’t possible for people to live on earth any longer. They had to find themselves new homes on different planets and moons throughout the galaxy."

“Then what did all the people do?" The child yawns, trying to keep her eyes open. "Who else lived on that ship, ‘Serrty’?"

"Also on Serenity is Mal’s best friend, Zoe. They had fought together in the war several years before. Zoe is a beautiful woman. She’s smart, brave, and stronger than any other warrior Mal had ever met in his lifetime. They are more closely connected than two possibly could be because of the bond they had found during the endless sea of battles. They fought together and survived together. After the war, when Mal bought his ship, he convinced Zoe to come along and start their very own crew. When they found Serenity, they found freedom. What they didn’t know, however, was that along with this hard won freedom also came unimaginable adventures. Adventures that were sometimes scary; filled with adversaries worse than anything they’d ever come across. But they weren’t alone on these adventures, because as time passed they also acquired some mighty peculiar folks that would come to settle on Serenity and become their friends and family.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"I’m sure it’s nothing probably just hit some space junk. I’ll go check her out," Kaylee says not quite holding her usual smile.

"You just wait a minute lil’ Kaylee. We ain’t taking no risks with anyone’s life and limb just yet. Wash, let’s go and see what the switchboards are sayin’. I think it’s best to make sure we ain’t leaking fuel or any other like necessity. The rest of ya are to stay put for the time being," Mal instructs.

As Wash and Mal leave the common room, everyone begins talking at once.

"I knew this gorram piece a go se was gonna do us all in one day."

"Jayne!" Kaylee yells, slapping the man on the arm, "Serenity’d never harm us on purpose. She lives to take care of us. If anything, it’s my fault. Maybe I haven’t been payin’ her enough attention or..."

"Now Kaylee you know that can’t be true," Inara says, trying to comfort herself as well as Kaylee.

"Open your ears, your minds. She sees, but we are blind," River speaks up confidently as if what she said should make perfect sense to the crew. Everyone stops in mid conversation, fixing River with a look that said they had no idea what she was going on about.

"River, mei-mei, what do you mean? Who is she?" Simon asks.

Before River can give an answer the intercom crackles with Mal’s voice. "Everythin’ up here looks shiny. Well, mostly shiny anyhow. Kaylee, you’re clear to check out the engine room. Looks like you mighta been right. We musta’ hit something."

Kaylee takes off for the engine room at a near sprint. The rest of the crew uttering a small sigh of relief as the Captain wanders back into the kitchen.

"Sir, what exactly did you mean by ‘mostly shiny’?" Zoe asks warily.

"Well it seems whatever shook us about knocked out the cortex link temporarily. We’re goin’ to head onto Persephone as planned. Wash is just resettin’ the course. Should be just a matter of half a day or so ‘til we hit landfall," Mal explains.

"Do you have an estimate as to how long it will be before the cortex is back online?” asked Inara. “As it is, I have very little time to prepare a proper client schedule."

"Well, ‘Nara I can’t rightly say. You see, there’s all them wiry technical type things gotta be looked over. Maybe best you put your plans on hold this time around. Don’t know as I’ll have enough time to get it back up in time for planet fall."

"You are going to repair the cortex?" Inara asks, trying not to laugh.

"Now just ‘cause Kaylee’s the mechanic don’t mean she’s the only one with the know how. ‘Sides she’s busy at the moment. She don’t have time to be fussin’ with the video screens and such when I am perfectly capable of havin’ it fixed up my own self," Mal states.

"She doesn’t look too busy to fix it at the moment," Inara replies as Kaylee waltzes back into the common room and takes a seat at the table.

"Serenity’s runnin’ sound as a pig in a puddle, Capt’n.," Kaylee says. "What is it needs fixin’ now?"

“Oh it’s nothing, Kaylee. It seems the cortex link was damaged, but don’t worry about it. Mal has it all under control. He’s going to fix the problem right now. Apparently he has some sort of mechanically inclined expertise we were all unaware of before," Inara says.

"It’s really no trouble, Capt’n,” Kaylee says. “Just give me a bit to look it over. I’ll start in Inara’s shuttle. Maybe I can even re-route some of the wires, should have it all back up within the hour."

"Well I guess I know when I’m not wanted," Mal says pouting slightly.

"It ain’t that we don’t want you Capt’n. It’s just that we don’t need you," Kaylee said, still giggling and throwing her arms around him in a bear hug.

"Just for that, Miss Kaylee, no engine parts or pretty new tools you’ve been droolin’ over every time we go to the markets. Too bad too, I hear tell there’s some of the finest mechanic shops, filled to the brim with every specialty piece your little mechanically genius mind could ever imagine, down on the east end of Persephone’s dock," Mal remarks.

"Thank you dear. I don’t know how any of us would ever survive living here without your ever present ingenuity and sweet demeanor," Inara says as Kaylee went to gather her tools.

"Yea, you’re a real gem, Kaylee. Now go get your sweet demeanor to work and get them cortex screens fixed. I’d hate for Miss Sera to miss out on a planet so ripe with sexual profit," Mal says as he once again leaves to check on progress on the bridge.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Starksville

"So all them people live on a spaceship? Where are their mommies and daddies?" asks the little girl.

"You see baby, everyone on the ship is grownup, even though they don’t always act like grownups. Serenity is their home, just like this house is our home. Some of the people have parents, but they live on far away planets. Some of them just don’t have parents for one reason or another."

"Aren’t they sad without their mommies and daddies?"

"Yes, I guess they might all be a little sad about that, but there’s one thing you have to remember... they have each other.”

"I ‘member their a family from accident, right?"

"Yes,” replies Momma. “They are a family formed by accident, an inexplicable, lucky accident. Now you go on and get some sleep. We can talk more about Serenity and her charges tomorrow."

"I wish I could ride in a real spaceship," the little girl says; her eyes already closed in half sleep. "You could come too Momma."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Dear, have you put in the coordinates for autopilot yet?" asks Zoe, coming up behind Wash and leaning over his shoulder to look at the control desk.

"Yea, Zoe. Just gotta get my switches set and ... we’re good." Wash replies swiveling his chair to face his wife. "You have that look on your face again."

"Look?" she questions.

"You know the look that says I’m going to take you right here and now whether you’re ready or not. Don’t get me wrong, I love that look. In fact I have to say I’m enamored by your whole face, and the neck, oh and your shoulders, that little nook right below..."

"You talk too much, husband," Zoe interrupts, leaning over and giving him a sensual kiss. “What do you say we kill a few hours..."

"Who we killin’?" Mal asks, walking onto the bridge. "Hey Wash, what’s with the autopilot, you forget how to fly?"

"I’ll be in my bunk," Zoe says.

"I’ll be with her in the bunk," Wash says as Zoe grabs his collar and the two exit the bridge.

“Don’t worry ‘bout me,” Mal says loud enough for Zoe and Wash to hear him. “I’ll just crash this boat my own self.” He takes a seat in Wash’s chair and looks out into the black.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Several hours later, most of the crew was again assembles in the common room. Kaylee sits with her head in her hands clearly frustrated at her lack of progress on the fixing what should have been a fairly routine problem.

"I just don’t know what’s wrong with her. She won’t even blink for me. I’m sorry Capt’n, but I’ve tried everything," Kaylee states. Seeing her distress, Simon scoots closer to her on the sofa and takes hold of her hand. Kaylee looks up slightly shocked and more than a little pleased.

"It’ll be all right Kaylee. We can still land without the visual on screen, right?" Mal asks. "Best we get Wash up here now so we can get this all squared away."

Mal walks over to the intercom system, shaking his head in disbelief at yet another rough day aboard Serenity. "Wash, best you see if can pry yourself away from your wife for a bit so as we don’t all crash and die."

The intercom crackles and sputters with Wash’s garbled reply, "... not clothes ... be there ... important."

"Just get up here now!" Mal yells through the intercom. "We got a bit of a situation!"

"Uh... Capt’n I don’t think he can hear what you’re sayin’ sounds like the sound system in the intercom is goin’ bad too,” Kaylee says walking over to the device on the wall and fiddling with the dials.

"Wash, Zoe, can you hear me?” Kaylee asks. There was no reply but a faint whirring sound from the intercom, so Kaylee begins to dismantle the wall unit. "Ain’t nothing like this ever happened before. I just don’t understand."

"Me either lil’ Kaylee," Mal says. "Jayne go and beat on the door. Get Wash and Zoe up here now. Tell ‘em both to meet me on the bridge."

As Mal approaches the bridge, he hears a strange humming sound coming from the cockpit. He runs up the steps and looks over the control board and finds the navigation system is nothing but a screen full of static and noise. "Why can’t anything ever go smooth? Hell, at this point I’d settle for slightly less than disastrous."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Starksville

"All right little girl, you’ve had a long day, let’s get tucked in now," Momma says.

"Will you tell me a story Momma? Tell me what happened to the people in the spaceship? Please?"

"Well, let’s see, when we last left our space heroes they were having a little trouble with their spaceship. Everyone was getting worried because everything seemed to be going wrong all at once."

"Was they gonna crash? I don’t want..." The little girl says, her lip beginning to quiver.

"Hush now, baby. It’s just a made up story. Listen to the to what happens next and I’ll bet you find everything will work out in the end."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

CHAPTER 3 - SLEEPWALKING

Serenity – several hours later.

"Everyone sit down and hold on!" Wash yells, grimacing in concentration. The entire ship trembled slightly as it began to touch down. "We are about to land ... in a cornfield?" he says confused, but more calmly as the shaking subsides.

By now the entire crew had assembled on the bridge. For a moment everyone was silent as they gazed at the sight before them. Serenity had in fact looked to be landed right on top of some unlucky farmer’s rising crops.

"I hate to break it to you son, but I think you might have miscalculated the position of the landing dock," Book states.

"That’s what I was trying to explain to Mal, before that not-so-graceful landing. There is no landing dock. There is no planet. Well, there is a planet just not the one we were expecting. The navigation computer’s still down, but the last readout says we’re still holding true to our plans. We couldn’t have gotten that far off course in a matter of minutes. It just don’t make any sense..."

"Well it couldn't-a just disappeared. You dumb ass! Must be losin’ your sense of direction landin’ us all on some back water planet with no recevin’ docks," Jayne rattles off.

"I'd let you fly but most of us here got this strong desire to be not dead upon arrival," Wash remarks while Mal looks at the last readout from the computer system.

"Capt’n, Serenity woulda’ sounded her alarms if there something strong enough to knock us around like that. Nothing went off, everything checked out in the engine room too. Wash is right, this just doesn’t make one lick of sense," Kaylee says.

"Well it looks like were goin’ on a little trek outside folks," Mal starts. "Kaylee, you and Wash grab what you need and make sure Serenity’s outside is as fit as she seems to be inside. Zoe, Jayne, let’s take us a walk to town. See what we can find out from the locals. Persephone is a big place maybe that we happened to miss our target and landed on its outskirts."

"You’re just going to go marching into town without a plan, without knowing if there is an Alliance presence ready to pounce?" Simon asks a bit more boldly than usual.

"Yep, that about sums it up. We can’t just sit here and fret about what might or might not be out there. Way I see it we really don't have much choice in the matter. Unless, of course, you got some genius idea that might save us all the trouble, we’ll be headin’ for town immediately. As long as you and River stay aboard and out of sight there shouldn’t be no trouble."

"Story has just begun. We all have to go or it won't be complete," River speaks up.

"River, we can't go with them. It isn't safe. Come on let's go find a nice quiet place to wait," Simon says, placing a hand on her shoulder and urging her to follow him back to their quarters.

"No!" River screams. "We have to go. All of us have to go."

"Settle down," Mal states. "It's not worth gettin' into a tizzy over. We'll take the mule, if there's no action about, we'll send it back to get whoever has a mind to explore a bit. Jayne, grab them com’ units and let’s get going."

"And if there is trouble?" Simon asks.

"We'll handle it," Mal responds as he walks away.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Not even a ding in her armor," Kaylee says patting Serenity's metal skin. "So, what do we do now?"

"I suppose we just wait like the capt’n said,” Wash replies. "I'm going to head back inside and see if I can't decipher some of the guide control log from right before the landing. There has to be some explanation. I mean my expert piloting has never steered us wrong before."

"As nice as it is to bask a bit in the sun again, I ain't about to stay out here all on my lonesome. Guess I could go and see what Simon's up to," Kaylee says, smiling at the idea of spending some time alone with Simon.

Just as the pair closed up the cargo door, the intercom unit crackles with Mal's voice. "Wash, you there?"

"Just got back in, Mal, you seein' anything interesting out there?" he inquires.

"Not much of anything yet we just wandered up to some kind of eatin' joint. Seems to be a mass of people gathered here. Just sent Zoe inside to scout it out a bit. See if we can glean some info from the locals. I'll let you know more soon as I can. Keep alert, but don't worry. It looks like an Alliance-free type place.”

"I'll let the others know, just keep us updated," Wash replies.

Mal clicks off the comlink and starts toward the entrance of the restaurant. A small scuffling sound made him turn from his spot at the bottom of the stairs.

"Aren't you a little old to be playing with a walkie-talkie, Mister?"

"Well, hello there little miss. Aren't you a bit young to be talkin' to strangers?” Mal asks the towheaded girl. He figures she didn't look to be more than 6 or 7 years at the most.

"Yea, my momma says that lots. Are you a cowboy?"

Mal is a bit taken aback at the little girls question. "Well I don’t have myself one them fancy hats, but..." Before he’s able to finish speaking, a woman's voice rants as she comes running down the steps.

"Clara Josephine Kelleson! What in the world are you doing out here? I thought I told you to stay put! I turn my back for one second to pay the bill and you're out here talking to a complete stranger! Little girl, you are in a whole heap of trouble when we get home!"

"Sorry ma'am. I wasn't meanin' no harm to her. She just came right up and started jabbering away. I was just about to head inside and find out who this little one might belong to," Mal says, not liking the wary look the woman gives him.

"Well, that's good to know. I expect she was jabbering at that. Seems there isn't a person alive she can't hold a conversation with. You can just never be too careful. She’s a hard one to keep track of and I am just a bit paranoid with the constant news reports of children kidnapped right from their own front yards."

"This town had a trouble with children being taken?" Mal asks, suddenly losing his earlier confidence that they had landed in a safe place.

"No, not here in particular. Like I was saying, you just never know. You hear about it occurring everywhere else. Come on Clara, let’s get going and leave this man alone now," she says hoisting the child up to her side. "You're not from around here are you?" she asks eyeing his brown, tattered coat and rough leather boots.

"As matter of fact, we, that is my crew and my own self, just arrived a few moments ago. We're a little off course, just trying to figure out exactly where we are. Name is Malcolm Reynolds.”

"Momma, he's a cowboy, but he don't got a hat or a horse," Clara speaks up again, twirling her long, braided pigtails.

"Don't mind her, she has quite the imagination. My name is Anna Kelleson. Where is it you’re headed, Mr. Reynolds?"

"We were suppose’ to be landing on Persephone this afternoon. Somehow we got thrown off course and found this place instead."

"Persephone?" she asks with a puzzled look. "Can't say I have ever heard of that name before. Right now you're in lovely downtown Starksville. There isn't much around here, but I'm sure Ada Lynn, she owns the restaurant here, could get you turned around where you’re going. She might have some maps you could borrow or something. It was nice to meet you Mr. Reynolds, good luck," she says as she walks away.

"Thanks for the help," he responds pondering over what she had said. How could a person not know about Persephone? He was a little scared to think about how far out they must be if they were on a planet so isolated. Zoe and Jayne come back at that moment, interrupting his thoughts.

"Sir, I found out some vital information," Zoe reports. “It looks as though were a lot further out than we have ever been. They didn't even have a cortex link to speak of."

"Yea, looks like we are lost as a gorram blinded donkey," Jayne says. "Something 'bout these people don't set right with me. One old guy asked me if I'm an escapee from some kinda loony bin when I was trying to tell him how our ship just kinda fell in the middle of that field."

"Much as I hate to admit it, I am a little worried my own self," Mal admits. He clicked on the comlink and waited for the static to settle. "Wash, I'm sendin' Jayne back to Serenity. I want to you to take watch of the ship for while. Anyone else wants to come on in can hitch a ride. Looks like our minor detour is gonna turn into one long and strange day.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

CHAPTER 4 – VANISHED

Day 2 -Starksville

After a restless night’s sleep, aboard Serenity, the crew crowd around a small corner table at Ada's Diner. Simon and River had been given the all clear after Mal and Zoe searched the town for hours the night before and came up with no sign of an Alliance presence.

"Okay people here’s the plan,” Mal starts and gets everyone’s attention. “Soon as everyone finishes up, Kaylee, I want you to head back to the ship. If there’s anything you need, parts wise, let me know. I don’t care what it takes, but I want us off this rock no later than this afternoon."

"As much as I’d like to take advantage of your sudden generosity, sir, I don’t think new parts is the problem,” Kaylee says a bit sadly. "I spent near all night going over every wire and button from engine room to the bridge and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with her. She ain’t broke at all."

"What do you mean it ain’t broke?” Mal inquires a little annoyed. "There’s something gotta be broke on that gorram ship. We can still fly, we just gotta find a way to get the navigation system back up so we can see where we’re flyin’. I want you to go back in there and tear it apart piece by piece and get it put back in workin’ order.”

Kaylee stands from the table, her breakfast untouched. "I’ll try again, but I’m tellin’ you Capt’n, you can't fix what ain't been broke."

"Just sit and eat first, then you and Wash can go back and check her out one more time. Maybe two sets of eyes will be able to find the problem better than one," Mal says more calmly seeing how upset the mechanic was becoming.

"I ain’t really all that hungry," Kaylee replies with tears brimming in her eyes as she walks away.

"I should go with her," Simon says. "She’s had very little sleep and barely a bite to eat since yesterday. I don’t think she’ll be much good for working on anything in that state."

"No need doctor,” Mal insists. “Wash can go with her, being as he has more technical sense than you. Besides, you need to worry about keepin’ your sister out of trouble since you two have such a talent for getting lost and into trouble."

"I’ll be glad to take River with me,” Inara offers. "I don’t really think it’s technical support that Kaylee needs at the moment."

"Thank you, Inara. I’m sure River would enjoy some time away from the ship to explore the town," Simon replies, blushing a furious red. He then walks off in the direction of the ship before Mal could argue the point anymore.

"You want me to follow after them Mal? Keep ‘em from getting distracted from work needs to be done?" asks Jayne leering at Simon.

"Leave them be,” Mal says. "I got enough to worry about without your ‘help’ Jayne. You don’t have time to be playin’ chaperone anyhow, we got some work to be done our own selves. I want you and Wash to ask around see if there’s a decent refuelin’ station in this town. Preacher, I’d like ya to pick up whatever fresh produce and fixin’s you can find and get the kitchen re-stocked. Zoe and I are going to see if we can’t talk to Miss Ada and find out some info on this god-forsaken place. Inara you and River feel free to browse all the pretties, but I want everyone back here within three hours, dong ma?”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Simon thought he’d never catch up to Kaylee, the way she had stormed off from the diner. As much as he hated to admit it, he was glad Inara had offered to be with River for the day so he could concentrate on Kaylee. He knew he had not been very good at expressing his interest in her. Every chance he had before he managed to foul up. He still wasn’t sure how to go about letting her know how he felt about her. Hell, he didn’t really understand it himself. What he did understand was that he had the urge to go to her, not just out of concern for her well-being, but because he loved being with her. He loved listening to her speak, whether about her fascination with frilly dresses or the inner workings or the engine. He loved looking at her, attractive beyond belief, even in her grease-smeared coveralls.

Simon looks up from his daydreams of Kaylee to find her sitting beneath an expansive apple tree, just staring out at the fields.

"Kaylee, what’s the matter?" he asks, seeing tears in her eyes. “Are you sick? Are you hurt? Kaylee, what’s wrong?!” He panics a little and sits beside her.

"No," she replies with a shaky, tear strained voice. "I’ll never feel all right again. She’s gone Simon. I don’t know how. We didn’t hear or see a thing. We weren’t that far off there’s no way..." she sobs.

"Whoa, slow down Kaylee, who’s gone? Everyone else is back in town. I think maybe we ought to get you back to Serenity so you can rest for awhile," he says, reaching out to touch her cheek with the back of his hand. "You must be exhausted. You have hardly slept and the stress from working on the problems with Serenity."

"Simon, that’s what I’m trying to tell you! We landed right there," she points at the field just 10 feet in front of where they sat. "She’s gone. Someone’s taken the ship!"

Simon looks about with a puzzled expression on his face and surely enough, Kaylee was right. Serenity was nowhere to be found.

“Are you sure this is where we landed?” Simon asks, observing the massive, wide-open cornfields surrounding them.

“Of course it is,” Kaylee states. “Look over there and you can see the imprint within the field of where she once was. How could I let this happen?”

“Kaylee, don’t be blaming yourself for this. On all the more heavily populated planets we landed on, nothing like this has ever happened before. There’s no way you could have foreseen something like this occurring.”

“Something like what?” Mal says as he approached them from behind. After observing Kaylee’s tears and look of frustration, he becomes more concerned. “What in the world of juggled goslin’s goin’ on and why is she so shaken up?” he asks glaring at Simon.

Simon gets up from the ground and holds his arms out wide. “Look around Captain and tell me what you DON’T see.”

“I don’ have time for guessin’ games…” Mal starts as he looks around when it suddenly occurs to him. “Where the hell is my ship!?! You mean to tell me some qingwa cao de liumang done stole Serenity right out from under us?!”

“We don’t know, Capt’n,” Kaylee says as tears still stream down her cheek. “But I swear we left her right here. Who could have possibly taken her and why?”

“That’s what we’ll have to find out,” Mal responds, greatly disappointed to find his beloved ship is missing. “Let’s head back and regroup with the others. We obviously have a situation on our hands.”

* * * * * * * * * * *

Mal and his crew regroup in a small tavern and took a table in a far corner so they didn’t attract attention to themselves. The tavern is a dusty establishment and fairly empty since it’s only mid-afternoon.

“Someone stole Serenity,” Mal starts calmly. “Don’ know who or how they was able to do so without any of us takin’ notice, but I wanna know if any of you observed anythin’ out of the ordinary since landin’ on this rock. Anythin’ at all may be a clue as to what mighta happened to our ship.”

“On a planet like this, pretty much everythin’ is out of the ordinary,” Wash replies.

“This place gives me gorram the creeps,” mutters Jayne, not realizing he was speaking out loud.

“Why’s that?” inquires Simon. “They may be a bit primitive in terms of technology but they seem to be stable as a society.”

“If you really must know,” Jayne says while glaring at Simon, “I get the feelin’ that bartender is keepin’ a close eye on us. Makes me a mite uncomfortable.”

Mal glances over towards the bar and also took note of the bartender watching them rather suspiciously. “Well, we’re new in town so maybe he don’t trust us. Let’s not make too much of a tizzy of it yet.”

Kaylee seems restless as she fidgets and kept asking out loud how she could let someone steal Serenity. “I always know when she’s in trouble. She let’s me know but I didn’t sense anything from her. How could I let this happen?”

“It wasn’t just you, Kaylee. It was all of us. None of use kept a very close eye on her. I shoulda had someone stay with the ship so this is my fault too,” Mal states as he tries to comfort her. “Since none of us have witnessed anything more or less unusual, I think we should split up into groups and search the area for any for signs of Serenity. Zoe, Simon, River and Wash come with me. Jayne, you take Kaylee, Inara and Book with you. Be sure to report anythin’ unusual you find and meet back here by nightfall. Let’s get goin’.”

As they depart the bar, Mal notices Anna Kelleson walking down the street. “Ms. Kellenson,” he says to get her attention. She stops suddenly as if she were startled and looks around to see who called her name. “Over here, it’s Malcolm Reynolds. We met yesterday afternoon.”

“Yes, of course, Mr. Reynolds. What can I do for you?” she asks while brushing some hair away from her face with her hand.

“Well, it just so happens that my crew and myself lost track of our ship. I was wonderin’ if you might have heard anythin’ about it’s whereabouts.”

With the same puzzled look she had when they met earlier she replies, “No, I can’t say that I know anything about that.” She seems uncomfortable in Mal’s presence, as if she’s encountered him a long time ago but couldn’t place where or when.

“Very well. I don’t mean to bother you with my troubles, but since you were the first person I met after landin’ here and seein’ you wanderin’ down the street, I figured it wouldn’t be troublesome to ask.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help,” Anna says. “You know, you’re name seems very familiar to me but I can’t place why,” she starts but then pauss for a moment. “Anyway, I have to be going along now. Clara is waiting for me to make her dinner and I’m already running late.” She then walks off in a hurry.

“No problem, ma’am,” Mal calls after her, but she didn’t seem to hear him.

“Come on, Capt’n, we don’t have much time and have a lot of ground to cover,” Zoe says as they look for clues to Serenity’s disappearance.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

After hiking for about an hour, Jayne and his group found themselves two miles outside of the town. The unpaved road they followed came to a sudden stop and was blocked off by a barricade.

“I guess we could consider this out of the ordinary,” comments Kaylee sarcastically.

In the distance was a large white barn, much too big for a regular farm and no houses, animals or crops anywhere nearby it. A barbwire fence seals off the area surrounding the barn. At each corner of the high fence were security lights facing towards the barn.

“No,” says Jayne, pointing towards the barn. “THAT is what I’d consider out of the ordinary.”

“I thought they didn’t have ‘lectricity here,” says Kaylee.

“Maybe not in town,” starts Book, “but they obviously do over there.”

“Let’s go check it out,” Jayne instructs, hoping to find a little action.

“Wait, shouldn’t we let Mal know first before we go looking into it?” asks Inara.

“No,” Jayne smirks. “He said to report anythin’ unusual. Until we find out what’s in that ruttin’ barn, we don’t really have much to report, do we? Now let’s go.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Mal and his group went back to the site where they last saw Serenity and looked around the entire area for clues as to what might have happened to her. After looking for hours and unable to find anything other and endless crops, Mal decides it was time to meet up at the tavern again. As they begin to head back to town, Zoe stumbles over something on the ground.

“Are you all right, my dear wife?” asks Wash.

“I’m fine. Just stumbled over somethin’ on the ground here,” Zoe says. She bent over to see what it was that tripped her and noticed some sort of metallic plating within the dirt. “What the – Sir, get over here, I think I found somethin’.”

“See if you can find more of that,” Mal instructs. “Clear off the ground, there’s definitely something under here.”

The group hustles about removing corn stalks and kicking dirt away with their boots and brushing it off with their hands. When they finished, a large metal door was exposed.

When seeing the door in the ground, River starts to panic, sensing something severely wrong with what they just uncovered. “Above the ground all seems plain, but underground is not the same.”

“What did she say?” asks Mal.

“I don’t know,” Simon replies. “Mei-mei, what’s wrong?”

“Above the ground all seems plain, but underground is not the same,” River said again. She backs away from the door and curled up on the ground.

“What are you trying to say?” Simon asks and tries to keep River calm.

“There’s something bad here. We need to get out,” River says in response.

“For once, I agree with her,” Mal says. “Let’s cover this up and head back for town, we’ll come back later and look into it. ‘Sides, it’s startin’ to get dark.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Jayne leads his group up to the high barb wired fence with their weapons drawn, except for Book, who tries to stay behind the others.

“I really don’t like this, Jayne. Shouldn’t we be headin’ back to town?” insists Kaylee.

“Not yet,” Jayne responds. “I wanna know what’s in that gorram barn.” He takes out his knife and cuts into the fence since it was much to high to climb without being spotted. “Kaylee, you go through first and we’ll follow you.” One by one they crawl through the hole that Jayne cut into the fence and cautiously approach the barn, leaning against it with their backs to the wall and with their weapons ready in case they’re needed.

“Where’s the door to this place?” inquires Book.

Jayne looks around impatiently. “Gotta be ‘round here someplace. Let’s keep movin’ ‘til we find one.”

They cautiously make their way along the west side of the barn and come upon a huge door on the north side.

“Found the door,” Jayne smirks.

“I see that,” Book replies.

“Let’s see if we can get ‘er open,” Jayne says and pulls on one handle while Book pulls on the other.

“You’re wasting your time, boys.” Inara says while standing next to an access panel a few feet from the door. “Looks like you have to use some sort of code or pass key to get in.”

“Gorramit!!” Jayne blurts. “How the hell are we gonna get that?”

“Good question,” Book responds. “But a better one would be why would one need a pass code to enter a barn in the middle of nowhere?”

“Guys, I really don’t feel good about this. We should really be headin’ back to town since it will be gettin’ dark soon,” Kaylee suggests.

“All right, fine,” Jayne says with reluctance. “Let’s be quick ‘fore those lights go on.”

Making their way back to the hole Jayne cut into the fence, the small group moves quicker than when they entered. Just as Jayne follows the others out, the lights at the top of the fence did indeed turn on. Kaylee jumps and gasps as the lights came on so suddenly and held Inara close.

“Damn, that was close,” snorts Jayne.

“Don’t worry, mei-mei,” Inara says to Kaylee. “I’m sure we’ll be okay now. Let’s get back and meet up with Mal and the others.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

CHAPTER 5 – BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

“Momma, ‘member that cowboy we met earlier today?” Clara asks.

“Yes, my dear. What about him?”

“Well, I know why he and his spaceship came here,” she responds.

“What do you mean, honey?” Anna asks a little impatiently.

“’Member that story you was tellin’ me about the family livin’ on a spaceship? That was him. I wished for them to come here and they did,” Clara explains calmly yet innocently.

“Little one, that’s just a story. Besides, they’re 500 hundred years into the future, that can’t be possible.”

“But Momma, he said his name was ‘Mallom’ Reynolds – that’s the guy in the story you was tellin’ me. He also came on a spaceship and had a small crew with him. I know it’s him ‘cause I wished for him to come here and he did. I swear it, Momma.”

Anna ponders this for a moment about what the child was saying and realized she was making a good point. Yet, how could they be there just because her daughter wished for it? They were from the far future, was that really possible? Not only that, but why would her daughter wish for them to come? These questions make Anna feel uneasy because it did all seem to strangely make sense aside from the time difference.

“Okay, sweetheart, I believe you,” Anna says with a little quiver in her voice. She sat by her daughter on the edge of her bed. “But, dear, why did you wish for them to come here?”

“’Cause they can help us, Momma.”

“Help us with what, dear?” Anna asks.

“With our troubles, Momma.”

“Troubles? Child, you’re not making any sense. What troubles?” Anna asks impatiently.

“I dunno, Momma. I just get the feeling we’re in some kinda trouble and they can help.”

“Sweetie, you had a long day, I’m sure you’re tired so get some rest and we can talk about this in the morning.”

“Okay, Momma. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, child,” Anna says and turns out the kerosene lamp.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Mal and his crew once again regroup in the tavern. It is now nighttime so the place was a little more crowded and a bit louder as the other patrons talked among themselves.

“Okay, Jayne, what did your group find, if anything,” Mal inquires.

“Well, Mal, you’re not gonna believe this but we found a big ruttin’ white barn out in the middle of nowhere. About 2 miles outside of town.”

“Why should that interest me?” Mal asks. “Judging from this community, I’d expect to find a few scattered farms.”

Book speaks up since he feels he can explain their findings more clearly. “It’s not the barn itself that’s unusual, Captain, but the fact that it’s surrounded by a high barbwire fence equipped with security lights and has an access panel requiring a code to get in. Not to mention a barricade blocked off the road leading to this peculiar fortress. There’s no houses or any other structures anywhere nearby either.”

“Capt’n, they also have ‘lectricity out there too, which they don’t seem to have here in town,” Kaylee adds. Mal nods.

“Well we found a door of some sort in the ground where Serenity was last seen,” Zoe chimes in. “We were unable to open it but we plan to check it out again in the morning.”

“Seems you got more than you bargained for, Mal,” says Wash.

“What’s that s’posed to mean?” Mal asks.

“You wanted us to report anythin’ unusual. Seems to me like you got more than you expected to hear.”

“That’s a point made true,” Mal says. “There’s definitely somethin’ goin’ on here that’s bigger than this town and the folks livin’ in it.”

“Speaking of the people, I get the feeling they’re not too crazy about us being here. They seem usually distant and not very welcoming,” remarks Simon.

“They’re scared,” River blurts out. “They’re scared but don’t know why. They don’t know why they’re here or how they got here but they pretend all is normal so they’re not as scared.”

“How you know all this after bein’ here only one day?” asks Jayne.

With a very calm and expressionless look, River turns to Jayne and says, “I can sense it.” From the way she says it and the expression on her face, Jayne became even all the more uncomfortable.

Unbeknownst to the crew, the bartender was listening very closely to their conversation and exited through a trap door behind the bar. Being a former mercenary with Alliance connections, the bartender was hired to keep an eye on the town folk in the event of any outbursts. He decides to contact the authorities based on how Mal and his crew were suspicious about their findings.

“Well, I could use another drink. This is all too much for me,” Jayne says and stands up from the table. “Hey, where’s that bartender?” The rest of the crew turn towards the bar and notice the bartender was no longer there. “Guess I’ll have to help myself then,” Jayne grunts and got himself another drink.

“Okay people, we still don’t know what happened to Serenity and I get the feelin’ there’s somethin’ bigger goin’ on here than the stage these folks are puttin’ on,” Mal says. “We need to find a place to crash for the night and in the mornin’ we’ll look into the findin’s we came upon today. Hopefully they’ll lead us to Serenity and find out what’s really going on here.”

“Mal, I think a better idea would be to wait until these folks turn in and then investigate the findin’s so we’re less likely to be spotted while doing so,” Zoe suggests. “We brought enough supplies to set camp outside of town so we can get a little rest while someone keeps watch on the town until they turn in for the night.”

“Very well,” Mal agrees. “We’ll do that tomorrow night as I’m sure we could all use some sleep. Let’s get that camp set up.”

With that the crew gets up from the table and head out the door. Jayne looks back towards the bar and notices the bartender is there again. The bartender sees Jayne looking in his direction and grins eerily back at him and winks. As if Jayne wasn’t uncomfortable with things as they were, that wink sent a chill down his spine as he exits the tavern with a very puzzled expression on his face.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

CHAPTER 6 – WHAT LIES BELOW

Day 3 -Starksville

The next day Kaylee, Wash and Jayne buy some more supplies from a local store and bring them back to the campsite where Mal and Zoe work on a plan on how to get into the two places discovered the day before.

“The only way into the barn Jayne found is with a the code key,” starts Mal. “I just dunno how we’d come up with that.”

“Maybe Wash would be able to hotwire it?” Zoe inquires.

“Perhaps, but that might set off an alarm. Last thing we need is gettin’ in trouble with local folks.”

“What about that door in the ground?” Zoe asks. “That thing has to weight at least a couple tons and there’s no code key to open it.”

“Maybe the barn leads to somethin’ that’ll open that door from inside. We need to find out what’s in that barn,” Mal insists. “Somehow I get a bad feelin’ this whole shindig is Alliance related. We could be in over our pretty heads here.”

Kaylee, Jayne and Wash return to the campsite and proceed with separating the food from other supplies. Wash joins his wife as she and Mal continue discussing their current discoveries and what to do about them. A light breeze blows over the camp that tosses Kaylee’s hair into her face. She brushes it aside and notices a white flash in the sky.

“Hey, guys, what’s that?” she asks and points to the sky.

Mal and Zoe shift their attention to the sky and see a shuttle of some sort descending towards their location.

“Capt’n, is that what I think it is?” Zoe inquires.

“Looks to me like an Alliance shuttle of some sort,” Mal replies and stands up while saying it. “We need to find cover, seems we got more trouble than worth fussin’ over now. Let’s move people!”

The others quickly gather up the supplies and other items of the camp and hustle to a nearby rocky area, a sprint of about 30 feet, while keeping an eye on the incoming ship. “Keep moving!” Mal yells. “Don’t let yourselves get spotted!”

They gather around some large boulders and watch as the ship overpasses and lands near the town. A small fleet of soldiers comes out and guards the ship while two higher ranked officers enter into the bar. Within a few moments they come back out with the bartender who points in the direction which Mal and is crew were camped.

“Gorramit! I knew there was something about that bartender!” growls Jayne. “I had a feelin’ he was keepin’ an eye on us.”

“We’re gonna have to find a new campsite,” Mal says as the Alliance leaders and soldiers return to their ship and head in the direction of the metallic door Zoe stumbled upon the day before. It lands and within seconds slowly lowers into the ground. “On second thought,” Mal starts, “looks like we found our way in. Jayne and Zoe come with me. The rest of you stay put and keep your own selves out of sight.”

“Where are we going, sir?” Zoe implies.

“Gonna have ourselves some fun,” Jayne remarks has he quickly loads some rifles.

Mal, Zoe and Jayne quickly run to the lowering Alliance ship in an attempt to sneak in with it. “Make sure you don’t get caught,” Mal warns. They squat behind the small ship and try to remain unspotted.

“Sir, are you sure this is a good idea? We don’t know what’s down there,” Zoe says.

“Then we’ll just haveta find out. Just be ready to move,” Mal replies.

“B’sides,” starts Jayne, “I’ve been hoping for a little excitement.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Above the ground, Book, Wash, Kaylee, River, Inara and Simon come upon a small cave. Needing a new place to keep out of sight of the Alliance this seems like their best chance for cover.

“This could be a nice place to hide,” Kaylee says, looking to Simon and smiling a little.

“We’ll need to check it out and make sure there’s nothing dangerous inside,” replies Book.

“Nothing to fear, all’s safe here,” River assures the group as she walked into the cave.

“That’s good enough for me,” Simon says and then picks up some supplies, carrying them into the cave. Book, Wash and the others help bring the rest inside as well. They use some small lanterns to light the way since the cave is rather dark inside.

“Let’s just hope we’re not discovered in here,” Wash says as he checks out the rocky walls of the cave.

“I can only wonder what Mal is getting himself, Zoe and Jayne involved in,” Inara says with a concerned tone. “He always had a knack for getting himself into bad situations.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Mal, Zoe and Jayne hop off the lowering platform when it is less than three feet from the underground landing surface. They find themselves in what seems to be a massive docking and cargo bay. They hide behind some cargo and observe the higher ranked officers leave the ship. One turns to the troops and instructs them to keep an eye on the town for the “intruders” while handing out fliers of Mal and his crew. “If you see any of them, take them down – except these three: Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Dr. Simon Tam and his sister River Tam. We need them alive.”

“Gonna be a big damn war hero again, sir?” Zoe quietly asks Mal from their hiding spot.

“Not if I can help it,” snorts Jayne. He gets up and attempts to let their presence be known before Mal pulls him back down.

“Let’s try to figure what’s goin’ on before we go about startin’ a fuss,” Mal says quietly.

“If word gets out about what we have going on here, it could be disastrous,” the leader continues explaining to his troops. “Now, get back to the surface and keep an eye out for them. Be sure to report your findings.” With that, the small troop of soldiers board a small transport and depart in the direction of the town.

“Dandy little setup they got here,” Mal starts.

The Alliance leaders start to depart in the direction of the soldiers, only on foot. Their conversation is overheard as it echoes off the metal walls surrounding them. Mal, Zoe and Jayne follow along side the Alliance leaders; yet remain hiding behind several crates and other cargo. Eventually the two men stop near the entrance of a corridor.

“We need to check on the subjects while we’re here to make sure things are going smoothly. This way,” the one says to the other as they start down the corridor.

“What did he mean by ‘subjects’,” Zoe turns to Mal asking.

“Not a mite sure,” he starts. “Although the other day I came upon a woman who said some children are missing as of late. Maybe there’s a connection of sorts.”

Not far from where the three stood a trio of Alliance troops stood talking amongst themselves.

“All this snooping around isn’t going to get us finding out much though,” Jayne says.

“Agreed. We could use their uniforms and not stand out so much,” Mal suggests. “Zoe get out there and distract them, then Jayne and I will jump ‘em from behind.”

“Why me, sir?” Zoe asks.

“’Cause you’re too pretty for them to get all suspicious about,” Mal replies.

“Very well,” she says while rolling her eyes and steps out from behind the cargo. “Oh, uh, excuse me,” she says loudly to get the troops attention. “I seem to be a bit lost, perhaps you could help me find a way out?”

“Hey,” says one of the soldiers, “You’re not allowed in here. You’ll have to leave at once or suffer the consequences of trespassing.”

“Yeah, but I’m lost,” Zoe says and tries to sound innocent. The three troops walk up just as Mal hoped. They stand with their backs to the cargo Jayne and Mal were hiding behind. “Maybe you could be kind enough to show a stranded, defenseless woman the way out?”

Just at that moment, Mal and Jayne jump out from behind the cargo taking the soldiers by surprise. The third steps back and draws his weapon, yet Zoe kicks it out of his hands and takes him out herself.

“Never mind. I’ll let these boys help me instead,” Zoe says after all three soldiers were taken out. They drag the unconscious soldiers behind the cargo, take their clothes then tie up and gag them.

“That should keep ‘em quiet,” Jayne says.

“Let’s find out what’s goin’ on here,” Mal instructs and the three of them went down the same corridor the two leaders departed through earlier. While heading down the corridor, Zoe was messing with the uniform she took from one of the soldiers, as it was a bit big on her. As she adjusted it so it didn’t look so obvious that it didn’t fit, she found a piece of paper within her pocket.

“Sir, wait.” Zoe says suddenly. “What’s this?” she asks and held the paper open in the dim light of the corridor. Mal finds a small flashlight in one of his uniform pockets and lit it so they could get a better look at the paper.

“Looks like we have a better idea what’s goin’ on here now,” Mal says. “This says this planet is part of an Alliance project … top secret … subjects to be used for developin’ some sorta higher advanced intelligence,” he says skimming through the paper and pausing. “Still don’t make no sense. Let’s keep movin’.” With that they continue down the corridor.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Back in the cave, the rest of the crew starts getting hungry so Kaylee passes around food that her and Inara made for them to eat.

“I’m sorry it’s not much,” she starts. “But it should hold us over for now.”

“It’s fine,” Book assures her and starts to munch on what was handed out.

“I sure hope Mal knows what he’s doin’ since he took my wife with him,” Wash states. “I always get a little edgy when she goes on these dangerous adventures.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Inara says in order to comfort him. “It’s Mal I’m more concerned about.”

“So, what do you all think is in that barn we found yesterday?” Kaylee asks to change the subject.

“You found a barn?” Wash asks, forgetting that he heard about it earlier.

“Yup. Just outside town,” Kaylee explains. “Oddly enough it had a pass code in order to get inside and was surrounded by a big wire fence.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember hearing about that,” Wash says.

“I don’t know what’s in there,” starts Book. “Yet I’m sure it’s something we’re not supposed to see. Rather peculiar that it’s not heavily guarded though.”

River begins to fidget as this conversation starts. She senses something bad is happening on this planet as well as something else she’s not quite able to put her finger on. Simon turns to her and asks if she’s okay. “Scared eyes,” she starts although not loud enough for everyone to hear. “Buried but forgotten.”

“What?” Simon asks. “What do you mean?”

She looks to her brother and gives him a blank stare. “I didn’t say anything.” Simon gives her a very concerned look.

“Does anyone wanna go check out the barn now?” Kaylee asks uncertainly. She doesn’t want to chance it but knows they have to do something other than sit around waiting.

“It’s probably not safe to leave this cave with Alliance troops guarding the town,” Wash says. “Besides, it might be best to just sit tight and wait for Mal, Jayne and my wife to get back.” The others nod in agreement and decide it might be best to settle in for the night since it was getting dark outside the cave.

“Maybe we should take turns keep keeping watch in case someone comes along,” Kaylee suggests.

“Not a bad idea,” Book agrees. “I’ll go first. You all try to get some rest.” With that, the crew makes themselves as comfortable as possible on the cave’s hard surface.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Mal, Jayne and Zoe make their way along a corridor and finally come upon something promising. A steel door with bars blocking out the small square window stands at the end of the corridor. It appears to be the kind of door you’d expect to see on a maximum-security prison. Luckily, there’s no pass code key for this door. To the right of the door is a stairway leading upwards.

“Do you think this is where they have the ‘subjects’ they were talking about?” Jayne asks but not to Mal or Zoe in particular.

“Might as well find out,” Mal says and turns to Zoe. “Zoe, do you have one of those sticky bombs?”

“Right here, sir” she responds and hands Mal a small round plastic container. Mal twists it and breaks it in half. He sticks on piece one piece on each of the door’s hinges.

“Stand back,” Mal advises. “Let’s hope this doesn’t give us away.”

Within seconds the plastic pieces start to crackle and spark before letting out a soft popping noise.

“Is that it?” Jayne asks, a little disappointed that he didn’t get to witness an explosion.

“That’s it,” Zoe says in response.

“Now we just have to push it out of the way –“ Mal begins. Jayne rushes towards the door and attempts to kick it down, making a loud crashing noise in the process. “- but do so quietly,” Mal finishes.

Zoe looks to Mal and says “So much for that, sir.”

“Nice going, genius,” Mal says to Jayne a bit irritated. “Let’s hope we don’t get stormed by Alliance troops down here now.”

“Well, I got the door down, didn’t I?” Jayne remarks blankly.

“Fine, let’s find out what’s in here,” Mal says as the three of them make their way into the room they discovered. They wander a little ways and find themselves in a darkly lit cellblock; however, the prisoners in the cells aren’t adults. In fact, they’re only children. Mal, Zoe and Jayne seem taken aback at finding kids in the jails rather than adult fugitives.

“Why would anyone keep children in a jail?” Mal asks aloud.

“No idea, sir,” Zoe responds.

“Help us!!” a little brown-haired boy cries out. “Make them stop!!”

Zoe approaches the cell with the boy. “Stop what? What have they been doing?”

“And who?” inquires Mal without skipping a beat.

“Dunno,” the boy says through tears. “My friends and I were out playing when these men grabbed us and brought us here. They’ve been doing things to us and –“ he tries to continue but his crying drowns out his voice.

“I hate being right about things like this,” Mal says. “I knew there was somethin’ wrong with this place.” He then turns to the boy. “Son we can’t get you out just yet, but we will come back for you. I promise. We won’t let them continue what they’ve been doing. You have to be brave until we come back. Can you do that for me?” The boy nods through his tears. Mal stands up and turns to Jayne and Zoe. “We’ve got to get back to the camp. We’ll need help gettin’ these children out of here and puttin’ an end to this. Let’s find a way out of here.” They head back in the direction they came from and return to the large room where the Alliance transport descended from the surface. On the opposite side of the room was a flight of stairs leading up to a hatch.

“I bet that’s the way out,” Jayne says and they all go to find out. They climb the stairs and are able to open the hatch without any trouble and find they’re where they were earlier – only the crew is now missing.

“Over there,” Zoe says and points to the cave. “I see a light comin’ from within. They must’ve hid in there as the Alliance ship landed.”

“Let’s go,” Mal says and the three rush over to the cave where Book greets them.

“Glad to have you all back, come on in,” Book says.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

CHAPTER 7 – WISHES DO COME TRUE

Back at Anna Kelleson’s home, she’s putting her daughter to bed once again. After she kisses her goodnight on the forehead, she turns and proceeds to the doorway. Anna is about to blow out the lantern on a dresser near the door when little Clara gets her attention.

“Momma?” she suddenly says.

“Yes, my child?” Anna replies.

“I need to tell you somethin’,” Clara says very seriously.

“Can it wait until morning? It’s late.”

“No, Momma. It’s important.” Clara’s voice stresses urgency and this gets Anna’s full attention.

“What is it, darling?” Anna asks and once again sits by her daughter on the edge of her bed.

“R’member when I told you I wished for ‘Mallom’ Reynolds to come and help us because we’re in trouble?”

“Yes, I do,” Anna responds.

“Well, something bad has been goin’ on in this town. My friends and I were taken to a bad place and put in a cage –“ the child calmly starts before her mom cuts her off.

“When did this happen? Who took you? What did they do to you?” Suddenly Anna became very worried and concerned about her daughter since she hadn’t known about this before.

“Momma, let me finish.” Clara says calmly. “My friends and I were playin’ out by the lot near the schoolhouse. They came out of nowhere and took us to a barn outside town and had us take some kinda test, then wanted to do some ‘periments on us. I dunno ‘xactly what they did, but they put sticky things with wires on my body and on my head though. Then they took us to come cages – kinda like a jail. I was able to get out just by wishin’ for it. Somehow I’ve been able to wish for things and they’ve come true, but not always because I couldn’t wish for the other kids to be free too. But I wanted to see if I could get out and get help. That was the day before I wished for ‘Mallom’ and his friends to come help,” Clara explained. Anna couldn’t believe her ears as he child told this story but she believed every word of it since Mal and his crew did show up after she was telling her about them.

“When did you wish for them to come here, baby?” Anna asks as tears formed in her eyes.

“Umm…’bout the time you started tellin’ me the story. Somehow I knew they’d be good people,” Clara answers innocently.

“Who were the people who took you? Did you see what they looked like?”

“They had grayish outfits and boots. Never saw ‘em ‘round here before,” Clara answers. “They were big men too.”

Anna feels out of place knowing her own daughter was kidnapped and she was completely unaware of it.

“Another thing, Momma,” Clara continues and still kept a calm voice. “I think I know how we got to this town too.”

“I do too, hon,” she starts. “We came here after your father died. I wanted to start a new life for both of us.”

“No, Momma. That’s just what we’re s’pposed to believe. I don’t know where we came from or what happened to daddy, but I know we were s’pposed to come here for ‘periments. They just wanted us to think we moved here ourselves so we wouldn’t be scared. Well I am scared, Momma. I’m real scared,” Clara says. Her voice starts to break since she is unable to hold back her tears. “That’s why I wished for ‘Mallom’ and his friends to come help us.” Anna hugs little Clara closely with tears in her eyes as well.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?” she asks through her tears.

“I was scared, but when I saw ‘Mallom’ had come from my wish I knew they couldn't hurt us no more,” Clara says as she hugs her mom.

“Tomorrow we will find Mr. Reynolds and pray to Buddha that he really can help sort this all out" Anna says in the hope that it would help calm her daughter, yet still unsure of what to believe now.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Mal awakens the rest of his crew so he could inform them of the findings he, Zoe and Jayne came upon. He told them about the jail containing children and the paper Zoe found in her pocket. The crew seemed rather shocked after hearing what Mal reported.

“How can they do that to innocent children?” Kaylee asks a bit upset and worried.

“I dunno but we got put a stop to it,” Mal says. “We’re gonna have to go back down there and get those children out before the Alliance can do more harm to them.”

Simon seems a bit nervous since this was a bit too familiar to him. He turns to River who was rocking back and forth. She seems to be crying quietly as well. “We need to leave here, this is bad,” she says loud enough only for Simon to hear her.

“Shhh, mei-mei,” Simon whispers as he attempts to comfort her. “These children are going through what you did. We need to help them, then we’ll find a way out of here.”

“We need a plan,” Mal announces. “But once we get the children out, where are we going to take them? The Alliance has troops surroundin’ the town. We still haven’t found Serenity yet so I don’t know how we’ll get off this rock either. If anyone has some suggestions I’m open to hear them.”

“Well, there’s only a small number of troops so I don’t see why shouldn’t be able to take them out,” Jayne suggests.

“Inara, Kaylee, Simon and I could help rescue the children from the jail you found, Captain,” Book says. “Once you take out the Alliance troops we could help them back to the town.”

“Sounds good so far,” Mal states. “I’d still like to know what’s in the barn. Maybe that’s where Serenity has been hidden – as if we were expected to come here or something.”

“We can storm the barn after we free the children, sir,” Zoe says. “The sooner we stop whatever they’re doing to them, the better.”

Simon feels he better speak up since his name was suggested. “I think it would be best if I stayed here with River. We can’t risk getting caught by the Alliance again. Once you handle the troops in the town and bring the kids back I can help examine them for any injuries they might have suffered.”

“If that’s what you prefer, Doc, then so be it,” Mal responds. “Here’s what we’ll do then, at dawn Zoe, Wash, Jayne and I will head to town and create a diversion and try to take out as many of the troops as possible. While we’re doing that, Shepherd, Kaylee and Inara can storm the jail and free the kids. There’s a key hangin’ from a post on the far wall of the jail. Once the town is secured I’ll inform you on the comlink and you can bring the kids back. Doc, you then check the kids for wounds or other such injuries while the rest of use find out what’s in that gorram barn. Hopefully we’ll find our ship and will be able to get off this piece of go se they call a planet. We have a few hours before dawn so get some rest ‘cause I have a funny kinda feelin’ we’ll be needing it.”

As the crew settled in, Mal walks to the edge of the small cave and looks toward the town that was a bit in the distance. A few houses were dimly lit but there wasn’t much going on since it was late at night. This whole situation was a bit unsettling for him and he was a bit restless so he decides to keep watch while the others slept.

“Are you okay?” Inara asks as she came up from behind Mal.

“I will be when this is all finally over and we can get out of here,” he responds. “Go get some rest. I’ll wake you and the others in a few hours.”

“Good night, Mal,” she says and returns to her bedding.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Day 4 – Starksville

The sun rose in the east. Mal wakes up the others so they could begin the plans they made a few hours ago. They had a lot of preparing to do and he wanted to be sure they all knew what was expected of them. Jayne loads several weapons and gathered some grenades and other explosives just in case. Zoe and Wash also load some weapons. Zoe made sure her husband wanted to come along for what they were about to attempt since it wasn’t his area of expertise.

“I can handle this,” he assures her and kisses his wife on the cheek. “Besides, if something happens to one of us, the other will be nearby.”

“That’s not a comforting thought,” Zoe says flatly. “Just be careful out there today.”

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” Wash reassures her.

Mal walks up next to them. “I do hate to interrupt you love birds, but it’s about time we get this shindig goin’.” He then turns to Book. “Wait until you hear from me before you attempt to get those kids out. There’s a hatch near the landing platform that will take you inside. Bring some weapons just in case. Hopefully this won’t take long.” Book nods to let Mal know he understands what was instructed.

Once everyone was sure of what they were asked to do, Mal, Zoe, Wash and Jayne make their way back to the town. A narrow dirt road leads them directly to the town. Cornfields were on each side of the road and provided good cover in the event they were spotted. The walk towards town takes about 10 minutes on foot.

“Too bad we don’t have the mule,” grunts Jayne. “Would be a much shorter trip.”

“Well we don’t so there’s no point fussin’ about it,” Mal remarks.

When they were less than 200 yards from the town, they noticed a roadblock had been set up. There are only two soldiers keeping watch. At this early hour neither of them thought there would be anything going on so they were killing time by talking and playing cards.

“Well, ain’t that a sight?” Mal chuckles.

“Should I distract them again, sir?” Zoe asks.

“Not this time. I got another idea,” Mal replies and squats down to pick up a small rock. “Keep cover in the crops so they don’t see you.” When they were close enough Mal throws the rock with as much force as he could put on it. It flings through the air and nails one of the soldiers on the side of the head. He has his helmet off so it hurt quite a bit as it made contact just above his temple.

“Ouch!! What the hell was that?” the soldier yells out.

“What was what?” the other inquires.

“Something just beamed me on the side of the head, that’s what!” The soldier stands up, looks to the ground and sees the rock that hit him. There’s a little blood on it. He reaches up to rub his temple and notices it’s bleeding. With his weapon drawn, he turns in the direction from where he guesses the rock came from and yells out “Whoever did that is going to pay for it!!”

“Hey, quiet down,” the other soldier says. “People are still sleeping in this town.”

“I don’t care about the people in this –“ the soldier starts when another rock nails him directly in the middle of his forehead. “Damn it!! Alright, that’s enough! Who’s out there!?”

The other soldier draws his weapon this time upon seeing the second rock hit his colleague. He realizes this isn’t a joke. “Who’s out there? Come out and identify yourselves!”

“Identify this!” Jayne yells from the fields and snipes both soldiers down. They fall dead to the ground.

Mal, Zoe, Wash and Jayne come out from the cornfields once the soldiers were taken out and proceed towards the town. All was still quiet despite the soldiers’ yelling moments ago. The four made their way through the town as if it were a battlefield, standing with their backs to the walls of each building. Before long they were coming upon the Kelleson home. As Anna saw Mal coming her way she decides now is a good time to get his attention and tell him what her daughter told her the night before.

“Mr. Reynolds!!” she calls out but trying not to be too loud. “Mr. Reynolds!! Over here!!”

Mal looks around the corner of one building and sees Anna waving him down.

“New girlfriend, Mal?” Jayne heckles. Mal glares at Jayne for the remark.

“Just an acquaintance. Let’s go and see what she wants,” Mal says and the four of them hustle over to Anna’s house.

“Come inside, quick!” Anna says. Mal, Jayne, Zoe and Wash enter the house as Anna closes the door behind them. “You weren’t followed, right?” she inquires.

“No ma’am,” Mal replies. “What’s the matter? You seem to be a mite anxious to get my attention.”

“Well, I don’t quite know how to explain this without you thinking I’m crazy,” she says.

“Ma’am, believe me it would take a lot for me or my crew to think anyone bein’ crazy,” Mal assures her.

“Okay, umm … oh my, where are my manners? Would you like something to drink or to eat?” Anna asks. She was obviously shaken up by something but Mal couldn’t begin to guess what was on her mind.

“Sure, I’ll have –“ Jayne starts before Mal cuts him off.

“We’re fine. Don’t go messin’ about for our sake. Is there somethin’ you wanted to tell me?”

“Well, yes, but like I said, I don’t know where to begin. Please have a seat,” Anna insists as they all take a seat around a square shaped dining room table with a green and white tablecloth. “Last night my daughter told me some things that have been happening of which I was totally unaware. Scary things and I don’t know how I couldn’t see or know about any of it before.” Anna tries to explain what Clara told her the previous night but can’t seem to keep her thoughts straight. Mal, Wash, Zoe and Jayne listen and are a bit concerned by how rattled this woman appears. “Maybe I should just let my daughter explain. Let me go get her.” Anna gets up from the table and exits the room.

“What do you make of that, sir?” Zoe asks quietly as not to be overheard by Anna.

“I’m totally befuddled towards makin’ any sense of this,” Mal responds. “Let’s wait and see what her daughter says.”

“Mal, I think this woman is a gorram fruitcake,” Jayne insists. Mal smacks him immediately for saying something so mean about a woman in obvious distress.

“Nobody asked your opinion so until then keep it to your own self,” Mal says while glaring at Jayne.

Anna returns to the room with her daughter and introduces them to her and vice versa. “Clara, you remember Malcolm Reynolds and these are his friends, umm, I didn’t catch your names.”

“This is Zoe, her husband and my pilot Wash and this is Jayne,” Mal says as he introduces his crew. Zoe and Wash nod as they’re introduced and Jayne just rubs his face where Mal slapped him.

“Clara, tell these kind folks what you told me last night,” Anna instructs his little girl. Miranda nods and without hesitation recites what she told her mother the previous night word for word. Her voice was small and innocent despite the terrible things she was describing. She also went on to explain how the citizens of Starksville were hypnotized to believe their lives would be better here so they wouldn’t be afraid and try to leave. Mal and the others listen while the little girl told her story. When she finishes the room was silent while Mal, Zoe, Wash and Jayne try to grasp all that the little girl had said.

“So you wished for us to come here? Our comin’ here isn’t by some freak coincidence?” Mal asks the girl. Clara nods. “And when you wish for things they come true?”

“Not always,” Clara explains. “I couldn’t free the others by wishing for it. I dunno why it didn’t work.”

Mal looks to Anna who is worried that he would think she and her daughter were crazy and then to Zoe, Wash and Jayne who all shrug at what they just heard. “Ma’am, I know about the children being held prisoner for experiments. Zoe, Jayne and my own self managed to find that out yesterday and we have a plan to help get them out. Yet this wishin’ business is a little hard to grasp but for now I’ll take your word for it, ‘specially if she can help us find our ship which has been missin’ for the past few days.”

“It’s not missin’, sir,” Clara speaks up. Mal looks to the girl a little puzzled.

“What what do you mean it’s not missin’, hon?” Mal asks although taken aback by the girl’s steady, calm voice. “We haven’t been able to find it since shortly after arrivin’ here.”

“I – I wished for it to disappear so it would be safe and so you’d stay to help us,” she lowers her head in embarrassment as she says this, thinking it would make Mal upset.

Jayne leans in towards Mal looking a little spooked. “Mal, I dunno how much more of this I can stand to hear. This is creepin’ me out a mite.”

“Jayne, just be quiet,” Mal insists. “Hon, I’ll tell you what, if you can wish for my ship to reappear and it does then I’ll believe you. Otherwise you haveta admit this story you told is a little hard to believe comin’ from a child your age.”

“Yes, sir,” Clara responds quietly. She then closes her eyes really tight and clenches her fists, yet doesn’t say a word out loud. After a few seconds she opens her eyes and loosens her fists. “You’re ship is back, sir. I’m sorry for makin’ you think it was stolen.”

Mal, Wash, Zoe and Jayne get up from the table, heading back to the front door of the house. They look towards the fields where they landed Serenity a few days ago. Surely enough she was sitting there just as they left her. They look at each other in disbelief.

“How’d she do that?” Jayne asks with his eyes opened wide. Mal shrugs and looks at him.

“She wished for it,” he says with a smirk, although he couldn’t totally believe it himself. “Okay, Clara, I guess I have no choice but to believe you now. Anna, the four of us was plannin’ to take out the Alliance soldiers who landed here yesterday. Would you happen to know where they was headin’ or where they’d be found?”

Looking at a clock on the wall it was nearly 6:30am. “At this hour I supposed they’d be over at Ada’s Diner getting some breakfast. Other than that I really wouldn’t know.”

“I guess that’s where we’ll look first. You sit tight and don’t leave the house. Keep your doors locked too. I reckon things may get a little messy in town,” Mal explains. “We’ll make sure the children are freed and that these folks won’t be botherin’ you again.” They’re just about to leave the house when Mal had an afterthought. “Oh yeah, before I forget, when this is all over, hopefully you can wish for us to find our way back to Peresphone. We’re already several days behind.” Clara giggles and Anna responds for her.

“I’m sure that can be arranged Mr. Reynolds,” she says and can’t help smiling herself. With that Mal and the others went out to find the remaining Alliance soldiers.

After making their way over to the diner, they peek in the window and find 8 soldiers sitting at a few tables. They seem to be at ease and not expecting anything alarming at such an early hour.

“How many of ‘em were they when they landed?” Mal asks Zoe.

“Fourteen, I believe, sir,” she responds. “Jayne took out two at the roadblock, there’s eight in here so the rest must be guarding the barn.”

“We need a distraction to get them to come out,” Mal says and looks to Wash.

“What? Me?! Wh-what do you want me to do, Capt’n?” Wash asks a little bewildered.

“Just get their attention and get them to come out. We’ll handle the rest,” Mal explains.

“Okay,” Wash says as he tries to think of some way to get the soldiers to come after him when his wife grabs his arm. He turns back to look at her.

“And don’t get yourself shot,” she says very straight-faced.

“Right, I kinda figured as much,” Wash says and made his way to the front of the diner. He stands near the door trying to think of something distracting or insulting enough to get the soldiers to come after him. “Why did he have to pick me for this?” he asks to himself. He notices a “wanted” sign posted near the door with most of the crew’s pictures printed on it and a low reward offered. He takes the poster, takes a deep breath and walked into the diner. The soldiers didn’t take notice of him as they were slopping down their breakfasts and talking or grunting amongst themselves. Wash clears his throat but that doesn’t get their attention either. “So, I see you’re lookin’ for some folks,” he says really loud. A couple of soldiers look up at him but then return to their breakfasts. “You know,” Wash continues, talking really loud, “This is a really bad picture of me.” Finally a few soldiers turn around and get a look at Wash. Realizing he’s one of the people they were instructed to take out, they scramble about gathering their gear and weapons as Wash turns for the entrance/exit and makes a run for it.

“He’s gonna get himself killed,” Zoe mutters from outside the diner.

“Actually, that wasn’t too bad,” Mal says with a grin. Be ready ‘cause here they come.” One of the soldiers pulls out a pistol and shoots in the direction Wash is running but misses with each shot. Wash comes racing out of the diner and runs around the corner of the building. As he did so Jayne tossed a smoking grenade to cloud the soldiers’ vision. They came after Wash as Mal, Jayne and Zoe got their weapons up. The soldiers came around the side of the building to find the three of them aiming rifles at them and they stopped in their tracks.

“I believe I’m the one you’re lookin’ for,” Mal says rather cocky and heroically. The soldiers try to raise their weapons to shoot but they aren’t fast enough as Mal, Zoe and Jayne are quick to fire. Wash rolls over on the ground and shoots a few as well with a pistol he borrowed from Jayne. Despite being outnumbered 8 to 4, they take the soldiers out with ease and don’t take any hits in return. Once the smoke from all the shooting and the grenade clears, Mal and the others are the only ones left standing. They check themselves for wounds but found none. Mal looked to Zoe and shrugs.

“Rookies, sir?” Zoe asks as she shows a slight smile.

“So it seems,” he says with satisfaction that finally something went right over the past few days. He takes his comlink and calls back to Book. “Shepherd, this is Mal. Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Captain,” Book responds through the comlink.

“We just cleared out the first round of soldiers and we figure the rest are guarding the barn. We’re gonna head that way now. You can raid the prison and get those kids out but don’t bring them back to the town until I give the final word,” Mal instructs.

“Yes Captain,” Book replies.

“By the way, we got Serenity back so you can also load the supplies from the cave aboard her and have Kaylee check the cortex again to make sure everything’s shiny so we can finally get out of here when this is all over.”

“Captain –“ Book tries to respond. He isn’t sure he heard correctly that Serenity is no longer missing.

“Shepherd, just get it done,” Mal retorts. “Let’s get movin’, we’re not done here yet,” he grunts as they make their way for the barn.

It’s a bit of a hike to reach the barn since it is a few miles outside the town, yet Zoe, Wash, Jayne and Mal make pretty good time considering how anxious Mal is to get off this planet. This time there’s a small group of soldiers pacing around the barn as if on watch. The sun is rising higher in the east so Mal and his crew had to hurry things up if they didn’t want to be spotted.

“Got anymore rocks, Mal?” Jayne asks with a smirk. Mal simply decides to ignore him this time and turns to Zoe.

“Looks like you miscalculated,” he starts. “Gotta be at least six of ‘em over there.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Want me to distract them again?” Wash inquires.

“Not this time,” Mal says. “Let’s cut through these crops and get around to the other side of the barn.” Mal and the others proceed through the cornfield to avoid being noticed. After making sure they’re not seen by the guards, they move some stalks aside for a better view.

“There’s the keypad panel Book mentioned,” Wash points out.

“How are we gonna get in without the ruttin’ password?” Jayne inquires.

“We won’t need it,” Mal says. “Zoe, did you bring the sticky with you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We need to take out those guards without startin’ a ruckus,” Mal insists. “Jayne, snipe out some of ‘em for us to make it a little more in our favor.”

“Sure Mal,” Jayne says with a grin, then takes a scope from his jacket pocket and attaches it to his rifle. He takes aim on the first guard and waits for the right moment then shoots. He hits the guards left leg and he goes down instantly screaming. The other guards rush over to check on him and look around to summon where the bullet came from. While they gather around the wounded soldier, Jayne picks his next target and shoots again. This time he hits a soldier in the right leg, just above the knee. That left four soldiers standing. While two attend the wounded, the other two are scanning the field to see where the shots came from.

“Hand me one of those smokin’ grenades,” Mal says. Jayne hands him one and Mal lunges it towards the soldiers. It goes off and starts to cloud their vision. “Okay,” Mal instructs. “Let’s move in.” They hustle across the open field and make their way through the hole Jayne previously cut with his knife. They approach the door and Zoe begins to apply the sticky to it. “Keep an eye out for the guards,” Mal instructs to Jayne and Wash.

“Sticky’s in place,” Zoe says.

“All right, get back,” Mal responds. They all stand back from the door as the sticky explosive burns through the metal door. Mal and Jayne kick the door within where the sticky burned through. There’s a hole big enough for them to get through and they take turns entering the barn. Once inside they find a huge laboratory with experiments of every sort being done on some kids. The commanding officers overlook Mal and his small crew making their way in from a walkway high up over the lab.

“Stop them!” one commands.

There are no soldiers within the lab, only scientists so Mal, Wash, Zoe and Jayne had no real trouble taking them down. They don’t kill any of the scientists; yet knock them out by punching and tossing them about the lab. By the time they settle this scuffle, the remaining soldiers from outside are making their way in through the hole in the front door. Wash proceeds to help the kids get disconnected from several machines they were hooked up to as Mal, Jayne and Zoe take out the remaining soldiers by shooting them dead. The soldiers try shooting at them but somehow missed every shot. As Wash tries to help the last child get free, one of the commanding officers on the walkway pulls out a pistol and takes a shot at Wash. He hits him on his right arm and Wash falls to the floor in pain.

“WASH!!!” Zoe screams as she sees her husband fall to the floor.

Mal and Jayne look up to the walkway and each take a shot. Both the commanding officers are hit, lose their balance and fall to their death as their bodies collide on top of machines on the ground floor. Zoe rushes to be with her fallen husband but finds he’s okay and has only suffered a minor a flesh wound. She hugs him tight then backs away and says sarcastically, “I told you not to get shot.”

“Sorry, wife,” Wash says with a slight grin as Zoe and Mal help him back up. Mal takes his comlink and contacts Book.

“Everyone’s down so get those kids out of the jail,” he instructs.

“Almost done, Captain,” Book responds through the comlink.

“Let’s find out what else they got in this gorram piece of go se,” Mal suggests. They search around the lab but don’t find anything of great concern, other than a door leading to a flight of stairs that leads directly to the holding cells where the kids were being kept. Wash finds a generator near the back exit of the barn and informs Mal. “Jayne, come over here with any explosives you have left. I got an idea.” They rig the generator with grenades and small explosives, then make their way to the back door leading to the stairs. Mal calls down the stairs to check if the kids have been freed.

“Almost!” a small voice replies. It’s Kaylee. They were getting the last of the kids down the long corridor and towards the docking/cargo bay. Mal instructs Wash, Jayne and Zoe to head back out the front door that now had a big hole in it.

“All the kids are out and safe now, Captain,” Book says over the comlink. Mal turns around and takes a few shots at the generator. It sparks a bit and then catches on fire. Mal makes his way out of the hole and runs as fast as he can with the others until they were a safe distance from the barn. The four of them watched as the fire within became stronger when suddenly some explosions could be heard within the barn. Then another explosion and then another when suddenly the entire barn explodes in a huge mass of fire, smoke and debris scattering everywhere. Mal, Wash, Zoe and Jayne yell out in jubilation as the massive fireball reached into the sky.

As the barn explodes, the citizens of Starksville stop whatever it is they’re doing to turn and observe. With the barn being destroyed, the hypnotic state they’ve been under wears off and they stand confused and disoriented. They know who each other are; they just don’t remember how they got there. Talking amongst themselves they try to realize where they are yet don’t feel as if things are actually normal again; a feeling they’ve not had since arriving in Starksville.

Back on Serenity, Simon begins checking the children over for injuries. One small girl about the age of 8 has scars on her temples and along her arms. River stands beside Simon and observes the girls markings as Simon inquires what happened to her.

“They kept pokin’ me with needles … I tried to make them stop and but they wouldn't listen ... they ... they was so... awfully mean..." and she begins to cry hysterically.

"Shhh,” Simon says to calm the girl. “It’s ok, you're going to be all right. Let me have a look at that arm.” She holds it out as Simon examines the marks.

Kaylee tries to coax one small boy in the infirmary as he cowers behind her afraid of being hurt again.

“It’s okay, I’m not goin’ to hurt you,” she assures the scared boy. “I promise,” she says trying to hold back tears at seeing the children like this.

The other children receive food and blankets from Inara and Book, but are still shaking from the trauma they endured. The crew tries to comfort the children when suddenly they hear an explosion. They all turn to look beyond the town as the barn continues to burn.

“Wode ma!” cries out Inara.

“This can’t be happenin’,” Kaylee says with tears building up in her eyes.

At first they fear the worst that Mal, Wash, Zoe and Jayne might’ve been in the barn as it exploded when suddenly three figures appear walking towards the ship.

“Ain’t that a ruttin’ sight?” Mal says while laughing. “Let’s these children back to their parents.” He boards Serenity with Jayne, Wash and Zoe.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Later that night the small town of Starksville holds a celebration to honor Mal and his crew for saving their missing children and returning them safely. Since the town was mostly simple folks they decide to repay Mal with supplies for his ship and food for his crew. There’s music, dancing, laughter and lots of food for everyone who’s hungry. Many of the mothers and fathers of the children who were saved praise Mal and his crew with thanks and gifts to show their appreciation. Kaylee and River play and dance with the children while Simon observes with a smile.

Mal spots Anna and Clara within the crowd and makes his way over to them. He squats down by Clara and looks into her eyes with a smile.

“So, little lady,” he starts. “Did you get what you wished for?” Clara can’t help but giggle and wraps her arms around Mal to hug him. Mal then stands up and looks to Anna.

“I don’t think I could possibly thank you enough,” she says with her eyes watering with tears of happiness.

“That won’t be necessary, ma’am,” Mal says. Jayne wanders up and is obviously a bit intoxicated.

“Ma’am,” he starts and looks to Mal. “You know, there’s still one thing I don’t get.”

“What’s that?” Mal says.

“With all those soldiers, how could we not get shot once?” Jayne asks with a little slur. Mal ponders for a moment then turns back to Clara.

“Did you wish for that too?” he asks her in a teasing fashion.

“Nuh-uh,” she says and continues to giggle. Mal looks through the crowd and sees Wash and Zoe sitting together at a table.

“Oh you couldn’t have,” Mal continues. “Wash got himself a nice little scufflin’.”

“Huh,” Jayne grunts and returns to the party, stumbling a little from his drunkenness.

Mal offers to dance with Anna and they join the rest of the town folk amid the festivities.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The next morning Mal and his crew eat breakfast at Ada’s Diner one last time before heading back to Serenity. As they made their way out of the town, several citizens continue to thank them for helping and being so courageous. Jayne made one more stop in the bar, remembering how the bartender reported them to the Alliance. Being early morning the place was mostly empty. He approaches the bar as if he was about to order a drink when the bartender turns around with a smug expression on his face.

“A little early to be drinking, isn’t it pal?” he asks mockingly. Without hesitation Jayne reaches across and grabs the bartender by his apron, pulling him closer so he’s face to face.

“You hurt any of these people again by bringin’ the gorram Alliance among them and I’ll come back for you,” he says and pushes the bartender into the shelf of liquor behind him. Jayne then reaches over the bar and grabs a big bottle. “One for the road,” he says and makes his way out the door.

Once everyone is on board Serenity, Kaylee reports that everything within the ship is functioning normally and all systems were online. Mal has Wash set a course to Persephone. Serenity lifts off from the field and ascends towards the planet’s atmosphere. A little girl with blonde hair stands outside her house and watches Serenity take flight. She closes her eyes, clenches her fists and makes one more wish – for Mal and his crew to safely find their way back from where they came from.

Just as Serenity reaches the black and is about to take off at full speed, she suddenly trembles violently once again. Dishes slide off the table crashing to the floor. The lights flicker and everyone stumbles about, holding onto whatever or whomever they can find in the brief darkness. From the bridge Mal can be heard yelling.

“Kaylee!!”

THE END