I came up with the basic idea of this story around twenty years ago, but never had enough plot to make it worth telling (At least that was my thought then). A little over a year ago, it popped back into my head and just wouldn’t go away. I will say right up front that it’s still lacking in plot. It’s more about wish fulfillment. As much as I like the movie “Serenity,” it is pretty brutal for the characters. I wanted to give them a happier ending. The narrative is generally from the perspective of the Serenity crew, so I don’t use the proper Trek names for things in a lot of places because they don’t know them.

For those interested in continuity, this story is set shortly after the events of “Objects in Space” (Based on it being the final episode in the order presented on the DVDs) and somewhere in the Stardate 55450- 55800 range. “Firefly” and “Serenity” are the property of Disney at this point (I think), and Star Trek belongs to the CBS/Paramount corporate behemoth. Star Traks: Waystation is mine.

The Way of Serenity

by

Alan Decker

The ship had been powered down long enough that a chill had descended on the small bridge of Serenity. Out the front windows, a massive Alliance cruiser continued its course past the outskirts of the asteroid field where Serenity was currently hiding, parked on one of the larger asteroids with all systems shut down as to not give away their presence.

“It sure would be nice if they’d hurry up,” Jayne groused, his breath visible in the cold bridge air.

“Just be glad they haven’t sent any gunships in here to look for us,” Wash replied from his place in Serenity’s pilot’s seat. “Not that they’d want to risk all of the dodging of giant rocks it took to get us in here.”

Zoe rested her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “You did a masterful job, dear. And with any luck, they’ll decide we were a radar echo and move along.”

“Hopefully before we’re popsicles.”

Mal had been silent since ordering Wash to make a break for the asteroid field and power down. He was completely focused on the Alliance cruiser in the distance, watching for any sign that they had been detected and wondering just what would have caused the cruiser to take an interest in them in the first place. Did they connect Serenity’s rapid departure from Ariel with Simon and River Tam’s escape from Fed custody? There was also the bounty hunter they’d barely managed to deal with, who had somehow tracked River to Serenity. Or maybe the Alliance attention wasn’t due to their fugitives at all. Did Saffron…Bridget…Yolanda…or whatever the hell her name actually was get caught and tell the Feds about the Lassiter to save her own neck? It might even still be about those ration bars they took from that wreck what felt like decades ago at this point.

Not that the Alliance was his only issue. Adelai Niska was still out there and likely none too happy about what happened on his space station. And there was a growing list of other parties they’d run afoul of in the last several months.

It was all compounding to make Mal feel like the black wasn’t nearly as free for him to roam as it once was. A reckoning was inevitable, and he didn’t much like their odds when it happened.

But that was a problem for another day. He needed to focus on getting his ship and crew through this one.

Off in the distance, the cruiser suddenly picked up speed then went for hard burn away from the asteroid field, either finally convinced there was nothing to find or called away for something more urgent. Mal didn’t much care either way as long as he and his were in the clear.

He looked to Jayne. “Go tell Kaylee to power up.”

“Starting with the gorram heat,” Jayne said, quickly exiting the bridge.

“I’ll tell the others we’re good,” Zoe said, leaving after Jayne.

Soon, the bridge consoles flickered back to life, and fresh warm air started flowing from the life support system.

“Looks all clear…except for the rocks,” Wash said. “Engines are coming back up”

“Get us out of here and back on course,” Mal said. “We can still get to Persephone before Badger tries to dock our cut for being late.” And for Inara to take her leave of them. He’d delayed getting her back to Persephone as long as he could, but he wasn’t about to risk their already meager cut of this latest job from Badger. As it was, he was one of the few still willing to send jobs to Mal.

Wash gracefully lifted Serenity off of the asteroid and steered through the field toward open space. All was quiet until…

“What the hell…” Wash said, looking out the window confused.

Mal was turning to see what had his pilot’s attention when he was suddenly thrown forward as Serenity jolted violently.

He scrambled back to his feet as bridge systems flashed and flickered around him. “Did you hit one of those…” He trailed off as he caught sight of what was in front of them.

Or what wasn’t in front of them. A moment ago, there were asteroids everywhere and now…

Nothing.

Just open space.

“Did I black out?” Mal asked.

“Not unless we all did,” Wash said, quickly checking all of his readouts. “Once second we were in that asteroid field. A weird distortion suddenly showed up in front us, and now we’re here.”

“Where exactly is here?”

“No idea. It’s not matching any of our charts.”

Kaylee’s voice suddenly sounded over the bridge speaker. “Cap’n,” she said, obviously upset. “Something’s wrong with Serenity.”

Mal looked at Wash, who was trying every control on his console. “I’ve got nothing,” Wash said.

Mal grabbed the mic from its holder. “I’ll be right there.” He quickly snapped it back into place. “Figure out where in the gorram hell we are,” he said to Wash as he rushed from the bridge, passing along the corridor holding their cabins, through the galley, then down the rear corridor to the ship’s small engine room. Much to Mal’s relief, the engine turbine was still turning. His mechanic, however, was nowhere to be seen.

“Kaylee!” he snapped.

“Here, Cap’n” her muffled voice called from the other side of the turbine. He peered around as she pulled herself out from inside one of the panels leading to the guts of the vessel.

“Why aren’t we moving?”

“I don’t know yet. Probably something in the power transfer between here and the engines because everything else is working.”

“Can you fix it?”

“I don’t know what it is yet.”

“But we’re adrift.”

“At least we ain’t going to freeze or suffocate,” Kaylee offered. “Without the engines, the fuel we have will last us for ages.”

“But our food stuffs won’t,” Mal said.

“I’m on it,” she said, ducking back into the panel.

Zoe caught up with Mal on his way back to the bridge. “How worried should we be?” she asked.

“Kaylee will get us running again,” Mal replied with a confidence that he didn’t quite feel. “Now we just need to figure out where we’re running to.”

They entered the bridge, where Wash was going through star charts on his monitor.

“You still don’t know where we are?” Mal demanded.

“Space is big, Mal. I’m trying.”

“We were just in that asteroid field. How far could we have possibly gotten?”

“If you want to look out behind us and see if the rocks are still there, be my guest, but the scanners say we are not where we were.”

“We could take out a shuttle, sir,” Zoe said.

“I don’t want to waste the fuel in case we need them later. For now, we wait and…”

The proximity alarm suddenly blared from Wash’s console. “Xianzai yi qingwa diyu de mingyi zenme ban?” Serenity’s pilot shouted as he spun around to check his display. “It’s a ship. But how…it’s already right on top of us.”

“Alliance?” Mal asked, tensing.

“I don’t think so. It doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen.”

“If it’s Alliance, it’s a new design,” Zoe said, staring out the front windows where a grey vessel approached. Her husband was right. It was like it had just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The ship was not much bigger than Serenity. Probably only a couple of decks high with a compact configuration. But Zoe was most concerned about the blue glowing rectangular bit right on the bow of what she assumed was the bridge section protruding out of the front of the incoming ship. If that was some kind of laser cannon, they were humped.

The newcomer came to all stop directly ahead of them.

For several moments, nothing happened.

“What are they doing?” Wash asked. “The suspense is killing me!”

“Hopefully nothing will be killing us,” Mal said. “Send a wave.”

“Sending.”

After a couple of seconds, a voice replied over the ship’s speakers. “There you are. Is this an emergency transmitter? Never mind. This is the USS Wayward. Is everyone ok over there?”

“Um…we’re fine,” Wash replied.

“That’s good to hear. The Bermuda Expanse isn’t always nice to the ships it spits out. Luckily we were nearby when the sensor buoys detected you. Don’t panic, but you probably aren’t anywhere near where you left from. Again, it’s the Bermuda Expanse. It sometimes just grabs a ship from somewhere else in the galaxy and dumps it here. We’ll help you get home. What system are you from? I don’t recognize that ship design. Are you sure you’re ok? We’re not detecting any activity from your engines.”

Wash looked to Mal, who signaled for him to mute.

“One second please,” Wash said, before doing as he was told. “I understood about half of that. What’s a Bermuda Expanse?”

“Not our most pressing problem,” Mal said as he grabbed the mic for the internal comm. “Kaylee! How are we doing?”

“Not good,” her voice replied a short time later. “We need to get to a dock at least.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“I’m sorry, Cap’n, but we ain’t moving without one.”

Mal turned to Zoe. “It’s them or staying here until we starve to death.”

“My vote is for whatever keeps us fed,” Wash said.

Mal let out a long breath. “Put them back on.” Wash unmuted the line. “We are having some engine trouble, and would appreciate any assistance you can offer,” Mal said, though every word pained him.

“We’re happy to see what we can do.”

“We’re ready for you to dock.”

The voice on the other line hesitated for a moment. “It looks like you’ve got a big open space in the lower part of your ship. We’ll just beam in there, if that’s all right.”

Mal, Zoe, and Wash looked at each other confused. “Uh…that’s fine,” Mal said.

“Great. We’ll be over in a couple of minutes. Wayward out.”

Jayne stepped through the hatch onto the bridge and immediately caught sight of the ship outside. “Who the hell are they?”

“Either help or a mess of trouble,” Mal said. “Go watch over Simon and River.”

“Me? Seriously?” Jayne asked surprised. After Ariel, this was the last request he expected.

“If this goes south, you protect them. Understood?”

“Sure, Mal,” Jayne said.

“Have the preacher meet us in the cargo bay.”

Jayne nodded and left as Mal turned to Zoe. “Go get Inara. We may need our ambassador.”

She left, and Wash was up out of his chair in an instant, following Mal off the bridge.

“So you’re coming too,” Mal said displeased.

“Nothing for me to do here.”

“Fine. But no talking.”

“Really, Mal?”

“I’m not getting shot because these folks don’t like one of your jokes.”

“Impossible. People love me.”

Mal just grunted.

They descended the stairs and entered the docking bay, where they were joined in short order by Shepherd Book, Zoe, and Inara.

“I hear we’re expecting visitors,” Book said. “Friendly ones?”

“So far,” Mal replied. “But I want your read on them.”

“Of course. Are they docking soon?”

“Beaming,” Wash said.

“What does that mean?”

“Absolutely no idea!” Wash replied brightly.

Mal’s hand edged toward his pistol in its holster on his hip. He debated having in his hand at the ready, but if these folks truly wanted to help, there was no need to threaten them. But if they came for a fight…

Before his thoughts could get much farther, two…what he could only call sparkle showers rained down into the middle of the cargo bay, quickly revealing two men. Surprised, Mal reflexively drew his pistol. Zoe had done the same.

One of the men, held his hands up. “Whoa! We’re here to help!”

Down in the passenger area, Simon Tam sat nervously. “Are you sure the captain didn’t say anything else?” he asked Jayne.

“No. Nothing else to know right now,” Jayne said, cradling Vera, his favorite gun. “But if it’s Alliance, we’ll know quick.”

Simon looked to River, who didn’t appear nervous at all. Instead, she was smiling. The biggest smile she’d see from his sister in as long as he could remember.

“Not Alliance,” she said, then started laughing.

Mal took a beat and reholstered his weapon. Despite the method of their arrival, the newcomers didn’t seem to be raring for a fight. He looked them over. Both wore black pants and boots, and black tops with grey shoulders. The only real difference in their outfits were the collars, one red and the other yellow. Each wore a triangular pin on the left side of their chest. It was definitely some kind of uniform, but it didn’t resemble any Alliance uniform he’d ever seen. The bearded man with the yellow collar was carrying a small, gray case, but Mal didn’t see any weapons.

“We’re very sorry about that,” Inara said, shooting a glare at Mal before stepping forward to shake hands. “We’re a little jumpy apparently. Welcome to Serenity.”

“It’s all right,” the man with the red collar said, shaking her hand. “Commander Walter Morales. USS Wayward attached to Waystation. This is our Chief of Operations and Science Officer, Lieutenant Commander Craig Porter.”

“Captain Malcolm Reynolds,” Mal said, taking control of the situation back. “That is Inara Serra. Shepherd Book, my first mate Zoe, and our pilot, Wash.”

Morales looked around the cargo bay appreciatively. “This is an amazing design, Captain. Like I said on the comm, I don’t recognize it. Is it only sub-light? Which colony are you with?”

“No colony. We stay on the move,” Mal said. “But not so much at the moment. You said you could help?”

“We’ll certainly try.”

“Not exactly standard Alliance procedure is it?”

“Uhh…”

The one Morales had called Porter leaned closer to the Commander. “Could I talk to you for a moment, sir?”

“Just give us a minute, please,” Morales said then turned to confer with his colleague.

Mal took the opportunity to wave over the rest of his crew. “Was it just me or did those two just rattle off a bunch of words like we should know what they meant? And how did they get in here? What was that?”

“If the Alliance has that kind of tech now…” Zoe said darkly.

“Not a chance,” Book said.

“This could still be some kind of Alliance trick,” Mal said.

“To what end?” Inara asked. “We’re helpless.”

“Not entirely helpless,” Mal protested.

“They’ve got us,” Inara continued. “They could have come in force and arrested everyone, if they wanted to.”

“She has a point,” Zoe said.

“I agree,” Book said. “None of this is Alliance. I don’t know who they are, but we need help right now, don’t we?”

“In a bad way. Wash? You got anything to add?” Mal asked.

“You said not to talk,” Wash said.

“And I’m all kinds of impressed that you listened to me for once. What do you think?”

Wash glanced across the docking bay where the two newcomers were still deep in conversation. “I really don’t think they mean to hurt us. Honestly, they look as confused as we are.”

He wasn’t wrong.

This is the conversation that the Serenity crew couldn’t hear:

“Is something wrong?” Morales asked Porter.

“Um…all of this,” Porter replied.

“What do you mean? They’re humans, right? I didn’t worry about the Prime Directive because you said everyone aboard was human.”

Porter pulled out his tricorder as subtly as possible and scanned around. “Yep. Same as what the Wayward’s sensors said. Nine lifesigns aboard. All human. But you saw how they reacted when we beamed in. It was like they’d never seen one before. And that alliance he mentioned sounded like it started with a capital A, if you know what I mean.”

“I don’t.”

“And what about this ship? No warp drive?”

“What are you saying?” Morales asked impatiently.

“I don’t know. Maybe some Earth colony ship that got lost centuries ago actually survived and set up somewhere that the Federation never discovered. These could be their descendants. Or…oh no.”

“What do you mean ‘oh no’?”

“Give me a second,” Porter said, scanning around with his tricorder. “Dammit. There’s variance.”

“What variance?” Morales demanded, growing annoyed.

“Every bit of matter in our universe has a certain vibration, to put it simply. It’s just the way things are, so we don’t even look for it. But this ship. These people. The vibration is different.”

“They’re not from our universe,” Morales said, understanding. “Can the Bermuda Expanse grab things from other universes?”

“It just did.”

“Great. Something else for us to watch out for.”

“On the upside, these people seem less evil and more…space cowboy.”

“Well, we’re in it now.”

“How are you planning to break the news to them?” Porter asked.

“I’m not. Universe incursions are way above my head. Let’s get them back to Waystation and see how Captain Beck wants to handle it.”

Morales plastered on a smile as he broke away from Porter. “So sorry about that. Now as we were saying, we’re happy to help get you back to our space station where our engineers can see about repairs.”

The Serenity crew once again looked confused. “How do you plan on getting us there without repairing us first?” Mal asked.

“It’s fine. Our tractor beam can handle it,” Porter said.

“Another beam. They’ve got so many beams,” Wash said.

“There are a few,” Morales said. “We’ll head back to our ship and get underway shortly.”

“Commander, I’d like to stay here and see if I can get a head start on things,” Porter said. He turned to Mal. “If that’s all right with you, Captain Reynolds.”

“I suppose there’s no harm in it,” Mal said.

“Ok,” Morales said. “But no…”

“Understood,” Porter said.

Morales tapped the triangular pin on his chest. “Morales to Wayward. One to transport. Energize.”

He vanished in another shower of sparkles.

“I’m gonna go watch the tractor beam!” Wash said, rushing up the stairs.

“Can you control your husband?” Mal asked Zoe.

“Have you ever seen a tractor beam?” Zoe asked.

“No.”

“Neither has he. Let him be excited,” Zoe said, heading up the stairs after Wash.

“I’m a bit curious myself,” Book said, following behind.

“I’ll go tell Simon and River that they aren’t being arrested today,” Inara said.

“We don’t know that for certain!” Mal called after her.

“Arrested?” Porter asked.

“They’re not dangerous,” Mal said. “Usually. I’ll take you to the engine room.” He led Porter up a couple of flights of stairs into a corridor then through a kitchen area that Porter could only describe as “adorable” before taking him down another short corridor to a red tinged room dominated by a spinning turbine contraption unlike any Porter had ever seen.

“Kaylee!” Mal called out. Serenity’s mechanic crawled out of a different hatch than before, face streaked with grease. “Yes, Cap’n…oh! Uh…hi.”

“Hello,” Porter said with a wave and a smile.

“I brought you some help,” Mal said. Serenity jolted slightly as it started to move.

“How?” Kaylee asked confused.

“Tractor beam,” Mal said.

“What?”

Mal shrugged and exited.

“So…I’m guessing you’re Kaylee,” Porter said.

“That’s me.”

“Craig Porter,” the newcomer said by way of introduction.

“Nice to meet you, Craig. Do you know much about Firefly-class ships?”

“I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything like this. But I’ll follow your lead and help where I can.”

“Shiny!” Kaylee replied brightly.

“What can you tell me about what’s wrong?” Porter asked as he opened his tricorder and started scanning the engine.

“Oooh! What is that?”

“A portable scanner,” Porter said, showing Kaylee. “We call it a tricorder.”

“Can it scan for more than three things?”

Porter chuckled. “A lot more. That’s just its name. Ok. So it looks like there’s a failure in what I’m guessing is a power distribution node leading to your engines.”

“You got that from the tricorder?” Kaylee asked amazed.

“That and the fact that you’re obviously generating power, but the ship isn’t moving. Seemed like a reasonable guess.” Porter sat down his engineering kit and opened it. “How do you want to proceed?”

“You ok crawling around in tight spaces?” Kaylee asked.

“Comes with the job sometimes,” Porter replied. “Lead on.”

After the first burst of amazement, tractor beams weren’t all that exciting. It was just a blue glow surrounding Serenity that was somehow dragging them along behind the Wayward. What was fascinating to Wash was how fast they were going. Serenity wasn’t even able to give a reading, but Commander Morales had contacted them before activating the tractor beam and said they were going to take things pretty slow because Serenity didn’t have whatever a structural integrity field was.

This was slow? They were going faster than full hard burn. Everything was leading him to one inescapable conclusion.

“I don’t think we’re anywhere near the Alliance,” he said finally, breaking the silence on the bridge.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Mal said.

“It’s like I said earlier, Mal. Space is really big. What if other ships left Earth-That-Was and settled in a different system?”

“And they developed technology that we don’t have,” Zoe said.

“Exactly! I know it sounds crazy…”

“At this point, it doesn’t,” Mal said. “I can’t explain it any other way right now, but it also doesn’t mean that they’re going to be any better than the Alliance.”

“They’re definitely bigger,” Zoe said, looking out the window. From around the Wayward, they could now make out the form of a massive space station looming ahead of them and getting bigger with every passing moment.

“Zai youshi yilai zuida de da xiang de duzi li, na shi juda de,” Mal muttered.

“Wave coming in,” Wash said, opening the channel.

“Wayward to Serenity. We’re going to release you and turn things over to Waystation Docking Control. They’ll get you settled into an open bay. Wayward out.”

The blue glow surrounding Serenity abruptly stopped, and the Wayward veered off revealing more of the gigantic facility ahead of them. They could now make out two saucers, each larger than any structure the Alliance had ever attempted to build in space, connected by a long tube. Another tractor beam, this one coming from the station itself, locked onto the ship and pulled it toward an opening docking bay door. Soon, additional beams from inside the docking bay took over and brought Serenity in the rest of the way.

Wash extended the landing struts shortly before Serenity touched down gently. Mal tried to fight back the feeling of dread as the docking bay door closed behind them. They were trapped now, wherever this was.

He grabbed the mic for the internal comm. “Attention, everyone. We have arrived at a space station, and we’ve been promised help with our engine troubles. We’ll be on our way as soon as we can. Until then, no one leaves the ship without my say so.”

“The cap’n didn’t mean you,” Kaylee said as she and Craig Porter emerged back into the engine room. Sure enough, they’d been forced to remove the engine’s power distribution node. By Kaylee’s estimation, it was completely fried, but Porter didn’t seem all that concerned about that or Mal’s pronouncement.

“I don’t think he can stop me,” Porter said.

“Morales to Porter,” the triangular badge on Porter’s chest barked suddenly, surprising Kaylee.

“Porter here,” he replied after tapping it.

“I filled in Captain Beck, and she’s on her way to Docking Bay Three to talk things over. She’s probably going to need you for the science part.”

“I live to explain,” Porter replied.

“Try to find some place they can all gather.”

Porter glanced at Kaylee, who gave him a thumbs up.

“On it,” Porter said.

“We’ll see you shortly. Morales out.”

“You all are so professional,” Kaylee said.

“It’s an act,” Porter replied with a smirk. “But we do need to get everyone together.”

“Is it serious?”

“You’re in no danger. I promise. The rest…I need to leave that for Captain Beck.”

Mal’s first thought upon hearing Porter’s request was to meet with this Captain Beck alone and get a read on things. But in these circumstances, he didn’t see what he was going to accomplish on his own beyond having to repeat what Beck told him to the rest of his crew. So he had everyone gather in the galley while he and Porter went to the cargo bay and opened the docking hatch for Commander Morales and Waystation’s commanding officer.

She was tall with long red hair pulled into a pony tail. She was dressed the same as Morales, with the same red collar but one more of the golden circular pins at her neck. Four instead of Morales’ three. Mal assumed they must delineate rank.

“Captain Reynolds,” she said, extending her hand to him. “I’m Captain Lisa Beck. Permission to come aboard.”

Mal was taken off guard for a moment by the fact that she even asked.

“Granted,” he said, accepting the handshake.

“Welcome to Waystation.”

“Thank you, Captain. We hopefully won’t be troubling you for too long if you’re able to get us on our way.”

Beck and Morales exchanged a quick glance that Mal decidedly did not like.

“You’re no trouble,” Beck said. “But there are some things you need to know.”

“Come with me, then,” Mal said, leading Beck and Morales to the galley. After a quick round of introductions, Beck got to the point.

“There is a spatial anomaly in this region that we call the Bermuda Expanse. Lieutenant Commander Porter can explain what it is better than I can, but I can tell you what it does. Ships that get too close can be drawn in and transported tens of thousands of light years across the galaxy. Likewise, on occasion ships from elsewhere have somehow been brought here. In most instances, we have been able to get those ships and crews back where they came from. But your case is something different. Porter?”

“Yes, Captain,” Porter said, standing up straight from the position he’d taken leaning against the galley wall. “Everyone in this room is a human being who descended from ancestors that arose on the same planet. However, your planet of origin and ours reside in different universes.”

“I’m sorry, did you say universes?” Shepherd Book asked.

“Yes. There are an infinite number of universes all existing in slightly different…realities from each other. Some are very similar right down to the people, but others not so much. We don’t know how, since it’s never happened before, but in your case, it seems that the Bermuda Expanse brought you here from an entirely different universe.”

“And you have no idea how to get us back,” Mal said, now understanding the look between Beck and Morales.

“No. We don’t,” Beck said. “Normally we have a rule, the Prime Directive, that prevents us from interfering with cultures that aren’t on our level of technology. Since you all are human, Commander Morales didn’t think it applied. And even if he’d known, he wouldn’t have just left you all to die out there.”

“That’s a comfort,” Mal muttered.

“Different universe?” Jayne said. “I don’t believe any of this.”

“Do you have a better explanation?” Inara asked.

“No, but…”

“So…there’s no Alliance here,” Simon said.

“No. Waystation is run by Starfleet, which is the exploration and military arm of the United Federation of Planets,” Beck said. “The Federation is an organization dedicated to the peaceful coexistence and mutual sharing of the knowledge and resources of hundreds of our member worlds and species.”

“Species? Like aliens?” Wash asked.

“We don’t call them that, but yes,” Beck said. She looked around at the stunned faces in the room. “I know this is a lot to take in. We can offer you quarters on the station, but you can also stay here if you’d like. I give you my word that no one will come on board your ship without your permission unless it is absolutely necessary.”

“How do you define necessary?” Book asked.

“Something like a medical emergency.”

“We have a doctor,” Mal said, gesturing to Simon. “Not likely to be anything that happens to us here in dock that he can’t mend. But I take your meaning.”

Beck continued. “My one request is that you don’t go anywhere unescorted for the time being. This is a big station, and you have no experience with the species and technology that you’re going to encounter here.

“I know I just hit you with a lot, and I’m sure you need some time to process. Just know that we’re going to help you acclimate here however we can. We will also try to find a way to get you home, but I cannot make any promises on that last one. Travel between universes is complicated and unpredictable. We’ll be back in the morning to try to answer your questions and show you around.”

“I can walk them out,” Inara said, getting up from her seat at the table.

She led Beck, Morales, and Porter back to the cargo bay.

“I hope you’ll forgive us if we come across as ungrateful,” she said to Beck. “We’ve been through a lot. And this…I don’t begin to know how to react.”

“It’s understandable. I think stunned silence was the appropriate response under the circumstances,” Beck said. “Except for the young girl. She was practically bouncing in her seat the whole time. Is she always that excited?”

“River? No. But she’s been very happy ever since we arrived here. Now that I know where we are, I can understand why. The Alliance can’t get her here.”

“Why would they be after a young girl?”

“That is not my story to tell,” Inara said. “Good night, Captain Beck.”

“Good night,” Beck replied with a nod, then stepped out of Serenity back into the docking bay with Morales and Porter close behind. Inara closed the ship’s hatch and sealed it shut.

“What do we think?” Beck asked as they headed out of the docking bay into the corridors of Waystation.

“It’s a strange group of people to all be on a ship together,” Morales said. “The shepherd is a clergyman of some kind. The pilot is married to the first officer. The big guy looks like he wants to kill us. They’ve got that teenager and her older brother.”

“And the mechanic is practically a kid herself,” Porter said. “But very good at her job.”

“I don’t understand how Inara fits in with them at all,” Beck said. “She’s…”

“Very graceful,” Morales said.

“That’s one way to put it. She also seems to be open to talking to us. But Captain Reynolds didn’t look like he believed a single word coming out of our mouths.”

“If we want info, I’m certain I could get into their computer system,” Porter said.

“No. If we’re going to build trust here, we need to be on the level with them and do this right. I’m going to have to run interference with Starfleet Sciences, though. They get so excited when anyone bumps into another universe. I don’t want them swarming Serenity and its crew. Starfleet Intelligence is going to want in as well. First things first, though. We’ve got to figure out how we’re going to show them Waystation without their brains exploding.”

Back on Serenity, Inara rejoined her shipmates in the galley. Based on the scowl on Jayne’s face, she’d likely just missed an argument between him and Mal. Inara slid back into her seat as Mal started to speak.

“You all have been on this boat for a while and know that I’m not one to hold back when I’ve got an idea of what needs doing. But I think it’s safe to say that not a one of us is on solid ground here. So we’re going to talk it through. I want to you all to weigh in.” He focused on Jayne. “But we’re not taking hostages.”

Ah. So that was the argument Inara missed.

“Kaylee. You first. How are we?”

“Not going anywhere without a new distribution node. I just can’t understand how it blew. That’s one of the most reliable parts of a Firefly, since you’re dead in space without it. Craig thinks it probably happened when we crossed universes.”

Jayne grunted derisively. “Craig? You got cozy with him quick.”

“Doesn’t matter how it blew,” Mal said, putting things back on course. “Can we get a new one?”

“That’s the weird part. Craig said he’d never seen an engine like ours, and I believe him. But he also acted like getting another node was no big deal.”

“Even if he does and we can leave, where are we going to go?” Wash asked. “We have no idea where we are.”

“We could go back to that Bermuda Expanse,” Zoe said. “Maybe it will return us to where we came from.”

“Why are we in such a hurry to go back there?” Simon asked. “You heard Captain Beck. There’s no Alliance here. No one is looking for River.”

“You’re talking about leaving our home,” Zoe said.

“We don’t know if we even can go back,” Simon said. “And maybe River and I don’t want too. Not if there’s possibly help for her here and no Feds or bounty hunters or whoever else tracking us down.”

“You’d leave Serenity?” Kaylee asked, obviously hurt.

“I’m not saying that. But I would like a chance to see the medical facilities here. Maybe I can finish what I didn’t get to do on Ariel.”

“No needles here!” River said. It wasn’t said in protest or fear. If anything, it was an excited proclamation.

“We don’t know,” Simon said.

“We can only stay holed up in this ship for so long,” Book said. “And we don’t know enough about our situation to know if we’re even in any danger. We need more information. But if everything they’ve told us is true, we’d better pray that these people are as generous as they seem. Because we are far out of our depth.”

“We’ve only seen three of ‘em,” Jayne said. “Maybe that’s all there is. We can take ‘em.”

“You didn’t see the size of this place!” Wash said.

“Inara,” Mal said. “You’ve been quiet. What’s your sense here?”

“They haven’t given us any reason not to trust them. And if they can help River…”

“We play the grateful guests. At least until we have our bearings and a sense of things,” Mal said. “But if we’re ever getting home, we need a ship that leave under her own power. Kaylee, that’s you. If Porter can get you that part, get it.”

“Aye, Cap’n.”

“The rest of us are going to do what the shepherd suggests and get as much intel about these folks and where we actually are as we can. That means we play nice.” The last comment was aimed directly at Jayne.

“I won’t start nuthin’,” Jayne said.

“All I’m asking.”

The crew of Serenity gathered in the cargo bay the next morning with expressions ranging from jubilant (in River’s case) to wary (Zoe) to just plain annoyed (Jayne).

“Everyone remember we are tourists here,” Mal said. “You can ooh and ahh all you want, but try to learn something while you’re doing it. And stay alert. We have no idea what we’re about to see.”

“I was promised aliens,” Wash said.

“Just…no wanderin’ off,” Mal said.

“Yes, Dad,” Kaylee said with a grin. Mal shook his head and lowered the cargo ramp, opening Serenity to Waystation’s docking bay where Captain Beck waited with Lieutenant Commander Porter and two other officers, a man and a woman.

“Good morning, everyone. I hope you slept well,” Beck said as the Serenity crew exited down the ramp and looked around at their surroundings. Said surroundings weren’t all that impressive. It was mostly just a big empty room with Serenity inside. The massive docking bay door was closed, blocking off any view of space. Opposite the docking bay door was another, much smaller set of doors presumably leading out into the station proper.

“Can’t say that there was much sleep to be had. Too excited,” Mal replied, greeting Beck with a handshake and a smile.

“Right,” Beck said, confused by Mal’s change in demeanor from the night before. “Well…we’re going to give you a short orientation and tour today and try to answer any questions you might have. You already know Lieutenant Commander Porter. This is Lieutenant Commander Sean Russell, Waystation’s Chief of Security.” Russell nodded. “And Yeoman Tina Jones, our liaison officer.” Jones smiled and gave a quick wave.

“Before we leave here, though, we need…”

“Morales to Beck,” the voice of Waystation’s First Officer said over the docking bay speakers.

Beck tapped the badge on her chest. “Beck here.”

“Scans are all clear, Captain. No pathogens detected.”

“Pathogens?” Simon asked alarmed.

“Just a routine check,” Beck said. “We get a lot of people from a lot of different species in and out of here, which means a lot of potential germs coming through. Once you stepped off your ship, our sensors analyzed your exhalations to make sure none of you are carrying something we need to be concerned about. My Chief Medical Officer wasn’t too worried, though. You may be from another universe, but you’re still humans. And you’re clear, so we can move on. Porter?”

Porter stepped forward with a small box, which he opened revealing nine circular pins. “These are commbadges. You can use them to talk to us or each other. Just tap, say your name and who you want to talk to like ‘Kaylee to Simon,’ and it will connect you. They will also help us find you if you get lost on the station at some point.”

“So you’re tracking us,” Book said.

“Yes,” Lieutenant Commander Russell replied.

“But not in a sinister way,” Yeoman Jones added quickly.

“And it’s completely voluntary,” Beck said.

River immediately skipped over to Porter, plucked a pin out of the box, then after briefly turning it in her fingers as she looked it over, she popped it onto her shirt in the same position the Starfleet officers wore theirs.

She tapped it. “River to Simon. Come in, Simon. I can’t read you,” then started laughing happily.

“They’re so small,” Kaylee said, picking up one and gazing at it.

“I can open one up for you later,” Porter said.

“Shiny!” Kaylee said, putting on her pin.

Each of the remaining crew took one in turn, except Jayne, who muttered something about no one tracking a tracker. Since Beck had said it was voluntary, Mal decided not to press the issue.

“All right,” Beck said. “We have a short vid for you, and then we’ll start tour.”

“Vid? Like video? You’re showing us a movie?” Mal asked.

“It’s protocol for new arrivals in Federation space,” Beck said. He got the sense that she wasn’t thrilled with said protocol, though. “On the bright side, it’s fairly short. And we have popcorn. Jones, please take our guests to the screening room.”

“Please follow me,” Yeoman Jones said, leading the group toward the doors. This was it. They were finally going to leave the docking bay into the vastness of Waystation beyond. Mal braced himself to be thrust into the chaos of beings pushing to and fro and a cacophony of sounds and smells.

Instead, they stepped out into a corridor. And not a very interesting corridor at that. It was mostly beige and gray with a burgundy carpet running off into the distance as far as he could see. Jones led them down the corridor. After a brief walk and a ride in an elevator, which they called a “Turbolift,” they arrived at a small theater.

Captain Beck immediately went to a device built into the wall at the back of the room. Instead of buttons and switches, there was a completely flat black surface that illuminated controls as she approached. “Small salted popcorn with butter,” she told the device. In an instant, there was a small swirl of sparkles similar to the ones Mal had seen the day before when Morales and Porter arrived on Serenity. Only this time, a bowl of popcorn appeared, much to the shock of the Serenity crew.

“It’s a replicator,” Porter explained. “Basically it makes food.”

“Anything you want,” Russell said. “As long as it’s in our database.”

“Even…steak?” Jayne asked.

“Name your cut,” Russell said.

“I just want a steak. I’ll cut it myself.”

After producing Jayne’s steak (Beck decided just to give him a t-bone), things were decidedly less successful as the Serenity crew named dishes the replicator had never heard of. Eventually, after a few descriptions and failed attempts, everyone was settled into their seats with something to drink and/or munch on that was at least kind of close to their request. Even Jayne seemed happy. Nothing like snacks to improve the mood.

The room darkened, and the vid started. On screen, a man with dirty blond hair dressed in a perfectly-tailored blue suit stepped into view.

“Greetings and welcome to the United Federation of Planets. I am Bradley Dillon, Federation President and your host for this brief look at the history and culture of our wonderful Federation. To begin, we must first go back over 300 years to a beautiful blue-green world called Earth where a scientist by the name of Zephram Cochrane is about to change his planet forever…”

Russell leaned over to Porter and whispered, “Is this the version with the Enterprise and the Borg?”

“No. We try not to hit newcomers with time travel and cybernetic nightmares on the first day.”

“Probably smart.”

Just over twenty minutes later, the video ended, and Mal was having a much harder time discounting that they were actually in another universe, one where Earth had survived and humans had headed out into a galaxy filled with other species. It hadn’t all been perfect. There had been multiple wars and other threats (Including something about Earth almost getting wrecked over whales. That part had gone by really quickly.), but humanity had persevered and helped found a galactic government (He couldn’t bring himself to use the word “alliance,” even with a small “a”) that now encompassed hundreds of worlds.

It was amazing.

And he absolutely did not belong here.

His life on Serenity was rough at times, but he understood it. He’d chosen it. By comparison, this was utopia. He wasn’t built to live in utopia.

“If everyone’s ready,” Yeoman Jones said, pulling Mal out of his thoughts, “I’m going to take you to the heart of Waystation.”

Mal refocused. They still needed information, and Jones had to be taking them to the station’s control center. They left the theater, got back into a turbolift, and, after a short ride, stepped out into a place that was decidedly not a control room. Instead there were people…and…well aliens everywhere.

Mal looked to his crew, all of whom were now awestruck at the varieties of beings milling past them with skin colors, facial structures, ears, antennae, and even tendrils unlike anything they had ever seen. And all of them just going about their business.

Where was all of this life in their Verse? Or was it out there somewhere and just hadn’t run across the Alliance system yet?

It was enough to drive a man mad, or a Reaver sane.

“Welcome to Starfleet Square Mall,” Jones announced over the general hubbub surrounding them. Now this he understood. Pretty much every space station he’d ever visited had some sort of shopping district (Except Niska’s, but no need to think about that.). This one was just a lot bigger with two levels stretching ahead of him as far as he could see.

“This is the most popular place on the station with shops, restaurants, a food court, the hover skating rink, and the entrance to the Starfleet Suites Hotel as well as my office, the security office, and the infirmary.

Simon perked up at this last one. “Can we go there?”

“The infirmary?” Jones asked confused. “Oh. Wait. You’re the doctor, right?”

“I am.”

“I guess, as long as Captain Beck says it’s ok.”

“Why don’t you take Simon there, and the rest of us will continue the tour,” Beck said.

“Come on, River,” Simon said, moving to join Jones.

“I’d like to go, too,” Inara said. She looked back at Mal. “I’ll keep an eye on Simon to make sure he doesn’t get too enraptured by all their fancy equipment.”

“Good idea. And Kaylee, you’ve got things to see to as well.”

“Right now? We just got here. I wanna know what Nandegar’s Secret is,” Kaylee protested.

“That’s not on the tour,” Beck said quickly.

“As nice as this all is,” Mal said to Beck, “I need to have my ship working again. You understand, I’m sure.”

Beck thought about protesting. Even if Serenity could fly, there was nowhere for them to go. Without warp drive, they were months to years away from the nearest habitable world. But blocking the repair wasn’t going to do anything to help with establishing trust or getting Mal and his crew to accept that there was no way back to where they came from.

“Porter,” Beck said simply.

“Yes, ma’am. We’re going to need that distribution node.” He and Kaylee headed back to the turbolift leaving Beck and Russell with Mal, Jayne, Book, Zoe, and Wash. Beck quickly came to the conclusion that she should have taken Simon and the others to the infirmary and left Jones here to do this part.

“So…anyone want to watch some hoverskating?”

Jones took Simon, River, and Inara through the throngs of beings in Starfleet Square Mall to the station infirmary. They stepped into a waiting area that was thankfully quiet after the general commotion of the mall. After just a moment, doors on the other side of the waiting area slid open, and a human woman in a Starfleet uniform with a blue collar emerged with a tall, blue skinned man sporting a couple of equally blue antennae.

“Tell Ih’mad that this knife show idea of his is done,” the woman said to the blue man.

“He will be very sad.”

“You were almost very dead. And you were the third one today.”

“Practices have been challenging.”

“No more knives. Or Ih’mad’s antennae are going to be a trophy in my office. Got it?”

The blue man winced. “I will tell him.” He bowed slightly, then exited out into the mall.

“Tina,” the woman said, turning to them. “What seems to be the trouble?”

Jones started, “This is…”

“Doctor Simon Tam,” Simon said, quickly stepping forward. “And this is my sister, River.”

“Inara Serra,” Inara said simply.

“Doctor Amedon Nelson,” the woman replied. “Do you need medical attention, or is this a social call?”

“Actually, neither,” Simon said. “But I am hoping you can help us.”

“They just arrived yesterday from another universe,” Jones said.

“Oh right. Lisa was telling me about that. She wanted to make sure the docking bay bioscanners would catch any multiversal germs. What can I do for you, Doctor?”

“I was hoping you had the ability to scan my sister. In our universe…things were done to her. I haven’t been able to determine the full extent, though.”

“Things. What sort of things?”

“They stripped her amygdala. Cut into her brain.”

“Great bird! Who would do that? Why would they do that?” Dr. Nelson said in horror.

“Our government. And as far as I know, they were trying to turn her into some kind of weapon.”

“You never told us that,” Inara said surprised.

“I didn’t want to scare anyone on Serenity. Our place there was tenuous enough.”

“I’ve got this, Tina. No need for you to stay here for this.”

“Thanks,” Jones rushed out of the infirmary, hoping to catch up with the tour group before Captain Beck got too far off of Jones’ planned route.

Dr. Nelson wrapped an arm around River and led her, Simon, and Inara through the doors to a corridor lined with examining rooms. “In here,” she said, taking them into a room with a single bed in the middle and several pieces of equipment that Simon didn’t recognize. “We can do full bioscans here of every system, bone, and organ right down to the molecular level. Lay down, dear.”

River hopped up on the bed and, Simon noted, instantly relaxed. It was so different than her behavior on Ariel, but here they weren’t risking capture in an Alliance hospital.

Dr. Nelson tapped a control on the wall, and a device built into the ceiling over the bed began to glow and hum. “The scan is going to take a few minutes,” Dr. Nelson said. “Just relax.” Simon was already standing at the display wall, where results had started flashing by, completely entranced. “Or not.”

“Since he’s occupied, could I ask you a question?” Inara said.

“Sure.” She caught the look on Inara’s face. Whatever this question was, it was serious. “Come across the hall.” She turned back to Simon. “Don’t touch anything!”

“Uh huh,” Simon replied distractedly.

Dr. Nelson took Inara into another examining room. “What can I help you with?”

Inara took a deep breath. Dr. Nelson could see tears starting to well in the woman’s eyes. She placed her hand on Inara’s upper arm. “Let me try to help you.”

“I just…they don’t know. I haven’t told them. Any of them.”

“Lay down. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

Inara did as she was told as Dr. Nelson pulled out one of the scanning devices the Starfleet officers all seemed to have. Kaylee said it was called a tricorder. “About a year ago, I was diagnosed with a condition. It’s incurable where I’m from. And fatal.” Her voice caught on the last word. She pulled herself back together. “They called it Kiehl’s Myeloma. It’s…”

“…a cancer of the blood,” Dr. Nelson said as she scanned Inara. “We don’t have anything called Kiehl’s that I’m aware of, but I know what a myeloma is. And you haven’t received any treatment for this?”

“No. I didn’t see a point. Everything they described was going to be horrible.”

“Dying of cancer isn’t exactly fun either.”

“I know. But I decided to spend the remaining time I had seeing the universe instead of dealing with debilitating treatments. I just didn’t expect to get so attached to Serenity. I was actually about to leave the ship when we ended up here.”

“You would have rather gone off and suffered through this alone instead of staying with the people you obviously care about?” Nelson asked.

“It would have been simpler.”

“Relationships may not be simple, but you shouldn’t have been alone to die.”

“Mal says we all die alone.”

“I don’t know who that is, but they’re an idiot.”

Inara chuckled. “Sometimes.”

“The good news is that you don’t have to worry about dying. At least not from this.”

Inara sat bolt upright. “You have a cure?”

“Yes,” Dr. Nelson said, gently easing her back down on the examining table. “But going this long without treatment has done a number on your bones and kidneys. We need to deal with the myeloma and repair that damage. It’s going to require a series of treatments over the next four weeks or so. I have to ask, even though I think I know the answer, do you want to start the treatment?”

Inara was openly crying at this point. “Yes. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” Nelson said as she worked at a nearby table. She soon brought over a small silver tube with a vial of liquid protruding from the bottom. “This will get things started.” She pressed the tube against Inara’s neck. Inara heard a hiss and felt a bit of pressure, but that was it. “We’ll let that work for a couple of days, then see where we are. Now if you’re ready, we should go check on your friends. That scan should be about done.”

Inara wiped away the remaining tears. “Yes. Of course.”

“And maybe it’s time to tell them the truth. I’m sure they care about you as much as you care about them. They’ll want to know.”

Dr. Nelson helped Inara off the exam table, and, after the Companion took a moment to compose herself, they returned to Simon and River. As Nelson joined Simon to review the results, Inara stepped over to the exam table where River was. The young girl wrapped her hand around Inara’s forearm.

“It’s all ok,” River said.

“I think you’re right,” Inara replied.

“What a bunch of butchers!” Dr. Nelson exclaimed. “They might as well have been cutting paper dolls out of her white matter. What they hell were they…” Nelson trailed off as a particular set of results caught her attention. “Son of a…”

Simon followed her gaze to the results in question. Most of what he’d seen so far, he’d been able to follow. The scanning equipment may have been well beyond anything that was available in even the most advanced Alliance facility, but human anatomy was still human anatomy. This, though, was alien to him. Maybe that wasn’t the best choice of words considering their new environment.

Dr. Nelson walked over to River and placed her hand on River’s shoulder kindly. “It gets a bit crowded in your head sometimes, doesn’t it?”

River nodded. “Too many voices.”

“I understand. I’ve only got the two, and it can be a lot sometimes.”

“Two?” Simon asked, incredibly confused.

“Symbiont,” Dr. Nelson replied, as though that response explained it, which it did not as far as Simon was concerned.

“The good news,” Dr. Nelson continued, keeping her attention focused on River, “is that there aren’t any pressing medical issues inside you that need addressed. Everything that was done has healed adequately.”

“But I want to undo it,” Simon said.

“This isn’t a badly healed bone that we need to rebreak and reset,” Dr. Nelson said.

“I am very aware. But she is my sister. I can’t just leave her like this. She’s suffered so much. She’s having a good day now, but other times…”

“I’m sure. But I’m guessing your medical training didn’t include a unit on telepathic beings.”

“No.”

“But neither of you look surprised,” Dr. Nelson said.

“We’ve known for a while now that here’s something more to River,” Inara said.

“The government was trying to make her a psychic,” Simon said. “And the others on our ship think they succeeded.”

“They’re right,” Dr. Nelson replied.

“You’re a doctor! That’s supernatural nonsense you’re talking about.”

“Here it’s science,” Dr. Nelson shot back, pointing at the readings. “We have a number of species in the Federation with telepathic abilities that are well documented, and River here is showing several of those traits. She doesn’t need surgery. She needs someone who can teach her how to control and use her abilities.”

“You’re serious.”

“Absolutely. We both want to help River. This is how we do it.”

“Do you have a teacher on this station?” Inara asked.

“We don’t. But I have some contacts. I’m sure I can have someone here in a week or two.”

“I doubt our captain will want to stay that long,” Simon muttered.

“I’ll talk to Mal. We’re going to stay,” Inara said firmly.

“We’re going to stay,” River said, equally firmly as she sat up.

“Sounds like this Mal is just going to have to accept it,” Dr. Nelson said.

“That’s going to be fun,” Simon said.

After swinging by Serenity to grab the non-functioning power distribution node, Porter took Kaylee several decks down and through another series of corridors that looked pretty much like every other corridor she’d seen so far on Waystation. How did these people figure out where they were going when everything looked the same?

For his part, Porter was tight-lipped about where he was taking her. He was admittedly having a bit too much fun impressing Serenity’s mechanic with Federation technology. It was a bit like showing a kid a magic trick. He just hoped that he wasn’t coming off as condescending. From what he saw the previous day, Kaylee was very skilled, and he had no doubt that she’d pick up his universe’s tech in no time, given the chance.

He led her into a large room where several of the station’s engineering officers were working at consoles mounted on the sides of large platforms. Kaylee watched as another swirl of sparkles dissipated on top of one of the platforms, revealing what looked like a section of conduit.

“More replicators?” she asked.

“Exactly,” Porter replied. “We keep a certain number of spare parts aboard, just in case we lose power or something like that, but for the most part, we just replicate what we need here. I’m hoping we can do the same for you.”

“But you said you’ve never seen anything like our engine.”

“True,” he said, leading her across the room to what looked like a large cabinet covered in sleek black panels. Porter opened a hatch on the cabinet and set the power distribution node inside, “But if we can get a good enough scan, we can make another. This will analyze the components, look at the structure, and even take a crack at determining the purpose of any electronics inside and attempt to access any onboard software.”

“It can do all that?” Kaylee said in amazement.

“On a good day. Completely alien technology can give it trouble, but since we’re starting with a parallel version of a known species, I think we’ve got a shot.” He activated the scanner, which obediently hummed away at its task.

“Can I ask you something?” Kaylee said after a few moments.

“Sure.”

“What do we do if this works?”

“You mean after we get Serenity running again?”

“Yeah. Can we really just go home? Could we do that to poor Simon? And River. They’re safe here. And what if we can’t go home? We may get Serenity flyin’ again, but she ain’t fast enough to get us anywhere, right?””

“That’s a lot of questions.”

“Sorry. When I start thinking about all of this, my brain just runs. I barely slept last night.”

“Do you want me to be honest?”

“Please. Tell me the truth.”

“The odds of getting you home are not good. There’s a slim chance that if you re-entered the Bermuda Expanse, it would deposit you back where you came from due to the quantum signature you share with your universe of origin. It could also send you anywhere in our galaxy, to a different universe entirely, which is an exciting possibility we didn’t know about until you all arrived yesterday, or it just might rip Serenity to pieces. We have no way of knowing.

“There has been some travel between universes, but it’s either been accidental or initiated from the other side. We don’t know how to control it, and even if we did, we’d have to know the address, for lack of a better term, of your universe. I’m sure it has something to do with the quantum signature, but how do we quantify that into something that can…”

Porter stopped as Kaylee just stared at him. “And I took that too far. Let’s leave it at the technology to get you home does not exist here.”

“We’re stuck.”

“Maybe. Probably. But there are worse universes. I have a regular beard and not a goatee in this one. And I’m not evil. Or overly happy.”

“I don’t…”

“Never mind. It’s not important,” Porter said.

Kaylee looked like she was about to say something else, but the scanner beeped, drawing their attention. Porter looked at the results. “Ok. Looks like we’re in business. The onboard electronics were completely fried, but the scanner thinks they were only responsible for adjusting power flow. The actual calculations were coming from somewhere else.”

“Primary drive controller,” Kaylee said. “And that’s still running.”

“Soon the rest of the ship will be too,” Porter said, taking her over to a nearby replicator bed. A few moments later, the replacement distribution node sparkled into existence.

Kaylee picked it up in wonder. “Looks perfect.”

“Hopefully. We can get it installed, but I’d recommend taking it easy until we can do a full shakedown.”

“As long as we’re moving again, the cap’n will be happy.”

Mal was not happy.

“Gorram waste of time,” he groused as he pretty much tossed supplies around Serenity’s galley in the process of making himself some dinner.

“I take it you didn’t enjoy the tour,” Shepherd Book said as he effortlessly caught a package of noodles Mal had flung aside.

“Did you learn anything from that?”

“Quite a bit actually.”

“Anything that will help us break out of here?”

“Why do you think we need to? This isn’t a prison.”

“Until my ship is flying free in the black, it is.”

“Ship’s all fixed, Cap’n,” Kaylee announced, striding happily into the galley with Lieutenant Commander Porter in tow.

“And lo the cage hath opened,” Book said with mock solemnity.

“They had the part we needed?” Mal asked, ignoring Book.

“Craig replicated us a new one,” Kaylee replied. “Everything looks shiny.”

“Just contact Ops if you want to take her out for a spin,” Porter said. “Docking control can open the bay doors for you. But like I said…”

“We’ll take it nice and easy,” Kaylee assured him. “Thank you!” She turned to Mal. “Cap’n, be polite.”

“Right. Thank you. You’ve done us a kindness.”

“All part of the service,” Porter replied as Inara entered.

“What services are we providing?” she asked.

“Definitely nothing to compete with yours, I’m certain,” Mal said.

“I’m missing something,” Porter said.

“Ship’s fixed,” Kaylee said to Inara, before Porter could start questioning. She had no idea if there was anything like a Companion in this universe, but why risk upsetting folks here if they were prudes or something?

“So soon!” Inara said surprised.

“Keeps us from overstaying our welcome. Is everyone aboard?” Mal asked.

“I’ll check,” Book said, leaving the galley.

“Mal…” Inara began.

“We are allowed to leave,” Mal said, locked onto Porter and cutting off Inara.

“Anytime you want,” Porter replied. “We’ll be here when you get back…unless you want me to come along in case something happens.”

“Might be a one-way trip,” Mal said.

“Mal!” Inara snapped with a fierceness he’d never heard from her.

“You got something that needs saying?”

“Yes,” she seethed with an anger that he’d also never seen from her.

“I’ll walk you out,” Kaylee said, looking to Inara with concern before she led Porter out of the galley.

“I don’t much like being yelled at on my own ship,” Mal said, stalking over toward Inara. “So since you’ve obviously got something to say, out with it.”

“I’m not the one with the problem here.”

“Me?” Mal said, growing angrier. “Fine. What’s my problem?”

“I don’t know, but you’re definitely in a hurry to leave this place. Why? This is safest we’ve been in ages.”

“Is it? Are we? We went on their gorram tour, and I’m still not sure. But even if everything they say is the absolute truth, this isn’t my world. I don’t belong here. We don’t belong here. So if there’s any chance of getting back to where we came from, I’m gonna take it.”

“No matter what the rest of us want.”

“It’s my boat.”

“And these are our lives. The doctor here thinks she can help River.”

“What if help just means cutting on her like the Alliance did? We don’t really know a damn thing about these folks. We’re some trash that washed up in their neighborhood, and they’re just helping us out? No. There’s something they want. We just can’t see it yet, and I aim to be far away from here before they…”

“I’m dying!” Inara cried, unable to hold it back anymore.

Mal immediately stopped, his eyes locking in on hers as though searching for the truth of what she’d just said. “You’re…”

“Dying,” she repeated. “I have cancer. It’s in my blood. That’s why I left my House. I wanted to see the ‘Verse before…” Mal was just staring at her, stunned into silence. After holding this in for so long, Inara just kept going.

“I know I should have said something. But what would have been the point? There was no cure. Nothing for anyone to do. It would have made you all look at me differently. I couldn’t take that kind of constant sadness. It really would have been better for everyone if I’d left and got to the end on my own. But now…now we’re here. Everything is different. I talked to Doctor Nelson, and she says she can treat me. I believe her. You can leave if you want, but I have to st…”

Mal suddenly kissed her, cutting her off. Inara sank into it, refusing to hold herself back anymore.

Finally, they pulled apart. “We’re staying,” Mal said. “As long as you need.”

Inara wiped tears from her eyes and nodded. “Ok. And thank you. I can explain to the crew.”

“Staying is my decision. If you want to tell them about your illness, that’s up to you. But I’m sure they’d all want to know.”

“That’s what Doctor Nelson said, too.”

“Between that and saving your life, she’s becoming my new favorite doctor.”

“Poor Simon will be crushed.”

“I’m fickle,” Mal said, leaning in for another kiss.

Kaylee could tell something was different as soon as she stepped back into the galley. Whatever tension there had been between Mal and Inara was gone. If anything, they looked…happy. They were certainly standing closer than two people in a fight normally would be.

She took a seat at the table along with the rest of the gathering crew. Mal had summoned them all, presumably to announce that they were leaving Waystation immediately. Kaylee didn’t really see the point. If Craig Porter was telling the truth, which she believed he was, there wasn’t anywhere for them to go.

Simon sat down next to her, pulling her out of her thoughts. He also looked happier than she’d seen him in a while. Or at least more relaxed.

“Good day?” she asked.

“I think it was,” he replied, smiling at her. She grabbed his hand, determined to be there for him when Mal’s departure news brought Simon’s good mood crashing down.

Once everyone had arrived and gotten settled, Mal stood at the head of the table. “So today was…educational.”

“I didn’t learn nuthin;,” Jayne spat.

“For most of us,” Mal continued.

“I learned I’m telepathic!” River announced.

“So she actually is psychic?” Wash said.

“Apparently…yes,” Simon said. “And it’s something they can measure here. Doctor Nelson is trying to bring in a specialist to help River learn to control her abilities.”

“How long is that going to take?” Jayne demanded. “I thought we were leavin’. The ship’s fixed, ain’t it?”

“A couple of test flights would be nice,” Kaylee said.

“As long as our hosts continue to be hospitable, I don’t much see a need to rush out of here,” Mal said, much to Kaylee’s surprise. “As long as this is good for River, I’m alright with staying a bit longer, so she can be treated. The same goes for anyone else on this crew if they have anything that needs tending to, whether they want to talk about it or not, I will support…”

Inara stood up. “It’s ok, Mal.”

“You don’t have to…”

“It’s time.” She turned to face the group. “There’s something I should have told all of you a long time ago. I have cancer. I’m dying from it, actually.”

This revelation drew several gasps and exclamations from the group, especially from Simon. “You should have come to me. There are treatments.”

“Not for Kiehl’s Myeloma.”

Simon’s head dropped. “No. Not for that. But I could have tried.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Kaylee asked.

“I didn’t want the rest of my life to be about this illness,” Inara said. “And I didn’t expect to become so close with all of you.”

“Is that why you were leaving?” Shepherd Book asked.

“Yes. Things were getting…complicated. But now we’re here. And Doctor Nelson says she can cure me.”

“Which means we’re staying,” Mal said. “For her and for River. It’s going to be at least a month, which gives us plenty of time to get those test flights in.”

“But then we’re going home, right?” Jayne asked.

“Craig doesn’t think we can,” Kaylee said. “He says the Bermuda Expanse might just throw us somewhere else or rip us to pieces.”

“I don’t believe that. Hell, these cures might be fake, too.”

“We’ve got a month to find out,” Mal said.

“We’re just gonna sit here until then?” Jayne asked.

“Longest rest we’ve had in quite a while,” Zoe said. “I intend to enjoy it.”

“That’s a plan I can get behind,” Wash said.

“I’ll talk to Captain Beck tomorrow. If we’re going to be here this long, we’re going to want a bit more freedom to move about,” Mal said.

It had been a morning of surprises for Captain Beck.

First, Serenity hadn’t left, which Lieutenant Commander Porter was certain it was going to do shortly after Kaylee walked him off the ship. But the call to Waystation docking control for permission to leave never came, and the ship was still sitting in its docking bay.

Second, Doctor Nelson had filled Waystation’s command crew in on her findings regarding River Tam. The poor girl had been tortured. There was no other word for it. But as a result, the troubled girl was now a low-level telepath, which meant that Beck and any other officers with sensitive information in their heads were going to need to keep their distance until River had some control over her abilities. There was another member of Serenity’s crew in need of medical treatment as well, but Doctor Nelson wouldn’t elaborate except to say that the other person was not telepathic.

The last surprise was that Captain Reynolds now wanted to see her. The man had kept to himself during the tour yesterday, despite generally being cordial at the start of it. Beck tried to put herself in his position. With his ship damaged, he was reliant on the kindness of her and her officers, so he was trying to appear friendly. Based on what Porter overheard, though, Mal just wanted to be flying again. She got it. They were basically trapped in an unfamiliar place, and Mal didn’t seem like a man who trusted many people outside of the ones he was already close to.

Beck had Mal escorted to her office in Waystation’s Ops. Perhaps letting him see Waystation’s command center would establish a little trust between the two of them. Or at the very least remind him that she had a large station to command and wasn’t at his beck (no pun intended) and call.

Her office door chime sounded.

“Come in,” she called.

The doors slid open, and Lieutenant Mike Waits ducked his head into the office. “I have Captain Reynolds for you.”

“Thanks, Waits. Bring him in.”

Waits ushered Mal into the office as Beck stood up from her desk to shake Mal’s hand. “Have a seat,” she said, sitting back down as Mal took a chair on the other side of her desk. “I have to admit that I’m a little surprised to see you up here. From what I heard, you were planning to head out last night.”

“That was a thought,” Mal said. “I still want to make sure we’re running proper.”

“Of course.”

“But deciding to leave was a might hasty.”

“I’d agree with that. I’m not trying to sound threatening here, but there really isn’t anywhere for you can get to at the speeds your ship can manage. And heading back to the Bermuda Expanse is possibly suicide. I get that you really only have our word for it, but I can have Porter show you mountains of data…”

“I really don’t need it,” Mal said, holding up his hands. “I have no urge to kill us all.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I didn’t think the tour was that bad. So what does bring you up here to see me?”

“I want to thank you for taking care of me and mine. This is…not the way things are done where I’m from. You’re providing help with my ship and medical care, and I don’t expect it to come free. We can earn our way. I just need to know how.”

Beck wasn’t sure what Mal expected her to offer at this point. He and his crew were completely new to their universe. There weren’t exactly a bunch of odd jobs around the station that needed done. But Mal didn’t strike her as the type to be comfortable with what he saw as a handout. There might be a way to satisfy him and Starfleet Intelligence at the same time, though.

“I’ll be honest with you, Captain. There is something you can do for me. I’m getting a lot of questions from scientists and others about your universe. If you want to pay your way, you can do it with information. But only what you feel comfortable sharing. I’m not asking for anything that makes you feel like you’re betraying your home.”

Mal laughed. “I can’t think of what we’d have that’d be worth anything, but you’re welcome to it. If that’s all you want, we’re getting the much better end of this deal.”

“I don’t know about that,” Beck replied. “Getting these folks off my back is a worth a lot to me. But since you will be with us for a while, please ask Yeoman Jones for anything you all need. She’ll be happy to help.”

“So we’re free to move about?”

“Sure. The public areas on the station are open to everyone. I’m sure you’ll have questions about some things, but that’s where Yeoman Jones comes in. We’ll also need to set you up with some credits.”

“Like money?”

“Officially, no. We don’t use money in the Federation. Everyone has their basic needs provided for. However, we have credits that can be exchanged for some things, like in the shops in the mall, and people can earn credits in various ways. I’m explaining it badly. But it’s nothing you need to worry about right now.”

“Then we should be good,” Mal said. “Except for Jayne, but he will have to make his peace with it.”

“Is there something that would help?”

“Jayne is a simple man. Give him a chance to shoot someone or a scrap he can get into, and he’s happy…as happy as he gets. But those don’t seem to be plentiful around here.”

“Not so much,” Beck said. “I doubt I’d be in charge around here for very long if they were. I might have an idea, though. Let me see what I can do.”

“Much appreciated, Captain. But I should let you get back to things,” Mal said, standing up from his chair.

“Oh yes. These super exciting reports for Starfleet Command won’t write themselves,” Beck replied. “But in all seriousness, I hope you can look at this almost like…a vacation. I don’t pretend to know everything you all have been through, but based on what was done to River, I’m guessing it was a lot.”

“We’ve had our share of unpleasantness,” Mal said.

“It’s all gone now. All of you are eventually going to have to figure out what that means for your futures. But for now, try to relax, regroup, and focus on what’s important to you.”

“That is exactly what I intend to do.”

With Inara not scheduled to see Dr. Nelson again until the next day (an appointment that Mal had every intention of being at), Mal decided to move ahead with testing out Kaylee’s repairs. He had no intention of departing Waystation, but he wasn’t about to leave himself without the option. Kaylee requested to have Craig Porter aboard, just in case there was a problem with the replicated distribution node, which Mal was fine with. But then Porter showed up with Walter Morales, who was very eager to watch Wash fly the ship.

Under different circumstances, Mal would be suspicious of this request, but really all he was getting off of Morales was enthusiastic curiosity. Or, as Porter put it when they came aboard, “Morales geeks out about new ships.”

So Wash ended up with an audience as he activated the engines, lifting Serenity up from the docking bay floor, and steered it out into space.

“I didn’t think using a control stick would be so smooth,” Morales said, marveling.

“What else would I use?” Wash asked.

“We just have panels. I’ll have to take you out on a runabout. I imagine you’d pick it up in no time.”

“Let’s focus on not crashing this ship first,” Mal said, watching Waystation get a little close for his liking.

“Right. On it,” Wash said, adjusting course. He activated the intercom. “Things are looking good, Kaylee. Engines are nominal.”

“Looks good here, too. You can increase speed, if you want.”

“Increasing speed. Nice and easy.”

Morales watched Wash make his adjustments, quickly taking it all in. “How is your atmospheric mobility?”

“About as good as you could expect from a cargo ship, I guess,” Wash replied. “We aren’t winning any dance competitions, though.”

“Do they have dance competitions for ships in your universe?”

“Sadly no.”

In the engine room, Porter watched his tricorder readouts as Serenity picked up speed. “I’m not seeing any power fluctuations. I think the new part is working fine.”

“Better than,” Kaylee said. “The node we had might have been as old as me.”

“I’m just glad it’s doing the job. But, not to switch topics awkwardly, did Captain Reynolds talk to you about giving me computer access?”

“Why would he talk to me about that?”

“I just assumed you took care of the computer core as well.”

“We don’t really have a core. I’ve got some monitors for the engines.”

“I’m looking for star charts, historical records, and that sort of thing.”

“We’ve got star charts. Can’t say much about the rest. We usually just get it from the Cortex, but that’s back in our universe,” Kaylee said. She suddenly brightened up. “Simon has an encyclopedia! And the charts are on the bridge computer. We can get them once we land, if the cap’n said it was ok. And I can talk to Simon.”

“That would be great. I’d love a look at that encyclopedia…which might be the least cool statement I’ve ever uttered.”

While Serenity was out on its flight, Jayne took the opportunity and his new-found freedom to wander Starfleet Square Mall on his own for a while. He now had a credit allowance, which Mal said was basically money no matter how the Federation folks described it. But the wares in most of the shops either didn’t interest or flat out confused him. And honestly he kept getting distracted by the various aliens that were absolutely everywhere.

After looping the lower and upper concourses of the mall, Jayne wound up at the food court. He ended up in an argument with the being running Sandwich or What? about what exactly the “What” was, but that ended without an answer or a meal. He had no interest in Soup on a Stick. Eventually, he grabbed a rack of ribs from The Barbe-Q Continuum and sat down to eat while he watched the hoverskaters in the rink below.

The ribs were good, but it wasn’t enough to keep Jayne’s mood from growing darker and darker. He didn’t want Inara to die, but did they really have to stay? Waystation was more sterile than any central planet he’d ever set foot on, which admittedly wasn’t many, and he didn’t much care for the idea of having nothing to do but wander this mall over and over again.

And if it was true that they couldn’t get back to their universe at all…

“Are you Jayne?” a gruff voice demanded.

Jayne looked up from his rib to see a mustachioed man in a dark blue uniform glaring down at him.

“I in some kinda trouble?” Jayne asked. He almost hoped that he was. This guy looked like he’d put up enough of a fight to make it interesting.

“No. I’m Colonel Martin Lazlo. Federation Marines. I have been…requested…to take you to our range.”

“Range? Like target shooting?”

“Exactly.”

“Better than hangin’ around here. I’ll go get my guns.” Jayne wiped his sauce covered mouth on the sleeve of his jacket and stood up.

“Let’s start with ours,” Lazlo said.

“Suits me. Saves me bullets.”

“Bullets?” Lazlo asked. “Maybe we could…” He thought better of it. “No. We’ll start with ours.’’

Lazlo took Jayne down several levels to the Federation Marines’ barracks and training complex. Jayne hadn’t fought in the war between the Alliance and the Independents, so this was the first time he’d ever been around this many soldiers at once. Not that he cared about that or about the looks he was getting from the uniformed marines as Lazlo escorted him to their rifle range. Jayne guessed they didn’t get a lot of civilians down here. Despite his status, he was pretty sure he could take most of them in a fight. Maybe even a few at once, which could be fun with some of the female marines he saw.

The range wasn’t anything special. Just a big grey room with stations for the shooters to use on one side and targets at the other. Said targets startled him at first, since they looked to be actual aliens that the marines were shooting. The way they froze after being hit, though, so they shooters could see exactly where their shots landed and the damage they did, made Jayne think they were probably some kind of fancy hologram.

Lazlo walked over to a weapons locker along the front wall of the room. “Locker” wasn’t really the right word for it. It was an entire arsenal that spanned the length of the wall with everything from tiny rectangular devices that didn’t even look like weapons to beefy rifles that reminded Jayne more of cannons than anything else. To Jayne’s annoyance, Lazlo grabbed one of the tiny rectangles and brought it over to Jayne.

“We’ll start small,” Lazlo said. “This is a phaser. It has two basic settings: stun and kill, but the power can be adjusted.” He handed it to Jayne and walked him over to a shooting position. The phaser was light, but solid. It definitely didn’t feel like a gun, though. Lazlo picked up a small tablet device sitting on a pedestal nearby and began typing.

Suddenly, a gray scaly alien with all sorts of boney bits protruding from its head appeared and charged toward Jayne. In an instant, Jayne reflexively fired, sending a searing blast of energy out of the phaser and directly into the alien’s chest. It froze midstep.

“Not bad,” Lazlo said.

“Wasn’t much of a challenge,” Jayne replied. “The thing was coming right at me.”

“Some people panic when the unknown is charging them.”

“I don’t have to know what it is to shoot it.”

Lazlo cracked a smile. “Exactly.” He took the small phaser from Jayne, replaced it in the arsenal, and came back with a long gray and black rifle. “We can simulate distance in here. How far away do you want him?”

“Depends. What’s the range on this thing?”

“About two hundred meters with any accuracy.”

“All right. I’ll do that,” Jayne replied, taking the rifle from Lazlo and getting down to a prone position. Lazlo reset the target, and the hologram in front of Jayne reconfigured itself to appear far away.

Jayne took aim and fired, but the beam sailed above the alien’s head. “Gotta get my eye in,” Jayne muttered. All right. No bullets, so he didn’t have to account for the drop rate, so…

He fired again, hitting the target being square in the chest.

Jayne looked up at Lazlo. “What else ya got?”

Back in Starfleet Square Mall, Shepherd Book stepped out of a turbolift and made his way around the lower concourse to the Waystation Welcome Center, where Yeoman Jones was finishing up a conversation with what looked to be a large rock. Said rock turned away from Jones, slid past Book, and headed out into the mall.

“Mister Book!” Jones said. She stopped herself. “I’m sorry. I’m getting your title wrong. Is it Reverend?”

“I mostly go by Shepherd, but Mister is fine. That’s actually what brings me here.”

“Your title?” Jones asked confused.

“My vocation really. Let me just ask this bluntly. Do you have religion in this universe?”

“Oh loads!” Jones replied. “Besides the Earth religions, there are ones on just about every planet in the Federation. Probably everywhere else too.”

“And on this station?”

“Sure. The living personification of an Andorian god recently visited and kidnapped the captain because he wanted her as his consort. But that kind of thing doesn’t happen very often. Mostly people just use the chapel.”

“Would you take me there? It sounds like just what I need right now.”

“Of course. I can step away for a few minutes,” Jones said, leading Book out of the Welcome Center. She tapped a panel, activating a forcefield that blocked the entrances to the center. They stepped into a turbolift, which Jones ordered to Deck 74, reminding Book of just how massive Waystation was.

“This is one of our main residential decks,” Jones explained as they exited into a corridor. “The chapel and schools are down here as well as recreation areas and replicator bays for furniture and things like that.”

After turning a few corners and traveling down more corridors that Book was certain he wouldn’t remember, Jones led him up to a set of doors simply labeled “Chapel,” which slid open on their approach. The interior was basic, just five rows of seats with an aisle up the middle leading to an open area. A lectern stood to left side and an altar to the right. The walls were a bluish-gray but otherwise completely unadorned with crosses or any other symbology.

“The lighting is adjustable, and the podium and altar are on anti-grav bases, so they can be moved to where they are needed depending on the service or ritual being performed,” Jones said.

Book nodded, not really listening as he made his way to the front of the chapel. It wasn’t much, but it was quiet, which is really what he wanted right then.

Jones shifted uncomfortably. “Um…did you want to see anything else?”

“No. No thank you,” Book replied. “Can I stay here?”

“As long as you want. When you’re ready to go back to your ship, just ask the computer to show you the way.”

Book looked around for a computer terminal.

“Like this. Computer, direct me to the Welcome Center.”

“Exit the chapel,” a female voice replied.

“Once you do, there will be arrows on the corridor wall directing you and voice prompts when needed. And if you get lost, just ask again.”

“I will that. Thank you, Tina.”

She smiled and nodded, then left Book alone. He took a seat in the front row and began to pray for guidance in his new circumstances. Before too long, the chapel doors slid open again. Book looked back and saw that a man in long orange robes had entered. “I’m sorry,” the newcomer said. “I can come back.”

“No. Please stay,” Book said, standing up. “I’m honestly happy to see that others use this place.”

The man approached. Book realized that his nose was covered in a series of horizontal ridges. “I’m guessing that you’re new here,” the man said.

“In more ways than one,” Book replied. “Derrial Book,” he added, extending his hand.

“Ranjen Poleg,” the man replied, returning the handshake. “And the chapel can be quite busy. We have dozens of small communities on board, several of which hold services here at different times and days. The Bajoran contingent isn’t large, but I am here for them. I may be reaching here, but your demeanor strikes me as a clergyman yourself.”

“And that may be something of an overstatement, but yes I am a Shepherd from the Southdown Abbey on Perseph…and none of that is going to mean anything to you.”

“I know what an abbey is,” Poleg replied with a smile.

“But mine is quite literally in another universe.”

“Now that is something that I haven’t heard before,” Poleg said, taking a seat in the front chair at the left side of the aisle and gesturing for Book to take the one on the right. “I can understand how something like that would have you feeling a bit lost.”

“I…don’t know how to comprehend it.”

“The universe…well, universes are full of wonders. If you ask Starfleet, they will tell you that the Prophets my people worship are simply beings who exist outside of linear time and reside in a wormhole that they created.”

“Simply?” Book said with a laugh.

“That explanation is probably true, but also such a simplification. The Prophets mean so much more to my people, and we understand only a fraction. I prefer that remaining bit of mystery myself. But here I am rambling about me. What about you? Did you arrive here alone?”

“No. I was on a ship. A small ship. There are nine of us. Not much of a flock to shepherd, and some were outright hostile to my presence at first. But I felt I had a duty to keep them out of trouble, moral and otherwise. Even before we arrived here, I could sense that I needed to move on, but now…I don’t know. What’s my path in the face of all of this? Do these people really need a shepherd from another universe?”

“There’s a danger in what we do. We can spend so much of ourselves in service to others that we forget to serve ourselves. There’s nothing selfish about stepping back and figuring out what you need. The path you take, whatever it may be, will be more apparent to you then and you will be more ready to walk it.”

“I hardly know where to start.”

“How do you feel about coffee?” Poleg asked. “A few of the clergy on board get together once a week just to talk. I think they’d love to meet you, and, while none of us are from a different universe, we have our vocations in common. It could be a beginning of a sort.”

“I’d like that. I think that sort of fellowship may be just what I need.”

“But please let me be the one to bring up the other universe part,” Poleg said with a grin. “I want to see their faces.”

Simon wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but River insisted. He watched from the side of the hoverrink on the mall’s lower concourse as his sister glided out from the room next to the rink where she’d rented a pair of hoverskates. She seemed so excited to be using her own credits for it.

River wobbled a bit at first, but quickly got the hang of it and was soon zipping and spinning around the rink, passing by other patrons with ease.

“She’s very graceful,” Zoe said, stepping up beside Simon.

“She always was,” he replied. “It’s nice to see her so happy.”

“Unless I missed something, River has been that way pretty much since we arrived here, which I take as a good sign.”

Simon glanced away from River’s movements at Serenity’s first mate. Zoe looked more…relaxed than he thought he’d ever seen her. She was even smiling, which did happen occasionally, but not usually in this kind of sustained fashion.

“You didn’t go on the test flight?” he asked.

“No need. My man has it.” She looked around the mall. “Can you believe this place?”

“It’s pretty amazing. And if they can help River…”

“I really believe they will,” Zoe said.

“Are you ok?”

“Why?”

“You just seem…well…drugged.”

Zoe laughed. “I don’t think I am. It’s just…there are so many possibilities now. So many.”

“I was just happy to not be a fugitive anymore, but you’re right.” He looked around. “We’ve got a lot to learn. I need…” He spotted Dr. Nelson walking along the concourse headed toward the station infirmary. “Could you watch River for a moment?”

“She seems fine, but sure. I’ll stay here.”

“Thanks,” Simon said, darting off through the mall patrons until he caught up with his quarry. “Dr. Nelson.” He fell in step beside her. “I want to apologize for my reaction yesterday. My medical school didn’t prepare me for psychic abilities.”

“It’s alright. You’ve done everything you can for your sister with the resources you had. I’d say you did an amazing job considering.”

“I appreciate that. Were you able to get in touch with that contact you mentioned?”

“Yes, I was. He’s interested in helping River and should be here in a few days.”

“That’s wonderful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Doctor Tam.”

“About that,” Simon said.

“About what?”

“My status as a doctor. I’m not sure how I could hope to keep practicing medicine in this universe. There’s so much that I don’t know. So…would you consider taking on an intern?”

Dr. Nelson laughed, then stopped herself. “I’m sorry. That’s certainly an interesting offer. You’re right, though. You’re not remotely qualified. Yet. And you’re also not the first doctor from outside the Federation to need to update their skills. Are you sure you basically want to go back to medical school again?”

“All my life, I wanted to be a doctor. And then I put everything into saving River. If she’s truly safe now and getting the help she needs, I can start thinking about the things I want again while also being here for River.”

“Ok. Let me talk to the captain. You and your shipmates are still sort of refugees, so I’m not sure exactly what that means in terms of a Federation medical license. But I can’t imagine that she’d have an issue with you starting courses.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I really appreciate this!”

“Are you sure about that? I don’t know what med school was like in your universe, but it wasn’t fun here.”

“It will be worth it!” Simon said, then rushed back toward the hoverrink.

Shepherd Book was sitting on the weight bench in Serenity’s cargo bay when Jayne walked up the ramp into the ship. Book looked up and immediately noticed the smile on the mercenary’s face. “Good day?” he asked.

“Yep. Went shooting with some marines they have on board, and get this, one of ‘em asked me out.”

“Really?” Book asked both surprised and confused.

“Woman marine,” Jayne added quickly. “Want me to spot you?”

“Please,” Book replied, putting his book aside and laying down on the weight bench as Jayne took up a position near his head. “I have to admit that I’m surprised to see you settling in like this.”

“What d’ya mean?”

“Only that I know you were sending money to your mother when you could to help her and your brother.”

“Ma knows what I do and that somethin’ could take me out anytime. I did what I could for ‘em. Now I can’t. Doesn’t sound like that’s gonna change either. No sense dwelling on it. And this way I ain’t gonna ever hear that either of ‘em died.”

“Immortality through ignorance,” Book said with a grunt as he lifted the weight bar.

“I ain’t stupid. I’m just ain’t gonna know about it.”

“There’s a certain amount of wisdom in there somewhere. We could all stand to stop dwelling on what was and determine what our changed circumstances mean for us going forward.”

“It means I’ve got a date tonight. Can’t speak for anyone else. What are you planning?”

“I don’t quite know the destination yet, but I believe I may have found the beginning of my path.”

“Is that it for station business?” Captain Beck asked the next morning as the command crew briefing was wrapping up. Several nods, yeses, and a yep confirmed her assessment. “All right. Porter, the floor is yours. What did you learn about our guests from another universe?”

“Not a whole lot from Serenity’s computer. It pretty much runs the ship and that’s about all besides holding their navigation charts. Kaylee let me know that Doctor Tam had an encyclopedia, which was basically a simple padd. I was able to download its contents.

“So here are the basics: In their late 21st century, their Earth was hit with runaway global warming and would soon no longer be able to support life, so the world’s governments decided to abandon the planet. They had discovered a star cluster with several planets and moons that were good candidates for terraforming. After launching a bunch of robotic terraforming ships to start the process, they gathered up the surviving remnants of humanity into ark ships and left Earth at the beginning of the 22nd century. The ships didn’t reach their destination until well into the 23rd century.

“From there, the government, which is the Alliance the Serenity crew has mentioned, set up on the central worlds of the star cluster and continued terraforming and settling planets and moons farther and farther out. But the core planets got all the good technology, and the people in the outer planets had to scrape by with not a whole lot of anything. They were literally using horses and such. Not surprisingly, this led to some resentment and then a civil war with the outer worlds trying to declare their independence. Kaylee tells me that Captain Reynolds and Zoe fought for the Independents, but they lost at…get this…the Battle of Serenity.”

“Reynolds named his ship after a battle he lost?” Beck asked.

“Yeah. He bought the ship a few years after the war and generally takes odd jobs, some of which I gather aren’t exactly legal. Several months ago, they took on Shepherd Book and Simon and River Tam as passengers. They didn’t know that the Tams were fugitives, but the crew has tried to keep them safe from the Alliance ever since.

“Oh. One more fun fact,” Porter said. “That civil war? It took place in the early 26th century.”

“What? How?” Commander Morales asked.

“Could be their universe runs ahead of ours? Maybe the Bermuda Expanse can cross time as well as space and universes. I don’t know. But as you can guess, in all of that time, humanity never encountered another species.”

“Wow. The 26th Century,” Lieutenant Commander Russell said. “I wonder what things will be like here then.”

“Waystation will be a lot bigger,” Porter replied reflexively. He stopped and frowned. “Why did I just say that?”

“No idea,” Beck said. “But back to the matter at hand, were you able to correlate their star charts into anything in our universe?”

“Yes and no. The overall location maps to the Taurean system, but our version doesn’t look ANYTHING like theirs. They’ve got five stars orbiting each other in this fairly tight cluster with a ridiculous number of planets and moons. I’ve never seen anything like it. The orbital mechanics equations alone would probably reduce our astrometrics computers to molten slag.”

“Then let’s not do that,” Beck said. “But I’m sure our friends at Starfleet Sciences will be very excited by it all. I just wanted to know a little bit more about where they’re from. None of that contradicts anything they’ve told us. Does anyone else have any concerns before we talk the long term?”

“I don’t,” Porter said. “Kaylee might be the cheeriest person I’ve ever met, and I’ve known Tina for years.”

“That is saying something,” Beck said.

“There’s nothing wrong with being optimistic,” Yeoman Jones said.

“Unless it gets you killed,” Colonel Lazlo muttered.

“Ok. So we like Kaylee. Anyone else?”

“Mister Book asked me to take him the chapel yesterday,” Jones said. “He’s a very nice man, but I think he’s trying to figure out what to do now.”

“I’m sure they all are. What about you, Lazlo? How was your time with the man they call Jayne?”

“He would be a formidable opponent,” Lazlo replied.

“Awwww. Lazlo wants to fight him,” Porter said. “That’s so cute.”

“Doctor Tam approached me about updating his medical training,” Dr. Nelson said before Lazlo could get angry at Porter. “Sounds like he’s thinking about being here long term.”

“They all should,” Porter said. “Not to be negative, but sending them home is impossible to the third power. Even if I had a clue how to zero in on their universe of origin, we have no way to ensure that we’d put them back in their star system much less their own time. Serenity can’t exactly warp to where they need to go.”

“Understood. And I’ve tried to make sure Captain Reynolds understands it as well. We just need to keep easing them into Federation life.”

“So you’ll approve Simon Tam for the Medical Professional Reskilling Program?” Dr. Nelson asked. “There’s a form you need to fill out.”

Beck sighed. “Of course there is.”

Kaylee was a little confused by Craig Porter’s request to meet with her the next day. The test flight had gone well, and the power distribution node had performed even better than she had hoped. She honestly didn’t mind potentially having something to do, though. Exploring Waystation was fun, but doing it alone was less so. She’d hoped that Simon would have some time to roam with her, but he had been even more focused on River than usual…not that Kaylee didn’t understand why. River had been a ball of energy since arriving on the station, and Simon had his hands full keeping her from scampering off.

Porter was waiting for her in the docking bay when Kaylee walked down Serenity’s cargo ramp.

“Good morning!” she said brightly.

“Morning,” Porter replied. “I hope I’m not pulling you away from anything.”

“Not a thing,” Kaylee said. “Is something wrong?”

“No. Nothing like that. I had an idea and…well, it’s just easier to show you. Up for a walk?”

“Sure.”

Porter led her out of the docking bay, through the corridor to a turbolift, down several decks, then out into another corridor where they approached a heavy set of orange double doors. He typed a few commands into a nearby panel, and the doors slid open revealing…

…the same docking bay they had just left.

Kaylee walked inside and looked around feeling very confused. “How are we back here? We went all that way and…”

She suddenly realized something was off. The docking bay looked the same, but Serenity definitely didn’t. Right at the front of the cockpit there was now a rectangular glowing bit, and the atmo engine on the wing closest to her was almost the same shape but not quite right. It also now sported a glowing strip of blue along its length and a reddish glowing dome covering its front where the intake should be.

“What is this?” Kaylee asked in wonder.

“This is a holodeck,” Porter said. “We can use it to simulate pretty much wherever and whatever we want. As for that…Captain Beck said something in our staff meeting yesterday morning about Serenity not having warp drive, and that got me thinking, ‘What if it did?’ The idea wouldn’t let me sleep, so I made a simulation of a refit plan. I think I did alright keeping your ship’s basic look intact.”

“You could really do this?”

“I’d need to get Captain Beck’s approval. And Captain Reynolds would also have to agree, but yeah. I think so. We’d basically have to take Serenity apart and rebuild it, though. That spaceframe wasn’t engineered to handle warp speeds, even with a structural integrity field, and we’ll need to put in an intermix chamber, run conduit, add consoles and a few replicators, and of course all of the exterior additions and modifications like the nacelles and impulse drive.” Porter saw the dazed look spreading across Kaylee’s face. “And I will explain all of this to you in excruciating detail every step of the way.”

“When’s it done, we could go anywhere, though, right?”

“I’d recommend staying in Federation, but sure.”

“Serenity going faster than light. That would be something.”

“That means you like the idea?” Porter asked.

“I love it.”

“Whew,” Porter said relieved. “It’s a lot of changes, so I wanted to run this by you first before I even talked to my captain. If you weren’t on board, what would be the point? I mean Serenity might be Captain Reynolds’ ship…”

“But she’s my girl,” Kaylee finished with a grin.

Mal was comfortable, which was a sensation that he hadn’t really had in many years. Sure Serenity was his home, but there was the constant need to find the next job, avoid the Alliance, and generally survive that kept him from really relaxing for more than short periods of time.

But after establishing that Serenity was indeed space-worthy again, Mal was left with very little that he actually needed to do. He’d gone with Inara to her first follow-up appointment with Doctor Nelson and held her hand as the doctor told them that Inara had responded well to the first treatment and then laid out the next steps for wiping out the cancer and repairing the damage to her bones and kidneys. They then went to an actual restaurant and had a meal together, just the two of them like an honest-to-goodness couple.

The kiss in the galley had broken whatever walls were stopping them from being together, and now Mal was spending each night in Inara’s shuttle. He kept expecting some crisis or stupid fight between them to rip it all away, but nothing did. Instead, for the last few mornings he had been able to look over at the beautiful incredible woman laying beside him. He knew that Captain Beck was right and that eventually he and his crew would need to figure out their futures. But for now, Mal was entirely focused on enjoying his present circumstances.

One thing that hadn’t changed was his inability to sleep much past 6AM. He slid out of bed and out of the shuttle as quietly as he could then back to his cabin to get ready for the day. Cleaned up and dressed a short time later, Mal entered the galley, where Kaylee was searching through the cabinets for breakfast.

“Mornin’,” Mal said. “I didn’t see you around much yesterday. You off with Porter again? Simon’s liable get a might jealous if this keeps up.”

“There ain’t nothing like that going on with me and Craig,” Kaylee said. “We were working on something that I need to show you.”

“What kind of something?”

“Just promise me that you’ll keep an open mind.”

A short time later, he was standing with Kaylee, Porter, and Captain Beck in what appeared to be the same docking bay he’d just left but…

“Is that my ship? How is that my ship?”

“Holograms,” Kaylee said excitedly.

“It’s a bit more than that,” Porter said. “But basically yeah. Holograms.”

“What do you think, Cap’n?” Kaylee asked. “Isn’t it something?”

“It’s something, all right,” Mal said walking toward the reworked version of Serenity.

“Lieutenant Commander Porter went a bit outside of protocol for this one,” Beck said. “But I agree with him in this case. I get how much having freedom of movement and making your own way mean to you. After this refit, Serenity would be able to get you back out there, if that’s what you want.”

“And you’re just going to do this for us,” Mal said skeptically.

“It might take a little while. Porter has other duties, and this can’t be my people’s top priority. But we also have a duty to get you and your crew settled in this universe. You don’t seem like the type to want to spend the rest of your life on Waystation, and people here still need goods transported or passage from planet to planet. You can do that for them…just without all the crime.”

Mal gave Kaylee a hard look. She shrugged. “I didn’t want to lie to them,” she said sweetly.

“Thank you. Sincerely. But we don’t have the first clue how to run any of this.”

“Don’t worry. We’re not kicking you off the station or anything. By the time Serenity is finished, you all will be more than ready to take her out,” Beck said.

Mal honestly thought he should be more conflicted. Right now, Serenity was able to fly, but not fast enough to get them anywhere other than Waystation. But if he agreed to this, his boat would be in pieces for who knew how long. They’d be effectively trapped there. Trapped in the nice space station with all the food they could want and the kind doctor who was helping Inara and where no one was hunting them down or trying to kill them. And when the work was done, he’d have his ship back and be able to travel to all kinds of strange new worlds, the likes of which he’d never even imagined.

There was really only answer.

“Let’s do it,” Mal said.

Kaylee was correct about what she told Porter. Simon did indeed have his hands full with River. She’d been absolutely determined to see as much of Waystation as she could, whether Simon was with her or not, which had led Simon to have to ask for the station computer to help him locate her on more than one occasion. Mal may not have been thrilled with the idea, but Simon was actually grateful for the communication pins the Starfleet crew had given them. If River wasn’t wearing one, he had no idea how he would have found her…particularly that time she went down to the very bottom of Waystation into that room with the transparent floor looking out at nothing but empty space below. He’d found River stretched out on it gazing out at the stars with the biggest smile on her face. Yes, it was better than the time they’d been forced to hide out on Serenity’s hull while the ship was searched by the Alliance, but he still found it a bit on the terrifying side.

When she wasn’t exploring, River was reading. In exchange for Simon’s encyclopedia, Lieutenant Commander Porter had given him a device called a padd, which had access to the station’s library computer. River pretty much claimed it immediately and started pouring through everything that she could. Those moments gave Simon a bit of rest, but not for long. After an hour or so of reading, she would abruptly put the padd down and try to head out into the station again. Simon wondered if this was what parenting a small child was like, and while he’d barely had a moment to himself, he wasn’t about to complain. River seemed so happy and excited.

That was pretty much the way of things for their first week aboard Waystation, but one morning River was more subdued that she’d been for a while.

“Are you feeling alright?” Simon asked, concerned as she sat in her bed on Serenity.

“It’s time,” River said. “Need to focus.”

“Time for what? There’s nothing…”

“Doctor Nelson to Simon Tam,” the pin on his shirt barked suddenly. River gave him a look that said “Told you so” very clearly.

He tapped the pin as he’d been taught. “Simon here.”

“Can you and River come to the Infirmary?”

River was already up out of her bed and heading toward the door of the sleeping quarters.

“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” Simon replied.

“See you soon. Nelson out.”

River continued to be quiet as they made their way from the docking bay holding Serenity to the Infirmary. Simon got the sense that she was preparing herself for something. He just didn’t know what.

Once they arrived, one of Dr. Nelson’s nurses ushered them back to Nelson’s office, where the doctor was waiting with a man dressed in long gray robes. Simon’s eyes were immediately drawn to his pointed ears.

“River, Simon, this is Surmit,” Doctor Nelson said, as the man bowed his head slightly. “He specializes in therapy for telepaths who are suffering from conditions that affect their abilities, often due to trauma. I explained your situation, and he agreed to come meet with you.”

“In this spirit of full disclosure, I should say that most of my clients have been other Vulcans,” Surmit said flatly. “You will be the first human that I have worked with. You are also the first human I am aware of with any measurable telepathic metrics.”

“You’re welcome to use my office,” Dr. Nelson said.

“It will suffice.”

“Hold on a minute,” Simon said. “I’m assuming you looked at my sister’s scans. What is the course of treatment?”

“Scans tell me very little,” Surmit replied. “I will need to enter River’s mind in order to truly assess the situation.” He turned to River. “With your permission, of course.”

River nodded. “I’m sorry it’s so loud,” she said. Surmit took two of Nelson’s office chairs, placed them facing each other, then gestured for River to sit as he did the same.

“I don’t understand. What is he going to do?” Simon asked, moving next to Dr. Nelson.

“Just watch. River is perfectly safe.”

“My people call this a mind meld,” Surmit explained softly to River. “I will place my fingers on your face, and then our minds will join. For this first meld, I will simply be surveying your mental landscape, for lack of a better term. Just relax and let your thoughts flow as they do normally. If we encounter anything painful or disturbing, I will not probe any further in those areas at this time. In the future, we will work together to address them. Do you understand?”

“I do,” River said.

“Are you ready?”

River took a deep breath, then nodded again. Surmit slowly moved his right hand toward her, then gently placed his thumb, index, and middle fingers on her face. “My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts.” River’s eyes suddenly widened, but neither she nor Surmit moved.

“Ok. Come on. They’re going to be a while,” Dr. Nelson whispered, grabbing Simon’s arm and tugging him toward her office door.

Simon looked back at River hesitantly. “But…”

“They are fine. Let Surmit do his work. I’ve got something else to show you.” They headed back to the waiting area at the front of the infirmary, where Dr. Nelson told the attendant there to comm her if she was needed. Then she led Simon back out into the mall and to the nearest turbolift.

A short time later, they were standing in front of a set of heavy orange double doors. Nelson typed a couple of commands into a nearby panel, causing the doors to slide open and revealing what appeared to be an exam room very similar to the ones in the infirmary they’d just left.

“You have another infirmary?” Simon asked confused as they stepped inside.

“This is a holodeck,” Dr. Nelson replied. “It can…”

“The simulator room!” Simon said looking around amazed. “Kaylee told me about these. It all looks so real.”

“As far as your concerned, it is real,” Nelson said. “Congratulations. You’ve been accepted into the Federation’s Medical Professional Reskilling Program. Welcome back to med school.”

“In here?”

“Yep. We need to assess your current skill level, though, so the system is going to present you with patients from your species of origin. In this case, humans. Diagnose and treat them like you normally would. Before the simulation starts, though, take a few minutes to look around and see where things are. If you don’t recognize something, don’t worry about it and don’t use it. If you need something that isn’t here, ask the computer for it. A little ways into the assessment, the program will start to introduce Federation standard medical equipment for you to try, just to see how quickly you pick things up. When you’re done, the system will design a training curriculum tailored to you.”

“You’re giving me a test? With no notice?”

“You can’t study for this assessment. This is about your current skills. No textbooks required.”

“But I’ll just be seeing humans,” Simon said, relaxing a little.

“Yes. You haven’t had xenophysiology or xenopathology. Just relax and be a doctor, Doctor Tam,” Dr. Nelson replied. “Look around, get comfy, and tell the computer when you’re ready to start. We’ll see you in the infirmary when you complete the assessment. Computer, arch.”

As requested, the holodeck doors and arch appeared. Nelson exited the holodeck, and, once the doors closed, they and the arch vanished.

Simon took a moment to gather himself. River was being cared for. Dr. Nelson wasn’t going to put her in any danger. He could push thoughts of her aside for the moment and focus on medicine. He began looking through the various cabinets around the exam room. To his surprise, along with many many devices he didn’t recognize, there was also gauze, scalpels and other instruments, antiseptics, syringes, and vials of medicine with names he actually knew, even if some were quite outdated in his universe. But if the simulation wanted to go back to basics, he could do that.

“Computer, I’m ready.”

Surmit’s entry into River’s mind was accompanied by a stillness that she couldn’t recall ever experiencing. She wanted to just absorb it and let the calm spread throughout her chaotic interior, but Surmit remained blocked from her, present but not accessible.

“Please relax,” Surmit’s voice said inside her mind.

“I can’t.”

“I see that you dance. What is your favorite music? Bring it forward in your mind. Once you have it, picture yourself dancing to it. Focus on making deliberate movements. Precision is key. Your body moving in graceful harmony with the music.”

River tried to do as Surmit said, willing music into her mind. The beautiful symphonies her mother would listen to when River was a child. As the music began, violins swelling, River pictured herself barefoot in a grassy meadow bathed in sunlight. She started to dance, making sure the movements of her feet and arms were controlled in time to the music.

River was aware of Surmit moving in the background. He seemed to her like an intruder rifling through her belongings while she frolicked in this field. Her first instinct was to attack. She could envision the strikes. Efficient and violent. Designed to incapacitate as quickly as possible.

Instead, she danced and danced and danced.

“I am about to end the meld,” Surmit said, breaking into her reverie. She had no idea how much time had passed.

And then she was in Dr. Nelson’s office.

Surmit stood and went to the office replicator, returning shortly with a glass of water, which she took gratefully.

“Would you like to lay down? I can ask Doctor Nelson if an exam room is available.

“No. I’m ok.”

“Very well. Rest here. I will go speak to the doctor.”

As Surmit slipped from the room, River tried to recall what she had experienced in her mind, but it was slipping away like a dream. But despite what she’d told him, she was tired. River gulped down the last of the water, set the glass down on Dr. Nelson’s desk, then curled up on the floor where she quickly fell asleep.

“River.”

She opened her eyes to see Simon crouched down beside her. River sat up groggily.

“Take it slow,” Simon said, helping her up and into a chair.

“You looked like you needed that nap, so we let you sleep,” Dr. Nelson said from the other side of the office where she stood with Surmit.

“My apologies,” Surmit said. “A mind meld with that intensity and duration can be draining, even for a Vulcan.”

“What did you learn?” Simon asked.

Surmit turned to River. “May I speak in front of your brother?”

“Yes. Thank you,” River said.

“The alterations made to River’s brain have gifted her with a hyper-sensitivity to the thoughts and emotions of those she comes in contact with, but this comes at the cost of any sort of organization or control. It’s a somewhat inaccurate analogy, but for most of us, our memories, current thoughts, and emotions are somewhat segregated. I remember this event. I felt this way during said event. Now I see it this way. For River, it is all mixed together, and she feels everything very strongly. On top of that, she is picking up the stray thoughts and feelings of those around her without being able to separate them from what is coming from her own mind. It is quite a maelstrom. But there’s also something else. The people who did this to her had a purpose, and they were conditioning her for combat.”

“The people who helped me rescue her told me a little about the conditioning,” Simon said. “They taught me a phrase to use if she was ever…activated. It will put her to sleep.” River looked at him in horror. “I’ve never used it,” he added quickly.

“That certainly fits with what I found.”

“Can you help her?” Dr. Nelson asked.

“I believe so. If River is amenable, we can begin meeting tomorrow.” He turned to River. “I will teach you how focus your thoughts, block out the world around you, and make use of your abilities. But we will also need to explore your past, so you can sort through the chaos that currently reigns in your mind, process what happened and how it all fits together, and put yourself in a position to move forward. It will take time, and there will be moments that are unpleasant for you. That is the reality of the process. But if you are willing to work with me, I have every confidence that you will come through to the other side all the better for it.”

“I want to do it,” River said.

“Then we will meet here at ten tomorrow morning, if that is amenable for you, Doctor,” Surmit said.

“We’ll find you a quiet spot,” Dr. Nelson said.

“Thank you. Now, if you will excuse me, I too require rest.” Surmit nodded toward River, then left the office.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Simon asked River once he was gone.

“I’m fine. I’m going to be fine.”

“She will,” Dr. Nelson assured Simon. “And you’re going to be busy studying. That was quite a performance you put in. Some very creative solutions.”

“I’ve had to improvise learn to improvise on Serenity,” Simon replied.

“I’m sure. And your basic skills are top notch. Once you learn how we do things here and get used to treating non-Terrans, you’re going to be all set.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to learn all of these species. Humans have enough going on.”

“That’s what databanks are for,” Dr. Nelson said. “No one knows it all. And certain skills are universal whether you’re treating someone from Earth or Kaminar. Don’t worry. You’re going to do great.”

After making a more detailed survey of Serenity and a few days of hammering out the refit plan, Kaylee and Porter’s team were ready to start work. But first, the crew had to clear out the ship and move to quarters on Waystation. Mal had agreed to all of this and had sat through a few of Kaylee and Porter’s work sessions, but there was only so much talk of navigational deflector dishes and matter/anti- matter intermix ratios that he could stomach. But packing up and leaving Serenity was even worse. He kept telling himself that it was only for a short time, but it just felt wrong.

Inara had another appointment with Dr. Nelson that morning, but she’d told Mal that she was fine to go alone so that he could supervise the move. Most of it would probably go smoothly, but he was sure their firearms were going to be a sticking point. Up to now, they hadn’t been an issue, since they remained safely stowed on the ship. Captain Beck promised that they wouldn’t be confiscated, but she wasn’t about to let Jayne keep his bedside arsenal in his new quarters either.

Mal was certain that would lead to a fight, but, to his surprise, Jayne had already come up with a solution. A group of the station’s Federation Marines arrived in the docking bay during the move, the leader of which went to talk to Waystation’s head of Security, Lieutenant Commander Russell, who was supervising on the Starfleet side. There were some quiet words exchanged, a few less quiet words, one quick comm by Russell (presumably to Captain Beck), and then acquiescence. The Marines and Jayne packed up Jayne’s weapons and left the docking bay with them.

Mal approached Russell. “I get the distinct impression that was an unexpected turn of events.”

“Jayne has made friends in annoying places,” Russell replied. “But as long as they don’t shoot up the station, it’s not my problem. The rest of your weapons, though, are going to the armory in the Security Office. You can have them back when you’re ready to leave or if we need to repel invaders.”

“Is that likely to happen?”

“Nah. But now you know where they’ll be in case it does.”

Mal wasn’t comforted.

Inara, meanwhile, was finishing up another scan in the infirmary.

“Kidney function looks back to normal,” Dr. Nelson said. “And your bones are building back up decently. This part takes some time. I’m still seeing some myeloma cell production, but it’s greatly reduced. A few more treatments should knock that out entirely.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Inara said. She sat up on the examination table, which she’d come to learn was actually called a biobed here. That struck her as a less threatening name somehow.

“You’re welcome. I heard you all are moving to quarters on the station today. You should be comfortable there. You’ll have your own replicator.”

“It’s certainly going to be a change from my shuttle.”

“You…sleep in a shuttle?”

“I rent one of Serenity’s shuttles from Mal. It’s where I live and can conduct my business in private.”

“I never asked. What sort of work did you do in your universe?”

“I don’t know if there is an equivalent here, but I am a registered Companion, so I, to put it very simply, provide companionship of various sorts to clients of my choosing. Mal likes having me aboard because my status can get him into places and provide job opportunities that he otherwise couldn’t access.” She shook her head and let out a humorless chuckle. “None of it matters here, does it? The years of training in art and culture that may not exist in your universe. Membership in a guild no one has heard of. I’ve been so focused on my health…”

“As you should be,” Dr. Nelson broke in. “Look, it’s a big Federation with hundreds of species and probably thousands of cultures. There may very well be something like a Companion somewhere. I can tell you that the Federation has very strict laws regarding any kind of forced labor or trafficking, but that doesn’t sound at all like what you’re talking about.”

“Definitely not.”

“Ok then. But what it sounds to me is that you’re good with people. You would have to be, and that’s a skill that’s basic to so many things. If you and your shipmates go out and try to do the same sort of transport jobs that you were doing in your universe, they’re still going to need you to talk to potential clients. Or you could do a million other things. Establish a Companion guild here. I don’t know. The point is that you have all kinds of options…once you’re healthy. For now, I want you focus on that. No existential crises allowed.”

“I’ll try,” Inara said with a slight smile. She had one other thing, or person really, to focus on as well. The important thing was that now she had a future. There would be plenty of time to figure out what it looked like.

Having a sofa was nice. Nice wasn’t even really the word for it. Zoe found it positively luxurious. There were places to sit on Serenity, but the cabin she shared with Wash on board really didn’t have room for much furniture beyond their bed.

But their quarters on Waystation had a living room, a dining table, a bedroom, and even a bathroom that was separate from both of those spaces. Zoe had an appreciation for creature comforts on those rare occasions that she was able to use them. To have all of this space not to mention a replicator in their quarters was just decadent.

It was also putting her in danger of gaining a million pounds, but at that particular moment as she lounged on her sofa with a latte, which in her universe was a coffee beverage that was pretty much unknown outside of the central planets, she didn’t care.

The doors to their quarters slid open, and Wash entered looking far less excited than Zoe would have expected after spending the last several hours with Commander Morales on one of Waystation’s runabouts.

“Are you ok?” she asked as Wash plopped down on the sofa beside her.

“Yeah. I just miss my stick.”

“You really can’t set me up like that, dear.”

“It was way too easy.”

“So easy that I’m not even going to take it. So you didn’t like flying the runabout?”

“It’s fine. Warp drive is amazing. Stars streak by so fast. In seconds, we’d covered a distance that would take us years even at full hard burn.”

“But?”

“But I feel like I’m playing a piano. The controls are nice. Walt showed me how to configure them right to my liking, but there’s not that connection I have when I’m holding my stick.”

“There you go again,” Zoe laughed.

“I’m a man who likes his stick.”

“And Commander Morales is Walt now?”

“Commander is just so formal.”

“I’m glad you’re getting along. And maybe Kaylee can figure out how to keep the control stick in Serenity.”

“I’ll talk to her. What about you? What did you end up doing all day?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Zoe replied, smiling broadly.

“Laziness looks good on you, but I didn’t really see you going in for a life of leisure.”

“For now. I’m sure I’ll be ready to get back on Serenity when the refit is done. I’m liking the idea of having a home base, though. Somewhere we can have some room. Spread out.”

“You want to live on Waystation?” Wash asked.

“Maybe not here. You saw that orientation video. The Federation is huge. Maybe we find one we like and get a place where we can go when we’re not on the ship.”

“A place for a family,” Wash said knowingly.

“Our circumstances have certainly changed. If we get out there and see that the Federation is really what we’ve been told.”

“And Mal doesn’t manage to piss off anyone here and send us on the run again.”

“I think he’s got some different priorities now,” Zoe said. “And he is not a part of this decision.”

“That may be the sexiest thing you’ve ever said,” Wash said before moving in to kiss his wife.

They were drifting apart. And why wouldn’t they? The only thing that a lot of the Serenity crew had in common was that they happened to end up on the same ship. Of course moving onto Waystation would change things. While Kaylee and Mal worked on the refit and Wash continued getting comfortable flying ships with warp and impulse drive, Shepherd Book was spending a lot of his time with some other clergy that he’d met. Jayne had somehow found a girlfriend and also had become pretty popular with the station’s marines. They’d all gone to an empty world nearby with Jayne’s guns and had a great time shooting actual bullets. River was meeting with Surmit on a daily basis, while Simon had buried himself in studying and running medical simulations on the holodeck.

It wasn’t until he was laying in the quiet of his room in the two-bedroom quarters he was sharing with River that Simon realized he had barely seen Kaylee in the last week. Back in med school the first time, he’d spent his first couple of years so focused on his studies that he had pretty much no life outside of them. He didn’t want to do that again, and now that so much about their lives was different, he also didn’t want to lose the connection he had with Kaylee.

The next morning, Simon went to Serenity’s docking bay. He hadn’t seen the ship since they had moved to quarters on the station, and it was startling to see it with most of the hull panels removed and systems exposed. It looked so fragile, which wasn’t his favorite way to think about a vessel he’d relied on to keep himself and River safe from the cold vacuum of space.

Kaylee was standing with Craig Porter reviewing something on a padd. He didn’t want to interrupt. Actually, he did. Especially when Kaylee laughed at something Porter said. But he stood back and let them work. Finally, she looked up and noticed Simon, then jogged over to him, grinning.

“Hey, Simon. What brings you by?”

“I just wanted to check in and see how the refit was going,” he replied.

“Moving right along! Craig’s folks have been fantastic. They got the new power system installed in no time. Conduits and all! And the new duranium hull panels are being fabricated as we speak. They should be on a freighter heading this way in a few days.”

“That all sounds great.”

“Yep! We’re about to put in the galley replicator, so I should get back over there.”

“Of course. I didn’t mean to keep you.”

“It was great to see you,” Kaylee said. She gave him one more long look than turned to go. She was walking away, and he had once again blown the moment. She was heading back to Craig Porter, who made her laugh and was Simon really going to let this happen?

“Kaylee!” Simon called after she’d made it about two steps.

“Yeah?” she asked, turning back to him.

“Would you have dinner with me tonight? In my quarters.” It came out too fast, but at least it was out.

“I’d love to!” she said.

Simon relaxed a little. “Come by at six?”

“I’ll be there.” She flashed him one more adorable smile, then jogged back over to Serenity.

Simon headed back into the corridor feeling both elated and absolutely certain that he would not get a bit of studying done between that moment and dinner that night.

He was right, and the time seemed to pass ever so slowly. But finally his door chime sounded. Even though he’d been pacing and was almost right next to the door, he waited a few moments to collect himself and not seem too eager. Simon was also painfully aware of how many near misses he and Kaylee had had over their months of knowing each other, so he half-expected Surmit to be there to talk about River.

When he activated the door control, though, Kaylee was standing on the other side, wearing the flowered dress she’d sometimes pull out for special occasions on Serenity. It was a bit more maneuverable than the massive hoop-skirted one Mal bought her when they had to go to that fancy party on Persephone. She looked beautiful, and Simon found himself just taking her in for several seconds before he finally snapped out of it.

“Come in,” he said quickly, standing aside.

“Is River joining us?” Kaylee asked as she entered.

“No. She is working with Surmit right now. Extended meditation exercises.”

“So we’re alone.” She wandered a bit, looking around the living area and peering into each of the bedrooms.

“We are. Are you hungry? We could eat now. Or talk.”

“Is there something particular that you want to talk about? It seemed like it when you came by this morning,” Kaylee said returning to where he stood.

Simon took a deep breath. “Things have changed so much for all of us since we got here, and I know I’ve gone from taking care of River to basically being in med school again. I get so wrapped up in these things, and you’ve had a lot going on, too. Now that we’re here and River is safe, I can finally focus on what I want. I just hope I’m not too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“You. I know you’ve been spending a lot of time with Craig Porter.”

“Craig? You think that I…” Kaylee started laughing. “You’re such an idiot sometimes. Craig and I are friends, but nothing else. He’s way too old for me. And he’s seeing someone.”

“Oh thank god.”

“I can’t believe you were jealous.”

“I wasn’t jealous. I just…” He stopped, his protests derailed by the way she was looking at him. So pretty. “I really like you,” he said. “If I ever wasn’t clear about that, I’m sorry. I do. Very much. And I want to be with you.”

“Like dating?”

“Definitely.”

“And other things?”

“Such as?”

Kaylee held her hand out to him. Simon took it, and she led him back to his bedroom.

When Shepherd Book left the abbey, he didn’t expect to find himself making an extended stay on a cargo transport or forming such close bonds with its crew. He also didn’t expect to find himself thrown into an entirely different universe. And no way could he have guessed that his favorite part of his days would become the hour or so he spent having coffee with three aliens. Actual aliens.

The easy lesson he could pull from all of this was not to have expectations about where life would take him.

Really, though, he felt that he had been guided to exactly where he needed to be. On Serenity, he was able to support the crew in many ways, some of which admittedly clashed with his training as a shepherd but they certainly fit into his skill set.

But now that they had been brought to this place, Book had been forced to confront what he would do now that Serenity had found a safe haven. Not that this was the first time he’d had those thoughts. He had already been contemplating moving on from Serenity because there were surely other that he could serve in ways that would involve less dipping into the parts of his former life that we was trying to leave behind.

God had another plan for him, though. And that plan was apparently for him to find a community of his own. His conversations with Poleg (It turned out that Ranjen was Poleg’s title.), Bylena (a Deltan monk, the full meaning of which had been quite eye opening for Book), and Morak (a Klingon cleric) had been more soul nourishing that he could have possibly imagined. They all had pasts filled with pain and violence. Poleg’s people fought for liberation from a species occupying their homeworld while Morak’s entire species sought honor and glory through battle. Bylena had been called to religious service more recently. Before that, she had been in Starfleet and part of a war that had engulfed the quadrant a few years earlier.

None of them had much of a flock on Waystation. Book attended the services they held with a handful of their respective species in attendance as well as the other members of their little coffee conclave. In return, they encouraged him to prepare and deliver a service of his own, which he did for the first time pretty much ever. Since leaving the abbey, he’d occasionally ministered or held bible studies with a few folks here and there in some of the places that Serenity visited, but this was his first experience doing so in a proper chapel. Poleg and the others made up half of the congregants, but Book didn’t mind. He was more than happy to share parts of his faith with his newfound friends just as he truly enjoyed learning about theirs.

The group seemed more animated than usual as Book approached their table at the Beanus Coffee Hut one morning several weeks into Serenity’s stay on Waystation.

“Shepherd!” Morak boomed jovially by way of welcome. “Obtain your morning brew with haste! Our friend the Ranjen has news,”

“Oh really?” Book said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He went up to the counter and ordered his usual black coffee. In his short time in this universe, Book had already determined that replicated coffee just didn’t taste right, no matter what blend of beans he told the computer to use (Not that he knew much about coffee beans. The options were limited in the outer planets, when they were available at all.). This coffee shop in Starfleet Square Mall, however, made a very nice cup.

He returned to the table with his friends and took a seat just as Bylena was asking a question about their duty to the residents of Waystation.

“It’s not forever,” Poleg said.

“You’re going to have to catch me up,” Book said. “What isn’t forever?”

“A vedek from my order on Bajor contacted me this morning. She is undertaking an effort to learn about the various religions of the Federation, since Bajor is working through the process to become a full member. As I have been on Waystation for a few years now and interacted with other clergy such as yourself already, she thought that I would have valuable insights and might want to join her. And she has generously extended the invitation to my friends as well.”

“Which means us!” Marok said.

“So I gathered,” Book said. “What would this mean exactly?”

“A journey to as many worlds as we can get to,” Poleg said. “Or until the vedek decides that it’s time for her to return to Bajor.”

“Quite the opportunity!” Marok said.

“Can you tell he’s excited?” Bylena said with a smirk.

“You are, too. I know it,” Marok replied.

“Of course I am. But what about the people here?”

“The handful who care will survive without us. And we will return enriched in mind and spirit.”

“Marok is making all of my arguments for me,” Poleg said. “What do you say, Derrial? Are you interested? There’s a whole new universe out there for you to see.”

Book already knew his answer. Part of him felt a little guilty that he didn’t need to consider it more. His time on Serenity was always meant to be temporary, and how could he possibly pass this up?”

“I would love to join you,” Book replied.

“Fine. I’m in, too,” Bylena said.

“Wonderful!” Marok exclaimed, slamming his coffee mug down a little too forcefully sending hot liquid everywhere. Fortunately, the mug itself seemed to be shatterproof.

“I’ll let the vedek know,” Poleg said. He surveyed the stains spreading across his front. “After I change robes.”

Surmit ended the meld, returning his consciousness to Dr. Nelson’s dimly lit office. River blinked a couple of times as she too regained awareness of her surroundings.

“How do you feel?” Surmit asked.

“I’m all right,” River said. She smiled suddenly, suppressing a laugh. “And Doctor Nelson is very annoyed with Sean Russell.”

“River.”

“I’m sorry. It just hit me before I could refocus from the meld.”

“That is something that will happen, particularly after you first wake up in the morning. In those instances, take a moment to collect yourself before you start your day.”

“I will,” River said. “Thank you. For everything.”

“You did the work yourself. I was merely your guide. Quite frankly, your progress over the last several weeks has been remarkable, particularly considering what you endured and the knowledge of the events on Miranda that you were exposed to.”

“I hate that I can’t do anything about it.”

“I know this is little comfort, but if this crime exists, there are undoubtedly many others. Also, secrets of this magnitude rarely remain so forever. The truth will eventually come out. This is not a weight for you to shoulder.”

“I’ll keep telling myself that.”

“It should become easier with time and as you build your new life in this universe,” Surmit stood. “With that, there is nothing else that I can teach you. You have all of the tools you need.”

“Now I just need to figure out the rest of my life,” River replied as she got up from her chair.

“You are very young. There is plenty of time. Considering your aptitude, I would normally recommend applying to the Vulcan Science Academy. I believe you would do very well there. However, I can see how leaving to attend an academy away from your family and friends would not be appealing to you based on your past experience.”

“I am definitely not ready for that.”

“If you change your mind, do not hesitate to contact me. I can arrange an interview. But until then…” He held up in hand in what River had come to know as a traditional Vulcan gesture. “Live long and prosper, River Tam.”

River spread her fingers modeling the salute. “Peace and long life,” she replied.

Surmit bowed his head slightly, then left the office.

River took a few moments to gather herself. In a room alone, it was easy to block out other minds using the techniques that Surmit had taught her. The crowds of Starfleet Square Mall were a little harder, but it was becoming second nature the more and more that she did it.

Even more valuable to her had been Surmit’s guidance through the maelstrom of her own mind. It was as though he had taken the mountain of jumbled thoughts and memories, many of which were not her own, and helped her sort them into their own little boxes. Some of them had been horrifying, including ones from her time at the Alliance “academy” and ones dumped into her brain by others she encountered. But they had each been examined, processed, and given order. While River didn’t entirely understand it, Surmit had also helped her overcome some deep conditioning that had been done to her in an effort to control her.

She was not the Alliance’s weapon or their science project. While the terrors of her past would always be with her, they no longer overwhelmed her.

River was free to be her own person and decide what she wanted to do with her life.

And the first thing she wanted was to go get some ice cream.

After one last check of her mental walls, she left the office to do just that.

The initial shock that Book was leaving had quickly given way to acceptance. Of course, it helped that the Serenity crew had several weeks of his presence on Waystation before he was leaving. But as the day of Book’s departure finally approached, Kaylee organized a goodbye dinner. It seemed appropriate to hold it on Serenity herself, but, as the ship was in varying states of disassembly as the refit progressed, Kaylee opted for the holodeck recreation that Porter had created instead. Kaylee added a few touches to improve the accuracy, so that when the nine of them gathered around the galley table, it felt like their home…only with a replicator. She wasn’t about to give that up.

The evening passed amiably, with the usual remembrances and telling of stories that tend to happen when a group of friends get together to commemorate an occasion. While it was Book’s night, River got a fair share of attention, since it was the first time some of the crew had really spent with her since she started working with Surmit.

Book didn’t mind. He was there for the comradery; not to be the center of attention. If anything, the meal affirmed for him that he was making the right choice. His friends and shipmates were all in good places, and he was happy to see that Zoe and Wash were no longer the sole happy couple among their number. Inara and Mal may have been less demonstrative in public about it than Kaylee and Simon, but the closeness with which they sat next to each other and the glances they exchanged left no doubt. They had both been closed off for so long. Inara due to her illness and Mal because that was how he knew to survive what he’d been through. Book was happy and relieved that this new universe gave them the chance to take down their walls and be together.

As for Kaylee and Simon, that one was inevitable as soon as Simon knew that River was safe and managed to get out of his own way.

Unexpectedly, Book found that he was going to miss Jayne the most. They had formed an odd sort of friendship, and, due to his own past, Book possibly understood Jayne better than anyone on board. And it was really Jayne ability to put the past aside and take advantage of present opportunities that led Book to accepting Poleg’s offer.

Book was pulled out of his thoughts by Mal’s voice.

“Shepherd, I am aware that I did not take kindly to your presence with you first came aboard, but now you’re as much a part of this crew as anyone. I can’t say that I get the appeal of church hopping around this galaxy, but if it makes you happy, I’m not one to stand in the way. I am, however, going to miss your friendship and your counsel.” Mal raised his glass into the air. “To Shepherd Book.”

“To Shepherd Book!” the rest of the crew echoed, doing the same.

“Thank you all,” Book said. “And you’re right that you didn’t exactly make me feel welcome when I came aboard. Not that it really mattered, since I was only planning to go with you as far as Boros. Come to think of it, we never made it to Boros, did we?”

“I’ll get you a refund of your fare,” Mal said.

“There’s no need. I’ve been more than repaid by the friendships I’ve made on board. I will miss you all. And I would ask that before you rush headlong into one ill-advised situation or another, you stop for a moment and think about what I would do.”

“Then aim for the kneecaps,” Zoe said.

Book couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t exactly the lesson he had in mind, but he believed that the core of his message got through all the same and that his time on Serenity had meant something to the rest of the crew, just as it had to him.

It was time that he moved on to his next adventure, and at the rate the refit was going, Serenity would soon be ready to do the same.

Later that evening, Inara could sense that Mal was still awake beside her. His breathing was…tense, for lack of a better word. She rolled over and wrapped her arm around him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Book’s just the first to go, isn’t he?” Mal replied.

“Maybe.”

“Bad as it was, running from the Alliance was the one thing keeping this crew together. Now that’s gone, and everyone’s just going to go their own way.”

“Do you really want to go back to the way things were? To wondering if every other person we came across was going to turn us over to the Alliance or just shoot you? How many people back in that universe probably want revenge against us for one thing or another?”

“More than a few.”

“And if you remember, I was already about to leave.”

“Only because you were dying. Not because you wanted to.”

“You’re right. But now I’m not dying and can do what I want, what I want is to be on board Serenity with you. The same is true Zoe and Wash and Kaylee and Simon and River and even Jayne.”

Mal was quiet for a moment, then he chuckled. “It’s a fool don’t know that his family’s his crew.”

“What’s that from?”

“Just advice I heard once about running a ship. Turns out it’s true. Can’t blame a man for wanting to keep his family together.”

“Not at all. But it’s not going to last forever. Nothing does. So instead of dwelling on an ending that hasn’t happened yet, let’s enjoy the time we have.”

“I’m gonna say something that it pains me to say, but then I need you to promise me something.”

“What is it?” Inara asked.

“You’re right.”

“THAT was the painful statement?”

“Yes. It’s more of that growth I’m working on,” Mal said. “Now the promise. Don’t tell the crew.”

“Tell them what? That you care?”

“Exactly. Can’t seem too soft.”

“They already know, Mal. They already know.”

Mal couldn’t help but smile as he walked up the ramp into Serenity’s cargo bay, where Zoe and Jayne were loading crates from a hovercart. With the refit and test flights complete, Serenity was ready to head out again, but the ship didn’t feel right without the crew aboard.

“How do we look?” he asked.

“Everything is aboard,” Zoe reported. “Which at this point is just our belongings.”

“It’s a start,” Mal replied. He turned to Jayne. “You get Vera and friends stowed away?”

“All back safe and sound in my bunk,” Jayne said.

“The same is true for ours, I hope.”

“All weapons are back aboard. Lieutenant Commander Russell escorted them here personally,” Zoe said.

“He didn’t happen to throw in a phaser or two, did he?”

“No, sir.”

“I got me one,” Jayne said. “Gave Lazlo my crappiest pistol in exchange. You’d a thought it was gold-plated the way he looked at it.”

“It’s the simple things sometimes,” Mal said. He spotted Inara descending the stairs from her shuttle. “Is everything in order up there?” he asked as she reached the cargo bay deck.

“They didn’t make too big of a mess when they changed out the engines and control panel. Wash is going to need to give me a few flying lessons, though.”

“We’ll see to it. But right now I just want to get airborne.”

“It can wait,” Inara said. “There’s plenty of time.”

“Plenty,” Mal replied.

They locked eyes for several moments until Jayne interrupted them with a shout of “Lockin’ her up!” as he closed the cargo ramp.

“Better get a move on then,” Mal said. He squeezed Inara’s hand, then headed out of the cargo bay to the infirmary where Simon and River were loading the new medical equipment and supplies provided by Waystation. Well, Simon was loading. River was intently reading a padd.

“Doctor,” Mal said, stepping into the small room. It actually seemed a little more spacious now, since the examination table had been replaced by a biobed that was up against the rear wall with a display above it.

“Not officially,” Simon replied. He still had a few courses to go, but, since Serenity was ready to leave and Simon wanted to be on it, Dr. Nelson had the idea for him to take the Emergency Medical Technician exam, which he passed easily. That would be sufficient to handle most of the crew’s needs while he continued his studies and prepared for the licensing exam. After that he’d need to figure out a residency, but that was a problem for the future.

“You’re still one as far as I’m concerned. We’re about ready to go. Anything amiss down here?”

“We’re all set, Captain,” Simon said.

“Did you know there’s a species of sentient clouds in this universe that can suck all the hemoglobin out of you in seconds?” River said without looking up from her padd.

“Good to know she hasn’t completely changed,” Mal said. He left the infirmary and made his way up to Serenity’s engine room, which was probably the space on the ship that had changed the most. Instead of the massive turbine, the center of the room now held a glowing cylindrical chamber that ran horizontally back to the rear wall of the room. Displays mounted in the other walls showed the status of the ship and dozens of other readings Mal barely comprehended. Kaylee, however, was buzzing about checking them all as though she’d been doing it for years.

“How’s my ship?” Mal asked.

“Everything’s shiny, Cap’n,” Kaylee said. “We tuned the plasma regulators a bit more after the last test flight and took care of that variance in the navigational deflector. Sustained warp speed won’t be a problem.”

“You really took to all of this,” Mal said impressed.

“It’s just another kind of engine. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“I don’t doubt it. But promise me you ain’t gonna run off to work on one of those fancy Starfleet ships with a bigger…glowy tube.”

Kaylee patted the wall lovingly. “Not a chance.”

“Glad to hear it. We’ll be airborne shortly.”

“Serenity’s ready,” Kaylee said with a grin.

Mal left her to her work, walking down the rear corridor, through the galley, past the ladders leading down to their bunks, then up the short flight of stairs to the cockpit, where Wash was busy at the pilot’s station.

“Just finished the final checks. We’re looking good,” he said upon seeing Mal.

Mal activated the ship’s comm system on the new sleek console that had replaced Serenity’s old pilot’s station. The new one did, however, still have a working flight stick, per Wash’s request, that he could use to control the ship when they weren’t at warp.

“Waystation Ops, this is Serenity requesting permission to depart.”

“Opening the docking bay door now,” Commander Morales’ voice replied. “You’re clear for departure.”

Captain Beck’s voice broke into the conversation. “Come back and see us if you’re in the sector. You’re welcome anytime.”

“We’ll do that,” Mal said. “This hardly seems adequate after all you’ve done, but thank you for the hospitality.”

“It was our pleasure. Safe travels, Serenity. Waystation out.”

Wash gently lifted Serenity up from the deck of the docking bay and steered the ship out into open space.

“Where are we heading?” Wash asked.

“I’ve always been curious to see Earth-That-Was,” Mal said.

“I’m pretty sure they just call it Earth around here,” Wash said, pulling up the coordinates and plotting the course. “Got a warp speed request?”

“Seven sounds good.”

Wash nodded and input the final command.

As Waystation receded into the distance, Serenity’s nacelles glowed brightly, launching the ship forward into the black.

THE END

Additional Comments - The “Firefly” production team has revealed that Inara was supposed to be dying of an illness, which was why she abruptly left her previous life and rented a shuttle on Serenity. I took the name of the illness from the novel “Life Signs” by James Lovegrove. The information about the structure and timeline of the Firefly universe comes from “The Verse in Numbers,” a document created as a supplement to “The Complete and Official Map of the Verse” that was released by Universal Studios and Quantum Mechanix, Inc. At one point in this story, Mal quotes “Mal’s Song,” by Michelle Dockrey.

Obviously removing Serenity and its crew from their universe means that the Alliance gets to keep what happened on Miranda a secret. On the other hand, a lot of people get to stay alive. I’m also amused at the idea of the Operative going through the whole “Where are you hiding, Little Girl?” bit and then just not finding her.