Joss Whedon. I don't think I need to say anymore than that.

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CHECK MATE: Fianchetto. (A Bishop developed in fianchetto reaches deep into the opponent's position and influences two important central squares - which I think is significant_

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Alone in his bunk, Shepherd Book is sitting on his bed. His hands are clasped together, forefingers pressed against his lips. Eyes closed and brow furrowed, he looks for all the world like a preacher at prayer. However, his thoughts are of a decidedly un-religious nature. Sinful even. And mortally sinful at that.

Experience shapes the way we see the world. A history of violence makes a man sensitive to the threat of it. Likewise a life full of lies and deceit gives him a sixth sense where trickery is concerned. Book's past is a patchwork of violence and deception, each used in the service of the other. Which is why he is surprised it has taken him so long to see the truth. But then again, there are none so blind as those who won't see. Who don't want to see.

Book decides it's high time he did see. He stands up briskly, purposefully, and exits his bunk, heading once again for the Cortex screen in Inara's shuttle.

-“We must never forget Reynolds' reputation. It might go badly with her if ... Well, let's not go into that.”- The Abbott's words bounce around the inside of the Preacher's skull as he switches on the link. Only now the words don't sound like those of a good, pious man. They sound like they were carefully selected to exploit Book's own sense of guilt about the past. To feed on and into his prejudices.

The Shepherd remembers the way the old man repeatedly brought up Reynolds' reputation for violence when trying to persuade Book to take this mission and the way he hinted at misogyny and a delight in cruelty. Book had no difficulty in believing Malcolm Reynolds could be such a man: he had been one himself.

His face twists into a sneer of self-disgust. He'd been so quick to judge the Captain. Temere non iudicandum. Lest you your