INT. SERENITY - SITTING AREA

Follow Paul and Simon as they climb the stairs to the aft hall. There they intercept Kaylee coming forward from the engine room.

KAYLEE: (worried) Are we goin’ back for the Cap’n? If they catch ‘im...

SIMON: (feigning confidence) His cover is very good. I’m sure he’ll be fine.

Paul eyes Simon for a second, then smiles and shakes his head. He walks a few steps ahead of Simon and Kaylee.

KAYLEE: Still, feels like we threw ‘im to the wolves.

Follow the trio as they walk through the Dining area. They meet up with Inara as she enters the fore passage from the stair hallway.

INARA: What’s going on?

Simon and Kaylee shrug. Follow them as they ascend the few stairs to the Bridge.

Jayne leans against the back wall, arms crossed, grim-faced. River sits at the helm while Zoe stands between the consoles.

Paul takes a look at the scope to see the Srike Teams attacking the Comm. Plex. He frowns.

PAUL: May I ask what’s happened so far.

ZOE: Definitely. I’m open to your input especially. (beat. Zoe leans heavily on a console) Cap’n’s infiltration appears to have been successful. Kaylee and River did a fine job of faking a breakdown to help us stall til the delivery was completed. Not long after we landed, that warship entered orbit, then broke atmo. We were then politely ordered to depart.

SIMON: By whom, the ship or the Comm. Plex?

ZOE: The Comm. Plex. From the looks of things, that ship wasn’t tracking us after all. It seems they’re testing the vulnerability of the station.

INARA: So, we’ve stepped into a very troubling coincidence.

ZOE: To say the least, though I still have a hard time believing this is just happenstance.

PAUL: I’m assuming there’s been no word from Mal.

ZOE: Nothing yet. If there’s a way, I’m sure he’ll find it. For now, we need to come up with some kind of plan. I’m open to ideas.

KAYLEE: Should we fake another breakdown, ya know, after the ship leaves? Ask ‘em let us land again.

ZOE: That would be pushing it. Got the feeling we