“I can’t see how it helps us to do this job with Reynolds,” grumbled Bane, as she brought in her clean clothes and started to fold them on her bunk. Her cousin, Maloranty, who was sitting at the bunk room table playing Patience, was getting a little annoyed at being disturbed. As the oldest of the cousins, he disliked being the one people always off loaded on – like he was their father or something – a bit of piece and quiet was not too much to ask. Looks like he wasn’t gonna get it though.

“It’s not for us to question, we’re here to support our Captain’s new enterprise,” he responded carefully, knowing that while he didn’t entirely agree, he wasn’t about to question the Captain, relative or no relative. They were all related on this boat, the Rosalyn Pye, all except Stan who was lying over in his bunk, asleep – the man could sleep through an earthquake. He turned over another card, but couldn’t block out Bane’s chatter. She was in the mood to talk and was taking full advantage, even if he didn’t want to listen.

“His enterprise with a ship full of freaks. You’ve heard the stories, it’s all over the Cortex, as well as the gossip in every bar from here to Regina.” If Bane had been facing her cousin she would have seen him flick the long plait of hair off his shoulder, a sure sign that he was getting annoyed.

“Peace,” growled Maloranty. He had enough of his cousin’s bitching and put down the rest of the pack of cards. “I’m off to talk to Lee Shoo. You can carry on your moanin’ to Stan, he’s a great listener.” Bane turned to watch him leave the room, instantly sorry that she had upset him. It may well not be her place to question the Captain, especially since he was her brother, but she didn’t like to keep her voice and opinions inside, not anymore.

Serenity may be a boat load of freaks, but being cooped up with family had its drawbacks as well. She had never met any of Serenity’s crew, but she knew that t