CHAPTER 3

Wash was grateful to see the shuttle return ahead of schedule. Ever since River’s premonition, the morning had become increasingly creepy. The rain had let up, but the loss of the constant noise had left only smaller, more infrequent noises crawling about the ship like mice. The sun broke through the clouds casting uneven shadows across the spaceport and the ocean visible around the island was filled with Reavers and Loch Ness monsters. Only this wasn’t Loch Ness, it was some other ocean, but the monsters were the same!

“Good to see you back, babe,” Wash radioed, waiting to hear Zoë’s sweet voice.

“We missed you, darlin’,” Mal answered.

Wash rolled his eyes.

“Can you bring a stretcher to the shuttle bay?”

Wash shot out of his chair at Mal’s request, fumbling for the comm button again. “Zoë?” he called out in a panic.

“Just bring the stretcher.”

Wash dashed out of the bridge, his slipper ripping as it caught on the uneven floor grating. He ignored the tear, skidding around corridors to the medical bay, then running madly back to the shuttle dock. As he rounded the corner into the cargo bay and took the stairs two at a time, the airlock opened but nobody came out of the shuttle. His concern doubling, Wash dashed in and stopped dead. Zoë was fine. The others were fine. Everyone was fine except the tan-skinned woman on the floor.

Simon orchestrated the movement of the patient from the floor to the stretcher and within moments, Kaylee, Simon, Mal, and Jayne were carrying the woman away. Zoë stayed behind with Wash, her hands on her hips, sighing loudly, and looking at the floor the way she always did when she thought Mal was doing something stupid.

“Did Caddock get a sex change?” Wash asked, realizing that no one had explained the new visitor.

Zoë laughed softly, and touched his chest.

*~*

The rest of the afternoon, Jantis paraded Inara around like a new toy. When important meetings arose, he would lock her in a dark closet where she could see and hear nothing. At other times