It had been time, Mal decided, for some enforced vacation.

His decision had absolutely nothing to do with the boots full of water. The mere fact that he felt confident enough to remove his own boots in his own bunk was obviously misplaced confidence, especially since when he got dressed the next morning, there had been several inches of water - and ice cubes - in his boots.

His decision to take three whole days to get the crew off Serenity had no connection to the sugar incident. Jayne deserved to have eggs seasoned with pepper, chili sauce and sugar if he did not know that the salt shaker had been recently replaced with the sweet white crystals. And if he was foolish enough to waste good food like that, then he definitely deserved the order to eat it as was. Mal had felt rather pleased with his decision that day.

But that was before the water-in-the-boots factor.

The decision for a vacation had not been made because Wash's plastic dinosaurs had recently made surprise appearances in Inara's "unmentionables." The screech of surprise had been somewhat entertaining, actually, once it was discovered no one was in harm's way. And the fact that Kaylee's hair had mysteriously turned orange for two days while she fumed had been remedied with some help from the Companion. Wash hadn't minded that Zoë's wardrobe had been replaced with some of Inara's more revealing gowns, but Zoë did seem to have some difficulty with the concept. And that was, coincidentally, just after Kaylee's orange hair adventure.

No, the decision had most definitely not been made just because the cabinets and drawers in the infirmary had been suspiciously screwed shut and - Mal did have to acknowledge the workmanship involved - the screws well-hidden. Simon had scraped his fingertips half a dozen times or so before he had figured it out. Luckily, of course, no one had actually needed medical help at that time, and Mal had stressed that fact when he reprimanded the crew that night.

The decision had not been made bec