Captain Branscombe heard the airlock door open, and he turned. “What the …”

“Just be calm, play nice, and no-one’s going to get hurt,” said the man in front, his gun not wavering.

“What do you want?”

“One of your passengers.”

The Captain shook his head. “No. No-one is being taken off my ship.”

“Really.” The man smiled. “I don’t think you’ve got that much of a choice.” He jerked his head, and five of his men hurried past, each heavily armed. They disappeared out of the door.

“Where are they going?”

“To stop your men doing anything foolish.”

“We’re a liner. We don’t have armed guards.”

The man laughed. “Then maybe you should.”

The officer behind Captain Branscombe made a move towards the weapons locker and the sound of the gun firing was loud in that confined space. The officer cried out, clutching his shoulder. Branscombe went to move forward, but the man in front of him moved his gun back smoothly.

“I told you to play nice.”

“Who do you want?” Branscombe asked, trying to ignore the moans of pain behind him.

“No-one of any consequence. A woman. Her name’s Inara Serra.”

Branscombe couldn’t stop the look of surprise crossing his face, and the man smiled.

---

“River, wait.” Inara tugged on the young woman’s arm. “Where are we going?”

“You have to hide. They’ve come for you.” River’s eyes darted up and down the corridor.

“Who?”

“Men. To stop you.”

“Stop me from what? River, tell me!”

“I don’t know.” The girl fixed her eyes on Inara. “I don’t know yet. There’s no coherence, no facts to be laid out end to end … but I have to hide you. Come on.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

River’s head went up, as if she was scenting the air. “They’ve hurt someone. Please, hurry.”

Inara allowed herself to be dragged along.

---

The leader of the invading crew stepped into the ballroom. “This is pleasant,” he said, looking around. “This will do nicely.”

“Do? For what?” Branscombe asked.

“Call everyone here.”

“Do you have