“Anything in the logs?” Mal asked, stepping onto the bridge of the Delko.

“Not that I can see.” Hank shook his head in frustration. “If there is anything it’s probably in that maniac’s personal logs, but that’s pretty much encrypted. Kaylee’s gonna have a look when she’s finished, but … Mal, maybe there ain't nothing to find.”

“Someone sent those wang ba dahns to take Inara, ‘n’ if we don’t find out who, they’re gonna try again.”

“Even after what River did?”

“Only difference’ll be that they blow us out of the sky instead of asking politely for her first.”

“Talking of that …” Hank tapped a console array. “This ship’s loaded. If she’d wanted she could’ve taken out the liner, no problem. Hell, she’s got enough guns to take on half the Alliance.”

“Another reason for us to find out who hired them.”

“Then perhaps Simon could take a look at the encryption?” Hank suggested. “I mean, he’s pretty smart … or River, maybe.”

“She’s not woken up yet.”

“Does the doc know why?”

“Shock. Maybe.” Mal shrugged. “Where River’s concerned … her brain don’t exactly run on the same frequency as the rest of us.” He breathed out heavily. “See what you can do. And chase Halliday, see if he has any information we can use.”

“Will do.” Hank bit his lip. “Mal, there’s something …”

“To do with this?” Mal asked, turning back.

“No, but –“

“Will it keep?”

He nodded. “Sure. Sure.”

“I’ll be on the Marrakech.”

Hank watched his captain leave the Delko before turning back to the console. Sometimes he was sincerely glad he was just the pilot, and seeing Mal walking with the weight of the ‘verse on his shoulders made it one of those times.

---

Kaylee couldn’t stop crying as she drained the fuel from the marauder. They’d burned almost all of theirs to get to the Marrakech, and Mal had told her to salvage what she could use. It felt like she was picking the flesh off the dead.

“Honey, don’t,” Simon said, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her.

She turned i