The next morning, Mal took off in the shuttle early, promising to be back by lunchtime.

“Just got a few errands to run.”

“If you’re passing by a store, could you get me a couple of things?” Freya asked.

“Sure. What do you need?”

“I’ll make a list.”

“Hang on, you said a couple!”

“Four or five. Maybe a dozen.”

“Frey …”

“I’ll be one second.” She dashed back towards their bunk.

Some five minutes later he was perusing the list. “What the hell is all this?” he asked.

“I could come with you,” she suggested.

“Oh no,” he said firmly. “Last time we went shopping you bought half the town and I had to carry it.”

“It wasn’t as bad as that.”

“You didn’t end up with arms a good four inches longer than they started.”

She smiled and kissed him softly. “Sorry.”

“And that ain’t gonna make up for it.” His arms encircled her.

“I thought you wanted to get going,” she said, her hand on his chest.

“I got a couple of minutes.” He smiled and pulled her into the shuttle.

Half an hour later and the small craft disengaged.

“What do they do all the time?” Hank, alone on the bridge, asked the tyrannosaur sitting on the console.

“What do you think?”

Hank stared at the toy, then looked round. “I got a pretty good idea, but I was trying to be polite.”

Zoe stepped over the sill and sat down in the co-pilot’s seat. “You know talking to those things is the first sign of madness.”

“Oh, I went past that a long time ago,” he admitted. “I think I’m halfway through dementia at the moment.”

“Well, let me know when you get to full-blown crazy, and I’ll lock you in our bunk.”

“To have your way with me?” he asked hopefully.

“To get Simon to deal with you.”

“That ain’t fair.”

“As the captain often says, life isn’t.”

“Where do you figure he’s gone?” He looked out of the bridge window. “Ain’t like he’s on a job, otherwise he’d’ve taken you and Jayne.”

“I think he wanted some time alone,” Zoe said softly. “Get something special.”

“Special?”

“Any idea w