Mal's stomach lurched a little as the Firefly left the ground and started it's journey to Persephone. It was his first ride on a boat and he wasn't quite sure what to expect. It sure was lots smoother than he had been told and hoped it would stay that way. Since he had never been on a boat before he didn't know if he would get space sick or not. At that very moment the Firefly bucked as it broke atmo and went into the Back. Then it got much smoother and Mal relaxed a bit.

Mal longed to go up to the bridge and see the stars from this perspective for the first time in his life. Many a warm night he had climbed out of his bedroom window and lay on the flat roof of the porch of the house on Shadow and stared at the bits of light in the sky that represented other planets and moons. People lived on them, that much he knew, but beyond that he knew little about them except that he wanted to see them one day. Well, at least he'd see Persephone and hopefully one or two others before this little war was over.

His Ma always said he got his wanderlust from his Pa because she was Shadow born and bred and had no reason to go anywhere else. His Pa had left a privileged life on Londinium in order to travel around the “verse for a year or two. He had finally settled down on Shadow with his Ma and started the ranch.

Mal never knew his Pa. He was shot and killed by a drunk ranch hand that had just been fired right before Mal was born. He was buried just beyond the house in a grove of trees and Mal's Ma visited the grave regularly. Mal figured that she drew her incredible strength somehow from these visits because each time she came back she had a firm set to her jaw and a steadiness in her eyes.

His Ma had raised Mal to be a God loving,God fearing man that loved his Ma, his ranch and the planet where he had been born. His heart and soul belonged completely to Shadow and the Independent cause. His grandparents from Londinium had broken off contact with their son when he decided to marry a woman from a “backwa