Inara tried to concentrate on her surroundings to gain insight as to Mal’s whereabouts. Blindfolded and sitting beside Atherton in a hovercraft, she heard the sounds of the city dissipate to be replaced by the stillness she associated with the largely uninhabited area beyond the city’s eastern border. But vaguely disoriented by the loss of sight, Inara had trouble gauging how much time had passed since they had left Atherton’s estate.

Thankful that Atherton had been too busy pawing her body and then her clothes to pay much attention to the beading on her sandals, she hoped that the tiny transmitter Kaylee had placed in one of the stone settings would have a long enough range that Zoe and Jayne could follow her trail. She uneasily considered the possibility that they might be quite some distance behind her, as Wing’s craft could fly in a more direct route than Serenity’s dirtbound mule could follow.

After what seemed a small eternity with Atherton’s thigh pressed unnecessarily close to hers, the hovercraft stopped and Inara was manhandled out of the vehicle. Atherton ripped off her blindfold, catching some of her hair along with it. She blinked in the sudden bright light, and a small shack swam into her field of vision. Grabbing her arm, Atherton jerked her forward and opened the door of the small building, flooding it with light.

Inara could not contain her gasp at what she saw. Mal, naked and battered beyond any nightmare Inara could have conceived, raised his head slowly to look at her through bloodshot eyes.

Inara, forgetting her earlier plan to feign indifference in front of Atherton, tried to jerk her arm free, needing with every last molecule of her being to go to the man she loved. But Atherton’s grip was vise-like, and he held her back, enjoying her obvious distress.

“’Nara,” Mal rasped through cracked lips. “What are you…”

“She’s come to rescue you, Captain,” Atherton said, an almost cheery lilt in his voice. “It would seem your whore wanted to examine the extent of the damage