“Inverse tractor net.” Hank looked around at the assembled adults, like he’d performed an amazing trick.

Everyone waited for Jayne to grunt, “Huh?” so they didn’t have to, but as the big man was still on Persephone there was silence. It took Simon to say, “I don’t know what that is.”

Hank might have looked gratified if he wasn't feeling so worried. “It’s like a tractor beam, but it’s passive.”

“No, that still doesn’t help.”

Mal glanced out of the bridge window at the dark ship. “We’re a damn sight closer than we were,” he observed. “That have something to do with it?”

Hank nodded. “We were fine just sitting here, even moving around it, but as soon as I tried to pull us away, it pulled back.”

“It?”

“Tractor net.”

“Then why haven’t we crashed into it?” Kaylee asked, taking hold of Simon’s hand.

“Because it’s an inverse. Soon as I stopped trying to get away, we stopped moving towards it.” He shook his head in disbelief. “And believe me, that was hard. Just to stop the engines. Blind faith that we weren’t just going to end up a smear on the hull out there.”

“Did we trip it somehow?” Freya inquired softly.

“I don’t think so. In fact, I think maybe that’s what you’ve been feeling all along.” Hank looked up at her. “It’s a low grade field, until you do something crazy like try to fly away, but if you’re sensitive it might be like fingernails down a chalkboard.”

“I’ve never been susceptible before,” she objected.

“Well, I doubt you’ve come across any before. Took me a while to even remember hearing about it once, long time ago when I was still in flight school.” He peered back out at the ship that was causing all the problems. “It was something was bandied about a few years ago, but no-one could make it work properly, and sure as hell not on this scale. It’s the same technology that scrappers use for their nets, but being passive it takes more control, more energy.”

“So she has power?” Freya moved forward, almost to the thick glass, staring out at the mass almo