Shuttle Two,

Classification O3– K64 Firefly.

Kill the pain, which ransoms my soul –

Dark shadows that rape my will to live.

Malevolence finally takes its toll.

There’s nothing left for me to give.

Darkness loomed across the firefly class vessel, quietly smothering the last remnants of light from its interior. Only the quiet hum of Serenity’s engine provided any hint of civilisation, this far out in the black.

Saline tears flowed down River Tam’s face, gathering in the small of her chin. Her tear ducts screamed for absolution and the comfort of Simon. Anguish took a hold with the pinpoint accuracy of a rapist. Willowy fingers tightened their grip around her waist, struggling to quieten the chaos inside.

Fifteen minutes had passed since the assault on her brother - although it felt like more than an eternity. The numb silence that followed hung like the wisps of a mushroom cloud, a lasting reminder that her world, and everything in it, had been obliterated. Now, River lay in a pool of urine, with only fractured thoughts as company.

Her mind effervesced with angst-ridden memories, each one more intense and shocking than the last. Bloodied fingernails clawed at her face, unable to quell the mind numbing agony. Nothing could shut off the video nasty that occupied her brain.

As she lay sprawled out behind the pilot seat, caught in an endless psychosis, her thighs twitched involuntarily. Extrasensory recall still lingered in her body; running its hellish and vindictive course.

It was an occurrence that she had come to tolerate, and not fully understand. Yet, the waves that overwhelmed her endocrine system were unlike anything she had experienced before.

The screams of vicious, premeditated arousal had sent fire through her veins. Her loins ached for reprieve, lurching in a state of pain and ecstasy. All this and much, much more poked at her fragile casing, not unlike the Alliance doctors who had once regarded her a mere play thing.

River sat up slowly, drawn to the appearance o