“Dust,” Kaylee said succinctly.

“What?” Mal stared at her.

“Dust. In the terminals.” She blew sharply into the torch then screwed it back together. As she pressed the switch, a beam of light sprang forth, almost blinding him. “Dust.”

Mal squinted and held up his hand. “I thought they were sealed.”

“They are.”

“Kaylee, we didn’t open ‘em.”

“It was still dust.”

Mal shook his head. “All I know is they stopped working.”

“Well, they’re fine now.” She glanced in at her husband where he was still checking Hank out, asking him to raise his arms and where it hurt when he did, Zoe standing close by. “Just a coincidence,” she added.

“That kinda coincidence might’ve caused us problems if we hadn’t already been on our way back,” Mal pointed out.

“But you’re fine and everything’s shiny.”

“Kaylee …”

“Don’t you fret, Cap’n. I’ll go through them all, and make sure the charger’s working okay.”

“And the booster? Have to say, it was more than a little disconcerting to suddenly be without communications down in those tunnels, as well as light.”

“I’ll take a look, see if I can figure out what happened.”

“Good.” He knew he sounded cranky, so he pulled a smile from somewhere and put his hand on her shoulder. “And thanks.”

“No problem, Cap.” She grinned at him. “Now I’d better go get cooking, if we intend to be eating any time soon.”

“That’s an idea.” He watched her run up the stairs. “Can I bottle her energy?” he said quietly to Freya as she stood next to him.

“I doubt it. It’s uniquely Kaylee.”

“Prob’ly.” He shook his head slightly. “Still favouring that shoulder, though, I see.”

“Mmn?”

“Her shoulder. Where she dislocated it. Rubs it when she thinks no-one’s looking.”

“Does she?”

Something in her tone made him look at her. She seemed odd, almost ill-at-ease. “You okay?” he asked.

“Fine.”

“Frey. This is me.” He turned enough so he could see directly into her face. “What is it?”

“I didn’t pick it up,” Freya said softly.

“What?”