Disclaimer thingy: Firefly/Serenity are owned by other folks and not by me, though I appreciate being able to write some stuff purely for fun inspired by the Firefly 'Verse. All constructive comments and feedback from you shiny readers out there much appreciated!

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Felix returned to Serenity’s bridge a couple of times, dumping onto the deck armfuls of assorted booty he’d found in the crew’s cabins. Most of it was Jayne’s weaponry plus some odds and ends of electronic equipment: Vaughan took a cursory look at his colleague’s haul, then shrugged. “Nothing special there. But we’ll take it.”

“That’s all the cabins,” said Felix. “You want me to go through the infirmary?”

“Yeah, but there’s no hurry.” Vaughan leaned back in his chair. “We got a few hours before we get to the breakers. You go fix us something to eat. And see if they got anything drinkable on this piece of gos se.” Felix nodded and moved off again. Vaughan glanced back at Kaylee. “Don’t suppose you want anything, do you, girl?” he said mockingly. Kaylee said nothing. Vaughan smiled. “Not even a drink? Might loosen you up a bit.”

“I ain’t thirsty.” Kaylee spoke in a low voice. Vaughan smiled and turned back to face the flight controls.

Felix strolled into the galley and began to open and shut storage lockers. He located some food which he tossed onto the table: then grunted as the next locker revealed a bottle of whisky. Smiling, he snagged it by its neck and took it across to the table with a couple of glasses. He glanced up in the direction of the bridge, then back at the bottle. Grinning, he pulled out a chair and sat down, unscrewing the bottle cap and pulling a glass towards him. “No harm in makin’ sure it’s the good stuff,” he said to himself. The amber liquid glugged into the glass: he set the bottle down and picked up the drink, then knocked it back. He lowered the glass to the table with a sigh of satisfaction – then started violently at a sudden stin