Prologue

Krista sinks to her knees, in tears. Tears of joy.

"Lord, how can we ever thank you?"

Her new husband, Michael, just looks at her.

His first wife died years ago during the terraforming expedition. He never thought he'd find someone else, certainly not after losing his coal-mining job to a band of gypsies that offered to work for half what anyone could afford. Times were hard. Are still hard.

But he has a wife now. A family. Michael pulls Krista into his arms. The music swells. He kisses her.

Their kids, two families, now one, smile at the parents they never thought they would have again. Things are going to be okay.

******

I leaned against the wall behind our bed and closed my eyes to the movie. I thought having Serenity back and our bed to sleep in would feel comfortable. A relief to return to something normal. But the whole thing felt wrong. It wasn't a return to something normal. Any hint of normal had been left behind when I left home.

Thanks to the modifications made by the Alliance mechanic Kaylee had stolen Serenity back from, we had a couple of refinements none of the crew had ever thought to include, like a screen that could download and play back movies. It was hard for the rest of them to think of luxuries this far outside the Core planets. But for me, these days it was all I could think about.

"Gosh," Kaylee said. "Sorry, Simon." She wiped her eyes, pulled a rag out of her pocket. Oil stained most of it, but she didn't mind. "Been so long since I seen a movie, let alone a classic by the great Lucas."

My jaw dropped. "Oh, come on," I said. "You can't think that was good?"

"Better'n good." She sighed. "Just makes me realize things might seem tough, but that don't mean we won't make it."

"They're penniless! They've got four kids to feed, no jobs, they shot his leg off in the first half, and let me tell you, surgery wouldn't magically reconnect what a shotgun blew to pieces, they can't work... I hate to say it, but political figures sh