“I'm waiting.” Mal stood in the small room, his height making the ceiling seem lower still. Thumbs caught in his pants’ pockets, he stared down at the man on the bed.

Gabriel Tam gathered himself a moment, looking from Serenity’s captain to Freya, then past them. He could see River in the corridor, standing close to the man who’d saved their lives, the demi-mountain who was apparently her husband.

“He is,” she whispered.

Gabriel started, realising she’d read his mind. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to –“

Mal turned and glared at her. “Albatross, can we hold off on the slushy stuff until I've gotten to the bottom of this? And I’ll be reminding you that you were the one said this is important.”

“Sorry.” She leaned closer in to Jayne.

“Why don’t you ask her to tell you?” Gabriel wanted to know. “If she’s read my mind –“

“Kinda like to hear it from you. If you don't mind.”

“I understand. And please let me apologise for not telling you everything right from the beginning.”

“Whether I accept that or not depends on the information. And I’m still waiting.”

“Of course.” Gabriel nodded, noting Regan appearing behind Jayne and River. “Some of it you know. At least, I got that impression from Andrew Brooks.”

Mal remembered the old man, Simon’s mentor. They’d both been there on Corvus when he died, poisoned because of information he had, things he knew. “Go on.”

“Andrew and I talked, over the years. About a lot of things. But mostly he told me about you.” Gabriel fixed River with his eyes, the way he used to when she was a child. “About how I was wrong. That Simon was right.” He had to swallow back on the emotion before it spilled down his cheeks. “I'm so sorry.”

“Accepted.” She wondered why she wanted to hug him, but she denied herself, instead taking hold of Jayne’s hand and holding on tightly.

He looked disappointed, but went on, “One of the other things we talked about was his belief concerning the true nature of the psychic gene. He was a brilliant