There was a lot of celebration aboard Serenity after Mal and Inara brought the Lassiter on with them, and Wash pulled up from that barren, desert patch of Bellerophon. After all, they had gotten away with what Yolanda-Saffron-Bridget described as 'the million-square job', managed to outwit that devious con girl and leave her trapped in the dumpster, and even Mal's stripped nudity quickly developed into a festive joke. (Though he did take the first opportunity to slip down into his quarters and find some spare clothes to restore a bit of captainly dignity with.)

Kaylee had organized an impromptu celebration of their success in the kitchen, but just when they got to the protein cake, Wash called back down. "Wave for you, Captain no-pants. It's our favourite small gnawing critter, from Persephone."

"What does Badger want with us now?" Zoe exclaimed.

"How'd he even route to us here?" Simon chimed in. "Thought we were off the matrix, for jobs like this."

"We are," Mal agreed emphatically. "But Badger does have his own ways, and I haven't managed to learn but a few of them." He considered, looking around slightly. "Guess I'll take it in my quarters."

"You don't want us here?" Simon asked.

"If Badger asks to talk to me, then he has his own reasons for wanting it private," Mal told the doctor, wondering why he bothered. "Else he would a said he wanted to address the crew. Burned enough bridges with them as is willing to pay for our services lately, I don't exactly want to piss the Badge off today."

By the time he'd finished with that speech, Mal was already into the forward crew passage, and from there, it took but a few moments to get down into his own bunk, and turn the cortex screen on. "What can I do you for?"

Badger smiled one of those incredibly gap-toothed smiles, and Mal fought a trace of an urge to shudder. "First off, I understand that congratulations are in order, Mal."

How does he *know* things so quickly, Mal wondered. Well, maybe playing dumb would help establish just how much inf