Mal had papers spread all over the dining table that late night, trying to be organized, when the Shepard entered.

"Mal, may I join you for a few minutes?"

"Kinda busy, Shepard. I appreciate you arraingin' this cargo for us, from your Abbey to that mission colony of yours on Haven, but because it's legit, the paper work hasta be in order or your Abbot won't pay the fee. Can it wait?"

"'Fraid not. You see, when you unload that cargo tomorrow morning,you're unloading me too."

Mal was shocked. "Preacher, you ain't said nothin' about that. Kaylee'll be real upset."

"That's mostly why I didn't say anything. But my abbot has ordered me to join the colony. So anything we don't say now, may never get said. I have some things I need to confess to you. "

"I ain't the man to be hearin' confessions. "

"No, but you are the man I've wronged. I must give you a chance to forgive. To begin with, I am an agent of Alliance Central Intelligence, an operative of the Parliament."

"Preacher, a man could get shot, by accident, sayin' a thing like that on my boat. Mebbe several times. "

"Let me finish my story. Then, if necessary, I'll walk down to the airlock with you.Has it ever occurred to you that a man, any man, can be a mass of conflicting principles, and that he chooses which ones he obeys at any particular moment?"

"S'pose that's true. Exceptin' maybe fer Jayne."

The Shepard chuckled. " It's true. And you thing of the Alliance as a big, uniform, equally ugly evil. It's not. It's an Alliance-- groups, factions, each having their own interests. Doesn't mean its results aren't ugly and evil,but it's not uniform . For instance, I work for a Parliament member who is concerned about a recurrence of the Indepenedent Rebellion. That's what brought me to your ship. You were thought to be involved, or at least likely to be."

"Government been watching me?"

"Indeed it has. Intelligence keeps an eye on many browncoats. Some are violent insurrectionists, terriorists. You know some of