CHAPTER FOUR

Cat ran up the ramp, seeing Kaylee disappearing through the top hatch back towards her domain. Batha was at her heels, a little ungainly from the animal in her mouth, but she was safely aboard when Cat slammed her hand down on the door control. The inner doors slid together, not quite closed before they felt the Firefly take off.

"Gorramit," Hank muttered, heading up the metal stairs two at a time. "She's always tryin' to take my job." As he approached the top the floor twisted and he had to hang onto the railing to prevent himself being tossed over the side.

The internal dampeners caught up, but only for a second as the floor tilted the other way. A whine, not entirely from the engine room, grew louder, seeming to make the bulkheads vibrate in sympathy, then there was a jerk and everyone was thrown forward.

"Missile," Hank said, his knuckles white.

"They're shooting at us?" Mal's temper finally snapped. "Those wahng-ba dan duh biao-tze are firing on my gorram ship?"

"I think so," Hank confirmed. "It missed us," he added, ever the optimist.

Fury tightened Mal's face. He pointed at Cat and Declan. "You - stay here."

The redhead shrugged. "No place else to go."

"Frey, you ... hey, where are you going?"

"To help Kaylee," his wife said. "Like you wanted."

"Can I get a damn order out before you read it?" He sounded exasperated, but it wasn't really directed at her.

She flashed him a smile and slid away through the hatch.

The Firefly shuddered again and Mal glared at Hank.

"I'm going, I'm going," the pilot promised, pulling himself up the last couple of steps. "I'll try and stop River turning us into a smear on the landscape." He staggered through the doorway, wondering if he was going to lose his lunch.

"I'd take it as a kindness," Mal said, with only the faintest touch of sarcasm. He followed the other man, glancing only once down into the cargo bay.

"Well ... this is fun," Declan said as another lurch threatened to deposi