When Serenity emerged from the battlecruiser, Jerrode Eusabian's Nightrunner was waiting.

"They're hailing," Wash said quietly.

What could those people think they have to say to me? Mal wondered, through the black haze that had settled over him.

Inara appeared on the screen. "Mal! Oh, are you a sight for sore eyes!"

Mal stared at her, dumbfounded. "Inara?"

"No, Mal, it's the Easter Bunny," she said, teasing him.

"But, you --" he said, and couldn't finish.

Zoe stepped up next to him. "We thought you were on Eusabian's yacht," she explained. "It was destroyed when the seed exploded."

"Seed?" Inara said. "No, no, I took the shuttle, I -- destroyed? So, Jerrode... oh, my."

They stared at each other for several seconds. At length, Inara said "Serenity looks considerably better than when I saw it last."

"Good as new," Mal said. The screen flickered, and Mal gave it a whack with the side of his fist. It stopped flickering. "Mostly," he amended. "You planning on rejoining us?"

"Just as soon as I figure out how to dock this ship," she said, somewhat ruefully. "Also, what to do with my passenger. I couldn't figure out how to get him aboard."

"Passenger?" Mal asked.

"Yes, I found him floating in orbit," Inara said, switching to an exterior view.

Clinging to one of the Nightrunner's exterior struts was Jayne. His suit appeared to be airtight, but not entirely undamaged. He was yelling, angrily -- clearly, he knew where the camera was, although his mic seemed not to be working. Mal had some vague memory of a problem with the mic and speakers in Jayne's suit. The mercenary looked about to burst a vein, but appeared quite decidedly alive.

"Huh," Mal said. "Well, whaddya make of that?"

***

Wash had talked Inara through what she needed to do, first to safely get Jayne aboard Serenity -- where Wash made sure to stay well clear of the large, very unhappy merc -- and then to dock the Nightrunner so that she herself could come aboard. Mal went to me