One look outside convinces Mal! “ Ai ya wo men wan le! (We’re in big trouble!) That thing may be old, but it looks like all sorts o’ mean!” He slaps the intercom button; “River, get us out of here!” There’s no answer, but the thrusters fire immediately, and they lift just in time to avoid a cannon shell sailing by just below them.

Landing near a second village has about the same results, but this time River picks up a bit of their speech and underlying thoughts; “Mal, I don’t think they’re mad at us. The rage is directed at Serenity , and machines in general.”

At Diana’s suggestion, they pick a smaller, more isolated place that won’t have heard of them, and a different tactic. They’ll land at a discreet distance, out of sight but close enough that Mal, Zoë and Jayne can walk in to meet the villagers.

This does seem to work better. The natives greet them with some suspicion, but no outright violence, and as they approach what seems to be a council table, the fellow who seems to be in charge motions for them to sit down.

The villagers are curious about their unusual (to them) style clothing. They touch Jayne’s T-shirt; “What animal this? How it kill you?”

Jayne shrugs them off, a little more violently than necessary; “Ain’t nobody gonna be killin’ me.”

It takes a few moments before Zoë understands; “Jayne, they’re not saying you got killed. They’ve never seen anyone dressed in anything but animal skins, and they’re just wonderin’ what kinda animal makes cotton.”

As the exchange goes on, it becomes very obvious that the villagers speak very little English, and the conversation, with a few pieces in Chinese and most of it in Russian, is slow and laborious.

Mal tries to find out about the people in the cities, but the answer keeps coming back (interspersed with many foul words) that there ARE no people there, only machines (growls and much spitting).

They seem to be making progress, gradually learning that there is only a rough association of tribes, who call themselves