“Have they got explosives?” Hank asked, visions of Serenity burst along her seams plaguing his mind’s eye.

It said much that Bethie understood. “No,” she confirmed. “Just guns.”

“We need Zoe back here.” Hank struggled to sit upright despite the pain shooting right across his belly.

Simon pushed him back. “If you tear that open I might not have time to save you.”

“Doc –”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Hank,” Bethie said, no sign of any childish concern, and looking rather more like her Auntie River than was entirely comfortable. “I told them.”

“Good girl,” Simon said, and for a moment she preened.

“I still needed to lock the ship down,” Hank insisted, trying to push Simon’s hands off his shoulders.

Bethie bit her lip. “Um ...”

---

Ben ran onto the bridge, a frisson going through him at being up there alone, the warnings having been repeated over and over to each child since birth – “Don’t go up there if nobody’s with you ...” “Strictly off limits ...” “There’s things up there could hurt a child, let alone the ship ...”

Still, Bethie had been insistent, Ethan backing her up (which had been more important), and for once he knew he had to break the rules.

Scrambling into his daddy’s chair he scanned the control panel, his fingers drawn inexorably to the right buttons. One, two, three and flick the toggle. The screen turned red and the words SHIP LOCKDOWN flashed over a wireframe image of a Firefly, tiny glows indicating all the entrances had been overridden and now wouldn’t open from either inside or outside without the proper code.

He sank down into the chair, feeling his little heart pounding in his chest, but feeling a little pride as well. Zoe might have joked about it, but he was his father’s son.

---

“I told you we were stretched too thin.” Mal rubbed the back of his neck, a displacement activity that suggested he’d prefer to be hitting someone.

“And I told you Zoe’s heading back.” Freya touched his arm. “Simon and Kaylee are there – they won