They had all gathered in the kitchen, at least as many of his crew that were left. Zoe and Hank hadn’t come back, and Jayne was absent, having been told by River to go and keep watch. Apparently she’d promised something about a use with the red ribbon, but Mal had let that particular mental image slide right by him, unlike what the others were telling him.

“Is it possible?” Inara asked. “Perhaps their testing equipment is better.” She glanced at Simon. “Newer,” she added quickly.

Simon didn’t quite take offence. “A DNA sequence is just that – a sequence. There aren’t … nuances. It doesn’t matter how old the analyser. Or how new. Hank isn’t a Triskelion.”

“’Cept they said he was,” Kaylee put in unhappily, rubbing her hands over and over. “That’s what they said.”

The Fosters had all been waiting for them in the drawing room, the blazing fire making it hard to breathe. Even John Foster was here to witness, sitting in a wingback chair, his eyes bright with amusement.

“So …” Clive looked at his brother, who was slouched on the sofa, but was ignored.

“So?” Hank prompted. “You can tell me the bad news.”

Clive laughed. “It’s not bad. On the contrary, at least for you. Luke has completed the DNA analysis –”

“How come it’s taken so long?” Kaylee interrupted then went pink. “I mean, Simon coulda done it in a few minutes. Less.”

“We had to be sure, my dear.”

Kaylee blushed a bit harder.

“Sorry,” Luke put in, trying to make up for Clive’s somewhat patronising tone. “I don’t have access to a hospital as such, so it took me a while.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“And you didn’t trust our medic,” Zoe added.

“No.” Clive didn’t care that he sounded ungracious. “Be that as it may, I can now tell you that the results are quite clear. You are a Triskelion, by blood.”

“No, wait, that … I can’t …” Hank stammered before Zoe spoke over him.

“Are you positive about that?” she asked.

“We are.”

Zoe looked at each of them in turn: Clive was at ease, waiting for Hank to be grate