Wash was a little less confused now that Kaylee had taken a small bit of time to explain what was going on. Book watch Wash's face sink, and then set in a look he had only seen once before.

Wash had this look when they went to rescue Mal from torture.

Book had gone to great lengths to explain his plan to Wash. River had stuck around for the beginning, but had wandered off under Book's protest.

"We need that girl."

"For what? Jayne doesn't need stabbing, he needs rescuing, and God did that sound strange out loud."

River, meanwhile had walked over to where Kaylee was giving instructions to the crew of The Contessa. They were more or less listening, not because they wanted to, but because Kaylee was holding a gun on them. She was waving it around to illustrate her points, and they were afraid of getting shot by accident. They could tell she wasn't a killer, but, as River came up silently behind Kaylee, they snapped to attention and began to heed everything Kaylee had to say.

The hydraulic patch job was going to take a little time, and Wash was growing more and more impatient. He had strapped Zoe's carbine to one thigh, and Jayne's eight shooter to the other. He looked more or less ready to go.

"Why can't we just take two shuttles? Wouldn't that be faster?"

"Yes, it would be faster, son, but we may the kind of power a Firefly carries. Even this one."

He gestured with Vera towards The Contessa.

"Fine." Wash sighed.

The work on the patch job was going quicker than anyone expected. Whatever Kaylee couldn't express quickly, River got the point across silently. The Contessa's crew were horrified of her, and Book could tell she was enjoying it a little.

Kaylee lit her welder and repositioned her goggles. The actual patch itself wasn't so much work. The problem was replacing the hydraulic fluid that the Contessa had lost. Several large ducts and tubes were running from deep inside Serenity to the Contessa, replacing all she had lost.