Chapter 12

Mal and Juliet lie panting on the cargo bay floor, exhausted after a rather competitive game of globe ball. They are still smiling, endorphins coursing through their bloodstream, causing a giddiness that was not altogether unpleasant.

“You cheated,” Juliet states, giggling slightly. “You are a rotten cheater.”

Mal laughs incredulously at her. “No more than you, you little nuisance!”

She rolls over and punches his shoulder lightly. “Cheater.”

Mal closes his eyes, a broad grin still on his face. “You still ain’t found anythin’ to wear to the party, you know. We arrive in the mornin’.”

“Maybe I’ll just go nekkid.”

“There’s a good idea. I like that idea.”

“Or I could borrow something of yours.”

“Not ‘xactly likely you’d find somethin’ to your tastes.”

“Oh, I dunno. I’m sure there’re some soft cotton dresses somewhere in there…” She jumps up, laughing as Mal lunges after her. She flees up the stairs, with him hot on her tail. They meet Zoë as they whip into the dining area. She opens her mouth to speak but Juliet cuts her off, dodging around the table.

“One of us is gonna fall and die, and you’re not clearing it up!”

Zoë closes her mouth and shakes her head. “And there was me thinkin’ that because you could hear our concerns, you might actually take them into considerin’. Obviously not.”

“Nope!”

River’s scream pierces around the ship. All activity instantly ceases. Simon leaps up from his seat in the corner and sprints toward infirmary. Juliet and Mal instantly follow him, their game forgotten.

~*~*~

They’re coming. Coming for her. And her. And him. The ones they lost. The ones that escaped the inescapable. The ones they want back.

“River!”

They’re coming for him, the panic in her mind says. Can’t stop them. Can’t make them go away. Make them go away. Hit them and they don’t flinch, don’t react.

"River, no!"

"Jule!"

Fire and metal. Pain in her neck and a numbness, a terrifying emptiness spreading through her like fire in a forest.

~*~*~

“Will she be ok?” Mal asks, looking at