Same old "not my characters, no copyright infringements intended"

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As the roar of her twin engines dwindled from a monstrous growl to pure silence, Serenity and her crew pulled out of Haven’s upper atmosphere and entered the black. To a passing ship, she resembled any one of the Firefly class vehicles roaming the trading channels. For the first time since Mal bought her, she was in perfect working order thanks to the ironic generosity of the Alliance. He had milked the Alliance funding by packing enough supplies and spare parts to allow Serenity’s crew some time to heal from their recent ordeal. Kaylee upgraded the engines to give them an extra boost if the need should arise, and Jayne bought a few friends for Vera.

With Serenity slowly gliding in space heading in no particular direction, Mal sat in Wash’s old seat alternating his gaze between River in the copilot’s chair and the dinosaurs surrounding him. His happiness at having survived the past few months was tempered by the dinosaurs staring back at him. River paid him no mind, as she was completely engrossed in piloting the ship.

Mal leaned back in the chair and mumbled to himself, “Where to next? Can’t go back to Haven or Persephone. Alliance pro’ly all over those rocks. Mebbe Beaumont? Fandy and Mingo might help us out - if they let us in the door. The merc bars may be a good source of information. Whattabout the crew? Losin’ Wash won’t be easy on Zoe or the rest of ‘em, but River may turn into a decent pilot…if’n she can stay normal and…” a loud noise interruptted Mal as the ship suddenly jolted. Six yellow lights immediately started blinking.

“What was that? And what are all these gorram lights?” shouted Mal as he turned to River.

River smiled, tilted her head and said softly, “buffer panel.”

“Figures…gorram alliance materials!” replied Mal with a hint of a smile and more than a hint of disgust.

”Where to?” asked River in a monotone voice without taking her gaze off the