Mal welcomed Mr. Flaherty back onto Serenity. He was surprised at the change in the man. For three weeks he’d barely spoken. Now he was all smiles and wouldn’t stop talking.

“Captain Reynolds, you have not idea how difficult my trip with you was.” Flaherty grabbed Mal’s hand and pumped it vigorously.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Flaherty. We’re no cruise ship, but we do try to make our passengers comfortable.” Mal was beginning to worry about working with this man. His exuberance was overwhelming. Mal was sure the combination of this man and the heat outside would be the death of him.

“Oh, no! Don’t apologize. It wasn’t you or your ship, which is a nice one if you don’t mind my saying.” Flaherty could barely contain himself. His eyes danced around, looking at everything. If he’d been a child, he would have been skipping. “It was my own, self-imposed silence that was nearly the end of me.”

Mal led Flaherty to the galley. He hoped Flaherty would sit down and explain what he wanted, in that order. That brief stint in the heat had affected Mal more than he had thought, and he really needed to sit down. To his relief, Flaherty plopped down in a chair at the table. Mal settled into a chair across the table from him.

“Captain Reynolds, I spent the last three weeks observin’ you and your crew. You were recommended to me for this job, but I needed to check you out for myself.” Flaherty shifted in his chair and Mal was afraid he would get up and start pacing. Instead, he leaned forward and continued. “We have product that needs to be delivered to a few customers and we’d like you to carry it.”

Pleased that they had finally started talking about business, Mal sat back and crossed his arms. “That won’t be a problem. I’m sure we can accommodate you.”

Flaherty stopped moving and looked Mal in the eye. “Without Alliance paperwork.”

Mal blinked. First, that phrase usually led to trouble. Second, he wasn’t interested in trouble right now. “There was a time I’d take a job offer l