Mal had a pretty good idea where his medic was stowing his sister, but didn't have the time to check on them. Zoe had called him to the bridge, and she sounded excited. That made Mal nervous, as his first mate wasn't exactly the excitable type.

Mal made his way to the bridge, more quickly than was his norm. Zoe and Wash were having an animated discussion.

"But...for that kind of money..." Wash said.

"There's no way, husband." Zoe said sternly.

"There's no way, what, and what kind of money?" Mal asked, stepping onto the bridge.

Zoe was at her customary place on the bridge, at Wash's side. Most people, even the captain, made room for her there, even when she wasn't on the bridge.

"There'sajobpaysalotbutyou'renotgoingtolikeit!" blurted Wash.

Zoe's slitted eyes stopped Wash in his tracks.

"A job's a job. Done plenty of jobs I didn't like. Or have you forgotten crates upon crates of bobbly headed geishas?"

Wash started to speak again, looked at his wife's expression, and fell silent. He gently squeezed her hand and turned back to his flight controls. Mal advanced into the cockpit.

Picking up one of Wash's plastic dinosaurs that always flew as his little copilots, Mal adopted a childish tone.

"Mister Triceratops would tell me...wouldn't you Mister Tri..."

Wash snatched the dinosaur from his captain's hand.

"That's not a triceratops! Don't start acting like a kid just because that job's on..."

This time Zoe squeezed Wash's hand. Not enough to hurt, but enough to get the message across.

"Allright you two. I've had enough of this. This boat needs business to stay afloat, and if there's somethin' needs doin', then I need to know. So stop wrestlin' with it, and let me have it!"

"It's a stegosaurus..." Wash said, under his breath.

"Sir, the job that we just got a wave for pays a lot." Zoe motioned to the screen behind her to show how much. Mal's eye went to the rather large figure there.

"Whoa...N