Kaylee gasped, and River looked confused. “You ain’t gonna do it, are ya, ‘Nara?” Inara’s perfect posture was lost as her shoulders slumped. “I can’t really see any way out of it,” she said softly. “But then, I don’t know how I could possibly betray Mal in that way. Things between us are already fragile, at best.”

“But it’s not betrayal,” River said, wrinkling her nose. “Merely fulfillment of a legitimate business contract.”

“Cap’n won’t see it like that,” Kaylee explained. “He’s more committed to ya than you think, ‘Nara. It’ll prob’ly break his heart.”

“There’s heartbreaking going on and I haven’t been informed?” Wash asked, sticking his head into Inara’s shuttle. “I hate to interrupt, ladies, but the cortex terminal on the bridge just shorted and I’m trying to download some co-ords.”

“Feel free,” Inara said, gesturing toward her own terminal.

“So,” Wash said, sitting down and connecting to the cortex. “Mind my asking what you girls are talkin’ about?”

“’Nara got a wave from the Companions’ Guild Headquarters,” Kaylee informed him. “They approved her application. She’s officially retirin’!”

“Well, that’s good news,” Wash grinned. “I can think of a certain captain who will be thrilled to hear that. Where’s the heartbreak come in? Hundreds of clients mourning the loss of their favorite arm candy?”

Inara grimaced. “Melina - Melina Carassa, my guild liason - told me my pension is contingent on completion of a final assignment.”

“Some fancy-pants millionaire on Calliope,” Kaylee added. “Asked for her, special.”

“Ah,” Wash nodded. “How’d Mal take it?”

“I haven’t told him yet,” Inara replied. “I haven’t decided whether I’m going to do it or not. Is destroying whatever this is Mal and I have worth it just to receive my pension? On the one hand, it seems terribly shallow to risk something as important as this solely for the sake of money, but on the other, there’s a lot of good that could be done with my pension fund. Kaylee could have her new compression coil, for instance, and I could