EXT. ABOVE TALLTREE – SECONDS LATER

Serenity veers away from town. Another missile rockets toward it but goes wide.

INT. SERENITY – COCKPIT – SAME TIME

Mal and Zoe pound in, joining Wash, who doesn’t look up, instead focusing intently on the controls of the ship.

MAL

What the gorram—

WASH

Aintiaircraft missile.

MAL

What?

WASH

Sure wasn’t a duck.

MAL

Inara?

WASH

I think she got off okay.

ZOE

Why would they be shooting at us?

Jayne saunters in.

JAYNE

Why not? Everybody else does?

Mal ignores Jayne, taps Wash on the shoulder. He points to something they can both see through the forward port.

MAL

Them hills over there? Can you set us down?

JAYNE

Set us down? We should be leavin’!

ZOE

Can’t leave—

MAL

—Inara’s still here.

SHEPHERD BOOK comes in behind them. As he does so, the ship shakes again—inertial dampener, not missile—and he’s forced to grab hold of the doorway.

WASH

Captain, the inertial dampener—

MAL

(nodding)

I know. Going. Which is what we should be doin’.

ZOE

So what do we do? Can’t go back and make the delivery like this.

JAYNE

I say we leave. Ruttin’ grain we’re ferrying ain’t worth dyin’ over.

MAL

We can’t leave Inara behind!

Beat, as everyone, even Wash, looks at him.

BOOK

What’s happened?

JAYNE

Missiles from town. Somebody don’t like us. Surprise, surprise.

BOOK

(to Mal)

It has to have been some kind of mistake. Some of these guns are set to fire automatically if they don’t receive the right codes.

JAYNE

(to Wash)

Why didn’t you give ‘em the code?

WASH

Nobody told me about a code!

MAL

Never mind about no code. Just set us down. Try not to crash us too badly.

WASH

I ever crash us, Captain, it’ll be a work of art.

MAL

Ain’t payin’ ya for art.

Wash smiles up.

WASH

Ain’t barely payin’ me at all, Captain.

Zoe gives her husband a “Just fly the gorram ship” look.

EXT. HILLS OUTSIDE TALLT