EXT. PERSEPHONE – EAVESDOWN DOCKS – DAY – ESTABLISHING

Eavesdown Docks is its usual bustling self. Serenity touches down.

INT. SERENITY – CARGO BAY – DAY

Mal, Zoe, Wash, and Jayne are in the cargo bay. Kaylee, at the controls, lowers the ramp. Mal tosses a MOSTLY-EMPTY BAG to Wash.

MAL

Get her fueled, Wash.

WASH

With dirt? With cheap dirt?

(shaking the sad little bag)

That’s about all this is gonna get us…

ZOE

(quietly)

He’s right, Mal. I know you think that Alliance cruiser’s still after us, but you’ve had us all over the ‘Verse takin’ jobs that don’t hardly pay for the fuel these past few weeks. Since Inara…

Mal nods, not disagreeing with her, and turns back to Wash.

MAL

Get her fueled as much as you can. The rest of you are free to take a walkabout, do what you need to do. But be back on the ship come sundown… Promised Inara our next stop would be Bena—

KAYLEE

Mal!

A sinister FIGURE stands on the cargo bay ramp, near Jayne, backlit by the sun. Jayne turns around and decks the man without even thinking. As he falls to the ground, we see that he’s a thuggish BULLY BOY.

KAYLEE

Jayne, why’d you go and do that?

JAYNE

He was crowdin’ me, and I don’t know him. I hit people that crowd me I don’t know.

BADGER (OS)

It’s quite alright, little lady…

There’s a MULE that can carry a half-dozen men at the base of the ramp. BADGER stands near the mule, while four other BULLY BOYS get off and crowd around the base of the ramp.

BADGER (cont’d)

I don’t like the man, which is why I insisted he go first.

(to Mal)

You ‘ave my datacard?

MAL

You have my coin?

Mal stands a bit back from the top of the ramp, backed up by Jayne. Zoe quietly moves to stand near Kaylee and the airlock controls.

BADGER

(shaking his head and smiling)

Wasn’t the deal, Captain, an’ you know it.

MAL

Deal wasn’t to have Ott and his waitin’ on us either.

BADGER

‘ad nothin’ t’do wi’ them skankin’ your job. Could be it was them backbirths, Min