*Clink clank clunk.*

“Gorrammit, Kaylee!” Mal called, moving through the common room. “If you were payin’ as much attention to this ship as you are to the doctor, she might stay workin’ better.”

Entering the room from the direction of the crew quarters, Kaylee rushed across the space toward the engine room at the rear of the ship. “She was just fine a minute ago!” she insisted, more to herself than to Malcolm. “Didn’t get no complainin’!”

“Find out what that noise was,” Mal called after her, then moved the other direction, toward the cockpit. Ascending the second set of stairs after the crew quarters, he stepped into the cockpit. “River,” he spoke, meaning quite a bit more than a simple name.

“We’ll live,” River muttered, hands fluttering deftly and confidently across the controls. Within days of taking over the role of ship’s pilot, River had ascended the ranks to become one of the best pilots Mal had ever seen. Simon hadn’t been exaggerating when he first explained his sister’s mental abilities to the crew well over a year ago.

“What’s she doing?” Mal reiterated, referring, of course, to Serenity.

“The booster coupling came disconnected when we entered atmo,” River explained calmly, her gaze never leaving the controls.

Mal waited a moment for an explanation that did not come. “...and?”

“We can land without a problem,” River informed him. “Once on the ground, we won’t have enough boost to escape gravity without fixing the ship.”

“Get us on the ground,” Mal ordered, turning away and walking hastily back toward the engine room. Zoe appeared from a side corridor.

“Don’t tell me,” she intoned. “Not again?”

“It’s no problem,” Mal told her dismissively, not slowing his gait. “*Noo* problem at all.” He crossed the length of the ship, stopping before the engine room’s door as Kaylee appeared in it.

“There’s nothing wrong in here, Captain,” the mechanic reported. “Everything’s just as fine as it was the last time I checked.”

Mal nodded. “River says it’s the booster couple. We’ll have to check i