Objects in Space
(SERENITY – RIVER’S ROOM)
(We see River sleeping on her bunk through an air grate. Focus in on her face. Gradually, we hear indistinct voices, which abruptly sharpen into one voice.)
Man: We're all just floating.
(River's eyes pop open at this. She looks startled.)
(HALLWAY)
(We see a dressed River open the sliding door to her room.)
Kaylee: (os) You couldn't possibly have --
Simon: (os) No, I wish I was lying... I just...
(COMMON AREA)
(Hearing the voices, River turns down the corridor toward the common area, where Kaylee and Simon are sitting on a couch, Kaylee's feet on Simon's lap.)
Simon: You know, we'd all just made surgeon. That was it. We were the elite. The world was ours, you know?
Kaylee: So-so you had to be naked?
Simon: Naked. Yes. And, uh, on top of the statue of Hippocrates. (Kaylee laughs) Can you just picture me?
Kaylee: What, naked? (teasing) Oh, well, hmm. Let's see. I'm gonna have to conjure up a... Yeah, that's-that's gonna be difficult. (She laughs again, nudging Simon in the jaw with her bare foot.) So, the Feds come?
Simon: Mm-mm. There were no Feds. (beat) Until I started singing. (Kaylee and Simon are both laughing now.) This-this is not --
Kaylee: What did you sing?
Simon: This is not funny.
(Reverse camera to reveal that a shyly smiling River is watching them talk.)
Simon: (os) This... this is a morality tale about the evils of sake.
(Simon and Kaylee are laughing, when suddenly they stop, noticing River.)
Simon: (to River) I would be there right now.
(River reacts, hurt.)
(Cut to Simon and Kaylee laughing on the couch.)
Simon: I mean it was... it was... it was either that, or the national anthem. I... reports vary.
(They don't seem to realize River is there. River looks confused and upset, and turns to leave.)
Kaylee: And you don't remember any of this?
(River begins walking up the stairs, away from Simon and Kaylee.)
Simon: (os) I remember talking the Feds out of telling my father. Or-or paying the Feds not to tell my father. I get fuzzy on the aspects.
(HALLWAY)
(River touches the walls as she walks.)
Jayne: (os) So like, never?
(KITCHEN AREA)
(Book and Jayne are making themselves a meal in the kitchen. Jayne is at the grill, with a towel tucked into his belt like an apron.)
Book: Well, no.
Jayne: Not ever never?
Book: Some orders allow Shepherds to marry, but I follow a narrower path.
Jayne: But, I mean, you still got the urge. They don't... cut it off, or nothin'?
Book: Mm, no, I'm more or less intact. I just... (He sits down at the kitchen table. River quietly enters the kitchen area.) ...direct my energy elsewhere.
Jayne: You mean like masturbating?
Book: I hope you're not thinking of taking orders yourself.
Jayne: Oh, yeah, that'll be the day.
(Tight shot of Jayne’s face as the conversation stops suddenly. Jayne looks directly at River.)
Jayne: I got stupid. The money was too good.
(Startled, River slowly turns to Book, who is looking away from her.)
Book: (deadly) I don't give half a hump if you're innocent or not. (beat) So where does that put you?
(Frightened, River backs away, slowly walks through the room toward the other door.)
(Cut to Jayne and Book are laughing, looking at each other. Jayne is still cooking food, Book is in the process of eating.)
Jayne: It ain't impossible! Saint Jayne, it's got a ring to it.
Book: I'm just trying to remember how many miracles you've performed.
Jayne: I once hit a guy in the neck from 500 yards with a bent scope. Don't that count upstairs?
Book: Oh, it'll be taken into consideration.
(River exits the kitchen area and passes into the hallway)
Jayne: (os) You made that sound kinda ominous.
(River walks up the corridor. From a short distance, she can see Wash and Zoe on the bridge. Wash is sitting in his pilot's chair. Zoe is in his lap. They are fully clothed but entwined, a gentle passion marking their actions as they touch and kiss. River is entranced and moved by them. By her expression and body language, it's almost like she's feeling what they're feeling. After a moment, RIVER retreats, leaving Wash and Zoe their privacy.)
(CARGO HOLD – CATWALK)
(Mal and Inara walk past, seen through the metal steps of the staircase. They are arguing.)
Inara: It's not a threat, Mal. I just can't do my work under these circumstances.
Mal: You knew the drill when you signed on.
Inara: This is the third planet in a row where I can't find decent clientele.
Mal: Well, I'm sorry if I'm cutting into your retirement fund but would it kill you not to spread for a spell?
Inara: (beat) You are unreal.
(River appears on the scene, walking down a flight of stairs. Close in.)
Inara: (cont'd) I don't know why I haven't left already.
Mal: Ah, no one's forcing you to stay.
(Cut to tight shot of Inara and Mal. Silence. Inara is looking right at River. Mal looks off in the distance.)
Inara: I'm a big girl. Just tell me.
Mal: None of it means a damn thing.
(River reacts, confused and looking dizzy.)
(CARGO BAY)
(River comes around the corner of a pile of supplies, moving like she's fleeing. She steps on a branch with her bare foot. Silence descends as the branch cracks. She takes a step back. Close shot of River's feet and the branch on the floor. River bends down into frame, looking at the branch. WIDE SHOT of the cargo bay, looking at River from above -- the cargo bay is covered in dead leaves and branches. River picks up the branch.)
River: It's just an object. It doesn't mean what you think.
(Cut to: The cargo bay is no longer covered in leaves. Kaylee and Simon are standing at a distance, their hands raised. Inara is watching from the catwalks. Everyone is shouting, their voices jumbling together.)
Simon: River, you know that's not to be touched...
Inara: Stop yelling at her. That's only going to make it worse.
Book: River, sweetheart --
Mal: I'm very sure you want nothing to do with that. Put it down.
River: Kaylee?
(Kaylee backs away, frightened. Reveal that River is holding a large, shiny gun.)
Simon: What were you thinking? How did you get ahold of that?
Inara: Don't yell at her.
River: It was in my hand.
Mal: (os) I'm not mad. Just let me... (Mal steps into frame and grabs the gun from River's hand.) Thank you. (removes clip from gun) Fully loaded, safety off. This here's a recipe for unpleasantness. (to Simon) Does she understand that?
River: She understands. She doesn't comprehend.
Mal: Well, I'm glad we've made that distinction. No touching guns. Okay?
River: No touching.
(River moves quickly to exit the cargo bay.)
Simon: River...
River: It's getting very, very crowded! (exits)
Mal: Thought she was on the mend.
Simon: Uh, her... her medications are erratic. There's-there's not one that her system can eventually break down, and --
Mal: When want a lot of medical jargon, I'll talk to a doctor.
Simon: (beat) You are talking to a doctor.
Mal: Yeah, okay, my point is could've been you she might have shot just then. The doctor, as you just made note of. And who exactly could fix you? Not nobody. We're deep in space, corner of No and Where. You take extra care with her, 'cause we're very much alone out here.
(SPACE)
(Establishing shot of Serenity passing by the camera. A second, smaller spaceship suddenly comes into frame behind Serenity, flashing the camera its tail lights. Is Serenity alone in deep space? Not so much, we're thinking.)
(A small spaceship. Close on the clear bubble surrounding the pilot's seat. A tall, black man dressed entirely in red leather sits there, manipulating spaceship controls. This is Jubel Early, bounty hunter.)
(EARLY’S SHIP)
(On the dash rests a photo of River -- it's a wanted poster, with details in English and Chinese. Flashing on the dash is "AUTOPILOT ENGAGED". Push in on the wanted poster of River, closer and closer until we see that clipped to the poster of River is an old picture of a woman petting a golden retriever.)
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
(Wash is seated in the pilot's chair tapping away at the controls.)
Wash: Little River just gets more colorful by the moment. What'll she do next?
Zoe: Either blow us all up or rub soup in our hair. It's a toss-up.
Wash: I hope she does the soup thing. It's always a hoot, and we don't all die from it.
Zoe: Poor kid.
Wash: Yeah. She's definitely got -- (re: readout) Funny.
Zoe: Something wrong?
Wash: I'm just getting a weird heat-bounce off our wake.
Zoe: Engine flux?
Wash: Sensors probably got turned around. I'll climb up top and --
(Mal and Jayne walk onto the bridge.)
Mal: Those lockers are sealed. Only way she can get in there is if she knows the combination.
Jayne: I don't leave my guns around, Mal, and I don't leave 'em loaded.
Mal: Well, somehow she got her hands on your hardware. Now, supposing she took up something with hull-piercing bullets?
Jayne: Bullets are soft lead, Mal. Even Vera could... barely breach the hull. She's the best I got. Anyhow... let's move this conversation in a not-Jayne's-fault direction? I didn't make her crazy. Hell, I didn't even want her on the ship.
(Mal glances over his shoulder at Wash and Zoe, then leans closer to Jayne with quiet menace.)
Mal: Is that the direction you want this conversation to go in?
(Jayne's feeling the menace.)
Jayne: Just don't wanna take a lashing for something I ain't the cause of.
Zoe: Where's River at now?
Mal: In her room, which I'm thinking we bolt from the outside from now on.
Wash: That's a little extreme, isn't it?
Jayne: Anybody remember her comin' at me with a butcher's knife?
Wash: Wacky fun.
Jayne: (annoyed) You wanna go, little man?
Wash: (flippantly) Only if it's someplace with candlelight.
Zoe: Sir, I know she's unpredictable, but I don't think she'd harm anyone.
Jayne: Butcher's knife!
Zoe: Anyone we can't spare. I mean, as far as we know, the girl's never even picked up a gun before.
Kaylee:(entering) That ain't so.
Mal: Kaylee? (beat) You got something to say?
(EARLY’S SHIP)
(We see Early suited up for a spacewalk, climbing out of the bottom of his ship. He pushes off the bottom of his ship and slowly drifts through space, landing gently on top of Serenity. He climbs down Serenity's side and peers in through a side window looking into the Kitchen.)
(KITCHEN AREA)
(The crew, minus River, are gathered around the kitchen.)
Mal: Okay, Kaylee. Why don't you speak your piece?
Kaylee: It was when the Captain and Wash got took by Niska.
Mal: Ain't like to forget that anytime soon.
(At the table, Zoe rubs Wash's shoulder.)
Kaylee: Well, we all went in. Me, too... I didn't make much account of myself, I'm afraid.
Mal: I got no problem with the notion of you not killing nobody, Kaylee.
Simon: What's this got to do with River? She wasn't even in that fight.
Kaylee: Well, no, she was. I got pinned down and there were three guys, and I couldn't... (beat) And then River comes up. She looks out, sees 'em all. And they was spread out, you know, had some cover? She... she didn't only looked for a second, and took my gun, closed her eyes... killed 'em.
Simon: She shot them?
Kaylee: All three. Dead in an instant. With her eyes still closed.
Jayne: Well, that's [fay fay d'pian].You saw it wrong.
Kaylee: Not a jot. And it weren't auto fire... or luck. She just... she just did the math.
Zoe: You understand how that sounds?
Jayne: What? She killed 'em with mathematics. What else could it have been?
Kaylee: You couldn't have done it, Jayne. Nor you, Cap'n. Nobody can shoot like that that's a person.
Simon: So River's not a person.
Kaylee: Oh, please don't be mad.
(CARGO BAY – CATWALKS)
(River comes into frame, her head cocked, listening. It almost looks like she's floating.)
Simon: (os) (muffled) I just want to understand what you're saying, here. I thought River was your friend.
(Pull back to reveal that River is balanced on the catwalk railing in a ballet position.)
Kaylee: (os) She is. But Simon, the way she -- (beat) Right after, she looked at me and...
(KITCHEN AREA)
Kaylee: ...she smiled, like nothin' was wrong. Like we were playin'. Scared me.
Book: Could be she saved your life, Kaylee.
Kaylee: Oh, I'm all aware of that. And I'm not saying --
Simon: She probably didn't even know what was going on. You know, th-thought it was a game.
Jayne: Later on you can explain to me how that's a comfort. Might have to use some of that "math" we've been hearin' about.
Mal: What we got here to deal with is the larger issue. And that larger issue is we got someone on board this ship might be a danger to us. Ain't a question of whether we like her.
(HULL)
(Where our bounty hunter Early is kneeling on top of Serenity. Push in on Early to reveal that he has a listening device attached to the outer hull and can hear the conversation going on in the kitchen area clear as a bell.)
Mal: (vo) Some of us have grown attached to River. Kaylee, I know you have or you would've spoken up sooner. Which, by the by, you should have. I find River pleasant enough myself.
(KITCHEN AREA)
Mal: But she does have an oddness to her. And I ain't just talking about her proficiency with firearms. Girl knows things. Things she shouldn't. Things she couldn't.
Jayne: Wha -- are you-are you sayin' she's a witch?
Wash: Yes, Jayne. She's a witch. She has had congress with the beast.
Jayne: She's in Congress?
Wash: How did your brain even learn human speech? I'm just so curious.
Inara: [Chinese.] This isn't a joking matter. This is about our lives, and River's.
Mal: Thank you.
Simon: She's deeply intuitive. It's true that sometimes...
Mal: I don't think she's intuitive, Doctor. I think she's a reader.
Zoe: Psychic?
Wash: Is that even remotely possible?
Mal: (to Simon) You tell me. You been studying what they've done to her.
Simon: Well, they've, uh... they definitely altered the way she reacts to things. Even the way she perceives. But I'm not...
Wash: Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction.
Zoe: We live in a space ship, dear.
Wash: So?
Jayne: Whoa, back up a second. Are you saying she really reads minds?
Mal: Or near enough. Am I alone thinking along these lines?
Book: (beat) No.
Jayne: Well... (slams table) I don't like the idea of someone hearin' what I'm thinkin'.
Inara: No one likes the idea of hearing what you're thinking.
Book: The Alliance could have any number of uses for a psychic.
Zoe: A psychic, or an assassin.
Simon: She's just a kid. (beat) And she just wants to be a kid.
Mal: Wish it were that simple.
Jayne: Yeah, and if wishes were horses, we'd all be eatin' steak. What do we plan to do about this?
Mal: Well, that's just the question.
Simon: I don't think she'd ever hurt any of us.
Mal: Maybe you're right. (beat) I ain't gonna make a decision on anything 'til I've thought on it a while. It's late. Let's get some rest.
(The crew scatters as they all make their exits.)
(HALLWAY)
(Kaylee is chasing after Simon.)
Kaylee: Simon?
Simon: I have to go check on my assassin.
Kaylee: Oh, please don't be mad. I had to say something.
Simon: I'm not mad at you. I just, uh... (beat) She loves this ship. I think it's more home to her than any place she's been.
Kaylee: What about you?
Simon: I... I thought the hospital was home. I was really making a difference there... and embarrassingly large stacks of money, and... I could've... I would be there right now if she hadn't -- (beat) If-if they had just left her alone.
Kaylee: Is it so bad here?
(Kaylee's trying real hard for some kind of declaration. Simon isn't giving in, although they're standing closer and closer.)
Simon: I don't even know if the Captain will let us --
Kaylee: No! I mean... isn't there anything about this place you're glad of?
(Kaylee's looking real hopeful now, and Simon looks like he's trying hard not to hurt her. He lifts his hand to her hair, but pulls back when Book comes around the corner and passes between them.)
Book: Good night, you two.
Simon: I, uh...
Kaylee: Don't, yeah, I...
Simon: Good night.
Kaylee: Don't let the space bugs bite! (Simon goes in one direction, and Kaylee goes in the other.)(to herself) Space bugs?
(KITCHEN AREA)
(Mal is sitting at the kitchen table with a cup in front of him, looking pensive. He stands, turns off the light as he exits.)
(HALLWAY)
(We follow Mal as he walks toward his room, the corridor dark. He opens the door of his room with his foot and begins to climb down into it. Track across the hallway to a ladder leading up to an airlock. The airlock opens and Early climbs down it. He removes his helmet and draws his gun. He moves forward into Serenity. Deciding that the coast is clear, he stows his helmet in the airlock and closes it. Early turns the corner and comes face to face with Mal. They stare at each other for a second, a little bit stunned. Then Early attacks, efficiently beating the tar out of Mal and knocking him out.)
(WASH & ZOE’s ROOM)
(Wash and Zoe are sleeping peacefully. They haven't noticed the commotion above in the corridor.)
(HALLWAY)
(Early lowers an unconscious Mal into the ladder entrance of his room, shutting the door. Early then goes to a keypad and punches in a series of commands, locking the rest of the crew into their rooms while they sleep.)
(ENGINE ROOM)
(Kaylee is working on Serenity's engine when she hears a noise. She backs out from underneath the engine.)
Kaylee: River? (She stands and walks toward the door.) River?
(Kaylee bends back down and sorts through her pile of tools, standing back up to see Early standing right there. Kaylee gasps in fright.)
Early: I like this ship. Serenity. She's good looking.
Kaylee: (stuttering) H-how did you... g-get on...?
Early: Strains the mind a bit, don't it? You think you're all alone. Maybe I come down the chimney, Kaylee. Bring presents to the good girls and boys. Maybe not, though. Maybe I've always been here.
Kaylee: What do you want?
Early: (re: the engine) That's her beating heart, isn't it? Pull off any one of a thousand parts she'll just die. Such a slender thread. (beat; casually) You ever been raped?
Kaylee: (terrified) Th-the Captain is right down that hallway. He can hear you --
Early: The Captain's locked in his quarters. They all are. There's nobody can help you. Say it.
Kaylee: There's... there's nobody can help me.
Early: I'm gonna tie you up now. And you know what I'm gonna do then? I'm gonna give you a present. Get rid of a problem you've got. And I won't touch you in any wrong fashion, nor hurt you at all. Unless you make some kind of ruckus. You throw a monkey wrench into my dealings in any way, your body is forfeit. Ain't nothing but a body to me. And I can find all unseemly manner of use for it. Do you understand?
Kaylee: Yes.
Early: Turn around and put your hands behind your back. (Kaylee whimpers, but turns around. Early steps close, tying her wrists.) Now tell me, Kaylee, where does River sleep?
(COMMON AREA)
(Book shuts a door and begins walking through the common area, a towel on his shoulder and carrying a bag of toiletries. As Book passes a staircase, he hears a noise. He turns toward the stairs.)
Book: Hello?
(At the continued silence Books turns to go, but another noise stops him. He walks to the foot of the staircase, peering up into darkness. Suddenly Early swing down from above and kicks Book in the head, laying him out cold.)
(SIMON’S ROOM)
(The noise of Book hitting the floor causes Simon to wake. He turns on the light and gets out of bed, bare-chested, barefoot and wearing only a pair of house pants. He exits his room.)
(HALLWAY)
(Simon slides back the door of River's room.)
Simon: River?
(River's bed is empty. Simon turns looks around the empty hallway. Early attacks from above, wrapping his legs around Simon's neck. Simon fights back, but Early throws him to the ground. Early jumps down from his perch. Simon lunges toward him, but Early draws his gun, and they both freeze.)
Early: Dr. Tam... why don't you sit yourself down?
Simon: Rather die standing.
Early: The intention is not for you to die. The warrant doesn't specify any particular need for you to be alive, but... (Early motions with his gun. Simon sits.) Where's your sister?
Simon: Are you Alliance?
Early: Am I a lion?
Simon: What?
Early: I don't think of myself as a lion. (tickled) You might as well, though. I have a mighty roar.
Simon: I said Alliance.
Early: Oh. I thought...
Simon: No, I was...
Early: That's weird. (beat) Where's your sister?
Simon: I don't know. Who do you work for?
Early: This is her room.
Simon: Yes.
Early: It's empty.
Simon: I know.
Early: So is it still her room when it's empty? Does the room, the thing, have purpose? Or do we -- what's the word?
Simon: (baffled) I really can't help you.
Early: The plan is to take your sister. Get the reward, which is substantial. (beat) "Imbue." That's the word.
Simon: So you're a bounty hunter.
Early: No. That ain't it at all.
Simon: Then what are you?
Early: I'm a bounty hunter. I'm named Early. I'm known to some. Been tracking you since the Feds were tipped off on Ariel. (beat) She sleep with anybody?
Simon: River?
Early: Yeah. She grapple with any of the crew? Might be in their quarters?
Simon: (vehement) No.
Early: Maybe she does and you don't know about it.
Simon: This is insane. I'm not going to help you find her, in any case.
(Simon rests his arms on his knees and looks determined. Early sighs and approaches, squatting down and brandishing his gun.)
Early: I think this is very pretty. I like the weight of it.
Simon: I thought the intention was not to kill me.
Early: No. You're missing the point. The design of the thing is functional. The plan is not to shoot you. The
plan is to get the girl. If there's no girl, then the plan, well, is like the room. You are gonna help me look for her.
Simon: I don't think my last act in this 'verse is gonna be betraying my sister.
Early: You're gonna help me. 'Cause every second you're with me is the chance to turn the tables. Get the better of me. Maybe you'll find your moment. Maybe I'll slip. Or, you refuse to help me, I shoot your brain out, then I go upstairs and spend some time violatin' the little mechanic I got trussed-up in the engine room. I take no pleasure in the thought, but she will die weeping if you cross me.
Simon: You're out of your mind.
Early: That's between me and my mind. Let's start with these rooms.
(COMMON AREA)
(Book is still laying unconscious. Simon walks into the room, tugging on a sweater. Early follows behind, his gun still drawn. Simon sees Book, and runs to his side, checking him for injuries.)
Early: He's not killed. Be a while before he comes to, but he'll mend.
Simon: And which part of your plan dictated the necessity of beating up a Shepherd?
Early: That ain't a Shepherd.
(INFIRMARY)
(Simon opens the infirmary door and steps inside, Early looking in from the doorway and eventually prowling around the room.)
Simon: She wouldn't come in here anyway. She hates this room. You see, Early, the people you're planning to sell her to cut up her brain in a lab like this. Tortured her. A teenage girl. Not some bandit on a murder run, just an innocent --
Early: You ever been shot?
Simon: No.
Early: You oughta be shot. Or stabbed. Lose a leg. To be a surgeon, you know? Know what kind of pain you're dealing with. They make psychiatrists get psychoanalyzed before they can get certified, but they don't make a surgeon get cut on. That seem right to you?
(CARGO BAY)
(Close shot of a space suit helmet. Pull back to reveal Simon walking ahead of Early through the cargo bay. They walk up onto to the catwalk.)
Simon: (sing-song) Come on out, River. The nice man wants to kidnap you.
Early: Shh. (Early turns slowly on the catwalk, looking around.) I like the way the walls go out. Gives you an open feeling. Firefly is a good design. People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space.
People miss out on what's solid.
(Early has his back turned to Simon. Simon begins inching forward toward him. Early draws his gun and points it directly at Simon's head without looking around.)
Early: It's not your moment, Doctor. (beat) Is that the Companion's shuttle?
Simon: Yes.
Early: We'll try the empty first, then we'll pay her a visit.
(TIME LAPSE)
(Simon and Early exit the empty shuttle, Early giving Simon a little shove.)
Early: Her room's not sayin' a damn thing. Hold it.
(They both stop on the catwalk. Early's heard something. Early runs his hand down a metal rail. Leans forward and licks it. Looks thoughtful.)
(INARA'S SHUTTLE)
(Early is pushing aside draperies. Inara is in bed, Simon standing next to her.)
Inara: This is pointless, you know that.
Early: 200,000 seems fairly pointed to me. Money like that, I could retire. Not that I would.What's life without work?
Inara: Serenity's a smuggling ship. I've been here a year, I couldn't name all the places she might hide.
Early: I don't have a year. (to Simon)Your sister's becoming a real annoyance.
Simon: I feel for you.
(Early motions with his gun for Simon to leave. Simon reluctantly exits the shuttle.)
Early: (to Inara) I'm not gonna waste my time threatening you, because I think you believe I will kill people if someone upsets my plan. I'm gonna seal you in, though. You just sit.
Inara: You still walk away from this. I know you're tired.
(Whip-fast, Early hits Inara across the face, bloodying her lip.)
Early: (quiet anger) Don't go visiting my intentions. Don't ever. (Early steps outside the doorway, and says, as he seals the door.) Man is stronger by far than woman, yet only woman can create a child. Does that seem right to you?
(BRIDGE)
(Simon climbs up the stairs to the bridge, Early following close behind.)
Early: All right, that's all the hide and seek I got time for. (into COMM) I know you're on this ship, little girl. So here's how this goes. You show yourself...
(MAL'S ROOM)
(Mal is a crumpled heap at the foot of the ladder in his room. He stirs.)
(WASH AND ZOE'S ROOM)
(Zoe and Wash in bed. Zoe begins to wake.)
(JAYNE'S ROOM)
(Jayne in bed. Snoozing soundly.)
(BRIDGE)
(Early stands, gun drawn. Simon stands on the other side of the room.)
Early: ...we finish this exchange, or your brother's brains will be flying every which-a-way. (to Simon) You understand, I'm sort of on the clock,here. It's frustrating.
River: (vo) You're wrong, Early.
Early: I'm not wrong, dumpling. I will shoot your brother dead if you don't --
River: (vo) You're wrong about River. River's not on the ship. They didn't want her here, but she couldn't make herself leave. So she melted... Melted away. They didn't know she could do that, but she did.
(MAL'S ROOM)
(Mal is fully awake, attempting to get to his feet.)
(WASH AND ZOE'S ROOM)
(Zoe is sitting up in bed. After a moment, Wash sits up, too.)
Early: (vo) I'm not sure I take your meaning there.
(BRIDGE)
River: (vo) I'm not on the ship. I'm in the ship. (beat) I am the ship.
Simon: River...
River: (vo) River's gone.
Early: Then who exactly are we talking to?
River: (vo) You're talking to Serenity. And, Early...Serenity is very unhappy.
(ENGINE ROOM)
(Pan up Kaylee's body. She is bound hand and foot, lying on her side on a metal grate.)
River: (vo) Kaylee?
Kaylee: River?
River: (vo) You're afraid.
Kaylee: He tied me up. I don't know where he came from.
River: (vo) It's okay. It's gonna be okay.
Kaylee: I told him where you were. I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do. I...
River: (vo) Shh. I'm fine. But I need you to do something for me. Gotta be brave.
Kaylee: I'm tied up. I-I can't...
River: (vo) Got tools. Something sharp. Don't be scared. I'm right here.
(BRIDGE)
(Early and Simon are both standing, Early holding a gun on Simon.)
Early: Where'd she go?
Simon: I can't keep track of her when she's not incorporeally possessing a space ship. Don't look at me.
Early: Ah, that's some nonsensical crap. Ain't nobody can do that. You somewhere on this boat? Somewhere with a com playing games? (River laughs. Spookily.) That's somewhat unsettling.
River: (vo) Early... Mr. Jubel Early, bounty hunter. May I call you Jubel?
Early: Ain't nobody calls me that.
River: (vo) Your mother does. I'm sorry... "did." She's gone now.
Early: Is that supposed to scare me? Bringing up my mother?
River: (vo) You're a liar. I don't think your intentions are honorable.
Early: Well, no. I'm a bounty hunter. It's generally not considered honorable so much as... I live by a code, though. Which I think is worth --
River: (vo) You hurt people.
Early: Only when the job requires it.
River: (vo) Wrong. You're a bad liar. You crawl inside me uninvited and you hurt my crew. I see everything that passes --
Early: (agitated) I only hurt people because they keep getting in the way of me finding you. (to Simon) Tell her.
Simon: What am I? Your advocate?
Early: (aiming his gun) You are starting now.
Simon: (insincere) He's really very... gentle... and fuzzy. We're becoming fast friends.
(River laughs again. It's getting to Early.)
Early: You folks are all insane.
Simon: Well, my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood.
Early: Doesn't anybody care that I have a finely crafted gun pointed at this boy's head?
River: (vo) I care.
Early: Then you gonna come out and stop me from doing what I don't want to? You gonna be smart here, River? (beat) River? (beat) Serenity?
(MAL'S ROOM)
(Mal groans as he stands up and stumbles farther into his room.)
Mal: What the hell's goin' on here?
River: (vo) I need you to do me a favor, Captain.
Mal: There's a guy... he's very blurry. You gotta be careful. (beat) Oh... How come there's a guy on board, and how come you're all of a sudden the ship?
River: (vo) I know you have questions.
Mal: That would be why I just asked them.
River: (vo) But there isn't time, Captain. I need you to trust me.
Mal: Am I dreamin'?
River: (vo) We all are. (Mal rolls his eyes and makes a face.) Don't make faces.
(Mal looks a little unsettled by that.)
(HALLWAY)
(A closed door. Kaylee comes into frame.)
River: (vo) Are you ready?
(Kaylee opens the door and slips through, shutting it behind her.)
Early: (os) Just have to think, here.
(BRIDGE)
(Early is pacing. Simon sits, watching him closely.)
Early: (to Simon) These older models have locators at all?
Simon: Won't help.
Early: You know, with the exception of one deadly and unpredictable midget, this girl is the smallest cargo I've ever had to transport. Yet by far the most troublesome. Does that seem right to you?
Simon: What'd he do?
Early: Who?
Simon: The midget.
Early: Arson. The little man loved fire.
(KITCHEN AREA)
(Kaylee has crossed through the kitchen area toward the doorway that leads up to the bridge. She sneaks around the corner, nearly catching Early's attention, but makes it to a control panel and types in the release code, unlocking the rest of the crew from their bunks.)
(WASH AND ZOE'S ROOM)
(Zoe is getting dressed in a big hurry.)
Zoe: I can take this guy out.
River: (vo) He's faster than you -- all of you. And he's wearing armor.
Wash: What about his face? Is his face wearing armor?
(Zoe cocks her shotgun.)
River: (vo) No touching guns!
(MAL'S ROOM)
River: (vo) It's soon now. Are you ready?
Mal: How do you know what this guy's gonna do?
River: (vo) I'm very close to him. He doesn't even see it.
Mal: Okay, but...
River: (vo) Go now!
(Despite his hesitations, Mal immediately turns and goes up the ladder to the corridor.)
(BRIDGE)
(Early is still working on locating River when the power suddenly shuts down. In the distance, we can see Mal climb out of his room and back down the corridor, disappearing around a corner.)
River: (vo) You're not welcome here anymore, Early.
Early: You think I'm gonna leave empty-handed?
River: (vo) I know it.
Early: Yeah, well, you know me real well.
River: (vo) Wish I didn't. You like to hurt folk.
Early: It's part of the job.
River: (vo) It's why you took the job. Power. Control. Pain. (beat) Your mother knew. Sadness in her when she aved good-bye. She's relieved. Saw darkness in you. (beat) You're not well.
(Quick flash of Early making crazy, terrible faces.)
Early: You'll be wanting to shut up now.
River: (vo) Big golden retriever sitting on the lawn... Never took to you...(More quick flashes of Early making with the crazy faces.) ...smelling you. The neighbors pets -- you did things to 'em. Cleaned up after... shined and polished. Everything in here gleams.
Early: Well, I'll be a son of a whore. You're not in my gorram mind. You're on my gorram ship!
(EARLY’S SHIP)
(Push in to see River sitting in the pilot's chair of Early's ship. She's wearing a space suit without a helmet. River laughs.)
River: It's very interesting... all these buttons.
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
Early: Okay... We're not touching those, okay? (to Simon) How the hell she get on my ship?
(EARLY'S SHIP)
River: Put the gun away.
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
Early: Okay... (beat) I'm putting the gun away.
Simon: No... he's not.
Early: I'm putting it away... because we're all reasonable people.
(EARLY'S SHIP)
(Focus on River.)
Early: (os) Don't wanna be doing anything rash...
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
Early: ...fiddling with any dials.
(EARLY'S SHIP)
River: You're not right, Early. You're not righteous. You've got issues.
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
Early: No. (then) Oh, yes, I could have that. You might have me figured out, then. Good job. I'm not 100%.
(EARLY'S SHIP)
River: You talk too much.
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
Early: I'm flawed in that way. I sometimes go on. It's been said...
(EARLY'S SHIP)
River: It's okay, Early. I'm going with you.
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
Simon: River, what are you --
(EARLY'S SHIP)
River: Don't belong. Dangerous, like you. Can't be controlled. Can't be trusted.
(SERENITY - WASH AND ZOE'S ROOM)
(Wash and Zoe react.)
(EARLY'S SHIP)
River: Everyone could just go on without me and not have to worry.
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
(Simon reacts.)
River: (vo) People could be what they wanted to be.
(COMMON AREA)
(Kaylee sits by Book, who has woken up.)
River: (vo) Could be with the people they wanted.
(EARLY'S SHIP)
River: Live simple.
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
(Simon reacts.)
River: (vo) No secrets.
Simon: No...
(EARLY'S SHIP)
River: (smiles) I'll be fine. (to Early) I'll be your bounty, Jubel Early.
(SERENITY – BRIDGE)
River: (vo) And I'll just fade away.
Early: (sighs) Well... Finally something goes according to --
(Simon lunges at Early. They fight.)
(EARLY'S SHIP)
River: Simon?
(The fight's pretty much over before it's begun, the sound of a gun discharging. Simon looks startled, hunching over. River screams. Pan up Simon's body on the floor of the bridge, a gunshot wound about mid-thigh on his left leg.)
Early: See? That's what it feels like.
(HALLWAY)
(Early exits the bridge and goes down a flight of stairs.)
Early: Just hang tight, darlin'. Early's on the move.
(Simon tackles Early from behind, knocking them both to the ground. Early throws Simon off and knocks him back against the stairs.)
(JAYNE'S ROOM)
(The commotion wakes Jayne out of a sound slumber. He looks up grumpily, rips the blanket off the wall to reveal a weapons cache to uplifting hero music, then raps the blanket around himself and tucks it over his head.)
(HALLWAY)
(Simon and Early fight, but even without the gunshot wound it's terribly one-sided. Simon gets knocked down again and can't get up. Early grimaces and takes off down the hallway.)
River: (vo) Shh. It's okay.
(AIRLOCK)
(An airlock opens. Early exits Serenity wearing his space helmet. He stands and looks up at his ship.)
Early: You made the right move, darlin'. Best for you to go on with old Early.
(Widen the shot a bit to reveal Mal standing right behind Early.)
Mal: You think so? Some of us feel differently.
(Mal reaches out and pushes Early hard. Early lifts up into space, free-falling fast and out of control into space, shooting past his own ship. River exits Early's ship and pushes off, floating down toward Serenity as Early's ship takes off on some autopilot sequence River presumably coded while she was in there. Mal waits below on Serenity, catching and steadying her as she comes in reach. He holds her hands.)
River: (vo) Permission to come aboard?
Mal: You know, you ain't quite right.
River: (vo) It's the popular theory.
Mal: Go on. Get in there. Give your brother a thrashing for messing up your plan.
River: (vo) He takes so much looking after.
(INFIRMARY)
(Simon is sitting on an operating chair holding a camera to his wound. "Doctor Zoe" has surgical tools in her hands, bloody gloves, and a seriously uncomfortable look on her face.)
Simon: To the left. Your left. Okay, now very gently pull that aside.
Zoe: This is really not my area of expertise, Doctor. I tend to be putting these into people, more than the other thing.
Wash: Can I mop your brow? I am at the ready with the fearsome brow-mop.
Simon: You got the bullet. (beat) Okaaay. I'm just gonna pass out for a minute, but you're doing great.
(COMMON ROOM/INFIRMARY)
(Mal and Inara enter the frame, standing outside the infirmary door.)
Mal: And we live to fight another day.
Inara: Any chance that [shiong-muh duh kuang-ren -"violent lunatic"] might survive?
Mal: Air he had left I'd say his chance would have to be one in... a very large number. Ain't odds I'd play. How's your lip?
(Mal reaches out to touch her cut lip. Inara grabs his hand as it touches her. They share a moment. She backs away and exits via the stairs.)
Book: (os) I just feel like such a fool.
Jayne: (os) Yeah, all those years of priest trainin', taken out by one bounty hunter.
(CARGO BAY)
(Book and Jayne are coming down the stairs, prepared to work out with the weight bench.)
Book: Don't get me wrong. I gave him a hell of a fight.
Jayne: Epic, I'm guessing.
Book: There'll be poems and songs, just you wait.
(Jayne sits down to lift. Book moves to spot him.)
Jayne: At least you got some play. I missed every damn thing.
Kaylee: (os) And his folks come by to fetch him, and it turns out he's, like, 14 years old. (Pan left to reveal Kaylee and River sitting on the cargo bay floor. They're playing jacks.)(laughs) I mean, he must've been some kind of genetic experiment, 'cause, I swear this guy was, uh... (waggles eyebrows) Oh, my daddy whipped me so hard. (Kaylee bounces the ball and picks up some jacks.) Oh... I'm at fours. Let's see you match that.
(River takes the ball, looks hard at the jacks on the floor.)
River: I can win this.
Kaylee: Oh, I'm hearin' a lot of talk there, genius. Come on -- show me what you got.
(Close in on River's face as she stares at the little rubber ball. We follow the ball down as it bounces, down through the floor of Serenity, out into space. Serenity passes by in the distance and we float until
Early comes into frame, tilting over and over in space.)
Early: Well, here I am.
(Hold on him for a moment, then BLACKOUT.)