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Sgt.
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, Zoë, and several fellow soldiers are part of an attempt to hold off the Alliance from taking Serenity
Valley. Mal sends a squadron up to high ground while he, Zoë, and another soldier,
Bendis, are to capture an alliance artillery in order to take out a skiff. Despite Bendis's incompetence, Zoë is able to provide
the cover fire Mal needs, and he succeeds in commandeering the weapon and shooting down the skiff. However, the air support
that they need to get out of the valley does not arrive. Instead, the Alliance
has taken the valley, and the rebels are ordered by their command to surrender. Mal is now captain of his own transport ship, the Firefly-class Serenity, and Zoë is his second-in-command.
He, Zoë, and Jayne are attempting to melt open the hatch of an abandoned wreck of a carrier in space. Wash
is on Serenity in the pilot's station keeping watch when he detects an Alliance
cruiser, the I.A.V. Dortmunder, approaching them and the wreck. He contacts Mal, who tells him to cut all power on Serenity
to escape detection. Wash tells the ship's engineer, Kaylee, to shut everything
down. The cruiser detects some residual heat from Serenity, and they actively begin scanning. Caught in the act, the Serenity
crew double-times loading the cargo while the cruiser deploys gunships to stop them. Mal has Wash
engage the "cry-baby", a decoy distress beacon whose transmission is mistaken by the Dortmunder to be another ship in trouble.
Mal gets his team and cargo on board and signals Wash, who turns Serenity away
from the cruiser and speeds away. The cruiser halts deployment of the gunships so that it can go help the "other ship", but
does put out a bulletin that a Firefly-class ship is carrying stolen Alliance
goods. Inspecting the cargo, Mal seems troubled by the fact
that the cargo, which consists of hundreds of unidentified bars, are stamped by the Alliance.
The crew starts hiding the cargo as Mal has Zoë contact Badger, their contact on Persephone, that the job is done. Zoë and
Wash leave for the bridge. Mal announces that they will be taking on passengers
on Persephone before heading to Boros. Mal asks if Inara has checked in, and when he is told she hasn't, he asks them to let
her know that a speedy departure from Persephone might be needed. Inara,
apparently a prostitute, finishes up her session with an unworldly young Alliance
officer. Inara contacts Serenity and is instructed to meet at the Eavesdown Docks. Serenity lands on Persephone and the various crew members split up; Kaylee stays around to find passengers,
Wash takes Serenity's utility vehicle to get supplies, and Mal, Zoë, and Jayne
go to speak with Badger. Badger is not happy that Mal's team got caught in the salvage operation, even though they weren't
identified, because the cargo is "molecularly stamped" and can be traced. He refuses to take the cargo or pay for it, much
to the anger of Serenity's crew. A pious religious man named
Shepherd Book encounters Kaylee, who notices that he's looking at the ships and not their destinations. He tells her that
he's a "shepherd" from the Southdown Abbey, has been there for awhile, and has decided it's time for him to be "in the world".
He's got a little bit of money, but he also has something in a small box which he shows her. Mal and company discuss how to unload their cargo while returning to Serenity. Despite being shot by her in
the past, Mal decides to try selling it to a woman named Patience on a planet called Whitefall, despite Zoe's objections.
As the crew all arrive at Serenity new passengers are coming on board, including a man named Dobson, and a wealthy doctor
named Simon. Zoë is not happy about having a bunch of passengers sitting on top of their stolen cargo, but Mal quietly laughs
it off. Inara arrives in her shuttle, and the crew and passengers prepare to take off. In flight, Mal, Kaylee, and Zoë lay out the ground rules. Mal, who appears to be antireligious, learns that
Book is a shepherd, but Kaylee assures everyone that it's not a problem. Wash arrives and Mal covers up the illicit nature
of their impending transaction by telling the passengers that the ship's been ordered by the Alliance to take some medical
supplies to Whitefall, the fourth moon of Athens, so they'll be going there before heading off to Boros. In the cargo bay, Inara exits her shuttle and Mal introduces her to Book, referring
to her somewhat half-seriously as an "ambassador". Book takes this literally, which Mal finds amusing. When Mal explains that
she is a "whore", Kaylee corrects him that the term is "Companion". Mal goes on to explain that in some ways a Companion is
an ambassador, since her respectable and high-class presence causes doors to open that would otherwise be closed; Companions,
it seems, have more in common with geisha or courtesans than street hookers. Mal baits Book a little more before Inara politely
returns to her shuttle (although she does have a few stinging words for Mal). Kaylee starts making dinner and we see that Book's box contains ripe strawberries, one of which Kaylee eats
lovingly. Later, the passengers and most of the crew settle down to dinner, Zoë taking a plate to Wash
on the bridge. Book asks if he can say Grace, and Mal replies only if it's not out loud. After grace, Simon asks if the Alliance
often commandeers Serenity, and the passengers and crew talk about the political climate and physical difficulties of the
border worlds. Kaylee seems to be taken by Simon, which amuses Jayne, who makes a couple of rude comments on it. Mal reacts
by ordering him out of the dining area. Inara is in her shuttle
giving herself a sponge bath when Book arrives with some supper. He's a little embarrassed and Inara covers up, expecting
a sermon on her wickedness. He puts her at ease with slightly self-deprecating humour, and they move on to discussing the
mystery that is Malcolm Reynolds. Meanwhile, Wash summons Mal to the bridge.
Arriving on the bridge, Wash tells Mal that someone on board sent a message
to an Alliance cruiser. He scrambled it as best he could, but still, there's a
mole on the ship. Thinking Simon is the mole, Mal finds him
in the cargo bay inspecting a large high-tech crate and confronts him at gunpoint, accusing him of being a "Fed", or member
of the Alliance. Book appears, and points out to Mal that Dobson is on a catwalk,
pointing a gun at Mal and Simon. Dobson informs Simon that he is bound by law, the customary statement made when Alliance
authorities arrest someone. Apparently Simon is wanted by the Alliance for something.
Mal urges Simon to stand down while Book tries to calm everyone down. Kaylee and Jayne suddenly enter, and Dobson reacts by
shooting Kaylee in the stomach. Mal and Book overpower Dobson, and Simon goes to Kaylee's side to look at her wound. Jayne
makes to shoot Dobson, but Book refuses to let him do so. Zoe appears and orders Jayne to tie up Dobson. Mal intends to hand
Simon over to an Alliance cruiser, but Simon threatens to not treat Kaylee if
he does so and tells Mal to flee. Mal reluctantly agrees. Simon
works on Kaylee in the infirmary, removing the bullet, but tells Mal that only time will tell if she will heal fully. Curious
as to why the Alliance wanted Simon, Mal goes to the cargo bay, opens Simon's
crate, and finds a young nude woman inside. Mal assumes that she is a slave, but after the woman gains consciousness and starts
screaming, Simon goes to her to calm her down, explaining to the others that the woman is River Tam, his sister. Later, he
further explains that she was born with a gifted intellect in diverse fields such as physics and dance, dwarfing his own talents,
and that she was sent to an Alliance-funded academy where she was subject to some unspecified experiments. Simon rescued her
from the Alliance's clutches and is on the run trying to protect her from them.
Inara tells Mal that if he expels Simon and River from the ship, that she'll leave too. Mal decides to proceed with the stolen
goods sale to Patience on Whitefall. Jayne interrogates Dobson
to find out how much he was able to tell the Alliance about them and their destination
before his transmission was cut. Dobson offers a bribe to Jayne, telling him that the Alliance
will give him enough money for him to buy his own ship if he releases him. Wash
tells Mal that a Reaver ship is approaching. Zoe explains to Simon that if the Reavers (whom Simon has only heard about in
apocryphal stories) board the ship, everyone on Serenity will be raped to death, cannibalized, and have their skin sewn into
the insides of the Reavers' clothing, and if they're lucky, in that order. Luckily, the Reaver ship passes by. In her shuttle, Inara gives Simon some of her immunization packs. Simon apologizes
for his part in the current situation. Inara explains that he fits in with the rest of the crew. Mal arrives, and when Inara
tells him that he's on her shuttle, Mal points out that she is merely renting the shuttle from him. She replies that he can
enter it at will when she falls behind on rent. On the bridge,
Mal and Patience exchange some pleasantries as their exchange looms, but Mal thinks she's planning to shoot him again. Meanwhile,
Dobson is cutting through his bindings. Serenity lands on
Whitefall. Mal and Zoe walk out into a valley to meet Patience and her henchmen. A sniper working for Patience keeps Mal in
his crosshairs, but is ambushed by Jayne, who takes up the sniper's position himself. Mal gives Patience a sample of the cargo,
which turns out to be nutritional/immunization bars, each one of which can feed an entire family for a month. Patience attempts
to renege on the deal, but Jayne, Mal and Zoe dispatch Patience and her gang, taking the money they were promised. When Book goes to see Dobson, Dobson attacks Book, knocking him out. He goes
to the infirmary and grabs River, but is discovered by Simon, who jumps from the catwalk over the cargo bay. Meanwhile, Jayne
informs Mal and Zoe that the Reavers have followed them. After a brief struggle, Dobson gets hold of a gun and points it at
Simon, but Mal arrives and shoots Dobson. They dump him off the ship as they prepare to leave, the Reavers on their tail.
Mal orders the passengers to Inara's shuttle as Jayne carries the still-convalescing Kaylee to the engine room. With Book
carrying out Kaylee's instructions and Wash's superb flying, Serenity pulls
a "Crazy Ivan" manoeuvre, enveloping the Reaver ship in a fireball ignited by their exhaust, allowing them to escape.
Book goes to Inara and, in essence, confesses that he's terribly
lost and might be on the wrong ship. Inara thinks he just might be exactly where he ought to be. On the bridge, Jayne tells Mal that River's in danger and that Dobson had told him the Alliance
will keep after her. Mal asks if Dobson tried to bribe him, to which Jayne let him know it wasn't enough of a bribe, and that
it'll be an interesting day if the bribe is ever big enough. Jayne leaves as Simon enters. Mal suggests to Simon that he and
River might be safer on the move than hiding in one place, and points out that Serenity is always moving, and in need of a
medic. Simon accepts his offer.
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