When we last left off, The First Evil (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) brought its figurative "right-hand man," Caleb back to life and plotted to recruit the widely sought after River (Firefly/Serenity). Then, the First tricked Jayne (Firefly/Serenity) to aid it in its scheme. And now Parts 3-5 of Malcolm Reynolds Vs. Caleb.
3.
“That ain’t good.” Mal said, staring at Serenity’s navigation coordinates. “That is very not good.” The coordinates had been locked and he hadn’t the foggiest idea of how to undo what was done. He had no idea of where to start. He was split between two thoughts, racing down the hallways in search of River and staying put and figuring the problem out. He was getting nowhere with the latter, but River had found thousands of little nooks and crannies to hide in on Serenity. He’d spend his time better looking for a needle in a haystack. The thought came to him all at once and he was racing down the hallways screaming Kaylee’s name.
She was normally where he could find her and she’d be at least a little useful in this situation. He spilled into the engine room and then screamed out in horror. Kaylee and Simon scrambled to untangle themselves from one another and gather their clothing. Mal kept his gaze toward the doorway.
“Captain…I…I.. was just helping Kaylee…”
“Simon, I will shoot you if you talk to me without pants on.” Simon silenced himself at once, hurrying into his black slacks.
“What seems to be the problem, Captain?” Kaylee asked, laughing slightly at Simon’s discomfort.
“Somebody, probably your moon-brained sister…” Mal said, pointing a finger at Simon. “…locked coordinates to god knows where. I don’t like it when my boat does things I didn’t tell it to do.”
“I’ll go up and see what I can do, Captain.” Kaylee said, skirting pass Mal.
“Simon, see if you can’t find out where your sister is. Maybe she can undo what she’s done.”
“If she did it.” Simon added.
“Go find her, please.” Mal said. Simon moved past him and down the hallway. Mal took a moment to process what he’d just seen and then he was off to the cockpit to see what could be done.
The cockpit was the way he had left it, completely empty. Kaylee had a head start, should have been in by now, working the problem, but she wasn’t. Little did Mal know, she was near, just unconscious.
4.
“I wish I didn’t have to do that.” Jayne said, tucking Kaylee into a crate like a parent might tuck in a child.
“I know it.” The first said, grimacing down at Kaylee. “But she was the only one that could undo what we’ve done. She’ll wake up with a headache, I swear. You didn’t hit her that hard.”
“Still don’t feel right.” Jayne said, closing the crate.
“You’ll feel better about it in time.” The first said.
“What did you have me do to those lifeboats?” Jayne asked.
“Just me being nit-picky. I’d been after Mal to make minor repairs on them. The things that bother you when you’re dead.”
5.
Serenity drifted like a leaf on the wind as Wash once said, moving ever closer to Reaver space. Mal and Zoe fumbled with the navigational controls, trying their hardest to stop what would happen anyway. Kaylee slept securely in her hiding place and Simon called looked for River in all the places he knew she liked to hide. River couldn’t hear his calls, because she had her hands clasped over her ears. Dead people were whispering horrible things to her.
Serenity arrived at her destination after Mal had ordered the crew into the lifeboats and came to realize that both had been disabled. Mal had the sense that he’d led his crew to the gallows. Though, he had no idea what it was, he was sure he’d failed them. They were coming on Death. That notion might have been close enough to the truth, but it didn’t look like Death when they came upon it. It looked like Mal, only dressed up like a Shepherd.
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