Out of Gas
(SPACE)
(Serenity sits motionless in space. No lights. No movement. No people.)
(SERENITY - UPPER DECKS)
(Various shots of the ship. The cockpit: empty. The upper decks: empty. The kitchen area is empty of people, but dishes and food still clutter the table. The engine room. The entrance and walls are scorched. The big turbine isn't turning.)
(BELOW DECKS)
(All the loose contents of the ship look like they've been tossed, bins and boxes and clutter strewn everyone. Still no one in sight.)
(CARGO BAY)
(More debris. More strewn cargo. Then Mal falls into frame, landing hard on the cargo bay floor. Pale and sweaty. And alone. He's obviously in extreme pain, struggling to stay conscious. As the camera pushes in on his face, we start to hear voices.)
Salesman: (os) A real beauty, ain't she? Yes, sir. A right smart purchase, this vessel. Tell you what, you buy this ship, treat her proper, she'll be with ya for the rest of your life.
(Then the we hear the sound of the airlock doors opening. Light hits him in the face, blinding him.)
(BIG FLASHBACK)
(CARGO BAY)
(The airlock doors open, revealing two figures, silhouetted by sunlight, blue sky behind them. The figures step onto the ship -- and now we see that it's Mal and Zoe. They enter the cargo bay. The cargo bay itself is now totally empty. Everything is covered with a thick layer of dust.)
Mal: Well?
Zoe: (looking) You paid money for this, sir? On purpose?
Mal: What? Come on, seriously, Zoe. Whaddya think?
Zoe: Honestly, sir. I think you got robbed.
Mal: Robbed? What, no. What do you mean?
Zoe: It's a piece of (in Chinese) junk.
Mal: (in Chinese) Junk? (in English) Okay. She won't be winning any beauty contests anytime soon. But she is solid. Ship like this, be with ya 'til the day you die.
Zoe: 'Cause it's a deathtrap.
Mal: That's not... you are very much lacking in imagination.
Zoe: I imagine that's so, sir.
Mal: C'mon. You ain't even seen most of it. I'll show you the rest. (as they go) And try to see past what she is, and on to what she can be.
Zoe: What's that, sir?
Mal: Freedom, is what.
Zoe: (pointing) No, I meant what's that?
(He looks down.)
Mal: Oh. Yeah. Just step around it. I think something must've been living in here. I tell ya, Zoe, we find ourselves a mechanic, get her running again. Hire a good pilot. Maybe even a cook. Live like real people. Small crew, them as feel the need to be free. Take jobs as they come -- and we'll never be under the heel of nobody ever again. No matter how long the arm of the Alliance might get, we'll just get ourselves a little further.
Zoe: Get her running again?
Mal: Yeah.
Zoe: So not running now?
Mal: Not so much.
Zoe: Ah.
Mal: But she will. (He moves deeper into the ship. She follows. The camera doesn't.) I already know what I'm gonna call her. (They disappear off screen.) Got a named all picked out...
(That last bit trailing off as their footsteps recede and their voices fade. As the laughter echoes and fades the camera moves to a tight face in the foreground.)
(CARGO BAY PRESENT DAY)
(Mal is curled up on the floor, in obvious pain. The camera moves down through the floor to reveal that Mal is laying on top of a grate. A thick drop of Mal's blood drips through the grating. He struggles, forces himself to rise with great gasping and obvious pain. He grabs an engine part that's sitting next to him on the floor, moves off slowly.)
(DINING AREA FLASHBACK)
(Everyone, minus Wash, is sitting around the table having dinner. They are all laughing. Its clear that this is a more recent flashback.)
Zoe: (laughing) No! That is not true. No.
Book: I swear it is!
Inara: Surely one of you must have told him!
Book: No! Not one among the brethren had the heart to say anything. He was so proud!
(Everyone laughs. Wash enters from the bridge.)
Wash: What? What was he proud of? Who he?
Book: Looked rather natty, truth be told, you know !
(Another explosion of laughter. Wash is anxious to be let in on the joke.)
Wash: What was natty? (as he sits) I want to hear about the natty thing. (reaches for serving bowl)
(Book gets his laughter under control and takes a drink.)
Kaylee: Shepherd Book was just tellin' us funny stories about his life at the monastery.
Wash: Monastic humor. I miss out on all the fun. (sees serving bowl is empty) And all the food, too, apparently...
Zoe: Just who do you think you're married to? (She lifts a napkin off a plate piled with food.) Voila!
Wash: I love my wife.
(He kisses her.)
Mal: So we got a course set?
Wash: We do. Took a little creative navigating, but we should make it all the way to Greenleaf without running afoul of any Alliance patrols. Or a single living soul, for that matter.
Mal: Good. Way it should be.
Wash: 'course, what should be an 18 hour trip's gonna take us the better part of a week by this route.
Mal: We're in no rush. I like an easy, languorous journey.
(Kaylee rises, picks up some plates.)
Kaylee: Oh, gee, I wonder what that would that be like?
Simon: (moves to assist) Let me help you with that --
Kaylee: It's your turn.
Simon: (clueless) My turn...?
Kaylee: Shepherd told a funny story 'bout bein' a preacher. Now you tell a funny story about being a doctor.
Simon: A funny story...
Jayne: Yeah, 'cos sick people are hi-larious.
Simon: Well, they can be... uh... (chuckles) In fact, I remember there was this one time I was working the E.R. and this, this, uh, fellow, this very upright sort of citizen, comes in complaining of...
Jayne: (interrupts) Now Inara -- she's gotta have some real funny whorin' stories, I'd wager.
Inara: Oh! Do I ever! Funny and sexy. You have no idea. (then) And you never will. (Zoe snorts.) I don't discuss my clients.
Jayne: Aww, come on, Inara. Who'd know?
Inara: You. (then) A Companion doesn't kiss and tell.
Mal: So there is kissing?
(She shoots him a look. He smiles back. He wasn't being malicious.)
Zoe: Hey, doc? (He looks at her.) I think Kaylee may need your help after all.
(He turns and is surprised to see her carrying aloft a ship-made birthday cake with mismatched candles.)
Kaylee: Care to make the first incision, Doctor Tam? (then) Happy birthday, Simon.
Everyone: (variously) Happy birthday! Yeah, many more. Happy Birthday, son.
(Simon reacts, taken aback.)
Simon: Well this is... How - how did you know? (glances to:) River, did you -- ?
River: "Day" is a vestigial mode of time measurement based on solar cycles. It's not applicable. (then) I didn't get you anything.
Mal: Seems a fresh warrant for your arrest come up on the cortex. Had your birth date attached right to it.
Simon: (worried) Really?
Kaylee: (re: the cake) Hope you like it. Couldn't get a hold of no flour, so it's mostly protein. In fact, it's pretty much what we just had for supper. But I tried to get the frosting as chocolatey tasting as possible, so...
(He looks at Kaylee.)
Simon: Thank you. I'm really - I'm very deeply moved. Thank you.
Jayne: Well deeply move yourself over there and blow out them candles so we can try a slice.
Kaylee: Come on, Doc. Give a good blow.
(He smiles, nods, leans forward, is about to blow out the candles, when something makes a bad noise deep inside the ship. A grinding back near the engine. The power dims and flickers, the engine stops. A beat. They all pause. Then the familiar hum of the engines again.)
Jayne: What the hell was that?
Kaylee: Maybe just a hiccup. I'll go check it out.
(She sets down the cake on the counter. Starts to move off.)
Wash: (rising) I'll take a look at the helm.
(Now he heads off toward the bridge. River is staring at the cake.)
River: Fire...
(Simon glances at her, then back to the cake. The candles.)
Simon: Okay, right.
(He leans in to blow out the candles as Kaylee is stepping up to the door. There is a huge explosion from the back of the ship, at the engine room. Zoe is on her feet in an instant. She lunges for Kaylee as a giant ball of fire roils from the back of the ship, filling the corridor. Zoe shoves Kaylee clear of the doorway, but the fireball bursts at the doorway and Zoe is knocked back hard by the concussion of the blast, her body glancing off the dinner table, then hitting a wall. Wash comes running back.)
Wash: Zoe!
(Everyone's disoriented. Wash flies to his wife's side. Inara and Book move to Kaylee, who was shoved out of the way. Another fireball explodes toward the kitchen area when Mal forces the big metal door shut, latches it just before it hits. He's knocked back by the blast that impacts on the other side of the closed door.)
River: Fire! Fire!
(Mal turns, sees that Simon is already with Wash by Zoe.)
Wash: Zoe, honey, talk to me -- you gotta talk to me, baby...
(Mal passes Jayne as he moves toward the bridge.)
Mal: Seal off everything that leads below decks. Do it now!
(Jayne moves to do that immediately. Mal runs to the bridge.)
(BRIDGE)
(Mal works some controls on the console.)
(SPACE)
(The ramp lowers into space.)
(SERENITY - ENGINE ROOM)
(The fire rages.)
(DINING AREA)
(Wash is panicky while Simon works on Zoe.)
Wash: Is she gonna be okay?
Simon: I need my med kit.
(Simon rises, turns toward the aftdeck, sees that the door is shut.)
Kaylee: (shakes her head) Not this way. We got fire.
(He turns, moves to the foredeck. Jayne is just coming up from around the corner where he's sealed off that exit.)
Jayne: Where you think you're going?
Simon: Zoe's badly hurt. I need my medical supplies.
Jayne: Sorry, Doc. Nobody leaves. Everything's sealed up tight.
Simon: If you don't let me through, she could die.
Jayne: I let you through -- we all die.
(Stand off.)
(BRIDGE)
(Mal continues to work the ship's controls.)
(CARGO BAY)
(The airlock doors open.)
(ENGINE ROOM)
(The fire is sucked down toward the lower deck, toward the vacuum of space.)
(CARGO BAY)
(The fire goes roaring through the cargo bay and, along with some loose cargo, is spit out into space.)
(SPACE)
(The fire shoots out of the cargo bay, dissipating in cold space.)
(SERENITY BRIDGE)
(Mal watches through the bridge window as the fire shoots out, extinguishing itself in the vacuum.)
(CARGO BAY)
(As the ramp closes and the air lock doors close.)
(STAIRWELL PRESENT DAY)
(Serenity's dark. An injured MAL is stumbling down the steps toward the infirmary, engine part clutched in his hand. He opens the infirmary doors.)
(INFIRMARY FLASHBACK)
(The infirmary door is shoved open and an uninjured Mal, Wash and Jayne carry in the unconscious Zoe, place her on the examination table. Simon gets right to work. Everyone else is close at hand, variously in the infirmary and lingering outside in the common area.)
Simon: There's no sign of burning. It must be internal. I'll have to do a scan.
Wash: Baby. Zoe, can you hear me? Zoe. Come on, sweetheart, talk to me. Zoe. Come on, talk to me. Look at me, sweet--
(Simon starts hooking her up to his equipment. Wash at his side, concern etched on his face. Mal fades back, away from the activity.)
(COMMON AREA)
(Kaylee is hovering just outside the door of the infirmary in the common area. Mal approaches her.)
Mal: Kaylee. Kaylee, look at me. (She does.) I need you up in the engine room figuring out what caused this.
Kaylee: (feeling it) She ain't movin'. (Mal glances from Kaylee to Zoe through the glass. His attention is drawn back to Kaylee by
) Serenity's not movin'.
Mal: I know it. Which is why we need to suss out what it was happened so we can get her going again, right? (she nods) Think you can do that?
Kaylee: Yes, Cap'n.
Mal: That's a good girl.
(Kaylee gathers herself, heads off. Mal turns his attention back to the Infirmary.)
(INFIRMARY)
(Simon works on Zoe. Wash is at his wife's side, panicky.)
Wash: Come on, baby. You're strong. Strongest person I've ever met. You can do this.
Jayne: She gonna make it?
Simon: Please. I need to work.
(Mal appears at the door.)
Mal: Wash. (Wash won't look away from his wife.) Wash, I need you on the bridge.
Wash: Zoe's hurt.
Mal: And the doctor's gonna do everything he can. Meantime, I gotta have you on that bridge. We need to know how bad it is.
Wash: (turning) How bad? It's bad, okay, sir? My wife may be dying, here. So my feeling is it's pretty damn bad.
Mal: Wash...
Wash: I'm not leaving her side, Mal. Don't ask me again.
Mal: (flatly) I wasn't asking. I was telling.
Wash: (in Chinese) Screw you.
(Mal sighs. Reaches in, grabs Wash by the shirt, swings him around, shoves him up against a wall.)
Mal: You're gonna get to the bridge and get us on our feet.
(Beat. Mal eases off. Wash's back is now to the infirmary door. Wash goes to the bridge, still angry and upset. Mal looks back to the faces looking back at him, then he exits, too.)
(BRIDGE BIG FLASHBACK)
(Wash's pilot's chair is empty. The camera moves off that to find Wash on his back, examining the cockpit innards. His face is obscured from us.)
Wash: (calmly) Yeah. This is all very do-able.
(Wash slides out -- and the first thing we notice is the big moustache and the flat hair. Along with the Hawaiian shirt. He stands and now we see, outside the cockpit windows, blue sky. Serenity's parked someplace on a planet.)
Wash: Shouldn't be a problem at all. A few modifications, get some real maneuverability out of this boat. You'd be surprised.
(Mal and Zoe stand at the cockpit door as Wash looks the vessel over.)
Mal: So you'll take the job, then?
(As Wash sits into the pilot's chair, gives it a little swivel.)
Wash: Might do, might do. Think I'm startin' to get a feel here.
Mal: Good. Well, take your time. Make yourself to home. Just, uh fiddle with the dials, there. We'll be nearby.
(Wash swivels away from them. Fiddles with dials. Mal and Zoe move away from the cockpit down the foredeck, toward the dining area as they confer.)
Mal: He's great, ain't he?
Zoe: I don't like him.
Mal: (taken aback) What?
Zoe: Something about him bothers me.
Mal: What? What about him bothers you?
Zoe: I'm not sure. It's just... something.
Mal: Well, your "something" comes up against a list of recommendations long as my leg. Tanaka raved about the guy. Renshaw's been trying to get him on his crew for a month. And we need us a pilot.
Zoe: I understand, sir. He bothers me.
Mal: Look, we finally got ourselves a genius mechanic. It's about time we hired someone to fly the damn thing.
(A buff blond guy, Bester, passes through frame.)
Bester: (nodding) "Genius." No one's ever called me that before. Shiny.
(Zoe ignores Bester, still thinking about Wash.)
Zoe: (shrugs; to Mal) Just bothers me.
(INFIRMARY RECENT FLASHBACK)
(The heart monitor starts to beep an alert. Zoe's hooked up to the equipment now. Simon reacts.)
Simon: Her heart's stopped...
(Inara, Jayne, and Book look on helplessly.)
Book: Maybe someone should get her husband down here.
Mal: No. (They see Mal has appeared. He moves into the infirmary. Simon's racing around the infirmary, grabbing things.) What do you need, doc?
(Simon points to a drawer with one hand as he picks up a vial with another.)
Simon: That drawer. Right there -- (Mal pulls it open. Sees a large sterile hypo.) That's the one.
He hands it to Simon, who doses it up.
Inara: What is it?
Simon: Pure adrenaline.
(Simon readies himself, poises the needle right over Zoe's heart. Inara cringes and turns away. Simon plunges the needle in. Zoe's body jolts.)
(INFIRMARY PRESENT DAY)
(Mal yells in pain. He's alone in the infirmary, sitting on the edge of the examination table, wrapping a bandage around his midsection. It's already stained with blood. He breathes hard, then tries to rise. He nearly passes out from that. He manages to steady himself, moves to the counter, rummages around in some of Simon's supplies -- comes up with another needle like we saw Simon shoot up Zoe with. He injects himself, reacts violently. His eyes wide, wide awake. He falls back, hands shaking. Push in on his hand as he drops the needle.)
Kaylee: (os) Cap?
(INFIRMARY RECENT FLASHBACK)
(An uninjured Mal turns away from the table where Zoe lies. Now the medical monitor beeps a constant, steady rhythm. Mal moves to Kaylee at the infirmary door. She looks pale, worried. They move toward the common area.)
(COMMON AREA)
Kaylee: Zoe gonna be okay?
Mal: You let the doctor worry about Zoe. Come on. Tell me what you know.
Kaylee: Catalyzer on the port compression coil blew. That's where the trouble started.
Mal: I need that in Captain Dummy-Talk, Kaylee.
Kaylee: We're dead in the water.
Mal: Can you fix it?
Kaylee: I could try.
Mal: Just get us to limpin'. That's all I need. (She looks at him. Nearly staring.) What? What is it?
Kaylee: Well, it's worse than just the coil.
Mal: How can it be worse?
Kaylee: Main life-support's down on account of the engine being dead.
Mal: Right. But we got auxiliary life support --
Kaylee: No. We don't. It ain't even on. Explosion musta knocked it out.
Mal: So what are we breathin'?
Kaylee: Whatever got pumped into the atmo before the explosion shut it all down.
(Jayne has overheard part of this, joins them.)
Jayne: Most of that oxygen got ate up by the fire on its way out the door.
Kaylee: Well, whatever's left is what we got.
(Mal takes a beat.)
Mal: How long?
Kaylee: A couple of hours, maybe. We'll start to feel it, and then we won't feel nothing at all.
(SPACE PRESENT DAY)
(Serenity sits still, not moving.)
(SERENITY INFIRMARY RECENT FLASHBACK)
(Simon checks the still unconscious Zoe's vitals. Inara appears at the infirmary door.)
Inara: How is she?
Simon: She's till unconscious. But her vitals are strong. She won't know it, but as long as her condition remains like this, she'll outlive us all. (then) She's using less oxygen.
(He moves into the common area.)
(COMMON AREA)
(Simon sits. Inara joins him.)
Simon: I always thought the name Serenity had a vaguely funereal sound to it.
Inara: I love this ship. I have from the first moment I saw it.
Simon: I just don't want to die on it.
Inara: I don't want to die at all.
Simon: Suffocation's not exactly the most dignified way to go. The human body will involuntarily --
Inara: Please, I don't really require a clinical description right now.
Simon: I'm sorry. I just, uh... (beat) It was my birthday.
(He smiles wistfully. She smiles back. Puts her hand over his.)
(BOOK'S ROOM)
(Book sighs, sitting at his little table reading the Bible.)
River: (os) Don't be afraid. (He looks up, a bit startled.) That's what it says. Don't be afraid.
Book: Yes.
River: But you are afraid.
Book: Yes.
River: You're afraid we're going to run out of air. That we'll die gasping. (then) But we won't. That's not going to happen. (He looks at her, taken by her utter certainty.) We'll freeze to death first.
(BRIDGE)
(Wash sits in his chair, upset.)
Mal: You get that beacon sent?
Wash: Yeah, it's sent.
Mal: Good.
Wash: Pointless.
Mal: What was that?
Wash: Nothing, sir. It's a brilliant plan, I'm sure we'll all be saved.
Mal: I'm getting a little weary of this attitude, Wash.
Wash: Are you? Well, I'm so very sorry, sir. I guess the news that we're all gonna be purple and bloated and fetal in a few hours has made me little snippy.
Mal: It's possible someone might pick up that signal.
Wash: (pissed) No, Mal. It's not possible. No one's gonna pick up the damn signal. You wanted us flying under the radar, remember? Well, that's where we are: out of range of anyone or anything.
Mal: Then make it go further.
Wash: I -- What?
Mal: Make the signal go further.
Wash: Can't make it go further.
Mal: Not if all you're gonna do is sit here and whine about it, no.
Wash: What do you expect me to do, Mal?
Mal: Whatever you have to. And if you can't do it from here, then get a suit on and get out on the side of the boat and --
Wash: (voice rising) And what? Wave my arms around?
Mal: Wave your arms around, jump up and down. Divert the nav sats to the transmitter. Whatever.
Wash: Divert the...? Right. Because teenage pranks are fun when you're about to die.
Mal: Give the beacon a boost, wouldn't it?
Wash: Yes, Mal. It would boost the signal, but even if some passerby did happen to receive, all it'd do is muck up their navigation.
Mal: Could be that's true.
Wash: Damn right, it's true! They'd be forced to stop and dig out our signal before they could even go anyplace! (A beat as Wash lets what he just said sink in. He snaps.) Well, maybe I should do that, then!
Mal: (snapping back) Maybe you should!
Wash: Okay!
Mal: Good!
Wash: Fine!
Jayne: Hey! (He has appeared in the doorway.) What do you two think you're doing? Fightin' at a time like this. (They both ease off. Cool down. He turns to leave.) You'll use up all the air!
(AFTDECK CORRIDOR PRESENT DAY)
(An engine part falls into frame. We pull back and see an injured Mal, struggling around the corner. He stumbles down the corridor towards the engine room. The ship warns over the klaxon.)
Serenity Computer: Life support failure. Check oxygen levels at once. (in Chinese) (Jeo-shung yong-jur goo-jang. Jien-cha yong-chi gong yin. - "Life support failure. Check oxygen levels at once.")
(ENGINE ROOM BIG FLASHBACK)
(Mal appears in the engine room doorway. He's uninjured.)
Mal: Bester! What's this I hear 'bout yet another delay? (As Mal moves closer to the engine room, we can make out Besters boots sticking out from under the engine. The faint sound of erotic moaning.) You were supposed to have that engine fixed and us up and -- (Bester's shorts are down around his boots. He's having energetic sex with an unseen female. Mal averts his eyes. The moaning is a lot louder now.) What in the name of (in Chinese) all that's proper...? (in English, after a beat) Bester. (Still with the energetic sex.) Bester. (More with the energetic sex.) Bester!
(Clanging and scuffling noises. Bester climbs out, bare chest showing off intricate tattoos, yanking up his shorts.)
Bester: What?
(Bester just looks at Mal innocently.)
Mal: You do realize we been parked on this rock a week longer than we planned?
Bester: Yeah, but... uh, there's stuff to do.
Mal: As for example that job we got waitin' for us on Paquin. When we landed here you said you needed a few days to get space worthy again and is there somethin' wrong with your bunk?
Bester: What? (Mal looks at him, impatiently. Bester gets it and laughs.) Oh! No, Captain. (leans forward) She like engines. They make her hot.
Mal: Bester. Get your prairie harpy off my boat, and put us back in the air.
Bester: Okay. But... can't.
Mal: Whaddya mean "can't."
Bester: No can do, Cap. Secondary grav boot's shot.
Kaylee: (os) No it ain't. (Kaylee pops up, getting dressed. The men look at her.) Ain't nothing wrong with your grav boot. Grav boot's just fine. (to Mal) Hello.
(She drops down again, out of view. Mal glances at Bester. Bester's a bit flustered.)
Bester: (to Mal) She doesn't... that's not what... (to Kaylee) No it ain't!
Kaylee: (reappearing) Sure it is. Grav boot ain't your trouble. I seen the trouble plain as day when I was down there on my back before. Your reg couple's bad.
Bester: (clueless) The... red... what?
Kaylee: Reg couple. Right here. See?
Bester: (beat) No.
Kaylee: This. (then) I'm pointin' right at it.
(She rolls her eyes, sighs, reaches in, breaks off a part of the engine.)
Bester: Hey!
Kaylee: Here. (She plunks the part in Bester's hand. She reaches back in, tinkers. She motions to a nearby wrench.) Hand me that, will ya? Don't really serve much of a purpose, anyway. Just tends to gum up the works when it gets tacked. So I figure, why even have one? Better to just take your g-line, plug it straight into the port-pin-lock, and that should, uh... (She's done. The turbine starts to turn.) There.
Bester: What'd you do?
Mal: She fixed it.
Kaylee: Well, it wasn't really broke.
(Bester looks at the part in his hand.)
Mal: Where'd you learn to do that, miss?
Kaylee: (shrugs) Just do it, that's all. My daddy says I got natural talent.
Mal: I'll say you do at that.
Bester: (re: the part) Don't we need this?
Mal: You work for your daddy, do you?
Kaylee: Well, when he got work, which ain't been too often lately.
Mal: You got much experience with a vessel like this?
Kaylee: I ain't never even been up in one before.
Mal: Wanna?
Kaylee: You mean...?
Mal: Sure.
Kaylee: For how long?
Mal: Long as you like. Long as you can keep her in the sky.
Kaylee: You offering me a job?
Bester: What?
Mal: Believe I just did.
Kaylee: (big smile) I just gotta ask my folks! (She pulls her hastily assembled wardrobe about her, pushes past Mal and a stunned Bester.) Don't leave without me!
(Mal watches Kaylee go, amused. Bester just blinks.)
Bester: Mal. Whaddya need two mechanics for?
Mal: I really don't.
(ENGINE ROOM RECENT FLASHBACK)
Mal: Kaylee! (He has entered the engine room. He looks off screen seeing Kaylee is just sitting there, forlorn. She's holding the same piece of equipment that Mal was dragging in here. But the one she's got is twisted and melted. She stares at it.) Kaylee, what are you doing?
Kaylee: Sorry, Captain. I'm real sorry. I shoulda kept better care of her. Usually she lets me know when something's wrong. Maybe she did, I just wasn't paying attention...
Mal: (patiently) I cannot be having this from you right now. We got work to do. (in Chinese) Understand?
Kaylee: (re: the engine part) Catalyzer's broke. Gonna need a new one.
Mal: There is no new one. You gotta make do with what you got.
Kaylee: It's broke.
(She just sits there. He gently makes her stand up.)
Mal: Come on. This the part? (she nods) It don't hardly seem like nothing. All right. Where's it go?
(She shows him the spot in the engine.)
Kaylee: Here. But it don't fit no more.
(He tries to install it, but no go.)
Mal: Well you gotta figure a way to make it fit.
Kaylee: Sometimes a thing gets broke, can't be fixed.
Mal: Without this, engine don't turn? (she shakes her head "no") Engine don't turn, life support won't function. We don't breathe. You want to keep breathin', don't you? (she nods) So do I.
(ENGINE ROOM PRESENT DAY)
(The alarm is still going off. Mal, gut-shot, listens to the ship warning him.)
Serenity Computer:Life support failure. Check oxygen levels at once. (The alert continues in Chinese.) Life support failure. Check oxygen levels at once.
(Mal's fumbling with the ship part, trying to install the catalyzer into the failed compression coil. He wipes sweat from his brow with the back of his hand -- leaving a smear of blood above his left eye. He blinks it back. The alarm continues to sound. The ship's message repeats in English again. Mal nearly has the part installed, but it slips from his bloody fingers and drops into the engine. He can't believe that just happened.)
(COMMON AREA RECENT FLASHBACK)
(Everyone sits huddled together. They're wearing coats and blankets. It's cold. Mal stands before the assembled, grim.)
Mal: As you're all keenly aware, we've run into a bit of a situation. Engine's down, life support's on the fritz, and I got nine people here all wanting to breathe. Truth is, ain't got a whole lot of options at this juncture. (A beat. They all look back at him.) So... instead of focusing on what we don't got -- time to talk about what it is we do. And what we got are two shuttles. Short range. Won't go far. But each got heat, and they each got air. Last longer than what's left in Serenity.
Simon: Long enough to reach someplace?
Mal: No.
Book: So... where will we go, then?
Mal: Far as you can get. We send both shuttles off in opposite directions -- betters the chances of someone being seen, maybe getting picked up. (then) Shepherd Book, Kaylee, Jayne will ride with Inara in her shuttle. Doc, you and your sis will go with Wash and Zoe -- seein' as how Zoe still needs some doctorin'.
Kaylee: What about you?
Mal: Four people per shuttle. That's the arrangement. Evens the odds. (then) I'm staying with Serenity.
Kaylee: Captain.
Mal: We sent out a beacon. Even managed to boost it a little. By some chance, we get a response, someone's gonna have to be here to answer. (Nobody believes that's going to happen.) Let's get those shuttles prepped. (Wash stands, starts moving to the stairs near the infirmary.) Wash -- shuttles are that way.
Wash: I know. But like you said -- someone might answer the beacon. And when they do, I want to make sure that you can call everyone back. Won't take but a minute.
(Mal nods. Wash moves off.)
Mal: Jayne, you get shuttle number two ready. I'll see to Inara's. (to everyone else) Let's get moving. (as he goes) Take only what you need.
(Mal moves off. Everyone's a bit stunned. Inara moves to follow Mal.)
(CARGO BAY/CATWALKS)
(Mal heads up the catwalks, moving toward Inara's shuttle. She appears, following.)
Inara: Mal...
Mal: You fly smart, don't push too hard, shuttle life support should last you a good long while.
Inara: Mal, this isn't the ancient sea. You don't have to go down with your ship.
Mal: She ain't going down. She ain't going anywhere. (then) Jayne'll be worth something if you run into trouble. But don't trust him, and don't let him take over. You're paid up through the end of the month. It's still your ship.
Inara: Mal...
Mal: As far as your security deposit goes... that I might have to owe you.
(He enters her shuttle. She follows.)
(INARA'S SHUTTLE BIG FLASHBACK)
(Inara steps through first. She's wearing different clothing. Mal steps in behind her. The shuttle is empty. Mal's showing her the "property.")
Mal: Well, here she is. (She steps in, takes in the space for the first time.) Nice, ain't she?
Inara: Smallish.
Mal: Not overly. How much room do you really need for what you do, anyway? (She ignores that. She moves into the cockpit. Blue sky outside the windows. Mal follows.) I got a surveyor and his wife interested in renting it. They're just waiting to hear back.
Inara: What's her range?
Mal: Standard short. She'll break atmo from a wide orbit. Get you where you need to go, bring you back home again. (beat) She's space worthy. Like the rest of Serenity is.
Inara: No need to sound so defensive, Captain. (moving past him) I prefer something with a few miles on it. (He watches her as she moves into the main chamber, looking it over.) Were we to enter into this arrangement, Captain Reynolds, there are a few things I would require from you. The foremost being complete autonomy. This shuttle would be my home. No crew member, including yourself, would be allowed entrance without my express invitation.
Mal: You'd get your privacy.
Inara: And just so we're clear, under no circumstances will I be servicing you or anyone who is under your employ.
Mal: I'll post a sign.
Inara: That won't be necessary. The other thing I would insist upon is some measure of assurance that when I make an appointment with a client, I'm in a position to keep that appointment. So far as such assurances are possible on a vessel of this type.
Mal: That's an awful lot of caveats and addendums there, miss.
Inara: As I stated, I just want to be clear.
Mal: Well. I'll be sure and take all of that into consideration when I review the applications.
Inara: Don't be ridiculous. You're going to rent this shuttle to me.
Mal: Am I?
Inara: Yes. And for one quarter less than your asking price.
Mal: That a fact?
Inara: It is.
Mal: And you figure you'll be getting this discount... why exactly?
Inara: You want me. You want me on your ship.
Mal: Do I?
Inara: Yes. Because I can bring something that your surveyor or any of the other fish you might have on line can't -- a certain respectability.
Mal: Respecta --
Inara: And based on what little I've seen of your operation, I suspect that's something you could use.
Mal: Fine. Let me ask you this: if you're so respectable, why are you even here? I mean, I heard tell of fancy ladies such as yourself shipping out with the big luxury liners and the like. But a registered Companion on a boat like this? What are you running from?
Inara: I'm not running from anything.
(He doesn't believe her.)
Mal: If it's Alliance trouble you got, you might want to consider another ship. Some on board here fought for the Independents.
Inara: The Alliance has no quarrel with me. I supported Unification.
Mal: Did ya? Well, I don't suppose you're the only whore that did.
(She looks at him. Smiles.)
Inara: Oh -- one further addendum. That's the last time you get to call me "whore."
(She walks past him.)
Mal: Absolutely. Never again.
(INARA'S SHUTTLE RECENT FLASHBACK)
(Mal moves about the cockpit.)
Mal: Keep everything set as low as possible. Don't waste what you got.
(She pushes him out of the way.)
Inara: Let me do that. You never could operate this thing.
(He lets her take over. They look at each other. Long beat.)
Mal: And try not to talk. Talking uses up air. Ain't no need for it. (moves toward door)
Inara: Mal... come with us.
Mal: Can't. Four to a shuttle, Inara. Four.
Inara: One more. You know it can't make a difference. Not now.
Mal: I'm not leaving Serenity.
Inara: Mal -- you don't have to die alone.
Mal: Everybody dies alone.
(Hold on their look for a moment.)
(BRIDGE)
(Wash appears in the doorway.)
Wash: Everything's set and ready.
Mal: Good.
Wash: I linked the nav systems of both shuttles into the helm, here. (He points out a large, red button on the navigation control panels.) When your miracle gets here, you just pound this button once. It'll call back both shuttles.
(Mal nods. Wash wants to say something. He's about to speak, but before he can Mal speaks.)
Mal: Go see to your wife.
(Wash takes a beat. Then exits.)
(CARGO BAY)
(Mal walks with Jayne. Jayne has a duffle and some guns slung over his shoulder.)
Jayne: I went ahead and closed off all below deck vents. Diverted what's left to the bridge. Ain't much. So my advice is, seal off everything tight behind you on your way back up. Might buy you some time. (Mal nods. He's looking up at the upper catwalks.) And I prepped a suit for you. It's hanging in the foredeck. So when the time comes, you can --
Mal: (cuts him off) I won't be needing it, but thanks.
Jayne: Okay. Well.
(Jayne takes a beat. Then he moves off, heading up the catwalk stairs. To the left, Wash and Simon carry a stretcher with unconscious Zoe into the second shuttle. River follows. Mal looks to his right. Book and Kaylee enter Inara's shuttle. Inara stands at the doorway, looking down at him. Wash, is at the door to shuttle two. He slides the door shut. Jayne reaches the top of the catwalk. Motions for Inara to go inside. A beat. He eyes on Mal. Then she disappears inside. Jayne follows, shuts the door. Mal stands alone in the big, empty cargo bay, then exits.)
(SPACE)
(The two shuttles detach from Serenity and go their separate ways off into space.)
(UPPER DECK)
(Mal closes off the door to the aftdeck. Moves through the kitchen area and into the foredeck, slides that door shut behind him, too.)
(BRIDGE)
(Mal closes off the bridge, takes out a blanket and wraps it around him, then sits in the pilot's chair. He's cold and drowsy from lack of oxygen.)
(SPACE)
(Serenity. Silent. Alone. Dark. Unmoving.)
(BRIDGE LATER)
(Some time has passed. Mal is looking half frozen and unconscious in the pilot's chair. He doesn't react to the sound of a signal as it starts come through on the console. Close up on the monitor. A fuzzy image of a mans face.)
Captain: (vo)(breaking up) Firefly Serenity... This is the private salvage S.S. Walden. Receiving your distress beacon, do you read?
(The message continues to repeat and crackle. Mal sits motionless. Not hearing it. More of the staticky signal. Mal stirs slightly. A few more words of the distress reply crackle through... Mal forces his heavy-lidded eyes open just as... The transmission ends. No more signal. Mal tries to orient himself. His head lolls as he looks to the now silent monitors. His bleary eyes shift up to the window. Another ship, twice the size of Serenity is there, right in front of the windshield.)
(SPACE)
(The S.S. Walden nose-to-nose with the smaller Serenity.)
(SERENITY BRIDGE)
(Mal on the bridge, more alert. We see the image of the Captain of the Walden on the vid monitor.)
Captain: I'm sorry for your troubles, Captain. They sound many. But you do understand that I can't invite you aboard my vessel. I don't know you.
Mal: I ain't asking for a ride, Captain. Just a little push is all.
Captain: Right. Your mechanical trouble. Your compression coil, you say?
Mal: It was the catalyzer.
Captain: Not even the coil? Catalyzer's a nothing part, Captain.
Mal: It's nothing till you don't got one. Then it appears to be everything.
Captain: Well, it is possible we might have something that could do you. We just come from a big salvage job off Ita Moon.
Mal: I'd appreciate it.
Captain: Trouble is... how can I know for certain your story's true? Ambush could be waiting for me and my people on the other side.
Mal: You can plainly see my shuttles've been launched, just like I said. And by now you've scanned me. You know I got no life support.
Captain: I don't expect to see any weapons when we board.
Mal: And I do expect to see that engine part before I open the door.
Captain: (smiles) I feel like maybe we can do business.
(The Captain's face disappears from the monitor.)
(SPACE)
(The S.S. Walden's airlock attaches to that of Serenity.)
(SERENITY - CARGO BAY)
(Mal, breathing very shallow, waits near the standing airlock door controls. The Captain appears at the airlock doors. He holds up the catalyzer at the window. Mal activates the airlocks doors. As the doors open, there is a tremendous rush of air from other side. Mal savors it, closes his eyes for a beat, just breathing it in. When he opens his eyes again the Captain and his four lackeys have their guns raised and aimed at him. Mal's hands go up.)
Captain: Check him. (One of Captain's crew moves in, frisks Mal as the Captain speaks to another lackey.) Search the ship. Start in the cockpit, work your way down.
Mal: This what you meant by ambush?
Captain: (smiles) We're just verifying your story. (to lackeys) You find anyone on board not supposed to be -- you shoot 'em.
Mal: Thought we were gonna be reasonable about this?
Marco: (os) Reason?
(SERENITY - RAMP/CARGO BAY - DAY BIG FLASHBACK)
(We are on the open ramp of Serenity and this time it's Mal and Zoe with their hands up Three bandits are holding guns on them, and Marco is their leader.)
Marco: (to his partner) He's gonna talk to us about "reason," now.
Jayne: Yeah. That's a joke.
(Reveal that Jayne is a part of the gang holding Mal and Zoe at gunpoint. Mal and Zoe have a brief, sotto exchange.)
Mal: Which one you figure tracked us?
Zoe: The ugly one, sir.
Mal: (beat) Could you be more specific?
Marco: Do we look reasonable to you?
Mal: Well. Looks can be deceiving.
Jayne: Not as deceiving as a low down dirty... deceiver.
Mal: Well said. Wasn't that well said, Zoe?
Zoe: Had a kind poetry to it, sir.
Jayne: You want I should shoot 'em now, Marco?
Marco: Wait until they tell us where they put the stuff.
Jayne: That's a good idea. Good idea. Tell us where the stuff's at so I can shoot you.
Mal: Point of interest? Offering to shoot us might not work so well as an incentive as you might imagine. Anyway, we've hidden it. So, you kill us, you'll never find it.
Jayne: Found you easy enough.
Mal: Yeah. Yeah you did, didn't you? (then) How much they paying you?
Jayne: Huh?
Mal: I mean, let's say you did kill us. Or didn't. There could be torture. Whatever. But somehow you found the goods. What would your cut be?
Jayne: Seven percent, straight off the top.
Mal: Seven? Oh.
(Mal looks surprised. Jayne squints.)
Jayne: What?
Mal: Hmm? Nothing. Not a thing. No, I just... (to Zoe) That seem low to you?
Zoe: It does, sir.
Jayne: That ain't low...
Marco: Stop it.
Jayne: Seven percent's standard.
Mal: (laughs) Okay. Zoe, I'm paying you too much.
Jayne: Why? What does she get?
Marco: Knock it off.
Mal: Look, forget I said anything. I'm sure you're treated very well. You get the perks. Got your own room. (off Jayne's reaction) No? You share a bunk?
Jayne: (re: the other guy) With that one.
Mal: Really?
Marco: Jayne, this ain't funny.
Jayne: Yeah, I ain't laughin'.
Mal: You move on over to this side, we'll not only show you where the stuff's at -- we'll see to it you get your fair share. Not no sad "seven."
Jayne: Private room?
Marco: Jayne!
Mal: Your own room. Full run of the kitchen. Whole shot.
Marco: Jayne. I ain't askin --
(Jayne shoots Marco in the leg and aims his gun at the other bandit in his gang.)
Jayne: Shut up. (to Mal) How big a room?
(CARGO BAY RECENT FLASHBACK)
(The Captain with his gun trained on Mal. The others start to return to the cargo bay.)
Lackey: Ship's clear, Captain.
Captain: You check the engine room?
Lackey: (nods) It's like he said. Catalyzer's blown. That's all he needs.
Mal: You know anything that's worth anything's really right here in this cargo bay. So you take a look around, decide what you think is fair.
Captain: Already decided. (The Captain shoots Mal in the gut. Mal falls back, onto the floor.) We're taking your ship. (Mal presses his hand to his gut -- it comes away bloody. The Captain coolly instructs his crew, and tosses the catalyzer to one of his men.) Billy, get this plugged in. Jesse, call Stern over here. You and him'll pilot this pile of (in Chinese) crap (in English) out of here. (Mal spots a gun strapped to the underbelly of a nearby workbench.) We'll get it as far as --
(He stops short as he hears the sound of a gun being cocked. Hes suddenly looking down the barrel of Mals gun.)
Mal: (eyes on Captain) Jesse, don't call Stern. Billy, leave the catalyzer.
Captain: (nods) Do as he says.
(The lackey with the catalyzer sets it on the cargo bay floor.)
Mal: (to Captain) Take your people and go.
Captain: You would have done the same.
Mal: We can already see I haven't. (then) Now get the hell off my ship
(And now the Captain and all his men back away to the air lock doors. Mal, through sheer force of will, keeps the gun on them, moves to the air lock door controls. Closes hits the button as they step through. The doors shut.
And Mal collapses on the cargo bay floor. Exactly where we first found him.)
(SPACE)
(The larger salvage ship detaches from Serenity and heads off.)
(SERENITY VARIOUS)
(The sound of the klaxon repeating the life support warning continues as we cut to various scenes. The cargo bay floor, blood smeared there. The infirmary, and the trail of blood left behind by the wounded Mal.)
(ENGINE ROOM PRESENT DAY)
Serenity Computer: Life support failure. Check oxygen levels at once.
(Gut-shot Mal fishes out the part to the compression coil. Works to fit it into the damaged engine. It takes some arduous work -- his hands are shaking -- but he does it. He fires it all up - the turbines start to spin. It works. The alert stops. Power is restored. Life support functioning again.)
(BRIDGE)
(Close shot of the big red button Wash installed to contact the shuttles.)
(CORRIDOR)
(Mals POV. Mal is dragging himself to the bridge, flashes of his bloody hands in frame.)
(KITCHEN AREA)
(Mals POV. He stumbles drunkenly through the kitchen toward the foredeck doorway.)
(BRIDGE)
(Mal stumbles through the doorway of the bridge, breathing heavily. He tries to reach the button, but only makes it halfway before his body gives out. He passes out on the bridge floor.)
(BLACKOUT)
(Voices. Familiar voices. Growing more present as Mal wakes up.)
(INFIRMARY)
(Mal blinks as he sees -- Simon, Book, Inara, Jayne, then River, then Wash, and finally Zoe, who's laying on a bunk nearby. No on is directly facing him. Various backs to him. They're in conversation, though since we're in Mal's POV we can't quite make out what they're saying. Push in on Mal's disoriented face.)
Inara: I feel like maybe we should do something about all the blood. I don't think it's something he should see when he wakes up.
Jayne: He seen blood before. Lots of it.
Inara: Yes, I'm certain that's true, but sometimes it seems different when it's one's own blood.
Jayne: Well I didn't shoot him, so don't look at me for the scrubbin' of it.
Inara: No one's asking you to scrub anything. Although a bath wouldn't kill you.
Zoe: (to Wash) I guess it's a fair bet to say I missed birthday cake.
Wash: It's okay, honey. Nobody got to have any. It's still on the floor and some of the walls upstairs, though. If you want I'll run up there and scrape up a piece.
Zoe: You'd do that for me?
Wash: I'd do anything for you. You know that.
(Pull back off Mal's face to reveal that Zoe's the first to notice that Mal's come into consciousness. She smiles at him.)
Zoe: Welcome back, sir.
(The others follow her look, see he's waking up.)
Mal: (disoriented) I go someplace?
Book: Very nearly.
Inara: We thought we lost you.
Mal: Well, I've been right here. (He notes Wash hooked up to an IV -- he's giving Mal a transfusion. Mal doesn't quite understand that.) Wash, you okay?
Wash: (amused) Yeah, Mal. I'm fine.
Mal: You got a thing in your arm.
Wash: Yeah.
Simon: (to Mal) Try not to speak. You're heavily medicated and you've lost a lot of blood.
Mal: Oh. (then, realizing) Thought I ordered you all off the ship? (The others exchange looks.)(to Wash, trying to remember) I call you back?
Wash: No, Mal. You didn't.
Zoe: I take full responsibility, cap.
Simon: The decision saved your life.
Zoe: Won't happen again, sir.
Mal: (to Zoe) Good. And thanks. I'm grateful.
Zoe: It was my pleasure, sir.
(They hold the look between them. Jayne observes that exchange.)
Jayne: Well, hey, you know. We'da been back first, except there's something wrong with Inara's shuttle. She done somethin' to it, Mal. Smells funny.
Inara: I told you, that's incense.
Jayne: So you say.
(Kaylee enters. Sees that Mal's awake.)
Kaylee: (brightly) Hey, Captain.
Mal: Hey.
Kaylee: You fixed the ship. Good work.
Mal: Thanks.
Simon: All right. I have to insist. The captain needs to rest.
Mal: (nodding off) Yeah. Think the doc might not be wrong about that one. Just gonna need a few... (forces himself not to drift) You all gonna be here when I wake up?
Book: We'll be here.
(Mal allows himself to close his eyes.)
Mal: 'kay. (eyes closed, smiles) That's good...
(As we push in closer to his face, we start to hear voices.)
Salesman: (vo) Yep. A real beauty, ain't she? Yes, sir. A right smart purchase, this vessel.
(FLASHBACK USED SPACE SHIP LOT DAY)
Salesman: I tell you what, you buy this ship, treat her proper, she'll be with ya for the rest of your life. (Now we see that they're standing in front of a totally different ship. Big and yellow, and not Serenity.) Son? Hey, son? (The Salesman notices that Mal doesn't seem to be paying attention.) You hear a word I been saying?
(He hasn't, because he's looking across the lot at something else. Across the lot sits Serenity, dirty, broken-down, and entrancing.)
BLACK OUT