Disclaimer:

This story is not meant to infringe on the copyright of any person or company related to the trademarked characters and situations depicted in the Serenity movie or Firefly series.

A/N :

Hello!

I'm sorry for taking ages to post this last chapter. A flaw of mine is time management...
Anyway, I would like to say thank you very much to Morwen Tindomerel for reviewing. And yes, I agree that every ship should have a cat.


Two days later, Mal, Zoe and Jayne were approaching a large, pink house, walking next to the loaded mule. Bliss walked along with them, his bag slung over his shoulder. As they reached the house, a young woman came out through the porch door.

'You'll be Captain Zoe?' she asked, smiling. 'I'm Sally. Have your men unload the stuff around the back. If you want to come in, I believe your payment's all ready.'

She turned to the last member of the party. 'And you must be Mister Bliss. We've certainly been waiting for you. Come with me and Captain Zoe.'

Mal and Jayne glared, as Zoe and Bliss followed the woman in through the front porch.

Back on board Serenity, as it sped into space, Mal looked brighter than he had for several days - as he surveyed the money the trip had brought in.

'I'm a big enough man to admit it Zoe. I was wrong. Your deal was good. And it certainly paid well.'

'Sure thing, Captain.'

Mal raised an eyebrow. 'What, no gloating? No barbed come back?'

'I can be barbed if you want,' Zoe smiled, then she sneezed.

'That problem come back again?' asked Mal. 'Best go find Simon for a shot.'

Zoe looked momentarily confused.

'Against Jayne's cat. Against Sioux.'

'Oh, yeah…of course,' said Zoe. ' I'll go now.'

Simon was talking to River in the sickbay when Zoe walked in and climbed onto the examination couch. ' I've come to get my shot – that cat of Jayne's is making me all itchy again.'

'Really?' said Simon, evidently surprised. 'That shot shouldn't need a boost – ever.'

'Well I guess it does. She must be especially potent.'

'Who?'

'Why Jayne's cat of course. Her fur must be particularly noxious.'

River was now staring intently at Zoe, who looked directly back. Then in a single motion, Zoe leapt from the couch and grabbed a surgical knife. She moved in on River, who pushed a chair over into her way. A metal dish clanged to the floor. After a brief struggle, River managed to push Zoe away, and she grabbed a knife for herself. The two women circled each other for a moment, then closed. A frantically fast knife fight ensued - but neither seemed able to gain an advantage.

Just a few seconds later Mal and Jayne came running in to see what the disturbance was.

'God damn it, Simon, River's flipped again,' Mal shouted.

He and Jayne were studying the fight and, when they saw a chance, each moved in to break it up - Jayne managing to grab Zoe, while Mal restrained River.

There was a brief pause. River stopped resisting and lowered her blade. Zoe glared angrily across at her.

'So. What is all this?' Mal demanded, he turned River around to face him.

'Captain. You don't understand. That's not Zoe it's -'

Her words were cut off as Zoe leapt free from Jayne's grip and charged River's vulnerable back. Mal looked up. He raised in defence the hand in which he held River's wrist. The knife in River's hand plunged into Zoe's chest - and Zoe fell backwards.

'Zoe!' screamed Mal.

'It's not Zoe, Captain, it's not,' River shouted. ' She's got all Zoe's looks, all her traits. But it's not her. It's not her inside'

Simon checked frantically over the body on the floor, but then looked up gravely shook his head at Mal. Then he looked pointedly at his sister. He reached over to a surgical tool cabinet, took out a small syringe-like item and used it to take a microscopic tissue sample, which he then took over to and inserted into the lab's bio-analyser. He tapped in some codes, and the machine started processing. The others stood by, exchanging uncertain looks with one another. Mal maintained his grip on River.

Simon studied the results on a screen. 'I'm afraid it is Zoe's DNA…No wait - there's something else…it's not. This isn't Zoe. This woman's own DNA has been altered; most cells have changed, but you can still see the original pattern in some cells.'

He turned to the crew.

'Someone must have obtained Zoe's DNA and then altered this woman's. They'd have needed some time before they could make the switch. We'd have stayed fooled too, if Zoe hadn't had an allergy shot in the meantime'

Mal stared at the floor and growled, They must have got what they needed when they met her alone – they could get DNA from just a glass she used or something, right? Then they sent us to Brax via Sable - to give themselves time to get their woman in place.'

He looked up suddenly, 'Zoe is still on Brax III!'


The pink house was in darkness as Mal, Jayne and River silently approached. They sneaked around to the back door, where Jayne expertly dealt with the lock. As they entered, an alarm sounded loudly in the night. Seemingly regardless, Mal lead the way, striding through rooms and down passages, knocking various opponents out of the way and shooting others. The woman, Sally, quickly found herself looking down his gun barrel.

'You know what I want,' said Mal. 'I hope for your sake that she's still here and that she's unharmed.'

Looking worried and dressed only in her night things, Sally led them down into the basement. Zoe was there, held by chains to the wall of a cell. She looked scared but not physically hurt. 'This one of your special equipment rooms?' Mal asked Sally, without humour.

'Xie xie, Captain,' Zoe whispered as he freed her. 'See I told you it was a good deal and there'd be no problems.' Then she added 'Is River OK? It was all about her – the Alliance wanted to get an assassin on the ship'.

Mal nodded, 'Figures. Seems the deal is this: they don't want River back no more, but they don't want her loose neither.'

As they turned to leave, a male voice called out from a neighbouring room: 'You going to leave me here?' Mal turned to see Bliss - also chained, and looking as if he'd had a heavy beating.

'I don't know who or what he is, but they wanted some information out of him,' Zoe whispered. 'Guess they figured it was a good joke getting us to bring him here. He's not told them anything yet. I think they were planning to start again in the morning.'

Mal looked Bliss up and down. 'Are you really a gorram lawyer?'

Bliss nodded. 'Sure am. Among other things of course.'

'What other things?'

'Well, I'm a damned good pilot, for one' said Bliss.

'Hell,' said Malcolm, heading towards the man's chains.


And that's the end. Thanks for reading. I would really appreciate it if you also reviewed.

Boo26.