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Excerpt #1

For the first time in her history, Serenity has no charted course. Adrift in a foreign galaxy, the crew sleeps. As ship mates, as brothers, sisters, as human beings, they are simply not prepared for the trouble they'll soon face. They're just not. This unknown star system harbors many threats, namely, Reavers.

Let it be known: I hate Reavers.

Mal awakens. Yawning, he rises as he does each morning, to do the work of man. He climbs out of bed, quietly so as not to bother Inara or Simon or River. Staring at their slacken, naked bodies, he fully weighs the costs and benefits of telling them the truth. They are out of fuel. It's that simple. And without a renewable energy source found soon, the crew will mutiny and choose another captain. He reminds himself that a coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit.

Still, he elects not to wake them.

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Excerpt #2

With a final stomp and twist of the foot, Mal dispatches the last Reaver. Heaving with testosterone, he turns to his crew.

"Look, I know some of you are unhappy with me and the way I have run this ship. I know you have had your doubts about me as your leader. I respect that. I'm sure many of you have thought you could do a superior job. That's simply not true. It's not. I run this ship. I run it well. Yet time and again, you ignore this fact. And while competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point, cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off. If we are to have any hope against the next wave of Reavers, I need you with me. Who still believes in me?"

River, with the courage of a thousand suns, stands. "I am with you, sir. I am with you implicitly."

Wash is the next to rise. "I know we are in an unstable environment right now, fiscally and physically. But our ship has seen worse and survived. I am with you."

"I am with you too," says Zoe. "Also, I am pregnant. It is yours."

"As am I" says Kaylee.

"Me too," says Jayne. "On both accounts."