Firefly

River leaves the ship and finds Mal and Zoe before pointing out mutilated bodies hanging from the ceiling. Mal knows what did this and orders everyone to regroup in the engine room, but Jayne is ambushed by a mysterious attacker and fires his gun wildly. Mal finds the wounded man hiding behind an air grate and has him brought back to the ship.

As Simon treats the wounded man, Mal reveals to the rest of the crew that he must be the lone survivor of a Reaver attack. He explains how the Reavers, once settlers themselves, were driven insane after seeing the nothing at the "edge of the galaxy" and now commit unspeakable acts of evil against anyone they encounter. He allows Shepherd Book and Simon to give the dead a proper funeral, while Kaylee removes a Reaver booby trap that attached itself to Serenity when they docked earlier.

Once the derelict ship's cargo is aboard, Serenity starts to leave, only to be stopped by an Alliance cruiser. Armed troops board the ship and find Mal and everyone but River and Simon waiting for them, the salvaged cargo plainly in sight to avoid accusations of theft. Alliance Commander Harken accuses them of harboring two fugitives and detains them for questioning.

Commander Harken interviews each member of the crew while his crew tend to the survivor and ransack Serenity. The space-suited Tams are undetected; Mal had shown them where to cling to on the outside of the hull knowing that the Alliance wouldn't think to check there.

Harken, aware of Mal's past as a Browncoat, accuses him of attacking the settler ship, revealing that the survivor's tongue has been split and implying that Mal did it to keep him from speaking. Mal realizes that the survivor is becoming a Reaver, having been traumatized by what he witnessed. Harken dismisses Mal's idea as nonsense designed to avoid blame and orders that Serenity be impounded so that it can be sold at auction. As Harken prepares to confine Mal, his lieutenant informs him that the survivor has killed the medical personnel attending to him and escaped. Mal convinces Harken that he knows where the madman will go. Harken allows Mal to lead him and his soldiers back onto Serenity. The survivor attacks the soldiers, but Mal is able to break the Reaver's neck, saving Harken's life. As a result, Harken allows the crew of Serenity to go, though he still confiscates their cargo. After Serenity undocks, the cruiser is seen firing on the derelict ship, destroying it.

On a "skyplex" (an orbiting space city), Mal, Zoe, and Jayne meet crime lord Adelei Niska and his hulking lieutenant, Crow, to arrange a job. Niska sadistically shows them the body of the last person who failed him. The job is to steal two crates from a moving train, which Mal shows no interest in knowing the contents of.

During the heist, Mal and Zoe sneak past an entire squad of Alliance troops who are coincidentally on the train. They break into the locked train car and find the crates, while Serenity flies over the speeding train and lowers Jayne on a winch to collect the cargo. Meanwhile, a curious trooper sets off a booby trap that Zoe had set. Jayne is wounded, and Mal knocks out the soldier before he can see what is happening. Jayne and the crates are hoisted onto the ship, whilst Mal and Zoe covertly reenter the passenger car and pretend to be regular passengers.

Wash parks Serenity in a nearby canyon. Jayne wants to get to the rendezvous point and finish the job, but Wash refuses to leave without Mal and Zoe. When Jayne tries to take the ship by force, Simon sedates him. Meanwhile, Mal learns that the stolen cargo is desperately needed medicine. The nearby mining town is afflicted with "Bowden's Malady", a degenerative disease caused by mining activity. The local sheriff is suspicious of Mal's cover story that he and Zoe are a married couple looking for work. Inara appears and uses her considerable status as a Companion, falsely claiming that Mal is her runaway "indentured man" who persuaded Zoe to leave her husband. The impressed sheriff lets her take the "runaways" back into her own custody.

Mal decides they will deliver the medicine to the townspeople and return Niska's money. Niska's henchmen find them first, and a fight ensues. The Serenity crew wins, and secures the villains. Mal and Zoe drive the cargo to the town, intending to drop off the crates discreetly. They are surprised by the sheriff and his deputies, who realize what they have done. They are grateful for the return of the medicine and allow them to go free. Mal tries to negotiate with Crow but he says Niska will refuse, and promises to hunt down and kill him. Mal casually kills Crow, and the next henchman agrees to cooperate. Elsewhere, on an Alliance cruiser, two mysterious men in suits and wearing blue gloves inquire about a girl and show the captain a photo of River Tam.