stop. the action freezes.
biograph. simon tam.
enter the doctor. forgive me. i prefer to see the event alone, without bias. mathias looks at the hologram -- realizes which one it is.
you're right to insist. i know you've had security issues here. he places his hand on a screen as he says it. mathias looks at the readout, and drops the bluster.
i have neither. like this facility, i don't exist. the parliament calls me in when.  when they wish they didn't have to. let's talk about the tams.
river was your greatest success. a prodigy -- a phenomenon. until her brother walked in eight months ago and took her from you.
i'm very aware of that.
no, no. of course. the boy spent his fortune developing the contacts to infiltrate this place.
madness, no. something a good deal more dangerous. have you looked at this scan carefully? at his face? mathias looks uncertain.
i'm here because the situation is even less simple than you think. do you know what your sin is, doctor?
key members of parliament. key. the minds behind every diplomatic, military and covert operation in the galaxy, and you put them in a room with a psychic.
it's come to our attention that river became much more unstable, more.  disturbed, after you showed her off to parliament. did she see something very terrible in those cards?
but they are in her. her mind is unquiet. it's the will of the parliament that i kill her. and the brother. because of your sin.
you know, in certain older civilized cultures, when men failed as entirely as you have, they would throw themselves on their swords.
the parliament has no further interest in psychics. they represent a threat to the harmony and stability of our alliance.
would you be killed in your sleep, like an ailing pet? whatever your failings, i believe you deserve better than that. the agents move. he slices the throat of the one behind him with true grace, thrusting at the second as he's pulling out his gun and pinning his hand. a moment, and the dying agent reflexively squeezes the trigger, shooting his own arm. the operative pulls out the sword and the agent falls as quietly as the first. mathias bolts but the operative pins him to the wall. he bunches his fingers and jabs the side of the doctor's spine. mathias stiffens, suddenly, agonizingly immobile. the operative steps back, observes the doctor's rigid grimace for a moment. almost ceremoniously, he drops to one knee and holds the blade out to one side, hilt to the floor and point tilted toward the doctor. the doctor stares at it in horror as his paralyzed body begins to tip over toward it. the operative turns toward the terrified intern at the door.
the ship. the name of the ship.
serenity valley. bloodiest battle of the entire war. the independents held the valley for seven weeks, two of them after their high command had surrendered. 68% casualty rate.
there.
140 if the feds ever bothered to crossref justice files with war records.  yes. our mr. reynolds was a sergeant, 57th overlanders. volunteer. fought at serenity till the very last. this man is an issue. this man hates us.
she's followed him far.  give me the crew, registered passengers -- our captain is a passionate man, no room there for subtlety. he's bound to have some very obvious.  close on: the lens of his glasses. on it is a slowly moving picture of inara.
-40 .weakness.
i've no doubt. mal sheds his shawl and robe. inara kneels at the alter, picks out another incense stick.
that's very thoughtful. but i mean it when i say you're not in any danger.
i think you're beginning to understand how dangerous river tam is.
it's worse than you know.
that girl will rain destruction down on you and your ship. she's an albatross, captain.
i've seen your war record. i know how you must feel about the alliance.
fair to say. but i have to hope you understand you can't beat us.
and you can do that, once you let me take the girl back home. give me the opportunity to help you.
this psychotic, potentially murderous girl who can't have the slightest awareness of your protection. this is where you "draw the line".
there's a number of lives that hang in the balance here. lives under your care. are they as whimsical as yourself?
i have a warship in deep orbit, captain. we locked on to serenity's pulse beacon the moment you hit atmo. i can speak a word and send a missile to that exact location inside of three minutes. mal pulls a small device, clipped wires sticking out all around it, and tosses it to the operative.
pulse beacon.
how long do you think you can really run from us?
captain reynolds, i should tell you so that you don't waste your time: you can't make me angry.
i need her, captain. river is.  my purpose and i will gather her to me. the brother as well. whatever else happens is incidental. in the greater scheme.
i want to resolve this like civilized men. i'm not threatening you. i'm unarmed.
i am of course wearing full body armor. i'm not a moron. he tosses mal hard against a wall, spinning and blocking a blow from inara -- she is clearly trained in martial arts, but he flat-heels her to the ground within seconds. mal is going for his gun again, turning, and the operative kicks him in the face, sends him back, gun flying. mal gets to his feet and they square off. mal breathing hard, nose dripping blood. the operative perfectly poised, waiting.
they'll come when they're needed.
captain, what do you think is going to happen here? they come at each other. the operative is the much better trained -- he's fluid, his blows sparse and deadly.
he's not the plucky hero. the alliance isn't some evil empire. this isn't the grand arena.
just a flash bomb. go! go!
forget the pulse beacon, there has to be another way to track the ship -- get a read on the nav sat. it's a registered transport, you must be able to locate --
have you found a nav sat trajectory?
does he think this is a game?
v0 i'm sorry. but i cannot let you hide and i cannot let you run. things become.  extreme. and we wish for another way.
when god wanted pharaoh to release his people from bondage -- you know the story? he didn't ask. he sent his plagues down upon egypt. that's me, captain. the path to peace is paved with corpses. it's always been so.
i'm not going to live there. how could you think -- there's no place for me there, any more than 40 there is for you. malcolm, i'm a monster. what i do is evil, i've no illusions about it. but it must be done.
it's not my place to ask.
maybe not. but you'll keep her close now, and when i blow serenity out of the air, this will be ended. you're so terribly out of your depth, captain. your old boat can't take the pressure.
yes, your scrambler's code is too old for our seekers. you love that, yes? the small triumph over modernity. you really are the noble savage.
but that's what's going to kill you, malcolm. nobility. it confuses your text, which is self-interest. and sin.
what do you believe in?
if that were true, you'd be nothing more than a reaver. something changes in mal's expression.
define "disappeared". the ensign just looks uncomfortable.
lock and fire on my command. you should have let me see her. we should have done this as men. not with fire.
vessel in range, lock on.
that's not good.
target the reavers! target the reavers! target everyone! somebody fire!
there's a lot of innocent people in the air being killed right now.
you really believe that?
you willing to die for that belief?
you know what your sin is, malcolm?
i'm sorry. the operative spins him and digs his bunched fingers right into the same nerve cluster that he paralyzed doctor mathias with. mal goes rigid, his face a rictus of pain. the operative goes near the railing and retrieves his sword. mal trembles, trying to move -- but nothing happens.
do you know what an uproar you've caused? protests, riots -- cries for a recall of the entire parliament.
you must be pleased.
i can't guarantee they won't come after you. the parliament. they have a hundred men like me and they are not forgiving.
i told them the tams were no longer a threat -- damage done.
you won't. there is.  .nothing left to see. mal looks at him a moment, then picks up his gear to head inside. the operative starts away into the rain, then stops to look up at the nose of the ship. angle: the newly painted serenity, standing tall in the rain.