01x10 - Objects in Space

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Firefly". Aired: September 20 – December 20, 2002.*
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Set 500 years in the future after a universal civil w*r, the crew of a small transport spaceship takes any job so long as it puts food on the table.
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01x10 - Objects in Space

Post by bunniefuu »

[ Voices Chattering ]

[ Man ]
We're all just floating.

[ Kaylee ]
You couldn't possibly.

[ Simon ]
No. I wish I was lying.

I just,you know,
we'd all just made surgeon.

That was it.
We were the elite.

- The world was ours, you know.
- So you had to be naked?

Naked, yes.

- And on top of the statue of Hippocrates.
- [ Laughs ]

- Can you just picture me?
- What, naked?

Uh, hmm, let's see.
I'm gonna have to conjure up, uh--

Yeah, that's,
that's gonna be difficult.

[ Laughing ]

- So did the feds come?
- There were no feds...

until I started singing.

- Oh, no!
- No. This is not--

What did you sing?

This is not funny. This--

This is a morality tale
about the evils of sake.

I would be there right now.

I mean, it was, it was--

It was either that
or the national anthem. Reports vary.

[ Kaylee ]
You don't remember any of this?

I remember talking the feds
out of telling my father...

or paying the feds
out of telling my father.

- I get fuzzy on the aspects.
- [ Kaylee Laughing ]

- So, like, never?
- Well, no.

Not ever, never?

Some orders allow shepherds
to marry...

but I follow a narrower path.

But I mean, you still got the urge.
They don't...

cut it off or nothin'.

No. I'm more or less intact.

I just direct my energy elsewhere.

You mean like masturbatin'?

I hope you're not thinking
of taking orders yourself.

[ Laughs ]
That'll be the day.

I got stupid.
The money was too good.

I don't give half a hump
if you're innocent or not.

So where does that put you?

- [ Laughing ]
- Saint Jayne. It's got a ring to it.

I'm just trying to remember
how many miracles you've performed.

I once hit a guy in the neck
from 500 yards with a bent scope.

- Don't that count upstairs?
- Oh, it'll be taken into consideration.

You made that sound
kind of ominous.

I put out a few waves
to some old acquaintances.

I may even be able to find something
in New Melbourne if you need the shuttle free.

I'm just gonna be there long enough
to pick up cargo.

The only thing you're gonna find
in New Melbourne...

is fish and fish-related activities...

so unless you got the overwhelming urge
to gut sturgeon...

and who hasn't occasionally--

But it's a layover point for almost
every planet this side of the system.

I could--

I just don't wanna draw this out.

Have you decided when
you're gonna tell the others?

I--

No.

- I appreciate your not saying anything.
- Well, I don't.

So make up your mind.

I'm a big girl.
Just tell me.

None of it means a damn thing.

It's just an object.

It doesn't mean what you think.

- You know that's not to be touched.
- Stay calm. Stop yelling at her.

[ Mal ] River, sweetheart, you want nothin'
to do with that. Put it down.

- Kaylee.
- What were you thinking?
Where did you get ahold--

- It was in my hand.
- I'm not mad. Just let me-- Thank you.

Fully loaded, safety off.
This here is a recipe for unpleasantness.

- Does she understand that?
- She understands.

She doesn't comprehend.

Well, I'm glad we've
made that distinction.

No touching g*ns, okay?

No touching.

- River--
- It's getting very, very crowded!

I thought she was on the med.

Her medications are erratic.

There's not one that her system
can't eventually break down and--

When I want a lot of medical jargon,
I'll talk to a doctor.

You are talking to a doctor.

Yeah, okay. My point is it could've
been you she might've sh*t just then--

the doctor,
as you just made note of.

And who exactly could fix you?
Not nobody.

We're deep in space,
corner of No and Where.

You take extra care with her...

'cause we're very much alone out here.

~ Take my love, take my land ~

~ Take me where I cannot stand ~

~ I don't care, I'm still free ~

~ You can't take the sky from me ~

~ Take me out to the black ~

~ Tell them I ain't comin'back ~

~ Burn the land and boil the sea ~

~ You can't take the sky from me ~

~ There's no place I can be ~

~ Since I've found serenity ~

~ But you can't take the sky from me ~~

Little River just gets more colorful
by the moment. What'll she do next?

Either blow us all up
or rub soup in our hair.

- It's a toss-up.
- I hope she does the soup thing.

It's always a hoot,
and we don't all die from it.

- Poor kid.
- Yeah. She's definitely got--

- Funny.
- Something wrong?

I'm just getting a weird heat bounce
off our wake.

- Engine flux?
- Sensors probably got turned around.

Those lockers are sealed. Only way she can
get in there is if she knows the combination.

I don't leave my g*ns around, Mal,
and I don't leave 'em loaded.

Well, somehow, she got her hands
on your hardware.

Now, supposing she took up
something with hull-piercing b*ll*ts.

b*ll*ts are soft lead, Mal. Even Vera
could barely breach the hull.

She's the best I got.

Anyhow, let's move this conversation
in a "notJayne's fault" direction.

I didn't make her crazy. Hell,
I didn't even want her on the ship.

Is that the direction you want
this conversation to go in?

Just don't want to take a lashing
for something I ain't the cause of.

[ Zoe ]
Where's River at now?

In her room, which I'm thinking
we bolt from the outside from now on.

That's a little extreme, isn't it?

- Anybody remember her coming at me
with a butcher's Kn*fe?
- Wacky fun.

- You wanna go, little man?
- Only if it's someplace with candlelight.

Sir, I know she's unpredictable,
but I don't think she'd harm anyone.

- [Jayne ] Butcher's Kn*fe.
- Anyone we can't spare.

As far as we know, the girl's never even
picked up a g*n before.

[ Kaylee ]
That ain't so.

Kaylee,you got somethin'to say?

[ Mal ] Okay, Kaylee,
why don't you speak your piece?

It was when the captain and Wash
got took by Niska.

I ain't likely to forget that
anytime soon.

Well, we all went in--
me too--

Didn't make much account
of myself, I'm afraid.

I got no problem with the notion
of you not k*lling nobody, Kaylee.

What's this got to do with River?
She wasn't even in that fight.

Well, no, she was.
I got pinned down...

and there were three guys
and I couldn't--

And then River comes up.

She looks out, sees 'em all--

And they was spread out,
you know, had some cover.

She-- She only looked for a second
and... took my g*n...

closed her eyes...

k*lled 'em.

- She sh*t them?
- All three.

Dead. In an instant.
With her eyes still closed.

That's-- [ Chinese ].
You saw it wrong.

Not a jot. And it weren't
auto fire or luck.

She just--

- She just did the math.
- You understand how that sounds?

What? She k*lled 'em with mathematics.
What else could it have been?

You couldn't have done it,
Jayne, nor you, Cap'n.

Nobody can sh**t like that
that's a person.

So River's not a person.

[ Kaylee ]
Oh, please don't be mad.

[ Simon ] I just want
to understand what you're saying here.

- I thought River was your friend.
- She is.

But, Simon, the way she--

Right after,
she looked at me and...

she smiled...

like nothing was wrong.

Like we were playing.

Scared me.

Could be she
saved your life, Kaylee.

Oh, I'm all aware of that,
and I'm not saying--

She probably didn't even know what was going on.
Thought it was a game.

Later on you can explain to me
how that's a comfort.

Might have to use some of that
math we've been hearing about.

What we got here to deal with is
the larger issue, and that larger issue is...

we got someone on board this ship
might be a danger to us.

Ain't a question of whether we like her.

Some of us have
grown attached to River.

Kaylee, I know you have,
or you would've spoken up sooner...

which, by the by,
you should have.

I find River pleasant enough myself...

but she does have
an oddness to her.

And I ain'tjust talking about
her proficiency with firearms.

Girl knows things--
things she shouldn't, things she couldn't.

What, are you saying she's a witch?

Yes, Jayne. She's a witch.

- She has had congress with the beast.
- She's in Congress?

How did your brain
even learn human speech?

- I'm just so curious.
- [ Speaking Chinese ]

This isn't a joking matter.
This is about our lives and River's.

[ Mal ]
Thank you.

She's deeply intuitive.

It's true that sometimes--

I don't think she's intuitive.
I think she's a reader.

- Psychic?
- Is that even remotely possible?

You tell me.

You've been studying
what they've done to her.

They've, uh--

They definitely altered the way she reacts
to things, even the way she perceives.

- But I'm not--
- Psychic, though?

That sounds like something
out of science fiction.

- We live in a spaceship, dear.
- So?

Whoa. Back up a sec.
Are you saying she really reads minds?

[ Mal ]
Or near enough.

- Am I alone thinking along these lines?
- No.

Well, I don't like the idea
of someone hearing what I'm thinking.

No one likes the idea of
hearing what you're thinking.

The Alliance could have
any number of uses for a psychic.

A psychic... or an assassin.

She's just a kid.

And she just wants to be... a kid.

I wish it were that simple.

Yeah, and if wishes were horses,
we'd all be eatin' steak.

What do we plan
to do about this?

Well, that's the question.

I don't think
she'd ever hurt any of us.

Maybe you're right.

I ain't gonna make a decision
on anything till I thought on it awhile.

It's late.

Let's get some rest.

- Simon--
- I gotta go check on my assassin.

Oh, please don't be mad.
I had to say something.

I'm not mad at you.

I just, uh--

She loves this ship.

I think it's more home to her
than any place she's been.

Wh-What about you?

I mean, I--

I thought the hospital was home.

I was really making
a difference there and--

and embarrassingly
large stacks of money...

and I could've--

I would be there right now,
if she hadn't--

if-- if they had just
left her alone.

Is it so bad here?

- I don't even know if the captain will let us--
- No. I mean...

isn't there anything about this place
you're glad of?

Good night, you two.

- I, uh--
- Don't. Yeah, I--

Good night.

Don't let the space bugs bite.

[ Sighs ]
Space bugs.

[ Air Hissing ]

[ Cocks g*n ]

[ Locking ]

[ Door Unlocks ]

[ Metal Creaks ]

River?

[ Metal Creaking ]

River?

[ Yelps ]

I like this ship.

Serenity.
She's good-looking.

H-How did you... get on?

Strains the mind a bit, don't it?

You think you're all alone.

Maybe I come down
the chimney, Kaylee.

Bring presents
to the good girls and boys.

Maybe not, though.

Maybe I've always been here.

What do you want?

[ Machinery Whirring ]

That's her b*ating heart, isn't it?

Pull off any one of a thousand parts,
she'll just die.

Such a slender thread.

You ever been r*ped?

The captain is right down that hallway.
He can hear you.

The captain's locked in his quarters.

They all are.

There's nobody can help you.
Say it.

There's--

There's nobody can help me.

I'm gonna tie you up now.

And you know what I'm gonna do then?

I'm gonna give you a present.

Get rid of a problem you've got.

And I won't touch you in any
wrong fashion, nor hurt you at all...

unless you make
some kind of ruckus.

You throw a monkey wrench
into my dealings in any way...

your body is forfeit.

Ain't nothing but a body to me...

and I can find all unseemly manner
of use for it.

Do you understand?

Yes.

- Turn around and put your hands
behind your back.
- [ Whimpering ]

Now tell me, Kaylee.

Where does River sleep?

Hello?

[ Thud ]

River?

[ Cocks g*n ]

Dr. Tam, why don't you
sit yourself down?

Rather die standing.

Well, the intention
is not for you to die.

The warrant doesn't specify any particular
need for you to be alive, but--

Where's your sister?

- Are you Alliance?
- Am I a lion?

- What?
- I don't think of myself as a lion.

You might as well, though.
I have a mighty roar.

I said ''Alliance.''

Oh. I thought--

- No, I was--
- That's weird.

- Where's your sister?
- I don't know. Who do you work for?

- This is her room.
- Yes.

- It's empty.
- I know.

So is it still her room
when it's empty?

Does the room,
the thing, have purpose?

Or do we--

What's the word?

I really can't help you.

The plan is to take your sister...

get the reward,
which is substantial.

- "Imbue." That's the word.
- So you're a bounty hunter.

- No. That ain't it at all.
- Then what are you?

I'm a bounty hunter.

I'm named Early.

I'm known to some.

Been tracking you since
the feds were tipped off on Ariel.

- She sleep with anybody?
- River?

Yeah. She grapple
with any of the crew?

- Might be in their quarters?
- No.

Maybe she does,
and you don't know about it.

This is insane. I'm not gonna help you
find her, in any case.

[ Sighs ]

I think this is very pretty.

I like the weight of it.

I thought the intention
was not to k*ll me.

No. You're missing the point.

The design of the thing...
is functional.

The plan is not to sh**t you.

The plan is to get the girl.

If there's no girl, then the plan,
well, is like the room.

You are gonna help me
look for her.

I don't think my last act in this 'verse
is gonna be betraying my sister.

You're gonna help me.

'Cause every second you're with me
is a chance to turn the tables...

get the better of me.

Maybe you'll find your moment.
Maybe I'll slip. Or...

you refuse to help me,
I sh**t your brain out...

and I go upstairs
and spend some time violating...

the little mechanic I got trussed up
in the engine room.

I take no pleasure
in the thought...

but she will die weeping
if you cross me.

You're out of your mind.

That's between me and my mind.

Let's start with these rooms.

[ Early ]
He's not k*lled.

Be a while before he comes to,
but he'll mend.

And which part of your plan dictated
the necessity of b*ating up a shepherd?

That ain't a shepherd.

She wouldn't come in here anyway.
She hates this room.

You see, Early, the people you're
planning to sell her to...

cut up her brain
in a lab like this.

Tortured her.
A teenaged girl.

Not some bandit on a m*rder run.
Just an innocent--

- You ever been sh*t?
- No.

You ought to be sh*t...
or stabbed.

Lose a leg.
To be a surgeon, you know?

Know what kind of pain
you're dealing with.

They make psychiatrists get psychoanalyzed
before they can get certified...

but they don't make
a surgeon get cut on.

That seem right to you?

Come on out, River.

- The nice man wants to kidnap you.
- Shh!

I like the way the walls go out.

Gives you an open feeling.

Firefly's a good design.

People don't appreciate
the substance of things.

Objects in space.

People miss out on what's solid.

It's not your moment,
Doctor.

- Is that the Companion shuttle?
- Yes.

We'll try the empty first.
Then we'll pay her a visit.

Her room's not saying
a damn thing.

Hold it.

This is pointless, you know that?

Two hundred thousand
seems fairly pointed to me.

Money like that, I could retire.

Not that I would.

What's life without work?

Serenity's a smuggling ship.

I've been here a year. I couldn't name
all the places she might hide.

I don't have a year.

Your sister's
becoming a real annoyance.

I feel for you.

I'm not gonna waste my time
threatening you...

'cause I think you believe
I will k*ll people...

if someone upsets my plan.

I'm gonna seal you in, though.

You just sit.

You can still walk away from this.
I know you're tired.

Don't go visiting my intentions.

Don't ever.

Man is stronger by far
than woman...

yet only woman
can create a child.

Does that seem right to you?

[ Door Closes ]

All right. That's all
the hide-and-seek I got time for.

[ Early ] I know
you're on this ship, little girl...

so here's how this goes.

You show yourself.
We finish this exchange...

or your brother's brains
will be flying every which-a-way.

You understand. I'm sort of
on the clock here. It's frustrating.

[ River's Voice ]
You're wrong, Early.

I'm not wrong, dumpling. I will
sh**t your brother dead if you don't--

Wrong about River.

River's not on the ship.

They didn't want her here...

but she couldn't
make herself leave.

So she melted.
Melted away.

They didn't know
she could do that, but she did.

[ Early ]
I'm not sure I take your meaning there.

I'm not on the ship.

I'm in the ship.

I am the ship.

- River--
- River's gone.

Then who exactly
are we talking to?

You're talking to Serenity.

And, Early,
Serenity is very unhappy.

[ River ]
Kaylee.

- River.
- You're afraid.

He tied me up.

- I don't know where he came from.
- It's okay.

You're gonna be okay.

I told him where you were.

I'm sorry.
I didn't know what else to do.

- I--
- Shh. I'm fine.

But I need you to do something for me.

Gotta be brave.

I'm tied up. I-I can't.

Got tools. Something sharp.

Don't be scared.

I'm right here.

Where'd she go?

I can't keep track of her when she's not
incorporeally possessing a spaceship.

- Don't look at me.
- That's some nonsensical crap.

Ain't nobody can do that.
You're somewhere on this boat.

Somewhere with a com,
playing games.

[ River Giggling ]

That's somewhat unsettling.

Early. Mr.Jubal Early,
bounty hunter.

May I call you "Jubal"?

Ain't nobody calls me that.

Your mother does.

I'm sorry. Did.

She's gone now.

Is that supposed to scare me,
bringing up my mother?

You're a liar.

I don't think
your intentions are honorable.

Well, no. I'm a bounty hunter.

It's not generally considered honorable,
so much as--

- I live by a code, though, which I think is worth--
- You hurt people.

Only when the job requires it.

Wrong. You're a bad liar.

You crawl inside me uninvited, and you hurt
my crew. I see everything that passes--

I only hurt people 'cause they keep
getting in the way of me finding you.

Tell her.

- What am I, your advocate?
- You are, starting now.

He's really very gentle and fuzzy.

- We're becoming fast friends.
- [ River Giggling ]

You folks are all insane.

Well, my sister's a ship.
We had a complicated childhood.

Doesn't anybody care that I have
a finely crafted g*n pointed at this boy's head?

I care.

Then you gonna come out and stop me
from doing what I don't want to?

You gonna be smart here, River?

River?

Serenity?

[ Groans ]

What the hell's going on here?

[ River ]
I need you to do me a favor, Captain.

There was a guy.
He's very blurry.

You gotta be careful.
[ Groans ]

How come there's a guy on board...

and how come
you're all of a sudden the ship?

- I know you have questions.
- That would be why I just asked them.

But there isn't a lot of time, Captain.

I need you to trust me.

- I'm not dreaming?
- We all are.

Don't make faces.

[ River ]
Are you ready?

[ Early ]
I just have to think here.

These older models
have locators at all?

Won't help.

You know, with the exception of one
deadly and unpredictable midget...

this girl is the smallest cargo
I've ever had to transport...

yet by far
the most troublesome.

- Does that seem right to you?
- What'd he do?

- Who?
- The midget.

Arson.

The little man loved fire.

I can take this guy out.

[ River ]
He's faster than you. All of you.

- And he's wearing armor.
- What about his face?

- Is his face wearing armor?
- No touching g*ns.

It's soon now.
Are you ready?

- How do you know what this guy's gonna do?
- I'm very close to him.

- He doesn't even see it.
- Okay, but--

Go now.

[ River ]
You're not welcome here anymore, Early.

Do you think I'm gonna
leave here empty-handed?

I know it.

Yeah, well, you know me real well.

Wish I didn't.
You like to hurt folk.

It's part of the job.

It's why you took the job.

Power. Control. Pain.

Your mother knew.

Sadness in her
when she waved good-bye.

She's relieved.

Saw darkness in you.
You're not well.

You'll be wanting
to shut up now.

Big golden retriever
sitting on the lawn.

Never took to you, smelling you.

The neighbor's pet.

You did things to him.

Cleaned up after.

Shined and polished.

Everything in here gleams.

Well, I'll be a son of a whore.

You're not in my gorram mind.
You're on my gorram ship!

[ Laughing ]

It's very interesting,
all these buttons.

Okay! We're not
touching those, okay?

- How the hell did she get on my ship?
- Put the g*n away.

Okay. I'm putting it away.

No, he's not.

I'm putting it away
because we're all reasonable people.

Don't want to be
doing anything rash...

fiddling with any dials.

You're not right, Early.

You're not righteous.
You've got issues.

No. Or yes.

I could have that.
You might have me figured out then.

Good job.
I'm not a hundred percent.

- You talk too much.
- I'm flawed in that way. I sometimes go on.

- It's been said--
- It's okay, Early.

- I'm going with you.
- River, what are you--

Don't belong.
Dangerous like you.

Can't be controlled.

Can't be trusted.

Everyone could just go on without me
and not just have to worry.

People could be
what they wanted to be...

could be with
the people they wanted.

Could live simple.

No secrets.

- No.
- I'll be fine.

I'll be your bounty, Jubal Early...

and I'll just fade away.

Well, finally something
goes according to--

Simon?

[ Screams ]

See? That's what it feels like.

Just hang tight, darlin'.
Early's on the move.

[ River ]
Shh. It's okay.

You made the right move, darlin'.

Best for you to go on with ol' Early.

You think so?
Some of us feel differently.

Permission to come aboard?

You know, you ain't quite right.

It's the popular theory.

Go on, get in there.

Give your brother a thrashing
for messing up your plan.

He takes so much looking after.

To the left.

Your left.

Okay, now, very gently,
pull that aside.

This is really not
my area of expertise, Doctor.

I tend to be putting these into people
more than the other thing.

Can I mop your brow? I am at the ready
with the fearsome brow mop.

- You got the b*llet.
- [ Grunts ]

Okay, I'm just gonna pass out
for a minute, but you're doing great.

And we live to fight another day.

Any chance that-- [ Chinese ]
might survive?

Air he had left, I'd say his chance
would be about one in...

a very large number.

Ain't odds I'd play.

How's your lip?

- [ Book ] I just feel such a fool.
- [Jayne ] Yeah.

All them years of priest training...

and taken out
by one bounty hunter.

Don't get me wrong.
I gave him a hell of a fight.

- Epic, I'm guessing.
- They're be poems and songs.

-Just you wait.
- At least you got some play.
I missed every damn thing.

[ Kaylee ]
And then his folks come by to fetch him...

and it turns out
he's, like, 14 years old.

[ Laughing ]

I mean, he must've been
some kind of genetic experiment...

'cause I swear this guy was, uh--

[ Sighs ]
Oh, my daddy whupped me so hard.

Oh.

Well, I'm at fours.
Let's see you match that.

I can win this.

I'm hearing a lot of talk there, genius.
Come on. Show me what you got.

Well, here I am.

Grr! Arrgh!
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