Firefly

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.