When River gets hold of a loaded gun the crew begins to believe she may never recover. Their discussions are interrupted by the arrival of a bounty hunter, Early, who sneaks on board the ship and takes out or locks up the crew and forces Simon at gunpoint to take him to River. River talks to him, apparently having possessed the ship. She stalls for time only to reveal she is on Early's ship. She claims that since the crew was willing to give her up, she's best off going with Early. But when he leaves Mal has been directed to him by River and kicks the bounty hunter off into space