The Firefly crew come upon a deserted spaceship and decide to look around for survivors, and supplies.  The find that the ship was hit by Reavers and that there is one survivor.  They take him on board just in time to be hailed by an Alliance ship.  When they are boarded, they are blamed for raiding the ship and threatened with arrest.  Mal is able to convince the captain of the Alliance ship that Reavers attacked and they are let go, but without the supplies that they found.