Episode: The Message

Simon and Kaylee take in the sights and sounds of a space bazaar, where a carnival barker beckons them to see proof of alien life which is contained in a glass jar. Simon recognizes the "proof" as a cow fetus. A short time later Mal and his crew meet up with Amnon Duul, a postman who has a man-sized crate addressed to Mal and Zoe. Before the pair open the container, Jayne reads a letter from his mother which came with a small package.

Jayne opens the package and finds a wool cap with earflaps and a pom-pom. He puts on the goofy hat and displays it proudly to the others. Moments later Mal and Zoe unlock the crate and find a corpse inside. They recognize the body: it's their old war buddy Tracey. The corpse is transported back to the ship. They find a tape recorder inside the crate. On it is a message from Tracey, who asks that his body be transported back home so he can be buried in the family plot. Meanwhile, back on the carnival planet, a detective named Womack, flanked by two other detectives, Fendris and Skunk, approaches Amnon. Womack demands to know where the body has been taken. At first Amnon pretends not to know, but after being pressured he admits that Mal left with it. The detectives spray Amnon with lighter fluid and threaten to set him on fire if he tells anyone about the conversation.

Mal and the crew react when warning shots are fired over the Serenity's bow. Womack appears on the view screen and demands the return of the crate. Mal warns that his threats are meaningless; if he destroys the ship, he'll destroy the crate along with it. Mal orders Simon to conduct an autopsy on Tracey's body, convinced it must hold something the detectives are after. When Simon slices the corpse's chest with his scalpel, Tracey suddenly springs to life, screaming.

Once Tracey regains his wits-and his wound is bandaged-he tells the others that he took a drug that made him appear to be dead. As Tracey speaks Simon notices that none of his medical readouts are normal. Tracey explains that his real organs have been removed and replaced with organs grown in a lab. He is, in effect, smuggling illegal organs to a clinic, where his real organs would be replaced once the artificial ones are harvested. Somewhere along the way Tracey received a higher offer for the organs, but when he cemented the deal it soon went south. Three men began chasing him and he barely escaped with his life. He then faked his own death, hoping it would stop the men from chasing him.