It all started with the geese. The Firefly crew is eager to get paid for their latest job, but when payment arrives as a gaggle of geese instead of a purse, their stay on the planet Brome gets an indefinite extension. Don't matter that the geese will fetch a pretty penny once they get somewhere to sell them. Without coin, they can't buy fuel, and without fuel, they can't get off-world. Serenity is stuck.

Luckily the foreman of the local fuel refinery, Lyle Horne, wants to hire them, but not to work in the factory. A philanthropic authority known as The Governess has been kidnapping his workers. Lyle's fixing to get them back--with the help of Mal and his crew. Only trouble is, Lyle's got a mysterious past with Shepherd Book, one the preacher ain't too keen to talk about.

Out of options and out of time, they launch a three-pronged plan: Mal will break into her fortress of an estate to retrieve the workers, Inara and Simon will pose as potential donors to the Governess's charity as a distraction, and Jayne will stay behind to keep an eye on Lyle. But things never do go smooth, and soon the crew finds they have more than a few geese running amuck on Serenity.