Simon could not have honestly said what made him feel worse, when Kaylee mentioned Shepherd Book or when she reassured him it was the Captain's fault. Whatever his past disagreements with Mal about the work River was to do - Mal had got the message out about what River had known. And it had been while they'd been doing that because they had been doing that the Shepherd had been murdered by the alliances operative. "I know you didn't" he said feeling dreadfully dishonest and saying no more. And while Kaylee clearly wanted to know more about how things had changed between them Simon could see no way of telling her without telling her everything. Which he would have to do but could not bring himself to do half dressed by the side of the road. In the middle of what turns out is a Carnival. Instead focussing on the practical things Kaylee was explaining to him. "Did they need an engineer?" he asked, given her place in the Carnival. "Or a doctor." It certainly seemed an odd way of recruiting but then Simon was not exactly new to offers of employment that came with kidnapping.