When Inara disappeared, Wash let a fluid string of vehement curses in Chinese. (Vehement for him, anyway. They talked about elephants and monkeys and craziness in a terribly serious and almost threatening fashion.)

He prodded his own tablet for a moment, but wasn't particularly surprised when nothing happened. He hadn't had much time to examine it yet, but the pilot knew that poking at and yelling at technology rarely managed to be useful. He also knew that Inara was very capable of looking after herself.

(She was probably more capable that he was, actually.)

Considering his options - and there weren't many - Wash decided that there was only, really, one thing for it. He was going to have to do a bit of exploration.

If he found Inara, so much the better. If he found a slimy space alien ... well, he could run quite well, for a man who lived behind a pilot's seat.