History
History: Kaylee was born on a prairie moon out on the Rim, a place given to agriculture and good-natured folk, but not to prosperity. People got by, but no one was truly wealthy; there was little in the way of wealth to be had so far from the Core. She showed a talent with machines from a young age, and worked with her father when work was available, honing her gift with learned skill. It was sheer luck that brought her to Serenity. The ship had been grounded, and its mechanic at the time, Bester, had no idea how to fix the problem. He did have an idea of how to lure in the local girls, however. Her first meeting with Captain Malcolm Reynolds was memorable; the man walked in on her and Bester on the engine room floor, tired of the latter's excuses regarding why Serenity wasn't back in the air yet. Bester made excuses. Kaylee corrected him, and once she'd gotten her clothes back in place went on to fix the problem in short order. It was enough to impress the Captain, and Kaylee found herself with a new job and a new life.
She adapted swiftly to life aboard Serenity. Most of her time was dedicated to keeping the ship running smoothly, no small feat given the Firefly's age and the scarcity of spare parts. She also assisted peripherally in the crew's various criminal enterprises. She never really looked back on her own life, as she fell in love with the ship almost immediately, and bonded swiftly to the rest of the crew. When it became necessary upon occasion for the crew to take on passengers to cover costs, Kaylee was often used as the face person, being friendly and unassuming as she was. And so she was the first person on Serenity to meet Shepherd Book, Lawrence Dobson, and Simon Tam. Unbeknownst to Kaylee, Simon was a fugitive, having ended up on the wrong side of the Alliance (the government existent in the Firefly 'verse) when he rescued his sister, River, from a secret experimental facility operating under the guise of a highly-specialized school for gifted children. This might not have been a problem, had Dobson not been a federal agent bent on arresting Simon. During his initial attempt to do so, he ended up shooting Kaylee. This was not the wisest of moves. Simon issued an ultimatum: he would withhold medical treatment from Kaylee unless Mal helped him evade capture. Mal didn't agree gracefully, but agree he did.
Though the Captain was initially intending to leave Simon and River, revealed to be the 'cargo' Simon brought aboard with him, on a moon called Whitefall, the doctor ended up more than proving his worth. He was offered a position as Serenity's medic, something that would afford him some degree of protection from the Alliance, considering Serenity was always on the move. (And considering that both Mal and his first mate, Zoe, had fought against the Alliance previously and held them in no great affection.) This was all to the good in Kaylee's mind. She swiftly developed something of an infatuation with Simon, and became close friends with River despite the younger girl's fractured mind. Of course, traveling with wanted fugitives did not come without risks. These compounded those already inherent in being on what was effectively a pirate crew in deep space (which already included the crews of other vessels, the malice of psychopathic crime lords, Reavers, con artists without a moral compass, corrupt officials on both Rim and Core worlds, and the very real possibility of breaking down in the absolute middle of nowhere).
Things on Serenity rarely ever ran smooth, but there were a few particular hurdles that had effect on Kaylee. The first of these came about during a catastrophic breakdown on Serenity. An explosion in the engine room damaged the engine, knocked out both primary and auxiliary life support, and seriously injured Zoe. Kaylee felt deeply guilty for not having been able to detect the problem before it became one, and even more so for being unable to reverse the damage, as the part necessary to get Serenity running again had been deformed beyond the point of no return by the explosion. That Mal ordered the rest of the crew to evacuate in the shuttles only deepened her despair, and though the Captain was able to secure a replacement part and repair the ship, the incident has stuck with her.
The second incident took place not terribly long after. The crew of Serenity had previously crossed a crime lord by the name of Niska, and the man held a grudge against Mal. When the opportunity presented itself, he captured Mal (along with Wash, the ship's pilot, who had been with Mal at the time) for the purpose of torturing the man to death. The crew mounted a rescue. Kaylee joined, no less determined than the others to retrieve Mal, but when faced with an actual firefight was unable to so much as shoot back. She retreated, and was pinned down by three armed men. They would likely have killed her, were it not for River. The younger woman retrieved Kaylee's gun, and after only a quick glance at the placement of the opposing gunman, stepped out and killed all three with one shot each, with her eyes closed. This terrified Kaylee down to her core; based on everything she knew, such a feat should not have been possible, and that it was her friend who performed it only made the situation worse.
The third incident actually came about as a result of the Tam siblings' presence. While Serenity managed to avoid entanglements with those who were seeking Simon and River for some time, their luck eventually ran out, pitting them against a predator by the name of Jubal Early. Kaylee was one of the first crew members he came upon, and he coerced the location of River's quarters out of her using truly hideous threats, then left her tied up on the floor of the engine room. Kaylee was wracked both with terror of what the man might return to do, and guilt for giving him the information he wanted. Early was formidable, and was only dispatched by the combined efforts of the entire crew under the direction of River, showing not for the first time an uncanny knack for strategy and a level of insight that had slowly been leading the rest of the crew to wonder if she might in fact be a Reader, possessed of telepathy or prescience.
It is in the aftermath of this last event that Kaylee has arrived in Econtra.