We're talking about epidose, The Message, it sounds like.Mal didn't tell private Tracey about Shepherd's plan to make the rogue Feds back down because he wasn't about to let him off the hook for pulling a gun to save his own neck. It didn't matter, by this point, whether Shepherd's plan would work or not; Mal aimed to remind Tracey, at whatever cost, that his integrity is not to be doubted. As it turned out, the private learned the lesson of trust the hard way. His words before dying redeemed him, somewhat, and Mal made good on his part of the deal by taking him home to his family.As to the Feds leaving without fighting more, they knew they had met their match, and they saw that Tracey was dying. There was no point in fighting at that point. I think the feds also knew that they were risking being found out by pressing it. It made sense for them to just drop the matter and split.   See 5 other replies