PART THREE

You know it's not the same sun, not the same sky Not the same sea I see, I'm Foolish to run, when I could just try To make you turn around and see… [Venice: Save the Legion]

Vera and Jayne began combing the north side of the house, while Mal and Zoe took the south and Cliff and Hori took the east. They all worked basically westwards, checking the floor and walls for anything that might suggest hidden structures. Jayne, having a healthy libido, leered at Vera, “BDSM?” “Being tied up is pretty much as exotic as I get. My tastes are pretty basic and mostly vanilla.” His grin widened, “Spanking?” Vera gave him a very level look, “You asking or offering?” “Don’t hit women; mebbe swat their behinds a *little* now and then.” “Uh-huh. And being on the receiving end?” Jayne boggled, “No. No ruttin’ way. Never even had it offered me.” Vera grinned, “You’re highly alpha; it’d be a stretch for you, to put it mildly.” “Got somethin’ of mine stretching for ya right now!” “My goodness; are you permanently on heat?!” Jayne’s nostrils flared, “Seems round you I am, more or less. I get a whiff of you gettin’ all warm and welcomin’ and my John Thomas perks up right on cue.” Vera shifted with embarrassment at Jayne knowing she was getting turned on, “Yeah, well tell him to hold that thought. Got some investigating to do around here.” “And all that sex talk earlier...” “Jayne...” Vera tried to get his mind free of testosterone. “Women talking ‘bout sex gets me going. Specially when they’re bein’ all matter-of-fact about it.” Vera smiled widely, “I’ll certainly bear that in mind, Jayne. You might have noticed last time I slipped the odd comment in here and there; I’ll just...enlarge...my scope.” Jayne swatted her behind, “Stop, or I’ll nail you right here and now.” Vera turned back to the wall at hand with some difficulty, “This is going to be har...erm..difficult. Might be an idea if you swapped with Hori.” “No ruttin’ way! I want my woman where I can see her!” Vera decided not to call Jayne on that, since the atmosphere needed diluting rather than intensifying.

About an hour later, they were picking their way along a corridor. There was a large, old wooden chest against one wall. Vera tried the lid, “Won’t budge.” Jayne grinned, “I’ll make it budge!” He flexed and pushed. Vera admired the bunching muscles in silence. The lid creaked and then suddenly popped open. They gazed down inside. “Jayne, get the others, *now*.” He ran to get Mal, Zoe, Cliff and Hori. “Mal, we’ve found a basement!” The other four were on their way when there was a deafening explosion. Everything went dark and things crashed around their ears.