Disclaimers: Everything belongs to Joss, except for one character of my creation ----------------------------- **Mousing over the Chinese should reveal the English translations on most browsers. If not, translations follow the story. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Simon had sedated River after her outburst on Paquin. Hours later she awakened and emerged from her room. Simon and Kaylee were waiting in the common area. “ Mei-Mei .” Simon went to her as she came out of the corridor. She looked confused and disheveled, but she was calm. “How are you doing?” She looked up at Simon. “Cold.” Simon pulled a blanket from the sofa and wrapped it around her. “Not me,” she said. “They’re not hot any more. Cold now.” Simon and Kaylee exchanged glances. Kaylee looked worried. River just looked tired. “River, who’s cold now?” Simon asked patiently. “They are,” was all River would say. Jayne was watching them from the cargo bay, where he was helping Zoë move crates away from the hold in the bulkhead. They were assessing it for its use as a possible hiding place for Simon and River. “Doc better keep her doped is all I gotta say,” Jayne was muttering as he tossed crates aside. “I ain’t spendin’ the rest of my days bunkin’ with a bunch of huen dahns who’re homelier’n a hedgerow of assholes all ‘cause her big, crazy mouth gets us all thrown in that ruttin’ place.” “Judgin’ from the vid we been seein’, ain’t gonna be a place left there to throw us in,” Zoë replied. “Well, that’s one thing we got in our favor then,” Jayne grumbled. He moved the last box and together he and Zoë pushed the mule out of the way. “This thing’s seen better days, too. All burnt up, looks like a weenie that’s been on the spit too long.” “Cap’n said we’re gettin’ a new one soon.” “Yeah, if we got any coin left after burnin’ our fuel up on this kuang zhe de trip.” Jayne opened the hold and Zoë shone a flashlight in. The space was empty, just extra storage in Serenity’s wall. She shook her head. “We can fix it up, give ‘em some light, but the air ain’t gonna hold out in there forever. Be a short-term solution at best. We gotta talk to Cap’n about other options.” “Where is the good captain, anyway?” Jayne asked with a grimace. “Ain’t seen him since he told Wash to find us a contact at the prison,” Zoë replied. “Seemed pretty distracted, y’ask me.” “Yeah, well he better get it together soon,” Jayne said. “We’re gettin’ a little too close to that place for him to be sittin’ on his hands not thinkin’ this through.” “He’ll figure it out,” Zoë said. Jayne snorted. “Y’sure about that?” Zoë sighed, thinking about some of Mal’s previous plans. Wash came down the stairs and into the bay. “Just talked to a contact at the prison,” he said. “We won’t be allowed to park on prison grounds.” Zoë sighed. This just kept getting better. “Best find the captain,” she said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHINESE: Mei-Mei = Little sister huen dahns = bastards kuang zhe de = crazy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go to Chapter 9.

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