Mal was in a right piss of a mood. "Jayne, how in the name of Creation could you lose another human being?"

Jayne shuffled his feet, doing his best to look as small as possible."Hell, Mal, I dunno. One minute, Moonbrain was right there next to me in the market. I turned my back for an instant, and when I looked back, she was gone."

“And what’s got me confused is why you took her off the boat, when my exact orders were for you to stay on board. Which leads me to the notion that maybe you went lookin’ for some trim and brought her with you. Only she vanished into thin air before you got to the whorehouse.”

Jayne’s blush was all the answer he needed.

Simon was less than pleased as well. "You were taking my – and I cannot stress this enough - *teen-aged* sister to a whorehouse??"

"What is this? Dogpile on Jayne Cobb Day? Ain't my fault the girl's all whimsical in the brainpan and can't stay by my side where she's supposed'ta."

Wash got himself a refill of tea. "Can't say as I'd wanna stay by your side, given your rather passing acquaintence with hygeiene."

Jayne stood up and leaned over the table threateningly. "You just keep it up, Little Man. And as for the doc, maybeso he shoulda thought twice about trustin' her to somebody not him."

With a mutter about being in his bunk, Jayne shoved back the chair and stomped off.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "He does have a point, sir. We should have trusted somebody other than him."

Mal threw himself in the chair Jayne had recently vacated. "What'd you have me do, Zoe? You and I had scoring the job to consider, Kaylee and Wash were off getting' replacement parts, and the Doc needed to get medical supplies. Ain’t nobody else around to babysit her, what with Book and Inara gone.”

“Not disagreeing as such, sir.”

“Yeah, and meanwhile, we’ve got a new job lined up from Badger, a teen-aged fugitive to find, and that Alliance garrison to avoid. Not lookin’ to be our best day ever.”

An insistent beep from the cockpit interrupted them. Wash stood up to go answer the wave. A minute later he stuck his head back into the mess. “Uhh, Cap’n? I think our little runaway has been located. You better come listen.”

The wave was audio only, no picture. It was a woman’s voice, slightly husky like burnt honey. Mal thought he could hear a bit of a Londinium Underside accent in her voice, but he couldn’t be certain. “Captain Reynolds? I think I’ve found your wayward bird. Or rather, she came looking for me.”

Mal motioned to Wash for him to cut the audio. “Trap?”

“Seems genuine. Say’s she’s the local medic on the other side of the world. She’s not showing on any Cortex bulletins, not that it means anything.”

“Did she ask for money?” Zoe wanted to know.

“Nope, dear. Just asked for Mal. And not even in private.”

“Put her back on,” Mal ordered.

He used his best deal-sealing voice. “Well, we are grateful for your kindness. But why would she come looking for you?”

A laugh flowed through the speakers. “I suppose she wanted to find her older sister.”

As one, the entire crew turned their heads to stare at Simon.