It has been a long and rather frustrating day to be certain. Mal had gone from one missing teen runaway to finding what amounted to her older sister in the course of about three hours. And frankly, he was not quite sure what to make of Jes. She seemed to careen between a genuine affection for River and sarcasm, bordering on outright arrogance. On the one hand, it was fun to watch her take chunks out of Jayne and the doc, and on the other, he wasn’t quite sure he was still getting the whole story.

“So if you are supposed to be the product of the best Alliance minds, what the hell are you doing out here on the ass end of the Outer Rim?”

“Why, Captain, putting the talent of the best Alliance minds to good use. Because I am a humanitarian, after all.”

Mal paused to size her up. He got the distinct impression she was laughing at him.

“You are about as much a humanitarian as I am. Which ain’t much. I’m not rightly sure yer actually a doc.”

“Got a fancy piece of paper from the University of Londinium Medical School says otherwise. Hell if I know where it is in this mess, though. Not that it matters out here on the ass end of the Outer Rim.”

At that moment, Mal’s reply was interrupted by a very distinct sound he and Zoe knew all too well, and hoped to not hear ever again.

“Was that just battery gunfire I heard,” Zoe wanted to know.

At that moment, one of the orderlies came in with a clipboard. He looked no more than about 20, but had an air of capability about him, despite his extremely young age. “Sorry to interrupt, sir, but they’ve started up again.”

Wash looked confused. “That still sounds like a good 100 kliks away.”

Jes got up out of the chair. “There’s a reason this one is nicknamed Radar. He’s our advanced warning system.”

She turned to Radar. “See if you can raise Jonsey to…”

He finished her sentence. “Take the patients, sir. Yes, sir.” And with that, he bustled out of the tent.

Jayne stared after the young man. “He called ya sir!”

Jes gave him a smile which Mal realized only Jayne would think was full of sweetness and light. “And your name is Jayne. So?”

River leaned over and whispered, “Don’t tease him about having a girl’s name. He doesn’t like it.”

Another explosion, somewhat closer.

Zoe cocked her head. “Mind explaining the big guns?”

Jes waved a dissident hand in the vague direction of the gunfire.

“Spring thaw. Rather a ritual around these parts. That big pile of mountain to the east – there’s a pass to get through. Every spring, like clockwork, the two tribes that live up there decide to play Last Hairy Neanderthal Standing over that stupid pass. Which up until the War, was limited to small gunfire and the occasional grenade. Then they realized that big battery guns get the job done much better. It’ll pass in a few days when tempers cool, and then oxen and virgins get exchanged.”

For the first time, Jayne actually looked happy.

“Wait, there’s virgins? Nobody said nothin’ about there bein’ virgins.”

More gunfire, closer. At that moment, Radar came flying back in.

“Sir, sorry, sir. Jonesy says their transport’s been hit. No way can they get to us.”

For the first time, Jes looked something more than just vaguely pissed.

“I’ve got a full house of patients that can’t move on their own, Radar. Tell Jonesy I don’t care if he has to hand-carry down each and every ruttin’ one – they can’t stay here.”

Wash stood up. “We can get them out of here for you. Plenty of room in the cargo bay.”

Jes sized Wash up very carefully. Seemed to like what she saw.

“Those aren’t pop guns out there, Flyboy. You sure you can do this?”

Zoe straightened her back at the implication that Wash wasn’t fully capable of flying through the gunfire.

“My man says he can do it, he can. Wash can thread a needle flying that bird.”

Jes turned to look at Zoe, and drew herself up to her full height. Mal noted that she was about an inch taller than Zoe, and that he was fighting the urge to unholster his gun. Cat fights could be fun, under the right circumstances, but this was not one of them. Even Jayne was starting to get nervous. And if Jayne got nervous, things were bad.

“Didn’t ask you. Asked him.”

Another explosion, close enough to rattle the lantern hanging in the tent.

Wash decided that it would be a good time to intervene before the claws came out in full force.

“Yeah, I can do it. No worries, ladies. I’ll bring her right into the center of the compound.”

And with that, he left to bring Serenity in closer.

Jes relaxed, just a bit, and the rest of the crew let out the breath they had all been holding. You had to be either crazy or downright suicidal to go up against Zoe, and Mal wasn’t rightly sure which one Jes was. Mebbeso a bit of both. And damned if that wasn’t just a bit of a turn-on.

Jes turned toward Radar, who had been cowering in the corner during her exchange with Zoe.

Smart kid, Mal thought to himself.

“You heard Flyboy, Radar. Get everyone who can move or be moved out into the compound.”

“Sir, what about the ones who can’t?”

“That’s my worry, not yours. Osirus here can handle ‘em. He doesn’t need me for a simple milk run to get ‘em to Jonsey.”

Simon stared.

“You’re not coming? But the gunfire…”

Mal could have sworn it was just his imagination, or mebbeso a trick of the poor lighting, but for the first time, he thought he saw genuine fear cross Jes’ face, before she got her wiseass back in place.

“Yeah…thanks but no, Osirus. Like my feet planted.”

Before the crew could respond, she was up and out of the chair, already shouting orders above the increasing gunfire for patients to be readied for loading, as Serenity settled in to land. With the entire crew pitching in, the transfer went quickly.

River was carrying the last load of supplies when it happened.

A quiet popping sound, almost inaudible. But both Zoe and Mal knew precisely what it meant, as did Jes, when all three of them simultaneously shouted for River to drop to the ground.

Too late.