Chinese Translations

kuangzhe de-crazy xi niu- cow sucking Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi- explosive diarrhea of an elephant hǎo gǒu- good dog huài gǒu- bad dog

Jayne knelt down next to the ashes of the cold fire and reached in with a gloved hand to scoop up some of the black and gray bits that crumbled beneath his grip.

“Bit warm. We’re gaining on em, like I said.” Jayne told his two companions who were standing behind him holding the three horses.

Wiping his hand on his cargo pants, Jayne stood and peered into the dark forest around them. He could see their quarry’s trail through the shadows of pine and brush, almost feel the passing of the rough men who kidnap little kuangzhe de girls.

“I’m not doubting ya, I am just not seeing this trail your following.” Mal said as he mounted his gray gelding.

“That’ cuz someone’s doing a damn good job of hiding it.” Jayne answered walking back over to them and taking the reins from Zoe. “And cuz you never were very good at track’n. It’s why ya hired me.” And it with that Jayne swung into the saddle of the black and white paint gelding.

Mal ignored Zoe’s quick smile and said, “Well then be a good boy and take the trail” He waved his hand in the direction Jayne had been staring earlier.

Jayne growled at being referred to as a dog, but heeled his horse forward to follow the trail only he could see.

Around them the sun was slowly inching it way toward the horizon, and the darkness beneath the trees was growing steadily. Ahead of them were the men who had kidnapped River from the mining town situated in the foothills of the mountainous region of the border moon of Aries. The same men who had shot Simon when the young doctor had tried to stop them from taking River were now headed deeper into the mountains.

They had wasted an hour digging the bullet out of Simon’s shoulder, Zoe carefully following the doctor’s instructions while Wash held a mirror for the doc to be able to see the wound. All the while Jayne had armed himself and then paced in the cargo bay waiting for Mal to return with horses and supplies to go into the mountains to look for the kidnappers.

Jayne had found the trail easily enough, and even Mal had seen traces of it the first five miles or so. Then someone joined the group and the visible trail became less visible. At least to Jayne’s eye. Mal couldn’t find anything at all, and surprisingly enough neither could Zoe. Jayne had thought that unusual. He had always respected Zoe’s tracking ability. Better than Mal’s, but not nearly as good as Jayne’s.

As they followed the near invisible trail, Jayne cursed himself for not going with Simon and River when they went into town. And to hell with the doc’s suspicions and Mal’s orders.

A few miles from the cold camp, Jayne suddenly reined his horse to a halt. Mal and Zoe rode up beside him in time to hear Jayne curse beneath his breath.

“Lose the trail?” Mal asked.

“No, those xi niu bastards split up.” Jayne said.

“Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi! We can’t split up and follow both of them.” Mal said.

“Don’t need ta. River is with this group.” Jayne pointed down in one direction. “I just don’t like the idea of them splitting. Why’d they split?”

Mal looked at Jayne curiously but said nothing.

“Probably to get whoever might be on their trail off. Split up to confuse us.” Zoe answered.

“I guess.” Jayne shook his head and steered his horse toward the trail that the men that still held River left. The other trail was a lot easier to see, so Jayne knew that the person who had joined them earlier and had been hiding their trail was with the group they followed.

Five miles deeper in the mountainous forest, they came to another abandoned camp. Jayne dismounted and went over to the circle of stones that would have been a campfire. When he saw the empty dirt inside the circle, Jayne cursed and drew his gun. Mal and Zoe saw the move and quickly drew their own weapons.

Unfortunately the trap was sprung. The men emerged from their hiding places, weapons drawn, surrounding the three Serenity crewmembers.

“Drop your guns.” One of the men ordered. “Dismount and get down on your knees, hands on your heads”

Mal nodded to the other two. Jayne growled but did as he was told, dropping his gun to the ground and then fell to his knees with his gloved hands on his head. Zoe and Mal followed suit after dismounting from their horses.

Once the weapons had been dropped the men came further into the clearing. One of them carried River, bound and unconscious over his shoulder. Jayne glared at the man, murder in his eyes.

One of the men came forward. He was the only one not pointing a weapon at them. One look at his relatively stainless and intact clothes told Jayne that the man was not one of the bandits. Jayne also knew without knowing why that this was the man who had been hiding the bandits’ trail so well.

The man walked forward and stared down at Jayne with a strange smile on his face. “Well, well. I wondered how you were able to follow me captain. Now I know. You have yourself a sentinel, captain, and you didn't even know it.” The man chuckled.

************************************************************************

Jayne wiggled his bound hands to test how tightly the ropes were all the while keeping an eye on the bandits as they set up their tents and made camp for the evening.

Finding the ropes were rather tight, Jayne leaned his weight against the trunk of the tree he was bound to and growled softly to himself.

“So, Jayne. Is there maybe something you want to tell me?” Mal asked from where he sat against another tree trunk, also tightly bound.

Jayne shook his head in confusion, “I don’t know what ya mean Mal?”

“How about the fact that your a sentinel?”

“I got no rutting idea. What’n hell's a sentinel?”

“Jayne you been nearly all over the gorram verse and you ain't never heard of sentinels." Mal asked in disbelief.

"Mighta heard the word afore, but don't see how it applies to me."

"Oh I don't know the fact that you can hear, see, smell, taste and feel things better than the rest of us might have something to do with it." Mal said.

Jayne just look confused. Zoe who was tied to a tree on Jayne' right was the one who answered. "Jayne, sentinels are people who have heightened senses. You obviously have them, Captain wants to know why you didn't say nothing."

Jayne shrugged, "Never thought it was a big deal. Just figured it was how it is."

Mal just sighed and rested his head back against the tree.

The bandit leader exited his tent where he had taken River inside earlier. The man walked over to where the other prisoners sat tied to their prospective trees. He stood in front of Jayne and looked down at him.

“I contacted my employer. He was most pleased to learn that I had captured a sentinel. He’s only ever had one other before, and the boy was killed in a training accident a few years ago.”

“Why the hell did you kidnap my crew?” Mal asked.

“The young lady I just kidnapped is a psychic, what some call a reader: granted that her psychic abilities were released due to brain surgery by some incompetent but sadistic scientists. Still she is a rather powerful psychic. She nearly broke through the dampening shields that Roger was placing upon her. My employer collects things and people of interest. A psychic is of interest."

"She ain't something you can collect, she's a girl." Jayne growled. The man ignored Jayne and looked at the captain.

"I will be leaving in a the morning and I will be taking the girl and this sentinel with me. I am going to be generous and not kill you or the woman. I will let nature do that." And with that the man turned on his heel and headed back to his tent.

Jayne waited until no one was looking at them and then twisted his hands until he was able to reach with his fingers underneath the black leather wristband who habitually wore. Hidden between the folds of leather was a razor blade. He managed not to cut his finger when he pulled it out. Rather than try and cut his own bonds, Jayne got Zoe's attention by nudging her leg with his foot. She turned and looked at him saw what he had and nodded. Jayne managed to toss the razor blade over to Zoe's bound hands. It fell in the dirt beside her fingers and she was able to grab it and hide it beneath her own wristband. Like Jayne, Zoe knew it would be a bad idea to try and escape with the number of armed men in the camp. If the man wasn't lying and planned to leave Zoe and Mal alive and tied to the tree then once they left that would be the moment that Zoe could use the blade and free herself and the captain. Once free they would be able to come after River and Jayne with a better plan in mind.

Time passed. The leader came out of his tent and spoke to one of his men. The man nodded and went to where a cookpot was held over a fire and dished out two bowls of the meal and handed them to his employer who took them inside. The same man then filled another bowl and walked over to where the captives were.

"Time to eat sentinel." the man said.

"What about them?" Jayne asked nodding his head to the captain and Zoe.

"Ain't no need to feed dead people." the man laughed as he came closer to Jayne.

Jayne lashed out with his bound feet and caught the man's legs knocking him and the bowl of food to the ground. The man got up and kicked the bowl of food tumbling more of the rice and dumplings into the dirt.

"You'll pay for that huài gǒu."

Jayne just glared. The man spat in the dirt and walked back to the camp picking up the bowl as he went.

"Jayne don't be doing anything to get yourself killed." Mal warned.

"Doubt they would kill him, sir. He appears to be worth quite a lot of money to these men." Zoe said.

"Yeah, ain't that special." Jayne grumbled.

Night fell completely and the only light to be seen came from the stars and the campfire. Jayne could see just fine, he had never thought anything about that ability, it had just been the way it was for him. He watched the men settle into their blankets while one of them banked the fire. The men had all eaten their fill of the rice and dumplings and had not offered any to Zoe or Mal. The leader had been angry that the man had spilled the food and not tried to feed Jayne again. Jayne still refused the food unless Zoe and Mal were also fed. The leader had said one night won't kill him and left them alone.

Now the leader was sleeping in his tent. Jayne could hear River still sleeping from the drugs inside the tent, but fortunately there wasn't any noises that suggested that the man was harming River, just keeping her drugged. Jayne also knew from listening that there were two men inside the tent along with River. Jayne wondered who the second man was.

Eventually sleep came for them even in the uncomfortable position they tied in.

In the morning they were woken by the men breaking camp, rolling up sleeping bags, dismantling the tent and packing up the packhorses. River was brought out of the tent by the leader who was trailed by a young man with red hair and freckles who seemed oddly disconnected. River was placed on a litter tied between two horses and covered with a blanket. The red haired man mounted one of the horses the litter was tied to and another man mounted the second horse. Other men mounted up leaving the leader and two men left standing. The leader walked over to the bound prisoners and nodded to the two men who stationed themselves beside Mal and Zoe and placed the barrels of their rifles to Mal and Zoe's heads.

"You be a hǎo gǒu and don't try anything or my men will have to kill them starting with the woman." the leader said.

Jayne growled to himself at being called a dog for the third time in three days but did nothing when the leader untied Jayne's wrists and ankles and pulled him to stand up. Then the leader retied Jayne's hands behind him, but when the man made as if to place the loop of a rope around his neck he balked for a second.

The sound of the rifles behind being cocked stopped him and he allowed the loop to be placed over his head and the noose tightened around his neck leaving the knot just below his left ear. With the rope, the man led Jayne over to where four horses waited, one of them the paint Jayne had been riding. The leader and one of the other men helped Jayne to mount the animal tied as he was. The leader mounted his horse still holding the rope leash. One of the other dismounted men tied the paint's lead rein to the leader's saddle and then mounted up himself.

The leader guided his horse to stand in front of Zoe and Mal. "I bid you adieu captain." The man tipped his cowboy hat as Mal and then guided his horse and Jayne's paint away from the camp with the others following.