Note: The Chinese phrases are written as they are pronounced.
"How Shi Sung Chung!" Mal heard the high, girlish voice in the docking bay just as it was joined with an appreciative, "Gao Guhn!" He peered out to see two young girls standing in the doorway. They were holding hands and staring at the ship in admiration. Two girls after my own heart. He thought.
"What can I do for you ladies today?" He asked as he approached them. Twin pairs of dark eyes with the same look of awe turned to him. That was their only similarity. The one on the left was cute as a button. She had short blond hair poking out from under the white bandanna wrapped around her head and bronzed skin that reminded him of Inara's flawless complexion. Her slightly puffy lips were open slightly as she looked at him with adoring eyes. She reminded Mal of a little puppy. All cute and cuddly and hungry for attention. Hell, if she stared at every man like that, she would be in need of some serious protection. The one on the right could surely do that. While the same height as her puppy-like companion, the one on the right turned her suspicious gaze with upturned eyes onto Mal. She was lean, with a wave of dark brown hair caught up in a ponytail at the base of her neck, and stood like she was ready to brawl at the drop of a hat. Her pale freckled face was mighty cute, too, iffin' she'd stop glaring at him.
"We was just admirin' your fine vessel." The one on the right said in a hard tone, but there was a slight shine to her voice when she said that his ship was fine. "Jei-Jei here spotted it from the market and wanted to take a gander at it." She held out her hand to him. "Name's Tandy. Shao Tandy. This is Shao Lily." Lily tipped her head at the mention of herself and held out her hand. He noticed that she had all types of rings on her finger, from a gaudy silver one with a blue stone the size of a lima bean on her ring finger to a plain red band around her thumb. He took both their hands in turn. Tandy's grip was rough and strong. Lily's was a soft, almost noble taking of the hand. He had an urge to bow over it sarcastically, but he'd probably get smacked by Tandy.
"How do you do? I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds, most call me Mal. This here's my ship, Serenity."
"She really is a beauty!" Lily blurted out, stepping forward. Tandy gripped Lily's hand, stopping her from taking more than one step. Mal got the image of a puppy on a leash trying to get into everything. "I really like the Firefly class better than these newer models. They have stayin' power." She blushed as she realized she was blabbering. "Tandy's the mechanic, anyhow. I just like the look of Serenity." She lowered her eyes. Tandy glared at her, but tightened her grip on their joined hands.
"Come on Jei-Jei, we have to go." Tandy tugged Lily away as she waved goodbye.
"It was nice to meet you, Mal Shian Shen." They walked away, heads together as if in a heated discussion of the serious sort.
"Strange girls..." he muttered to himself. He thought about their similar eyes and the way they held hands. They also had the same last name. Maybe they were tricky. Nah, they didn't have the look of it. He wondered why they were here. They were green if they ever were. He shrugged and walked back into the shadow of his ship. Best not get distracted with that. They was strangers and he prolly never would see them again. Or would he? A flash of Saffron came into his mind making him go over to the intercom and press the 'Talk' button.
"Wash, I want you to look for a couple of suspiciously cute girls sniffin' around the ship." He said to his pilot. "They might have a mind for thievin'." As he said this, there was an explosion in the distance. "Wuo Duh Tian Ah." He muttered.
"I'm just sayin' that I could use one of those fancy clip belts." Jayne muttered as he carried supplies for Shepherd Book. "It'd be a lot easier to reload and I wouldn't have to go back and forth for ammo."
"There are better ways to spend grocery money." Book said to the taller man.
"Yeah, Like on groceries." Kaylee piped up. "Even you need to eat, Jayne." As they walked by an Alliance-guarded bank, there was an explosion of smoke bombs and the sounds of gunfire. The people on the street screamed and became a panicked mob. Recklessly skidding in front of the bank in a hover cruiser was a girl with a white bandanna and thick workman goggles that covered everything but her mouth laughing maniacally as she shot an automatic laser rifle in the air. Alliance forces started to part the crowd in a rush to get to the commotion. The girl switched her grip on the gun to aim it at the oncoming fuzz, sticking her tongue between her teeth in concentration. She fired a burst of warning shots right at the Alliance feet.
"Not another step!" She shouted. "Or the next shot is for the throat!" To prove her aim, she winged a few of the closer officers. They readied to shoot when a figure in a brown vest and a gas mask jumped out of the smoke pouring out of the building and into the driver's side of the hover cruiser with two full-looking duffel bags.
"Jah Yoh!" The gas mask yelled, gunning the engine and skidding off. Bandanna Girl whooped crazily and proceeded with cover fire at the Alliance troops so that they could escape.
Lily yelled in triumph as they sped down a back road in their stolen hover cruiser. Tandy took the turns hard, blowing up dust with the magnetized air cushion underneath.
"We're rich!" Lily cried to the desert landscape. She threw her arms out and stood up. "We can have anything now!"
"Sit your Chwen down!" Tandy yelled over the rushing wind. "Hard 'nough drivin' this thang without you jumping up and down like a fool!" Lily plopped down and grinned at her friend.
"I'm just happy that my plan worked! My plans never work! We can buy anything! We can finally-"
"Jei-Jei. Joo Koh. Rung Tze Fwo Tzoo Bao Yo Wuo Muhn! We still have to get off-planet afore they catch us!" Tandy growled before taking a particularly vicious turn a little too sharply. Lily stuck out her lip in a pout, then grinned again. She opened her mouth and started singing in a sweet, resounding voice
"Paddy lay back
fly in the black
take a turn around the moons and mete'r storms!
About ship's stations boys be handy
we're dodging the gorram Reavers beyond Valorn!"
It was an old song modeled after the sea shanties from Earth-that-was. Even in their stressed haste, Tandy managed a smile after the tune. Together, they raised their voices in triumph.
"You won't believe what happened, Captain!" Kaylee squealed as she ran up with an armful of supplies.
"If it explains why you're late, the I'm all ears." He said dryly.
"It does! See, someone knocked over a Alliance bank not ten minutes ago!"
"Couple of dead men, if you ask me.." Jayne growled as he settled onto a crate to take care of his equipment.
"Well, as long as the Alliance stays away from me, I'm fine." Mal finished, shooing her on her way.
Five minutes after the supplies were all packed up, the two girls from earlier skidded in a hover cruiser. They looked much different, being as the one, Lily and the other, Tandy, were wearing what looked like goggles around their necks and leather jackets unzipped carelessly. They hopped down, both carrying matching duffle bags.
"Are you taking on passengers?" Tandy asked Mal. He nodded. "Good, we need to get off planet. Now."
"Hold on a minute. You don't even know where we're going." Mal started. Tandy said nothing, just pulled out a wad of bills and held it out to him. It was, by no means, a small amount of money. He could feel the itch of trouble stirring at the back of his instincts. Still, all of that money...
"Can we please leave as soon as possible?" She asked. Mal just accepted the bills and pointed to the crates inside the ship.
"I suggest you find one that's comfortable and lay low." They grinned at each other, speaking in some strange form of girl-telepathy. Lily walked beside Tandy, shifting the duffle bag onto her shoulder. They walked by Jayne, who looked up from sharpening his knife to stare at Lily.
"Fine passengers you got." He said, eyeing Lily as she climbed into one of the containers.
"Rules, Jayne. Not on the ship." Mal said before making his way to the comm. "Wash, I need you to search the Cortex for a couple of girls. Runaways, I suspect."
"Sorry, Mal. No can do. The Cortex is too chock full of bank heists and an APB on a couple of youths who knocked it over." Wash answered, his voice amplified and tinny. Mal glanced back at the two crates that held two such youths that seemed to have a load of cash on them. Mighty strange, if you asked him. The trouble itch grew worse.