Mal swallowed the last drop of his drink and placed it on the bar.

"Jen said he had blonde hair and tattoo on his face." He said as he turned around looking at Zoë, as usually she was casing the place.

She wasn't much for drinking, clouded the mind. Zoë scanned the bar looking for their engineer to be.

"Yep, Jen said this guy was a real jen duh sh tyen tsai when it comes to enginenie stuff."

Mal ordered another drink.

"Sir, if this guy is such a jen duh sh tyen tsai as Jen said then why did she throw him off her boat?"

"Don't know, all Jen said is that they had difference of opinions."

"Difference of opinions, Shiny."

Zoë turned back to face the bar. They had been waiting for this genius for an hour. So, she decided to order herself a shot, anything that took her mind of her captain's decent into lunacy. Mal scanned the bar once more. He looked at a table of four young men, clearly drunk. He saw them whisper to another and pointing to Zoë. Mal wondered which one of them was actually bold enough to come over. Mal had his sights on the big one.

"Go in Les, go talk to her!" said the smallest and clearly the drunkest.

The big one stood up quite purposefully; he straightened his clothes and walked over. "Be gentle Zoë, he's nyen ching dud." Mal whispered, as he sipped his drink.

The young men at the table cheered him on. Les looked back at his friends and pointed at Zoë's bottom. His friends gave him the thumbs up in approval. Les looked at Mal as to ask if Zoë was with him. Mal nodded no. He was dying of laughter in the inside. Mal saw the young man's hand cock back into the air,

"Oh no, don't do boy, for the love of tyen sho-doh don't do it!" Mal said to himself.

Les swatted Zoë on her butt.

"Hey ba …"

Before the boy could finish his statement Zoë had him on the floor with her boot on his chest and pointed her gun in his face.

Mal stood there laughing. He looked down at the boy.

"Now, son is that anyway to treat a lady? I think you should apologize to her?"

Les' friends at the table stood up as if they were going to do something. Zoë cut her eyes at them. They quietly sat back down in their seats.

"There's our boy." Zoë said coolly as she put her gun back into the holster.

Mal remembered the first day he met his first mate Zoë. He had just been promoted to sergeant in the Independent army. He went up the ranks rather quickly from scrud the lowest form of officer in the army to sergeant in a matter of years. He was to get a squad of 20 scruds underneath him. Mal had known most of the men who were under his command, all but one. A fellow name Alleyne. All Mal heard about Alleyne was that he was the best scrud to come threw ranks. Alleyene had even beaten all of Mal records back when he was in training camp. Mal had to meet the man who broke all his records, and by him a drink. Alleyne was from the west company from Merth. Merth was the training camp on the other side of Lassiter, the crap moon Mal was station on. He heard his man was at Lance's a small tavern outside of camp.

Mal walked in, the tavern it smelled like shiong mao niao. He gave the place a once over and tired to guess who this fellow was. There were only five people in the bar besides the barkeep. Four men and one incredible beautiful woman. Who Mal thought he might get to know after he found his man.

Mal looked at one guy, at the bar and decided that couldn't be Alleyene, too fat and too ugly. Another fellow, look like a good wind could blow him over. Mal looked at the women again. She was beautiful. Long legs, long hair, hell long everything. Mal watched her as she walked to the bar and ordered a drink. He noticed her butt as she walked. It sent Mal into a trance. She smiled at him, or so, he thought when some more men walked it. Mal figured she was the girlfriend of some scrud. Damn lucky hwood dahn.

"Malcolm Reynolds? You ugly ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng, what are you doing here?"

Mal turned around it was Monty. He had gone through basic training with Monty when he first signed up.

"Monteeee"

Monty gave him the biggest bear hug. Mal hated when Monty hugged him, because he always got a mouth full of his face wig.

"I heard you got yourself promoted."

"Yeah I got myself a whole squad of men waiting to follow my every word, but I got one more fellow to pick up, a scrud by the name of Alleyne? You know him?" Monty had a confused look on his face.

"Who?"

"I guy name Alleyne. Someone said he be here?"

Monty got a big smile on his face and said loudly. "OOOOhhhh Alleyne, yeah I know HIM. Good fellow, Good fellow. Helluva a man, that Alleyene."

The beautiful women look up, and waved at Monty and walked over to the table with the rest of Monty's crew.

"Monty how an ugly sasquatch like you knows a girl like that?" Monty smiled, "Hey why don't you buy her a drink."

Monty patted Mal on the back, thrusting Mal forward. Monty was the only man Mal knew that could knock him off his feet without trying. He went to the bar keep and ordered, a drink, the barkeep handed him some pink looking drink.

"She loves it." He said laughing.

Mal failed to see the joke. He walked over the woman who was talking to one of Monty's boys. Normally Mal wouldn't do this, his mother had taught him better, but this woman had a mighty fine backside, and he had to touch it. Before he had a good grasp of ass, Mal found himself on his back with a boot on his chest, a gun pointed at him, and a fruity smelling liquid all over him. All Mal heard was Monty's riotous laughs and everyone else.

"I fail to see what is funny, here! Monty can you help me out."

Still laughing, "Zoë Alleyne I want you to meet Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds. Mal, this is Zoë Alleyne."

Monty was at the point of tears. "She's your man, Mal."

At this point Monty was out of breath.

"Sir?" Zoë said looking up at Monty.

Still laughing Monty put his hands on Zoë's back.

"Zo, oh, oooh, let him up, let him up, that your new saarrgemt."

"Oh, sorry Sir."

She took her foot off of Mal chest and helped him up. Monty handed Mal a napkin to wipe, the pink drink all over him