"What do you think?" Mal asked River.
She thought for a moment. "It's risky."
"I'm with Crazy on this one," Jayne agreed.
"I think that it's worth it," Zoe shrugged.
Jayne pondered what she said…as much as Jayne could ponder. "Okay. I'm sold."
Mal looked at him oddly, but didn't want to push it. He was on his side and that's all that mattered.
"How risky is risky?" Zoe asked.
"Mathematically speaking, there is an eight-seven percent chance of a betrayal, a sixty percent chance that that betrayal will result in violence, a seventy percent chance that the violence will result in at least one of you getting injured, a thirty percent chance that the injury will be critical, and a ten percent chance that it will result in fatality for one of the crew."
Jayne stared at her blankly. Zoe tried to mentally process the numbers and Mal actually understood most of what she said.
"Darlin', could you put that into terms they get?"
"There's a good chance that this guy is going to betray you and one or more of you will end up hurt, maybe critically, and maybe even dead."
"Ain't that all of our jobs?" Jayne asked.
"Yes, but this percentage is higher than usual. He doesn't sit right with me…" River explained.
"Why not?" Zoe asked.
"I have a bad feeling. His business record with his contacts is rather…atrocious…to put it mildly."
"Yeah, but his money is rather a lot. Don't ya think?" Jayne asked.
It was amazing how quickly his opinion had changed.
"We need the money. I agree with Jayne," Zoe nodded. Jayne grinned.
"I agree with all of you. It's risky, the man is a sadistic hundan, but we need the money. We have three little mouths to feed and our funds are dwindlin' awful quick…" Mal sighed. He didn't want this job, but they had to do it.
"Aren't there other jobs?" River asked hopefully.
"Not right now. This is it. We need the money. We have to do it," he replied sadly.
She looked at her husband with a sigh. He was right. There was no point in arguing. He'd just go anyway. When it came to jobs, he always won the argument. She decided to help and come up with the best possible plan.
"Fine. Let's discuss the plan."
"Our meet is with him on Fu-Xing. We're meeting in the local bar, The Can, to deliver the goods we stole back on Persephone. We negotiate a price, we're thinkin' no lower than forty a box, and we get out of there."
"Why do we need a plan? It's a standard meet 'n greet, ain't it?" Jayne asked.
"If your prices are too high, he won't accept them. He might not even want to pay you. He might try to take the cargo with exchanging bullets instead of currency," River replied.
"So we shoot back like always and get the hell outta there! Why are ya makin' it so gorram complicated?"
"Because I want you all to come back alive!" she snapped.
"What makes this different?"
"Jun Xiachang is notorious for killing his contacts. It's what he does. Some of the things I've heard make Niska seem like a missionary," River shot back.
"We can handle ourselves!" Jayne growled.
"Knock it off!" Mal interrupted.
They both fell silent.
"It isn't a bad idea to have some sort of plan in place if somethin' goes pear-shaped. Nothin' fancy, just a strategy. But this is just like every other job, so stop worryin' that pretty genius head of yours, sweetheart. Okay?"
Jayne grumbled something nasty in Chinese while River glared at him.
"We set down on Deimos tonight to refuel and land on Fu-Xing tomorrow. If you need anything planet-side, I suggest you get ready. We'll be there in…" Mal looked over at his pilot.
"An hour."
"Thank you. We'll be there in an hour."
Zoe nodded and got ready to go with Jayne in tow.
"Wanna hit the bars?" he asked.
"One drink."
"Alright…" he laughed as they vanished towards the cargo bay.
River got up to go pilot the ship, but Mal caught her hand.
"What's go you so shook up, darlin'?" he said soothingly.
"I don't know. There's something about this that doesn't feel right."
He pulled her into a hug to try to ease her nerves. She buried her face in his chest.
"I'm scared…" she said quietly.
"No need to be. We'll be fine. I'll be fine. This ain't our first rodeo with backstabbin' grimy business men. I have the scars to prove it."
She laughed. He smiled and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm gonna go find Belle. Wanna come?"
"I have a ship to pilot, Captain…" she smirked.
"Well the captain says that you can take some time off and come spend time with your daughter and charmingly handsome husband."
"Okay, if you can find my charmingly handsome husband."
"He's right here."
"Where?"
"You're talkin' to him."
"I think that there has to be a mistake."
"Ha-ha. Funny. If you weren't so adorable I'd make you pay for that one."
"Then I'm not adorable…"
He smiled. "You don't know what the payment is."
"I have a pretty good idea. Reader…" she reminded him as she lightly tapped her temple with her finger.
He grinned and kissed her on the forehead. "Now let's go find that gorgeous daughter of ours."
"Okay, handsome."
He smirked and they went towards the passenger dorms, which was the only place the kids were allowed to play without supervision.
She wasn't outside the infirmary, she wasn't in the infirmary, Simon hadn't seen her, she wasn't in Ricky's room, Ricky hadn't seen her, so they checked her room. It was empty. Mal was starting to get worried. River smiled.
"Belle, your daddy is worried. Come out from there."
Belle's head popped out from under her bed. "Sh! I'm playing with the trolls!"
"Trolls?" Mal asked.
"They're little creatures from Earth-that-was mythology…" River laughed. "The ones under her bed have big noses and huge ears. Miffy?"
"Miffy!" Belle giggled.
"Why is he named Miffy?"
"He's named after Daddy."
River started laughing. "He's the ugliest one."
"What?" Mal exclaimed. River laughed harder.
"He's the nicest and smartest one!" Belle defended. Mal smiled proudly.
"I'll tell Miffy I'll be back. I want to play with you instead."
Belle disappeared under the bed and emerged a few minutes later. She took Mal's hand and pulled him towards her very few toys. River played for a little while, but had to go land the ship.
There were very few stars out, so their stargazing was cut short. River read her a story and Mal sang her goodnight song. They tucked her in and went towards their bunk.
"So," River began with a mischievous smile. "I remember something about making me pay earlier…"
"I recall that conversation…" he kissed her and then found a ticklish spot on the nape of her neck with his mouth. She laughed and then they descended into their bunk for the night.
The next morning they found Jayne on the couch outside of the infirmary. Ricky and Belle had just woken up and were staring at him. He was out cold.
"Mommy, what's wrong with Mr. Jayne?" Ricky asked Kaylee.
"He's just sleepin', sweetie. Don't think on that too much. Let's go get some breakfast. Belle, are you comin' too?"
Belle looked at River and Mal. "Go on, little darlin'. We'll be up soon…" Mal nodded. She took Kaylee's other hand and they went up the steps.
River poked Jayne. "Jayne…Jayne…JAYNE…"
"That ain't gonna do anything," Zoe called from the steps with a cup of coffee. She set it down on the table. "He went a little crazy last night."
"Crazy?" Mal asked.
"Oh no…" River sighed.
"What?" Mal asked.
"Zoe, why didn't you keep him from going overboard?"
"What?" he asked again.
"I tried. He didn't listen."
"What?" he repeated.
"Well great! Now he can't go on the mission!"
"WHAT IS GOIN' ON?" Mal exploded. Zoe and River looked at him calmly.
"He's got a hangover, a bad one…" River explained.
"Wonderful! I lose my intimidating mercenary on the day of the drop!" he growled.
"He might be up by then, Sir."
"We can hope…" River sighed.
The day continued and Jayne hadn't moved an inch. He had slept most of the day and when he did wake up, he threw up everywhere. Mal was more than angry at him for getting so wasted the night before a mission. Zoe was fine, but she never got drunk according to her. She explained that instead of their usual whiskey, they went with sake. Apparently sake and Jayne did not mix.
"I can come instead," River suggested.
"No. I need you here keepin' the ship runnin' just in case things do go pear-shaped. Two people can handle this job. Besides, one less person makes the mule run faster…" Mal said calmly. River still didn't feel comfortable with the situation.
"Remember what we talked about this morning. Don't forget the plan."
"I won't. Relax. We'll be back before dinner."
"You know that I don't relax when it comes to this."
He gave her a kiss goodbye. "Tell Belle I love her and I'll see her soon."
"I will. Be-"
"Careful. I will. I love you."
"I love you more."
He smiled. "That ain't mathematically possible, darlin'."
He went into the cargo bay where Zoe had finished loading the mule.
"Ready to go, Sir?"
"Yes. Let's get this over with."
They went into the busy little city. Fu-Xing was one of the larger rim planets. It didn't have big advanced cities like Persephone, but it had its more populated areas. This one was of the metropolises.
They pulled up to the bar so beautifully called The Can. It was an ugly metal joint that was barely standing. After making sure the mule was secure along with their goods, they entered the place. Jun Xiachang was an easy man to find. At about four-hundred pounds, six feet eleven inches tall, not to mention his ridiculous hairstyle, he stood out in a crowd. He sat comfortably in the back booth smoking a pipe.
"Jun," Mal said warmly as he sat across from the beast.
"Reynolds," he hissed with his pointy yellowed teeth twisted up into some sort of horrific smile. "I take it you've got my cargo."
"I take it you've got my money."
"Twenty a box."
"Forty."
"Twenty."
"Forty is as low as we'll go."
Jun and Mal locked eyes. It was a stare down for the ages. Jun's fierce black eyes reflected his personality. They weren't budging…or blinking. Mal wasn't about to settle for less.
****
River sat in the cockpit. She tried to read a book to calm her nerves, but it didn't help. She sat there nervously. Something was about to go wrong. She just knew it. There was a churning in her gut. It twisted into an impressive knot.
As she looked out at the city life, she saw a ship entering orbit. Terror struck her. She fought the urge to scream. Instead she focused on reaching desperately for the comm. She squeezed the button.
"Mal? Mal? Are you there? Get out! GET OUT NOW!"
The comm. in the mule crackled to life, but no one was around to hear it. Mal was busy inside discussing the price for their cargo and was blissfully unaware of the approaching situation.
"DAMNIT MAL! ARE YOU THERE? GET OUT! WE'VE GOT REAVERS!"