As he helped River secure the blindfold around her own head, Mal glanced at Paz, seeing the bravado drain from her features and a look of fear settled inter her eyes as they focused on the blindfold in her hands.
Mal stumbled out the back of the transport, holding River's hands to help her maneuver her way down to the street after him. He heard Paz stumble out and then they were herded together into a building about ten yards ahead. There was a smell of dampness and charred wood as he picked his way along behind Tug. He tried to keep his mind on the obstacles he encountered so River would have an easier journey. She squeezed his hand in thanks. After about five minutes, they were led down a flight of stairs and into a large room – he could feel the space around him as their footsteps echoed, similar to the sounds in Serenity's cargo bay. After a few more yards they traveled up several flights of stairs – about three levels, best he could conjure – and were then led through a set of large, heavy doors. There was a smell of cleaner air in this room, though the char was replaced by the scent of cigarette smoke.
"Here they is, Sir," Tug announced to the room.
"Go hwong tong," Mal grunted as he reached his hands up and pulled the cloth from his eyes.
"Now you've gone and ruined the surprise, Reynolds," The Doorman – Cyrus – said with a smile on his face. "I haven't everything ready for you yet."
"You… 're Cyrus?"
"Bring them in," Cyrus said to no one in particular. Mal heard a door open as he surveyed the room around him. There was a large oak table serving as a desk, with two large screens hanging on the wall behind it. One displayed the cortex while the other cycled through various famous works of art. In the foreground there were plush sofas and rich carpets in abundance.
A stream of girls began to file in from a door to the left of the room. There were about twelve when the last one came through. Mal could feel his mouth open in an 'o' of surprise. He wasn't prepared for what stood in front of him.
"What's the matta', Reynolds? Let your bird pick her pressie." Cyrus closed the space between them in seconds, standing next to River. He reached his hand around behind her to unfasten the blindfold, "Let me help you, Love."
She stood with her eyes closed for several seconds after the cloth fell away from her face. She knew already from Mal's mind what she would see when she opened them, and she was in no hurry. After several deep breaths she slowly lifted her lashes glancing quickly at the women and then away.
"Not here." She had searched every mind in the crowd for the girl. There wasn't a single memory of her name, her brother's name, or anything from the intel Rick Allen had given them. Beyond that, there wasn't even a single memory in any of their minds of anything before this building or the brothel. What was even more disturbing was their appearance. Clean, relaxed, and even modestly dressed. It wasn't right. None of it was right.
"You sure, boa bei?" Try to stay calm. Act normal, darlin', Mal thought to her as she took his hand again and turned to burry her face in his arm.
"Yes. Not her. Not here," she mumbled into the fabric of his shirt.
"What is she on about?" Cyrus demanded.
"We just… This everybody?" Mal asked in response. "We heard tell of a specific doxy. An 'Elise'. You got an Elise?"
Cyrus shook his head, "That's a real pretty name, though. How'd you like to be called Elise, Love?"
"D'un yi shia! What's that supposed to mean?" Mal asked, on guard.
"G'en ho tze bi dio se, qing wa cao de liu mang!" River yelled – the last words completely devoid of her Dyton accent – just before launching herself at Cyrus.
Mal took hold of River about the waist, bringing her to the floor with him before she connected with the da gher da.
"Ni ta ma de!" she shouted as she swung her elbow back, slamming into Mal's solar plexus. Mal doubled over, trying to recover his breath as he heard Cyrus begin to chuckle.
Free to move again, River cut off the slaver's laughter with a yup cha ki to the side of his head. As her foot hit the ground she launched herself into a do ra cha ki bringing him to the ground.
Before she could land another blow, Mal watched as Tug came to his master's rescue, knocking River in the back of the skull with a metal billy club. "Nee tzao se mah, ta ma duh?" He screamed, scrambling to his feet, before the world went black for them both.
River kept her eyes closed as she came to. The florescent light overhead accentuated the pounding in her skull. "I hit you. I'm sorry."
"That my sweet little pilot, or the angry 'ni ta ma de' girl who's talking?" Mal asked from his seat on the floor. There was a bench in the cell and he had sat there with her head in his lap until he realized he wasn't doing any good that way. He had laid her out as gentle as he could and began circling the room, looking for a way out. No dice, though.
"I had to."
"Cai bu shi," he muttered.
"You wouldn't have let me attack him otherwise."
"Gorram right. And we might not be in this very fine detention cell right now, cept that you did."
"Wouldn't have her." River stretched and sat up on the bench, her eyes still closed.
"We don't have her."
"We are right where we need to be."
"Maybe you could explain that to me, then?" Mal stood and began pacing the cell, trying to expend some of his nervous energy.
"Did you notice, Captain? Who wasn't brought into that room with us?"
"Porce- er… Paz. Where is she?" He stopped to stand in front of River, attention focused now.
"Did you like… her?" River whispered. "When she… In the transport?"
Mal knelt in front of her bench, running his hand over his face, trying to prioritize the problems at hand. River was fragile – that hadn't changed in a long time. He was humped now, after what had gone on with the girl this morning. But, more importantly, they were bein' held by a bunch of terribly disreputable folk, with no immediate out in sight. And maybe Paz was part of it. He had to put her feelings aside for the moment.
"She who we here for?" he asked. "Paz? Is she Elise Allen?"
"Yes, but she doesn't know it. Neither did I… until you asked Cyrus about her."
"You got a plan, little one?"
"They're coming in a few moments. You have to let them take me."
"Jien ta duh guay," he shot back, brushing his fingers across the wound the club had left on the side of her head.
"They'll take me to where she is. You'll protest, but not so much that they injure you irrevocably. It's important, Captain."
He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. He had a feeling it was a waste of time to argue at this point. "How much time we got?"
"Not enough."
As he let out a heavy breath, he heard the door behind them begin to slide open. He didn't turn, but kept his attention on River. She reached up to brush her fingers over his bottom lip.
"Important," she whispered.
Mal gave a slight nod as he heard three sets of footfalls entering the cell.
"'Time to break up the two lovers,' Cyrus says. So, com'on, Dovey. Come wiv' us nice an' slow-like."
Now Mal turned to see Tug, still holding the billy club, moving slowly into the room. There was another bit of hired muscle standing just inside the doorway, holding what looked to be an electrified cattle prod. The third man was more slight of build. He was standing behind the other two, as if for protection from the prisoners.
"You're bai lih mohn if you think that's happenin'," Mal said as he placed himself between River and Tug.
The thug took a weak swipe in Mal's direction with the club, but missed. Mal knew how to play the game and threw a punch of his own, causing Tug to sidestep to avoid it. Unfortunately, the maneuver had placed him between Mal and River. Tug reached out with his free hand to pull River up from the bench.
"Hands off, ta ma duh!" He shouted, knocking Tug back into the cell wall with the full force of his fist this time.
The second man took his opportunity to approach from behind and grabbed Mal around the throat with a hand that was easily twice the size of Jayne's. Mal could feel his airway close off almost immediately. Trying to conserve what breath he had left, he reached back with both hands, blindly searching for his attacker's eyes.
Before he could do any damage, Mal heard an electric hum from somewhere to his right. He was almost out of air and could hear a rushing of blood in his ears, but beneath that and the noise of the cattle prod, he could hear River.
"Stop! Please, d'un yi shia! I'll go with you."
"Choo fay wuh suh leh!"
At his outburst the thug jabbed the buzzing prod into Mal's side. He tried to grind his teeth through the pain but couldn't stop the end of his scream escaping his throat.
"Just don't hurt him anymore!"
Mal felt the grip on his throat loosen as he slid to the ground. He forced his eyes open against the residual pain in time to see the third man grab River by the arm to drag her from the cell. "Ping ming, měi lì", he managed to say before the second shock from the prod sent him into darkness.
When he opened his eyes again he was blinded by the florescent lights swinging on their cords above him. Then River's face floated into view.
"Told you not to let them injure you."
Mal blinked a few times, trying to bring the two images of River into focus but they just wouldn't solidify into one. Then he realized, not just River, but Paz was looking down on him.
"The damage is not irreparable," River said as she placed his own pistol back into his hand. "Let's go."
Mal stood, tucking the gun into the back of his waistband, and turned back to look at Paz. The girl also brandished a gun, if awkwardly, and nursed a bloodied lip.
"Well," Mal looked at Paz. "The lady said to move. Ya comin'?"
They made their way back through the labyrinthian compound without incident, thanks to River and the reading of Paul and Tug that she had done on the way in. As they ascended the final set of stairs near the exit, River held up her hand in warning. "There's only one of them. But he's been told to watch for you and I."
"I'll go."
They both turned to look back at Paz.
"No," Mal said firmly. "You're banged up enough, you're in no condition to..."
"We're all hurt. He's at least not expecting me," she said, heading up the steps. Mal was left with little choice but to listen for the violence that would surely come next.
"Sound like Simon," mumbled River.
"I'm just trying to protect our cargo," he shot back. Then, realizing what she had said, "And what do you mean, I 'sound like Simon'?"
At the top of the steps Paz could see the man standing guard. One man, facing outward. She smiled. No one knew about the operation or where to find it. This man was there to turn folk away. Their heaviest guard would be posted on the interior of the building, focused on keeping the girls inside. Once you were past them – which, thanks to the feng le offworlder, they already were – it would be near nothing to get past this one man.
She tongued the cut on her lip and felt that it had begun to scab over. Taking a silent breath she bit down until she tasted blood. Her eyes began to water and she let the moisture pool, threatening to spill over. Then, doing her best to stumble, she moved forward loudly enough for the guard to hear.
"Oi! Where'd you come from?" He reached for the com unit at his hip.
"They want the transport ready. Now! Cyrus has no patience, as I can tell ya," she gestured toward her lip. "They'll be movin' those two back out. Comin' up in minutes now." She'd taken small steps with each word flowing from her mouth, bringing her closer to the confounded guard. "Gan kwai! Please!" She fell to her knees at the man's feet.
The guard slowly moved his hand away from the com unit and focused on the poor wretch's gashed lip. "C'mon, Lovey. No use weepin'. That's how they is, the bosses. Stand up now. We'll get the transport goin', soon as I get som'un up here to watch th' door."
As he reached down to help her up, he focused on her deep bosom. Too late he felt the cold metal coming up and stick in his gut.
Mal stopped speaking when he realized River had been listening to something else all along. The following sound of a gunshot was unmistakable.
He quickly glanced up the steps and back at River before making his decision.
"The guard is down," River called as he took the steps two at a time.
"Down or dead?"
"His respiration continues. But it's slowing." she was on his heels now. "Now he's dead," she supplied seconds later.
Despite River's proclamation and the pool of blood next to the body, when Mal reached the guard he knelt to check for a pulse. "Gut shot." He looked up at River, who was standing straight and still, staring into the dead man's eyes. "Paz?"
"Took the transport." River shifted her gaze from the dead guard to Mal as he ran to the open door.
"Ta ma duh yao nu!" There was no sign of the vehicle that brought them there, but there were a few others. "We're gonna need a ride outta here real quick lil' one. You think you can…"
"Bypass construct firewalls by hacking the navigation computer and force an ignition sequence. Yes."
"I was fixin' to pick up and come lookin' for ya, Sir," Zoe said over the cortex screen in the shuttle.
"We were set off track a bit, but we'll be home on Serenity less than an hours time. Have Kaylee get her ready. We leave Greenleaf soon as we're docked."
"Yes, sir. You got any followers?"
"Don't look like it," Mal sighed. "But I'm fair certain I could be wrong." He switched off the wave and swiveled in his chair to look at River sitting amongst the pile of old clothes that had been their disguises.
"Not right." She was shaking her head. "Something's not right."
"Ain't right we don't get the second half of our payday. Every ta ma de job!"
"Those girls. They weren't right."
"There weren't nothin' right about that operation, darlin'." River looked up at the quaking in Mal's voice as he said it. "Not a fuckin' thing."
Go hwong tong – enough of this nonsense
boa bei – sweetheart
D'un yi shia – wait a second
G'en ho tze bi dio se, qing wa cao de liu mang - Engage in a feces-hurling contest with a monkey, frog-humping son of a bitch
Ni ta ma de – fuck you
Nee tzao se mah, ta ma duh – you wanna die, motherfucker?
Cai bu shi – yeah, right
jien ta duh guay – like hell
bai lih mohn – daydreaming
d'un yi shia – wait
Choo fay wuh suh leh – over my dead body
Ping ming, měi lì - Hold nothing back, beautiful
Gan kwai – hurry up
Ta ma duh yao nu – damn demon woman