Author's note: Edited 4/12/09
Mal reached up and flipped three control switches, then his hand came down on the main intercom buttons. "Jayne, Zoe, fill your hands and get down to the hold - we got one hell of a stowaway. Wash, get yourself up here pronto. Doc - " he paused. "Doc, you stand by, and could you see to your sister and find out what the 土豆泥舞蹈 she's talkin' about? That last bit was all manner of alarmin'."
Various "Aye, Captain"s, grunts, and one "Ahh... I'll see what I can do," came babbling back through the speaker.
Mal let the button go and went back to trying to keep the ship as steady as he could. "Hope they get there before that blasted thing shakes my boat apart," he muttered. He took another worried glance at the monitors, where the battering continued, then stopped as the Doctor ran on-camera, shouting something inaudible and pulling the small gadget he'd been working on out of his pocket.
Jayne cursed as he yanked on his pants. That 大螯虾乳酪牛排 freeloader had interrupted one of the best kinda dreams. "Better hope Zoe gets there first, boy," he said, as he grabbed a huge pistol from the wall. " 'Cause I ain't takin' this one lightly." He climbed out of his room, and charged over to the door to the hold, and heard footsteps running down the stairs.
he ran out into the hold, and brought the pistol up. He paused a second. "What the gorram hell?"
Zoe had already taken up a position further down the stairs, rifle trained on the scene below. Her face was just its usual cool under fire mask, but he knew she was confused as he was.
Down on the floor of the hold, near the tall blue crate, the Doctor was facing off against... a glowing red ball of something, hovering in midair. He was pointing a device at it; whatever it was was too small to make out properly. It seemed to be effective enough in the Doctor's opinion, though. His face was grim as he kept the device trained on the ball and circled warily. He seemed to be trying to get between it and the box.
" 被合并的帽子," said Jayne. Then, "What the hell we supposed to do, Doc?"
The Doctor kept his eyes and concentration where they were, but called back, "You can put those away, for one thing. Your weapons are totally useless."
"Work well enough for me, ol' man," said Jayne, frowning. He still didn't have a handle on the scene in front of him, but he knew tense situations. He was good at those; mostly makin' them for other people. He kept a steady bead on the ball, flicking the gun's safety off.
"For pity's sake!" barked the Doctor. "There's nothing you can do, I need to handle this myself, with no... Oh, no!"
He said this last as the glowing orb seemed to pause in its dance with the Doctor, who stepped forward, frantically working the device. It then began to drift toward Jayne and Zoe's position!
"Run, blast it!" shouted the Doctor. "Run!"
Too bad Jayne weren't the running sort. He opened fire on it, Zoe doing the strategic withdrawal thing as she began to pull back, firing, cocking and firing all the while.
The bullets were hitting the ball, and flaring out in a burst of flame each time one hit its surface. It kept coming.
Kaylee felt the ship lurch the first time, and was so startled she fell right out of her bunk. "Oww," she said, rubbing her back and getting to her feet. "What's wrong with my girl?"
She grabbed her robe and was climbing the ladder to the main corridor when the second shudder rocked the ship, knocking her loose. She propped herself up in alarm, then fairly leaped up the ladder and charged down the corridors to the engine room.
The door was ajar, and strange sounds were coming from the room...
She was about to press the intercom, when Mal's announcement came over the speaker. She pressed the button to reply, but all she got out was "Aye Cap'n," before the connection fuzzed out in a burst of static.
"I should get someone ta help," she whispered. "Mal, Jayne, hell, even Simon..."
She pulled a large wrench from the pocket of her robe and padded as quiet as she could toward the open door. The wrench trembled in her grip.
"This is a really bad idea..."
The door opened, and Wash ran in. Mal leaped from the main pilot's chair. "Keep her on course," he said.
"Mal, what-"
Mal was already gone, drawing his pistol as he hammered down the hall. Wash blinked. He was in his green cargo pants and barefoot, with a yellow aloha shirt draped over his shoulders. Who'd had time to button it? His eyes went over the gauges - and then he heard the shots. He started back toward the doorway, when all of a sudden he felt a weird shift in the engine vibrations beneath his feet. He closed his eyes and grimaced.
" Some kinda problem. Right."
He dove into the pilot's seat, dropping easily into the cool flow of course corrections and engines. He'd have time to try and be a Big Damn War Hero later; besides, what could he do that Mal and the rest couldn't?"
He broke from his work to look at the hold monitor, and his jaw dropped. Jayne and Zoe, firing away at something indistinct... and just then, the screen fuzzed out. He smacked the side of the monitor. "无母的乳酪薄煎饼!" He started to his feet-
The ship lurched, and he slammed back down in the chair, grabbing at the yoke with one hand and punching into the flight computer with the other.
Be safe, honey. Please, he thought, before sliding back into professional mode.
BLAM BLAM ka-shunk BLAM click
"I'm empty," called Zoe. She backed through the door out of the hold. Jayne was starting to move back up the stairs and toward the doorway, himself; his pistol wasn't out of ammo yet, but the sphere just hadn't stopped coming. He saw out of the corner of his eye that the Doctor had opened a door on the side of his crate and jumped in, closing it behind him.
Stupid, old man. How long could you hide in a gorram crate?
He heard footsteps running up behind him up the hall. He turned to look-
"Jayne!"
For a split second, he saw Zoe's face turn from its usual professional calm to one of horror; he spun around to see-
the sphere an inch in front of his face! The world went bright, painfully red!
As Mal entered, he looked over to where the other two were standing in the doorway leading into the hold. Jayne's back was to the door, but Mal could see the corner of Zoe's face. They appeared to be discussing something.
Maybe they already got they guy, thought Mal. His face darkened. Or maybe they've taken the Doctor hostage.
Stupid, impulsive old man!
He ran up to join them. "What's goin' on?" he said. "Where's the..." He paused, catching the look on Zoe's face. He blinked.
His second-in-command had drawn a knife, and was holding it on Jayne, a stony look on her face. He knew that look, especially around the eyes...
Things had Gone Wrong. Had Jayne found his 'better offer?'
He raised his pistol and turned. "Jayne, what are you-"
"Don't you worry, Captain," said Jayne, whose hand was now bearing down with crushing force on his. He grunted in surprise and pain, before his gun was ripped from his hand and tossed off into the hold.
Mal stared dumbly at his suddenly agonized hand, then up into Jayne's face, as if seeing it for the first time.
"Everything's going to be fine," said Jayne. He was wearing a mad, maniacal grin, easily as terrifyin' as any he'd used on their jobs; what really set it off, however...
was the bright scarlet glow coming from his eyes.
"Yess," said Jayne. The voice was his, all right, but the sound, accent, unmistakably different. He gestured back at the crate. "It's all going exactly to plan."
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