9
"Goram door," Jenn muttered as she tried the door to the empty shuttle for the third time. But it was locked and she didn't have time to try and figure out how to unlock it. She glared at the door one last time and turned hoping to have time to run and hide in the passenger dorms before Mal went on a rampage.
"Gǒu niang yǎng de!" Jenn screeched when she turned. Standing less than five feet behind her was the man large slow man her brother had called Jayne. "What the fǎn tiāntáng are you doing back there?! Trying to give me a heart attack?"
Jayne smiled as he looked Jenn up and down for a moment, "What cha tryin to do in that there shuttle girly?"
"Girly?" Jenn said, "are you kidding me?"
"That aint an answer." He was still smiling and it was beginning to creep Jenn out.
Jenn sighed, "I'm trying to find a place to hide from my brother for a little while. He's gonna be pretty upset in a little bit and I don't want to be in his warpath when he is."
Jayne straightened up at once and stopped smiling. "Mal's gonna be angry ya say?" Jayne asked, more to himself than to Jenn. "Damn."
Jenn looked the man up and down for a moment, he was much taller when he wasn't slouching and leering at her. But the mention of an angry Mal seemed to have him in a bit of a frenzy. He started to pat himself down and when he pulled a grenade out of the same pocket as his flavored protein; Jenn started to panic.
"Well look at the time," Jenn said, eying the grenade Jayne was holding very casually, much too casually for Jenn's comfort. "I should get going before Mal finds me."
"Right," Jayne said, almost dropping the grenade. Jenn lurched backwards against the door of the shuttle. When her bag smashed against the door it let out a loud bang that seemed to bring Jayne back out of what can only be assumed was a train of thought.
"Where you gonna hide?" He asked Jenn who was eyeing the stairs next to her, wondering if she made a run for it how far could she get before the mad man with the grenade caught up to her.
"I don't know," she said honestly, taking a slow creeping step toward the stairs. "I was going to hide in the shuttle," she motioned behind her at the door, "but it's locked so I guess . . . the passenger dorms?" It came out more of a question at the end.
"Right," Jayne said. He stuffed the grenade in his pocket and turned around a few times before reaching out and grabbing Jenn by the hand.
"Hey what dìyi do you think you're doing?!" Jenn yelled out in protest. But Jayne seemed not to hear or to care. He ran for the stairs, pulling a protesting Jenn right behind him. She tried to yank her hand from his but there was no way she could break the hold he had on her.
Down the stairs and through a few hallways, Jenn was dragged against her will. After a few moments she stopped struggling and focused more and not falling on her face. After about three minutes of being dragged around in what seemed like circles the came to the passenger area at the back of the ship.
Jayne continued to run toward the dorms, right past the Sheppard who looked on speechlessly as they passed. Jenn tried to call out for help but they had come and gone too quickly and she was unable to get a word out. After another moment, Jayne came to a dead stop in front of what looked like a small room stuck in the side of the wall with one next to it and one stacked on top of it.
Jayne opened the door and all but threw Jenn in side. He glanced around, making sure that no one was around, and then he slipped in and closed the door. He clicked the little lock on the handle, it wouldn't withstand much force, but it would give him forewarning enough to get his gun ready.
Jenn pressed herself back against the far wall and watched as Jayne checked and rechecked his gun. He was a large man and even sitting the way he was, he covered most of the door. There was no way to run past him and charge the door. She was stuck, that much was sure, but why he had thrown her in here with him, that was what really worried her.
After ten minutes had passed, Jenn stopped keeping her back pressed against the wall, but continued to keep to the back of the room. Jayne stayed facing the door, gun in hand, not even noticing Jenn. After another ten minutes passed Jenn pulled a box close to the wall and sat down, Jayne continued not to notice. After a full half hour had passed Jenn was starting to get annoyed. She was going to have to talk to her brother at some point, waiting around this long was sure to piss Mal off.
Deciding that she could take Jayne so long as he didn't get to his feet, Jenn got up, and summoning all the courage she could must at the moment, she walked up to face him. "Excuse me," she said, tapping him on the shoulder.
He ignored her.
Getting annoyed, Jenn tapped his shoulder harder, "I said excuse me," she said louder. Faster than she could react to, Jayne reached up and grabbed Jenn's hand pulling her down to the ground next to him. He rolled her over and clamped his hand over her mouth. With his other hand he put a finger up to his mouth shushing her.
Jenn, more shocked than obedient, shushed. Within a few seconds she could hear something, shouting, coming closer.
It was Mal, and he was angry.
"I am telling you Zoe she has to be around here somewhere," Mal shouted, as he moved closer to where Jenn and Jayne were hiding.
"I've looked all over sir," this time it was Zoe, "wherever she's hiding I can't find her. And we have few more important things to worry about right now."
Something about her tone made Jenn still. Something was wrong. "Look there'll be time for that later, right now I have to talk to my sister about this." There was a sound of paper changing hands and then silence.
"Nǐ yīdìng shì zài kāiwánxiào ba," Zoe exclaimed, "she wants to live here? On the ship?"
"The letter is from our mother, she wants me to take her on, take care of her an' such till she can," paper crinkling again, "finds her way."
They were right outside the door now, "Captain we can't afford to have anything go wrong on this next job. If the client sees someone we didn't account for on the ship we're humped."
"Wú tā mā de zài kāiwánxiào," Mal muttered, "we need to find her and find somewhere for her to be for the next while before she gets herself killed."
"Or any of us," Zoe added.
The sounds of their footsteps down the hall drowned out the rest of their conversation. Jayne released Jenn and got to his feet. Jenn did the same, keeping a careful ear out to make sure her brother didn't sneak up on her.
"I don't know much," Jayne said, "but it sure does sound like you're in a lot more trouble than you bargained for."
