A/N: Sorry for the slight delay on this part. I just started back at uni last week so things have been a bit crazy with that! I hope you enjoy this part. Thanks to all who have left a review!
They leave no dust behind them but they do leave the cell empty. Mal announces to the others as they turn the corner, that it looks lonely without them in it.
"You're welcome to go back if you want to keep it company," Jack says.
Mal lets out a short, unamused chuckle. "Think I'll be fine without doing that."
"Are you sure?"
"Couldn't be more certain in actual fact."
Sam holds a hand up to silence them and they fall against the wall, each trying to blend into the shadows. Mal has to pull Kaylee back at first, before she realises what's going on. He covers her mouth with one hand and her eyes light up with understanding and fear as the heavy footsteps of a Jaffa passes them by in a hallway crossing the one they are in.
The Jaffa disappears from sight. Twenty intense seconds go by in which all they do is breathe in air that really should be stuffier what with them being on a ship and all. They don't speak. They barely move. Jack lifts a hand formed into a fist and makes a few gestures.
Sam nods and then sneaks up the hall. She peers around the corner to check for more Jaffa. She pulls her head back quickly but doesn't raise her gun or aim it at anything in particular. Must be nothing, Mal decides. Speaking of nothing, it's a whole lot of nothing that he's doing here and a whole lot of nothing planning going on that he's knowing about.
The planning, if there is any, has so far been that done by Sam and maybe Jack. Did Jack have anything to do with Sam showing up? If Jack had not been captured alongside Kaylee and himself would they be getting rescued right now? And for that matter, how was it Sam had gotten aboard without anyone noticing and made it to them without being captured herself? She never did answer when he asked before.
Mal runs his tongue across his lips, wetting them. He breathes in deeply and exhales. He waits and watches Sam as she nods and then moves into the next hallway and disappears around the corner. Glancing at Jack and then Kaylee, he nods. Jack moves off and Kaylee follows. The air seems to thin out and he swipes the back of his hand against his forehead where he can feel beads of sweat beginning to form.
They continue their journey through the ship's halls for another twenty minutes before Sam comes to a stop and cocks her gun. Finally there is something blocking their path. He should have known their free run would only last for so long. All good things must come to an end, he once heard. This must be one of those situations. Not that being trapped on a ship is a good thing. The fact they've had the luck of escaping a cell to move about through the workings of the ship, however, is – or was – good news to some extent. It means – or meant – that freedom is – was – a step closer.
The freedom they fought for is now slipping through his fingers like sand. This is nearly the end. He can feel it. They are close to recapture and they are not going to escape from their cell this time – assuming they are put in another cell and not just done away with because they're too much trouble, more trouble than is worth putting up with.
"What're we doing, stopping here?" Mal asks. "Thought we had an exit your girl here knows of."
"This 'girl'," Sam says, "knows exactly where we're headed and how we're getting out of here. It just so happens we're stopping for a moment."
"Why?"
"Just. Listen to her," Jack suggests.
Beside him, Kaylee smirks. "The captain never was a patient one. Not many of his plans turn out quite as anyone's expecting neither much."
"Listen to Sam," Jack says again.
"So, Sam," Mal says. "What's the plan?"
She doesn't answer him in words. Rather, she smiles mysteriously at him and beckons to him with one finger to follow her. Moving off again, she creeps forwards until she reaches a door. She enters and so Mal, Jack and Kaylee do the same. Her plan becomes clear immediately.
Inside the room, walkways of a steel-like material twist in and out of various docking stations. Sitting at each of the stations is a shuttle-like structure. Most of them are identical, with domes out the front to provide the occupant an excellent view of what's happening outside. They are a grey colour, some with stripes of red lining them. All of them are marked clearly with a distinctive symbol.
"What's that?" Kaylee asks.
Jack glances at her. "It's a hieroglyph. I think. Daniel would be much better equipped to answer that. But it's like... it's a call sign. Like... call the number on the sign and they will come."
She looks at him blankly. "Who will come?"
Sam sighs. "Just ignore Jack here. He likes to play games."
"Right. Games." Kaylee smiles weakly.
"Oh no! This isn't a game. Not at all," Jack says.
"Then what is it?"
"Erm."
"Exactly what I thought," Sam says, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, I –"
Mal, having lost interest in their conversation, sees a glimmer of movement from beside one of the ships at the docking stations. "You guys? I don't mean to intrude but we got company."
"Huh?" Jack says, cocking his gun.
"Company. People who are not us."
"Yes, I know that! I meant where?"
Mal lets out an exasperated sigh and shakes his head. He grasps his gun, takes aim and shoots at whatever it was that moved. As the bullet leaves his gun and there's a loud cracking noise, he reconsiders his move. Surely the sound will have reached the ears of someone else onboard, someone who'd be very happy to see them all caught and then tortured or killed or both at the slimy hands of Chemok. Chemoose? Chemo-whatever.
On the upside, there's a heavy thunk as a body falls to the ground. His aim was perfect and that sends him a warm fuzzy feeling inside. It never does get old, hitting a target with such precision. Each time it is like a rush, a feeling of absolute satisfaction. He is damn good at what he does and even if that's maybe not the right thing according to some others, it's what he does and that there is something.
He cringes at the looks Jack and Sam give him. Even Kaylee is glaring at him, her usually cute smile swapped for a foul little pout. "Aww, captain! What did you do that for?"
"They must have heard that," Sam says.
Mal shakes his head in disbelief. "Whatever. Let's get the hell outta here before they catch up and are present while you guys knock me down a bit. I'd rather not have an audience while you do that."
"Two to a shuttle," Sam says.
"How do we-"
"I'll fly one and Jack'll take the other." She pauses. "Nothing against you Mal but we know what we're doing here."
"And I don't?"
Jack smirks. "Are we not remembering the bullet and the very loud noise it made?"
"Funny." Mal scowls. "We gonna go or what?"
Without another word, Sam hurries over to a shuttle and sits inside. Jack takes another and Kaylee scuttles in behind him, leaving a spot behind Sam for Mal. "You coming?" she calls to him. He nods and joins her.
There's another loud bang and Mal's body jerks in surprise. "Wha?"
Sam fiddles with the complex looking control panel of the shuttle as she explains. "They heard you fire before."
"Right."
tbc
