All English/Chinese translations care of the Firefly Chinese Pinyinary )
Sibling Rivalry
Part 2: Broken promises and old feuds
"Your what, sir?" Zoë asked, keeping her gun levelled.
"Zoë, meet Samantha Reynolds, my little sister." Mal climbed to his feet, "Who should be back home on Shadow."
"Tsai boo shr." Simon shook his head.
"Liou koe-shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh bun ur-tze." The bounty hunter cursed at Mal from her place on the floor.
"Bee-jaw!" Mal looked down at his sister, "And that's no way to talk about mum and dad."
"Oh, juh jun shr guh kwai-luh duh…" Jayne got to his feet, "Captain, we'd better be going: someone's got to have called the Law over this by now."
"I agree." Mal crabbed a set of key's from his sister's belt and handed them to Book, "Get Simon and River un-tied." He then grabbed the discarded shotgun and looked at it, "This was dad's: what you doing with it Sam?"
"Hwoon dahn." Was all his sister said as she pulled herself to her feet.
"We'll discus it later." Mal grabbed her by the arm, "You're coming with us."
"Why exactly do we have a shiong-mung duh kwong-run onboard?" Wash asked, before looking at Jayne, "Well, a second one anyway."
"Chur ni-duh." Jayne glared at the pilot.
"Bee-jway, neen hen boo-tee-tyen duh nan-shung!" Inara slammed her fist down on the dinner table, "Mal says she's his sister."
"I didn't even know the Captain had a sister." Kaylee sat at the end of the table, arms crossed, "He's never really talked about his past…"
"Weapons Sam, all of them." Mal stood in the cargo bay holding a large sack, "Dong-ma?"
"Hwoon dahn." Sam started by slowly drawing the 9mm from under her arms, then the revolver from her hip. She dropped them in the bag, followed by a 2-shot Derringer from her right boot, a sharp hunting knife from the other, a pair of throwing knives from her belt and a knuckle-duster from one pocket.
"And the rest." Zoë stood to one side, gun at the ready.
"Gwon nee tze-jee duh shr you jien hwo." Sam glared at the other woman.
"Tyen shiao duh" Mal shook his head, "If mom could hear you now…"
"Yeh-soo, ta ma duh..." Zoë almost snarled.
"Knock it off the pair of you!" Mal shouted, his voice echoing off the enclosed walls, "Sam, stop calling people names. And Zoë, try and be a little more tactful."
"Meh, tah mah duh hwoon dahn…" Sam started.
"I hove told you to watch you mouth, especially when talking about mom!" Mal looked ready to hit his sister, "What in the tyen shiao-duh are you doing away from home anyway?"
"Why should you care, Mr big tough war hero?" Sam looked ready to rip her older brother jugular out, "What ever happened to 'Don't worry Sam, I'll be back after the war'?" She looked him straight in the eye, "You know how hard it was for mom to keep the ranch after dad died: if it wasn't for the fact that you where almost of age the magistrate would have given it to Uncle Philo. After you failed to return home after the war, he started making trouble again, saying I wasn't fit to run such an big place on my own."
"That huh choo-shung huh tza-jiao duh tzang-huo!!" Mal cursed, his eyes wide, "Mom always said he was after the place."
"Well he got it: his son Junior was made magistrate about 3 years ago." Sam explained, her own anger seeming to fade slightly, "First thing he did was declare me unfit to run such an important local employer on my own, and handed it to his Pa for 'safe keeping' until you returned. Philo took over, turned me into a virtual prisoner so I could get help from anyone, and started running things his way. After 6 months, I managed to bribe my way to the nearest spaceport on a grain hauler and got off world. Being a young girl, only just of age, I had three choices: get married, become a whore, or a Bounty Hunter."
"And to think I told Ma that teaching you to shoot was a bad thing?" Mal shook his head, "I'm sorry Sam: I just couldn't go back home, play nice with the Alliance as a rancher after what happened during the war."
"Yeah, that what mom thought, right up to the end..." Sam looked genially hurt.
"Sam, I couldn't make it back for the funeral." Mal looked sadder than Zoë ever remembered seeing him, "I was still in the interment camp, waiting to be proceed. The Alliance wouldn't let me go early…" He looked at the deck for a moment, then his face changed, becoming harder, "Zoë, go get Wash and tell him to set cores for Shadow: I have a promise to keep."
"Shadow? Can't say I've ever been there." Shepard Book sat a the dinner table with the rest of the 'passengers', "Anyone know what this is about?"
"Mal said it was something personal." Inara sipped her tea, "Isn't he from there originally?"
"I honestly couldn't say." Simon shrugged, "He's never been very open about his past."
"Why didn't you go back, sir?" Zoë asked as she leaned against the bridge door, "Sounds to me like this ranch is worth a lot of money."
"It's not mine, not really." Mal looked at the deck, "It was meant to go to my brother Terry, but he died in the same accident that took my dad. I never really felt a home on the land: don't get me wrong, it's a big place, but I always felt like it was confining me. I guess that's why I bought Serenity: the get out and away."
"And how 'old Uncle Philo's stole the place out from under you." Wash shook his head, "There's no justice in this 'verse…"
"No justice." Mal drew his revolver and sighted down the barrel, "Just us."
To Be Continued…
