One Man's Trash, Part 6a
Celebrating aphorisms: Jayne has made his bed, and now he must lie in it. The others turn trash into treasure.
"I'm sorry?" Simon said, stupidly.
"What the 地狱 dìyù are you doing here?" the man reiterated. "This is private property. Get the hell out."
"I'm…" Simon, for once, was at a loss for words. The man confronting him was no fool, and something about him told Simon that he was trained to use weapons and wouldn't hesitate to do so.
After the ship had been invaded by the bounty hunter Jubal Early, Mal had insisted that everyone aboard learn to handle firearms, and had given some basic training in handling a stand-off. Simon was trying to remember what he'd said. He knew that in a situation like this, Mal would have a plan. He'd have a plan, and it would probably work. Simon tried to think like Mal.
He kept his hands in plain sight. That he remembered from Mal's training—"Don't give 'em a reason to shoot you." He knew Mal was working somewhere off to his left, probably just out of sight, and started to walk that direction.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" the armed man demanded.
"I'm getting the hell out," Simon replied, "like you said to."
"Out's that way," the man gestured with his weapon.
"Right," Simon said, and started walking.
"Sullivan, there's no need for this." Where had Mal come from?
"Sergeant Reynolds. What the hell are you doing here? Trespassing?" That was obvious. His face hardened. "Illegal dumping? That's a serious crime here on Beylix." Another thought crossed his mind, and he glanced over at Simon, then returned his gaze to Mal. "Don't tell me you're lifting 垃圾 lājī, too."
Simon made a point of not looking at the pile of machinery he'd set aside for Serenity.
"Recycling, Sullivan. There's things in here don't belong in trash. Just re-sorting them into their proper places."
The armed man did not change expression, and it was unclear to Simon if he had accepted the Captain's explanation. "He with you?" The armed man, Sullivan it appeared—did the Captain know everybody?—gestured at Simon.
"Yep."
"Your platoon?"
"No. Too young for the Valley."
Sullivan inspected Simon. "He's no soldier."
Simon spoke up, "I'm a d—"
Mal interrupted. "He's on my crew." Mal flicked Simon a look. Simon couldn't read volumes of battle tactics out of it like Zoe could, but he did get that "shut up" was part of the message.
"I don't know what the hell you're up to, Reynolds," said Sullivan, as his dog trotted up to Mal, wagging its tail. "This is private property. No one's allowed to haul stuff outta here, and no one's allowed to dump here without paying the fee. Illegal dumping is a serious crime on Beylix," he repeated, as if to emphasize the point.
"Ain't planning on any illegal dumping, Sullivan," Mal responded, patting the dog and scratching behind its ears. "Recycling, that's the honest truth. Ain't taking anything but what should've been put elsewhere in the first place."
"Well, that's the truth, now, isn't it?" Sullivan responded, conversationally. "It boggles the mind, what people throw away. You wouldn't believe how much effort we gotta put into sorting out the recyclables from the 鱼臭 垃圾 yú chòu lājī here at this dump. Half this stuff belongs in recycling, anyhow."
"It does," Mal agreed placidly. "I've always believed in recycling. Do it as much as humanly possibly. It's just common sense, ain't it?"
"Look, I'll keep Hamm and Goldsmith from coming over this way. Just get it done discreetly, and get out before Secka comes on shift at seven." He turned half away, then added, "Reynolds, you make it worth my while, next time I'll show you sector eighty-four. It's already sorted."
. . .
"Oh yeah," Jayne said huskily, when he could speak again.
"My hero needs a little lovin'," Janice said, picking herself up and straightening her clothes.
"Listen, Janice, about that hero stuff—" Jayne began.
"Ssshhh, don't speak, sugar, I got better things for your mouth ta do."
"Janice—no, Janice—stop. I'm s'posed to talk to Ray."
"Ray?"
"'Bout a job. You see, the ship I come on, need a job—"
"You want a job?" Janice sank to her knees in front of him.
"Gorrammit, woman, stand up, and stop interruptin'!"
Janice made a pouty mouth at him, but didn't speak.
"Ship I come here on, we're lookin' for a job, haulin' or somethin', and I thought as how maybe you had an in with Ray's Haulin' here and could maybe help us to some payin' work."
She was silent for a moment, and he was afraid she'd taken his admonishment not to speak a bit too seriously, when she said, "Jayne, you know why I come to Beylix?"
He didn't, truth be told, but ventured, "'Cause it's better than Canton?"
"It's 'cause I got family here, Jayne. Ray is my uncle. Office manager is my Aunt Ginny. I got a job here, and they both help me out, so's I can—" She stopped short. Then she took his hand, and said, "Come on back, Jayne. There's someone here you need ta meet."
Jayne followed her as she led the way through a doorway, down a hall, and into—not an office, as he expected, not to Ray, but to—a nursery? "What the 地狱 dìyù ?" he began.
She reached down into the crib, and picked up a five-month-old baby. "I'd like you to meet your son."
. . .
Mal, Zoe, Simon and Kaylee were tired, hot, and covered with filth. They'd loaded up the shuttle several more times, as well as the mule, and taken turns shuttling the stuff back to Serenity. All had their share of getting out of the hot sun and taking a quick snack break on the ship. But there would be no real rest until the job was done. They packed the shuttle with a last load, including a windfall of five reels of wire, various gauges, a liquid crystal display, and a discarded electrician's kit containing an assortment of resistors and capacitors, including micro sizes for solid state boards.
They were about to load the mule with the last load when the comm crackled to life. "Mal!" Jayne's voice came through loud and clear over a background of women's screams and children's wailing. "I got a situation here. Need some back-up!"
"On our way," Mal responded, as he and Zoe checked their weapons and hopped onto the mule. "Kaylee, you and Simon take the shuttle back to Serenity and load 'er up. Tell River we might need to fly 马上 mǎshàng."
"Right, Cap'n," Kaylee responded, as Mal and Zoe left a trail of dust behind them.
. . .
"It's true, isn't it, that we throw away many things we should re-use," Inara agreed.
"I've always said, that sooner or later, we will be mining the trash dumps for rare metals and parts," Ip said, "things that were not valued when they were thrown away. They'll become increasingly rare, and we'll kick ourselves for being so callous and casual about their use. The dumps will become the richest sources for some elements, and it'll be cheaper than mining or smelting ore, or manufacturing de novo."
River agreed, adding, "Nothing is wasted, on a spaceship. We recycle the air, we recycle the water. Even the solid waste is re-usable."
Inara didn't want to think about re-using the contents of the septic vac system, and was silent. Suddenly the comm crackled to life. It was Simon.
"River, the Captain and Zoe took off on the mule to deal with a situation with Jayne. The Captain wants you to get Serenity ready to fly, just in case."
"Where are you, Simon?"
"Kaylee and I are at the dump, with the last load of spare parts. We'll be returning to Serenity shortly." The communication ended with a pop.
"That's what you think," River said, to an astonished Ip and Inara.
. . .
As the dust settled, Simon and Kaylee looked at one another for a moment. Then Simon wiped the sweat off his forehead, picked up a broken bicycle pump, and he and Kaylee headed for the shuttle.
The entire cargo area was packed with parts, reels of wire, machines in various states of disrepair, metal pieces more or less corroded, and bits of metal and plastic. It was a full load. Kaylee and Simon threaded their way through to the cockpit and sat down in the seats. Both waited, taking deep breaths, as the intensity of the last few hours' work began to drain away. Simon opened his eyes, realizing that they were still sitting on the ground.
"So…do you know how to fly this thing?" he asked, hopefully.
Kaylee shook her head. "No. You?"
. . .
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glossary
地狱 dìyù [hell]
垃圾 lājī [garbage]
鱼臭 垃圾 yú chòu lājī [fish-stinking garbage]
地狱 dìyù [hell]
马上 mǎshàng [right away]
Oh no! Are Simon and Kaylee marooned? And what's going on with Jayne? Time for you to recycle some words...send 'em back my way and write a review.