A/N:Short, action packed chapter for you guys. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks, please leave a review!
Jayne smirked, those two security guards were never gonna get their clothes back. He hoped they'd be off the yacht in time to watch the pair of them emerge from the shed in their skivvies. That'd be a sight, two grown men trying to sneak through a busy space port in nothing but greyish underwear.
He kept his amusement on his face, knowing that a cheerful grin was much more likely to get the pair of them through security than the grim awareness that they could be well walking into their own coffin. The five men working security on the outside didn't give them a second glance, merely waving them inside.
Crew must have just signed on to not notice that two of them had been replaced with he and Mal. What was the point of security if nobody knew which faces belonged and which didn't? Jayne snorted, rich people always felt better with security, but if you knew even basic tricks like stealing a uniform it was worse than if they didn't have any security at all, since they weren't expectin' folk like them gettin' close.
Feeling like this might go better than most of Mal's plans Jayne strode confidently behind Mal into the ship, but only econds later the ship lurched in the unmistakable motion of lift off, and the guards who had just waved them through started to give them second glances. One of them had a look of confusion on his face and began to approach them. Jayne quickly drew his gun and pointed it at him. One of the crew members yelled "gun!" and there was panic in the small entry bay.
What on earth was Jayne up to? Mal turned at the yell of 'gun!' to see Jayne pointing a pistol at one of the guards. Several of the crew members were fumbling to get their wallets out, and a few had their hands in the air. Jayne moved closer to the wallet offering crew members. What was Jayne doing? This wasn't a stick up. As he was about to yell at Jayne he noticed one of the security guards was drawing his weapon, before he could get unholstered Jayne shot him square in the face, just as he pulled one of the crew members close to use as a shield.
The room quickly erupted in panicked screams as the crew milled around in confusion, Mal turned and fired on a second guard, and Jayne quickly dispatched the third. The crowd around them was moving frenziedly into the corridors leading off the entry way, and though Mal managed to get the fourth guard before he got deeper into the ship the fifth blended in with the confusion and disappeared.
"So much for in an' out with no fuss." Mal grumbled. Jayne attempted to laugh, "What would be the fun in that Capn?"
The man he was holding struggled against his arm, but Jayne only squeezed tighter until he passed out, then lowered him carefully to the floor. Once Jayne had relieved the man of his wallet they made their way deeper into the ship with Mal on point and Jayne on his six. As they rounded the first corner with no further resistance his hopes started to rise. But then alarm klaxons began to blare. They were humped. Well and truly humped.
Mal had done his fair share of urban fighting during the war and a spaceship gun fight would be a nightmare. The corridors rounded back on eachother, bulkhead doors could be closed and then compartments vented out to space, not to mention they were outnumbered and though they had a fair guess as to where they were going they could easily get lost.
Mal stopped, and they both grabbed bigger guns out of their bags, Jayne fastening grenades to his belt. This was going to be tricky. They had only minutes before the ship broke atmo, once they were clear there was nothing to stand in the way of simply opening hatchways and sucking the pair of them out to space. It was a tactical nightmare. Their only chance was to move fast and hope the enemy didn't manage to encircle them.
Ready for a run and gun battle they took off, rounding another corner Mal spotted two crew members, Jayne shot one while he got the other. Running past their bodies Mal tried not to notice that they were unarmed. They rounded the next two turns without meeting anyone, but on the third Mal barely made it back into cover before bullets winged past.
He had counted two guards moving quickly toward them. Jayne fired Vera and one went down, but the other kept coming, not even glancing at his fallen comrade. He fired indiscriminately at them, Mal returned fire, hitting him in the leg. He went down heavily, losing his gun, as he started to move toward it, Jayne shot him again. They couldn't afford to leave anyone who might move in behind them.
Mal tried to notice the odd pull in his gut where the Operative had impaled him as he increased his pace. They raced toward the estate chambers where Inara was most likely to be, suddenly, Jayne yelled his name. Turning quickly he saw four guards moving behind them, getting into cover by using a fork in the hall.
"Jayne, grenade." Jayne handed him a grenade from his belt as he kept his eyes on the corridor in front of them. Mal turned the top and tossed it in the midst of the four guard. He knew there was a chance of hull breach but speed was more important than possibilities.
He heard the grenade explode and screams of pain, he motioned Jayne and started to move forward. Breathing a sigh of relief that there hadn't been a hull breach he moved forward, when he heard a large whump. Air whistled past him and he could feel his body being tugged toward the hole in the bulkhead. Jayne grabbed him roughly and flung him unceremoniously to the floor. Moments later a heavy door slammed shut where he had been, effectively sealing the breach.
The ship started to shake, knowing they wouldn't have much time before the entire ship started to rip apart in atmo Mal practically sprinted down the next two corridors. It appeared as though most of the security guards were on the other side of the hull breach. Well. Score one for reckless grenade tossing.
They were getting close, the corridors were no longer spartan, but were richly furnished. The loud speakers were blaring "All hand report to damage control stations," as the lights cut out to be replaced with red emergency light strips on the floor.
Mal raced along the corridor, if the emergency lighting was on it they were down to their last seconds before the ship crashed or exploded under atmospheric forces. Wrenching open a set of ornate doors Mal stopped racing, there was Inara. She looked at him haughtily. Jayne moved up next to him coving their backs as Mal gestured for her to come to them.
"I'm not going anywhere." She said. She was decked in a deep red gown, and perfectly coiffed and poised, acting as though nothing was out of the ordinary, even as the ship lurched under their feet.
"What do ya mean yer not goin' anywhere?" Mal said lowering his pistol in confusion as klaxons blared around them.
"You shouldn't have come Mal. This is where I belong." Inara's voice was hard as she spoke, as if she were biting each word as it left her lips.
"Mal, we gotta go." Jayne interrupted, covering the hallway behind them with his gun.
"Bi jweh!" Mal yelled at Jayne, continuing to stare at Inara. She lowered her gaze as another voice spoke, "Bao bei."
"All hands report to damage control stations." The loudspeakers blared as an aristocratic man entered stepped through a doorway on the far side of the room, a pistol in one hand.
"Inara." Mal said, the word barely leaving his mouth before the sound of a gunshot reverberated in the confined space.
I know I said it up at the top but please leave a review, please?