“Dock 7E” said Mal, addressing the rest of the crew, “meet back here in 2, Me, Jayne and Zoë are gonna meet up with our contact, Kenton, stay with the ship.”

As they, turned and walked away Zoë leaned across to Mal and whispered “Do you really trust him alone with the ship?”

“No, that’s why you’re going to stay behind and watch him discretely, I’ll take Jayne, can’t have him watching his cousin.”

“Understood sir” she replied, peeling off just out of sight of the ship to take up a tactical position on the outside of the docking bay area.

Back in the ship Simon and Kaylee walked down the ramp, unknowingly being watched from the gantry above. “So Mr Tam, what do you want to do with this time?” asked Kaylee, hanging on his left arm, looking up with a huge grin.

“I suppose we could wander about town a bit, try find somewhere remotely nice to eat.”

“Simon! Not everywhere on these worlds is that bad, besides it’ll be better than the protein mix we’ve been eating recently.”

“I suppose, but don’t forget the last time I ate in an establishment on a border world I felt ill and then got beat up and dragged about by one of Jaynes insane ex-comrades.”

Kaylee giggled, “quit yer whining and come on” she said, half dragging him out the hatch.

-----------------------------------------------

“What we doin in this ruttin FAY-FAY duh PEE-yen of a backwater town anyway,” asked Jayne to Mal “there aint enough money here for a gorram popsicle, let alone the sort of cash we’re after.”

Mal mumbled something under his breath then said “it’s way outta Alliance interest, no-one but us and locals about n they no better an t meddle in affairs that aint theirs to meddle in, leave it to me, I got a plan.”

“Why does that not fill me with hope and joy for the near future, or the future at all? Was it part of the plan to leave Zoë to guard Kenton and leave us a hand short for the meet? Either I guard and you go in alone or we both go in and ant got no backup”

“Look, we go in, we get the job, we leave, whyd