The Treasure of Lei Fong Wu

Chapter Eighty-Eight

“Forty . . . four . . . million?!” Jayne asked, his eyes the size of saucers. “They traded . . .”

Book nodded, chuckling to himself. As soon as they were safely underway, Jayne had insisted on a cup of coffee, and the Shepherd was happy to keep him company.

“Truth. Want me to swear on a stack of Bibles? I can arrange it.”

“We got paid . . . and they . . . what the hell were they thinking?” he asked, astonished. “I mean, I can see them comin’ in swingin’, guns blazin’, maybe get themselves all killed tryin’ to rescue . . . but to actually pay real coin . . .”

“Don’t look to me for guidance. I knew it was the right thing to do . . . I just didn’t know if the Captain was the right man to do it. A lesser man would’ve headed for the horizon. You got a real friend, there,” Book nodded.

“I can’t believe it! He had that kinda coin, and he blew it . . .”

“On your sorry ass, yes,” Book finished. “I figure you’re about the most expensive two-bit gunman on the Rim, now. Make a good story beside the ‘Hero of Canton’ one. ‘The Forty Million Credit Ass Master,’ maybe they’ll call it.”

“Ya think?” Jayne asked, dazed.

“I can pretty much assure it. ‘Least, that’s how I’ll tell it. You were worth over four million there, for about half a day.”

“I don’t feel no different,” Jayne observed dully.

“Well, then it didn’t really matter, now did it?”

“Jesu—,” Jayne began, then stopped when Book looked up at him sharply. “Goodness, Shepherd,” he corrected, a hint of deliberate sarcasm in his voice. “How can you possibly think that forty million Federal credits doesn’t matter, somehow?”

“Boy, you never had it in your pocket. You’re a free man with your skin intact. Consider that you could have taken a stroll out an airlock, or been extradited to any one of the number of jurisdictions that would like a word for you. Is your life and your freedom worth forty four million?”

“Well, Shepherd, when you put it like that . . .” Jayne said, his voi