CHAPTER 10

The next morning, the halls of Serenity came calmly to life. River, barefoot today, was curled up in the cockpit, using the known speed and trajectory of Serenity to estimate that of a comet heading out of the solar system. Book was engaged in his morning scripture meditation, taking extra time today to pray for Kaylee. Jayne had left Elle’s bunk early so as to change clothes before breakfast. Mal caught him in the corridor. Having waited all night to talk to Jayne without Elle present, Mal would not lose his opportunity. Despite Inara’s suspicion that Elle didn’t really know Jayne, Jayne’s actions said that he knew Elle and Mal wanted to know from where.

“Jayne!” he called as Jayne kicked open the door to his bunk. Jayne looked relaxed, as if every morning he had a social chat with Mal. The look of innocence only further agitated Mal.

“Yeah, Mal?”

“Tell me about Elle. How do you know her?”

“I don’t,” Jayne said quickly. “Saw her face on the cortex is all. She’s worth 300 credits if we turn her in.” Jayne grinned at the mention of money. Despite this sounding exactly like something Jayne would do, Mal didn’t believe him. Jayne would not leave his favorite gun for 300 credits.

“What did I tell you about lying to my face?” Mal threatened.

“Throw me out the airlock if you want. It’s all the truth you get.”

“Caddock tried to kill her,” Mal began, searching for an argument. He couldn’t yet find one between the shrouded facts and fog of lies. “Caddock tried to kill you, too. I need to know what trouble I’m up against here. Tell me who she is.”

The two entered a long face-off. Mal hated it because Jayne seemed to have the upper hand. The lie was practiced and consistent with Jayne’s character and Mal couldn’t deny that it made more sense than Jayne wanting to rescue some damsel in distress. “She’s just some girl, Mal,” Jayne said in cooly. “Check the cortex. Elle. 300 credits. There she was, layin’ there dyin’ on a world. That’s the truth that’ll keep us alive. You start suspecting more ‘n