“No, Wait!”

But it was too late, Jayne had fired a string of rounds across the dark silent plain.

“Oh great! Now they know where we are!” Exclaimed Mal with a hopeless gesture. They lay on the crest of a sandy grey rise on an airless moon.

Jayne’s voice came through their helmets, “They already knew where we were,” he fired another burst – white tracer skipped into distant shadow. “Heat readers. I’m just keepin’ ‘em down. So go! I’ll hold’ em for a spell.”

Mal stared at Jayne’s unexpected offer. “You’ll hold ‘em?”

Janye looked into the sight of his rifle, and fired a single soundless shot. “Yeah” he glanced up, “well you sure can’t. You can’t shoot.” He fired again, the muzzle-flash illuminating them both. “Get goin’!”

After an instant’s pause, Mal urged the others down the back of the slope, “Ok! Quick, into the ATV, go, go!”

Zoe slithered down the slope, and helped Simon to his feet, who as ever was unsure in a vacsuit.

“Well… “Mal looked around helplessly – were they really going to leave Jayne behind? “Are you sure?”

“No, I ain’t sure! But it ain’t no use us all dyin’! ” Jayne peered into his gun-sight, the low-light imaging showed scurrying silhouettes. “Gorram! They’re moving up.” He fired. The bright flash reflected the barren landscape in his faceplate. “If you’re going, you better go now. Looks like me and Vera are stayin’ out late tonight.”

Mal watched Zoe help Simon onto the ATV and climb into the driver’s eat.

Jayne said, “I reckon you got about ten minutes to get clear of this valley. Once they take this rise, they can sweep the valley.”

Mal still hesitated, “Ok”.

Jayne gave Mal once last hard-faced glance and then leaned into his rifle, his gloved finger curling over the trigger. In the green circle of the gun-sight, tiny figures darted from cover to cover. Dozens of them.

He said to no one, “Vera - let’s go to town” he began firing. “Ten percent of nothin’…”