One To Many- chap 7

------ Birds of a Feather ------

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Jayne Cobb relaxed his grip on the finely tailored clothing of the suit he had pinned against the wall.

“ So, lets say that we were to make this deal. I’d want the money up front. None of this, it’s on my other shuttle crap! Hard currency right here in my palm before I depart, that‘s the condition I‘m lookin for!”

“Yes, your point is quite taken Mr. Cobb!” the MIB said.

Jayne was a little surprised that this fella knew his name. It gave him an uneasiness. The MIB then looked over towards the shuttle’s console controls, “ See that box……”

Jayne followed his gaze. There was a small wooden crate about the size of a shoebox underneath the control center.

“ ….inside are six gold bars, each worth the lives of one hundred ore miners in Paradiso. Surely one bar is worth the two captives that remain in the lockup. All six bars are yours…..I’ll return you to Minear2, and you can be dropped off at any location of your choice as long as you release me, the shuttle, and your former employer so that I can complete my mission.”

Jayne didn’t look to be totally sold on the idea the suit seemed to be pulling out of his *piqu*. There was too much room for betrayal. The man saw in his eyes that the big merc was hesitant, not totally onboard with his plan. Maybe he could harden him up a bit, set him against the others.

“ Look Mr. Cobb! It isn’t you that they’re after, it’s the others that they really want. It’s understood that you were just along for the ride. You’ve always been considered an outsider by them anyway.”

Thinking about this, Jayne did consider it to be somewhat true. Mal, Zoe, Wash, Simon and Inara, at moments, did make him feel like he were a second rate citizen.

He motioned for the man to follow him over to the shuttle controls. When they reach the console, Jayne was wanting to get a look inside that box, yet he realized that a clev