THE PRICE PAID--CHAPTER EIGHT-- BOROS

Mal is learning all the skills to become a smuggler and ruining a brand new shirt. With many thanks for the beta to Channain and to Harri Vane for her reminder of what an ER waiting room is really like. Feed back gratefully accepted. Please do not archive without advance permission and know that these characters are not mine, they belong to Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon.

Chinese Glossary

bai fan [plain cooked rice/rice with nothing to go with it]

jia xiang ji [home town chicken (a type of dish)]

Dong ma [understand]

Wode tian! [Oh God!]

Ai ya [Damn]

shu ren [acquaintance/friend]

IN THE PRESENT

It was agreed that Rafe would wait with the ship while Tanaka and Mal met the contact at a local dive. "The ship always comes first. If you got no ship, you got nothing, you're on the drift. First job, in the black or in port, is to secure the ship," Tanaka explained. Although some ships had fairly sophisticated ignition interlock security systems, Tanaka preferred to rely on an armed presence aboard the Katy until they had a better feel for conditions in the port.

A buzzing red neon sign garishly announced the entrance to Sam Choy's, a seedy, working-class tavern near the back gate of the supply depot. They were to play pool until the contact appeared, so they spent several hours nursing a couple of beers and disinterestedly working the pool table, taking turns letting each other win.

It was almost last call before they were approached by a nondescript man in the uniform of the Alliance Colonization Corps who sidled up and mentioned Badger's name. From his accent, Mal made him for a conscript; the sort who had been given the choice to enlist or serve a penal sentence. They bought another round of beers and settled at a table to discuss matters with the corpsman when they got their first inkling that things might not go as smoothly as planned.

"We got a bit of a problem,” were the first wo