The Treasure of Lei Fong Wu

Chapter Thirty

“Honey,” Wash called, looking through the viewport. “You better come up here.”

It took several minutes for his heavily armed wife to get to the cockpit. When she did, Wash was staring thoughtfully outside.

“Yes, Husband? You called . . . at a most inconvenient moment. What’s wrong?”

“Just wanted to get your opinion,” he said, casually. “Just how many of those guys out there are bad guys?”

“Counting the ones setting up the gun emplacements?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“And the ones in that flyer?”

“Yeah, them too. Oh! And don’t leave out the snipers there . . . and there.”

“Hmm. Professional opinion?”

“That’s why I asked my wife the professional soldier. This looks kinda soldierish.”

“All of them.”

“That’s what I thought,” he sighed heavily. “And there aren’t so many of us.”

“Not so much,” she agreed. “But I’m used to that. I like a challenge.”

“I love that about you. You know what else I love?”

“What would that be?”

“Your uncommon good sense. The fact that when you look out at such a hopeless situation, your first thought is to get the hell out of here, as opposed to fighting and making a glorious last stand, as certain former infantry sergeants might do in a similar situation.”

“Husband, I find myself in the unusual position of agreeing with you wholeheartedly.”

“What? We can leave?” Wash asked, shocked. He didn’t really expect her to cave so easily.

“I guess that’s the question: can we?”

Still shocked, Wash checked the preflight status monitor. When queried, it indicated that a navlock had mysteriously descended, holding Serenity close to the soil.

“Da-shiong bao-jah-shr duh la doo-tze!” Wash cursed. “We ain’t goin’ nowhere, sweetie tush,” he said, more than a hint of worry in his voice.

“Yeah, I kinda figured. Let’s—”

“Attention: Firefly!” an augmented voice boomed loud enough to be heard through the thick glass. “Everyone on board lay down your arms and prepared to be boarded! You are all bound by law!”

“We’l